DG_Simon says, "Enjoy replays." And we are! I'm already loving the new replay feature. For those of you who haven't checked it out yet, the wonderful developer, with his "ask and you shall receive" attitude, has recently added a replay feature which saves games (both custom and ladder) automatically into a folder. I said games, not matches, because it actually saves each individual game! I was somewhat frustrated when first playing and learning the game against a friend of mine, and we had to wait until the end for discussion. By then, we usually forgot what the actual issue was, and we'd just play another game.
This feature is going to allow us to do a number of things. First, everyone can better analyze specific games to see what went wrong and what worked out. I highly recommend resisting the urge to watch your own player and instead focus on your opponent's play. I'm already learning from Pikaaa's replays. Second, I'll be able to more easily post compilations of games and plays (see below!).
Video includes games of all different settings!
Lastly, TOURNAMENTS. We finally have the ability to monitor who wins and who loses a match that we didn't actually play. I can also post the tournament matches so that people can watch them. I'm even willing to shoutcast games to add to the excitement. I'll be posting shortly about signing up for a tournament. It will be a small one, but I think we can all have quite a bit of fun.
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I hope you enjoyed the compilation. If anyone has any specific games they'd love to see online, let me know about it and I'll do my very best to upload them here. I'm interested in experimenting with some shoutcasting, but I feel weird shoutcasting my own games! Help a brother out. I have to watch the Global Starcraft 2 League (GSL) finals now.
I want to discuss survival tactics, and how to more effectively (and tactically) dodge your opponent's aggression. For those of you who have seen the matches with myself and Pikaaa, staying alive and coming back in a long game is one of my strong suits. I've uploaded another match between the two of us. As always, Pikaaa plays a solid game and there is much to be learned from his play. However, in this game I want you to watch my (Evilmeat's) dodging. It's important to note that it doesn't always work out in my favour; some luck is indeed required. Being more tactical about dodging will allow you to survive in those cases where Lady Luck has a little something waiting for you.
Pikaa has, in the past, accused me of being "dodgy".
Technique
You'll notice that there are dozens of times in the above video when I almost run into a drone. You may also notice that I am significantly better at dodging drones when I have very few of them under my own control! Why is this? The simple answer is that I have a lot less to concentrate on. The technique I actually use is not one with my fingers, but mine eyes! A useful skill in a game with an excess of information - potentially hundreds of drones on the screen at one time in our case - is to "phase out". Essentially what I'm doing is focusing on a large area instead of my character specifically. This allows me to notice powerups very quickly which is vital to survival in nearly every case. Note the instance in the above video where I literally nudge Pikaaa to ensure that I will be the one receiving the drone powerup: I would have surely been there second if I was a split second slower.
Don't expect this to come quickly; it takes many hours of practice. I've practiced similar things in other games (eg. 2v2 Pong) and it works wonders for me.
Dodging 'Aggressively'
It's worth noticing that as soon as Pikaaa temporarily removes his aggression against me in order to pick up a powerup, I tend to follow him. This isn't because I'm suicidal; rather, as discussed in a previous entry, I am simply maximizing my chances of picking up the next powerup. There is even an instance in the above match where I follow Pikaaa and end up in between two large groups of his drones (see below). If a powerup shows up anywhere on the right two-thirds of the arena, I will be the first to it, and I may even be able to remove some of his inactive drones along the way.
Two powerups are nearest to Red due to aggressive survival tactics.
Taking a Hit / Be Decisive!
When absolutely desperate to win a game, any powerup can help, even if it requires dropping a power level or losing your powers altogether. If your opponent has only a handful of drones more than you, getting to a drone powerup can be vital. Too commonly I see players (myself included when I slip up) go for a powerup, put themselves in a bad position in order to do so, and retreat without the powerup. Be decisive! A player is invulnerable to more hits after being hit for a small period of time. This is often enough to run through an opponent's wall of drones, retrieve a powerup (even the number of drones, for example), and be safe again.
The above advice becomes especially useful if a player already possesses a level 3 power and is able to pick up another powerup of the same type shortly after being hit. This completely negates the hit. In a slightly less favourable case, picking up the opposite powerup directly after being hit is still useful because it instantly maximizes that player's Circle of Influence (COI). Often it is not the lack of a high level power, but the lack of a proper COI, that causes a player to be put in a bad situation.
Evilmeat (red) taking a hit in order to even the player's drone counts.
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There could easily be more said about dodging, but I hope that by watching videos of myself and Pikaaa's play you are able to pick up much more than can be said.
An abrupt change of topic: Pikaaa is desperately looking for non-Evilmeat players to play Swarm with. Add him as a Steam friend and play! In how many online games do you get the chance to practice with the best in the world?
Pikaaa and I played a handful of games tonight. After an epic 10-9 game, we decided to play around with the 'Dangerous Powerups' mode of play that is fairly difficult to unlock. The setting forces a player back to level 1 if they pick up the opposite powerup. For those of you who haven't heard, this is apparently how the game was intended to be played, as it allows for 'throwing' powerups at each other, and therefore adds yet another level of complexity to this seemingly simple game.
This is a best-of-5 match (ie. first-to-3) with the aforementioned settings, otherwise using Title Rules. I recently purchased better video capture software, so I've got sound as well as much better quality now. Enjoy!
If you see us taking our time near powerups, remember that they can be dangerous under these settings!
[SPOILER ALERT]-----------------------------
Okay, I swear, Pikaaa beats me regularly. In fact, he beat me 5-1 tonight. The game was such a one-sided massacre that I elected to pick another game.
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I'm hoping to post about opening plays shortly. Feel free to let me know if you have a preference as to what I post about! Given that only a handful of people read this blog, you might be surprised just how important your input is to me.
I am proud to bring you the world's first Swarm: Arena show match. I'm honoured to have Pikaaa, the world's current #1 on the ladder, do battle against me (Evilmeat) and allow me to record it so that the community can see some top-level play. Enjoy!
Green: Pikaaa
Red: Evilmeat
Notice the different styles of play: Pikaaa, always solid and controlling the centre, and Evilmeat, tending to be forced to use Shoot and Circulate more wildly to gain an advantage. (hint: play like Pikaaa!)
(Note: Currently without sound until I figure out how to get sound only from the machine and not the microphone. If anyone has an idea as to how this can be done, please let me know! You don't want to hear me hammering on the keyboard...)
