What is inside your head? A question to the pro's

[SeraphimLeftNut]

What makes a good Supcom FA strategist? Early on in the Supcom FA career the player is almost exclusively concerned about what to build and how many factories to make. Instead of thinking about the game, they are trying to remember what they wanted to do before the game started. At some point the basic execution of tactics, like drops, T1-T2 switches, engineer control, micro of particular units, etc., becomes second nature and the player can begin to pay attention to the map. Once the eyes are open(scouting begins to take place)the player begins to break up the battle into multiple smaller battles that are distributed in space and in time. Each one of these has its own character, some are fights over islands, raiding of expanding engineers, transitions to T2, and each one has its own need with regard to economy cost, unit micro and scouting information. Each map that is played has its own set of battles and events that take place regularly enough for players to include them in their overall plan, at least as a possibility.

The next stage in the evolution of the player's mind is to notice the effect of the outcome of each of these separate battles on one another. Here the player begins to think about multiple battles at once, and a mechanism for multitasking is created inside their mind. It would be interesting to hear from a player like Voodoo, Zock, Lu_Xun, ZLO_RD, etc. how far have they gone along this ladder of understanding? what other structures are created?
Microing t1 arty against a T1 pd, watching an incoming army coming in on radar, deciding to pause the engineer producing factory, because the T2 stage will have to be postponed until after the result of the air fight that will take place as I send in my arty drops, did I just hear t2 flak?

[Softly]

The way I see it, theres two things that make a good player. Anticipation, and execution.

Anticipation, because if you know what the opponent is going to do then you can start countering it from minute 1, and that can make an easy win from an otherwise mediocre performance e.g in this game, because I knew exactly what they were going to do all game-->

544037-XBX-DilliDalli.fafreplay

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Execution is knowing the best way to do something, having a good build order, having good micro, reactions,focus etc. I have only ever been ok at this, which is why I'm not the best but I do think I can pull off a good plan sometimes with a little prior preparation. A good example of this would be the way the brains prepared for the immortals cup, although my favourite game to demo it would be this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxj9A1RsX60

[Stratocaster]

Not a pro at this game, but can answer in general due to my experience in other games: honed senses and enough experience to have a level headed reaction to every action.

You can use your senses to determine what various radar blips are, due to speed and turn speed. You can count radar blips and compare to your own forces, to determine if you can win. You can sync your forces, using some forces to support the other, some to draw fire, distract, keep enemy busy, harass, etc. You know more strategy, to counter efficiently and gain advantages and create momentum, and maintain it, such as luring battles to your side and reclaiming the aftermath. With enough experience and senses, you can even anticipate and predict things, working without intel to an extent, but with good senses and knowledge, you will be wanting good map awareness to be able to adapt your strategy efficiently.

In the lower ranks, you often win through surprise, as people's experience can be lacking. That or people lack well rounded play, lacking good use of intel/scouting, air, naval, or eco/end game strategies. Lacking well rounded play often means a predictable play style, which can be anticipated, leading to lost rematches.

All easier said than done, and execution and efficiency is often the difference between people. The higher up the ranks, it boils down to who makes the fewest mistakes, as you begin to think alike and you have seen enough strategies that nothing can really surprise you. You are worried about fewer things, as you are prepared for them in advance.

[Myxir]

i hope i'm conisered beeing pro enough to post here

in my understanding, there are few keywords which really can make a huge difference


efficiency
use units as good as possible
for example, make some light assault bots to raid the enemy engies, and kill as many as possible with them or use them to harrass the enemy with them.
use bombers to kill enemy engies, but make sure you kill more with them than they cost.
micro your units, for example make sure that mongoose/hoplites (range bots) stay out of the enemy range, while they can still shoot at them
also, don't make hundreds of t1 power gens, they're alot less efficient than t2 or t3 power gens. make just as many as you need

