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 F.A.Q.


FAQ - Gameplay I
 

Q - Transport Helicopter Unloading - If you select an APC, set a waypoint and shift+click close to this waypoint, the cursor will automagically change to unload, and that's cool for islands territory capturing. Why doesn't this happen to the Transport Heli?
A - For the same reason, up to patch 3, you can't set waypoints for the APC, it'll always unload at the second shift+click. The situation has been discussed with the Bitmaps and probably will be improved for a forthcoming patch, when force-move (ALT) should be made working.

Q - How can I make area attack or move-fight in Z:SS?
A - It's automatic. Just move guys within range. When you select a group, notice that one unit shows a selection circle and the other just sports health bars over them. The one with the selection circle is the "lead unit". This is the unit you actually move, all the others move relative to it. So the units will always try to keep their formation, what greatly add to the flexibility of the game. So try to figure out how the units will position when they get to their destiny and move the units accordingly. A nice tip is to always try to move your units *beyond* the fight area, this way all units will move 'till they get in range of an enemy unit, stop and start shooting. This is also much easier than other games area attack method, which require you to make your group "patrol" or hit some key to work, and also don't mantain the formation of the units.

Q - Isn't Z:SS too micromanagement demanding?
A - Combat micromanagement has always being a great experience in Z, and it still is in Z2, just in a different way. For example, a medium tank can easily kill a heavy tank if the medium keeps moving. If you change your route after the shot, you can easily avoid the deadly heavy gun projectiles. You must order your cluttered group of psychos to spread (hit "X") to avoid mortar shots. The list goes on and on, and it's cool because it demands not only tactical skill but also a bit of "FPS skill". Some people will never agree with that and will believe that an RTS should always be mathematically precise. Those same folks will disagree with the mortar erratic (but realistic) aim, and will prefer the units-stand-one-in-front-of-the-other-till-one-falls approach of traditional RTS. But the fact is that the Bitmaps always advertised Z:SS as an Action RTS, so please don't say you've been misguided or decieved.

Q - Which method should I use, Auto-deselect ON or OFF?
A - auto-deselect ON is faster but makes waypoints more complicated. Auto-deselect off is as other-RTS as it gets - ie. IF you take into account the RMB-building design of the game. I have a couple friends who prefer auto-deselect off, just as myself, and I know another guy who loves auto-deselect for its extra clicking speed (he actually plays Z:SS damn fast). The above methods aren't cumbersome, they're just different and require getting used to.

Q - Why force fire was removed? It's annoying having recon of an area, and even having the ghost images of structures within your firing range, but not being able to attack because the game won't let you. So I have to put my attacking force at risk and get within range of their cannons when I know exactly where I want to shell anyway?
A - Don't you have an airforce? The force fire removal actually *forces* everyone to be more tactical and use their units more tactifully. You use scout helis more often, because attack helis doesn't have that great LOS and are too costly for risky situations. You use snipers more often, because you actually need it, not only because you hope you'll be able to snipe one tank driver or two. If snipers can't stand the enemy fire (namely, mortars and heavy guns), you can still resort to the spy, that becomes extra important for also being able to detect enemy spies. You get the figure, list goes on and on.

Q - Why doesn't the units present real collision detection? Sometimes they overlap to form one unit, sometimes they drive through objects(such as boxes).
A - (Nick Bridger, EON Digital) We had experimented with having the objects completely solid, but it poses a lot of problems from a gameplay point of view (we found a lot of players wouldn't understand why their units were taking different routes across the map. Faster units couldn't pass slower units in a valley, so decide to take a quicker route, arriving earlier than the others - for example.) I could go on, but it gives you an idea! Trust me, it's better this way :)

FAQ - Gameplay Part 2

 

 

 

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