Supreme Commander thread

[Ronin]

What happened to the Supreme Commander thread?  It shows up on the page but I can't open it.  When I open the thread list for it, it doesn't show up.

I'm downloading the Supreme Commander demo right now.  I can't wait to play it!!

http://www.supremecommander.com

[Dr.Jeckyl]

we had issues with the author(JasonL) so we made everyone ignore him. just continue the conversation here. one of the admins will delete all his posts so that thread can continue.

[Dr.Jeckyl]

dernit! i just tried to clean it up by deleting all his posts an since he was the original author it deleted the thread. just continue the conversation here.

my bad, i'm sorry.:hmm:

[Zazoo]

The demo is pretty cool. I definitely need a faster computer though.

~Mike

[Frozyn]

The game is interesting. I think it's too focused on Mass and Energy gathering. It'd be nicer if you could find treasures around the map that would boost your mass beyond the Fabricator.

I'd be happier with either power OR mass, although Power is a lot easier to create and accumulate. Especially once you reach the tech two power generator - I was creating 5000+ units of energy every second. The premise is pretty cool, but the verdict is still out.

[Ronin]

For some bizarre reason (my memory sure isn't what it used to be) I thought I started that thread.  Oh, well.

@Mike, let me know if you want me to tell you about capturing a builder.  I was doing that last night while I was playing the Krogoth Encounter.  At the end, I had 14 Krogoths and it was a major slaughter when they invaded that central island.  

I always have to play the first part of that game (the first twenty minutes or so) with the game speed cranked down to about -7.  Things just happen too fast for me otherwise.  The constant threat of those Intimidators wear a bit thin after a couple of hours, too.  It would sure be nice to be able to use Mavericks on that mission (they came out as a new unit after the official expansion packs).

Have you ever used the Necro bot?  That's another cool way to capture an opponent's buildings or units.  Kill 'em then resurrect 'em.  :tongue:

I've got the Supreme Commander demo (what a surprise to find that today) but I haven't installed it, yet.  I'll have to try it out tomorrow.

[MONOLITH]

*downloading*

[Ronin]

Wow, did I get my butt kicked!

I was expecting Total Annihilation in another form, I guess.  It's similar, but it seems to have major differences.  I have a lot to learn before I can beat the AI at a skirmish, though.  It knows how to play the game.  So far, I'm just clicking on things and trying them out. Then a swarm of little guys comes around the hill and just destroys my base.  BOOM!

I guess I better go through the tutorials.  I just wish they downloaded faster.  But I'm sure there is a big demand for this stuff.

One criticism I have of the game and this may be possible to change, the interface is huge on the screen.  The visible play area is only about 1/3 of the screen.  I like the zoom, tilt and rotate feature.  TA should have had that.  But I don't think it allows you to view the playing field well enough.  I prefer a less intrusive interface.  Or, better yet, a control interface on a second monitor.

You guys just smack me if what I've said is already in the game.  I'm still figuring this thing out.

So far, I like it.  It's going to take a while to get used to.  The unit hierarchy tech levels and unit capabilities will take a while to learn, too.  But I think I'll be buying this when it comes out.

It's too early to rate it so far.  But I like most of it.

Man, what a huge download... 1 GIGABYTE for a GAME demo.  I wouldn't have believed that five years ago.  :hmm:

[Zazoo]

Wow, did I get my butt kicked!

I was expecting Total Annihilation in another form, I guess.  It's similar, but it seems to have major differences.  I have a lot to learn before I can beat the AI at a skirmish, though.  It knows how to play the game.  So far, I'm just clicking on things and trying them out. Then a swarm of little guys comes around the hill and just destroys my base.  BOOM!

One similarity to TA that I noticed. The AI is pretty helpless early on. I built an air factory early and sent a couple of bombers after the AI before he could get base defenses up. Just like with TA, if you repeatedly bomb the commander he get's "confused" and starts walking around aimlessly. I like the massive explosion when you take out the commander in this game. Weee!

Or, better yet, a control interface on a second monitor.

I think the game supports dual monitors

Man, what a huge download... 1 GIGABYTE for a GAME demo.  I wouldn't have believed that five years ago.  :hmm:

Did you see the requirements for the full game?  8 GB! Yikes!

~Mike

[MONOLITH]

Seperately download tutorials?

There's my first complaint.

[MONOLITH]

Meh.

Not my taste. I'm really big on eyecandy and personality, and this game seems to have neither.

I did what Mike did, and I built an air thing and sent some bombers over to the enemy. As they dropped their bombs, they looked like something from an old Atari game, or something I would put a quarter in at the arcade, like Galaga.  

Damn you Zazoo and your 'only gameplay matters' games.  

I had high hopes when I saw THQ, but games like Dawn of War and Generals are more my speed.

Ronin, you can move the UI around by holding spacebar and hitting the arrow keys.

[Zazoo]

Substance Mono. That's what it's all about.

~Mike

[Ronin]

Meh.

Not my taste. I'm really big on eyecandy and personality, and this game seems to have neither.

I did what Mike did, and I built an air thing and sent some bombers over to the enemy. As they dropped their bombs, they looked like something from an old Atari game, or something I would put a quarter in at the arcade, like Galaga.  

Damn you Zazoo and your 'only gameplay matters' games.  

