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Military Unit to Splash Damage |
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Military
Unit |
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Any unit
of any type that packs a weapon of any kind and is involved with the actual
fighting. Some workers
in many games can defend, but either very inefficiently as military units
or in special circumstances.  |
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Minimap |
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The small radar map of the entire
battlefield, usually tucked away in the corner of the game interface. Units,
buildings or other notable objects are represented as colour coded dots,
while a postage stamp sized image of the entire game map is revealed as
your units and allies explore it. Generally, all friendly and allied units
will appear on the map, whereas enemy units will only be tracked if they're
within visual or radar range of any allies. You can click on the dots and
pick units and targets off the minimap and smart players will use it to
quickly navigate around the map or set way
points globally. More
info
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Mod |
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Short for Custom
Mod.or more specifically, Custom Modification. |
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Modder |
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Someone who makes a Custom
Mod! |
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Modifier |
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A number that
changes one stat before it can affect
another. For example, a bullet worth 10 points would subtract 10 points
of health from a unit. But if the unit is "wearing" armour,
it might have a small modifier to reduce the effects of the bullet. A
unit with +3 armour will take 3 points off that attack to only lose 7
health points. Modifiers are usually shown with a plus or minus, or as
a percentage, and basically let you know that the unit has been upgraded,
or temporarily altered. Modifiers can be used in as many different situations
as regular stats, and depending on how carried away the developers get,
you can have lots of the little buggers all interacting and "stacking"
on top of each other. |
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Money
Map |
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A term mainly used in StarCraft multiplayer
circles to describe a map that has been hacked or designed to have a vast
amount of resources on it, effectively making them unlimited and removing
the need for expansions. Money maps are extremely popular on Battle.Net,
and the classic StarCraft example being the nearly endless variations of
the Big Game Hunters map. |
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NPC |
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Acronym: Non-Player
Character. This is a pre-scripted character "roleplayed"
entirely by the computer, or a character directed by the computer AI to
give you a bit of a multiplayer challenge. It applies to any character (as
distinct from a mindless unit) that acts and talks without any human control,
usually to a pre-determined script. This is most often used in RPG
games. You'll find "hero" units in games like StarCraft are pretty
much like cut down NPC's, although the scripted versions aren't a patch
on the new generation of simulated characters you find in sim management
games like The Sims,
Startopia or Black
& White. |
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Population
Cap |
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Also referred to as a Pop
Cap or Unit Cap. An arbitrary limit to
the maximum number of units that a player can ever have at the same
time in a game. Usually, this is set by the game designers to accommodate
the power of the computer, avoid network lag on multiplayer games, or simply
to keep the game fair. A population limit may represent the actual number
of units you can have, or is a set of points that represent the total amount
of economic "support" that your forces may require. More
details. |
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Powering |
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See Booming.
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Passive
Ability |
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A Passive Ability
is an attribute or ability that a unit or building has that can affect things
around it, without the need for the player to activate it or control it
by hand. For example, a healer unit may have healing as a passive ability:
any units that stand within a certain radius of it have their health replenished
at a constant rate. A Hero might have a morale boosting, or attack enhancing
effect on friendly units around him. |
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POV |
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Acronym: Point
Of View. Usually refers to something's visual perspective, i.e. a
unit's Point of View as seen from its position on the map. |
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Race |
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This refers to each distinct side
in an RTS game. Usually, two races are pitted against each other, e.g. humans
vs aliens, Romans vs Vikings, Round Robots vs Square Robots. The usual convention
is to have a number of different groups that play very differently, whilst
still giving everyone a balanced game. |
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Random
Map |
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A random but fair computer generated
map for multiplayer or single player skirmishes. Age
of Empires II has an excellent set of randomly generated map types,
and Settlers III also
produces them. This is distinct from a custom map or scenario that have
been lovingly put together by humans. |
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Ranged
Unit |
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A unit that fires a ranged weapon
of some kind that can damage other units at a range greater than its immediate
vicinity - that is, its got a gun! Or a bow. Or its a slimy monster that
spits acidic venom that dissolves space cadet armour! Whatever it is, a
Ranged Unit is the opposite to a melee
unit, which has to run up to its target when trying to punch its lights
out. Examples: any kind of tank or artillery piece, fixed turret, spitting
cobras, dung throwing monkeys, Robin Hood and Dirty Harry. |
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RPG |
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Acronym: Role
Playing Game. Role Playing Games are similar to RTS in that you have
a map and characters, except the emphasis is on "roleplaying"
a single hero unit and/or a small band of characters. While RTS units are
cloned cannon fodder, RPG characters are more complex, possessing character
traits, skills, an inventory of special objects and items and ways of interacting
with other characters that doesn't involve just shooting them. |
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RTS |
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Acronym - Real
Time Strategy. Strategy that barrels along in Real Time. But you
knew that already, didn't you! Didn't you? Obviously you've beamed
in via a search engine and somehow missed RTSC's
front door. Try some more details in Boring Theory... |
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Raid |
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A small incursion, designed to knock
out one or two targets of opportunity rather than an all out attack. Similar
to a Rush, except raiders use small nip and tuck attacks
at the edges to snip away at undefended outposts and vulnerable extremities.
