1.2 Exploits Library

[AHadley]

OK then. This may not be a good idea, and if you globmods want to, feel free to take it down. And please don't shout at me as you do so

In a recent conversation with TopGun and ZeroAngel (and a couple of others) about FE/1.2 games, we started discussing exploits... I thought that since a good few here (like me) are 1.3 only players who rarely venture into 1.2, it would be useful to have a library of these exploits for when we do venture out into 1.2 to avoid us getting completely smashed by the dreaded 1.2 vets.

I know none of these exploits, so anybody who does, please tell us.

EDIT: I think a couple of guys misunderstood... this is do we know what is going on so we don't fall for it as easily. Valid counter tactics would be nice, but I don't think that's allowed

[General BlackDragon]

no one is

Not many people are stupid enough to post that kind of thing on a public forum for all to view.

And i'm 100% sure the admins here wouldn't allow it anyway.

[Axeminister]

I know one, give me a pummel scout and then exploit me. I'll get the job done!

[Nielk1]

I can name a few exploits:
MP Editing - Only allowed if game is clearly marked
Turrets in buildings - NEVER ALLOWED
Changing weapons to anything - NEVER ALLOWED
Turret Humping - (allowed annoyingly)
Flying/Hovering - (allowed but nearly makes the game all FPS and no RTS)
Ghosting - That is creating unstable velocities and using other factors of lagging to ensure you are nearly unhittable.

I think anyone should know about the ones above to know what to look out for. Other than these, things like AVs just don't need to be known.

[TopGun]

With me its my mouse. Like I said in the other topic. My mouse goes off and on. Its still there and plugged in but the game detects it off and on very rapidly.

Now if we can get a 1.3 meeting to play on that version that would be great. Because I have had almost no problems with it now that I have the right patch for it.

[Zero Angel]

Yep, Neilk1 pretty much listed most of them

Well there is also:

Human Mortar Bikes -- too warpy and hard to hit -- never allowed
Multi Bombing -- causes bomber to drop bomb on two different targets -- never allowed
Human player can join CPU team in an MPI -- rarely ever allowed
Killing buildings from inside -- considered unfair and never allowed. Though some players want to kill a building so bad they will 'bend' this rule. There are ways to counter this in some cases, but its still considered lame.

Aside from ghosting, hovering, and turret humping, most of these exploits never see usage especially in a vet game -- because people who use them would get banned. Its one of the reasons why 'vet strats' require known nicks only.

[AcneVulgaris]

. I thought that since a good few here (like me) are 1.3 only players who rarely venture into 1.2, it would be useful to have a library of these exploits for when we do venture out into 1.2 to avoid us getting completely smashed by the dreaded 1.2 vets.

They smash you because they've been playing every night for 9 years, not because of cheats.

[Zero Angel]

Flying/Hovering - (allowed but nearly makes the game all FPS and no RTS)

Oh man, you obviously werent in that last scion vs. ISDF game I played. Those typically become stalemated dogfight-wise since warriors are hard to kill and ISDF can rebuild tanks quickly. I gave my lead wingman several titans, gauss turrets and service trucks while I spire walked to one edge of the map and had 3 upgraded pools going on. The enemy team was using serviced turret and rocket tank emplacements to try and advance on my base while my team was trying to repeatedly bust the emplacements by ranging them with arc and sometimes blinking in and doing kamikaze attacks to damage things then blink out. We eventually managed to bust their front line emplacements to the northeast at the cost of my gunspires and upgraded pools to the southwest. They rec rushed us and killed our rec but I had 4 pools, enough to make spires around it and we unleashed our final desperation attack when I dropped quill for my thugs and we sent the titans and gauss rats into their base while dropping their rec and fac with quill/fang -- winning the game.

Scion vs ISDF late game is typically more like a combination of FPS and RTS. Whereas ISDF vs ISDF late game is mostly FPS since the games typically end with one team gaining the upper hand in dogfighting, and mortaring a base to death with blast tanks. Though ISDF teams have been known to employ serviced PL-Stab/MDM assault tanks as well as turret emplacements to help with a final assault.

Its only versus extremely weak teams can we finish a base with chain scouts. Vet strats now use a picking system which attempts to balance the skill level of the teams so that theres not a huge difference in skill between the teams.

