Alternative Newbie Guide
Sidekick
Join Date: 2002-11-27 Member: 10076Members
Join Date: 2002-11-27 Member: 10076Members
<div class="IPBDescription">For Casual Players</div> Greetings, I am a newbie. I play NS for a few hours a day (after work) and give it a few hours on the weekend. I've read countless strategies and tons of opinions but haven't found anyone who sees the game from a casual point of view. Since I always autoteam, this is how I ended up learning how to play.
<!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo--> <b>Play on "large" public servers:</b> This is important. Nothing is as discouraging as hopping onto a server with a small team that depends on you only to be instrumental in their downfall. The larger the server, the more chances you'll a) see a longer fight with more variation in the strategies and b) have time to learn your way around the map... which is extremely important for every player.
<!--emo&::skulk::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/skulk.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='skulk.gif'><!--endemo--> <b>Newbies should be aliens:</b> Going against the grain of every other guide I suggest that new players go alien instead of marine. Why? Being a marine is HARDER because your team NEEDS you to KNOW what you're doing. Alien teams only need a good Gorge or two to succeed on public servers at the moment so join them, remain a skulk, explore, and get a feel for the game. Skulks are FAST and stick to walls... the perfect tools for a newbie and a lost Skulk who eats a random Marine on a mission is a GOOD thing (as opposed to a lost Marine killing a Skulk whose only mission is to eat Marines on missions... which is strategically BAD).
<!--emo&::gorge::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/pudgy.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='pudgy.gif'><!--endemo--> <b>Newbies should NEVER evolve to Gorge:</b> Gorges drive the team and, believe it or not, mean the difference between success and failure. If there are too many Gorges on a team, none of the Gorges get enough resources to build Hives. Too many is normally more than a pair... and you want a pair of GOOD players to go Gorge. If you're dying to be something bigger, be a Fade, Lerk, or Onos... though I really suggest you stay Skulk. On the flipside of this coin, Newbies should NEVER hop in the Commander chair unless the battle is 99.9% done.
<!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo--> <b>Aliens don't have anyone to whine to:</b> With no commander, you don't have a focus for complaints. No magical nano-force is going to drop a HMG, HA, and JP on your head. No Med-Packs will save your bacon. You have to learn where your Gorges built Defensive Towers to heal or Offensive Towers to hide behind. Because of this, you'll learn a) begging for stuff is for the elite (who have a claim to the stuff they're asking for) or the lame (who use the stuff as a crutch) and b) the maps... which leads me to the next point.
<!--emo&::skulk::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/skulk.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='skulk.gif'><!--endemo--> <b>Learn the maps:</b> Aliens have hive sight at all times. You see glowing white blobs where your buddies and (this is key) all three Hive locations are. Parasited Marines glow yellow and your things under attack glow red. Using these you can navigate to all the important points on the map, given some time. Climb the walls (skulks do this), slip through vents, explore every which way you can. Learn how to reach every hive from every possible approach. Find where the Marines start and run the paths around it. Memorize them because, once you've got a clue you'll need to protect yourself from aliens attacking from those spaces.
<!--emo&::asrifle::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/asrifle.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='asrifle.gif'><!--endemo--> <b>Watch the Marines:</b> You can hear them stomping around from a mile away. Follow them (from the shadows) and watch what they do. If they never offer you an opening to go in chomping, remember what they did. Did one of them cover someone while they're building? Was someone watching the rear and keeping an eye on the vents? That's the kind of stuff you'll want to do when you're a green two-legged hairless ape. If they all turn their backs to you, though... remember that while you feast on their remains. Even a group of 4 will fall down easy if they turn their backs to you. It's hard to see that as a Marine... especially with the shouts of "OMFG, you got lucky" and "WTF, h4x!" misdirecting your reasoning.
