Navigation

    FAForever Forums
    • Login
    • Search
    • Categories
    • Recent
    • Tags
    • Popular
    • Users
    • Groups
    1. Home
    2. archsimkat
    archsimkat

    archsimkat

    @archsimkat

    514
    Reputation
    397
    Posts
    179
    Profile views
    0
    Followers
    0
    Following
    Joined Last Online

    • Profile
    • More
      • Following
      • Followers
      • Topics
      • Posts
      • Best
      • Groups
    archsimkat Follow

    Best posts made by archsimkat

    Calling for nine2 to resign as Promotions Councillor

    Here are two of the pledges that a councillor makes upon assuming their duties:

    • I will communicate professionally and avoid bringing FAF into disrepute.
    • I understand that if I am unable to perform these duties, I will resign or be replaced.

    Due to the messages made by nine2 in this thread:
    https://forum.faforever.com/topic/1695/council-of-setons-exposed-part-1/

    and due to an overreach of power as promo councillor shown in this thread:
    https://forum.faforever.com/topic/1712/curbing-toxicity-in-faf/

    I believe that nine2 has demonstrated that he is no longer capable of upholding the councillor pledges. I am therefore asking for the resignation of @nine2 as Promotions Councillor.


    Edit: This thread is dedicated to nine2's actions and the call for his resignation. The moderation team will ensure that existing comments discussing other topics be removed or moved to a new thread, and that future comments are on-topic.

    posted in General Discussion •
    Introducing Mapgen Week on Ladder

    Hey, you!

    • Are you interested in putting your FAF skills to the test on the most level playing field?

    Whether you are someone who refuses to play any map that's not mapgen unless it's LoTS, or you are someone who has never played ladder at all, this is the event for you!

    Mapgen Week (2).png

    The first week of September will be the first ever Mapgen Week on ladder, where the 1v1 ladder map pool is only 5x5, 10x10, and 20x20 mapgen for those 7 days (Sep 1 through Sep 7). A regular pool resumes as normal afterwards.


    I plan to make Mapgen Week a semi-regular thing and the precise frequency will be determined based on feedback from you guys and what I see. As of right now I plan to run it every month or every other month. Also, depending on feedback and other factors, I may make it an event only for particular rating brackets only, e.g. 1300+ or 1800+. Feel free to post any feedback here or message me on discord/FAF.

    posted in General Discussion •
    Ban EcoManager & Similar Mods

    I propose we ban mods that automatically throttle energy and mass spenders (mass fabs, engineers, factories, etc.) to prevent stalls such as, but not limited to, EcoManager and UI Mass Fab Manager - Auto Fab Manager.

    The way EcoManager in particular works is that it will throttle energy users when your mass/energy in storage falls below a certain threshold. It provides a huge gameplay advantage, preventing shields from going down, without any input from the user since it just plays the game for you.

    Here is a recent example of it being used. You can see the streamer lilSidlil add 14 hives to a t3 pgen, which crashes his power to -30k. The mod immediately reacts to pause all mass fabs and other engineers to save as much power as possible.

    https://youtu.be/vbKlS3k-LRE?t=8032

    EcoManager has some features that are acceptable, such as the Mex overlay and the Nuke overlay (displaying mex tech level/number of missiles loaded) that don't need to be banned, but those non-cheat should be bundled into a new mod or the cheat features removed from the current one.

    In my opinion this mod far surpasses the threshold for a cheat mod, and honestly am a little confused at how it is still allowed to be used. It should be straightforward to just remove it from the vault and ban people that still use it, since it's pretty obvious when it is being used. What are your thoughts on the issue?

    posted in General Discussion •
    Suggestion: Show mass reclaimed by engineers

    As the title says, my suggestion would be to show mass reclaimed by engineers in the same way you can see mass killed by combat units.

