A 'How to' anywhere?

[MaceUK71 0]

Never played the original CC so am struggling to know what to do. Have worked out how to produce vehicle/armour/weapons and how to fly/drive but when I get to the island, is it mine? What happens next? What happens with the modules I carry on the Walrus'?

It's a great looking game and can see I will enjoy it but just need pointing to some help please :D

[scareya 1]

It might help to read the Beta Manual. You will find it in your installation directoy. Not everything is explained there, but it's a good start.

[MaceUK71 0]

Ah right, didn't realise there was manual with it being a beta. I'll have a look, thanks.

[javelin10 0]

The closest I got to playing CC before Friday was seeing it on a mate's Atari ST back in 1990... So when I started playing (and after reading the beta manual) I got absolutely nowhere for a few hours.

So here's my best advice (so far) how to get up and running, so you can get on with sending in your crash reports, bugs and other feedback:

When the game starts, go straight to the unoccupied island and get your production queue sorted while you're in Time Warp. I equip my Manta's with Rockets as first, as the lasers most of them have are ok but not much use against buildings, and then upgrade lasers to gatlings a bit later. This is a good enough load out for the whole beta game - you can only play with missiles and bombs at the end, or if you want one maxed-out Manta to play with in first person.

When you arrive at the island, send a couple of mantas (one each half of the island) to look for the destroyed Command Post using waypoints (click destination, hold down SHIFT then click next destination etc) and then if they don't find it immediately - you are looking for a 'down' arrow, NOT a triangle - move the carrier to the other side of the island to give the walruses a shorter distance to cover once you find the right spot. You need a walrus loaded with a Resource, Production or Defence module to acquire the island for your network. I find Resource (mining) islands are required exclusively; just one production island will do for the beta. Once you've captured the island, recover your walrus and set sail for the first enemy island and go back to your production queue.

Capturing a defended island takes quite a while. Use the map screen zoomed in to coordinate attacks - I only attack first person if the defences are super-hard. Scout the area first , either in person or using a couple of waypoints but don't let the manta's hang around anywhere.

Attack selected targets using all your manta's at once. As before, dont hang around the target area or you'll get shot down. If one unit starts taking a lot of damage, select it quickly and press 'G' to send it home. If it's not retreating fast enough then RMB to take control of it and turbo out of there. You are looking for scrambler buildings, shield boosters or firewalls. Destroy them then move on to the next one - only attack defences if your mantas are taking a pounding before getting close to the main target.

When I am ready for the command centre, I bring out my walruses to help take out gun emplacements, which they are quite good at using their own AI until the enemy starts lobbing shells at you. I usually then equip one Walrus with Armour II and go manual, using cover and keeping the other walruses nearby ready to repair or support. I keep a varied loadout for the Walruses; one with a shell or heat and armour II to do the damage, one with flak to deal with enemy Manta's, one with the repair gun and one with a laser and hacking pod (note - laser is the only armament you can have if you are carrying a pod, it seems). I keep the Mantas hovering offshore waiting to provide support if needed.

If you have some hardcore Manta's you hardly need the Walruses at all, but I like using them and rarely just air drop them - carrying a Walrus makes the Manta so slow you might as well just drive, unless it's a long way round a mountain range. Keep your excursions short and you should minimise losses. Keep your units grouped together so you can just draw a box round them to issue new orders, and don't spend a long time on manual control if your other units are in danger. If you go back to AI control, you may find you need to hit the 'G' key before your units accept new instructions.

Carrier defense and Carrier VS Carrier.

Defending vs enemy manta's is easy - if your auto defences aren't firing, just switch to an 'internal' view (keys 2 to 8) and let them get on with it. The enemy carrier is more of a nuisance then anything else - I just want to beat it up a bit so I can ignore it carry on with capturing the islands. On the small beta map you will encounter it a lot but if you approach it slowly and stop is soon as it pops out of the 'mist' that permanently shrouds the game world then you can start targeting it's turrets. Approach slowly from it's side or rear, if possible, firing your plasma gun as you go. At first you will see hits but no damage (???) but there is a very narrow margin where you will destroy the turrets before they can wipe out your plasma gun. If the carrier starts firing at you in earnest or launches its vehicles things will be over for you very quickly. Once his turrets are gone stay at long range and let your auto defences take care of him for a minute or so then leave him in flames and carry on exploring the game.

Good luck, and have fun.

[jedra 11]

@javelin10 - thanks for that I will try this! I am trying hard to like the game, but get nowhere very quickly!

[Sandvichman 1]

Yeah, there should be a manual in the Carrier command install folder. It explains fairly well how to play and what the controls are etc!! :D

[Dajunka 10]

I find it hard to take a island. But I am having a bloody good time trying. :)

[Appogee 1]

Javelin10's advice was invaluable to me being able to take islands.

In addition to his excellent advice:

1. Try to attack turrets from the rear instead of head on.

2. Think carefully about the attack vector of your mantas. They will ''run on'' over their targets. So pick an attack vector which wont have them pulling up over a bunch of AA turrets or enemy Walruses.

3. After your Mantas have attacked, vector them away from enemy AA over flat terrain. If your Mantas need to climb over mountains to escape, there's much more chance they'll get shot down while they're slowly gaining altitude.

4. If you can destroy the Manta and Walrus production facilities on one of the island's outposts, you can use the repair fuel and ammo dumps in that outpost as a handy on-island base for your Walruses.

5. Bombs are not cost effective.

6. By pitching up the front of your Walrus on a slight incline, you can shell targets like turrets from waaaay further away.

[WazneB 1]

aha i knew there must have been a manual somewhere :)