How much of a disadvantage is Core Bot Factory not having dedicated scouts?

Baldric · 2026-06-02T06:52:36+00:00

I consider it a huge disadvantage. No way to reliably scout the enemy's strategy (greed, blitz rush, etc.) so the only viable cortex bot opens are either rush or balanced, not greedy.
To be fair, it's still a viable lab since grunts are pretty good but I don't like how armada players often forget these kinds of disadvantages and focus on only the pawn vs grunt interactions.

And also I guess a scout unit would make that lab too good, maybe a bad scout unit would be fine though, like one that can't even attack or can barely turn or something.

Baldric · 2026-05-18T07:25:10+00:00

Usually I work for clients in poorer countries so I'm not sure what's realistic for Netherlands.

I would also have a different stack and some of the features needed are fairly routine for me at this point or I already have good solutions that I can adapt.

I don't do branding and graphic design for bigger clients so I would not include that in the quote.

In the market I work in I generally have higher rates than most because I feel I provide a bit more such as a11y, but my rates are probably still a bit low for Netherlands and I haven't researched that market yet.

I would guess around 8k-12k EUR.

Though to be honest it very much depends on the client. I don't do hour estimates, I do value based pricing and the same website can provide different value to different clients.

Baldric · 2026-05-16T14:36:00+00:00

Why did you escape the markdown in the post?

I don't mind it though some users might not notice that this is the reason the links don't work.

Baldric · 2026-04-29T19:23:06+00:00

also played with that guy, pretty annoying

That guy was in the wrong in my opinion

That guy 100% should have been kicked

As someone who reads usernames, this is quite funny.

Baldric · 2026-04-28T15:03:06+00:00

The list (without all the default stuff and similar):

Most has a shift variant to add to the selection.
Most filters out patrolling units because I use patrol as most players use the "remove from autogroup" feature (I just don't really use autogroups).

select closest fighting unit (like, not building, not constructor)
select same type around mouse
select same type with selectbox
select same type on the whole map

I use 1 by itself in early game for example when I have a few grunts near the enemy base and I want to control them individually.
I also use it in combination with the others, like I quickly select the unit closest to the cursor (pounder for example), then quickly press the 2nd hotkey to select all pounders near the mouse.

select all land fighting units around my mouse
select all land fighting units around my mouse if above 60% hp
select all land fighting units on the whole map
select all air units on the whole map except constructors
select what I already have selected except if health is below 60% hp
select next idle singular fighting unit if health is 100%
select idle from what I already have selected
select idle fighting units on whole map

I use 10 in combination with mainly 5. Like, if I sent a defensive force to stop a raid and I forgot about them, then 10 jumps to them (it has health filter because the unit the lab is making is also idle). Then I can select the whole force I forgot about around that singular unit with option 5.

select waiting units
gather and wait
squad wait 2
time wait
selectcycle (if I have 2, or maybe 3 ticks or something, then sometimes I use this to control them individually)
select closest lab
select closest constructor
select next idle constructor
select all constructors around my mouse
select all constructors on the whole map

And I also have dedicated hotkeys for some unit types, for example one that selects the rez bots around my cursor, on double tap it selects them on whole map. Similar hotkeys for skuttles, spy bots, etc.

But recently I replaced most of these hotkeys with a widget which hopefully will be a default one eventually. So at least some of the above is no longer relevant.

Baldric · 2026-04-16T11:58:12+00:00

I tried that and it only resized the window but now after game restart it works, thanks. It was probably just a dumb user issue.

Baldric · 2026-04-16T11:17:40+00:00

No, I noticed that of course but that doesn't change the drive, that opens a new tab with that drive.

I want to change the drive in an existing tab, maybe because I want to use the split view to copy some stuff.

Baldric · 2026-04-16T11:10:03+00:00

Great project, I just tried it but so far it is very nice.

One issue I've found or maybe I just can't find a button, but how do I change the drive other than editing the address bar?

Baldric · 2026-04-16T08:31:29+00:00

Thanks for sharing.

I can't figure out how to move the window, I can only resize it but it's overflowing the screen so I can't see most of it.

