by Orlando C. Fernando
Version 4.0 BETA
Updated: June 13, 2003
This guide shows some tips, strategies from my war adventures in Battlezone 2, an exciting sequel to the original PC game. This FAQ will grow as I gain more experience and receive any corrections. This guide also will try to explain how to do some fundamentals not explained or explained badly (in my opinion) in the manual. :) Cheat tactics, mapmaking techniques, and advanced software/hardware troubleshooting are beyond the scope of this guide.
This guide assumes you are already familiar with Battlezone 2 enough to play the first few Pluto missions. It also assumes you have played in multiplayer deathmatch a few times and are familiar with "ping" and "lag". The first section assumes you are moderately familiar with Battlezone I. The guide is based on playing the game with the 1.1 official patch in Windows 95 with a 3dfx Voodoo 3 2000 PCI or a Diamond Viper Ultra TNT2 card.
NOTE: This version of the FAQ is very rough and unfinished and will find many section formatting mistakes and some incomplete information. But since this version's been on the backburner for more than a year, I felt it best to release it and correct it later since it has significantly more information than version 3.0. Apologies for its condition.
VERSION 3.0: MULTIPLAYER DEATHMATCH, PILOT ACTIVITY, MISC SECTIONS ADDED.
STRATEGY SECTION EXPANDED. WEB SITES UPDATED. VARIOUS CORRECTIONS.
VERSION 2.0: MULTIPLAYER STRATEGY GENERAL & TEAM STRATEGY SECTIONS
ADDED. MORE SINGLE PLAYER MISSION TIPS. VARIOUS CORRECTIONS.
VERSION 1.0: ORIGINAL VERSION. FIRST 2 SECTIONS CREATED.
In the story of this great December 1999 sequel, the setting is somewhere in the near future. The intergalactic biometal Cold War between the Americans and Russians are now over. Both have combined into the International Space Defense Force (ISDF). They now fight an indescribable alien race, the Scions, on planets Pluto and beyond. As the book poetically describes, these two major forces have radically different building technologies. Really. Some alien units bear different names to the human equivalents and operate with different weapons and uses of power. Their "kind" looks graphically different from human power - much more diversity than in BZ1.
Much better! Many more blue hues were used this version around to create some fascinating night scenes and crystal structures. The green forest planet gets rainy weather (play the demo version to see this, enabling the graphic weather option). Rocks, ruins, and even animals populate the scene. Animals love wandering pilots. There's even shallow and deep water which affect travel and tolerance of certain vehicles. Travel underground through tunnels to other sections on the planet. Bridges can be crossed or destroyed, complicating enemy invasions. Pilots can even enter certain buildings and enclosed structures.
On a Pentium II 266 MHZ with 128 MB RAM on a Voodoo 3, you will need to reduce some graphics capabilities off for better framerate in heavy fighting situations. On a Celeron dual-400 MHz with 112 MB RAM on a Diamond Viper Ultra, however, you can put almost everything to the max. If you have a Diamond Viper Ultra TNT2, you may want to consider getting the nVIDIA TNT2 Detonator drivers for a significant framerate boost. With different processors and generation 3d accelerator cards, your mileage may vary. :)
Scrap management is in BZ2 with additional methods. Pilot management is drastically reduced. It is only a consideration when you want one to occupy a captured vehicle or you want to send out an APC.
The recycler, constructor, factory, armory, and gun towers are back and have mostly the same functions. However the constructor, which is now robotic in appearance, bears full responsibility for making all the building units, including the factory and armory themselves. Barracks are now Training Centers. Communication towers are now Relay Bunkers. All the unit voices respond the same ("Building complete! Recycler here!")
Turrets, scouts, and tugs are basically the same. Rocket tanks are slower now but pack better firepower. The other tank classes are very slow high firepower vehicles which can rotate the gun independently from the body (hope you have a good joystick!). Walkers also can gun twist independently. APCs and bombers are now aerial uncontrollable vehicles. APCs will land to drop their pilots to attack a target (about 3 of them). If successful, the APC will pick up any surviving pilots. Bombers launch from a bomber bay and will actually bomb their targets from the air. Eagle landers and minelayers, however, are gone. Fast mortar bikes are now introduced which pack dozens of mortars- perfect for taking out a turret long distance.
The command interface has some significant changes which will require some time to relearn some key commands. Like in BZ1, you still select one or many units, choose what to do with them, and point to a location if applicable. However you now call the units with the function keys as well as a few number keys.
Yes, but there are many more hand weapons that you can have. You also come standard equipped with a jetpack and can carry an assortment of other rather powerful guns. Hmm, the Quake evolution is slowly happening...
Yes, the enemy artificial intelligence in the single player missions and instant action: (1) enemies strafe fire, (2) if you fire at an incoming enemy scavenger, it will sometimes turn back, (3) gun towers always sense enemy pilots presence now, (4) enemies will not fire at their own if you are close to or under them as a pilot, (5) enemies that kill your vehicle will continue to assault you while you are ejecting, (6) if you take out a key scavenger or defense, the enemy will work as quickly as possible to reconstruct it or even have a spare handy!
Your friendly units have also gained a boost in IQ: (1) units are VERY careful now not to fire at you by accident if you are in the way of an enemy, (2) pilots ejected from their vehicles will try to fire at enemy vehicles before returning to base, (3) if you've sniped a vehicle while in such a battle, one of your pilots may even take the vehicle and fight with it! (4) if you give vehicles an order then jump out of your vehicle and come back, the vehicles will still remember your last order, (5) if you order vehicles to follow you, they will defend you against oncoming enemies then continue to follow you, (6) they seem much less prone to getting stuck and will not go through lethal environments (scavengers will avoid the water).
Bear in mind that this is an overview and not a complete features list:
During the animations at the beginning of a mission (when the narrator speaks), you can skip it by hitting SPACE bar once it starts. It will not skip, however, until all the game mission map and dll files are fully loaded.
It's the game creator's intention. The commanders generally run the show while you drive and shoot in the early missions. However, as they introduce to you more building units, you will soon gain full access to your recycler, the command interface and building units. Likewise for building certain units (for example, you won't be able to operate bombers and APCs until the commanders see a compelling need for one.)
Yes. The entire mission does not have to be complete in order for you to save it. In fact, you could save the game just after the first few seconds of the mission if you wanted to (including during a battle). Just hit ESC to go to the OPTION screen. Select FILE and pick a name to save or overwrite an older one. This is where you can also load an existing game if you feel you can't go on with the current one. Bear in mind that when you reload a previous game, the exact same situation does not always happen. For example, on one reload, an enemy can suddenly attack from their base, while another time, an enemy may not attack for a few minutes. So be wary at what point in the game you want to save. I do not advise saving in the middle of a battle.
Instant Action is another type of single player strategy which consist of only one mission: destroy the enemy's recycler (or matriarch if the enemy is the Scion force). It is basically like playing a multiplayer strategy game, but versus a computer player.
Definitely. During the missions, you will slowly get the gist of using the different mobile units and attacking the enemy as well as getting used to your joystick/keyboard/mouse controls. You run no threat of enemies sniping you when you destroy their vehicle. You usually concentrate on one to three vehicles to attack at once. I highly advise to listen to all the dialogues and read all the objectives as they will go a long way in explaining the purpose of many of the units.
