An Amazing Game I'd Like To Share
Vimstl
Join Date: 2002-11-28 Member: 10145Members
<div class="IPBDescription">"Everybody Fights, Nobody Quits"</div> I was playing on the "Starnova Troopers" server yesterday, and witnessed an unbelievable testament to the "never surrender" strategy. We were playing as the marines, and our Cdr was moving us up the tech tree pretty well. We had one hive, and were battling fades and lerks. Just as we were getting HA and HMGs, a fade managed to take out our Command Chair. Simultaneously, the aliens got the third hive.
I know what you are thinking: 3 hives, no command chair - we're doomed. The interesting thing is NOBODY QUIT! We just ganged up in a group of 5 or 6, and went beserk. The firepower of half a dozen marines with LMGs (they were fully upgraded, mind you) was quite a sight. We could not build anything, and couldn't buy any weapons, so it was a spawn gear rumble. The important thing was that as guys died (and we died a lot), they got back into action as soon as possible. We had to take out several walls of lame, but over the next hour or more we gradually fought back (we actually killed several ONOS along the way.) We would capture a hive, and then lose it when we went on to the next one. But gradually, we wore the critters down, and much to my amazement, won the game. I hasten to point out that the aliens were not a bunch of lamers - after all, they managed to get all three hives and take out our CC before we went psycho.
The lesson in this is, whether you are alien or marine, never give up. It is interesting to note that when you can't buy or build anything, guys don't stand around whining for a shotty or seige cannon. They just spray and pray.
If any other participants from this battle royale are around, I would love to hear your take on it.
Good hunting
I know what you are thinking: 3 hives, no command chair - we're doomed. The interesting thing is NOBODY QUIT! We just ganged up in a group of 5 or 6, and went beserk. The firepower of half a dozen marines with LMGs (they were fully upgraded, mind you) was quite a sight. We could not build anything, and couldn't buy any weapons, so it was a spawn gear rumble. The important thing was that as guys died (and we died a lot), they got back into action as soon as possible. We had to take out several walls of lame, but over the next hour or more we gradually fought back (we actually killed several ONOS along the way.) We would capture a hive, and then lose it when we went on to the next one. But gradually, we wore the critters down, and much to my amazement, won the game. I hasten to point out that the aliens were not a bunch of lamers - after all, they managed to get all three hives and take out our CC before we went psycho.
The lesson in this is, whether you are alien or marine, never give up. It is interesting to note that when you can't buy or build anything, guys don't stand around whining for a shotty or seige cannon. They just spray and pray.
If any other participants from this battle royale are around, I would love to hear your take on it.
Good hunting
Comments
Half the aliens would just kill the ones running around and the other half destroy the remaining inf. portals.
Or even easier, all teh aliens could just trash the remaining inf. portals and then take their time hunting down the marines who have run out of ammo and are trying to kill aliens with their knives.
Congratulations to you in winning but don't think it anything other than pure luck and obvious brain-deadness ( whether through being afk / or being terminally stupid ) on the behalf of the aliens.
-Krispy Kreme <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->
There I am! --> <!--emo&::skulk::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/skulk.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='skulk.gif'><!--endemo-->
I once played a game on Bast where we were confined to nothing but the marine start, but held off "3 hive" aliens for over an hour (though we still had our CC). The marines eventually quit because they just got tired and really didn't have a chance of winning. But honestly? It just came down to mental toughness. Several of the aliens quit before it was over simply because they were frustrated by going to Onos only to get crushed when they entered our base (fully upgraded HMG toting Jetpackers... mmmm... tasty). I would venture would could have held out almost indefinately IF we would have wanted to. But we really couldn't win, we could only prolong the game. Now, whether this is a good thing or not... that's a dev call (or more likely a map issue).
Bunch of **obscenity** of Aliens after that one i tell you <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->
Its one in a million, but still... Never give up.
Edit: As far as the CC thing....I think that marines feel as if its a "last ditch effort" sort of thing, where they get a chance to band together and go down in a blaze of glory. Whereas if they have a cc, the commander is giving too ambitious orders so much that marines lose motivation. If the marines feel as if the commander is really supporting them, they are truly motivated, but when things start going wrong and your waypoints are further away through walls of lame, motivation is lost.
