A Few Questions, thinking of getting back into the game Options

[IntoTheRain]

Hello.

I recently reinstalled the game and played through the campaigns for nostalgia's sake. (its probably been at least 8 years) I'm kinda thinking about checking out online play if there is still an active group. I just had a few questions.

1) Is the game generally considered balanced? The latest version seems alright, (especially compared to 1.0) but I want to be sure there isn't something I am unaware of.

2) Are any of the mods designed for competitive play, or are they mostly single player oriented? I have tried a few, and most of them just turn the game into a giant mess of 500 units, several of which are usually terribly balanced. (pinpoint accuracy high powered artillery anyone?)

3) Are there any mods that make the AI half way decent? You can't execute rushes on them, you can't tech evenly with them, and yet...its completely hopeless at actually attacking. (or defending itself late game..)

4) Additionally, is there any mod that works on improving unit AI? Because some of it makes me want to scratch my eyes out. Jump troopers landing when units that can shoot ground are still right next to them, or units not automatically attacking enemy buildings unless specifically ordered is especially frustrating when your trying to manage several things at once.

4) And finally, are there any mods that help out with the outdated interface. Trying to scroll through 30 units to find the one your looking for is a pain. Is there a way to make the pics smaller so you can increase the number of units visible? Is there a way to force the game to sort the unit types out? I.E. all infantry/all vehicles/all aircraft/other abilities regardless of when they become available as tech options?

It does look like there are a lot of people here who still enjoy the game. So at least the game has an active (if small) community. I'm kinda hoping that either multiplayer or a well designed mod can keep my interest.

[Rampastring]

Welcome to TiberiumWeb.

I recently reinstalled the game and played through the campaigns for nostalgia's sake. (its probably been at least 8 years) I'm kinda thinking about checking out online play if there is still an active group. I just had a few questions.

There are still about a hundred players in XWIS/WWOnline, but they play mostly some foolish flat rock maps with foolish unit modifications. If you want some real multiplayer, you could ask someone to organize a Hamachi network and to play with you (well, you can also play with XWIS, but it's a bit slower from my experience).

1) Is the game generally considered balanced? The latest version seems alright, (especially compared to 1.0) but I want to be sure there isn't something I am unaware of.

I don't know the general opinion about base TS, but at least in my opinion it's quite balanced. However, the expansion pack, Firestorm, makes the game really unbalanced with GDI getting artillery units and the drop-pod superweapon.

2) Are any of the mods designed for competitive play, or are they mostly single player oriented? I have tried a few, and most of them just turn the game into a giant mess of 500 units, several of which are usually terribly balanced. (pinpoint accuracy high powered artillery anyone?)

There are still a few mods in progress which have some elements for competitive play, like tournament maps etc. However I don't know about the older, finished mods. Some mods are also singleplayer oriented.

Also, some (probably most) modders have a personal mod, which usually makes TS more what they wanted it to be. I am one of these who have a personal mod, which makes TS more balanced while adding lots of things.

3) Are there any mods that make the AI half way decent? You can't execute rushes on them, you can't tech evenly with them, and yet...its completely hopeless at actually attacking. (or defending itself late game..)

I don't know about any mods which aim only for making the AI better. There are a few mods in progress which will feature smarter AI, but they're not released yet. However, some modders' personal mods (see answer on 2)) have much better AI than normal TS, but most modders will never release their personal mods.

If you want, I could upload an older version of my personal mod's AI here. Also, it's quite easy to modify the AI if you're ready to do it.

4) Additionally, is there any mod that works on improving unit AI? Because some of it makes me want to scratch my eyes out. Jump troopers landing when units that can shoot ground are still right next to them, or units not automatically attacking enemy buildings unless specifically ordered is especially frustrating when your trying to manage several things at once.

No, I think that's impossible to modify.

4) And finally, are there any mods that help out with the outdated interface. Trying to scroll through 30 units to find the one your looking for is a pain. Is there a way to make the pics smaller so you can increase the number of units visible? Is there a way to force the game to sort the unit types out? I.E. all infantry/all vehicles/all aircraft/other abilities regardless of when they become available as tech options?

It's not possible to modify the sidebar to make it like RA2's sidebar. However, you can increase the default maximum resolution from 800x600 to something like 1280x1024, which will make the whole game look much better (and it will also make the interface easier to handle). Note that rising the resolution to something very high will require a faster computer.

I personally like TS's older interface, it allows me to build both vehicles and infantry fast instead of the sidebars of newer C&C's.

It does look like there are a lot of people here who still enjoy the game. So at least the game has an active (if small) community. I'm kinda hoping that either multiplayer or a well designed mod can keep my interest.

Yes, this forum has quite a small community, but there are several other C&C fansites. One of the most popular is PPM (www.ppmsite.com/forum), but in my opinion some people there aren't as friendly as in here (spammers/trolls are quite common there) and this forum also has this cool skin

I think this is my longest post ever

This post has been edited by ^Rampastein: Sep 9 2009, 01:37 PM