I also strongly advise to play some instant action games. Practice with the
ISDF unit on the Bridge map or work on being the Scion unit on the Alien Dunes
map. In both cases, the enemy is far enough away to give you plenty of time
to build your units with trial and error.
This is Not a Drill (Pluto) - If you have problems on this first mission, it's highly likely your controller. Set up your joystick/keyboard/mouse appropriately so that you can comfortably jump hills and strafe fire enemies. You should eventually get comfortable taking out two Scion sentries by yourself.
A Simple S and R (Pluto)- Hard time protecting Shabayev's constructor from the constant Scion sentries? Be sure to always fire at the one attacking her first, so that you divert its attention and cause it to retreat for a while and return. Do the same for the second Scion.
We Have Hostiles (Pluto) - In the beginning, after exiting the tunnel and killing the first hardware-stealing Scion hauler, head back toward the tunnel. Inside the tunnel entranceway just before the down ramp, pick up the purple pummel weapon on the left. Each pummel shot does about 20% damage on the enemy. Helps significantly!
Dark Planet (Dark Planet) - When you encounter a circle of guardian turrets, Shabayev will warn you to pull back and retreat. From a reasonable distance, you can hop out and safely snipe every guardian out there. Bring a scout in case any stray Scion sentry tries to follow you. Another anti-guardian tactic is to build some mortar bikes (about 4 should be enough), order them a reasonable distance from the guardians, and command them to attack [thanks to svaziphil@svazi.com for this method]. Either way you rid the guardians, the commander will commend you if successful.
Through the Looking Glass (Mire) - Deploy your recycler and set up your units right where you are at the beginning. You have a scrap pool immediately behind you and the enemy generally approaches from the north direction. Be sure to set up 2 turrets around your recycler to help secure your position as you build the other units the commander orders.
Rumble in the Jungle (Mire) - Even after you save Shabayev and says "we got to stop meeting like this, people will talk," your mission is not over if you didn't clear the rest of the enemies on the map. You may have done the objectives in reverse order (unconfirmed), so the objective to use the APC won't change.
Snow Blind (Bane) - (1) Don't build much more than an upgraded extractor, two turrets and maybe a scout. Get to the convoy as quickly as possible thereafter. (2)When caved in and must return to the dust off site as last objective, travel the high hills west of the path to help you safely get there. Avoid the path of enemies and you'll save much time and anguish.
On Thin Ice (Bane) - (1) To guide the recycler through the ice, tell it to follow you and do this cursor trick. Tell it to deploy and just keep your reticle aimed to the ground. The red and green spots are safe to cross. Switch to a far-out view and guide it slowly. If enemies threaten, deploy it in a legal spot directly in front of you. Knock out enemies and repeat. (2) Having trouble getting your transport to the dust off site as last objective? I did it with gun towers protecting the base, two upgraded extractors (closest to base), gun towers protecting it, and a relay bunker. Put the transport east of your base because enemies always come from the west on the dust off site path. Go into the bunker. Now build a turret "chain" lining up the path from the recycler to the drop ship. This means constantly making turrets and deploying them one after the other along the path to freedom. You must be fast with the group keys because you'll constantly need to make more F-key space for new ones. Several turrets will get destroyed, but the chain will eventually overwhelm them. Once you get a turret close to the dropship, logout and order the transport to go to the dust off nav beacon. Defend it along the way.
Payback - Don't bother commanding the walkers near the beginning as their fate is already sealed. When you command the recycler, make sure you deploy it in the nav point scrap field. Deploying where it is won't give you much time to face some quick offense. At least 2 titans will go to that spot to make havoc for any passers by. Best you not be there with your recycler.
In this instant action game, consider deploying your recycler at the immediate north flat elevated field from the map's center. It will take time to get it there, and you'll have a very limited base building area. However, having quicker access to the four central pools in this six-pool map is worth the effort. Set up the pool immediately in your building area. Then work on one pool at a time, building turrets to take out enemy extractors, then sending your own scavengers to replace them. 4-5 turrets are more than enough to guard each extractor. Once done, send constructors to upgrade all four extractors. You should be able to build 3 powers, a factory, a relay bunker, and an armory at your base. (You can put bunkers and gun towers at each of the four extractors, but on the easy level it's unnecessary.) Build at least 5 rocket tanks and 3 mortar bikes to knock out an enemy extractor to the southeast of map. Then use the army to almost easily finish off their base.
In this instant action game, you're landing immediately in a hot spot with 2 scions attacking your recycler, animals, and a stolen turret. Steer your way toward the right of the tunnel for safety and order your recycler to the near corner of your area (away from the turret). Ask your ship to pick you up while at the same time try to snipe a sentry. Either way, you'll have a vehicle. Now finish off the remaining forces. Should you lose your ship, eject toward the high moutain range just north of where you are. Enemy ships will try to fire at you but fail. Use the time to get a scavenger immediately to the corner pool, make a constructor, upgrade the extractor, setup a power, and setup a gun tower. That will finish off the first wave of enemies and allow you to be safely near your recycler again.
Work your way building your army and overtaking each extractor from the Scions. Enemies favor using the tunnels. I found it very helpful to put gun towers right at the tops of the tunnels, for they will fire into the tunnel. I have successfully built and upgraded 6 extractors on the easy level. The enemy should be reduced to sentries and warriors at that point and you can finish off their base to the far west.
This instant action map starts in the middle of a battle, so it's not recommended for pure beginners. Risk asking one of the tanks to pick you up and don't come out of your hut until it is right near you. Don't take too long to embark or else a nearby sentry will deal with you. Intermediate players can stick around and try to wipe the army out and, if you're lucky like me, save a tank wingmate in the process. Otherwise, get to your base and start building. Put a scav and defenses to the pool east-southeast of you. Clear out the northwest side of Scions and you'll have another pool available near the ISDF ruins. Fortify these areas because these will be the only two pools you can easily access. Don't bother exploring the huge hilly fields east and west of the middle valley gap. With an army of turrets and tanks, travel south down the gap, keeping the central pool clear of enemy scavengers. Plant turrets to mark your territory. Infiltrate the enemy base at the gap's end. Use APC's and bikes with splinters to help you win the war.
Check out BzScrap's map room (http://www.bzscrap.com/). Pandemic Studios has also released separate documentation (http://www.pandemicstudios.com/games/bz2/downloads.htm) on how to create your own BZ2 instant action maps. Check their site. The insomniax group (http://www.insomniax.net/) has also made a pack of several well-done strategy maps (all their map names begin with "IX").
Team Strategy - A battle between two teams to destroy the opposing
enemy recycler. One or many people can be on each team.
Strategy - A battle between one-person teams to destroy the other enemy
recyclers. River4 and Ground4 maps allow normal strategy with 4 players maximum.
Deathmatch - A free for all battle. No recycler or unit building involved.
Team Deathmatch - A free for all battle organized into two teams. One
or many people can be on each team.
Capture the Flag - Teams fight to capture the opposing team's flag.
