Would you like to play Global Thermonuclear War?

Melchior · Post by **Melchior** » 2006-09-29 01:33pm

phongn wrote:
Ubiquitous wrote:Who would have thought that? It's 6PM, I want my game, but the server is down! I didn't see that one coming!
No, it's ~1730 GMT. BST != GMT.

Right, there is still half an hour left. I wonder what I will do with my e-mailed passkey if I can't download the game, on the other hand.

Ubiquitous · Post by **Ubiquitous** » 2006-09-29 01:36pm

Erm, well if the website is acting this funky now, who knows what it will be like at 7PM BST.

Ubiquitous · Post by **Ubiquitous** » 2006-09-29 02:12pm

Well it's time, and it won't let me download it - same message as before. I am concerned that it hasn't taken money off me to pay for it though, and thus I wouldn't be able to download it anyway. Has anyone else had this problem?

Melchior · Post by **Melchior** » 2006-09-29 03:23pm

I just received my key, therefore my money must have been taken, but I am, too, unable to download.

DocHorror · Post by **DocHorror** » 2006-09-29 03:28pm

go here quickly!

Melchior · Post by **Melchior** » 2006-09-29 04:46pm

DocHorror wrote:go here quickly!

Thanks, finally.

DocHorror · Post by **DocHorror** » 2006-09-29 04:49pm

I have it! Hurrah!

Ubiquitous · Post by **Ubiquitous** » 2006-09-29 05:27pm

No sign of the key yet, what's going on?!

DocHorror · Post by **DocHorror** » 2006-09-29 05:34pm

check your spam folders, some people have been having trouble with that.

Ubiquitous · Post by **Ubiquitous** » 2006-09-29 06:07pm

DocHorror wrote:check your spam folders, some people have been having trouble with that.

Erm big opps, I am an obsessive mass spam deleater ... shit!

Edit - I emailed their tech support and lo and behold, they got back to me within an hour with my key and an apology! Incredible - not an automated response and very fast! Impressive indeed.

SylasGaunt · Post by **SylasGaunt** » 2006-09-29 10:47pm

Woot, got my key and downloaded it. KER NUKE!

Uraniun235 · Post by **Uraniun235** » 2006-09-29 10:51pm

Is it just me or do spectators joining/leaving cause some pretty severe latency issues?

Post by **weemadando** » 2006-09-29 11:45pm

Holy. Shit. This game rocks the fucking kasbah. SDN game - SOON!

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2006-09-29 11:56pm

Uraniun235 wrote:Is it just me or do spectators joining/leaving cause some pretty severe latency issues?

Playing without a password= teh lose? I never let anonymous people join my servers.

InnocentBystander · Post by **InnocentBystander** » 2006-09-30 01:16am

Games is good fun, if a bit tricky.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2006-09-30 01:38am

U235s suggestion about bombers is the best shit ever. As, say, Europe, launch every single bomber you've got in defcon3 or 2 and fly them off to standoff distance. Now you can drop 30-odd nukes on whoever largely simultaneously - it's a poor man's Shepper. No launch warnings, and with judiciuos radar destruction you can really fuck people up without weakening your defence or revealing your subs. In my last game I finished with most of my bombers intact, and ZERO nukes available on any carrier or airfield. My unstoppable nukespam swarms circle over Norway, then lob and head home. They're best used to kill ships on the way home: the circling bombers lay waste to fleets far more effectively than warships.

The 'custom' gametype unlocks all the advanced options: there's a unit-credit system, where you 'buy' radars, airbases and units rather than being given a fixed set. The AI does some pretty nuts things with it - Africa had *9* silos, and was almost impossible to strike with nukes. It took a 6-sub + 12-bomber Shepping to break through the weakest area and destroy West Africa.

InnocentBystander · Post by **InnocentBystander** » 2006-09-30 02:45am

Err... won't most of them get shot down by defense silos and enemy fighters?

Post by **weemadando** » 2006-09-30 02:52am

I only just realised that you can move bombers/fighters independantly rather than setting them on a target as having them fire and forget... That's fucking EVIL that use of bombers...

Must do it...

RedImperator · Post by **RedImperator** » 2006-09-30 02:56am

Stark wrote:Tricking the AI into firing with their silos when you have boomers off the coast = you win.

