How active is the online, and why is there no building hotkeys?

[Parazene]

I'm very much a SC2 player, but kinda wanted to try out another RTS. SupFa seemed like the best choice.
First thing off the bat, why is there no macro shortcuts? Build units, select buildings that kinda thing.
Secondly how good in the online? Any kind of MM, is it still active?

[✩ Ellectroma ッ]

Yes, the community is very active at http://faforever.com it has a ladder system with custom games as well, the community is considerably active and it's been growing a bit now. I'm currently serving as a mapper since I'm not that good :P

Server Stats:

2953 Unique players last 24 hours.
5595 Unique players last 7 days.
11397 Unique players last 30 days.

716 Ladder games last 24 hours.
3031 Ladder games last 7 days.
13463 Ladder games last 30 days.

3834 Custom games last 24 hours.
15711 Custom games last 7 days.
70543 Custom games last 30 days.

Custom games are usually played more than ladder (mainly for the maps) but ranking is the same, some people even prefer the custom games ranking.

This is taken from the webpage:

Forged Alliance Forever (commonly abbreviated to FAF) is a community-driven project designed to ensure that Forged Alliance will live on… forever. It is a complete lobby client system, similar to that of GPGNet was, the default client provided with Forged Alliance, but with many improvements:

Updated game. FAF is not only a lobby, and it’s not a mod: We are constantly adding features, graphics and sounds enhancements, bug fixes and balance patches to the game.

Active development. GPGNet is dead. Steam version won’t be updated. FAF is under active development to continually add new and exciting features, and ensure that any bugs discovered will be quickly dealt with.

Longevity. FAF is a community-supported project, and already has funding to support its server for several years.

Cooperative campaign. The solo mode of Supreme Commander and Forged Alliance (a total of 24 missions) are playable with up to four players in cooperation! Fight for the best time in the speed-run leader board !

Live replays are always on and always working, with a 5-minutes delay to remove the possibility of cheating during tournaments or ranked games.

Exciting new game modes such as the Nomads (an entirely new playable faction), Experimental Wars (adds many new units to the game), Black Ops, Murder Party, LAB WARS, Phantom X, and many more featured mods. All are integrated directly into the client so it’s easy to setup a game with others, and even come with their own Leader boards.

Automatic patching. This means you will have the latest patch without any sweat. The client can also downgrade immediately to see older replays.

TrueSkill rankings for both ranked 1v1 and all custom games. TrueSkill is a vastly superior rating system which can accurately take into consideration 2v2s, 3v3s, 4v4s, FFAs, and any other game type.

Responsiveness. Chat is fast, unlimited, and can be joined with any IRC client, even on your smart-phone. FAF is designed from the ground up to be lightweight, responsive, and efficient.
12 player games. 5v5s and 6v6s are possible on FAF.

Non-destructive patching. It patches the game separately from your current installation. That means that you can continue to use your original game and FAF concurrently – they do not “overwrite” each other.

[belatedcube1021]

also faf has a mod (hotbuild I think) integrated into it where you can add in tons of hotkeys for buildings or you press b (this is also in the steam version) for a "build mode" that makes the hotkeys work for buildings instead of actions (like manual reclaim)

[Parazene]

Ok, I think I need to get faf then : D

[✩ Ellectroma ッ]

Faf is definetly the way to go if you are looking for a better online experience.

[Teralitha]

Yes, anyone who owns this game needs to get on FAF.

[Parazene]

Yea I only use FAF now. Really impressive community!

[✩ Ellectroma ッ]

Glad you are liking it so far

[osheamat]

Can FAF be played in skirmish mode with AI?

[Teralitha]

FAF doesnt have a "skirmish mode" but yes it does have vs ai, completely customizable. Even coop missions. Trust me, FAF is what your looking for to play supcom. Go there.

It even has lots of mods to pick from, new maps, and you can even watch replays of yourself or any player from the FAF client. Want to see how the pros do it? just search their name in the replay vault and watch their games from their replay history as an observer.

[belatedcube1021]

however currently the coop campaign isn't working but it should (key word: should) be fixed soon.

you can do a skirmish mode with faf balance by either hosting a game and putting ai for enemies or opening fa through c/programdata/faforever/bin