Loot - A free for all in downtown Pleasantville. Enter various banks
in the map as a pilot to steal cash bags for 100 points. Cash bags regenerate
over time.
The host for your current game has only allowed certain vehicles to launch with. If he only allowed ISDF vehicles, it won't be possible to form a Scion team in strategy or team deathmatch. You can ask the host to enable your favorite vehicle if the host has not launched yet. Remember in strategy that you will have the opportunity to build your favorite vehicle from the recycler or factory.
Frequently on the game server, it will enter "gamestate" in which the server will try to correct poor signals. At that point, all (or most) players in the game will be frozen for a limited period of time. Another server behavior is to have you be temporary frozen until the lag corrects itself. Unfortunately, it leaves you very vulnerable to enemies unstuck. Be careful giving commands at this point because there is a keyboard delay as well. When you become unfrozen, prepare to have been possibly killed. :( Too much lag might cause the player to be kicked off the server.
When in gamestate status, you can still chat with others via the ENTER key or the ESC key. (The ESC menu shows ping count of each player in the game as well as the amount of lag that person is experiencing. To get your ping, ask someone else to check your name on their ESC menu.
To help counter high ping as a host, you can prevent high ping players from joining the game. Lower the MAXPING setting on the game preparation screen.
There is a separate game issue called framerate drop or slowdown which can occur regardless of how many players or how good network connections are in the game. This is often caused by many units in the game at once. It will cause a "slideshow" effect in which you only see motion every second or two. Sometimes only one or two players in the game will experience this at once. The only solution is to leave the game. Hit ENTER to activate your single chat window. Type /leave and hit ENTER.
Select CHAT W/ ALL, TEAM, or ONE at the bottom. Then type in your text in the lower left bar of the screen and hit ENTER. You will stay chatting with them until you choose another chat button, even when you launch into the live game.
Either (1) hit the ENTER key, type your chat and hit ENTER again or (2) hit ESC to bring up a full chat screen, complete with history of conversations. You can change who you chat to by selecting CHAT W/ ALL, TEAM, or ONE. Enter your chat in the space provided and hit ENTER.
Yes. You can chat with players already engaged in the live game and vice versa.
For the most part, yes (assuming everyone hadn't left the game by the time you returned). You cannot if the game got full while you were away, the game had become password protected, or the host decided to prevent new users from joining (via a menu option). The game could have turned into a password-only game since you were gone. Or the game server can simply be too full to handle any more user joins. If you do make it back into the preparation screen, you will need to select your appropriate vehicle and/or team then ENTER GAME again.
If the host is still preparing the game options and has not entered the game herself, you will not have the ENTER GAME button enabled yet. Be patient, perhaps chatting that you are ready to launch.
Yes. Either at the preparation screen or live game, enter in a chat line /NICK [NEWNAME] where [NEWNAME] is what you want to call yourself. It should remember your new name for future games until you change it again.
Could be two possibilities: (1) If the player had just left the game, particularly in strategy games, all their remaining APC pilots on the map become named "null", thus their name if they kill anyone: (2) A player gets killed by their natural environment - green poisonous lakes, red lava, etc.
Players accidentally blow themselves up by setting mines and running over them or firing high blast weapons at the ground near their own ship. If you're reverse throttling while attacking someone, you shouldn't set mines off. ;) .
Since the 1.1 patch now opens up the game to worldwide killing, it is quite possible to join a game hosted by a non-English speaker such as a German or Frenchperson. Since you are playing on their language version of Battlezone, the terminology will be in that language. Pretty cool to read in my opinion. :)
Check out BzScrap's map room (http://www.bzscrap.com/).
This game mode closely resembles the instant action missions involving the recycler and/or matriarch. The goal of the game is to destroy the enemy recycler and factories (if any). As a commander, you will have full access to your recycler to build offenses, defenses, utilities, etc. to build a force for your team to attack or defend from the enemy. Unlike BZ1, several people will join one of two teams, so resources are shared among the team. On the preparation screen, you will pick what team side you want to be on by selecting JOIN TEAM 1 or JOIN TEAM 2. The Red Team (whether or not its squad name is renamed) will have all their units, vehicles, pilots, and chat text in red; Blue Team in blue. Each team's commander will determine the race (ISDF or Scion) for their team by selecting their vehicle. You are allowed to have 2 teams of the same race (unless the host chooses only one race selection of vehicles).
The player list during the live game (accessed by hitting CTRL-ENTER) displays the people participating, team squad names (defaults are Red Team and Blue Team), their deaths, kills, and scores. Deaths are the number of times that player's units, including themselves, are destroyed (not sure for APC pilots killed though). Kills are the number of times that player has destroyed a unit or other player.
A typical strategy game doesn't run as quickly as you may think. It can range from 30 minutes to even 4 hours depending on the map size, player skills, and number of latecomers joining. In the course of the game, you may change commander role or responsibilities of certain vehicles to get the job done. No two strategy games ever run the same.
There is a variation on Strategy called Multiplayer Instant Action (which is still considered a strategy type in the game). That is discussed in greater detail in the next section.
Your team must have a commander which will command the recycler, factory, armory, and constructor units. On the game preparation screen, hit the TAKE CMD button to become commander. To give up command, select one of your teammates on the team list then hit GIVE CMD. The one in command will have a "C:" next to their name on the team list.
While on the battlefield, you can switch roles also. Hit ESC to bring up the full chat menu. The TAKE CMD / GIVE CMD button and team list works the same as in the preparation screen. If someone else is commanding your team, their icon on their F-key at the top of the screen will have a "C" next to it.
As a commander, you need to build the units necessary to set up your base and prepare your armies for you and your teammates to use. There is much that can be done as commander, but the first is a must:
1) Deploy your recycler somewhere. Somewhere in your starting area is usually
good.
2) Make scavengers and give them control to your teammates to set them up as
extractors.
3) Be mainly a base guard and work on building a strong base.
4) Give your teammates ships when they are killed.
5) Give your teammates an army for an offensive attack.
6) Give them special orders to attack a particular target, follow you, defend
a unit, etc.
You should also make sure that you and your teammates are engaged in team chat. If they are, their chat text will be in blue and their name will have their designated F-key before it (for e.g., "<F10> Orlando : Let's attack John's base now!"). If you don't see that, tell them to switch to team chat. I have seen countless opponents (who chat in red text) give away their plans simply by unknowingly talking to the world. Too funny!
As a follower, or wingman, to the commander, there are several things you can do:
1) Set up the scavengers given to you by the commander onto biometal pools.
2) Scout the area to find available (and safe) pools to build. Mark them with
nav points to assist.
3) Tell the commander a scav pool is available if you destroy the enemy's extractor
and its defenses.
4) Request for some ships or help to attack a target.
5) Request service if you need it. The commander will give you either a service
pod, service bay, or service truck.
6) Select the target, select the F-key of the commander, and choose Attack
Target.
No. You must leave the live game and reenter, picking the opposite team before re-launching.
You operate the recycler with the 1 key, the factory with 2 key, and the armory with the 3 key. Any new vehicles you build will be assigned to F1 - F9 keys (F1 - F10 in instant action). You command these vehicles by pressing their function key.