<!--emo&::skulk::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/skulk.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='skulk.gif'><!--endemo--> <b>Everything you need to know...:</b> You can learn as a Skulk. Learn how the "special" menu works. Learn the basics of the alien tech tree (like cloaking, silence, and regeneration). Experience the unlimited potential of every map (no area is inaccessible). How good teams of Marines can stop you cold and how bad teams died horribly before you.
<!--emo&::asrifle::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/asrifle.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='asrifle.gif'><!--endemo--> <b>The advanced class:</b> Once you've played a map a few times and have a good idea about how it's laid out, try joining the Marines. For starters, on public servers, it's HARDER. Your commander will probably be fairly green. He'll also have some teammates who are known quantities (ie. this guy's good, he gets orders and goodies). People will oftentimes fight over who gets to be commander (never good) and the team suffers for it. It's an entirely different game on the human team. Stick together, listen to your commander, and always check your corners and you may get to experience the best sensation in the game: a Frontiersman victory. Remember to do everything the Marines you couldn't kill before did and don't pester your commander like those other yahoos in the spawn. Follow that guy you keep on seeing rack up the kills and cover his back.
<!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='tounge.gif'><!--endemo--> Well, that's it. Keep in mind, this is how I learned to play before finding these boards. I am not capable of being a good Gorge or Commander yet but I'll leave that to the experts. I love the game and hope this guide helps anyone who's run into the public server Marine problem (green commanders, know-it-all soldiers, and the occasional lamer). Their alien counterparts (green gorges, know-it-all skulks/lerks/fades/onos, and the occasional lamer) normally only shout at Gorges leaving you to enjoy the game and get better at playing it.
I play on any server with 20+ (with the exception of ShreveNet's server... weighing in at 18). Thanks for your attention and I welcome comments since this is my first post.
<!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo--> <b>Play on "large" public servers:</b> This is important. Nothing is as discouraging as hopping onto a server with a small team that depends on you only to be instrumental in their downfall. The larger the server, the more chances you'll a) see a longer fight with more variation in the strategies and b) have time to learn your way around the map... which is extremely important for every player.
<!--emo&::skulk::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/skulk.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='skulk.gif'><!--endemo--> <b>Newbies should be aliens:</b> Going against the grain of every other guide I suggest that new players go alien instead of marine. Why? Being a marine is HARDER because your team NEEDS you to KNOW what you're doing. Alien teams only need a good Gorge or two to succeed on public servers at the moment so join them, remain a skulk, explore, and get a feel for the game. Skulks are FAST and stick to walls... the perfect tools for a newbie and a lost Skulk who eats a random Marine on a mission is a GOOD thing (as opposed to a lost Marine killing a Skulk whose only mission is to eat Marines on missions... which is strategically BAD).
<!--emo&::gorge::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/pudgy.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='pudgy.gif'><!--endemo--> <b>Newbies should NEVER evolve to Gorge:</b> Gorges drive the team and, believe it or not, mean the difference between success and failure. If there are too many Gorges on a team, none of the Gorges get enough resources to build Hives. Too many is normally more than a pair... and you want a pair of GOOD players to go Gorge. If you're dying to be something bigger, be a Fade, Lerk, or Onos... though I really suggest you stay Skulk. On the flipside of this coin, Newbies should NEVER hop in the Commander chair unless the battle is 99.9% done.
<!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo--> <b>Aliens don't have anyone to whine to:</b> With no commander, you don't have a focus for complaints. No magical nano-force is going to drop a HMG, HA, and JP on your head. No Med-Packs will save your bacon. You have to learn where your Gorges built Defensive Towers to heal or Offensive Towers to hide behind. Because of this, you'll learn a) begging for stuff is for the elite (who have a claim to the stuff they're asking for) or the lame (who use the stuff as a crutch) and b) the maps... which leads me to the next point.
<!--emo&::skulk::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/skulk.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='skulk.gif'><!--endemo--> <b>Learn the maps:</b> Aliens have hive sight at all times. You see glowing white blobs where your buddies and (this is key) all three Hive locations are. Parasited Marines glow yellow and your things under attack glow red. Using these you can navigate to all the important points on the map, given some time. Climb the walls (skulks do this), slip through vents, explore every which way you can. Learn how to reach every hive from every possible approach. Find where the Marines start and run the paths around it. Memorize them because, once you've got a clue you'll need to protect yourself from aliens attacking from those spaces.
