[Guide] Did you know...

[anton-korduan 10]

Hi there!

Playing now Beta2 since three days my wanting for an handbook grows. Therefore we're in Beta-State there is no handbook / script / explanation where I could find some details which would be helpful or just interesting.

So I gained some experience while playing, read something here in the forum and finally said to me "why not self-helping us!".

Here I start now the "did you know"-Section. Lets collect here useful informations about gameplay. No tipps how to win the game, no Cheating-Hints, just things which could stand in the Carrier-Command handbook.

Besides: Make it as short as possible (only one or two paragraphs or so). And it would be nice to start with "Did you know..." and following the keyword. So lets start! :ok:

1) Did you know... about "Auto-Aiming Laser"?

I realized yesterday that the (Manta) Laser is auto-aiming, if you are near enough. The brackets around the enemy turn yellow (and later red). If you aim then near the center, the laser "fits in" and stays there, hitting the target, even if you shake a little bit away - just like a "shake reduction", known from photo-cameras. I didn't know, because I stayed always far away, opening fire very early - and the laser seems to be pretty unuseful. But now he reveals to be really "hot".

2) Did you know... that the Defense-Power of Islands is in relation to their neighbours?

It was really interesting to read about this here. Short form: Defence Islands are giving defence-power to their neighbour-islands. Multiple defence Islands connected are adding their defence-power. The defence-power of non-defence islands is also growing (mining and factory).

3) Did you know... that Stockpile is also Factory?

I read about this also here in this forum and tried it for myself - its astounding: The stockpile-state gives also a factory-function to their island - whatever type of island it is. So if you set your stockpile to a mining-island it will be a mining AND factory island in the same time. Therefore it's not so smart to set stockpile to a factory island because you loose this additional factory-income of the stockpile-state.

4) Did you know... that only one Bomb is delivered?

Normally, you build a weapon (for example a plasma-gun), you use it and you reload it. One exeption is the bomb. Really expensive (4000 Materials) you can only drop one an that's it. Good to know before hoping you can also reload it...

5) Did you know... that the (enemy) Carrier has different Damage-Zones?

Its very helpful to know where to aim - I found that here and now I know where are enginges located. If I dont want the enemy carrier to flee I focus the boom/outrigger, where the engines are located. By the way: On one situation the enemy carrier was nearly down - but then I realized, he was repairing the hangar-decks: everything is burning, really a wreck, but four fully equipped mantas are suddenly starting through the smoke...

6) Did you know... that Walrus-Missiles are not bottom-aiming?

Missiles are really great: Long range, much power. But it was surprising for me to realize that you can not aim really "low" with that: when you want to destroy an cannon on plain ground the missiles fly to high because the minimum of "lowering" the turrent is reached. It's okay for higher buildings or when there some hills (positioning yourself nose down) - but there are situations when its good to know that missiles can not aim as deep as other weapons.

7) Did you know... that you can use facilities?

This is a really important thing: Even on enemy islands you can use buildings to rearm, refuel and repair your walruses. These buildings are shown in the map - if you aim with the mouse-cursor over it an symbol appears: Wrench for repairing, Ammo for reaming and an lightning for refueling. Drive manually to the building (the crossaim will change to the symbol, then press "execute" [F]) or instruct your walrus to do it automatically (also by selecting the walrus and then clicking on the building-symbol on the map. Maybe then you have also to klick "ececute" [F] to trigger the command).

8) Did you know... when the carrier guns are auto-firing and when not?

If you select the carrier weapon system [1] OR sometimes also when selecting the carrier himself [0] all cannons are set to manually. Even if you swich to map mode. This is dangerous because if an enemy is approaching the carrier will not defend itself automatically. I make this experience often: looking to the map, seeing an manta coming near and no one fires. Then switching to any manta or walrus an the hell begins to open... (hearing all cannons firing and seeing on the map an enemy manta being destroyed...) (Only in Beta2 - fixed now)

So feel free to expand the list. If possible add the link to original posting.

Happy carrier-greetings

Anton, addicted

Edited September 20, 2012 by anton-korduan

[Tox_Laximus 1]

Mantas and Walrus cant shoot turrets most of the time, very annoying as you have to manually take control, is this a bug or deliberate?

[tortuosit 485]

Very helpful, thanks Anton. 3) seems very important.