[Nielk1]

They smash you because they've been playing every night for 9 years, not because of cheats.

For the record, I have been playing for 9 years and used to hold my own very well, but I hate the exploits and once we got to the point were I refused to use them, I got destroyed.

[AHadley]

no one is

Not many people are stupid enough to post that kind of thing on a public forum for all to view.

And i'm 100% sure the admins here wouldn't allow it anyway.

To be honest, I know very little of the goings-on between 1.2 and 1.3-ers... I'm not intending to cause trouble, and if anybody feels this is causing trouble, I am perfectly happy for it to be locked or deleted as admins see fit.

[bigbadbogie]

It wont be long before you will see some foolish 1.2 vet show up and try to justify the 1.2 exploits, and a flamewar starts.

My advice is to delete this topic. Sorry AHadley.

(EDITED FOR SPELLING AND CLARITY).

[TheJamsh]

It WILL be long before my mod is out and you see all the players move to public beta anyway... i service truck you not.

joining the CPU team in MPI sounds fun!

[bigbadbogie]

It WILL be long before my mod is out and you see all the players move to public beta anyway... i service truck you not.

Get over yourself. 

[Zero Angel]

I just noticed your edit about suggesting counter tactics. Vet teams often use the following tactics to counter the following:

Turret Humping
Since humping a turret allows one to continuously stay outside of its firing zone, most people use another turret to counter this exploit. Placing turrets no further than 140m apart will prevent a single turret from being humped -- as they will both cover each other.

Hovering
Hovering/Flying is a technique often used to hit turrets or base buildings without being hit back. ZST and FE maps (not stock 1.2 maps) have advanced AI for turrets and gunspires which make them very difficult to hover kill, so much that the skill needs to be perfected quite a bit in order to work well. Guntowers are effective for shooting down people who attempt to hover kill bases, and so are rocket tanks. Most vets can't even outmaneuver a guntower in the air which is why this method is so effective.

Ghosting
Vets often move in a way that to a newbie they would seem totally unhittable. In fact ghosting is a technique used to make your ship fly faster in one direction, often used by using multiple thrusters at once. The best ways to counter ghosting in 1.2 is to first of all have a low multiworld frequency set, and secondly to use the 't' key to target ships that you're fighting. Targeted ships will almost be unable to ghost since they are tracked much better by the netcode than untargeted ones. Generally though, if you're fighting an enemy and he escapes  outside of the range of your guns then its best not to pursue. An escaping ship can fly faster than a chasing one since the escaper can nose down completely and gradually outrun his pursuer.

Killing the recycler from inside / Rec Rushing
This is simple, simply place a turret at the very back of the recycler, it will destroy any ships which enter its doorway.

As far as rec rushing goes, its a tactic used to take a recycler down very quickly. Most commanders these days will use a 'pummel rush' which involves making several cheap empty scouts and arming them with pummel powerups. Four pummel scouts can take down a recycler very quickly -- but the tactic is risky because if it fails then the rushing team has not only wasted a lot of time not hitting pools or controlling the field, but has also 'dropped' a over a hundred points of loose scrap in the enemy base which can be collected by their scavengers and used to quickly rebuild. As well as since service trucks recycle for 40 scrap, any trucks built to heal the rec after a rush can be recy'd and used as a quick scrap boost for the defending team to build a bomber bay, tech center, blast tanks, or assault units.

As to countering rec rushes go -- most commanders who are concerned about getting rec rushed will utilize the standard '3 rat defence', which involve placing defenses (often turrets) in a triangular formation at the front left of the rec, front right, and back. Any unit which tries to rush the recycler will not be able to find blind spots and will be destroyed quickly. Often if a team is rushing your recycler the best thing you can do is to defend it and build several service trucks to heal the recycler quickly and counter the possibility that the enemy might do a follow-up attack to finish off the rec.

[AcneVulgaris]

The pummel rush is probably one of the most fun things about the game....it's usually done when you're losing, and works when your opponent has spent too little on defense.  The period of time between the decision to pum rush and the result is really suspenseful, and trying to find a safe spot to snuggle up to the rec is a veritable panic.