Once you hit the first key, numbered commands will appear on the left. Hit the right number to do the appropriate command. If a command is not solid and a little ghosted, you cannot access it at the moment because you need more scrap to do it. If a command is very light colored, you are also missing another responsibility to make it happen (building a power, splitting a group, etc.).
Some commands require a final step to pick the spot on the field where you want to do it. Use your mouse to aim your reticle at the spot and (if a legal spot) press the SPACE bar.
I encourage grouping vehicles as much as possible. Reasons will be explained soon.
To group one vehicle with another, hold CTRL and hit the function key of the vehicle you will group then let go. Hit 1 key to highlight that vehicle, the only vehicle in that F-key's group list. Now hit the F-key of the vehicle you want to group it to. Done. If you want to group an F-key of several vehicles with another F-key group, instead of hitting just the 1 key, you will want to hit all the number keys to highlight all the vehicles in the group list. That's the only difference. For e.g., to group F1's 2 turrets with F2's 3 turrets. You do CTRL-F1, 1, 2, F2.
NOTE: You can only group together vehicles of the same class. You can't join turrets with scavengers. You can't join regular tanks with assault tanks. You can't join ISDF turrets with Scion guardian turrets (unconfirmed).
Now why bother grouping vehicles? Two major advantages: (1) to make it easier to command an army to do one task, such as to attack a matriarch; (2) to free up room on the F-keys to put newer classes of vehicles. You cannot make more vehicles if all your F-keys are assigned.
You can select a particular vehicle on your visual sights with the SPACE bar. Another way is to select the F-key group which has your desired vehicle then press the number for that unit. For e.g., to select the third turret in your F2 group of turrets, hit CTRL-F2, 3, your desired command [thanks xyphus@datacruz.com for this method]. A third way is to split groups up back to singles so you can command them individually with separate F-keys again.
Face icon - that teammate is currently on foot.
Vehicle icon - that teammate is currently driving a certain vehicle.
Lightning icon - that teammate is currently operating a building facility,
such as a relay bunker or gun tower.
Your F-keys to command teammates are the far right icons on the top right of your display starting with F10. Unfortunately, the players nicknames are not under their keys. The only way I know to distinguish teammates is to ask one of them to say something in team chat. In their response line, they will have their F-key next to their name. That's the one. If it's a two person team, however, then they are F10.
Anyone in the team can hand control of vehicles to each other. Select the vehicles or group of vehicles with your F-keys, then hit CTRL-[teammate F-key], where [teammate F-key] is the F-key number of the receiving teammate. For e.g., to give your sole F2 turret to your F10 teammate, do F2, CTRL-F10.
Suppose you wanted to send a group of turrets under that F2 key. Suppose you had a 5-turret squad under F2, and you only wanted to give your F10 teammate three of them. You would do CTRL-F2, 1, 2, 3, CTRL-F10. (Hitting CTRL before the F2, lets you pick units in that group rather than command them.)
NOTES: You cannot hand control of building units, such as the factory, armory, and the constructor. Also, if you have a 4-person team in a strategy game, be sure not to create any units to the F8 key. There is a game glitch in which you can access this key for units, even though one of your wingmen is also assigned to this key. You won't be able to give any F8 units to an F8 wingman (since they are on the same key).
TIP: Give the vehicle a useful command before you hand them over to teammates. Order a scavenger to scavenge. Order a tank or truck to follow your teammate. Due to lag issues in the game, a teammate can get kicked out of the game at any moment. Any vehicles under the lost person's control will go on executing the last command given. If they were given nothing to do, they will just sit there idle, and you cannot take command of it back. Another good reason to command in advance is that your teammate could be in the heat of battle. She may not notice the additional unit nor have time to command it in such short notice. Giving advance command will relieve the teammate of some fighting management.
Your F-key assignments may be full. Group like vehicles to free up space.
You may have also exceeded the unit limit on the game (a message would say "Unit
Limit Reached").
If you are a commander in a bunker, antenna, or overseer array, you can name nav points before you place them on the map. Press N key to prepare a nav. There will be a nav label at the bottom of your screen with a generic name such as Nav 1. Click your mouse in the black entry space, enter your own label, and hit ENTER. Finally, find the spot on the map you want to place the nav and mouse click there. Naming nav points are especially handy when you have several nav points in one small area, making them all appear very clustered on your radar display.
Scavengers pick up little bits of scrap around the planet to fill its biometal supply. Biometal supply builds your various units, vehicles, and buildings. The recycler already comes with 40 scrap. Each scavenger holds a maximum of 20 scrap, but they can be made much more resourceful. Send them to a biometal pool (silver square pools scattered throughout the map) and they will constantly mine scrap from these everlasting pools. At this point, they become extractors which you needn't command anymore. Constructors can then upgrade the extractors so they mine the scrap much quicker. Your current scrap count is at the bottom of your scrap indicator. The indicator bar is divided into segments for the number of scavengers and extractors that you have. Green bar indicates recycler scavenging power; yellow bar for normal extractor; red bar for upgraded extractor. Upgraded extractors will always pump up your new scrap first, making your reserves rich in a short time. Then normal extractors, then finally the recycler. Because of the extractors' high value to your base, many players battle for control of biometal pools near the enemy lines.
TIP: Constructors are such slow travellers! To save time on upgrades to extractors, put a nav point near the extractor. Once your constructor is available, order it to go to the nav. (Don't wait for the scavenger to lock on the pool or the scrap build to be ready for upgrade.) Once the scrap build is enough, order the upgrade. Chances are that by the time the constructor arrives, upgradability will be available. As additional benefit, creating the nav makes it much easier for sending constructors there again if you have to re-upgrade after a loss.
Unless it finds new scrap or a biometal pool (unconfirmed), it will hold until further orders. At this point, you should order it to an available biometal pool if possible.
Created by the recycler, the constructor makes all the other building units in the game. In addition, it upgrades extractors to their full potential power. You always order the constructor to build a new unit on a green square usually somewhere around your base. Some units require a power building or a relay bunker to be built first. Then a unit could be built adjacent to it on a green square.
- To make a laser, pummel, pulse stab, or plasma, you need a service bay built
first.
- To make pilot weapons or a MAG cannon, you need a technical center built first.
- To make blast, you need both a service bay and technical center.
Although possible in the single player mission, it may not be available in multiplayer (unconfirmed). As a substitute you can have the recycler make supplies to replenish your health and ammo together. You can also produce a service bay or service truck to repair vehicles. Note that the truck can also repair gun towers.
1) The manual has wonderful build tree tables on pages 50-51.
2) Even if a building option on the command interface is not solid colored,
hit that number key anyway. A message will tell you what you need to make that
unit.
A tug can help you tow a vehicle from one place to another. Order a tug to pick up an empty friendly or enemy vehicle. If you order it to bring and drop off an empty vehicle to a training center, a pilot will automatically come out and occupy it.
Build a power first. You will then get a lightning icon on your top left display with a number indicating the number of powered buildings you can currently build. Add more powers to increase capacity (or get one of your buildings demolished or destroyed :) . You can then build a power somewhere along the base, not necessarily near a power. In fact, if you build a relay bunker in a distant area, you may even be able to build a gun tower there. There seem to be some rare exceptions. For e.g., on the A Bridge Too Far map, you can build gun towers on either end of the far bridges, even without a nearby relay bunker!
