Moonbase Commander

[TheBytemaster]

Hello all! This be the thread for the discussion of all things related to that 12-year-old game I made you all take a copy of, Moonbase commander.

 

 

If you're looking for a match, you can try posting here!

 

Looking for tips or want to discuss gameplay? 

Post here!  

 

Want to insult/swear terrible revenge on the person who obliterated you in the last game?    

Post here! (But kindly... please.)

 

 

 Multiplayer How-to

 

The recommended way that so far has worked the best for playing multiplayer matches is a combination of two free tools.

Note that it does not require any annoying port forwarding.

 

Hamachi, (yes, it's still free for networks of up to 5), which you can get here;

https://secure.logmein.com/products/hamachi/download.aspx

(Unmanaged mode is the easiest to use.)

 

You will need to be connected to the same Hamachi network as the host if you are joining, and vice-versa. Make sure that Hamachi is allowed through your firewall, or it won't work!

 

And a lovely little utility called MoonbaseIP, which can be found here;

 

http://www.zauron.net/utilities.php

 

 (NOTE, the person who is hosting does not need to use MoonbaseIP, they just need Hamachi. If you are hosting, just launch the game and start your server like normal without using MoonbaseIP.)

 

To use MoonbaseIP, drop the MoonbaseIP.exe file into the folder where you installed Moonbase Commander, (if you got it from GoG and used the default location, then it's in C:GOG GamesMoonbase Commander), and run it as administrator. It will ask you for an IP. Put in the IPV4 Hamachi address of the machine that is hosting. It will then launch the game straight to the multiplayer joining screen. If all goes well, you should see the server you are aiming for appear in the list.

 

If you are having trouble connecting to someone, try pinging them by double clicking on their name in the Hamachi client. If it doesn't work, one of your firewalls is likely blocking Hamachi.

 

When you are able to successfully join a server using this method, do not exit the game lobby. Odd issues can result in everyone else in the game lobby being kicked, sometimes they will even appear to the server to still be connected.

 

 

Also; a general tip. The game often reacts poorly to being alt-tabbed out of. You can put the game into a windowed mode by pressing SHIFT+F5 and make it fullscreen again by... pressing the fullscreen button.

 

An ~excellent~ guide to Moonbase Commander can be found here.

 

http://www.zauron.net/downloads/moonbase_commander.txt

 

It's kinda long, but very thorough and worth a read. Contains a lot of unit and weapon quirks that can be really useful. Easily the best Moonbase Commander guide in existence.

 

 

If you just want a quick rundown of the basics, I'd recommend this little video.

 

 

If you have any questions/need any help troubleshooting multiplayer, ask below! 

Edited March 14, 2014 by TheBytemaster

[planetguy]

If you want to set up a game at a definite time, I can host it. Moonbase itself works fine under Wine emulation, but MoonbaseIP barfs.

[dwwojcik]

Awesome!  Can't wait to start!

 

I'd put the multiplayer tutorial in a spoiler.  That wall of text is a little intimidating.  It may have something to do with how tired I am.  I dunno.

Edited March 13, 2014 by dwwojcik

[TheBytemaster]

If you want to set up a game at a definite time, I can host it. Moonbase itself works fine under Wine emulation, but MoonbaseIP barfs.

Tomorrow could work. I get out of work around 9PM GMT and I'm avalible for quite a while after that. I friended you on steam, fire a message at me if you get time to play.

 

I'd put the multiplayer tutorial in a spoiler.  That wall of text is a little intimidating.  It may have something to do with how tired I am.  I dunno.

Heh, I kinda have something of an affinity for spewing walls of text. I'll fix that.

 

 

Also, after reviewing the replay of Me vs. Kocken that was recorded the other day, I have concluded that this game is basically all about who can be the most horrible and loathsome terrible person to their opponent. I'll put up the replay on youtube soon-ish so you can see what I mean by that

Edited March 14, 2014 by TheBytemaster

[planetguy]

How about now?

[TheBytemaster]

How about now?

I'm on now if anyone wants to play. Steam-chat is the ideal way to get ahold of me as far as that goes, but I'm thinking of putting up some kind of IM server for this/general kitty jail stuff.

 

Remember guys, there's nothing stopping you from playing with each other without me,

Edited March 15, 2014 by TheBytemaster

[planetguy]

Okay, re-installing Steam...

 

(None of their free games worked with my GPU, and it was 4 GB on a quickly-filling hard drive.)

[rcmaehl]

I'm on now if anyone wants to play. Steam-chat is the ideal way to get ahold of me as far as that goes, but I'm thinking of putting up some kind of IM server for this/general kitty jail stuff.

 

Remember guys, there's nothing stopping you from playing with each other without me,

 

Why not IRC?

[TheBytemaster]

Why not IRC?

Hmm. I don't know why I hadn't thought of that. I don't really have any experience with hosting IRC, but I could look into that. Maybe I'll just write a super stripped-down client in autoit.... *mumbles ideas*

[holymage!]

if anyone wants  me to stomp them then they can tweet me here
https://twitter.com/Gooberlious

or reply here

but the tweet will work better as i check my phone more then the fourms....

