Strategy

neag · February 2002

I'm making this a separate topic.

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I just thougth Id better post how I think NS is going to be played because Im using this understand to design my map - and if im wrong I'd have to change stuff( better now than latter ).
This is considering the perfect case - how I would like people to play.
I would imagin that most commanders will try to do the following. Quickly locate the nearest hive by seeing which root the aliens attack them from. At this time the marines are defending the commander/spawn area as a tight knite group. once the command thinks he is certain of the first hives location he will send perhaps 75% of his squad forward quickly to build a forward base near the hive but in an "easly" defended room. Then if hes certain that this is the location of the hive ( He may send forward a scout or two ) he'll build up this defencive position - turrets, welded doors, a slip gate? etc. now he moves his last men to cover any roit between him and the forward base. Once this is done hes in a good position to start attacking the hive so he sets up a relay with 80% troups attacking the hive will 20% return to the forward base to get patched up. Once the hive is distroyed the commander will get his squade ready to flush the remaining aliens out of the pipe work - he fits up 6 or so marines with heavy weapons and sends them in pairs in to the vents, mean while he positions his lighter armed men at the end of each tunnel ready to bag 'em and tag 'em. The commander then recalls his men befor the next hive spawns( that is how is works right? )
Ok the aliens are compleatly different, alway opertunistic and ready to jump you at the slightest weekness in your defences. The aliens will try and position them themselves in rooms in such a way that they can rush the marines causing heavy damage and stressing the commander( cool! ), because the commander cant keep up with there attacks are service his marines he make mistakes and his marines start to make lose confidence in him ( awsome! ). The lighter classes will try and stay out of the serius fighting later in the map but instead act as scouts to spot vunerable marines and coordinate rush attacks. The lighter classes try to pull stupid marines after them, ofcourse them out run them and lead them directly into a room with 3 class 5s ( Arrrrh mummy! ). Should the unthinkable happen and the marrines kill the hive the heavyer classes will try to hide and wait to attack when the commander has split his squade up to search the vents. The lighter classes will try to out run the marines as much as possible and get them lost in the vents( scarry noise making would be a good alien skill ) or try and rush the commander.

Ok thats how I imagin it in breaf what do people think?

--edited for gibberish--

by Mu_
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I think there will be many Different strategies by both ides.

Here are some examples I can think of right now.
Early strategies for marines:
1 Defend the base until you know what hive the aliens are coming from
2 Split your marines in four groups and send three out to scout, one to each hive.
3 Send 50% of your marines to one of the hive point and hope the hive is there. If not build a turret there and precede to next hive spot.

Early strategies for aliens:
a Rush to try to get an early victory. (Bad against 1)
b Spread out and lay out ambushes all over the map. (To bye time to get more hives). (Good against 1 & 2)
c Delay attack a little to get in position and attack from all routs att once. (Good against 1)
d fortify the hive and wait fore more hives.

Now I command you to post your ideas for strategies and poke holes in my.
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Yer neag those are fantastic. I definatly didn't think of 3 - very cleaver but I dont like the idea, seems a bit unfair, I'll make sure that the marines cant place a gun to cover enough of the hive room(what you think?). Also C I hadn't considered so I'll try to plan more conduits for the aliens to travel between areas secretly.
I think its very important to have some idea of what players will want to do when designing a map and accomodate those wants. So Why are more mappers in this thread? I dont know maybe they've got it all figured out but I'd appreciate any pearly of stratergy people are willing to dispence.
by Bu_
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I don't tink a single turret will kill a hive so fast a bob won't have time to spawn and kill it. But it will give a warring that the aliens have a new hive there.

Now pleas post here.

