Commanding...

Junp · February 2003

<div class="IPBDescription">how?</div> I want to learn how to command well. I have just started getting into NS(finaly got it working) and I love commanding...a lot. Thing is..many of my fellow marines tell me that I..well....suck <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/confused.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='confused.gif'>. So, I want to learn how to command well...are there any clans out there than can teach me how to command? Or, any guides that have it written down? If so, please post it...I want to be one hell of a commander..in a good way <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'>

FlatlineUTD · February 2003

</span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Giot @ Feb 2 2003, 04:04 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> yea, question about the lans guys, for some reason when I tried to start one, my maps list werent ns maps. any ideas?

also I noticed that most pubbers are more than happy to let someone comm if you A) ask B) tell them you suck/are new ahead before they find out for themselves. Just tell them you are starting out and they should be helpfull, though you will probubly get yelled at. (if its me doing the yelling, just ignore it, I play this game alot and people that havent found these forums yet **** me off, and the caffeine doesnt help)  </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'> 
The default shortcut that NS gives you doesn't seem to work. Make a new HL shortcut and add "-game ns -console" (without the quotes) to the command line after the HL location. This has fixed the problem for everyone I know.

Giot · February 2003

yeay, it works. Thx a bunch

Renmauzo · February 2003

Some of your marines know the strategies pretty well.. You can tell this easily.. Usually the good marines are the ones that travel in groups and never beg for shot guns.. They'll give you helpful hints like upgrade motion tracking early and arm's lab.

Also, space bar and motion tracking are your best friends!!! You need to keep track where the red dots are going in the mini map and rally the marines before the skulks are biting down your phase gate or infantry portal.

Giot · February 2003

comming is alot of leadership. There are various guides in this forum, but alot of it is experiance. However learning in pubs can be a **** because of the n00bness of pubbers out there that havent found these forums yet. Just try it out, play around with different stratagies, and most of all, have fun with it

Drakon · February 2003

I agree entirely with Giot. But commanding well takes a lot of practice. My advice to you would be to download a bot for NS. (Rocket Crow is a good one.) The link is pinned in the general discussion forums. Commanding with bots can be a good way to gain experience. Commanding with bots will also help you familiarize yourself with the maps.

FlatlineUTD · February 2003

Your best bet is to download a bot, start a LAN game, and turn on cheats. You'll be able to get the feel of the tech tree and stuff that way.

But, you need experience to become a good commander. Join a game, and see if they'll let you command for the first ten minutes or so, or ask if you can command once the marines have pretty much guaranteed themselves a win or a loss. By doing this, you'll be able to see what you need to do when it comes to giving orders, teching up, or giving out equipment.

Eventually, you should get to the point where you can handle a small team from start to finish. Once the marine team gets to be over 9 or 10 people though - then things get really tough. I've been comming since day 1, and I'm still not great at large teams yet. Preferably, you're going to want to stick to commanding 6 or 7 guys at a time.

There are a ton of threads floating around here with little tips and tricks, but I'm tired, so I'll let you find those on your own. <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif'>

Giot · February 2003

yea, question about the lans guys, for some reason when I tried to start one, my maps list werent ns maps. any ideas?

also I noticed that most pubbers are more than happy to let someone comm if you A) ask B) tell them you suck/are new ahead before they find out for themselves. Just tell them you are starting out and they should be helpfull, though you will probubly get yelled at. (if its me doing the yelling, just ignore it, I play this game alot and people that havent found these forums yet **** me off, and the caffeine doesnt help)

Typhon · February 2003

Best way to learn how to command is to NOT command for atleast a week. Just play marines a lot. You'll learn what build orders work, which dont, etc. You'll also begin to see the difference in attitude between good and bad commanders. Also, you HAVE to have an excellent understanding of the map, which can only be learned by running around it for hours.

So i'd reccommend just playing marine for atleast a week. then think about commanding.

My first two times commanding i won. That was because they were on maps i was comfortable with (as both marine AND alien), and i had been playing the game for over a month already without trying comm once.

FlatlineUTD · February 2003

</span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Typhon @ Feb 2 2003, 04:45 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> Best way to learn how to command is to NOT command for atleast a week. Just play marines a lot. You'll learn what build orders work, which dont, etc. You'll also begin to see the difference in attitude between good and bad commanders. Also, you HAVE to have an excellent understanding of the map, which can only be learned by running around it for hours.

So i'd reccommend just playing marine for atleast a week. then think about commanding.

My first two times commanding i won. That was because they were on maps i was comfortable with (as both marine AND alien), and i had been playing the game for over a month already without trying comm once.  </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'> 
Play marines for a week, then play aliens for TWO weeks. You'll learn the even better, and get an idea of what you'll be up against.

statusq · February 2003

I found out that commanding bots can be fun also.
When I test my maps, I set bot_wait_for_order 1, and they won't do anything unless told so.
It is almost like a "real" strategy game.

Obliterater · February 2003

The best way to learn is to watch a good comm work, as a Marine. Do what he does, and learn how to do it quickly and efficiently.

CrazedMonkOnaMission · February 2003

if you comm and your not experienced, try to listen to the ideas of your marines (since many of them can comm also). I really don't care if the comm sucks, but if he doesn't know what to do, and doesn't listen to anyone, then the complaints start flying.