Yes. Order the service truck to do Service, then select the nearby building to repair, including the recycler, gun towers, and even other service trucks. If you order a service truck to a certain spot, it will always try to repair nearby buildings, units, and vehicles as long as they are not in full health/ammo. Consider using one for a gun tower protecting a key structure such as the recycler or an extractor near enemy territory. Service trucks are most popular in accompanying offensive vehicles or players themselves. They will even repair your damaged vehicle when you hop out of it.
Recycler - Change standard weapons for recycler-made vehicles. More weapons are available if you build an armory, service bay, and/or technical center. It doesn't change the weapons on vehicles already made. Some weapon changes will cost the recycler more scrap to produce such an equipped vehicle.
Factory - Change standard weapons for factory-made vehicles. More weapons are available if you build an armory, service bay, and/or technical center. It doesn't change the weapons on vehicles already made. Some weapon changes will cost the factory more scrap to produce such an equipped vehicle
Gun Tower - Lets you operate it manually. Hit H to hop back out.
Relay Bunker - Lets you operate the satellite (overhead view) for controlling your buildings and vehicles. Excellent for placing new buildings quickly and efficiently. You can also name nav points before you set them. You will not see enemy objects on this display unless they are within your building ranges. Otherwise, you will see red boxes and their firing.
Bear in mind that human enemy pilots can also enter these buildings yet not use them. And you are NOT invincible to enemy fire while in it. If you die in a relay bunker, you may see your satellite display appear temporarily frozen for some seconds.
NOTE: In a strategy game, only the commander can operate the recycler, factory, and relay bunker.
Within their firing range, yes, even if you are in the air.
|
ISDF Name |
Scion Equivalent |
|---|---|
| Recycler | Matriarch |
| Turret | Guardian |
| Tug | Hauler |
| Constructor | Builder |
| Service Truck | Healer |
| Power | Lung (comes standard with any building) |
| Factory | Kiln (upgradeable to Forge to make more vehicles) |
| Gun Tower | Gun Spire |
| Relay Bunker | Antenna (upgradeable to Overseer Array) |
| Service Bay | Dower |
| Armory | Stronghold |
| Assault Tank | Titan (though different weapon standards) |
| Concussion Gun | Grenade |
There are two primary differences: (1) the Scion buildings use lungs (bright blue bulbs) rather than power structures which come standard-built. To make it inoperable, you could destroy a lung or the entire building, but lungs are replaceable by the builder. (2) some buildings are made more powerful (can build more units/weapons) by upgrading them rather than making another type of building, (3) buildings can be built on any legal space on the map, although nearly all the buildings require large areas to construct.
A few other differences are: (1) you can drive into a Scion factory or recycler to hop out and operate. (2) Scion pilot rocket/booster weapon works differently.
NOTE: You can build a gun spire on top of a jammer (though not the other way around). In fact, you can build jammers on top of each other.
Archers are basically improved versions of Battlezone I's howitzers. Tell the archer to go to an area on the map. It will travel by air, land and deploy, then automatically send high-arc powerful mortars at any nearby enemy targets. You can also tell an archer to attack a target. It will automatically deploy itself at a reasonable distance (sometimes) and attack the target.
1) Marking a pool to ask your teammate to build an extractor at.
2) Marking a spot to place a turret for guarding.
3) Guilding vehicles across tricky terrain such as cliffs or around enemy hot
spots.
4) Marking a spot to place a powerful vehicle for "scouting" (attacking
any passers by).
They usually use their top weapon (typically a cannon, rocket, or mortar) and sometimes their special weapon (such as mines, solar flares, or seekers).
Their units remain in the game on the team they were on. If the commander leaves, command gets passed to another teammate (unconfirmed). Don't be surprised to join a game in progress and suddenly gain control of a bunch of units and vehicles. It is perfectly possible for one player to remain and destroy the rest of the abandoned enemy units.
For the southwest-based team, establish 2 extractors on the nearest sides
to you as soon as possible. Both teams should try to be the first to occupy
the biometal pool on the island between bridges. Consider blowing up part of
the bridge to cut off the enemy at the other side (that is, until they make
aerial vehicles). You can also deploy turrets and archers underwater (yes, underwater)
for more defense. The northeast, in my opinion, is better protected since there
is only one pathway leading out to open water (restricting certain enemy vehicles
to travel).
As a commander, get your teammates to establish extractors on the near corners to your base as quickly as possible. Most of the biometal pools on this map are far from your starting point, especially for the contructor to try to upgrade them. Give your teammates turrets to help defend extractors once planted. Avoid the middle - that is usually where the enemy starts their base.
(1) If you put nav points on the north or south central pools and order vehicles to go there, they will cross through the center first. This can be a problem if your opponent placed defenses there. Set up extra nav points on the near corners paths of your base and direct the vehicles to go through those navs first. That way, they'll take the safe route to those pools. (2) Being blocked by turrets from getting to those pools? As a Scion, consider driving your scout up the high hills near your base (there's a good enough slope near the corners to jump jet and do this. Takes practice). Once up there, head to the pools where those pesky extractors and turrets are guarding. Place a nav or two at the hills edge and eventually send archers there. If you're desperate and have a good enough weapon, drop down the hill from behind the extractor and try to take it out (scouts can use their morphed state's modified gun to flame throw them). Guaranteed death, but hopefully you took down their extractor in the process.
Some players like to blow up the center bridge. This forces all the tracked vehicles to cross the water at the far ends of the map. Also, learn how to jump jet onto the nearby flat plateau between your base and the nearby pool. It is a favorite spot for archers to attack. Speaking of those plateaus, contructors and builders can go up there to make buildings.
(1) For these large maps, get into the habit of setting nav points near every scrap pool you drive to. If in the future your extractors are destroyed there or you need to send reinforcements, it's quite convenient to just order them at the nav points. Even with the satellite map, it will take some time for your cursor to reach these designated places. To save much more time, make a constructor for every pool you want to build up and keep it at a nearby hill corner/crater once building just in case. Don't bother sending it back to base or defending it with vehicles. (2) If you're sending a barrage of offense to attack, be sure to time them so they arrive at about the same time. It's no point sending vehicles to get destroyed at the base because your backup bomber didn't reach there yet to inflict your primary damage. (3) build a satellite as early as possible. you can scroll across the land to command much faster than you can drive there, (4) Be very wary of your unit limits, as you will most likely reach them. Set up some basic defenses at each pool (ISDF= turrets/gun towers, Scion= guardians, gun spires/archers).
Here are general ones which most players will agree on.
1) If a player calls for taking a few minutes to build their units before attacking them, respect them. It's usually because either everyone want to build early in the game first or this player had just joined in very late without much to start out with. Violating that by rushing them will guarantee a quick exit by that player.
