Mole40k

Yeah, I'm definitely here for the nostalgia more than anything else. TS has shaped all of our lives in some small way, and I still kind of long for those days when life was so much simpler Glad to hear you are doing well! I turned 38 yesterday and I can tell you for a fact, I am feeling OLD. And to think you are 32! I see some of my old TS mates now with kids and it just seems like yesterday that we were teenagers with not a care in the world. Also, what you thinking of doing at Uni? Where you thinking of going? You know I'm a university lecturer now, right? If you need any advice, do just ask!

Hello!!! I haven't played in years and years, but like you I do come back here every so often in the hope that I recognise someone, or that I can feel young again 😛. I did post a 'where are they now' thread, but no one replied except the one remaining player who happens to be retired. How are you doing mate? What you up to these days?

What, 3 reactions and not a single comment? C'mon guys, what are you all up to? I'm genuinely interested to hear!

I started playing TS in the late 1990s. I was 14. More than 20 years have passed since then and a lot of water has gone under the bridge. I haven't played in years and years, and yet I still check back here every so often to see if I recognise anyone and check out what's going on. Like it or not, TS and its community have impacted on all of our lives in some way. For better or for worse, I know I wouldn't be the person I am today without those formative experiences playing TS and being involved with the many various TS community sites over the years! So what is everyone up to these days? What do you do in terms of work? What are your hopes / dreams / aspirations for the years ahead? If you're still in touch with anyone else from the community, it would be great to hear what they've been up to. Me, I'm a university lecturer these days. I play xbox a little bit, but nothing too serious. I drive a silly car with a big spoiler, but I'm going to sell it soon as it's costing me too much. Might be time to get sensible as I approach middle age 😛

Thanks for the plug Can you believe that I wrote v1 in 2007?! As you can see from the link, even v4 is almost 10 years old haha. Top things to look at: Know which units are 'worth it' and 'not worth it'. There are quite a few units in the game that are in no way cost effective and your allies will hate you if you build them and use them incorrectly. You also need to pay attention to scouting and money management. Both incredibly important if you want to improve as a player. Finally, please do look at my example 'bad bases'. I staged these deliberately to include examples of what pro players hate to see in 'newbie' bases. Things such as not responding to attacks, building refs in the wrong places, wasting money on useless units etc. Have fun

FS is by far the superior game. Only legacy issues and the misguided influence by the oldschool terrace community mean that you are all stuck in the ways of playing a game that is fundamentally more imbalanced and lacking in depth.

Yeah, I'm not sure we will ever really get to the bottom of this. And the thing is, if what you're saying there is true Radian, then that means Nod are unfairly disadvantaged in the score stakes, as if someone uses Devil's then their kills aren't getting rated in the same way as GDI. But then I guess no change there then ?

No worries. Can you believe I wrote v1 way back in 2006/7! That's more than 15 years ago. Man I feel old.

Also, I completely agree with you on the lack of incentive to make a nicely designed base (though this doesn't seem to stop the modders...). On the subject of useless units and buildings, Laser Fence is definitely up there. Many years ago I did some extensive testing on laser fence in conjunction with stealth to try and 'trap' landing units and kill them, but it's just too costly really, and subject to too many variables to be worth the investment. It's a shame really as there are so many elements to the core game that could be improved with relatively little effort.

Great to hear you are enjoying your TS experience. To summarise some of my feelings on this matter (and I imagine, the feeling of most pro players on here), there ARE indeed quite a few 'useless' units in TS. As you rightly point out, when we say 'useless' here, we mean 'useless in a competitive multiplayer setting'. The reason is normally because they are not very cost effective. Either they cost too much, they have relatively weak attack/defense, or there is another unit that does the same job a whole lot better. A good example would be the cyborg. In most circumstances, you're better spending the money on infantry. When we move up to the wolverine and attack buggy, they are not completely without use. However, when you are playing competitively, the advantages those units bring are so limited that you are better off spending the money on something more useful. Normally a JJ (GDI), or maybe an orca/harpy if it's scouting your are trying to do.

Thanks for sharing Yeah, it's funny just how many things have been lost in time. Some oldschool names on that staff list .

To think that he made that list the best part of 10 years ago. And the list was old even then!

Think you may have just undermined your training credentials there... ? (See other thread.)