<!--emo&::asrifle::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/asrifle.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='asrifle.gif'><!--endemo--> <b>Watch the Marines:</b> You can hear them stomping around from a mile away. Follow them (from the shadows) and watch what they do. If they never offer you an opening to go in chomping, remember what they did. Did one of them cover someone while they're building? Was someone watching the rear and keeping an eye on the vents? That's the kind of stuff you'll want to do when you're a green two-legged hairless ape. If they all turn their backs to you, though... remember that while you feast on their remains. Even a group of 4 will fall down easy if they turn their backs to you. It's hard to see that as a Marine... especially with the shouts of "OMFG, you got lucky" and "WTF, h4x!" misdirecting your reasoning.
<!--emo&::skulk::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/skulk.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='skulk.gif'><!--endemo--> <b>Everything you need to know...:</b> You can learn as a Skulk. Learn how the "special" menu works. Learn the basics of the alien tech tree (like cloaking, silence, and regeneration). Experience the unlimited potential of every map (no area is inaccessible). How good teams of Marines can stop you cold and how bad teams died horribly before you.
<!--emo&::asrifle::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/asrifle.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='asrifle.gif'><!--endemo--> <b>The advanced class:</b> Once you've played a map a few times and have a good idea about how it's laid out, try joining the Marines. For starters, on public servers, it's HARDER. Your commander will probably be fairly green. He'll also have some teammates who are known quantities (ie. this guy's good, he gets orders and goodies). People will oftentimes fight over who gets to be commander (never good) and the team suffers for it. It's an entirely different game on the human team. Stick together, listen to your commander, and always check your corners and you may get to experience the best sensation in the game: a Frontiersman victory. Remember to do everything the Marines you couldn't kill before did and don't pester your commander like those other yahoos in the spawn. Follow that guy you keep on seeing rack up the kills and cover his back.
<!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='tounge.gif'><!--endemo--> Well, that's it. Keep in mind, this is how I learned to play before finding these boards. I am not capable of being a good Gorge or Commander yet but I'll leave that to the experts. I love the game and hope this guide helps anyone who's run into the public server Marine problem (green commanders, know-it-all soldiers, and the occasional lamer). Their alien counterparts (green gorges, know-it-all skulks/lerks/fades/onos, and the occasional lamer) normally only shout at Gorges leaving you to enjoy the game and get better at playing it.
I play on any server with 20+ (with the exception of ShreveNet's server... weighing in at 18). Thanks for your attention and I welcome comments since this is my first post.
Comments
I would say the best sensation in the game is a Frontiersmen victory when you sit in the command console <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->
Well, since the life of every game springs from its new players, I thought I'd write up a general guide to avoid the above trouble. It's a guide for newbies like me who want to enjoy this innovative blend of RTS and FPS and don't have the time to join a clan or get into the culture.
Someday I'll lead my team to victory... but until then I'll do what I can to be my team's Sidekick!
Texas Ranger
A marine would take forever to scope out a vent, assuming no one bites his head. And you can do ok as a loner, or just simply follow the hive sight around. Sure it wont be a straight line to the hive in sight, but you got an idea. And im already good at chewing up ha marines, leaping around, etc.
And I prefer skulk and occasionally a lerk.
and yes, marines is alot harder. Slow movement, worry of ammo, needing to know how to get to a waypoint fast, etc.
Only today I wont my first marine game. But see, now I knew where the vents were and were able to kill alot of skulks before they fell on me.
Actually one of the best I have ever read on these forums!
Hehe... I tried to write up a beginners guide meself, but it
didn't turn out very well. <!--emo&???--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/confused.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='confused.gif'><!--endemo-->
I'm glad there are so many folks around that do better than me. <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->