New to CF, CrossFire 2.0 is awesome. Love it! but its kicking my ass

There are 7 replies in this Thread. The last Post () by The Original.

    Hey, Firstly a big warm thanks to every single person who worked and are still working on one of the best games ever.


    Hi, I'm new to CF and was pleasantly surprised to know about the size of content, level of detail, lore and so many fine and minute details along with enhanced gameplay. I WAS AWESTRUCK!


    So I decided to give it a try, fresh install of FL along with CF 2.0. Then I proceeded to get my ass kicked so badly like nothing else ever did. This confused me as

    • I had completed Vanilla FL three times till now.
    • My aiming was rather good in FL, Hand eye coordination was enough to stick like glue to any enemy AI.
    • The weapons, equipment and ship were the best in entire starting system.

    The framerate/FPS during fight is near 30fps which I reckon ought to do well enough for single player.
    The AI is so fast, I've tried relentlessly but the direction changes are 0.5secs.
    The AI is also good at evading missiles most of the time. Hardly two out of 10 missiles hit it.


    I've read through other recommended tips/beginner's guide and threads.
    The 1. Wiki's 'Combat Video Guides' (watched)
    2. Starter Guide


    Survival is easy when you focus on dodging ships thanks to rotation and strafing.
    The Aiming and AI part is just too hard. From another thread, Each Rouge AI ship has atleast 10 Shield repair and 10 Hull repairs.
    Add this to 6-8 rogues who are insanely fast and you will be exhausted trying to kill them.


    I've seen a few videos with 1.9 CF (like this video) and the ships are tame and hardly as fast in direction changes as I've experienced in 2.0


    Question:

    • Is there any way to make it more smooth? Rouge AI goes all over the screen with direction changes so fast that under attack its impossible to keep up even with strafing turns and throttle control.
    • Were missiles nerfed? With a limit on stockpile of missiles, every AI seems to be pro at using counter measures that leave you empty with hardly any damage done. Note: This is in regard with starting missiles: Eraser, Javelin, Windstalker (upto lvl 3 types).
    • Are there any tricks to defeat the new AI? In Vanilla the selected target used to be most active at always dodging, if you simply aimed at other AI with their small crosshairs they used to go down without much fancy stuff. Even with gunning for targeted AI, it used to be fast enough to wipe them out.

    My problem in not with the Shield and Hull repairs but with aiming, Is there anything you experienced guys can please suggest?


    EDIT: Thanks for the quick reply SA_ Martind Forlorn, appreciate it alot! Read your tips, thanks for taking your time to write them. Will be trying them out.

    Hello ninjafreelancer, welcome! :)

    • To your questions: lover effects to made things more smooth can't hurt, below 30 fps you may have jumping NPCs ... or graphics lag.
    • Low lvl NPCs is not easy to kill, but with proper guns this can be done nicely especially when used rapid-fire (is in this video lessons explained)
    • is rly good idea use guns with the same projectiles speed
    • Maybe can be for you better use for start guns with bigger damage and slower fire rate, it need to test what will fit better your taste.
    • Missiles works best when you fire them directly when NPC approach to you .. there is not any help from CMs and NPC is usually hit with some timing experience
    • ... check for some codenames on wrecks, they can do good work with also fast moving NPCs.
    • ... and last: its matter of practice, later you will see that what was hard is easy ... and new challenges are waiting (CF have more rly tough NPCs you can meet later during SP campaign)

    Hello ninjafreelancer and welcome!
    I am playing the original campaign on hard level and finished the Liberty part using a Patriot equipped with 4 Drails. NPCs didn't use much bots/batts - only healed 0-1 times before getting killed :) So I might recommend you use a fast-turning ship, a gun-only setup, and concentrate fire on one target at a time.


    Actually your description fits very good to CF 1.9 behaviour - low-level NPCs there were flying really crazy and using bots/batts all the time; playing CF 2.0 now is quite a relief in fact! Are you sure your game is properly installed/activated and fully up-to-date (did you select "Yes" when the launcher asked about updates)?


    - Wanderer -

    Well, I have the same problems, but I never play FL before. But I found out that I am more successful with faster rate of fire weapons (8.33). Im in Britanian Space and the Corrsairs are veeerrry hard with 4.0 weapons. These guys are like rabbits!

    If you have problems with enemy using nanobots then you have a problem with aiming or just your weapons do not have enough firepower. Check what Martind wrote.


    Check here Weapons - SWAT Portal for an overview of available weapons.


    I your aim is good you can search for the MK II weapons in wrecks. They have a lot of firepower but low refire rate.
    Also in systems around X-3034 you can buy Kraken Type 1, very easy to aquire since you do not require special affiliation to be allowed to buy stuff. Good damage and not so energy hungry.


    For easier aim and little more damage Skyblast B works out very nice. You can buy it on few ports ( what may need special affilitation) or find it in a wreck.
    Note that to use this weapon your ship needs to provide lvl 9 weapon slots. All VHFs ( Very Heavy Fighter) have this. Check the link posted above and just experiment with the weapons. Also Wyrm can be fun! See with which kind of Speed/Refirerate combination you are served best.


    Around starting area you can also find upgrade of energy core ( New York system) and shield upgrade for faster recharge ( California System). These are pretty good versions of these devices and serve you well for the beginning, optimal ones are little harder to find :)


    For sure there are very strong guns available, but getting them is not so easy. For them you need to be maxed out to the level before.


    One last hint: Avoid missions with Xenos. These guys are like rabbits on the run, very hard to catch and doing few damage. So it is a matter of patience.
    Especially with weapons like 3.03 and 2 refire rate it is hard. I recommend for those at least 4, better 8.33 kind of weapons. If you have the choice go for Rogues, Mollys, Lane Hackers or, if you can, Outcast/Corsairs ( stronger ). All assuming you are after the criminals. Dont have experience with hunting Army/Navy.

    Edited once, last by ramses ().

    Thanks to everyone who took time to read and reply to this thread, very helpful and very informative. ^^


    @'Martind Forlon'
    Thanks! Going to go explore wrecks right now, Stuck with Justice MK III on Defender and they campaign missions. Visited all goverment controlled bases in Liberty System and no better weapons are available. Wrecks and Hunting is the way to go.


    @(IOC)Wanderer
    Hey, Glad you mentioned Drails. Found one off a rogue ship and its stats are rather good! Was getting annoyed at the non availability of good weapons in Liberty System.


    @Flashpoint7143
    I'm still struggling with taking them down, trying with shipyard/planet/station (in reference to the first few campaign mission in FL CF 2.0) is stupid, Trying to salvage new weapons now.


    @SilverFox
    Thanks, reverted back to FL vanilla. FPS is now 55 to 60 range, much smoother on eyes.


    @ramses
    VERY HELPFUL! Sorry for the caps but this info was exactly what I was looking for, better weapons and better shields. Thank you so much for linking those pages.

    At early stage ... before you got the "GreenLight" Pass from Juni ... you cannot go into other systems btw ... However, you will still be able to get quite a powerful guns in NY system...
    Try hunting junkers and loot their guns ... 8.33 refire rate ... but i cant remember the guns name... anyway... in order to avoid heavy power loss... use the rapid fire... with defender ship and the junker's gun... it helps alot btw...
    i advice, no need to use missile for time being ... just use only guns ... 4 junker's guns should be enough ...


    But after you got the "GreenLight" pass ... ofc ... you can follow the others advices ... Happy Hunting Bro...