Why choose FAF over BAR or Zero-K?

[Spleed]

Haven't played any of those but why should put money on this aka FAF?

[Stoic⁧⁧Sirius]

I played all three and Supcom felt way more polished for me; that was my first impression when I played the other two. Aside from that, Zero-K's style didn't really appeal to me. And BAR was kind of empty. Then again, I played that last one a whiiiile back, so it's possible there is way more content now. Mind that I didn't play either of them for long, so there's a definite possibility I missed out on some interesting features that would elevate them above Supcom. Do they have commander upgrades? Planetary Annihilation doesn't and I think that really hurts the game complexity-wise. Commander upgrades are great! I love 'em.

Also check out Sanctuary: Shattered Sun (note: game isn't out yet). Seems like Chris Taylor himself endorses that one.

[Antineutron]

aren't both of those free and FA currently ~2€ (worth even the normal price), you can easily check which one you like more yourself, the real cost would be time, not money

[Bolt]

Because the package you get with SC:FA & FAF is greater than what you get with BAR / Zero-K:
-better graphics
-lots of mods
-sinple player (FAF): either solo or coop for the original Surpeme Commander missions, SC:FA missions, or some custom scnearions (still no idea how to get to play the Nomads campaign)
-multiplayer (FAF)

Specifically for battles vs AI(s) and in terms of optimization the LOUD mod also exists, which itself comes with further optional mod bundles.

The price on FA is so low and it's a stand alone expansion (means: you don't need the original Supreme Commander game to play SC:FA) that I refuse to view the price argument as even relevant.

[lonesh33p]

Recently I watched a youtube video on which ZLO made the comment "It doesn't matter how good Beyond All Reason is if it doesn't have icons."

[Druark]

Originally posted by Hollow:

-sinple player (FAF): either solo or coop for the original Surpeme Commander missions, SC:FA missions, or some custom scnearions (still no idea how to get to play the Nomads campaign)

The Nomads campaign is on a github and requires some manual file moving, it also doesn't seem to have ever been finished. I think only 3-4 of the missions work and the others are all unfinished.

[Bolt]

Thanks. Shame.

[Sol4rSky]

I've mostly done Zero K and recently got into BAR, I've decided to try Forged but it just feels like it's not as polished and easy to the eye like ZEro K and Bar is. BAR is actually smoother than Zero K and looks / plays great, clean and has enough people.

Also next year (Soon after the new years) hopefully Q1, BAR is coming to steam with added campaign and other changes. So I'm looking forward to that.

-better graphics

Imo, BAR looks much better than forged alliance, I prefer it over Zero K as well as it's cleaner, but Zero K has its own style.

[Ceejay]

Originally posted by TheHospitallerKnight ⩩:

I've mostly done Zero K and recently got into BAR, I've decided to try Forged but it just feels like it's not as polished and easy to the eye like ZEro K and Bar is. BAR is actually smoother than Zero K and looks / plays great, clean and has enough people.

Also next year (Soon after the new years) hopefully Q1, BAR is coming to steam with added campaign and other changes. So I'm looking forward to that.

-better graphics

Imo, BAR looks much better than forged alliance, I prefer it over Zero K as well as it's cleaner, but Zero K has its own style.

You realise this game is from 2007 right? Considering its age, it holds up really well.

[Sol4rSky]

It's true, but he mentioned that FAF's graphics are better than BAR's/ZeroK's that's why I've mentioned it.

[Antineutron]

FAF has slightly better graphics than steam version (at least in effects) so maybe you didn't see the best of it yet

[Sol4rSky]

true, i wanna get into it as well, i just love these games :D.

one question, is there anyway to make the LETTERS smaller on the interface icons? Say the metal extractor, have the letter on its icon a tad smaller. The reason I ask is because since im not that used to FAF, the icons look alien to me + being covered by shortcuts almost fully.

[Antineutron]

idk about smaller but you can turn them off completely by pressing B button (or whatever turns on/off the build mode)

[drivver44]

Originally posted by Spleed:

Haven't played any of those but why should put money on this aka FAF?

discloser
i am a contributer for BAR

this will mostly be between bar and FAF
your dealing with free and open source games vs a closed source game
saddly faf doesnt stack as well
- controls that are present in BAR AND ZK are much better and more flexible
-ZK offers community made widgets as part of the game. for example the reclaim display in ZK is extremely clean compared to the FAF flavor.

faf does scale its fights better being more influenced by the unit counts rather than individual units. in BAR and ZK the unit interactions are more meaningful on the individual level. for example in BAR some of the T1 units remain relevant in the 30 min mark +. FAF doesnt have that with the exception of 2 units
FAF eco is far simpler than BAR
FAF has a full keybinding scheme that is easy to rebind
BAR doesnt have that but is being worked on
BAR has more hidden mechanics than FAF (flanking mechanic in bar is expressed poorly to the player but works)
sup com(FAF) and ZK both have a single player EXP that works BAR doesnt have that
just remember that you are comparing ZK AND BAR which are still being worked on today
Spring engine first release was 2003 btw and is the reason why BAR AND ZK exist today

i will say though ,FAF is worth getting

[drivver44]

BAR is getting a graphics update this month btw
BAR will atleast look like it came from 2018
also BAR and ZK have a ton of cross development

for example a ton of the units in ZK use models meant to be for BAR back in 2013 in the early stages of BAR's development

[Antineutron]

idk what kind of reclaim display you mean, but FAF does have reclaim display if you hold ctrl + shift, with zoomed out showing combined reclaim value in an area and as you zoom in it shows it more and more accurately eventually down to individual wrecks when you zoom in far enough, and it is all color and size coded to more easily see at a glance

also in FAF many units do have value at any point in game if you use them properly, t1 mobile arty for example gets used often even in late game because of its high damage and aoe per shot, even labs get use vs specific high tech enemies that overkill/miss them (like percies/certain experimentals) and are faster on land than almost anything else, cruisers are mandatory in navy or you die to torpedo bombers/gunships and 2 of them give you missiles that have range of a battleship, frigates often act as mobile wall sections and against hover due to high hp per mass, mobile missile launchers have longer range than most direct fire land units and buildings while being able to fire while moving (unlike most t3 mobile arty), t2 tanks have more hp/mass cost than any other land unit

for any unit you have a situation where it is useful or at least more cost effective in some way no matter the stage of game, the only ones that fall off completely are things like t1 inties that are replaced by t3 asf and t1 tanks that are replaced by t2/t3 equivalent as main tank unit (and even those get a use if you need them suddenly due to how fast they can be spammed compared to higher tech), maybe even t2 gunships because of t3 versions

and idk what community widgets are but FAF does have ui mods created by all kinds of players that grant better control over your units and user feedback (like showing where you are using all your mass/energy) without effecting simulation itself (means you can have them in any match you join) if it is anything similar to that, while some concepts may be banned for questionable "balance" decisions by pros (spam clicking to reclaim seems to be fun to them), there are so many improvements in controls from them that you can't go back to "normal" supcom afterwards without missing them (ex. target priorities mod that lets you tell units in real time what type of enemies to automatically prioritize shooting at without interrupting their current orders)