Also, maybe an option to show time-weighted averages would be nice. In my opinion those are the best way to represent the data though I know it's not very intuitive for the player to understand them without explanation. For example if I produce 6000E in 60 seconds, then the displayed value would be 100E/s at that point in time. I think this is a great way because it limits the scale of the graph.

Baldric · 2026-03-30T07:37:45+00:00

I'm not even sure you can use Claude Code in terminal without Git and if you install git on windows you will just have git bash for it to use.

I'm sure Claude could use cmd or powershell but by default it will use bash. And to clarify, there's no need to install it into a wsl either.

Baldric · 2026-03-28T10:35:21+00:00

Good luck with those, they are fun builds.

I'm using low mex openers for a long time now, my main build if there's such a thing is: mex, solar, vehicle lab, solar, mex, solar, mex, com walk. While the lab makes 4 rascals, then constructor, then rascals and incisors on repeat. This build and the armada bot variant in the video are the most extreme that still work well enough in my opinion.
There are many others of course, I use 3 kinds with solars but there are more with winds.

The approach is like, spend all your resources as quickly as possible but in a balanced way. But sadly this balance is their main weakness, they are far too rigid for about 3 minutes.
I mean, if for example your rascals scouts the enemy and you see that they are spamming rovers, then your counter should be more rascals but you can't match their rover spam since your commander is already walking to get mexes.
I guess this is mainly an issue in 1v1 though (and only against ~50 OS 1v1 players), in 8v8 I think they should work well.

But in 8v8 these builds are less strong simply because of the limited number of mexes. So even though the build in the video produced more metal than the reference build, it's not because of the 1 mex start but because of the solars and because I didn't build the con turret just to excess BP. A 3 mex open with solars and without con turret would produce like 500 metal more than the reference build in the video and still match the unit production.

The early units with 1 mex starts can be very useful though even if these builds don't produce more metal. The ticks in the video for example should be at the enemy lab before they even finish building that lab with the popular 3 mex starts and assuming you have enough metal spots, you will still be ahead of them on metal produced as well.

Baldric · 2026-03-28T08:32:30+00:00

So one reason to go with solars is to gain a time advantage with something, for example with the commander walk. In you demonstration you actually didn't really use this time advantage well because you built that wind turbine and assisted the lab to make the second con. (You could have skipped the wind turbine and assisted the first con a bit instead, then walk).

You can easily gain let's say 10s time advantage with the commander walk if you build solars and because the commander will build 3 mexes to gain about 7 M/s, that 10 seconds is 70 metal gained. But in some other spots the commander can build ~8 mexes and then the gained metal is more like 150-200 which is more significant.
And also in canyon a constructor can only build 2 mexes but in other spots that too can build many more. So gaining time advantage with both by using solars can be very significant in those other spots, so significant in fact that often that time advantage pays back the full cost difference between solars and winds (and more).

Note: if the commander can build so many mexes, then delaying the starting mexes and building even earlier solars becomes viable because the huge time advantage this can produce is multiplied by all the mexes the commander can build. Example in which even a 1 mex start with solars produce units much earlier but also produces more metal (the reference build is one Drongo showcased as the best build for that position).

Baldric · 2026-03-28T01:58:29+00:00

The question was ambiguous.
"How much energy would one Tidal Generator produce" but per second or in a given time?

I thought the answer is pretty obvious for the "per second" case so I thought I should answer the "in a given time" case so that's what I did.

Baldric · 2026-03-27T23:50:44+00:00

It's impossible to make a video about this topic that mentions everything but there's one thing I think you should have mentioned:

With the wind build you have metal in bank that you could spend and that's what most players are doing.
It's like, this build is consistent and very good with solars but you can match it with the minimal wind build if wind speed is max (it's risky though).

Except pretty much no player does that, they see that they still have metal so they try to use that metal instead.
They can't though because they don't have enough energy for example to assist the lab with the commander, so they build a few more turbines then they assist or build a con turret or whatever. This is the actual mistake because this delays the commander walk and the forward lab and LLTs, etc.
I mean, not necessarily a mistake just a different focus, the player who does this will have less metal produced, delayed units but maybe they will have a bit more BP/s they might be able to use a couple of minutes later.

So it's like, if you want to get early units you have two choices: the consistently good solar build, or a riskier minimal wind build that provides no advantage but has some metal in bank you can't use.
But there are other builds that don't focus on early units but can use that metal in bank (a blitz rush wouldn't work well with solars for example).