find counters
make the right units!
if the enemy has t3 land, you better get prepared to counter it.
if the enemy goes for a t2 air fac, prepare to build alot air to counter it, or have some mobile flaks.
if you have air superiority, think about making gunships to kill enemy ressources/units or even the commander

don't forget basic stuff
staying focused in a game is hard, you will notice that your reaction time will go down after a short time. when this happens (and often before), you'll often forget very basic stuff, such as these points:
- upgrade a mex once in a while
- rebuild mexes
- try to keep a good mass/energy balance
- scout and counter
- reclaim
- protect your engies and ressources
- raid the enemy mexes

don't think about losing, but don't mind doing it
well, this is just a game, so losing won't really hurt you, but it helps you to improve later on
watch the replays in which you lost, check the reason and try to fix your mistakes for further games
while playing, don't think you're about to lose, or that you can't win the game anyway. thinking this will make you slower and ultimately lead to your defeat, while you still had a chance to win.
also, even when meeting a fearsome enemy, don't think you're losing anyway. think you're at disadvantage, and how you're able to make up for it, but a disadvantage won't already lead to your defeat.
overcoming (or at least surviving) your fearsome enemy in a teamgame will make you feel alot better, than winning against a less skilled player

take a look
strategic zoom is a very useful feature in this game, and should be used very often
don't use the keyboard arrows to move around, zoom out and in, and take a short look what's happening
then you know where you have to give orders to some units, and where you don't have to micro something for the next few seconds
also, this helps you to spot enemy activities help to prepare against them

preparation and teamwork
this is probably the main point, why we (Brainbunch) won the Immortals Trophy
make a good strategy even before the game starts (if you have the time), take a look at the first few minutes what i'm speaking of here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Wvncm9-Zxs
also, teamwork is a key to win many teamgames. strong teams can be made of strong individuals, or of weaker individuals with a better teamwork. in the best case, strong individuals with great teamwork
however, sharing ressources for common goals (e.g. making a fast t4 unit), attacking with combined forces a single enemy and so on... there's no end for useful teamwork.

[Batmansrueckkehr]

i hope i'm conisered beeing pro enough to post here

in my understanding, there are few keywords which really can make a huge difference


efficiency
use units as good as possible
for example, make some light assault bots to raid the enemy engies, and kill as many as possible with them or use them to harrass the enemy with them.
use bombers to kill enemy engies, but make sure you kill more with them than they cost.
micro your units, for example make sure that mongoose/hoplites (range bots) stay out of the enemy range, while they can still shoot at them
also, don't make hundreds of t1 power gens, they're alot less efficient than t2 or t3 power gens. make just as many as you need

find counters
make the right units!
if the enemy has t3 land, you better get prepared to counter it.
if the enemy goes for a t2 air fac, prepare to build alot air to counter it, or have some mobile flaks.
if you have air superiority, think about making gunships to kill enemy ressources/units or even the commander

don't forget basic stuff
staying focused in a game is hard, you will notice that your reaction time will go down after a short time. when this happens (and often before), you'll often forget very basic stuff, such as these points:
- upgrade a mex once in a while
- rebuild mexes
- try to keep a good mass/energy balance
- scout and counter
- reclaim
- protect your engies and ressources
- raid the enemy mexes

don't think about losing, but don't mind doing it
well, this is just a game, so losing won't really hurt you, but it helps you to improve later on
watch the replays in which you lost, check the reason and try to fix your mistakes for further games
while playing, don't think you're about to lose, or that you can't win the game anyway. thinking this will make you slower and ultimately lead to your defeat, while you still had a chance to win.
also, even when meeting a fearsome enemy, don't think you're losing anyway. think you're at disadvantage, and how you're able to make up for it, but a disadvantage won't already lead to your defeat.
overcoming (or at least surviving) your fearsome enemy in a teamgame will make you feel alot better, than winning against a less skilled player