Time for another Wubba#3 Movie Quote! This time from "Fight Club":
"It's only after you've lost everything that you're free to do anything."
If you stop whining for guns and actually start doing stuff, you'll get more accomplished.
Plus, there's the Doc Holiday effect: once you stop worrying about dying and losing your HMG (and you remember that there won't be any waiting for weapons once you come back) then you lose value for your own life and you're more likely to do crazy but heroic things that a working sense of self-preservation would usually prevent.
If your respawn is free (read: no additional equipment coming), then you may as well die fifty times if you can, through it, inflict some damage on enemies that are spending 50 resources every time they go Fade and get their three upgrades.
Vimstl already stated specifically that the aliens knew what they were doing, and you ignored him and said "Well, the only reason you won was because the aliens sucked". Shut up. If they secured all three hives and took out the CC, they must have been doing something right.
I think there are two important lessons to take away from this - one, never give up. Even if you're outnumbered ten to seven, they're banging on your door and ready to burst in, you should always fight to the bitter end. I've actually been cursed at by my teammates for not going to the Ready Room so that they could get a new start. Forget that. I figure, if I'm gonna die, I may as well take one in the chest rather than in the back of the head.
I'd like to quote "Alien 3":
"We all gotta go sometime. The only choice you get is how you check out. Do you want it on your feet, or do you want it on your knees, begging? I ain't much for begging."
Fight until the end. You might win. Even if you lose, it's better to take with you the satisfaction of having a good fight, and taking a few enemies down with you. Don't make it easy for your enemies.
The second lesson to take here is that even if you think you have your opponents on the ropes, don't go easy on them. If you're the aliens, make sure you get those infantry portals when you take out their CC. If you're the humans, even if they're down to their last hive, make sure you get those resource towers so their gorges can't fortify their last position.
There is always something you can do to turn a game around. If you don't believe it, look at Vimstl's game. Maybe the Aliens got lazy. Maybe the Marines were just skilled with using their spawn-equipment. Maybe the hand of God intervened. Who knows? The point is, a Marine team with no commander come back and defeated a three-hive Alien team. It happens.
This works both ways. Even if you're secure in your superiority and you've occupied most of the map, a couple of sneaky Skulks can get your base's turret factory. A clever Marine can go vent-spelunking with a jetpack and pick off a hive or two before you can respond. It happens.
To summarize all of this, I give you these two lessons:
1. Never give up.
2. Never get lazy.
ns_hera was the map. I managed to get myself and another Fade into the vent that leads straight into the marine main base.
We had two hives as this point, with the third one not far off. We were pushing the marines back on all sides.
Anyway, we picked our moment, ran into the base and took out the commanders chair. We were killed by respawning marines before we could destroy anything else.
15 minutes later, we lost. Dont ask me how. As soon as the marines realised they could no longer build anything, they went berserk and steamrolled anything and everything in their path.
It's an important lesson to learn for new marines, and for Aliens alike. Never stop attacking. Give your enemy an inch, and he'll take it a mile.
Sun Tzu writes about something like this in The art of war. You should allways leave the enemy an opening to flee. An enemy surrounded on all sides may fight to the end where other would have fled or given up.
By taking out the CC you deprive them of any choice but to work as a team. When thrown from the nest some will soar other will chrash (f4) <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->
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BTW... this is a game...
3 hives would pump out an alien every 10/3 = 3.3 seconds...
Assuming 8 aliens...
3.3 * 8 = 26.4 seconds 'time for entire team to respawn'
26.4 - 10 = 16.4 seconds 'time that a slot for a new respawn would open' aka 'optimal 3-hive chain-spawning lifetime'
If a skulk could reach your base in <=16.4 seconds, then your base would be xenocided every 3.3 seconds, indefinitely.
If it takes 20 seconds, then you would have a 4 second 'gap' roughly every 30 seconds with no xenocide, and so on...
I don't think a marine team could hope to beat that.
Me and a buddy with grenade launchers <!--emo&:0--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/wow.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='wow.gif'><!--endemo--> = we'd be laughing <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' valign='absmiddle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->