    This feature alone would be a nice quality of life feature for both playing and viewing. It would:

    • help especially lower level players see the impact of reclaim and the value from investing into reclaiming engineers.
    • provide more information for coaches in their training sessions.
    • help higher level players refine their build orders.
    • create these exciting moments for casters where you can see the impact of a "hero engineer".

    One potential downside is the impact on sim speed, due to having do these arithmetic calculations on the fly, but a different thread has concluded that the mass-killed calculation for determining veterancy has a negligible effect on sim speed.

    https://forum.faforever.com/topic/1986/about-the-veterancy-system

    I would like someone more knowledgeable to weigh in on this issue, but it seems to me that this mass-reclaimed system would be implemented in a similar fashion to the mass-killed system and likely have the same order of magnitude impact on the sim speed—which would be negligible.

    The other "downside" (that is, barrier to implementation) is the development work required to implement such a system. Once again, I am not knowledgeable on this topic and would like someone to weigh in, but considering the mass-killed veterancy system was implemented in 2017, I assume this suggestion is reasonable to implement as well.

    It seems to be the benefits far outweigh the downsides. Let me know what you guys think! Would people like such a feature or are there other arguments against such a feature that I haven't covered?

    posted in Balance Discussion •
    Do not add new colors - discussion

    The purpose of this thread is to discuss arguments for and against adding new colors as proposed in this pull request: https://github.com/FAForever/fa/pull/3706

    My view is that the primary objective for player colors should be to make the game readable for players and casters. In my view the suggested change detracts from that goal, as the addition of more colors makes certain color combinations more similar. For example, imagine playing a 1v1 with this color combination.

    Screen Shot 2022-03-23 at 11.24.29 PM.png

    or a 2v2 with these

    Screen Shot 2022-03-23 at 11.24.39 PM.png

    Trying to cast games with these similar colors would be even more of a nightmare.

    It just seems like a completely unnecessary change that is not fixing an existing problem and is instead only potentially creating a new one. I think the colors are just about fine the way they are, and the focus should be just on improving them slightly (e.g. the current dark blue/violet should have white as a secondary color, not black, to maximize contrast).

    My view is that there is no reason to add more colors, as we have enough colors for even 8v8, and this change just makes the game potentially less readable, since some color combinations are more similar than before, so these changes should not happen.

    If you are in favor of these changes please explain why, and if you are against these changes please also join in the conversation so the devs have a sense of what the community thinks.

    posted in General Discussion •
    Caster UI Mod Functionality Brainstorming

    unknown.png

    This is a concept draft of a Caster UI mod made by a contributor after discussion with Swkoll and myself that is, EDIT: fortunately, now being worked on! The goal of the UI mod is to create a casting interface in the form of a UI mod that contains a complete suite of tools that can be plug-and-play for any potential caster for any 1v1 replay or live game. The goal of this post is to create a complete set of specifications for a Caster UI mod with the help of you, the community, so that we can determine the proper scope and the most relevant features of the project.

    I will start off by posting my current set of specifications, but it's almost certainly incomplete and some features that I currently have may not be desirable, so please post and list your desired features/which current features aren't desirable. I will update this post to maintain a list of the most desired specifications.


    Caster UI Mod Functionality Specifications


    Main view

    The majority of the features here is already encompassed in the concept draft.

    • Current mass/e in storage for both players
    • Current mass/e income for both players
    • Current total mass for both players
    • Current total mass reclaimed for both players
    • Player factions
    • Player names
    • Player clan names
    • Tourney title
    • Tourney round of ?
    • Tourney best of ?
    • Current game score
    • Highest land/air/naval tech level (shown by a progress bar % if it's upgrading)
    • Total mass in land/air/navy
    • Current ACU HP
    • Current ACU upgrades

    Additional information panels

    In addition to the main view, there should be additional information panels you can pull up. I think there should be two main categories of additional information panels. One category should cover the screen and display information over the course of the game, and the other should be a small side panel which displays current information. These panels should be opened using hotkeys.