2) In games with limited kills: If you kill a player's life yourself, then suddenly see him reappear as a pilot, consider if that is that player's respawn point (the spot that a player will reappear after he/she dies). If you realize that is the case, back off of him for a minute or at least attack some of his/her other units so the player can have at least a fighting chance to do some moving or ordering. Mowing over a respawned player 2 or more times may be considered cheap by some people. Use your strict discretion, especially if they chat to you themselves to stop attacking their respawn point.
3) Do not be a traitor to your team. This can cause great heat and anger. If you made a general mistake killing one of your allies, apologize immediately. Remember that you can quickly identify all your enemy targets by their team color. If you forget who's on which team, hit ESC quickly to see who's on the Red Team and on the Blue Team. Your teammates themselves keep permanently on radar, even when on foot.
4) If you are tired of your role as commander or feel too inexperienced to try to learn, give command up to someone else. Let them know first.
5) When a wingman asks you as a commander to do something, respond with an "ok" or select the wingman with your F-key and hit 8 for "Acknowledged". Or give a reason why you cannot do the request.
6) If you leave your team mid-game, the whole team loses control of that vehicle, including the commander and future joining teammates. So before aborting, give the commander back control of your vehicles. If you cannot give any units, order them to do something before you leave.
This game mode is a combination of instant action and team strategy (discussed in previous sections). All the players are on one team competing against the enemy team controlled entirely by the computer. The game ends just like in strategy when a teams recycler/matriarch and factory/kiln/forge (if built) are both destroyed. Many of the discussion points in the 4th section "Multiplayer Team Strategy Activity" apply to this game mode.
Note that you can play an mpi game by yourself, making it essentially an on-line instant action game. But if you already have an instant action version of the mpi map, you are better off not using network resources and just playing the instant action map version.
You must download the 1.2 patch for Battlezone II in order to have standard mpi maps available. The maps start with the extension MPI and several strategy maps have been converted into MPI maps (Dunes, A Bridge Too Far, Canyons, etc.). On the bottom right of your screen, you will have the team listings. The left larger box is your team. The vehicle the commander picks determines the race of your team. The right single box represents the computer, which will either say ISDF or Scion. Click this right box to change what race the computer is.
1) The computer's first top priority in most mpi games is to set up extractors, working its way closer to the biometal pools near your base. It is slow, however, in setting up defenses for the new extractors. In the standard mpi games, they often build little or weak base defenses.
2) Some enemy extractors and some pathways will have single enemy turrets placed there in the beginning of the game. If you destroy them, the computer usually doesn't put another in its place (especially the pathway ones).
3) The computer builds at a quicker rate than humans, and often starts out with quite a few buildings, vehicles, and extractors already installed. But the computer has a strong tendency to build several powerful vehicles and leave them at the base, calling out just a few at a time to attack a single target.
4) Just like in single player missions and instant action games, the computer does not know how to snipe.
5) The computer usually attacks one area or target at a time and often without disregard for any defenses you place there. They often will run into them and get destroyed. But it does have the intelligence to use the more powerful vehicles to attack the defenses.
6) When you destroy an enemy extractor, base gun tower, base factory, or base power, the computer makes it a high priority to rebuild them. If it still has plenty of extractors, the structures will often be rebuilt immediately.
Use the pointers in the previous question to counter the weakness. Your first top priority in the game should be one of two:
1) Set up many extractors early - I have found this useful in most of the standard mpi maps. Have extractors set up as soon as possible with a turret or two to defend. I may even just keep setting up extractors undefended and wind up losing lose one or two. Otherwise, if you spend too much time heavily defending just 2 extractors, you give the computer time to take over all the others and let it become factory build-crazy. I suggest continually handing scavengers and turrets to your teammates to have them set things up. Be prepared to make several service pods to help them in their quest.
2) Defend your base - This is quite useful in some tougher add-on maps such as Junkyard57. In these maps, the enemy has already taken over all but one or two pools, which usually means they have quite an enemy force to match. Trying to take overcome all of their extractors early in the game could be futile. In these maps, the computer will typically send waves of attackers to your base, often strong attackers like rocket tanks, assault tanks, and maulers. In this case you need to set up only extractors that are nearby your base. In some cases, there may only be one pool or two, and they will be the only vacant pools on the map. Set up a relay bunker, powers, and gun towers as early as possible. This will demolish the enemy waves and let you take their ship scrap to build more defenses. As a commander, you will be giving mostly empty scouts (when they get killed) and service pods - perhaps a turret or two. You probably should set up the vacant pools with extractors yourself. After you have enough defenses to cover every corner of your base and your extractors, then start going for the enemy pools.
3) Snipe as often as possible - Several idle enemy ships at the base leave them quite open to sniping. It's a great way to get tanks before you have the capacity to build them, especially on the MPIBridges map.
Two turrets block both your channels to leave the base. The turret on the high north road can be taken out with normal firepower by just peering over the horizon high enough to see the top of the turret. It will not attack and you can take it out easily. Make your second extractor on the pool behind it. As for the other channel, you can then send a scavenger out to the turret as a decoy. Fire at the turret as it tries to destroy the scavenger. There's your access to the third pool. I would also make, if any defenses, just one or two turrets or gun towers/spires. Place one at the northeast corner of your base, allowing it to cover attacks from both channels. If you set up pools and pool defenses early enough, the base defenses should hardly be used.
You'll see 2 enemy ships by each of the two nearby pools on the left and right pathways from your base. Snipe them and try to bring at least one back to base. In addition, A glitch in the map prevents your scavenger from installing on the right pathway pool properly (it will die in the water behind it). You will have to drive the scavenger yourself and have a scout defend you. When over the pool, hit C key to install the scavenger on the pool and automatically hop out. You will find it a challenge to keep control of the two extractors you set up on both pools. The enemy alternates between attacking either pool and usually with their best vehicles. Set up several turrets as quickly as possible and spread them out to both pools. Put them in the water and little rock islands as well. The enemy rarely uses the center pathway to attack your base. They try to kill your pools and turrets first, then come to the base. If you find yourself too overwhelmed to keep both pools up, concentrate on one pool and put more turrets there. When you have enough to hold them back, get healers and gun towers eventually there. When strong enough, use the water behind their base as secret cover to set up archer, bomber, and apc attacks.
Junkyard57 is a must-download for players. It is probably the most difficult popular MPI map to-date. Scattered on the map are 6 enemy furies, known to cause hell in Battlezone I. Top priority is to set up the extractor at the pool near you and set up gun towers/spires, setting up defenses as early as possible. Depending on the skills and number of your teammates, you may want to have them attack the southeast fury that's blocking the only other vacant pool. But they need good firepower first to do that.
Dealing with Furies - They are aerial vehicles which start hovered in a certain area. These disc-like ships are located by every enemy extractor and the enemy base east jammer. If they are attacked short range, these offensive vehicles will come out after you with a vengeance. They carry strong air arc cannons and periodically dip down to the ground level to launch mini-comets (homing missiles). If you are killed by a fury at your base, it will often try to kill you again and again. If you are then out of range and it finds another target (often your recycler), it will persue that. The ISDF beginner's strategy to deal with them is to make sure you (if a host) enabled interceptor vehicles on the game preparation screen. Interceptors can take out a fury long range without it being aware and can take down the fury within a minute. Otherwise, you can use mortars or the assault tank's plasma cannon. Don't use a standard-built rocket tank because your weapons are not long range enough.