Tempus · February 2003

The way I got started was by just jumping in when the game was hopeless. Often, the commander who got the marines into that mess in the first place will quit commanding, so you can just jump in and nobody will really care how you do at that point. <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif'>

Kid-A · February 2003

I think the most important comm qualities are:
-Knowledge of stratergies, a comm that builds the wrong things first does alot of damage. You can learn this without comming just reading the forums. Also knowing the maps is essential. You need to know where to good points are and the best way to secure them.

-Speed, ok the interface is pretty sucky but it does work (unless it breaks) so learn to use it. A fast comm can place stuff very quickly. This is can be learnt via bots etc.

-Placement, A good comm places things where they have maximum effect. This you can learn by playing marine a bit, but you get some unique lessons as a comm.

The fastest way to learn is playing on servers. Bots are simply too poor as oppostion, esp as aliens. They'll never put a offense chamber on your phase gate, but humans sure will. So you can learn from bots it's just slower.

Comming is probably the most stressful role in the game, but winning as the comm is better than winning as anything else.

V_MAN · February 2003

Play as marines for a bit: To see how commanders do things.

Learn the maps: So you know know where the hives, resnodes and choke points are.

Learn the tech tree: So you can upgrade things <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'>

Bind medpacks, ammo ans scanner sweeps to a key: For medpack spammage which can turn a battle in your favour.

Most of all experience is the important thing even if you lose as a commander you will learn something, a lot of the best strategies I have learned came about in the heat of a massive fight where I had to think on the fly like, building something on that damn Onos to keep him still or to block a Fade's exit in a vent with comm chairs so my marines could kill him.

Bullshi**ing is a good strategy as well I have seen many Fades go down when I lied to my marines and told them "his health is in the red kill him" when it was infact in the green. Marines are more likely to rush a Fade if they think they can kill it.

Voice comms as well is very useful if you can actualy talk to your marines it speeds things up a lot even if they can't talk back they can hear you. On the server I play on if a marines says over the voice comms "I need a med pack in the room with things" I know where he is and will give him a medpack. That is where knowing the maps can come in handy.

Gargamel · February 2003

</span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (V-MAN @ Feb 3 2003, 09:02 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> Bullshi**ing is a good strategy as well I have seen many Fades go down when I lied to my marines and told them "his health is in the red kill him" when it was infact in the green. Marines are more likely to rush a Fade if they think they can kill it.  </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'> 
ROFL n1 <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'>

GUTB · February 2003

Sigh.

A good comm is a comm who knows how to navigate the menu quickly, and how to tech and drop equipment. That's it. If you the comm can't handle any of this, the marines always lose.

V_MAN · February 2003

</span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (GUTB @ Feb 4 2003, 10:44 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> Sigh.

A good comm is a comm who knows how to navigate the menu quickly, and how to tech and drop equipment. That's it. If you the comm can't handle any of this, the marines always lose.  </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'> 
Hmm you obviously haven't commanded much going on that statement.

J2pc · February 2003

it's him again the all knowing GUTB with his fine
<img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/asrifle.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='asrifle.gif'> <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/asrifle.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='asrifle.gif'> Real strategy guide <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif'> <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/confused.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='confused.gif'> <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif'> <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/confused.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='confused.gif'> <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif'>

Junp · February 2003

Thank you ***all*** for your advice. I have become a much better comm ( i think) after following a lot of advice. I still need to get a mic and stuff but that's not much. A few problems I have run into though...hopefully you can all help me out again <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'>

1) I seem to be a bit slow, I can grab the 1st hive off the bat and usually the 2nd hive.....but im always slow around to killing the 3rd hive. Sometimes I lose the 2nd hive because of constant skulk/lurk rushes and losing a PG here or a TF there. What's the best way to end a situation like that quickly?

2) Lurks... <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/mad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='mad.gif'> I put up many SGs and position them well for no blind spots and stuff, but theres always that one d@mn lerk that shoots from a vent, what's the best way to stop lurks?

There are a bunch more thing that I need to work on but a lot of it has to do with the marines themselves. Not following WPs...demanding a shotty and welder......etc etc etc. But the two questions I have now seem to be the game itself. Hope you all can help me(I know im not the best writer <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif'> )

Junp · February 2003

Let me try to say #1 a little better...

Usually when I comm, I can grab the first hive quickly...and usually the 2nd hive. But, when it comes time to take the 3rd hive...I dont do it very quickly..I'm slow. Normally this would not be a problem, the thing is... that sometimes I lose a hive because of skulks and lurks rushing over and over and over. So my question is, after getting 2 hives...what is the quickest (and safe) way to eliminate the 3rd hive?

Hope thats more clear

Junp · February 2003

Some Help? <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/confused.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='confused.gif'>

Junp · February 2003

My question isnt that stupid is it?

sej · February 2003

NS_eclipse:

Tell all marines but 1/2 to go and attack the only alien hive.

Get one marine to build some res nodes whilst you keep lots and lots of pressure on alien hive (i.e. they just spawn, team up, run to hive, shoot it a bit, die, spawn,team up , run to hive, shoot , die etc)

Tech up to jetpack hmgs ( drop mines to protect your own buildings, but do not at any point spend resources on turrets. Do not bother spending res on defence of resource towers - the attack on hive should be sufficient to distract aliens.)

Give 3 jetpack hmgs out, tell them to go kill the hive.

Game over. (Assuming the skill level is even, and you have at least one person who can jetpack hmg)

Something really has to be done about this tactic, because other variants of its also work on other maps.

Commanding...

Comments