[anton-korduan 10]

Very helpful, thanks Anton. 3) seems very important.

Yes - and thank you for your language tipps in your PM. I corrected my article and hope there's no more "a" and "an" error.

[tortuosit 485]

Anton, 8) is possibly obsolete (old beta<3 bug) because of http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?137708-possible-bug-or-noob-question-regarding-the-carrier-deck-guns&p=2226538&viewfull=1#post2226538

[dram 14]

1) Did you know... about "Auto-Aiming Laser"?

I realized yesterday that the (Manta) Laser is auto-aiming, if you are near enough. The brackets around the enemy turn yellow (and later red). If you aim then near the center, the laser "fits in" and stays there, hitting the target, even if you shake a little bit away - just like a "shake reduction", known from photo-cameras. I didn't know, because I stayed always far away, opening fire very early - and the laser seems to be pretty unuseful. But now he reveals to be really "hot".

Hi Anton, just with regards to number 1, Auto aim applies to almost all weapons (for example the gatling, machinegun, laser etc), and can be enabled/disabled in the options menu. I personally play with it off.

[anton-korduan 10]

Hi Anton, just with regards to number 1, Auto aim applies to almost all weapons (for example the gatling, machinegun, laser etc), and can be enabled/disabled in the options menu.

Yes, I know! I was pretty sure that I turned autoaim off - therefore I was surprised (and I didn't expect) that my laser - and other weapons - are still autoaiming.

I personally play with it off.

Me too! (So I thought)...

Will check this tonight with Beta3.

[anton-korduan 10]

Did you know how the fuel-stuff is working (fuel / fuel-pack)?

There are some really interesting facts...

Here we go:

Fuel comparison table

[table=width: 600, class: grid, align: left]

[tr]

[td][/td]

[td]Fuel[/td]

[td]Fuel Pack[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]Fuel amount[/td]

[td]2[/td]

[td]10[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]Materials (cost)[/td]

[td]50[/td]

[td]300[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]Material-Ratio (cost-factor)[/td]

[td]25 mat./fuel[/td]

[td]30 mat./fuel[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]Time (example)[/td]

[td]11[/td]

[td]34[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]Time-Ratio (speed-factor)[/td]

[td]5.5 time/fuel[/td]

[td]3.4 time/fuel[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]Weight[/td]

[td]50[/td]

[td]450[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]Weight-Ratio (for barque)[/td]

[td]25 weight/fuel[/td]

[td]45 weight/fuel[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]Summary[/td]

[td]cheaper (mat.) and

lighter (for barque)[/td]

[td]faster produced (time)[/td]

[/tr]

[/table]

Important: Too much delivered fuel (by barque) is lost!

Not so for mantas, weapons and everything else - there you get a message that e.g. the manta is too much and returned to the barque. But be aware with fuel - unused fuel is really lost, nothing is returned to barque or stockpile. I've tested it.

So its really recommendet to give your fuel indicator attention: If the remaining fuel for example is 29 (max. is 40) so its not useful to send 3 fuelpacks (which contains 30 fuel - in this case 11 fuel are used and 19 fuel are wasted).

Tipp: Don't forget to calculate the time till the barque is here. So now fuel-level is 29, but maybe the barque has a long way and youre moving also long distances (and/or repairing, which uses also fuel). When arriving your fuel-level maybe is much lower.

Hope this helps - for me it was astounding to explore this.

See also my Weapon range table and Vehicle speed table.

Edited October 13, 2012 by anton-korduan

[Scepticer 1]

Thanks for the research on the fuel Anton, good info! :)

So I should:

- Produce "Fuel" if my network bottleneck is material or/and if I want to fit a lot on the barque.

- Produce "Fuel pack" if my network bottleneck is production capability (time-ratio).

It isn't so much difference though in material required. There is a bigger difference in 'time-ratio'. So, assuming zero material in stock and a material limited network it might still be faster to produce "Fuel pack", it all depends on the networks material vs 'time-ratio' (production speed). :)

Anyway, the much lighter weight of "Fuel" actually makes it look better than I thought. :)

[anton-korduan 10]

Thanks for the research on the fuel Anton, good info! :)

You're welcome!

Anyway, the much lighter weight of "Fuel" actually makes it look better than I thought. :)

Yes, it appears also to me. Before I was really not sure when to use which.