Dealing with Frequent Enemy Waves - The computer AI is very aggressive on this map. Count on being base invaded by 2 to 4 ships about every minute of the game. Aside from setting up gun towers early to deal with them, you can also try to push less threatening vehicles (like enemy scavengers or assault tanks without ammo) into the green lethal lava.
Dealing with Jammers - So you killed the southeast fury and the pool is free. Why on earth can't you pick it to make an extractor??? Look above and to the right on the cliff wall. You'll see a shelf there holding a jammer. Enemy jammers are scattered throughout the map as much as the furies - several for all the pools and 4 for the base (especially preventing bomber and apc attacks). All jammers are above ground level in cliff walls. Take them out with a plasma cannon, mortars, or rockets and the pool is yours. I wouldn't recommend an archer for the enemy base because there is a nice fury placed right by one of the base jammers. Jammers, fortunately, will never be replenished by the enemy.
Dealing with Ward Mines - (unconfirmed) Stepping over these "road tacks" will alert a nearby fury to attack. Often these mines are placed near a turret. Take both out with mortars.
Dealing with Game Slowdown - If you take too long to start taking over the other pools, the computer will start to build several powerful vehicles continuously and leave them at the base, causing a major drop in framerate.
It is a terminology highly adopted from the Quake games meaning "free for all". All players are enemies. In pure deathmatch, there are no allies. Anyone can attack anyone else at any time. When your vehicle gets destroyed, you are auto-ejected and a new vehicle will automatically respawn near your landing. If you are killed before entering your respawn vehicle, you will reappear where you first started the live game. Depending on the game options, game ends after so many kills, time runs out, or you simply decide to leave. A non-timed live game can run forever.
Scattered around the map to assist you are various weapons, health powerups (green), and ammo powerups(blue). Eventually once taken, they will reappear in the same locations.
It is a deathmatch variation in which 2 teams are made - the red team and the blue team. As a teammate, the object is to kill members of the other team. Teammates can also call orders to other teammates to follow them, attack a particular enemy, etc. just like a commander can in team strategy.
On the preparation screen, you will pick what team side you want to be on by selecting JOIN TEAM 1 or JOIN TEAM 2. The Red Team (whether or not its squad name is renamed) will have all their units, vehicles, pilots, and chat text in red; Blue Team in blue.
The player list during the live game (accessed by hitting CTRL-ENTER) displays the people participating, team squad names (defaults are Red Team and Blue Team), their deaths, kills, and scores. Deaths are the number of times that player is destroyed, whether by another player, their natural environment, or accidental suicide). Kills are the number of times that player has destroyed a unit or other player.
A typical strategy game doesn't run as quickly as you may think. It can range from 30 minutes to even 4 hours depending on the map size, player skills, and number of latecomers joining. In the course of the game, you may change commander role or responsibilities of certain vehicles to get the job done. No two strategy games ever run the same.
It is a deathmatch variation in which 2 teams are made - the red team and the blue team. As a teammate, the object is to kill members of the other team. Teammates can also call orders to other teammates to follow them, attack a particular enemy, etc. just like a commander can in team strategy.
As a commander in team deathmatch, all your really dictate is the race of your team by picking an ISDF or Scion vehicle at the game preparation screen (assuming they are available by the host). Everyone on the team is pretty much equal in ranking during the game.
1) Marking where your favorite weapon, health, or ammo powerup is.
2) Marking where your favorite empty vehicle is.
NOTE: Teammates will only see nav points from their team. So, unlike Battlezone I, you cannot use a nav point to thwart an enemy from using lock-on missiles at you.
This team game variation came from the Doom/Quake oriented games. Both teams try to capture the opposing team's flag. Flags are located at each team's base(a small pad). Once captured, the team's flag carrier must bring the flag back to her own base to score points. If the flag carrier gets destroyed, she loses the flag and anyone can grab it. If another teammate grabs it, he becomes the flag carrier and tries to deliver it back to base. If the enemy grabs it, it is reset to their base and it must be re-captured. Depending on the game options, game ends after so many kills, so many captures (unconfirmed), time runs out, or you simply decide to leave. A non-timed live game can run forever.
Scattered around the map to assist you are various weapons, health powerups (green), and ammo powerups(blue). Eventually once taken, they will reappear in the same locations.
Your team scores a point and the enemy flag automatically resets to the enemy base. The capture cycle begins over.
Noticed that your own flag isn't there anymore? The enemy captured your flag too! To score the point, your flag must already be at your base. Your team will have to destroy the enemy flag carrier and reclaim your flag first.
Mine specials are a favorite of flag carriers, since it's the only way to attack chasers from behind. Chasers will be forced to strafe as they chase, avoiding the mines and falling back.
Communication is very important in capture the flag, especially if there are only 2-person teams. One person will usually go for the flag while the other will defend him. Should the flag carrier get killed, the defender should pick up from where he left off and be carrier. If there are three on the team, one person should guard their team's base.
Sniping works in all variations of single player and multiplayer games in the same way. While on foot, you can use a sniper rifle to instantly kill another pilot on foot or in certain units. Then, you can steal their unit for your own use. To snipe a unit, switch to your sniper rifle and aim in the general direction of your target. You will get a sniper monitor and see a glowing red dot on the unit or at the heart of the pilot on foot. That's your target. Shoot the target accurately, and it's success. If the unit was moving at the time, it will suddenly stop. The bright red dot will disappear and you'll hear a light gushy sound of the pilot's organs being terminated. :) If you were playing multiplayer, you'll also get a status message indicating you sniped someone. After about a 10-second reload, you can deliver another sniper shot.
You can also snipe while in the air, but you will not get your monitor nor see the dots. It's your best guess where to shoot.
Players being targeted for a snipe receive no warning in any way. They have to find your little pilot self on their viewing screen to realize what you are up to. Watch in particular if they are in a kneeling stance. And to my knowledge, computer pilots never snipe.
It could also be your savior when a vehicle tries to run you over and you have no safety ground. With enough practice and bravery, its much worth the risk to face the vehicle head on with the sniper rifle aimed at hand. That little "dot" becomes MUCH bigger as the target vehicle approaches you. You do run the risk, of course, of being run over before getting the shot; even after the shot if you are too close to it at the time (the vehicle would run you over as it grinds to a stop and you would both lose a life). A smarter driver would have killed the pilot with a weapon such as a mortar or cannon while approaching.
NOTE: NEVER snipe at targets with green or blue dots. Green dots are of your own vehicles and pilots. Blue dots are of your teammates and their vehicles. If you want one of those, ask them to pick you up. One exception: if a teammate has left a game and you cannot access their vehicle, you'll have to snipe it to be able to drive it.
This applies to strategy matches. You receive the sniper rifle at the beginning of the game. After that, you will only have the plasma rifle. You must rely on the commander to build a pulse powerup so you get a sniper rifle back.
Besides the standard pulse and sniper, you have other weapons available from the armory or in certain deathmatch games:
Rockets - shoot off a lighter version of vehicle rockets which does
decent damage.
