KyleBrogan

Okay, I got it. I just was confused that he was playing with three friends and only had three controllers... And I have five because I bought three for my original 'Cube, and then it broke, so I bought another one, and it came with it's own controller. The laser on the original broke, and I didn't want to pay to ship it to Nintendo... Besides, a new one was only a hundred bucks anyway, and it came with Metroid Prime. That was cool. As to the rest, I personally think that the XBox is the first step towards complete integration between consoles and PC. Eventually, all consoles will be "computers in a box", and we won't even be having this debate anymore. That's the way that I see the future of gaming, anyway. - Spartie

Thanks. I appreciate it. I'll do the clickity-click. - Spartie

While I love the Paladin, and thing it's the most versatile tank in the mix, I agree that the Overlord is just plain stronger. However, I will say that the Paladin wasn't meant to fight alone. Or even with just a group of tanks. You always mix in a couple Tomahawks, a Raptor or two, some Humvees, Rocket Dudes... USA forces always have to depend on more than one unit in an attack force, unlike the GLA and China, which makes them more of a challenge to play. - Sparticus

I loved it the first time I took four Humvees up against five Nuke Battlemasters, and he couldn't figure out how his entire force blew up. The one good thing about playing against the Nuke General is that his tanks cause collateral damage to his own units when they blow up. One Raptor, and BOOM! - Sparticus

Howdy there. I'm Sparticus, Air Force Extrordinaire. Well, maybe not Extrordinaire, but I know a thing or two about the game. If you have any questions, I'm always willing to help if I'm able. - Sparticus

The only way that it works is if you fill up a Com. Chinook with (8) Pathfinders. The one flaw with the Mini-Gunners and the Gattling Tanks are that their weapons take a second to "warm up". If they're fully levelled, then that changes. However, I've successfully beaten fifty Mini-Gunners with a single Copter. (That's an estimate. He rushed toward my base with something close to a hundred. A friend of mine and me were testing ideas.) In any case, weapon to use against the Infantry General is not the Combat Chinook. Use the Humvee. Put two or three snipers inside, add a Battle Drone. Use two or three Humvees, and it's a much better investment, because the Gattling weapon has a much shorter range land-to-land, and the Humvee holds up a little better than the Chinook. That's the way I do it, so I thought I'd share that little tidbit with you. - Sparticus

Oh, and to Mr. Chicken, I'd love to go up against you and see you "rush me" to death. Though it happens sometimes, more often than not, I've beaten it and then the other guy's done. Use some strategy for this "easy" strategy game. Geez. - Sparticus

This is a bit off the subject, but does anyone know where I can get a hold of the music from Generals? Mostly I really enjoy the USA music, as well as the menu music from the original Generals. The cool guitar tracks when heavy attacks start taking place are really cool. If anyone could help me out that'd be great. - Spartie

Call of Duty is made by the same team who created the original Medal of Honor games. (The company was absorbed into EA, and then the original developers filtered out and made their own company, which is why the games play similarly and have a similar feel to them.) What I really enjoyed more about COD more than MOH is that the action was quick, with things to do, and you almost always had buddies to help you out. The weight of the world wasn't always on your shoulders, such as in MOH. And your teammates actually did things! I was amazed that I could have a couple guys covering my back and they actually did it. It made for an excellent experience, and I really enjoyed the game. But that's just me. - Sparticus

Um, quick count... Khyber + 3 = 4... I'm so confused. Why was the controller broken? Why didn't he buy another one? I have five so why am I asking this? Ahh! - Spartie

Um, was I talking to you? 'Cause I could have sworn that I was replying to Master & Commander. Why you would be annoyed by that I'm not sure, but I digress. - Sparticus

Is there anyone else who thinks this to be the idiotic statement of the year? Besides the fact that it just sounds funny, it doesn't even mean anything, because it isn't back up with any reasoning whatsoever. I think this guy might just sway my opinion... Oh! I can feel my resolve slipping! I'm going to declare Laser stronger any second now! - Sparticus

The Air Force General's King Raptor builds faster than any air unit in the game, and also builds faster than the Avenger. Besides that, Granger's Air Field will be up faster than the War Factory, and you can kiss goodbye the builders. Just trust me. Air Force can handle Avenger's fine. You're failing to realize that you never send single units with the USA. That's what China's for. You send Humvees, with Rockets, with some Combat Chinooks or Commanches. Maybe a Tomahawk or two. Never send "just Humvees." You still will never win this arguement. Air Force > Laser General, every time. - Sparticus