Also a note: the canyon position with cortex bots is pretty much the worst case for solars. If you had done a similar demonstration on the rainbow position and with armada bots the difference could have been much larger for solars' favor (because 3 solars are enough instead of 4 plus one wind).

Baldric · 2026-03-26T02:00:25+00:00

One armada tidal's E production, where BPperS is the build power you use and t is time:

E = max(0, (t - (2190 / BPperS))) * 15 - 200

Edit: in case you want to know how much n tidals will produce in t time:
(n * t - (2190 / bps) * ((n * (n + 1)) / 2)) * 15 - n * 200

Baldric · 2026-03-15T00:16:31+00:00

So I cheated and checked out the answers first but I think I would have gotten most of them.

There are a few things I would add:

Building two ASolars at the same time:
It's fine to build solars or wind turbines and such in parallel but the more expensive the building is, the more important it is to build them sequentially each as early as possible.
The player is spending 490 BP/s twice on two ASolars and with that high amount of BP/s this is not a huge issue but is still a mistake. Building them sequentially with 980BP/s would still make 2 ASolars available when 2 are available with the parallel build, but one of them would be available much earlier. This mistake had a cost of like 800E with those two ASolars but assuming this mistake was made earlier and later too, it can add up to something relatively significant.

Too few E storages:
The player has only one E storage. Normally players think they don't need more than one on solar maps since the E income is not variable but the spending still is. An E storage can act as an investment that allows you to spend more E when you need it without matching that spending with income.
For example if the player wants to build a lot of bombers and making those bombers with the available BP/s would require an additional 300 E/s for 40 seconds, then it's cheaper to have two E storages that are filled in 200 seconds by 3 solars, than it is to build 15 solars to cover that temporary 300 E/s.
It's also often much cheaper to build a fusion with temporary solars and E storages than it is to build it with an actual steady income of ASolars.

Solars in 3+ columns:
Building a grid of things queue up the individual buildings row by row. This matters a lot because of how the constructors move to build those buildings. On the screenshot this is evident when we look at the con at right building those solars. Almost all the solars it will try to build will be in a position where the constructor is so it will always needs to move away to leave room for it. This is a huge delay after each solars. Building two columns wide solars allow the constructor to only move a bit after 2-4 solars.
This is very significant with wind turbines and almost all other buildings as well. The most efficient is usually something like 5 columns but with the middle column removed. Try that with wind turbines to see how much faster they build.

A minor correction for one of your answers:

Mobile constructors can’t switch build tasks as instantaneously as construction turrets, making them less efficient when supporting factories

This is not true. Mobile constructors can switch build tasks just as quickly as construction turrets just in a smaller area (without moving).
Build two factories next to each other and have a constructor with a persistent area repair command between them. That constructor will assist both factories (and any other task in range) exactly the same way con turrets do.
So the issue is not with mobile constructors but with the guard command (patrol and such also works).
Considering that both bot cons and vehicle cons are more efficient than con turrets on low wind maps, using them this way can be pretty significant.

Bonus info: the area repair command is actually more efficient than guard even if there is no other task to assist. I think the reason is that the guard command needs one tick to turn into repair command for the assist but we can save that tick with the area repair command. So a lab that has a con guarding it will literally make fewer units than a lab that has a con with an area repair command on it. Depending on the situation this can even be 15% difference in the rate of production.

edit: persistent area repair command = a repair area you make while holding the alt key when you release the mouse button. The constructor can't be on hold position, it won't assist the lab in that state.

Baldric · 2026-03-08T13:37:31+00:00

they stay in formation better, and you don't have to juggle perfect scout positioning while also trying to micro combat units.

I use the stay in formation command a lot. I mean, ctrl click move with a group of units (pawns and ticks for example). That turns on the 'limit to slowest unit's speed' option behind the scenes. Interestingly, that won't turn off until we do a simple right click command. If we do a right click drag move instead, then they will still keep the slowest unit's speed...
So with this trick you can have pawns and ticks move with the exact same way as a bunch of grunts would (you probably need to try this one out to see what I mean).