Comprox · February 2002

Ok, now to really answer the post, just had to beat Interfector, he was bragging in IRC he was going to be first <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':D'>

Well, you are actng like the marines won't die, they will obviously TRY and do what you said of killing one hive. But a good map would have a straight route to the marine base, and 1 or 2 longer ones. That means the marines would have to setup 3 forward defense stations and could be easily attacked fom behind when a new hive came online. The aliens can easily sneak along the roof in the dark (Bob! ) or crush a few marines with a charging level 5 alien. Then you also have the problem of people not doing what the commander asks them to do. He wants Player to go here, but Player thinks he is better over there. This insures that each game is different, and not just a kill fest for the marines. The aliens can also build turrets for defense and spin webs. They do have extra's like that to help them out, not just their claws

Now for the first strategy (1,2,3,4). That would be great if it all worked out. But say one group finds the correct hive. They get mauled by the hords of aliens there. Then the aliens rush the marines base with 1/2 their forces and could over-run the 1/4 of the marines army there (but they would have defenses of course). It could turn out many other ways, strategy is good, until it doesn't work <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>

Finally, for your aliens startegy, it works out in theory. But once again, if the aliens all rush, and the marines are camping at base with 2 turrets, they would get mauled. The marines could also in turn rush, and you both run by each other down different hallways, you kill their command station, and they kill a hive. Now what?

I guess you can say, everyone will have their own stratagy, and some will work better than others. But there is always the times where the opponent does the unexpected or magicaly kills 5 marines with one Bob. That's the whole fun in gaming, you can never predict what will happen next.

pielemuis · February 2002

Good point you got there Comprox!
But what do the other think about it?
Let's hear your opinion and post away!

Greedo · February 2002

I think the best marine strategy will be defend and advance. First step is to defend the command station. Make sure that the marines will be able to arrive there at least 10 seconds before the aliens. This way, the commander has enough time to place a sentry and have it at least under construction before a rushing alien squad can attack. Then, the marines will slowly expand out into the base. Maybe they could split up into 2 or 3 groups of 3 or 4 men each. One group stays behind to guard the command center, one group goes out in one direction, and the other group goes out in another direction. When the squads advance, it'll be in a somewhat leapfrog manner. Make sure there's some cover that they can get behind as they make their way up. There must always be some kind of cover for the marines to duck behind in a heavy battle area.

The best alien strategy will be to hide and wait. Crawlers need little nooks and other places where they can camp out advancing marines. Since the crawlers can wall climb, these hiding places can be anywhere, as long as the marines would not be able to make out the alien with a quick glance. Builders need winding corridors where the marine can't see what's coming up in front of them to lay their webs. They also need areas where a turret would work. Gliders need places near the cieling where they can perch, waiting to swoop down on a marine. Also, make sure that there is enough ceiling height to make the glider a worthwhile evolution choice (if you don't, I'll be mad at your map <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':p'>). The blinker just needs some long stretches where he can teledash up the hall towards the marines. The fat momma needs open areas that aren't obscured by debris so that it can maneuver easily. As long as there are heavy action places it can charge, it'll be fine. The aliens will benefit greatly from darkness. The crawler and glider can hide in the dark waiting to attack. The builder can lay its webs and turrets in the dark, making them harder to see.

Heavy battle areas will be the areas about halfway between the hive and the command center. "About" because it might be a bit on the marine side, since they will be held back for a short while while they beef up their homeland security. These areas should be sparing in polys while not sparing in detail. They should feature lighting contrasts, where some areas are relatively beright while others are relatively dark. They should have sufficient cover, in the form of crates if you must, but something more interesting than crates would definitely be better. There should be different levels of combat, but make sure not to go level over level. There should be many different vent type passages for the aliens to use at their discretion. The vents should generally provide some kind of benefit other than a quicker route, i.e. emerge at a point where marines can be easily ambushed.

I think I may have started diverging a bit near the end there, and I'm sure I must have left some stuff out.

pielemuis · February 2002

I don't think you can have a fix set op strategies, i think it'll depend on the map you're playing on.

Muu · February 2002

Hehe Greedo that's cool, I think I'll make my higher ceilings slightly darker. Im working on a dnning room with booths for that first fighting area (no crates <img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'> ). I think Ive got everything else covered but Ill definatly take anouther look at long coridors and places for the builder to lay webs.
InterFect0r of course there is no fixed stratergy but because people are still designing their maps we need a good idea of stratergy. I could make a map in 2 days ("NS_CRATESFULLBRIGHT") but it wouldn't alow for much stratergy.

Strategy

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