Help! I'm new!

[crippen]

Reading the unitsDB is great fun, but Im curious about build time.

Example:

I look at the Triad, which has a build time of 450. If I upgrade my ACU, it has a BP of 30. Can I take 450/30 to get 15 seconds of build time? Add six T1 engineers, and the new BP is 60, taking 7.5 sec. Is this correct?

Also Im a bit confused reading this regarding to the listed mass/energy. Lets say I have a BP of 30, and the listed energy price is 3600 for the Triad, does this mean that 15sec / 3600 = -240 energy while being built? Im pretty sure it is, but how do you keep this simple, do you have a new way of thinking about this? Doesn't have to be accurate, just approximately. It will make my transition easier to plan ahead instead of trial and error, and its lots of trial and error since there are so many new maps with different points of mass and rocks etc.

I guess in time these calculations will be easier, taking build time / BP, energy / the result.


edit: How much BP on a factory is enough before you upgrade another one? About 120 ?

[Softly]

I think time taken = 10*(build time/build power)

[Plasma_Wolf]

Crippen is exactly right. Not approximately, like he wants to know how it is, but exactly right.

Actual Build time = Build Cost / Build Power.

The triad as a BC of 450. A T2 Commander has a BP of 30. 450/30=15. If you look in the build menu, you can see that the triad takes exactly 15 seconds to build.
Furthermore. The Triad costs 3600 energy. 3600/15 = 240, so it'll run you 240 energy per second while you're building the triad.

I've got a UI mod (GAZ_UI I believe), which had added the Build Power of a construction unit in the status screen (with the HP etc.), could be useful for you. http://forums.gaspowered.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=28817. I'm not sure if Ubergeek has put this one in his post, but it's a useful UI mod.

Im pretty sure it is, but how do you keep this simple, do you have a new way of thinking about this? Doesn't have to be accurate, just approximately.

Other than looking at the cost while playing the game, no. That's the most accurate you can get. Eventually you'll remember things, like what 5 T2 engineers need if they're constantly building T2 PDs (400 energy per second, so you really want a T2 pgen first if you're not getting a lot of energy at the current moment).

[eXcalibur]

Since this topic is linked in the Tutorials Tab in FAF, i would like to mention, that (almost) only the first post is useful for bloody beginners of Supreme Commander Forged Alliance. It is outdated as well and some links do not work anymore (also in the linked GPG thread).

I would like to mention things, which helped me to understand Supreme Commander Forged Alliance and hopefully do the same for others as well:

- Playing (parts of) the original game's campaign (Supreme Commander - Supreme Commander Forged Alliance is just an expansion). Some things are different, but getting to know the units, the tech levels (tech 1, tech 2, tech 3 and experimental) and your Commander (called ACU - Armored Command Unit) is well done there.

- Playing against the computer with friends. This tread can be helpful when you notice the AIs to be too weak for you:
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1109&start=0&hilit=teamplay

- viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1610&p=16701#p16701 . This tread is not outdated and it contains a lot of useful tips for beginners. Read it and click the links. They are really good.

- When watching the Youtube channel of praisegugleourmaster, there are especially helpful videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDAh47O ... ature=plcp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJDmC-J ... ature=plcp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZAAAp4 ... ature=plcp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haz2WTh ... ature=plcp

- Finally I found a really nice article about the game play of Supreme Commander in general, which I enjoyed:
http://forums.gaspowered.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=52617
It was already (indirectly) linked, but it is worth mentioning it again.

- For questions, search this forum or ask in the Chat Lobby window of FAF.
You can also look in the wiki: http://www.faforever.com/mediawiki/index.php/Main_Page

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-if you are looking for more replay-tutorials (like the ones in the FAF client), look here: https://www.faforever.com/forums/viewto ... =40&t=2089

[Claw]

As a noob who's never played FA Multiplayer (Well, other than a few LAN games with friends), I just wanted to say Thank You so much for putting all this together! Now I can (hopefully) have some idea of what to do in a match.

I only have one question (well, one relevant question ): Is it better to search around for a custom team game with openings for new players, or just jump into 1v1 ranked and learn the hard way?

Either way, its good to see the FA community is still here. Got worried when I got the game awhile back only to find GPGnet empty and broken, especially after hearing so many good things about the game. Glad to see I was wrong!

[Softly]

I learnt mainly by jumping in 1v1 ranked and then watching the replay (followed by copying!!!). I don't think team games are nearly as useful until you have a thorough grounding in 1v1. Also team games for lower ratings tend to be on unrepresentative maps compared to what higher rated games are played on. I won't say thats right or wrong but the skills those maps teach you aren't necessarily the right ones if you want to improve.

[Stratocaster]

All of FAFs new balance threw me off, when I started. I started custom, then tried 1v1... then watched replays and looked at the unitDB and the wiki. Knowledge turned into power...

Went from complete noob to someone that can actually play in a small amount of time.

[Combo]

Should remove the bit about downloading a map pack. Not a good idea at all, plus FAF automatically downloads maps as needed.

We had a new player today very confused about why he was downloading a multiple gb map pack.

[ColonelSheppard]

that thread is the next thing to be reworked

[Valkyrie]

Can you help reach me how to eco? I always seem to get stuck in the middle of a game because my economy sucks... I in unfortunately
only have SupCom1, but will have FA soon, and have observed that the three primary factions are still somewhat the same.
So if you can give me some help with ecoing I would be grateful
Best I can do is spawn mass Fabricators and t1 power