FAF as a noob.

[Cuddles]

@AyNaku , sounds about right. That is why I Q the commands up, with raiding parties or a ACU push, I now set the last move command at a safe location in case I forget. Multiple factories spawning to different locations and I try and keep my forces on the move unless i'm building for an attack or know of a sure threat. Bombers are bad - but the guy that sends them is probably microing them, so it's a good time to also attack with your raiding parties or to slip something in behind enemy lines.

The Xbox was host to some epic Supreme Commander 1 battles.

Really? I doubt I can still get a copy where I am in the world, but will start looking for it.

Moved the below questions to the appropriated thread....
viewtopic.php?f=50&t=2584&p=38742#p38742

Spoiler: show

Is there any factions here, or are you guys all serious all the time and just join random clans? Or is that only coming with the galactic war? I don't see any dedicated sections to them. Skirmishes starting now already between the factions before the galactic war kicks off could be fun. Like a build up. Something like a ladder match to sort out who will be the General, Galactic Commander, not sure what it's called for the factions while we wait, and then some skirmishes between the diffrent factions as I mentioned.

[Flynn]

it's nice to hear this, i'd like to ask you, if you maybe can tell me, whats the most difficult thing for you on FA/FAF or what you think is for other newbies
(i'm the guy with the video tutorials)

For me as a newbie, the most difficult thing is the TASK SATURATION. It's a full-time job just to manage my eco and expand. But then I also need to pay attention to the raiding units that I sent out instead of just sending them out and forgetting about them, and I also have to do something about enemy raids/attacks coming in on me at a time and location where I wasn't ready to meet them...whoops I should have a radar up by now and I don't, plus he killed my scouts...and there is my ACU just sitting there where I sent him to where I thought the battlefront would be, I need to give him some other orders...oops, I have two engineers and one factory not doing anything either, I need to give them orders...oh great, now my opponent is using Bombers and I don't have any anti-air, I need to requeue my factory orders...darn -- while my attention was diverted doing that, I forgot to set up a PGen spam and now my power is stalling...darn it again - all my units are deploying from the factories at a useless location on the map far from where I need them NOW; I have to keep grabbing them and giving them move orders, as if I didn't have enough things to do....now why is that reclaim in the middle still available - I thought I queued an engie to get that, he must have killed the engie first, and what happened to those Mexs I built?...oops - I should have built a Power Storage - or get that reclaim and upgrade a Mex, or...etc., etc....

This is the perfect post to sum up all the things you have to do in a game of SupCom FA. After coming back to SupCom after about 5 years, I found this to be a problem for my first couple of hundred games. I suggest watching some point-of-view casts to get a feel how other people manage their time spent on, for instance, capping those few uncapped mex points in the no-mans land when you take into account the time for the engies to get there is probably a less wise decision than clicking you're mexes to upgrade when you have a reasonable mass income. Things of that nature that you just need to develop the intuition over time to know.

[lextoc]

Give me a pm if you want some tips while playing, I like helping new players

Usually I play some games with full map view first to point out their mistakes and after one with fog of war enabled. This way you can compare yourself with your opponent, which is a nice learning tactic imo.

Anyways, welcome to FAF and I hope you enjoy your stay!

[AyNaku]

Another BIG problem as a newbie is that every map requires a different approach to initial build orders, depending on how much reclaim is available and where the best reclaim is located, the distribution of mass points and hydros and accessibility thereof, etc. Until you get familiar with a map, you are at an immediate disadvantage/handicap to someone who has already learned an efficient build order to jump-start their economy for that map. And last I checked, there were 25 different maps to learn on the FAF ladder.

And on a similar subject: in Total Annihilation, you could hover your cursor over a reclaimable object and it would tell you exactly how much metal/energy it contained. Is there any way to get that info in FA? Or do they not give you that info in FA? (if not, why not??) It seems as though in FA, large reclaimable buildings may have less mass than tiny wrecks. So how are you supposed to figure out where the best reclaim objects are on a map? Word of mouth, it seems?

[ZaphodX]

So how are you supposed to figure out where the best reclaim objects are on a map? Word of mouth, it seems?

Yeah practice and experience unfortunately. Would be very nice to have a mass count on reclaimables though.

[ColonelSheppard]

yeah you can only try out, there are even reclaimables that look exactly the same but one is 1 mass and the other like 100
i.e. Loki

[Culverin]

^
That is an graphical conveyance inconsistency then....

Can that be modded out/fixed?

[Hawkei]

So how are you supposed to figure out where the best reclaim objects are on a map? Word of mouth, it seems?

Yeah practice and experience unfortunately. Would be very nice to have a mass count on reclaimables though.

You can generally calculate that in your head. A reclaimable is worth 80% of the mass that was used in it's construction.
- T1 tank = 50 mass *
- T2 tank = 200 mass
- T3 tank = 400 mass
- T2 naval unit = 2000 mass

* Approximate figures.

So lets say we look at the reclaimables in Seatons Clutch. There are 3 Destroyers and a bunch of Titan, Loyalist and Pillar wrecks. Which would be 1600, 320, 320 and 160 mass respectively. However, not many players do these calculations. Because the economy works on an exponential scale, not a linear one. This means mass that is injected into your economy can be used to upgrade your mass extractors, and get yet more mass, etc. etc.

So the value of the mass is not simply determined by the quantity, but WHEN it is collected. 1600 mass reclaimed in 5 minutes is worth a lot more than 1600 mass reclaimed in 15 minutes. Don't think about the quantity. Just reclaim it ASAP.

Also remember that the exponential rate of economic growth is related to the proportion of your economy which is devoted to increasing it. Any resources that are used to increase build power (that is factories) or increase your military strength (combat units) will reduce your rate of growth. You could imagine a siduation where two perfectly matched players have forced each other into what we would call a "spam war". In this siduation both players are locked into the stagnation of their economies - because if they don't keep the constant flow of units (i.e. the "spam") they will fall behind militarily, and loose the war... That is why this game is so agressive. The real reason why you build military units is:
1. To kill his economy
2. To divert his investment away from economy and into military.

A typical mistake, which beginners (or noobs) make. Is that they build too much military, and then do not use it to press their opponent. They build military to make themselves feel "safe", but do not FORCE their enemy to build military units, by using them agressively. In this siduation you can imagine your economy is linear and stagnant, but theirs is exponential. Which is why nothing happens for several minutes, and then they steam roll you 10 minutes later. For the vast majority of the games you will loose as a "noob", this will be the reason why. This game is all about economy, and this exponential growth factor is the biggest thing which separates this Game from many other RTS.

Another reason will be that they are simply faster at gathering more resources. Which they will immediately use to out spam you. In that case, you need to take lessons from their economy, build order, and what they do with their engineers and factories. You also need to recognise when your opponent is doing this and match their spam accordingly. Send a scout into their base, and count the number of land factories. If he has more than you, you need to match him. If you don't have the income to support those factories, he has a bigger economy than you. You need to find out why. Idealy, this should be going through your head in game. But if you loose, watch the replay and find out.

Another important factor is learning to "do more with less". Essentially, if you can counter an army worth 2000 mass, with a bunch of units worth 1200 mass. Or if he has an army worth 3000 mass, but through posturing your army of 800 mass, you 'convince' him not to engage you. You can see how this would give you an economic advantage. This is where tactics, and appropriate unit counters come into it. Good tactics, improves your kill to death ratio. Which gives you an economic advantage, and/or a numerical one. Which will win you the game.

I'm sure that by now you head has exploded. So I will leave it there. But in a nutshell. That is what this game is all about.