Complex learning curve
Most games these days are good-looking, easy, and stupid. Because of this most gamers who started after (2003? 2005? dunno the exact date) are bad and stupid. Allegiance is a game that requires more intelligence for pick up games than most other FPS-like games require for competitive squad play. Because of this, most people are going to say "this is stupid" when trying Allegiance and go back to their slutty bimbo games that don't require any game/skill whatsoever. You just point and click and things go boom/splat. Nice mindless entertainment. - — Quoted from civilde
Why do we say Allegiance has a complex learning curve?
Let's go into a few of the details about what makes Allegiance so complicated and guarantees that you just won’t learn it all in a few days:
|
Aiming
Aiming in Allegiance is hard. It requires knowledge of the speed of the bullets and the ability to lead in a 3D vector space where the other guy is trying to dodge. Most games these days don't require leading at all so it is not a skill new gamers are going to have coming in. They're used to their call of doodie or borefield '42 PUGs where they can get some kills no matter how bad they are just by pointing and clicking. Now add in deflection shots, etc., that you get from 3D movement and you have a lot of newbs who cant even hit a bomber from 200 metres.
Factions
Factions are Allegiance’s “races”. The different factions are the first variable in the complexity equation. Each faction – and there are currently nine in the main core (mod) – has a unique flavour or theme. For example the Iron Coalition are the beefcake warmongers who rely on strength at the cost of stealth whilst the Belters are a group of scavenging pirates whose flexibility makes up for their poor taste in ship design and handling.
Each faction has elements that make it unique. All elements and statistics of the faction’s ships, weapons bases and economy can be altered. Some factions have unique technology, others do not use missiles, others have better scan ranges or their ships handle better, others have better (or worse!) hitboxes. No two factions feel the same as each has multiple unique characteristics meaning that all factions have techpaths, tactics and technology that is stronger or weaker than the others.
So the first consideration in complexity is the faction match-up: How will Gigacorp fly against the Rixian Unity? Are Belters good against Technoflux?
Technology paths
Technology paths (“techpaths” or just “tech”) are the next layer of complexity in Allegiance. Techpaths represent choices made by the team commander about what he spends his money researching. There are five techpaths available and each is tied to a specific Tech base. It is only possible to research technology once the team has built the appropriate tech base and it is only available as long as that station remains alive!
There are three main techpaths (Supremacy, Expansion and Tactical) which are supplemented by two support techpaths (Garrison and Shipyard). Each techpath provides different options in the type of research it allows. This research falls into four main areas; Ships, Weapons, Global Attributes and ‘Endgame’.
The techpaths each have their own unique feel, with Expansion being about the brute force of interceptors, Supremacy utilising the mobility and all-rounder nature of fighters and Tactical relying on stealth fighters and sneak attacks. Each station has a range of researchable ship and weapon upgrades that progressively improve the performance of pilots and their destructive capability. In addition the techpath offers Global Attribute upgrades (GA’s) that can be researched to improve ship performance by 10% increments – Weapon damage, missile tracking and scan range are just a few of the options available to commanders with the cash to spare.
Lastly, each of the techpaths offers a different way of ending the game – from fighter bombers and teleport probes in the Supremacy, to capturing the enemy’s bases with the Expansion's heavy troop transport, or even the Tactical's stealth bomber that can kill an enemy base before it is even seen! The support techpaths too have their unique ships, GA’s and endgame but are more usually adopted to compliment one of the main paths.
As you can see the range of technology path combinations and choices is the second great area of complexity that Allegiance throws up. Now we can consider how Gigacorp Tac will fly against Rix Expansion, will Belters sup beat TF shipyard? Simply understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the different tech can take a long time to learn, let alone master the use of.
Rocks & rock placement
So we know from the two previous variables that Allegiance is complicated by nature. We also know that due to the unique nature of each faction and the differences in technology that some choices might be stronger than others. For example, IC expansion is very common as it combines the brute strength of interceptors with an already powerful faction. However the next element of complexity comes in the form of plain old luck.
