What is the deal with putting units on Alert (shift-L)

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Author Topic:   What is the deal with putting units on Alert (shift-L)

Possibility posted 06-14-99 10:01 PM ET
How does this thing work. You put your impact rover on alert using shift-l and is he supposed to immediately attack any unit that steps next to him. I have done this in multiplayer games and some games it works, others it dont. One game it would attack any unit next to the city right away. Another game, they didnt do ****. They would just sit there, never attacking anything at all and then they would die when they were finally attacked. So what gives. Does it only work against Computer controlled factions, cause in the last game it was another human attacking me and the units on alert cost me big time when he blitzed me, cause I couldnt even activate them again until the next turn. Can anyone help me out with this please? Tell me how this gay ass thing works, especially in multiplayer games.
Possibility
May they fix all the bugs in this game soon.
Krushala posted 06-15-99 06:57 PM ET
I wouldn't put regular units on alert. But it seems to work best with interceptors. If the computer ai needlejet attacks one of your units near an alert interceptor the interceptor will attack the needlejet. Never tried the alert with anything else.
jimmytrick posted 06-15-99 11:49 PM ET
You don't have to put fighters on alert, they will scramble anyway. Well, at least they do on my machine. Even when on hold.
Did you note that when fighters scramble against bombers in this manner, combat is weapon vs weapon (questionable outcome)?
But if you attack a bomber with a fighter on your turn, combat is weapon against armor (certain kill). So, sometimes, it would be to your advantage not to have them scramble.
I hope Firaxis refines both situations. I think having ground defenders auto-attack is real cool... I have never seen the AI do this and have never placed ground units on alert, so I have not even seen this.
This would be a kinda psuedo turn base combat. Approaching rovers are hit by defensive artillery, defending rovers sally forth automatcially to kill attackers. We could set defenders to react in different ways... wow! Where is Sid when we need him?
I would like bunkers set up the same way. Plus, ambush points, lurking fungus wackers jump out and attack you in the middle of your movement.
This might take care of the advantage that the attacker has in the game quite nicely. Darkstar might think twice marching all of those scout hordes around if these kinds of features were in the game.
Dream on, jimmytrick
cousLee posted 06-16-99 01:15 AM ET
I tried to use alert on ground units before. They did not attack like they were suppose to, so I don't use that option.
I don't use it with fighter either, it's much better to attack after you absorb a bobming run. 1-1-1# is a wonderfull thing.
Why is it weapon VS weapon on scrambled jets? A bomber payload is not something that is launched skyward at incomming interceptors.
Mcerion posted 06-16-99 02:40 AM ET
I have put ground units on alert and it has worked fine for me. They will attack any unit that they see directly adjacent to the base.
Rackam posted 06-16-99 11:32 AM ET
Something I've been having fun with is automated missles. I have 20-30 on auto and when another faction declares vendetta, their bases experience an unusual weather condition.
It rains missles. :P
~Rackam
ps. If the computer can use infinite range missles, then so can I.
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Author	Topic: What is the deal with putting units on Alert (shift-L)
Possibility	posted 06-14-99 10:01 PM ET How does this thing work. You put your impact rover on alert using shift-l and is he supposed to immediately attack any unit that steps next to him. I have done this in multiplayer games and some games it works, others it dont. One game it would attack any unit next to the city right away. Another game, they didnt do ****. They would just sit there, never attacking anything at all and then they would die when they were finally attacked. So what gives. Does it only work against Computer controlled factions, cause in the last game it was another human attacking me and the units on alert cost me big time when he blitzed me, cause I couldnt even activate them again until the next turn. Can anyone help me out with this please? Tell me how this gay ass thing works, especially in multiplayer games. Possibility May they fix all the bugs in this game soon.
Krushala	posted 06-15-99 06:57 PM ET I wouldn't put regular units on alert. But it seems to work best with interceptors. If the computer ai needlejet attacks one of your units near an alert interceptor the interceptor will attack the needlejet. Never tried the alert with anything else.
jimmytrick	posted 06-15-99 11:49 PM ET You don't have to put fighters on alert, they will scramble anyway. Well, at least they do on my machine. Even when on hold. Did you note that when fighters scramble against bombers in this manner, combat is weapon vs weapon (questionable outcome)? But if you attack a bomber with a fighter on your turn, combat is weapon against armor (certain kill). So, sometimes, it would be to your advantage not to have them scramble. I hope Firaxis refines both situations. I think having ground defenders auto-attack is real cool... I have never seen the AI do this and have never placed ground units on alert, so I have not even seen this. This would be a kinda psuedo turn base combat. Approaching rovers are hit by defensive artillery, defending rovers sally forth automatcially to kill attackers. We could set defenders to react in different ways... wow! Where is Sid when we need him? I would like bunkers set up the same way. Plus, ambush points, lurking fungus wackers jump out and attack you in the middle of your movement. This might take care of the advantage that the attacker has in the game quite nicely. Darkstar might think twice marching all of those scout hordes around if these kinds of features were in the game. Dream on, jimmytrick
cousLee	posted 06-16-99 01:15 AM ET I tried to use alert on ground units before. They did not attack like they were suppose to, so I don't use that option. I don't use it with fighter either, it's much better to attack after you absorb a bobming run. 1-1-1# is a wonderfull thing. Why is it weapon VS weapon on scrambled jets? A bomber payload is not something that is launched skyward at incomming interceptors.
Mcerion	posted 06-16-99 02:40 AM ET I have put ground units on alert and it has worked fine for me. They will attack any unit that they see directly adjacent to the base.
Rackam	posted 06-16-99 11:32 AM ET Something I've been having fun with is automated missles. I have 20-30 on auto and when another faction declares vendetta, their bases experience an unusual weather condition. It rains missles. :P ~Rackam ps. If the computer can use infinite range missles, then so can I.