XTA micro tips

[d-gun]

Hi.

A a great strategy is made up of many tactics. With a casual mode of play you can't accentuate your strategy with tactics like flanking, pincer attack, harassment, etc. In XTA you cannot afford to have units duke it out and greater numbers win. Since xta is a fairly micro-heavy game, I want to add some general tips for newcomers or transfers from other mods. screenshots and/or videos coming soon.

In order to be competitive, you just have to micromanage. It's a basic foundation. Just because you don't focus on practicing micro doesn't mean it's not a fundamental part of the gameplay.

When people watch other videos, I don't expect them to watch micromanagement techniques. That's like watching videos of a pro quarterback and watching how he holds the football. Yeah, you might look a few times if it's significantly different, but if you're rewatching the video multiple times it's to study other aspects of his gameplay. Ball-holding is a fundamental basic and requires no extra study beyond a few fundamentals. Here are the fundamentals of XTA:


Learn keyboard shortcuts

Learn how to dgun effectively

Learn how to place your army in a battle ÔÇô you donÔÇÖt really want to lead the attack with dominators do you?

Learn the advantages of every unit in the game ÔÇô check out the mod profile and replays on adune.nl

Its always easier to learn playing against other humans than playing against the AI  Go ahead and lose a ton of games while you learnwho cares what your record is.

Know what units to use. Unit choices help a lot.

Pull out weakened units.

Aim for weakened units

Focus fire with ranged

Always have control of units a few control groups (ctrl 1-9)

Have good perspective of how is battle doing, use this to try to make quick good choices (like tech up or push forward).

Prioritize on whats more important to do...you cannot manage all your units/buildings at once.

Always watch over your commander (ctrl-c)

Each unit is vital, don't ever let a unit die if u can stop it even, kill them urself at last bit of life (ctrl-d)

learn to make your commander ÔÇ£danceÔÇØ to dodge incoming fire

Protect your commander ÔÇô NEVER let him die. Why? ÔÇô your army gets very weak, you canÔÇÖt heal as effectively, your enemy gain lots of xp, you lose line of sight, etc

Learn the best way to kill the enemy commanders

Know which units are better to attack the enemy units

Protect your key units

Know when to run

Know when to pretend you are running

Learn special tricks (eg, watching the good players)

Lastly, dont ever give up. fight to last unit.

[Johannes]

Lastly, dont ever give up. fight to last unit.

Please don't, if you lost rather start another game than waste everyones time

[knorke]

so how is all the stuff done?
needs more explanations.
ie

Learn how to dgun effectively

how? why does my dgun always go under or through units?

Focus fire with ranged

i think you mean ie laser towers outranging other laser towers by force firing in front of them, outside their range. But just from this text its not clear.

Learn the best way to kill the enemy commanders

Yes but what is the best way?

[babbles]

by focus fire with ranged he means when you have about 10 jethros making them all fire at one target

and I don't use keyboard shortcuts lol, well, D,control+C, control+D, control+Z, control+A

[d-gun]

Lastly, dont ever give up. fight to last unit.

Please don't, if you lost rather start another game than waste everyones time

the game is TOTAL ANNIHILATION

not

IMMA GIVE UP WHEN ODDS LOOK BAD

[Sucky_Lord]

Lastly, dont ever give up. fight to last unit.

Please don't, if you lost rather start another game than waste everyones time

the game is TOTAL ANNIHILATION

not

IMMA GIVE UP WHEN ODDS LOOK BAD

No it really is shit when you wait 20mins for the enemy to mop up every single last god damned unit

[d-gun]

play com ends?

[Jools]

Lastly, dont ever give up. fight to last unit.

Please don't, if you lost rather start another game than waste everyones time

This is a good tip, please play with this mindset. However, there are also times when there is only such units left that you can't realistically win, and in those times I would just ctrl-d. But, there is no obligation to do so, and other people have chosen to not play comends, so that's when they chose to waste time.

There are also many times where you can come back from a really bad situation, so don't give up.

[babbles]

Comebacks are more common in XTA.

[Gota]

at some point, especially if you lost your commander,there is 0 chance of coming back than you should self d,no point in wasting time on a game that has already been decided.
If you gave up ask your opponent if he wants you to self d just to be polite.

[pintle]

This all depends upon your initial motivation for starting the game. Personally I find hopeless last stands can be pretty fun, and it often forces you to really micro the most out of your few units= good practice :)

I do always prefer to play com ends/kill all coms mode tho.

[SirArtturi]

# Be sure to use nonmetal utensils.

# For cooking, cut meats and vegetables in uniform sizes to make sure that they cook evenly.

# Paper plates, cups, and napkins can be used. But don't use foil-lined paper products, paper towels that include nylon or synthetic fibers, or newspaper.

# When using plastic roasting or cooking bags, discard the wire twist tie and use a plastic fastener or a piece of string instead.

# To ensure that food cooks fully and evenly, stir food and turn dishes periodically while they're cooking.

# Remove large bones from meat because the dense bone may keep the area around it from cooking.

# Paper towels around sandwiches, rolls, or other baked goods will absorb moisture that would otherwise make the food soggy.

Anyway, It's polite to let the enemy finish off your base or have some fun with your com after you have lost the game someway. Beyond that it's just annoying waste of time to chase down couple peewees around the map.

[Jools]

Good tips. I have some more to add:

* Micro can be an effective substitute for some normally time demanding tasks, such as boiling potatoes or crying aubergines. Instead, just put a soft paper towel around it in the micro (you can moisten i a bit), this will produce almost the same effect.

* The turning plate is a micro is just a selling gimmick, it actually does nothing to even out the heating, since the rays in the micro are nonetheless randomly distributed since they bounce a lot. But consumers like to see the food turning, and so those products sell better.

* New is not always better, especially old micros have an easier function with just 2 buttons or wheels. New microes add stubborn beep sounds and useless weighing functions. It's always good to keep things simple. Remember: less is more.

* And finally, remember to use the splash protection cover. It actually has a purpose, it's not made just for the looks of it.

[Citrus]

When the end is nigh...
don't lose heart!
Remember:
3cons > 2 pyros!
tried and tested!

[Neddie]

While the derail posts are entertaining, future ones will result in moderation.

[zwzsg]

I hate when people self D, depriving me of the pleasure to crush them under the triumphant march of my iron warriors.

[Jools]

Ok I apologise Neddie for that post, but XTA forum doesn't have a problem with spamming at the moment, and on the contrary we have quite little activity.

Anyway, I think it's better to self-d than to juist quit, and leaving it up to the remaining to hubt for that lone fibber or mine somewhere in the corner. That's just sadist.

[Johannes]

The ability to quit without instantly losing is such bullshit, why is it still not fixed D:

Also sometimes people complain when they're losing that I'm not killing them fast enough... Like it's my fault that you're still staying in the game

[Noruas]

Sing.

[Deadnight Warrior]

The next Spring release will remove hardcoded end-game conditions, and we'll have to use a gadget for checking if the game is over or not. Since BrainDamage made some example gadgets, maybe he'd be willing to implement (or ease implementation of), nothing of value game condition, so when a allied team has no cons (be it coms, rezbots, or other) you instantly lose.