The idea is to distract their opponent from an rapid build up by forcing
them to spend more on early defences, i.e. its to distract the defender
to focus on the entire map hunting down small raiding parties rather than
build up their forces. Raids are usually easier to do at the start of a
game when there's less units and advanced technologies on the field. |
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Rush |
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A Rush
refers to a sizeable number of units that are charged or "rushed" at the
enemy in a blitzkrieg to catch them unprepared. Rushes are supposed to seriously
damage their economy, putting players on the defensive, or just killing
them off outright. Rushes are often done early in a game when players at
their weakest, and often use just one type of unit. Rushing can be controversial
in RTS circles; it is frequently abused by okay players to take advantage
of newbies (play on Battle.Net
and you'll see what I mean!), making use of insider knowledge and short
cuts at their expense. Many games have taken steps to reduce its importance;
StarCraft units for
example, require a lot of manhandling and you can only select twelve at
a time; half the turrets in the TAUIP custom unit
pack for Total Annihilation
were expressly designed by frustrated players to stop dead any early rushes
and "return strategy back to the game"; and Age
of Empires makes it very difficult for any mobile units to do any damage
to any buildings until you reach the Castle Age and spend time knocking
over castle walls. Some rushes, especially those with unfair advantages,
can be quite cheesy.
Rushing is a tactic that lends itself to fast paced, short action games
rather than long campaigns - learning to counter it is an excellent way
to sharpen your early game. |
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Rusher |
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Someone who just loves Rushing.
A player whose favourite strategy is to simply storm their opponent before
they can get started, hoping for an easy win. Generally speaking, a Rusher
will have their opening moves down pat, sometimes even choreographed to
the last second. In some circles, rushing is frowned upon as the strategy
of lazy slobs who can't last a full game. But for any Shooter
fans wanting to get into Real Time Strategy, quick rushing games on small
maps are great way to start. StarCraft
excels in this regard. |
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Rush(er's)
Map |
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A map expressly designed to stage
rush games. Usually this means a very small map where there are few obstacles
between bases, insufficient resources to make it to the mid or late game
and more often than not a big arena in the middle where crashes headlong
for the big fight. Examples: StarCraft's
Blood Bath map, or any Total Annihilation metal map around or under
10x10 size. Also Rusher's Map, See also Rush
and Rusher. |
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Scenario |
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A custom RTS map filled with pre-scripted,
trigger driven events that plays out a small story with the game player
driving the action, or a one off map that completely changes the rules of
the original game. StarCraft and Age of Empires are excellent examples in
this regard. Scenarios can be played either in single or multiplayer modes.
Most multiplayer scenarios do nothing more than organize players into preset
teams, but sometimes they also alter unit stats or introduce bonuses to
the game e.g. Capture the flag and win prizes of resources. (in StarCraft's
custom UMS maps, play the Defenders Of
The Galaxy scenario for some Space Invader action, or Zergling Round-Up
for some cowboy action.) The single player missions in most RTS games, are
in fact, custom scenarios, arranged into Campaigns.
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Shields |
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Similar to Armour,
Shields usually refer to a rechargeable force field that surrounds a unit
like an extra set of Health points. See Stats,
Shields .
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Shooter |
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Or 3D Shooter.