    Real time match timeline (covers the majority of the screen). This should be a live scrolling graph with information over time.

    • Match timeline (when players reach key objectives like first t2 land, t2 mex, t3 air, gun upgrade, etc.) [this can information be overlaid on any of the following graphs]
    • Live income graph (similar to the graphs of mass/e at the end of the game in the score screen)
    • Live mass income disparity graph
    • Live energy income disparity graph
    • Live net unit disparity mass

    Side panels (brings up a small panel with additional information)

    • Units lost (mass/e lost for each player)
    • Current air breakdown* (intie/bomber/gunship/transport/asf/etc. numbers for both players, and total mass in air, kind of like UI party's ECOntrol interface)
    • Current land breakdown (once again broken down by number of units for each unit type)
    • Current navy breakdown
    • Current structures breakdown (mex/factory count)
    • Current economy (number of t3/t2/t1 mexes, pgens, etc. exactly like ECOntrol's interface but for both players)
    • Total units lost (once again broken down by number of units for each unit type)
    • Net spending (broken down by spending into Eco/Production/Units)
    • Current production
    • Current/average APM (I don't know if we can track this)
    • Current/average CPM

    *Do we want to list land/air/navy current units and units lost in one tab or break down each one into 3 categories? If it's just one tab it might become too information heavy in the late game when there are many unit types.

    Additional camera control options

    • Toggle semi-free cam (keep casting interface)
    • Toggle free cam (remove all UI)
    • Toggle slow acceleration based camera movement (smooth scrolling)
    • More cinematic camera features

    Misc features

    • Hero units (most units or mass killed by individual units - if you click it you go to the unit)
    • Show energy reclaim of map
    • Show mass reclaimed per engineer
    • Average mass reclaimed per engineer OR
    • Engineer efficiency ratio (total reclaimed gathered / total engineer time) [total engineer time increases by 1 for every second each engineer is alive, eg. if 5 engineers are alive simultaneously then it will increase by 5 every second]
    • Eco efficiency ratio (total mass spent on economy / total mass produced by economy) [does not include reclaim]
    • Hide player chat (in case some players get a bit... salty)
    • Swap player colors (dunno if this is possible, mainly for when players choose very similar colors)

    Last edited on 11/09/21.

    posted in General Discussion •
    Active Trainers Contact Page

    This is the Active Trainers Contact Page, a place for students to find trainers and a for trainers to advertise themselves.

    If you are a student:
    This is a page for you to find a trainer that best suits you. Regardless of your rating or any reason you may have to not look for a trainer, as long as you have a mindset of improvement, you can use this page to reach out to an active trainer. You may either message a trainer directly, or post a reply below. Please tell the trainer a little about yourself, the areas you would like to improve in, and your ultimate goals for the training.

    If you are a trainer:
    This is a page for you to advertise your availability. Trainers please give me a short blurb about the type of student you are looking for and your training style, your desired student rating range, your availability, and your discord contact. There is no rating requirement to be a trainer. If you would would like to be added to the list or taken off, please contact me on FAF, Discord, or the forum.

    Active Trainers Contact Page
    

    Tex [Global: 1929 | Ladder: 2100]

    Teaching Ladder 1v1 for players [rated 1.2K+]
    I won't teach you 'standard faf' - that is, build orders or how to eco, but I will teach you when to push and when not to push, how to identify the game state find your win condition, even from a losing position. Please already have a basic understanding of FAF gameplay and macro. Teaching will primarily be in the form of replay analysis and questioning decision making. This can not be done unless there is a basic understanding of FA gameplay mechanics.

    Teaching all game modes for any players (All rating)
    I will go over your replays and help you figure out the most important aspects of your gameplay that needs improvement, and point you in the right direction to fix these.

