Tips for Multiplayer

[Uber Schwarz]

Would anyone want to provide me with some tips for multiplayer?

[DFStormbringer]

versus the cpu or another human??
with bases or without?
teams alowed or free for all?

believe it or not.. all 3 questions depending on how they are answer change the gameplay completely.. and each requires a totally different strategy.

vs humans.. never played vs a human before.
vs cpu.. i suguest SK rush 2.. its a 4 player map that offers a few more resources then the origional sk rush.  make sure to have alliances turned OFF

starting out IMMEDIATLY build a factory.. then a research building wiht both your trucks.. as soon as the factory is built.. throw out 4 more trucks.. as soon as the research building is done..  build a power generator and your 4 derrics int eh base as well as your HQ... with only ONE of your first 2 trucks.. as soon as that research building is done.. research the MG.. and its tower.. and send your truck out to capture more derrics.. placing 2 towers at each derric you come across.  theres 8 in a large circle formation about the entire map with a base at the 2, 5 ,7 , and 10 positions.. youl get 3 hopefully before the truck dies

once you have towers.. place 3-4 on your entrance ramp to your base till you get the truck upgrade, then the hardcrete wall then the MG bunker researched.. these will replace your towers.

with your 4 new trucks that should be out by now.. keep 2 at the base for defence and send the other 2 out to upgrade your oil derrics wiht 2-4 mg bunkers around each derric and try to capture a few more.

the 2 trucks back at the base should add a second research center.. but keep it at 2 for now.. focusing your research only on mashiene gun upgrades. .your hardcrete and base structures.. vehicle upgrades and the research node itself.

make a line closing off the ramp into your base by making eiher a straight line that cannot be crossed.. blocking you in and them out.. or in a V formation using a checkerboard patter that allows your vehicles to squeeze through.. but allows theirs through as well.. but a V formation does enough damage for now to keep them out.

focus on getting the oil derrics.. placing bunkers around them.. and gathering more and more resources..  youll need a power factory for every 4 derrics.. so add as needed.. and researchig the engine for your cars unlocks the power upgrade tech tree.. but your researching  car upgrades any way so your trucks last longer so think of the power upgrades research as a priority.

hardcreete upgrades come from the truck build upgrades which comes from the research node upgrades.

feel free to research into the rocket tech to get tot eh lancers and the lancer bunker as they do some nice damage compared to the MG bunkers. but dont worry about  upgrading to tank killer rockets. you wont need them.
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the reason for only 2 research places is it balances your resources between upgrades.. and building the bunkers till you get more resources comming in then going out.. then you can add another research building up to 5... but runnoug out of resources is what you have to avoid.

once you get to lancer bunkers.. you should have control of half the map..  it might not seem like much but an enemy vehicle having to cross 3-4 oil derrics with your bunkers defending them will run them to the ground before they can get to your base.

the derrics outside thier front base entrances feel free to add extre firepower to to thrash them as they roll down the ramp.

ONCE you have the derrics  at the front of the 3 enemy bases under control... you can start building bunkers closer to thier base and  go on the offnce with your own defences
if an hour has passed.. you should have auto repair researched from the research node upgrades.. and the flashlight lazer ready for research... research it and the pulse lazer that comes after it..

vs the cpu the pulse lazer is GOD
massive damage.. more damag then any other weapon other then the heavy and plasma lazers.. modest firing rates too.. their ONLY drawback is they dont offer much in the way of hit points for their  emplacements.. and are destroied easily.. so ALWASY places your lazers behind a couple bunkers..  computerws shoot the closest thign to them.. make sure the closest thing is a mg or rotary bunker so it takes the hits while your lazers deal out damage freely.
anotehr drawback to lazers is range... place them on a vtol and that problem is eliminated..  a lowly 10 vtols with pulse lazers will devestate any base.

so you have your choice....  use vtols to finish them off.. or push in using bunkers and hardpoints and take them out using only your trucks.
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this sounds cheasy and tacky.. but  defence is ungodly key in this game.. as well as learning map layouts.. line of sight.. and the tech tree... but most important.. resource management.

4 playerr free for all is just to get you USED to things.... allows you to get the feel for the game and develop your own strategies.. this just gives you the ability to take the time to do that.