Or First Person Shooter. See FPS. |
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Siege
Unit |
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A unit that specialises in long range
bombardment, especially for demolishing buildings or entrenched defences.
Siege units drop colossal amounts of damage on
targets, but shoot very slowly and can rarely hit moving targets. Siege
weapons are often catapults, long ranged artillery or any single one shot
weapon that shoots over long distances. They're incapable of fighting hand
to hand and hopeless at defending themselves when directly challenged. Keep
'em at the rear of any battle. |
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Skirmish |
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Depending on what game you play depends
on whether this game mode is called Skirmish or not. A Skirmish game is
a single player practice fight against computer opponents; in StarCraft
it's referred to a Melee.
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Soft
Counter |
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In unit trumping, a soft
counter is a unit that has an advantage over another, but without
being too ruthless about it. In the Paper-Scissor-Rock
paradigm, A counters B,
while B counters C,
and C counters A. With
soft counters, the trumping system still applies,
but all units can attack and defend against each other with varying degrees
of success. A soft counter is more efficient at destroying its intended
quarry than other units. This is distinct from unit balance that uses hard
counters. |
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Spam |
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Spam is a term used to describe the use of building
just one type of unit, and using that one unit exclusively to swarm or devastate
your enemy. Spam is a reference to email
spam. In game after game after game, you will see the same old units
re-used endlessly, deployed either because they are so easy to use, or they
can lazily demolish the opposition with little effort compared to the what's
required to stop it. For long, monotonous hours sometimes. Unit spammage
describes the spamming of units. A spammer is
someone who spams first, thinks second - if at
all. A spamfest is an endless parade of spamming
players or a description of a game that often degenerates into spammage.
Probably the best example of a spammable unit
is found in Dawn of War's Winter
Assault expansion around the 1.4x patches: Eldar's dreaded floating hovertank - the Fire
Prism (pictured right). A Fire Prism is an end level tank that
had:
- the most health points of all the game's regular tanks
- a huge area
effect weapon that both totally disrupts and kills every type of
unit.
- a high speed tank base that was
more mobile than anything found at its level, plus two Jump spells tucked up its sleeve that effectively negated any obstacles or chokes
on the map.
- the factory that produced it (plus the entire base) could be cloaked (pictured)
- the factory could store an extra completed Prism inside despite the restrictions of
a vehicle cap. That is, the instant you managed to kill one of these bloody things, its replacement would appear - instantly.
- prerequisites that couldn't be disabled
due to a quirk in the build tree - so even destroying most of an Eldar
base couldn't stop the spammage, even though all the other sides would have been thoroughly hamstrung under the same circumstances.
- an additional bonus whereby building the Avatar end-game unit (a big burning fellow with a giant, bleeding sword) granted an additional population bonus that allowed ten of these super-tanks
instead of the usual six that all the other armies were allowed.
You could pretty much work out which team was going to win in a big netgame
simply by counting the number of Eldar players. While Prisms weren't totally
invulnerable, they took far, far less effort to use than what was needed
to counter them. |
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Spellcaster |
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A special unit
that may lack "normal" weapons, but may possess special abilities (like
changing or nullifying some attribute in another unit, e.g. casting a Shield
on another unit or converting an enemy unit to an ally) or some souped up,
one shot super zap. A Spellcaster doesn't have to be a magical unit; its
more a description of any unit that has special abilities outside of the
usual move and shoot. Most often a Spellcaster consumes a special resource
(like Manna or Energy) that needs to be replenished before being used again.
And more often than not, its special ability can only be used with a special
command. StarCraft's
full of them: Templar, Defilers, Queens, and Science Vessels, to name but
a few. Age of Empire's
Monk is another example as are many of the Hero units found in Dawn
of War. |
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Splash
Damage |
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Or just splash.
Splash damage is weapon damage that affects any objects surrounding the
original target. Its used to simulate the effects of explosive weapons,
flame throwers, electrical discharges, or bad magic. The target itself take
full damages, with nearby units sustaining progressively less damage the
further away they stand. Splash damage is associated with any weapon or
destructive spell that has an area
effect. Overlapping splash from a line of artillery can be really nasty,
since explosive splash damage is often cumulative. |
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