I had high hopes when I saw THQ, but games like Dawn of War and Generals are more my speed.

Ronin, you can move the UI around by holding spacebar and hitting the arrow keys.

Oh, c'mon Mono.  I think the graphics in this game are great.  They are definitely better than Total Annihilation.  I'm still on the fence as to whether this game is better than T/A or not.  I haven't played it enough, yet.

I think it's at least as good as Generals and ZH.  I haven't tried the campaign part at all, yet.  It may not have as much personality or attitude as Generals or ZH.  I'll give you that.  But that's not why I play.  I play for the challenge to outsmart the AI.  Just to win at first.  Then to find new tactics to defeat it more quickly or more devastatingly.

I held the space bar down and rotated, and tilted the battlefield view.  I was wondering about changing the UI.  I'm pretty sure you can change it because it's different in the demo than it is in the tuts.  That may not be possible in the demo, though.

And the tuts for the Beta were also downloadable files.  I'm sure in the full game they'll be integrated.  Don't forget this is just a "teaser".

@Mike, I saw the option in the "Options" for dual adapters. I guess that's for dual monitors.  Maybe in there you can tell what elements you want on which monitor.

[Ronin]

I played the first mission in the campaign mode this morning.  It is different from the skirmish mode in more than just the obvious ways.

The campaign mode is reminiscent of C&C as well as Star Craft.  There is some attitude from both enemies and your own "masters".  The game seems to be pretty much a gather, build and slug it out game.  Very little that's new that I can see.

Not really understanding the capabilities of the units is a real hindrance.  The fire power and range of many of the units just seem very high.  Or maybe that's just because most RTS games keep weapon power and range reined in.

I'd like to change the layout of my screen and put the UI elements on the left.  But that does not appear to be possible in the demo.

As Mono pointed out, I'd prefer that the tutorial be a game-play tutorial that's built-in rather than stand alone video.  But this _is_ just a demo.  So that may be in the retail version (I hope).

According to an annoucement from GPG games, the multi-player beta is being closed Monday, 12 [February -- I can't remember what month it is, now...].  After that only retail games will be able to connect to GPGNet with a valid CD key.  So it should be in stores soon.  Just in time for my birthday, I hope.

Anyway, no real time to play with it today as we had unexpected guests today.

[Zazoo]

I played through the tech trees in skirmish mode today.
I kept pressure on the AI early to ensure he was crippled, and then I just focused on building stuff.

I like the Big Bertha style gun. Very effective. I also like the strategic nukes. The limited range and limited capacity of the launcher is a nice balance.
The massive units at the end of each tech tree are pretty cool too.

I definitely agree about the range of the weapons. It is far. I'm guessing that there are some really massive maps to offset this in the full-release (which will definitely be cool).

I'm surprised at how much like TA this game is. The base structures and resource system is almost identical. Even the story line is similar. Not a bad thing, but you'd think that with the similarities they would have marketed it as a sequel to TA -- to capitalize off of the great reputation of that game. Perhaps the rights to the name are too expensive or too hard to aquire (not sure who owns this now that Cavedog is gone)? Hmmm.

I like it a lot though. Looking forward to some less "open" maps whre I can take advantage of choke points and terrain features.
I know it's going to run like crap on my PC though. I noticed a bit of slow down as my unit counts climbed today. :sad:
~Mike

[MONOLITH]

I held the space bar down and rotated, and tilted the battlefield view.  I was wondering about changing the UI.

I definately was able to move the UI around. From the bottomn, shifted it to either side instead, etc. Like you can take the windows start bar and move it from the bottom of the screen to the side. i definately did that, and I'm pretty sure it was spacebar + left and right arrow keys (not the Numpad).

[Ronin]

I definately was able to move the UI around. From the bottomn, shifted it to either side instead, etc. Like you can take the windows start bar and move it from the bottom of the screen to the side. i definately did that, and I'm pretty sure it was spacebar + left and right arrow keys (not the Numpad).

Okay, I misread what you said before.  I was using the spacebar and the mouse.  I'll try the spacebar and the L & R arrow keys.

I do wish there was a better reference for all the units in the game.  It's a bit frustrating having to just "try them out" to see what they can do.  I'm really also surprised at how effective the anti-air units are.  Aircraft don't stand a chance if there are any anti-air units around.  It looks like air power in SC won't be as strong as it was in TA.

I also kind of miss the flying or floating builders.  That the engineers can go just about anywhere is great.  But I think I prefer the builders to share their motility characteristics with the factory they come from.

Being able to switch tech levels with the engineers will take a little getting used to, also.

I haven't tried speeding up the build times in factories by having the commander or engineers "help" the factory.  I'll have to try that.  It was great to be able to do that in TA.

[Jason-Alaska]

Is the second monitor good for anything other then a map? In an early preview it said that the second monitor could be used to house all the UI controls. I can't seem to move them in the demo. Anyone else able to?

[Lazerblade]

Been playing this for about a week or so. AI seems very weak, but have only played with a friend against 2 AI. Which AI is the most aggressive? It's like they sit in their base and only go after the mass wells with engineers. Their bases seem well-defended at first, but short-range and there's no reaction to pummeling them from a distance.

Other than these minor issues, the game seems decent, though slow at times. I'd really like to see more action.