take a look
strategic zoom is a very useful feature in this game, and should be used very often
don't use the keyboard arrows to move around, zoom out and in, and take a short look what's happening
then you know where you have to give orders to some units, and where you don't have to micro something for the next few seconds
also, this helps you to spot enemy activities help to prepare against them

preparation and teamwork
this is probably the main point, why we (Brainbunch) won the Immortals Trophy
make a good strategy even before the game starts (if you have the time), take a look at the first few minutes what i'm speaking of here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Wvncm9-Zxs
also, teamwork is a key to win many teamgames. strong teams can be made of strong individuals, or of weaker individuals with a better teamwork. in the best case, strong individuals with great teamwork
however, sharing ressources for common goals (e.g. making a fast t4 unit), attacking with combined forces a single enemy and so on... there's no end for useful teamwork.

very well explained.
sounds so easy, but can be so hard to do sometimes.

[ColonelSheppard]

(re)invent a strategy

[uberge3k]

Take note of the arbitrary set of variables that comprise your current situation.

Envision the desired set of variables that you would like the situation to eventually resemble.

Make yourself aware of the near-infinite pool of possible actions you may make which influence those variables.

Evaluate them for their potential merit in the given situation, noting which variables they will influence and to what degree.

Determine the sequence of actions which, when given a finite limitation on the number of actions you may take, is equal or superior to every other potential sequence of actions with the same limitation.

Logically, every other sequence of actions is either equivalent - and thus the choice between them is both arbitrary and meaningless - or inferior, and thus can be safely discarded.

Input that series of actions.

---

Few people will believe that this is a valid strategy, citing simplified and erroneous anecdotes based on an incomplete understanding of space and time, a dangerous disregard for the abilities of the human mind, and logical fallacies involving perceived stochastic characteristics of both the game and life in general.

Note that this series of steps applies to each and every situation the human mind encounters. Brains were evolved over periods of time that seem incomprehensibly vast to us, yet barely qualify as a cosmic bat of the eye.

Underestimating the power of the human mind, or worse still, arrogantly assuming that one happens to already be at the peak of human evolution and that anything not presently easy for one to accomplish is impossible for every other member of one's species is a dangerous, yet predictable, trait.

[eXivo]

Take note of the arbitrary set of variables that comprise your current situation.

Envision the desired set of variables that you would like the situation to eventually resemble.

Make yourself aware of the near-infinite pool of possible actions you may make which influence those variables.

Evaluate them for their potential merit in the given situation, noting which variables they will influence and to what degree.

Determine the sequence of actions which, when given a finite limitation on the number of actions you may take, is equal or superior to every other potential sequence of actions with the same limitation.

Logically, every other sequence of actions is either equivalent - and thus the choice between them is both arbitrary and meaningless - or inferior, and thus can be safely discarded.

Input that series of actions.

---

Few people will believe that this is a valid strategy, citing simplified and erroneous anecdotes based on an incomplete understanding of space and time, a dangerous disregard for the abilities of the human mind, and logical fallacies involving perceived stochastic characteristics of both the game and life in general.

Note that this series of steps applies to each and every situation the human mind encounters. Brains were evolved over periods of time that seem incomprehensibly vast to us, yet barely qualify as a cosmic bat of the eye.

Underestimating the power of the human mind, or worse still, arrogantly assuming that one happens to already be at the peak of human evolution and that anything not presently easy for one to accomplish is impossible for every other member of one's species is a dangerous, yet predictable, trait.

oooooooooor... play for fun until you get the hang of the game and by the skill will have came by itself

[Combo]

Well now we know how uberg3ek got his name.

There are some good ideas in this thread, I'm looking forward to seeing more from high rated players.

I used to play quite a bit of chess and when I watch a high rated player (e.g. Lu-Xun) play, I'm reminded of principles governing strategy and exchange of pieces in chess. Unfortunately I'm not so skilled to implement them myself in FA, but they're very recognizable in higher rated players.