Hahaha. I don't think I've ever seen that video before. Says it all really ? Many years ago now, after spending ages trying to get him to play me, I finally got him into a game on FF, this is what happened.... The game crashed a few minutes later.

Thanks Amokk. If you're going to do that, then I would perhaps link to the WP site, rather than my own website -- just in case the link changes etc. If anyone has any content they'd like to submit for the blogsite, do please send it my way

That's funny... you appear in a post from 2014: https://cnctiberiansun.wordpress.com/2014/06/28/player-spotlight-wuss/

Well, it's not really a guide for 'pros'. The idea was to improve those early starters who get completely swamped when they first start. The sorts of players who spam cyborgs, or who don't know how to manage their economy, or wonder why their partners get annoyed at them for doing silly things. If there are genuinely still new players coming into the game, then I will keep it up. I just figured that after 20+ years it might seem a bit pointless ? [Out of interest, does nodrescue still play?]

So, the TS blog I set up in 2013 is on the verge of 100,000 pageviews. I haven't touched it in many years now, but I've kept it open as a way to help people find cncnet and xwis (back when TS on xwis was 'a thing'). History Back in 2006/7, I went to university and wasn't able to play TS while living in halls. As the game was on a notable decline, I decided to spend my time writing a player guide to help new players get into the game. I remember getting quite a bit of flack for writing it back then from the typical TS trolls (name no names), but persisted nonetheless, and made an updated version in 2013, which I turned into a pdf that you can download from my website. To make the content more accessible to a wider number of players, I also put the content into a blog site, which is the same site still available today: https://cnctiberiansun.wordpress.com/ Where next? I did go back to the site briefly a few years back to publish a few 'spotlight' posts, and add some info on Forest Fires to help players I met in-game. However, I didn't get much in the way of feedback from anyone (other than Wuss and Trz) so left it again. However, I'm now 35 years old and I haven't played TS in many years. I don't even do PC gaming anymore. As such, I figure I might just delete it and let the whole thing die. What do you think? Is it still worth keeping? Does *anyone* new play TS these days?

Daz! Hello there. What you still doing lurking about this place? ? How are things my friend?

I agree. I mean, I played Dawn of War 2 competitively for several years, and the whole approach to balance and counters was so much more effective. At least if you were in a stacked game you always felt you had a chance with skill and ingenuity to do something. I know this sounds a bit weird but the fact gdi are op is one of the main reasons I stopped playing with them... especially as the imba is so much more pronounced on TS compared to FS which is where I was at my competitive prime.

Hate to break this to you Mola, but some of us have known this for over 20 years ? Honestly though, the imbalance in this game is one of the main reasons I just couldn't be asked with it anymore. It's just silly how imbalanced it is trying to defend vs GDI when one bomber kills most of your defense.

Oh my goodness me, this is so sad! I have to say I have really fond memories playing with Mike. The guy was just FUN: something so few players on TS are, and he also had a fair bit of talent too. I still have such good memories of playing with Mike, and just his general banter and humour, and the great fun we had playing on FF, back when you could have a great laugh playing a competitive 4v4 with elite players who also knew how to have a laugh as well. So sad as well to think that both Mammy and FakeMammy are no longer with us. And both at such a young age too! Does anyone know what happened to him? How did you find out? P.S. I absolutely loved his caps rapping. It was so stupid and silly, and I loved to take him on in a semi-ironic kind of way. Just a great laugh. Gosh I miss those days

You've clearly been reading my TS guide, which is now something like 13 years old: https://cnctiberiansun.wordpress.com/getting-started/

Alright Matt! Hope you're keeping well ?

Honestly, I don't really think the 'original intention' of the developers is a valid argument, as the online gaming community has changed just so much in the last 20 years. Better really to ask what it is you want from a competitive online environment. I think it's fair to say that most players now agree that TS in its original form is not what you'd come to expect from a fair and balanced online game (at least not for 'competitive' tournaments). I mean, this is one of the reasons I rarely ever played 1v1s in my time on TS. It was so obvious how imbalanced the game is, it wasn't really worth my time, except for fun games. And this is something I realised maybe back in 2000 -- over 20 years ago! I'm glad to see people are finally coming around to this, even if it has taken the best part of two decades ?.