    Please contact me on FAF primarily.
    Discord: Voiceoftex#9399


    F-Odin [Global: 1971 | Ladder: 1832]

    "Experienced Trainer who has taught anyone from complete beginners to decent players, uses Discord religiously and will even whack out a twitch stream with recorded commentary now and then to help analysis. Happy to teach anyone who can speak English. Will be hosting/has newbie (under 100 games) group sessions on Fridays 2000 GMT"."

    Desired student: [played >5 games and speaks English]
    Discord: F-Odin#0791


    cocAurico [Global: 1612 | Ladder: 1636]

    "In just about 15 days, with a 12 steps program, get rid of your firebase addiction, and even better, learn to break your opponent firebase with a 97% success ratio! 5 first day are free, why don't you try it!"

    Availability: UK afternoon/evening time.
    Discord: @Auriko5386


    CheeseBerry [Setons: 1700 | like 1200 anywhere else]

    "If you are below 1.4k and interested in the map Seton's Clutch pm me!
    This includes experienced Setoners trying to become better, Astro and Gap players wanting to try out a new map and ladder players switching it up with some team games."

    "I'll also gladly show you the ropes on any map if you are completely new to FAF (< 50 games).
    The basics translate between all game modes and there are quite a few unintuitive tips and tricks you just gotta be shown when starting out."

    Desired Student: See above, speaking English/German
    Availability: Typically German Evening
    Discord: Cheeseberry#1965 (or pm me in FAF)


    arma473 [Global: 1265 | Ladder: 1173]

    "I have no minimum rating requirement and you don’t have to be particularly motivated. If you are playing ladder matches, or you want to play ladder matches, that’s good enough. For active players: I would watch your replays and give feedback. For anyone who feels like they’re not ready for the ladder: I will teach you the tools that you need to get started. You won’t learn them by playing against the AI or by playing in team games.

    I also wrote a guide to 1v1s. You might find it useful: https://forum.faforever.com/topic/766/ladder-1v1-beginner-intermediate-and-advanced-topics-by-arma473. "

    Availability: I'm available most of the time, but my work schedule is irregular.
    Discord: 4rma473#4558


    Wainan [Global: 1018 | Ladder: 750]

    "Looking at helping to optimise basic build orders and help to get people into the mindset of playing aggressive 1v1."

    Desired student: [Speaks English]
    Availability: UK afternoon/evening time.


    Sladow-Noob [Global: 2000]

    "Training players reaching from complete beginners up to 1.5k+ rank since years, specializing in teamgames on any map, any faction. I don't mind if someone only wants to learn the standard buildorders or the more advanced micro-techniques - I can teach you what you want to learn and especially for the ones who're usually by far the highest ones in the team: How to carry teamgames. Usually it's up to my trainees if they want to go through replays via a VC on Discord or just via chat. "

    Discord: Sladow#9155

    Desired student: [Speaks German and English]


    Last updated: Oct 30th, 2021.

    posted in Contribution •
    The FAForever Game Show

    Mapgen Week.png

    🔊 Jeopardy music plays 🎵

    Hello and welcome to the first FAForever Game Show! Thank you for tuning in, I am Archsimkat and I will be your host for today. On this episode, we'll have a range of questions from in-game knowledge to the community, from player history to mapping knowledge.

    Now entering the studio are today's contestants... an avid FAF player... a masterful forum user... from all over the world... you!

    Simply copy the text from below the line and try your best to answer the questions. If you don't know something, you can move on or try your best to guess. Good luck!


    I hereby declare I have not looked up anything to help me answer any of the ensuing questions since opening this forum post.