Yeah, that one works every time. I played a game (I have the demo version right now) against China as South America and parked all my subs in range. I switched one of my silos to attack mode and lobbed one nuke at Beijing and another at Tokyo. They retaliated by firing ICBMs from all their silos, at which point I spammed them with SLBMs and wiped them out. If I were better at the naval side of the game I could have walked out with virtually no civilian casualties; unfortunately, they pasted me with their own SLBMs and carrier based bombers. As it stood, once I soaked up their attack I laid a first rate atomic beatdown on them.

My naval tactics really need work, then I can pwn the AI. Then I'll think about buying the full version and playing against humans.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2006-09-30 03:23am

InnocentBystander wrote:Err... won't most of them get shot down by defense silos and enemy fighters?

You've played the game, right? They never get anywhere near the target - that's the point. They're parked miles away, and the 240s SRBM countdown takes place as they fly to their target. Most of my bombers can fire as soon as they're in combat range, and I always end the game searching for carriers or bases with nukes to load up and go back.

I used to place my airbases 'defensively', to provide interceptor cover for the border or likely war area, but that sucked. Now I place my airbases back a ways, so the bombers can take off without getting shot by point defence and form up for a mass strike.

Naval tactics = use fighters and warships to scout, use the bombers that you launched earlier to kill ships from miles away while the warships tank. I used to mix warships/carriers for AAA, but I find it's easier to keep carriers out of direct combat in dedicated groups.

PS Playing as South America is shit. The end.

EDIT - The game is about timers. If you're not thinking about timers, you're doing it wrong. Every launch, every attack, has a timer - that's why my initial 'launch bombers at nearby targets' thing didn't work. They bombers take 2 minutes each to launch - so they're staggered and easy to shoot down. The SRBM launch takes 4 minutes to warm up from go to fire - so at short range they circle the target and get killed. Thus, launch bombers as soon as possible - they've got plenty of fuel for a whole game. Give attack orders from as far away as possible, so they can fire as far away as possible. Remember that changing targets usually resets the timer. Hiding bombers over Canada/Artic/Australia until you're ready for a concentrated assault is much better than sending a long line of bombers straight from your bases.

Uraniun235 · Post by **Uraniun235** » 2006-09-30 03:26am

Naval tactics is actually quite a bit simpler than you might think. You don't need to assign every aircraft you launch a target; just get those aircraft deployed into combat range and let them pick their targets for the most part.

Switching your carriers to bomber mode early on helps as well; that way you can get bombers in the air faster to help attack the enemy fleet. Having every other carrier launch a bomber instantly jacks up your naval firepower immensely. You don't need to throw up too many fighters; they aren't terribly effective against ships, the battleships can swat them down, and the bombers can stand off at pretty good range and still lob missiles at enemy ships.

Another trick with bombers is that they have much greater radar range in Naval mode than they do in SRBM mode - so if you're willing to sacrifice a few bombers you can have them try and run over enemy territory and hope to spot some structures. If the enemy's on the ball with his air defense, though, it'll probably be tricky.

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2006-09-30 03:26am

How do I enable custom gametype? Oh wait, probebly in the full version. *unlocks*

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2006-09-30 03:33am

I actually find recon the hardest part of the game. If I'm distant from the targets (say, Mexico/Europe) it's a complete bastard spotting their silos. Hence the fakeout followed by 30-bomber 12-sub strikes, but there's got to be a better way to do it.

EDIT - what kind of games do you guys play? I usually play 5 player, but 1v1 seems harder and the full 6p is just insane carnage from defcon3.

Shadow WarChief · Post by **Shadow WarChief** » 2006-09-30 03:43am

It's lagging an absurd amount for me. I can't even move my mouse enough to get past pressing "Play Demo". What gives?

InnocentBystander · Post by **InnocentBystander** » 2006-09-30 03:58am

Shadow WarChief wrote:It's lagging an absurd amount for me. I can't even move my mouse enough to get past pressing "Play Demo". What gives?

Drivers up to date?

Well I figured something out tonight; ordering bombers off the ground sets them to Naval combat mode, you have to manually turn them to srbm mode before they can fire off their missile.