Single player challenges designed to improve player BOs

[Eukanuba]

I'm sure this is possible to mod, but I wouldn't know where to start. A lot of games have challenge modes which basically just test your ability at some small part of the game.

If there was a mode in FAF where you had to achieve a certain structure or number of units as fast as possible, it would encourage even the noobiest of noobs to improve their build orders, and it would help the likes of me (want to be good at the game but a bit too stupid) improve as well.

I'd envision such challenges as things like:

* Limited to four mex points, build 50 T1 tanks
* In Seton's back slot, make 5 ASF and 1 strat bomber
* Using only reclaim, make a Monkeylord (Daroza's basically )
* Using only four mexes, make a cruiser, a destroyer, a shield boat and a battleship

Although you can of course muck around in Sandbox to your heart's content to figure out the best way to do these, if there was a competitive angle and therefore discussion about them, it would help more players improve more quickly.

Thoughts?

[ZaphodX]

I like the idea of this.

[Disturbed]

The only thing i can see this being a problem with is if you give challenges it forces people into habits of making specific build orders when really you want to be able to react to everything not just sit and stick to your BO the first minute of your game can be planned after that it has to be cause and effect and reacting to whats needed in the game...

[Eukanuba]

Disturbed, you are a good player. Good players know what actions they need to go through to achieve a goal. If everybody knows what they need to do to achieve a goal, then they can switch what they're doing in order to react to a threat.

I am often OK in 1v1, because I only have one person to react to, but give me a large team game and I try and fail to react to everything, and end up making six tanks and a T1 bomber before I get utterly destroyed.

There's a large chain of things you need to do to be in any particular position, and I think this would help people understand those chains, and therefore make it easier for them to switch between them.

[discoverer2k4]

it would be better to make challanges like:

1) you got 20k mass and 1000k energy (only). destroy the AIs 10 T2 PDs in less 15 min.
2) you got 50 strikers, the AI got 60(or 70) mantis. Go and defeat them!
3) you got 1 bomber, destroy at least 3 pgens in the AIs base. (opponent got 1 stationary anti air at the front of the base - so u have to fly around and micro a lot to do the job)
in challanges like this, people can learn the correct or more efficient counter and on top they can train micro...

challanges where people only have to build something without to kill something sounds very boring from my point.

[Eukanuba]

Good idea Discoverer, I think in an ideal world you'd have economic and military challenges, perhaps even two-stage with some sort of scripting?

Well beyond my abilities though so it will remain a hope unless somebody who knows what they're doing reads this and thinks it's a good idea.