Newbie FAQ
RA is a very fun game and I thoroughly enjoy playing it. So for those of you who are completely new to the game and don’t know where to begin for figuring out how to improve, this is for you. I’m writing this to have a little bit of general information and then a little question/answer section.
After playing a few games online you will notice that people like to make tanks. RA is all about tanks. Whoever can get the most tanks the fastest has a big advantage over his/her opponent. So when playing new maps try to get as many tanks as you can as quickly as possible. Most other units aren’t so important at all relative to tanks.
Scouting the map is also important. The basic way to scout is to send riflemen off in whatever direction you need to explore to find your opponent’s base. Since your opponent will be doing the same thing, it is also important to put up riflemen to guard your base from the enemy’s scouts.
What is this Q thing I keep hearing about?
Q is the most important hot key in the game. Qing means to make your tanks move and shoot at the same time. This way your tanks dodge enemy fire and take less damage while continuing to fire at the enemy. For an explanation of how to Q see the main website. Q is very important so make sure you learn how to do it well.
What hot keys should I be using?
A complete list of hot keys is found on the main page of the site, but for starters, you should begin to get used to using groups and shifting to groups. It is also imperative to quickly gain a mastery of Qing. H is a good hot key to get used to using too. Going back to your cy can be very useful. Lastly it is very good to use the up/down arrow keys to scroll through your building list. As you become more confident with the basic hot keys, read the section about bookmarks and get your bookmarks working. For starters though, H, groups, up/down, and Q is good enough to get you going. I got all the way to top 20 on Westwood without using any other hot keys, however to become one of the best players you’ll need to master all the others too.
What Buildings should I make?
Well, RA is all about tanks. It is very important to make
plenty of war factories so you can make tanks as fast as possible.
What maps are cool?
Cool is a matter of opinion, but the popular maps to play currently are p4, hjk6, wideopen, and a few other custom maps. What are known as the standard maps are the 24 maps that come with RA, A Path Beyond through Treasure Isle. Unfortunately most people don’t play these maps anymore, but they can still be very fun. A Path Beyond is by far the most played map in RA history. Hjk6 and p4 are probably the two most played custom maps ever.
You say RA is all about tanks, but I see people making lots of v2s and tesla coils, what do you have to say about that?
No matter how you look at RA, tanks are important, but on many maps where there is lots of money, it can be good to make lots of construction yards so you can make buildings faster. Making tesla coils as an offensive tactic is very effective and is a skill to be learned.
My opponent just rushed my base and killed my construction yard and all my power, isn’t that stupid?
No, it isn’t. That’s life. RA is all about tanks. It is possible to learn to use your tanks well enough to stop base rushes. Base rushing is a very important tactic to master and to learn to defend against. If you lose your base, tough luck, that’s how it is. I feel no pity for you after how many times I have lost my base to rushes (several thousand times I would guess).
How did my opponent get so many tanks?! He MUST be cheating!!!!!!
No, he probably isn’t cheating, you are just slow.Ask your opponents what their build order is and try to execute it. Don’t go randomly accusing people of cheating just because they are better than you. The ability to produce units fast is extremely important in RA, and whoever can produce the most, the fastest will almost always win.
Is it possible to cheat in RA?
Generally speaking it is not. You have to hack your game in order to be able to cheat and this is very difficult (or if not very difficult does require considerable programming knowledge and at least a little bit of effort). In the map files it is possible to put in codes that affect the game, but these settings will affect both players on the map so in effect your cheats also go to the other player if you try to pull this off. It’s bext not to worry about cheating. No one really cheats.
Isn’t tech and air important too? Why do you say RA is just about tanks?
Well, tech and air can be useful at times, overall they are of relatively little importance. The only really useful thing you get from having tech is gap generators and chronos as allies, and as soviets mammoths are nice, but they are very slow and not really worthwhile since usually the game is over before you could even get a tech center anyway. It’s much more important to focus on tanks.
Where all can I play RA?
Unfortunately the number of places to play RA has dwindled greatly and only 3 popular places remain, Kali, Gamespy, and CGA.
What is this router problem I hear about?
On GS, if two players have routers, they cannot play with each other. When the routered players enter the in game RA lobby, they cannot see other people’s typing and must create their own room inside the game to be able to play. Other players must join the room to play.
What else can I do to get better?