8 player free for all on hard mode.. things get interesting.
once you see the enemy using  heavy boddy tanks with large cannons on them.. research the AA guns and  place them in your base.. at least 8.. this includes any foreward bases you should make. as they will be throwing vtols at you soon.
artillery isent much of a problem.. ive never seen more then a couple moarter pits in a single game on the enemys side.

alliances... THIS is where it gets difficult..  on free for all.. everyone shoots at everyone else.. distracting them from you and makes things ALOT easier on you.  when they are allied.. its 7 massive armies vs your tiny defences... and youll QUICKLY find yourself fighting off a nonstop flow of 50+ units.. even on the easier difficulties.. this is brutal and ive yet to manage a decent strategy agsint the nonstop onslaught.. more or less 7 on hard mode.
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bases gives you a very simple base.. main buildings already built..and walls around your area which for open maps like the city scapes can be very helpfull but know the enemy gets the same benefits.

vs humans.. as stated earlier.. never played vs humans.. enjoyed human teams too much.. so i cant offer advice there.

[KBlair]

Very nice post DFStormbringer.

Me, I like to rush. A lot. 3 minutes into the game I'm already building my army of machine gun tanks and setting out to capture some bases. :p

[Terminator]

Rush as for me good too at list for 2.0.x version because if game lasts too long 1-3 hours many units will be & game ussualy dont ends good in that case. Its because of netcode.

[themousemaster]

Very nice post DFStormbringer.

Me, I like to rush. A lot. 3 minutes into the game I'm already building my army of machine gun tanks and setting out to capture some bases. :p

A risky strat, to be sure, especially in a map with chokepoints preventing you from bringing all unit's fire to bear at once.  As with all rush-oriented strats, either you win early, or you lose (or you split your forces all over the map, but that isnt so much a "rush" as an "expansion" strat, but still detrimental to your main base's well-being)


My major advice is:


VS human OR AI (unless you are planning on a massive early rush), is to get enough tech to have the basic weaponry from all 3 long-range trees (MG, cannon, rocket) so that you can put down a bit of each for early defense.  Once said early defence is up, then pick a tree and go straight down it research-wise, while pumping out units from within that tree (as all the follow-up research you do will benefit them).

The reason for the varied opening strat is 2fold:

1)  If your opponents decide to earlyrush you, you will at least have the most basic of all defenses ready to halt them (preventing you from having a lop-sided weakness, like all MG bunkers vs a flamer-rush), and as with all rushes, if you destroy an earlyrush, their economy is scrapped for the long-haul, giving you an advantage.  If they do NOT decide to earlyrush you, having 2-3 each of 3 different bunkers will not destroy your own economy.
2)  As you scout out the enemy (either by finding their base or weathering an early hit), you can figure out what their strategy will be, and you can then continue the tech-line of the best counter to it, which you will already have opened up the major paths of.




Also:

-)  If you aren't running a stringent building limit (like, 2 research facilities max), always have one devoted to infrastructure upgrades (specifically, the Research Module Upgrades and the Power Plant Upgrades).  As all income in this game is acquired over-time, having even a small % increase to that income (both $$$ and research speed) can provide huge benefits in the long haul.
-)  Major Upgrades are usually more effective than MK upgrades, even though the progression cost is somewhat linear in most cases.  Though the only way to learn is via in-game experience, learn where the "economically viable" breakpoints are for the most effective upgrades.  For example:  The difference in cost of upgrading from Hardcrete MK2 to MK3 is about the same as the difference from MK3 to Supercrete, but the effectiveness difference of MK3 -> Super is superior to that of MK2 -> MK3, as well as that of Supercrete -> Supercrete MK2.  So if you want to shore up your defenses survivability, make sure you have enough resources to get to that next plateau rather than piecemeal research (if you don't have the time/facilities to go all the way from Supercrete 1 to Plascrete 1, don't bother with Supercrete 2 yet).  Same goes for any type of weapon upgrade.  HEAT rocket warhead?  Sweet.  HEAT -> HEAT MK2?  meh, only if you are trying to tech to the HESH and/or TK rockets next.




VTOLS:
-)  Don't underestimate VTOLS for base destructive power.  HEAP and Incendiary-type bomb vtols are expensive and move slow, but nothing is better at removing a difficult chokepoint due to their blast radius effect, ESPECIALLY if you get them early.  Even as few as 4 can coat an area with enough damage to put a Python into red health during the game's mid stages, and as chokepoints are notorious for having units clumped together...
-)  After a successful VTOL raid or two, odds are your opponent will have AA defenses up.  At this point, go ahead and regularly have your VTOLS bomb satellite outposts or (especially) non-air defended Oil derrick areas.  You don't even have to kill the defensive structures, just take out the derrick and any lingering-nearby truck to prevent reconstruction.  Economic damage in this game is frighteningly effective.