Commanders do not get a free choice of which techpath they choose. Each of the main tech bases can only be built on a specific type of asteroid (uranium for expansion, carbonaceous for supremacy and silicon for tactical) and on normal game settings these rocks are generated randomly across the map with only one of these asteroids available in each sector.
An IC commander might want to pursue the Expansion techpath but find that the only uranium asteroid is in the enemy home sector! Secondly tech choices may be determined by how the rock is placed within the sector, obviously you don't want to build your techbase somewhere it can easily be destroyed. Our IC commander might find that the only U rock he has access to is less than 1k from an aleph leading directly to an enemy sector. Remember that when the base is destroyed so is the rock, along with all of that vital technology!
Commanders
All these choices are made by the team commander, but your commander is only human and can make the wrong choice. Not every commander is created equal and the skill, experience and ability of the commander to have the team execute his plans is the next variable that adds the next layer of complexity to Allegiance, and is possibly the most important.
Allegiance is a game of economy; commanders must mine for money in order to buy the technology needed to win the game. Money is generated by harvesting ‘He3’ from special asteroids using AI piloted miners. Unlike many RTS, He3 is very limited in Allegiance and the commander must constantly expand the territory he controls so that he can mine safely. Balancing the cost of expansion with the cost of providing new technology – and doing it all at the right time and under fire from an enemy team – is the real test of a skilled commander. If the commander makes a poor decision, or invests the team’s cash into the wrong tech at the wrong time, the game can be lost.
In addition, the commander chooses the strategy that the team will employ. This invariably occurs in response to what strategy the enemy team is employing and requires that the commander get the team in the right place at the right time and doing the right thing. That leads me to the next area of complexity...
Teams
Allegiance is a game of teamwork. It is nigh-on impossible for a team lacking in teamwork to win the game, and ‘lone wolves’ seldom win in the face of coordinated opposition. It is easy to see, in the presence of all of the complexity already outlined, why some new players do not really know what they should be doing and this lack of ‘situational awareness’ can kill a team. But just as deadly is a team that disagrees about what it needs to be doing. Reading the dynamic flow of the game and coordinating actions is vital. Whether in attack or defence, working together is always rewarded in Allegiance. If the team fails to do what is necessary and when it is necessary then it is certain to lose against a more organised foe.
Intelligence
As a sub-set of teamwork, Allegiance uses a sophisticated intelligence model that means any enemy asset that is not within range of a friendly scanner is invisible. Thus, unlike in so many other games, the concept of scouting is vital. Scout ships and the scanning probes they deploy make all the difference between victory and defeat. If your team does not see that enemy bomber until it enters your sector then there is no time to organise or coordinate a defence.
Active scouting and counter-scouting activities are vital to see what the enemy is up to. After all, the commander can not make wise decisions without some knowledge of the enemy disposition and actions, such as what techpath they are following, where their miners are located and which sectors the enemy already control.
Settings / Map
Often new players ask why the same few maps get played over and over. With the amount of variables I have already talked about it is easy to see why the vets stick to a couple of maps that have a balanced number of sectors and choke points.
However, there are lots of maps available to play and a range of settings that can be tweaked. The majority of the settings deal with elements of economy – how much money each commander begins the game with, how much He3 is in each sector etc. However, techpaths may be turned off, the game can be played in death match or CTF modes and a range of other toggles such as friendly fire can be initiated.
Most of these are a step too far for even the complexity hardened veterans of Allegiance, and the community had a set of standard settings and maps. Far from being restrictive, these standards are actually the settings most conducive to good games that promote teamwork, skill and strategy.
Conclusion
So that is why Allegiance is so complicated! We can promise that months and years into your time with the game you will still get situations that you have not experienced, and scenarios that require you to think on your feet. It is a common belief that there are no definitive answers to questions in Allegiance, there is always an exception, and even the simplest question can lead to pages of debate. With all of these variables and more, I hope you can see why.
How can you go about scaling the complex learning curve in Allegiance? For a long, long time Allegiance vets have realised the difficulty new players have learning the game and the advantages of training them up to ensure decent gameplay contribution from all players. As such they've created a basic training school called Allegiance Flight School, that provides assistance, and information in easier manageable chunks, as a player takes his or her first steps into this game.