[Scepticer 1]

9) Did you know... that you do not have to take out Scramblers in the order pointed out by the game?

You can manually find and take out scramblers in any order, carefully keeping your manta within telemetry range of course. This can many times save you the time it takes circling the island with the carrier. Instead take the carrier to the nearest area with buildings and see if you can find and destroy a scrambler there. Many times this opens up a larger telemetry area making it possible to reach the next scrambler with a manta. And so on.

10) Did you know... that the Scout drone can operate outside telemetry range?

This makes it particularly useful for quickly scouting islands protected by scramblers. If you also keep the scout drone on a little distance from the flight paths of enemy mantas it won't be detected so easily by them. This way you can also use it for targeting with the Carrier shell cannon (2 things makes this last part a bit tricky though. It is difficult to switch quickly to the Scout drone camera and the Scout drone is a bit difficult to point in the right direction. It is fun though, hitting target well over a kilometer away and way inland :) ).

[Gnrl_Grad 1]

Some nice tips, wouldn't it be nice if you could get a PiP when on the main carrier cannon so you could use a scout drone for long range targeting assistance, it would mean you don't have to switch back and forth when firing at long range targets.

[species1571 64]

Units with armour take longer to repair and refuel than those without. So, if you dock a badly damaged or low fuel unit, remove the armour while it repairs and refuels. Just remember to put it back on before undocking.

[Mooo 1]

That info about fuel is interesting. I had assumed (no info given in game really...) that "fuel pack" was "better" totally, but seems not after all. Another factor is spam, it can get pretty annoying to see/hear that fuel packs were produced all the time, if I was doing "fuel" instead, that'd be even worse...

Loading fuel onto the carrier directly from the stockpile can also mean you lose some, not just when using the barque.

As for lasers... I used them a lot, as they are good for pinpoint attacks, and the AI doesn't seem too bad with them either. I've picked off tiny distant turrets etc. with them, and never noticed any aim-assist there. Hmm. (I see mention of beta, maybe the auto-aim for lasers was an old bug?)

About 6), the quad-gun (or whatever its called), designed for anti-aircraft, also works fine for attacking buildings/ground units too, but doesn't tilt down far, so you need to be in a good position... This may apply to the other AA weapons too, I haven't tried a lot of things (as laser works nicely ;)).

[AlFitz 0]

You can move items around in the production queue by hold clicking and dragging. Well I didn't know this anyway!

[disorder 1]

You can hold shift to make units assist a targeted unit. You can also hold shift and click on the carrier to get a unit to dock after done with waypoints .

[Raital 1]

Did you know that you can switch your units between defensive stance and offensive stance?

When units are launched, they start out in defensive stance (grayed out sword icon thing). This means they will follow your orders first and foremost, and attack enemies only if it is convenient to do so. if you select a unit, hold space and mouse over the sword (the bottom right one) you can switch selected units into offensive stance (ctrl+number multiple units to speed up this process).

In offensive stance, units will temporarily cancel their orders every time they detect an enemy and go out of their way to attack the enemy until it is destroyed. Once they cannot detect anymore enemies, they will reload their previous orders and continue on their way. This is very handy to avoid units just driving past dangerous units and into fire, but beware that they will not respond to your commands until they cannot attack anymore enemies. This includes docking, even if they run out of ammo! Be sure to take them out of offensive stance using the same radial command if you need them to go somewhere, like say, back to the carrier to restock. If you do not, they will just hang around firing everything they got, and if they have nothing, they will simply hang around, becoming sitting ducks.

Using aggressive stance in conjunction with, say, four heavy mantas attacking a modestly defended base, will result in them destroying all the threats with minimal input on your part, leaving the coast clear to send in a walrus to hack the command center. This can remove a lot of tedium from the game.

To summarize...

Defensive stance (default) - Priority 1.Orders 2.Enemies

Offensive stance (lower right radial menu option)- Priority 1.Enemies 2.Orders (sitting ducks if unarmed!)

Edited November 22, 2012 by Raital

[disorder 1]

I'll just add to Raitals tip, in that the defensive stance is also return fire only. They wont fire at something unless told to engage/offensive or they get hit. Unfortunately this means they take the first attack before they start attacking, giving you a disadvantage.