PS i love the tags for this byte....everyone will be so confused why it says "Literally Hitler" in the tags

Edited March 16, 2014 by holymage!

[TheBytemaster]

if anyone wants  me to stomp them then they can tweet me here

https://twitter.com/Gooberlious

In my last game I handily smashed both Planetguy and Mooseman. Consider your challenge accepted.

[holymage!]

In my last game I handily smashed both Planetguy and Mooseman. Consider your challenge accepted.

i almost beat you last time....you just had cheap crawlers

[TheBytemaster]

i almost beat you last time....you just had cheap crawlers

Which I produced in large batches because I had energy that I had to spend energy to expand my base to acquire and expend more energy to defend against you. Yes, I obviously cheated.

 

Shields man. They work.

[planetguy]

Shields man. They work.

Except when you land them on a ridge and they don't even place.

[TheBytemaster]

Except when you land them on a ridge and they don't even place. 

Then they explode. And then they don't work. And then the crawler rain comes.  

 

-TIPS AND TRICKS TIME!-

 

That's why you do practice shots before. (But you already knew that.) Bridges are great for that if you have to do it close to your other buildings, they don't do any damage if you land on your own stuff like bombs will.

 

Also, bridge + landmine on top is pretty much the only way to take out crawlers under open water. Works really well, but it costs 4 energy which can be a bit much depending on you situation. Also, they'll explode when they go off like this, obviously.

 

Oh, and unless you recycle 'em, crawlers WILL, (eventually), go off if they manage to land AT ALL. So land one at the edge of an enemy AA's radius where it can touch down just before the AA can reach it... and watch the sucker go off before the enemy has a chance to do anything. At the very least, you'll take out the offending AA. Great strategy for taking out shields in one turn if there's an AA nearby and you've lined up the shot with a test already.

 

Virus + Crawler is a really great combo. Putting a virus through someone's system will weaken all units by one damage, letting a crawler take out any unit in one hit unless they repair them, (before the virus, hubs and energy units have 5 health, crawlers do 4 damage.) Plus viruses will wreak havoc with the enemies' defenses. The replay I'll be recording of my match against Kocken I had a while back demonstrates just how well this works.

 

Also, if fog of war is on, viruses are *great* for recon. You get to see what your enemy sees when units are infected, and the smoke that damaged units give off is visible through the fog of war even after the virus has run its course.

 

Last thing, I promise. You can use your own virus on your own units as a form of anti-virus if you time it right so that your virus will "eat" the enemy virus when it moves. Your virus will still spread through your system, disabling units as it goes but it won't give other people line access to your line of sight, and it won't damage anything, which is a pretty favorable alternative to having an enemy virus running around.

 

Okay, I lied. THIS is the last thing. When clearing out your own old units for more space, a recycle is "technically" usually the most efficient option energy-wise, as you'll always, (assuming the target is undamaged), get at least the same amount of energy out of it in the next round as you put in, assuming that you make your shot on the first try. If it's a tricky shot that might take a few tries, or you need the extra energy in the current round, remember that bombs will do the job just as well as a recycle, and for only one energy apiece, (unless the unit has >3 health, in which case you'll need two of them. But that's still cheaper for the current round than a 3-energy recycle.). This is especially great for getting rid of spare towers or AA, as they only have 3 health to begin with and will all fall to one direct bomb hit.

Edited March 18, 2014 by TheBytemaster

[holymage!]

you can take practice shots?

[planetguy]

Yeah. Just toss out a bomb or bridge or something and take note of its power and angle. Adjust the real shot with the more powerful thing as necessary.

 

Not that it helps much if you're facing annihilation next round because you neglected your hub in favour of getting lots of energy...

[holymage!]

Yeah. Just toss out a bomb or bridge or something and take note of its power and angle. Adjust the real shot with the more powerful thing as necessary.

 

Not that it helps much if you're facing annihilation next round because you neglected your hub in favour of getting lots of energy...

Or cluster bombs and follow the middle one while taking out AA?

 

EDIT: Byte, i might be able to set up a 24/7 server for the MBC if i get one of my other laptops revived....

Edited March 18, 2014 by holymage!

[MrMunk00]

how do u get this game and what is it about

[planetguy]

It's a strategy game, about conquering planets. Get it here.

[TheBytemaster]

Or cluster bombs and follow the middle one while taking out AA?

 

EDIT: Byte, i might be able to set up a 24/7 server for the MBC if i get one of my other laptops revived....

 

Uh, you'd have to pull off some pretty fancy automation to get that to work. Each game has to be played in by the server, and re-started manually. Games take different lengths, and the server host has to choose the map, add any bots, and decide when to start the game.

[planetguy]

Anyone up for a match some time?

[TheBytemaster]

Anyone up for a match some time?

I would be as soon as I get back from vacation.

[holymage!]

I'm in the sand boat as byte, between work and my trip...I can't ATM, after Wednesday I can...

[dwwojcik]

I redeemed my code on gog.com and never installed it, I feel bad now. I'll get around to playing it with you guys, promise.

Edited July 26, 2014 by dwwojcik