Bazooka - shoot off a much more powerful version of a rocket. About 5
ot 6 shots (unconfirmed) will destroy an extractor!
Shotgun - a short range spurt of firepower (typically found in deathmatch
sniper maps)
Boost (Jetpack) - a C-key "weapon" that lets you boost into
the sky once. Helpful to travel long distance back to your base or out of danger.
Concussion Gun - a C-key short range mortar weapon. 3 shots given.
Grenades - a short range mine-like weapon for Scion pilots.
Satchel Charge - a 30-second time bomb used to plant on buildings (in
single player missions and some add-on sniper maps)
Sniper Tracer - sniper used to mark a vehicle to pinpoint location (in
single player missions only)
With the C key of course! :) Your current C-key weapon is the white outlined weapon drawn above your health/ammo display on the lower right of the screen. You can only use the C key weapon once (except for concussion guns which can be used 3 times). To restore this weapon, you must either (1) enter a vehicle and exit again or (2) enter a building and use the building's facilities then exit. You also get your C-key weapon refilled after death. However, you cannot get vehicle's ammo powerups to do refills.
In strategy matches, you pick one of the weapons to get a weapon set. Choosing the pulse powerup also gives you the sniper. Choosing the rocket powerup also gives you the bazooka. You cannot mix sets.
Make sure you are aiming at a manned unit that has a snipe "dot" and that it's not facing away from you. Building units such as factories and armory aren't snipable. Additionally, some vehicles such as walkers and tracked tanks cannot be sniped. If it is a vehicle that is snipable, that means it's unmanned. So no need to snipe it! Just take it away!
It is harder to snipe vehicles from long distance as the "dot" is much smaller. This is even more difficult if the multiplayer has bad ping. Their units will zigzag on the screen to much to have a steady "dot" target. For them, consider going for a stationary target or seek another enemy.
You can only snipe turrets/guardians while they are undeployed. This means that you CAN snipe them while they are being deploying (stopping and starting to install themselves to fire). If so, snipe quickly because there's only a few seconds opportunity!
1) If you are on foot and you see another pilot in a kneeling position. In this case, you better snipe as soon as possible because that person could be preparing to snipe YOU!
2) On foot when you see enemy vehicles standing by their base. It means that the opponent did not bother sending them somewhere and they are on hold position. The computer team does this very often in MPI games. Easy targets.
3) You are driving and see that stationary mortar bikes are trying to take out one of your key targets (like your buildings or gun towers). Computer bikes have the intelligent AI to move around but players sometimes don't. Try to get yourself in the general vicinity, but away from the direct line between the bike and their target. Quickly hop out and try a snipe.
4) On foot near the enemy base just after you see the recycler or factory make a new vehicle. A beginner may take a while before commanding it to go somewhere. Otherwise, you probably have only about 2-3 seconds to snipe them before they start going in motion.
5) On foot if you see a enemy offensive vehicle standing still, usually near the armory, awaiting a powerup item. Look to see if one is dropping from the sky onto it. Easy target.
6) A player using a relay bunker. Snipe them quick before they know what hit them. ;)
You are automatically equipped with a sniper gun when you start the strategy game. When you are killed as a pilot for the first time, you will lose your sniper gun. The only way to get it back is to either receive a pulse powerup from the armory or leave the game and return (considered dishonorable).
It is quite possible, though somewhat rare, to snipe each other if you face-off on foot with another opponent sniper! You both get credit for one kill and one loss of life. The object of much laughter in a deathmatch game.
You can snipe a ground or air target while in the air too! You do not get your snipe viewing camera to see the yellow target and you may get a wider margin of error (i.e., you can be less precise where you snipe the enemy) (unconfirmed).
This is a wonderful sniper map available at Planetbattlezone's map room (http://www.planetbattlezone.com/maproom/bzii/). This small sniper map has a fortress complete with many structures (even one with a computer console), treetops, catwalks, and 2 tunnels (which hold ammo and health powerups). There are many custom made weapons here: green laser (quick beam shots), fireworks (a quill-like weapon), gatling (an automatic sniper gun), and more. In addition, the satchel charge from the single player missions is here, complete with the 30 second countdown! Satchel charges will take out fortress walls as well as the structures in the fortress. Finally theres a pilot special powerup to be invisible for a limited time!
If you find yourself stuck on the outside, there is a hidden entrance in the northwest corner section of the fortress.
Those are wonderful MPI add-on maps produced by Natty Bumppo (nattybumppo@planetbattlezone.com). He has taken many of the original MPI maps and other people's maps and converted them into what he calls G66 maps (in reference to Route 66). The special thing about them is the game-start menu that the host is presented once she enters the game. It has many options to customize the MPI experience, including adjusting the difficulty, limiting certain kinds of vehicles and weapons, and allowing for reinforcements in the middle of the game. The computer AI has traditionally never used their bombers or rarely used apcs and archers. G66 has changed that. In addition, new vehicles were added along with the ability of the armory and stronghold to create ammo and health powerups. And we get introduced to the new defenses: the ISDF rocket tower and the Scion Rocket pod (buildable by either the factory or the builder). Trust me when I say these maps are much more challenging than the standard MPI maps!
The map names are designated with G66 in front of their names and the installation does not affect any other existing maps that you use. So you don't have to worry about having your weapons changed forever when going back to single player action, multiplayer strategy, etc.
You can download them by going to Natty Bumppo's web site Natty's Cabin (http://www.planetbattlezone.com/nattyscabin/). His site also contains instructions on what the different game-start menu options mean. An alternate download site is from Centerline's BZ2 Fan site (http://www.valler.com/bz2/).
Many very talented BZ players have completely redone the single player mission experience as well as enhance the multiplayer games. The group collectively is called "The Community Project" who has worked on a mod called "Forgotten Enemies", or FE for short, over the past couple of years. Installing this mod creates many interesting changes to Battlezone 2:
You can get Forgotten Enemies off the Forgotten Enemies web site (http://www.bz2cp.com/).
NOTE: This mod will forever change your current installation of BZ2. If you still wish to be able to play the normal version, I strongly advise to create a second installation of BZ2 somewhere else on your hard drive and install FE on top of that.
Yes, you can change the initial standard options you see when you host a new multiplayer game. This saves time from continuously changing options for your favorite map if you always like to use the same options for it. In your Battlezone installation directory, go to \data\missions\Multiplayer. Select the map directory whose game prep options you want to change, such as \Chill for example. Find the .inf file and open it in Notepad. The file is well commented to show you the effect of changing the ivar and svar variables. The variables you can safely change include time limit, player limit, sync join, unit limit, and the names of the 2 teams. Keep the values within reasonable limits of the game. I wouldn't recommend boosting the player limit to more than 8, for example.
NOTE: To change defaults for G66 MPI maps, go initially instead to this subdirectory: \data\missions\Multiplayer\gaips66pack.
As of this writing (June 13 2003), there are still a few other sites available alive and kicking beyond Activision's main site:
Nathan Mate's Battlezone 2 FAQ (http://www.visi.com/~nathan/bz2/nettips.html) - more on the technical and online gaming side
Copyright 2003 by Orlando C. Fernando.
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