[Uber Schwarz]

Would the Strategy Guide be of help? If so, I'll buy it for $7.64 online. I wanted something that would tell me what each weapon is good for.

[DFStormbringer]

do NOT buy ANY guide for this game as its contantly being updated and fixed and strategies that worked in version 1.01 will NOT work in this version ad theres been enough changes to fix most the imbalances and critical flaws... do online guides only.. freebies and word of mouth information..

NEVER spend money on something that could be or already is useless outdated info in the next few versions

[cruise]

I am and probably always will be a huge turtle+artillery fan - which might explain why my two favourite games are Warzone and TA, since they both have properly behaving artillery

Failing that I'm a sneaking underhanded %^&$ so GLA stealth general in C&C Generals:Zero Hour is my feared favourite (your vehicles are either hijacked or bomb trucks in disguise, my base could be anywhere and there's suddenly a tonne of soldiers in your base capturing everything in sight).

It's actually the one thing missing in Warzone - stealth units. We already have sensors, how hard could it be?

Anyway, the whole point of that intro was:

1) Oil-well rush. Absolutely essential. The more power, the more you can build or research. Get your trucks out there and building derricks ASAP.

2) Defense. No pointing taking it all if you can't keep it. Machine gun turrets + walls are cheap and amazingly effective early defense, but can be slow - bunkers are better closer to the enemy. Of course, for some people, the best defense is a good offense, so you might want to just spam lots of units instead.

3) Research. Blatant plug: http://casual-tempest.net/projects/wz2100/. Learn the tech-tree (or use my handy-dandy web page) and hit three primary lines: infrastructure upgrades (research and power modules), weapons, base-structure/wall upgrades. Which weapon line you pick is up to you and depends on the map and your enemies tactics, though as I said, I like artillery. Nothing like sitting behind a tonne of walls shelling your enemy while going "Nyah!" The Archangel tree is good too since you end up with all the nice missiles (scourge) on the way.

Also, if you're using units as your defense then switch the structure research for the body improvements, obviously

[themousemaster]

I am and probably always will be a huge turtle+artillery fan - which might explain why my two favourite games are Warzone and TA, since they both have properly behaving artillery

Failing that I'm a sneaking underhanded %^&$ so GLA stealth general in C&C Generals:Zero Hour is my feared favourite (your vehicles are either hijacked or bomb trucks in disguise, my base could be anywhere and there's suddenly a tonne of soldiers in your base capturing everything in sight).

It's actually the one thing missing in Warzone - stealth units. We already have sensors, how hard could it be?

Anyway, the whole point of that intro was:

1) Oil-well rush. Absolutely essential. The more power, the more you can build or research. Get your trucks out there and building derricks ASAP.

2) Defense. No pointing taking it all if you can't keep it. Machine gun turrets + walls are cheap and amazingly effective early defense, but can be slow - bunkers are better closer to the enemy. Of course, for some people, the best defense is a good offense, so you might want to just spam lots of units instead.

3) Research. Blatant plug: http://casual-tempest.net/projects/wz2100/. Learn the tech-tree (or use my handy-dandy web page) and hit three primary lines: infrastructure upgrades (research and power modules), weapons, base-structure/wall upgrades. Which weapon line you pick is up to you and depends on the map and your enemies tactics, though as I said, I like artillery. Nothing like sitting behind a tonne of walls shelling your enemy while going "Nyah!" The Archangel tree is good too since you end up with all the nice missiles (scourge) on the way.

Also, if you're using units as your defense then switch the structure research for the body improvements, obviously

ignoring your techtree plug in every thread I've seen... ;p.


The problem with the rocket artillery is multi fold:

A)  you have to got far enough up the Cannon and Mortar tree to open howitzers before the angel batteries become available to research.  So in essence, you are researching 2 trees at once early.
B)  all artillery, due to (as best as I can tell) errors in the calculations of the squares of x-y-z coordinates, tends to fall off in terms of accuracy after about 2-3 screens, unless it is firing exactly in one of the 4 cardinal directions (N, E, S, W).
C)  Unlike direct-fire weapons, the indirect nature of artillery means that against moving targets, you are going to have a lot of rounds landing behind the approaching (or retreating) vehicles.
D)  While the mass-artillery strat is exceedingly fun on SP campaign maps, against legitamate MP opponents, you will find multiple attacks on your base happening long before you get to any artillery higher than the mortar.  Aiming for 20 rocket batteries doesn't help if the enemy has 40 cobra-tracks in your base by the 15 minute mark ;p.
E)  Wow expensive ;p.  Your average MP map only gives you 4 derricks to your base, and you have to expand to get more.  If you try and turtle it up instead, your opponent is going to get all the derricks you need for your research.  And if you instead try to fight him for them... your research up both the rocket and the artilery trees will need to take a back seat to your units.



