Motion Tracking Is God
Rolling_Rock
Join Date: 2002-11-15 Member: 8677Members
Join Date: 2002-11-15 Member: 8677Members
<div class="IPBDescription">N'uff said.</div> Earlier I had a thread about distress beacon and calling into question the "standard" build order.
I've been playing games with very good commanders who build the observatory first thing and research motion tracking ASAP. What do they sacrifice for this? Turrets.
I know most of you are thinking it's crazy, but right at the very beginning, having motion tracking is a frick'n godsend. Not to mention if even ONE MAN gets to an empty hive, he can plop down a phase gate and the whole team can be there in seconds. Very nice in early walled-off hives like Ventilation on Caged.
If you're a marine on the ground and you know how to read motion tracking, you can learn a lot from it. You know which hive they're at. You know how many are near you. You know if one is moving through a vent, or coming down a main tunnel based on how it moves and how far away it is. It's crazy. It's ESP.
And it keeps you alive. A LOT.
Saving even a couple marine lives in the early game can mean the difference between a successful hive cap, resource cap, or rush defense. Nothing saves their lives better than SHOWING them where the aliens are.
What I like best is watching skulks run around corners, then watching that little blue circle going up the side of the wall and hiding above the archway. I waltz over, spin around and gun them down. They're all like 'wtf!?!?' cuz they don't expect motion tracking so early.
Really screws up their stealth game and gives marines a great advantage.
So for all you commanders and build orders out there.
Motion Tracking is God.
N'uff said.
I've been playing games with very good commanders who build the observatory first thing and research motion tracking ASAP. What do they sacrifice for this? Turrets.
I know most of you are thinking it's crazy, but right at the very beginning, having motion tracking is a frick'n godsend. Not to mention if even ONE MAN gets to an empty hive, he can plop down a phase gate and the whole team can be there in seconds. Very nice in early walled-off hives like Ventilation on Caged.
If you're a marine on the ground and you know how to read motion tracking, you can learn a lot from it. You know which hive they're at. You know how many are near you. You know if one is moving through a vent, or coming down a main tunnel based on how it moves and how far away it is. It's crazy. It's ESP.
And it keeps you alive. A LOT.
Saving even a couple marine lives in the early game can mean the difference between a successful hive cap, resource cap, or rush defense. Nothing saves their lives better than SHOWING them where the aliens are.
What I like best is watching skulks run around corners, then watching that little blue circle going up the side of the wall and hiding above the archway. I waltz over, spin around and gun them down. They're all like 'wtf!?!?' cuz they don't expect motion tracking so early.
Really screws up their stealth game and gives marines a great advantage.
So for all you commanders and build orders out there.
Motion Tracking is God.
N'uff said.
Comments
i think with motion tracking i'll be able to send fewer marines into the hive and leave a mechanic in base to put up 2 turrets after i get a phase gate up.
So highly cool, so highly useful...
*sigh* <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->
<!--emo&::asrifle::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/asrifle.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='asrifle.gif'><!--endemo--> | wall | <!--emo&::skulk::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/skulk.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='skulk.gif'><!--endemo-->
Some people don't seem to know how motion tracking works either, which is too bad. Just the other night there was this huge blue dot around the corner so I backed off and waited for the skulk to come. Well, another player that was with me ran right up to the corner with the blue dot, turned around and stood there looking at me. Out runs the skulk and just before he was about to make a meal out of my newbie teamate I managed to put him down.
Barring an excess of new players though, this IS the way to go. You will live much longer when you can see those pretty blue dots.
I've never tried it, but this also might be good for early hive rushes (obs first I mean). When you are ready, rush the aliens main hive. If the **obscenity** hits the fan, use beacon to get your marines back into action. Then you could either back off, or send them in again. Gives you a kind of safety net if your plan fails.