    1. How many mexes does rock spot have on Senton?
      ?

    2. List the four different T2 transports in order of their carry capacity (highest -> lowest):
      ? ? ? ?

    3. Which player has the most wins in LegendOfTheStars?
      ?

    4. On Operation Overlord, Fletcher gives you a number of titans as reinforcements. How many?
      ?

    5. Name any 5 non-experimental Seraphim units:
      ? ? ? ? ?

    6. What produces more mass per mass invested? a) T1 mex or b) Paragon
      ?

    7. How many mexes are there on the map Open Palms?
      ?

    8. How many missiles does Cybran T2 TML load?
      ?

    9. Gyle casted a 2v6 game of Dual Gap. Who were the players?
      ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

    10. What is the mass of the Novax satellite wreck on land?
      ?

    11. List the four different frigates in order of their HP (highest -> lowest):
      ? ? ? ?

    12. In Rainbow Cup III, Nexus died to an AI. Which AI was it?
      ?

    13. In the Forged Alliance campaign, Dostya is betrayed by a Cybran. Who?
      ?

    14. What term refers to the strategy of going mass t1 spam? a) Graardor, b) Grond, or c) Grarl
      ?

    15. List the four different t1 tanks in order of their rate of fire (fastest -> slowest):
      ? ? ? ?

    16. Which player had the most highly rated player card in 2021 LegendOfTheStars?
      ?

    posted in General Discussion •
    RE: Developers patch 3745 - 3748

    Can I suggest a feature?

    Contextual drag selection:

    • Alt drag box to select only engineers
    • Normal drag box to select only army
    • Shift drag box to select everything
    posted in General Discussion •
    RE: Aulex's Player Councilor Application

    Whilst I personally grasp the nature, worth, quality, or significance of the words with which you used within a specific and well-defined narrative structure to provoke laughter or mirth; for what cause, reason, or purpose are you not applying your limited energy, motivation, and time towards a different endeavour or enterprise which more effectively maximizes resultant purpose, significance, fulfillment, and satisfaction of life?

    posted in General Discussion •

    Latest posts made by archsimkat

    RE: 4v4 TMM January 2023 Map Pool Tier List

    tmm tierlist.png

    4v4 TMM: 1850

    posted in General Discussion •
    RE: Legend of The Stars 2022 Qualifier 2

    Signing up

    posted in Tournaments •
    RE: Matchmaker Pool Feedback Thread

    Thanks for the report, we've switched it out for Hilly Plateau 5v5 v2, which has proper spawns.

    posted in General Discussion •
    RE: Matchmaker Pool Posting - All Queues

    1v1 pool:

    1c49d4a2-6065-44dd-8334-9a7782486bb2-image.png

    2v2 pool:

    ea51916f-e1e4-466e-af5e-eafeaa7e4f23-image.png

    4v4 pool:

    ce55e436-df19-4d56-990d-d2bc3b14a2d9-image.png

    posted in Announcements •
    RE: Legend of The Stars 2022 Qualifier 1

    Signing up

    posted in Tournaments •
    RE: 1v1 custom games should be unrated

    It's honestly getting ridiculous. It's really annoying to have to keep track of the "value" of someone's global, to see what kinds of games they play and whether they are overrated/underrated in your type of game.

    posted in Suggestions •
    RE: 1v1 custom games should be unrated

    Global games are extremely easy to abuse — see lilSidlil getting 3100 on All Welcome Dual Gap or Unicron getting 2700 on All Welcome Astro Crater. 1v1 is just one of the many, many ways you can inflate or deflate your global rating.

    posted in Suggestions •
    RE: In the current system, rating 1v1 games is borderline rating manipulation

    No one is going “ok time to manipulate my rating by crushing Swkoll’s invitational EZClap”

    Playing these tournaments is the only way I gain rating, I usually gain like 100 rating in these tournies and then slowly lose that rating in teamgames until the next tourney. Unfortunately, this time I accidentally unrated all the games I hosted, so I didn't get that boost 😩

    posted in General Discussion •
    RE: How useful is EMP?

    Not only is Chrono Dampener "usable", it is one of the strongest upgrades in the game...

    posted in General Discussion •
    RE: Ethereal FAF Client 2.0

    Would it be possible to search for a matchmaker game while watching replays?

    posted in General Discussion •