Unconventional tactics in games.

[dworkin]

In the old space fighter sims like X-Wing ramming the enemy was always a favourite. Freespace was the other game where that happened a lot.

X-Com during the lasers phase of the game would often involve me lasing every single piece of terrain those damn aliens could think of hiding behind. And I truly felt sorry for any SOB caught in town during a terror mission.

"Why hello there citizen."
"Buh, buh."
"Aliens in your toliet? Don't worry sir, we're on it. Sqaud B!"

Squad B proceeds to demolish the townies house.

"Buh, buh."
"No problem sir, part of the service. Oh before I forget."

X-Com trooper pulls out the cattle prod and stuns townie.

"Can't have Mr alien probing you now can we."

[HemlockGrey]

In Goldeneye I would also frequently mine the spot where the body armor was. It doesn't sound real unconventional but you'd be surprised how many schmucks just run right into it in their lust for body armor. Like sheep to the slaughter.

[Gandalf]

I pistol snipe in every game I can. Many people don't see it coming. That and excessive use of explosives in tight spaces.

In Colony Wars: Red Sun, I used to engage a fleet of fighters, and just hit reverse. I reversed as fast as they went forward. This put them in my range, but I was out of theirs. A whole fleet gone, no damage.

[Lord of the Farce]

Goldeneye64. Somebody charging at you with a remote or proximity mine ready? No problem...

*Shoot the mine in the opponent's hand, kick back and watch the fireworks*...

[Companion Cube]

Heh, that was annoying for awhile until I realized that a charging guy with crowbar/baton is only a larger version of a slow skulk and proceeded to dance around them

You'd be amazed how many HL2DM players have never heard of Natural Selection, and will happily charge towards the baton-swinging idiot as they reload. Crouching just inside a doorway or behind a piece of rubble is another good trick; just wait for someone to pass, and lunge!

[Arrow]

In Goldeneye I would also frequently mine the spot where the body armor was. It doesn't sound real unconventional but you'd be surprised how many schmucks just run right into it in their lust for body armor. Like sheep to the slaughter.

One of my friends almost gotten beaten to death for that. Its not funny after 20th time!!!! And he would also run around the cave level, mining everything, and you couldn't see the mines (or him, he was good at being sneaky). So you respawn and your afraid to move.

[Faqa]

UT2K4:

The Redeemer suicide bomb maneuver:

- Get Raptor.

- Get Redeemer.

- Fly Raptor straight at nearest enemy checkpoint.

- As the enemy is congratulating themselves on their prowess in shooting you down, hop out, aim Redeemer and fire....

- Say bye-bye to that checkpoint and grab it while they respawn....

Turned around a game for my team once....

[Trekdestroyer]

As far as unconventional tactics go, I remember playing The Thing and torching many aliens with one blowtorch. Of course, there was the time I threw a fire grenade into a room and found all of the aliens dead. I realy can't say what was my favorite. But every time I fought the aliens, it was a great fight and I felt like a hero. Viva el fuego!

[salm]

I learned how to use my fire arrows in an artillery style in tenchu III multiplayer mode. I can now kill people with a fire arrow on the other side of the map.

[Master of Ossus]

In X-Wing I used to use the Y-wing's ion cannons against TIE Bombers and mines, since they destroy them with fewer and the same (respectively) number of shots, and to preserve my blasters for use against enemies which needed them. I also disabled EVERY CAPITAL SHIP I COULD as soon as its shields went down. Not having to worry about its defensive fire made the game SO much easier--for my wingmates, too.

[Miles Teg]

Total Annihilation:

- Airlift (tons of) walking bombs/decoy commanders over enemy air defences. Allow airlift plane to be shot down. Watch as walking bomb explosion take out air defenses (and other things as well). Then, send in the clones!

- Build airlift unit as fast as possible. Give enemy commander a "lift". Watch as enemy combatants shoot down your airlift and kill their own commander (and blow up the vast majority of everything else).

- Swarm enemy with PeeWees (100+ on 350 limit, 100+ on 500 limit) to distract slow firing Core heavy units. Bring in a couple groups of Mavericks and other heavy Arm hitters (well, heavy for Arm) to wreck havock. Note: Not terribly unconventional, but Russian WWII inspired.

- Build Cloakable Fusion reactors just in front of your defences. Use as large mines. Only useful if you have the resource/production capacity to make it worth while, or if you are defending against Krogoth.


Halo II:

- When playing the game "Juggernaught", get plasma grenades and suicide rush the Juggernaught. Place plasma grenade on Juggernaught. You will most certainly die, but you become the Juggernaught anyway. I almost got beat down irl for doing this excessively =)


Homeworld II:

- Send in marine frigs with defense field frigs for cover (multiple) just to distract enemy fire. The AI goes apeshit trying to destroy the marine frigs even as you start slaughtering the rest of the fleet.

Miles Teg

[Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi]

In Perfect Dark, my brother perfected an ingenious tactic called "Plant proximity mines, until you're in a corner, and wait for someone to get blown up. The fact that no AI I was aware of bothered using proximity mines made using this tactic easy, even if it took a while to win.

[Master of Ossus]

In Perfect Dark, my brother perfected an ingenious tactic called "Plant proximity mines, until you're in a corner, and wait for someone to get blown up. The fact that no AI I was aware of bothered using proximity mines made using this tactic easy, even if it took a while to win.

The only problem with that tactic was that, every once in a while, the bots somehow managed to run THROUGH the mines, coming out the other side with their assault weapon blazing, even after suffering what must have been numerous explosions.

[Stark]

So by 'unconventional' you mean 'whorish and annoying'?

I'm not condemning such tactics (I actually laugh at people who do: if the devs are stupid enough to let you kill masses of infantry with rockets, so be it) they're not really anything to be proud of. In my experience, Goldeneye sessions are *over* as soon as some moron mines the Facility stairs/toilet, since they aren't really playing anymore, just pissing everyone else off. Such tactics are very common in Halo, also.

Then again, novices consider circlestrafing an arcane art that borders on cheating, so...

[Kaintukee_Bob]

I don't know about anyone else, but I've gotten pretty good at taking out Banshee's with my pistol (in the original Halo). It's even best when you've got good cover and the enemy can't find you...plasma bombs fall everywhere, and you just keep popping.

Also, in a certain level of Halo for PC, there is a canyon between two cliffs. These cliffs hold sniping and rocket weapons, and are accessible only by very narrow paths. The tunnels leading to them are (in some places) smaller than a warthog (width wise). Other sections have objects blcoking them. Finally, you must go through a central room loaded down with cover, which you enter from a balcony. This leads to the two ridges. Basically, it was designed so that it should be impossible for anything other then a foot soldier to get up there.

I took this as a challenge. Now I routinely park Warthogs at the tunnel mouths, occasionally running down uncautious snipers as I do so. These Warthogs also provide good cover for my own sniping.

Not a hugely successful tactic, but it was worth it the first time I ran down my friend and heard him shout (from three rooms down, through two closed doors) "WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT!!! HOW THE FUCK DID YOU GET THAT UP THERE???!!!"

The trick is bouncing over blocking objects, and slowly worming through the tunnels...and aiming right so when you shoot out of the mouth and off the ridge, you land on your opponent.