You know, I've never really understood the point of clans. They are, to me, at least, one of the most idiotic ideas conceived by the online community. Clubs are more the appropriate name for them. Clans seem to imply that they have strength in numbers. That they have a force to be reconned with. In reality, half the online players have no idea who the clan members are, and the rest don't really care. They claim to be "at war" with another clan, but how are such things resolved? Catcalls? What exactly can you do to "defeat your enemy?" Just a thought I had, especially when this "prestigious" clan is looking for members, and claims a US Army Infantry member as it's leader to give it some "military legitimacy." I also enjoyed the fact that C&C Generals is simply a branch of this clan. What, are you defending your honor on multiple fronts? Is there some great evil that you're protecting us from? Do tell. I just wanted to throw this out there. See what happens when I stir the water. - Sparticus

I'll give the Nuke a try. However, I've had some trouble with the Tank Gen. before. Mostly, I have trouble with the Gattling Cannon. In fact, that's the only thing I have trouble with. I believe that USA was shortchanged against infantry, because China get's gattling everything, and GLA gets the Quad. And just a side note: I don't exactly believe the Tank General to be too weak. Air Force is an early-game General, but if Tank can survive the initial strikes, it's pretty hard for Air Force to recover. Just a note from me. - Spartie

You were talking about 10000 games of solo play? Whoa. And I thought I needed to get a life. Lol. No, Online play doesn't count towards Solo Play, and vice versa. 10 Grand. Sheesh. - Spartie

You know, I got into a conversation about this with a guy online once, me saying consoles because of the relaxed environment, sitting on a couch in front of a big TV with your friends, and then he said that he'd hooked up a big screen to his comp with emulators for all the consoles and stuff. I told him that he was full of it. (That was just a random thought that came to mind when I saw this thread. Thought I'd share it with you.) In any case, I'm with the majority, it seems. While I love Generals, Desert Combat, and a number of other RTS games and I believe that the mouse is the superior targeting tool for FPS, Consoles will always be my absolute favorite for two reasons: A: It's so much easier to hook up four controllers the play against your pals (read: absolutely destroy your pals. Lol.). B: Consoles are usually much cheaper than comps, and they are far easier to tote with you than your computer system. So my vote is both. Comps for some games, but Consoles for most. I think that someday they're going to have both combined so that it won't matter what you choose. They'll have PC power in consoles, and it'll all become compact enough to carry anywhere. - Sparticus

I really enjoy this game, mostly because I don't have the money to put lots of mods into my own car, and because I couldn't possibly afford the fines and/or jail time that racing said car on public streets would accumulate, so this is a good substitute. As a attendee in the LA street racing "scene," I've seen my fair share of racers and tricked-out cars, from some of the stock-looking guys running 12's in Palmdale, to the really trick cars at the shows in Vegas. I think that Underground did an excellent job in capturing the essence of the street-racing scene. And just for your information, while everyone has their preferences, imports are the most prominant vehicles on the street. It's because they're pretty cheap, easy to modify, are usually pretty reliable, and everyone's Mom has one that you can "borrow". Besides that, it's usually one of the first cars that you get as a kid, and therefore it's the kind of car that you read up on, and so when you buy a new one, you're hooked on them. (I just described my own experience of car-buying in life.) I'm just saying that I think EA did a good job with this game. Maybe there weren't a lot of muscle cars (read: none), and you didn't see Porches, or Lambos, or any of those other cars that never see the street scene anyway. I like the game anyway. - Sparticus

The only problem that I see with having seven complete factions is that it will be an absolute pain to work with. Specifically, how can you accurately balance seven seperate forces, while making each unique enough to be considered its own? I just think you're asking for trouble, especially when it would come to the feedback from others complaining how some are far too powerful and others are too weak. It's not impossible, but balancing issues would be abundant, and it would take many many patches to get it right. That's just my personal opinion. - Sparticus

You'd be surprised, pal. There are some people on there who I'm just sure play Generals solid every minute of every day, stopping only to eat, sleep, and go to the bathroom. And eating I think they do while playing anyway. These "Super Generals" can be your worst enemy if you play them online. But if you beat them, it's extremely sweet. - Sparticus

But there's a flaw in your strategies. For one, I never allow my opponent to get more than a couple of Avengers built in the first place. The key to winning with any of the USA Generals isn't to sit back and build a large force, but to constantly attack, harassing resource lines, buildings, workers... Just constantly causing enough trouble that your opponent can't put together a solid enough force to attack with. Now, what kind of a dense Air Force player would let you put together a line of 15 Avengers? Not me. And don't give me anything about rushing. The Air Force General isn't one to bunker in and hold on. His strength is in his strikes. In hitting hard and often. And when it comes to numbers, I really don't mind losing a little cash, but when I strike with planes, I usually have a couple on standby to hit even after one gets taken down. Laser Tanks? Please. Just keep a couple Missle Defenders around to handle them, coupled with Pathfinders to protect from his snipers. (Detection is my specialty, with the Spy Drone being one of my favorite units.) I'm sorry to bust up your ideas, I just have never lost against the Laser General when I control Air Force. I don't think I will, but maybe I just haven't played against anyone good yet. I'd like to play against you just to see what might happen, but I suspect I would add another win to my record instead of being schooled in the arts of Lasers. - Sparticus