Flatline... use this and tell me how it works. <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->
I've never tried it, but this also might be good for early hive rushes (obs first I mean). Research distress beacon and when you are ready, rush the aliens main hive. If the **obscenity** hits the fan, use beacon to get your marines back into action.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Just a little nitpick-- you don't have to research distress beacon. It comes with the Observatory. Just press the button once and you get the effects.
The only reason it isn't used more is that it seems to be non-functional in about 90% of all games I've played since 1.02. I don't know if it is because it's disabled by server admins, or if it is a bug.
Now, I don't know. I think it is just too good. Apart from it being God in its own right, it also wipes out the last vestiges of usefulness of the sensor chamber upgrade, as cloaking becomes about 90% useless. At least the range should be cut dramatically - to about siege turret range, actually. Then it wouldn't be the no-brainer upgrade it is now.
Thanks for the tip.
if that's the case then early game motion tracking would be huge advantage
If you have a handle that the above conditions can be met, you can really use it to clean up. Motion tracking with marines can really be effective against skulks. Using a combination of motion tracking and distress beacon, you can do a very death-heavy rush and grab some resource nodes. Then with phase gates you can capalize on the alien's inability to respawn quickly and hone in on their hive. After the hive is gone, the aliens are done. At the movement, if you do it quick enough, the aliens won't have time enough to save up for a second hive before they automatically die.
Warning: Marines with talent needed not to get owned
Like I said, I never tried it <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='tounge.gif'><!--endemo--> . I'll fix that though, thanks.
Observatories also let you build phase gates, which you will need sooner or later.
<!--QuoteBegin--GreyPaws+Nov 30 2002, 08:38 PM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (GreyPaws @ Nov 30 2002, 08:38 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->
The reason I bring this up is because I build an arms lab after two (or one if I have real good marines) inf portals and armory.<b>[...]</b>I find after about 10 mins I can fairly easily have 2-3 resc points (depends on map) a hive, lvl 2 armor and weaps (sometimes lvl 3 if aliens arn't together) and enough to build observitory and get MT. It works for me.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Hmm, interesting. I'll have to try that in my next game.
That is if you have marines who are smarter than a rock, and can aim well enough to be able to hit a wall two feet away, but that is usually not the case.
In the hands of a decent-good player though, marines turn into killing machines with motion tracking.
You can go to new heights of alien containment by going gorge assassin. (sp?)
This is useful for determining if the aliens are building a hive. But if there's a lot of activity in there, it can be hard to be certain. Usually if you move around the area, and if you know where the hive *should* be, then you can pick out which circle is a hive, or if it is there at all - without needing to go in.
Then there's the really easy way to determine: the commander spends 1 resource point and does an observatory scan of the room. Not many do that, but it shows the commander the entire room as if a marine was inside, including all aliens and structures present, cloaked or no.
Regarding cloaking....
MT does not make cloaking useless - far from it. Aliens that do not move do not show up on MT. Likewise, aliens with cloaking that do not move become invisible. So you are cloaked both to MT and to the naked eye.
However, if you move....a marine good with MT might be able to pick out with good accuracy your general location. A few quick bursts with a LMG will be able to find you. Just look for the blood spray.
But if the marines weren't paying attention to MT, or don't know how to use it that well, or didn't get a good idea of where you are, cloaking can save yer butt.
The latter happens to me all the time. I see cloakers, I KNOW they are there, but I don't know their position precisely enough to shoot them. I'm not going to waste too much ammo randomly spraying trying to find them - if I spray too much, cloaker gets me when I'm reloading.
Just don't do stupid things if you know they have MT - i.e. dont run from a marine, then run up on top of a doorway. He'll see you doing that on MT, and the hunter becomes the hunted.
As a commander I usually go for motion tracking first, but since it seems to be bugged, I tend to go for the arms lab. If it works, it really gives you a huge advantage as a marine, especially in the pre fade part of the game.
Prota
P.S. - I hate you Rolling Rock, you kill me too fast. <!--emo&:(--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/sad.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='sad.gif'><!--endemo-->