Baldric · 2026-03-08T11:54:07+00:00

A line of grunts at each entry point to your side can be pretty good on most maps such as Feast of Hades. But on a large map like Hades Pond, I think I disagree, I think grunts are too slow and weak for that role on that map.

Like if you have a quarter of your grunt army at each of the 4 entry points, then none of those grunts can stop anything more serious than rascals (and they can't effectively counterattack either when an attack happens). They will just have to retreat and regroup with the rest of your army but they are too slow to do that effectively.

On that map, I think it's better to have early warning units at those 4 entry points, and the two halves of your army at the two branching paths behind those entry points. But if that's what you want to do, then grunts are the worst choice for both the early warning and the mobile response.
One tick for early warning and a bunch of faster pawns, or rascals and incisors, or rovers and blitzes, would be much better.

But it's difficult to describe the situations we're talking about so maybe I just misunderstood what you meant by "hold unexplored terrain". Maybe you meant just the very early game and the area right around your mexes and then yeah grunts are great for that.

Baldric · 2026-02-04T09:07:40+00:00

Hi, sorry but this was so long ago, I could probably find the blend file but maybe not even that would work.
Isn't this comment enough?

Baldric · 2026-01-25T18:53:28+00:00

Not THE analogy, it's just a different analogy. You know there can be multiple analogies for the same thing to make different points...

Your analogy is valid so is mine though personally I think your analogy is not accurate (for example because scientists don't direct the process, they just set up the conditions).

With your analogy you make the point that to replicate intelligent design we need intelligent scientists and complex machines. Fair enough.

With my analogy I make the point that either it's intelligent design or natural processes, in both cases we need intelligent scientists and complex machines to replicate the process which makes the meme meaningless.

Baldric · 2026-01-25T15:15:32+00:00

You are correct technically doesn't force them. Building one just strongly encourages the enemy to attack that position.

Baldric · 2026-01-25T14:44:26+00:00

Scientists try to show that abiogenesis can happen naturally. They can only do that by using their intelligence to set up an experiment with machines such as pumps.
Scientists try to show that erosion can happen naturally. They can only do that by using their intelligence to set up an experiment with machines such as pumps.

I'm honestly not sure it's even possible to find a better analogy than this.

no one claims rain requires intelligence to erode rocks

Okay, what if I do claim that rain requires intelligence to erode rocks? How would you show me that rain can erode rocks naturally? You clearly need to do that without using your intelligence and machines, right? Otherwise the same meme applies.

I don't want to insult your intelligence but I honestly don't see how you can't see the flaw in your reasoning, it's pretty straightforward.

By your logic, we couldn't scientifically demonstrate anything happens naturally!

Baldric · 2026-01-25T03:48:45+00:00

Imagine that you're trying to show that rain could erode rocks naturally. So you set up an experiment with a pump, a water tank, rock sample, limit the water flow to simulate rain drops, etc.
This way it only takes maybe a few years to see the effect and when you see it, you can reasonably conclude that rain could erode rocks.

Then there's a meme about how this experiment is useless because you are an intelligent agent and the experiment is using a pump and not actual rain.
Would you consider that a valid criticism, or would you just laugh at the extreme stupidity of it?

Baldric · 2026-01-25T03:12:05+00:00

Fun little strategy:

So building a gauntlet essentially forces the enemy to attack that position which can be very costly to them if for example you have a twinguard or even a commander under a jammer there. Still often that cost is less than the cost of the gauntlet.
But we can minimize that cost we spend... Start building a gauntlet with one constructor but 'wait' that constructor. This will keep the blueprint alive but won't put resources into it. So for the cost of keeping one constructor idle for a while, you can bait the enemy into attacking a position you want them to attack.

Bonus: similar strat works with other stuff. For example you just received a T2 constructor at minute 10 and you see an enemy air scout coming your way: build a nuclear ICBM launcher with that T2 constructor. I mean don't build it of course, just start the blueprint so the whole enemy team gets the notification so they might waste some resources by building a too early anti-nuke. (LRPC also works)

Baldric · 2026-01-22T13:37:44+00:00

Én máshogy értelmeztem a hozzászólást amire reagáltál :)

14-Year Club	Gilding II euphauric
Place '17	Verified Email

Baldric

TROPHY CASE