Sir, you're talking to a freaking Air Force master. No, just kidding. I see where you're going with this, but unfortunately, I disagree with a few points. If the Laser General is attacking with Laser Tanks, I always just leave a couple Humvees with rockets, coupled with a Combat Chinook stuffed with rockets. If an Avenger finds it's way that far, I use a couple of King Raptors to get rid of the problem. And I guarantee that Humvees with Rockets and TOW can hold their own fine against Laser Tanks. Besides that, my main strategy is to constantly harass my opponent. I like to cause trouble long distance, constantly taking out Dozers, Chinooks, and Turrets. Mostly just causing him enough trouble to make an effective strategy impossible. I use my planes to take out tank lines faster than he can rebuild them. In essense, I eliminate heavy encounters between his ground units and mine. And just on a side note, the Avengers are good, but Gattling Tanks are stronger, and the Quad-Cannon has a longer range. In any case, two King Raptors will blow the crap out of an Avenger, no matter how cool his laser is. To get around losing my aircraft if the Airfield is lost, I send them to a remote part of the map (safe), while rebuilding the field. Then I just make sure not to leave them hanging above the field, but constantly moving. When the time the new airfield is up, I send them all there, and save myself a few grand. It's not that hard, but requires a little thought. I've almost never had a problem taking out the Laser General, no matter how many times I've played against him. I think that he should have been given a few better weapons to work with, but if you want to go ahead and prove my theories, wrong, be my guest. But I wouldn't recommend taking me on with 'im. Watch the skies. - Sparticus

I've also noticed the trend towards the Superweapon General, and while I've found it to be extremely difficult at times, there are ways to beat it. (I'll use Granger for my examples, because he's my most-used general.) Start out building a Cold Fus. Reactor, a bit away from your main building. Make sure to leave all of your buildings spaced enough so that he can really only target one building at a time. Build a Supply Depot with a second dozer, and then start on an Aifield and a Barracks. Now, the trick is to keep your planes in the air, away from your main base. King Raptors are your best friend here. As soon as you can get one in the air, I recommend using it to take out a Chinook, or a builder, if you can get to them. If EMPs are slowing you down, save the first Raptor, and get two Stealth Fighters into the air. Two of them will destroy any turret you target, and besides that, they're stealthed until the last second, which is an excellent advantage. Harass him, and never leave him alone. This is the key. He takes down one plane, kill the turret, and the dozer. He takes down another plane, kill both of his Chinooks. Now, in maps with Oil Derricks and the like, try to get them first, but if he gets them, destroy them. At least, that's what I do. They're often not worth the hassle, and you can use them as a staging point since many players consider it a dead zone and don't often look there for units. This strategy isn't for Superweapon Pansies who claim "no rush" at the beginning of the game. To me, there's no such thing as "no rush" in Generals. It's a prime point of attack, messing up things at the most crucial point in the game, and with the Superweapon General, you can't give her a chance to build up. You just take the hits to her, and slam her hard, and keep hitting her until she falls. Keep her Auroras out of the game, and never let her gain the upper hand. If you wait to attack against this General, you've failed it. - Sparticus

But when in reality is a good player going to let you build up that kind of a force? I mean, give me a break! Whenever I play against the Superweapon general, I know that I'll be in trouble if I let them get an Aurora into the air. That's why I get King Raptors into the skies to keep him from getting the Strat. Center up. If you send in a number of them constantly destroying even just Dozers and Chinooks, coupled with duel Stealth Fighters to whomp the Patriots, Alexander has no chance. I'm sorry, but even the EMP missles have a hard time getting through Laser-Point Defenses. - Sparticus

You mean that it just won't finish? Even after you've killed off all of the "escaping" GLA? Hmm... I've never heard of that before. But then again, I kind of cheated. I used sixteen Helix, with a mix of Prop. Towers and Bunkers, and just sat them in front of the places where the "retreating forces" would appear. Needless to say, the GLA got slaughtered, even when there were multiple groups. I can only suggest that you try it again. Perhaps there was a unit that got away or something? I'm sorry, but for the life of me I have no idea what you should do. - Sparticus