I'm not gonna knock artillery; against maps with very clearly defined chokepoints, or bases close enough to shell each other, it can be lethal.  But it's not an end-all strat ;p.

[cruise]

ignoring your techtree plug in every thread I've seen... ;p.

lol I don't mind - I wrote it for me, not anyone else anyway.

The problem with the rocket artillery is multi fold:

A)  you have to got far enough up the Cannon and Mortar tree to open howitzers before the angel batteries become available to research.  So in essence, you are researching 2 trees at once early.

Nope, don't need Howitzers - most you need from cannon and mortar trees is (Light Cannon, HEAT Cannon Shells) and (Mortar, HE Mortar Shells, HE Mortar Shells Mk2, HE Mortar Shells Mk3). Everything else is rockets. Though of course if you'd clicked my link you'd know that... *ducks and runs*

B)  all artillery, due to (as best as I can tell) errors in the calculations of the squares of x-y-z coordinates, tends to fall off in terms of accuracy after about 2-3 screens, unless it is firing exactly in one of the 4 cardinal directions (N, E, S, W).

Interesting - I'll have to test this effect.

C)  Unlike direct-fire weapons, the indirect nature of artillery means that against moving targets, you are going to have a lot of rounds landing behind the approaching (or retreating) vehicles.

Very true. Choke points are fun though...

D)  While the mass-artillery strat is exceedingly fun on SP campaign maps, against legitamate MP opponents, you will find multiple attacks on your base happening long before you get to any artillery higher than the mortar.  Aiming for 20 rocket batteries doesn't help if the enemy has 40 cobra-tracks in your base by the 15 minute mark ;p.

Which is why I made the point all the nice rocket research falls out of this tree anyway - I don't just build artillery, and I hope my advice didn't sound like I said you should.

E)  Wow expensive ;p.  Your average MP map only gives you 4 derricks to your base, and you have to expand to get more.  If you try and turtle it up instead, your opponent is going to get all the derricks you need for your research.  And if you instead try to fight him for them... your research up both the rocket and the artilery trees will need to take a back seat to your units.

Notice my first point was oil well rush? Though I'm experimenting to see how fast/cheaply I can get to at least lancers at the moment...

I'm not gonna knock artillery; against maps with very clearly defined chokepoints, or bases close enough to shell each other, it can be lethal.  But it's not an end-all strat ;p.

I never intended it be, sorry if that's how it came across. I tried to make it clear that was merely my personal preference, and that there were other options, and choices to be made depending on who you're fighting against.

[Per]

I'm a sneaking underhanded %^&$ so GLA stealth general in C&C Generals:Zero Hour is my feared favourite (your vehicles are either hijacked or bomb trucks in disguise, my base could be anywhere and there's suddenly a tonne of soldiers in your base capturing everything in sight).

It's actually the one thing missing in Warzone - stealth units. We already have sensors, how hard could it be?

Ooooh... Another sneaky b*st*rd 

I'd love to see stealth units in Warzone one day. I also loved playing Stealth general in C&C Generals. Maybe we could develop the "stealth" concept more in line with Warzone concepts, though, rather than just a "on" or "off" stealth thing. Since a lot in Warzone depends on sensor range, having stealth abilities could make you harder to detect, meaning that enemy sensors would not detect you as far away as otherwise. With really high stealth score, your units could even sneak almost right up to a droid before it saw you. That is just an idea I'm throwing out.

One problem is that we currently have no way of adding "extra" stuff like that to droids or (in particular!) to structures. I think Pumpkin were experimenting with adding more things to droids, but it was never finished.

[kage]

stealth isn't so much of a sci-fi concept... just improve the line-of-sight code in warzone (especially with sensors, so they can't see behind hills, unless there are a lot of units giving off a huge IR signature, which might get reflected off canyon walls, for example), make visual detection considerably worse (80% worse) at night (making sensors very useful), and make terrain in warzone a lot less flat. suddenly it's very easy to sneak a few units near the enemy base.

[cruise]

I was hoping it would be easy to add something to units so they only show up as those little "blips" within sensor range , and have zero visual range. Obviously not - I really should have a nosey through the code someday. Maybe when I get my laptop put back together...