Revelations of the Soul: Captain Harloch

Interviewee: Captain Harloch
Interviewer: Himself :)
Date: 5th December, 1999 (mid-Beta test)
Reason/Significance: Pathetic pissridden player who doesn't deserve to be listed amongst these great players. But you'll read it anyone, won't you >:)

NAME:

Captain Harloch,ZetaLeader

DATE FIRST PLAYED INFANTRY:

30th June, 1999 (Late Alpha test)

COUNTRY OF RESIDENCE:

Australia

REAL NAME (optional):

Jack English

EMAIL:

[email protected]

ICQ UIN:

9596326

EGN UIN:

got one, but i don't even have one contact on it :)

SQUADNAME (if applicable):

I lead ZetaSquadron

WHERE YOU GOT YOUR NAME FROM:

Captain Harlock is an anime character from a tv series and a series of movies. I added the "h" at the end because 1) it sounded cooler, and 2)it made me unique on the net (there's 1000's of Harlock's running around the place. Ph33r).

WHAT RESOLUTION DO YOU PLAY AT:

To be perfectly honest, i play at 640x480. I know what you're thinking huh, but i still manage to whoop unholy ass, mark my words.

WHAT TYPE OF CONNECTION DO YOU HAVE:

56k (from australia that equates to the 2400 baud modems of 1985)

WHAT PROGRAMS (IF ANY) DO YOU CLOSE WHEN YOU PLAY INFANTRY:

Nothing, which is really stupid. Generally i close any browsers etc and leave only ICQ open on N/A.

WHAT ZONES DO YOU SPEND >75% OF YOUR TIME:

CTF zones

FAV CHARACTER TYPES (list from 3 - 6 characters):

Infantry
Jump Trooper
Commando

FOR EACH FAV CHARACTER TYPE, NAME YOUR ULTIMATE WEAPONS SETUP, TAKING INTO ACCOUNT DAMAGE, RELOAD, RECOIL, TERRAIN RESTRICTIONS AND ENCUMBERENCE. AFTER EACH, NAME THE REASONS WHY YOU THINK THESE SETUPS ARE BEST:

Infantry:
Suit Supercharger
Assault rifle
Frag Grenades
Flightpack
Repulsor Grenades
Gauss Rifle

Often i use an assault rifle only. It makes for faster reload and keeps the weight down (i like manoeuvrability). Frags are imperative as im' offensive in nature. Repulsors are optional and rarely used. Flightpacks aren't used often but do help. I think guass rifles own in Callisto, mostly because of the damage it delivers and the EXTREMELY long range of the weapon. With a flightpack, i usually move up to attack an enemy, grab his attention then pretend to flee in fear, meanwhile letting loose with the guass rifle. Its hard not to kill someone with this tactic, and the fact that you're moving backwards means that you have more time and control over how much you get shot up ;)

Commando:
Improved Cloak
Suit Supercharger
Plasma Rifle
EMP Grenades
Repulsor Grenades
Pulsars (on occaision)

Good offensive setup. Jump Trooper:
Suit Supercharger
DeathBoard
3 Light PowerCells/death
Assault Rifle
Frag Grenade
Bullet Mines

Assault rifle has high reload and long distance. Very effective if on a deathboard. Often when you get too close to an enemy it becomes difficult to connect using a rifle, and that's where the deathboard slash comes into play.

FOR EACH FAV CHARACTER TYPE, GIVE WHAT YOU CONSIDER THE 3 BEST TACTICS THOSE CHARACTERS CAN USE:

Infantry:
Flightpack + guass rifle + moving away manoeuvre mentioned above.
Approach nme in flightpack. Drop portal, draw enemy defenders out (as if you're getting shot up and are close to death), portal back in behind these defenders (preferably out of view) and call for support.

Commando:
Enemies can't see an improved cloaker behind them. Go up behind them and let loose with a few quick rounds of a plasma rifle. That should give you enough advantage to finish him off.
Portal trick as mentioned above for infantry is even better for cloakers for obvious reasons.
Commando + Hvy Weapons teammate is a good combo. Bring in an mortar hvy wps dude into enemy, and they'll concentrate all their forces on stopping him and his destruction of their defensive turrets. While that's happening, often you can manage to squeeze past unnoticed and grab some flags.

Jump Trooper:
Assault rifle and the speed of a deathboard is unstoppable. It also allows you to stack up in weight as the deathboard is so bloody fast :)
Assault rifle + jump pack combo is quite good when entering nmebase when its highly defended. The jumppack offers better turning circles than most other packs, and the assault rifle's quick reload time and sporadic bursts offer a good "spray" of fire that you can find randomly into a crowd of red dots.
Jumppacks are recommended for entering Nmebase after portalling outside, letting loose with some frag grenades, taking out turrets and portalling out. Not many people think of anti'ing at homebase these days - take advantage of it.

NAME ANYTHING DIFFERENT ABOUT YOUR KEYBOARD CONFIG THAT BETTER YOUR GAMEPLAY:

-

HOW IMPORTANT TO YOUR GAMEPLAY IS STRAFING:

I've tried to use it, but i still can't find any adequate use for it. I think if Harmless want to include this in the post-retail release, they'll have to make it less clumsy and more advantageous. It's too slow and cumbersome at the moment.

HOW IMPORTANT TO YOUR GAMEPLAY ARE GRENADES (Rep/Frag/Emp):

Vital...for obvious reasons. An underrated use of Repulsor Grenades are for defense when a cloaker who has got flags from nme is trying to run out of antiwarp range to attach safely home.

HOW IMPORTANT TO YOUR GAMEPLAY ARE PORTALS:

They are potentially the most devious tools in the game. They were taken out for good reason - in the hands of some people, they're a skillful tool. In the hands of others they're a gutless tactic.

WHAT DO YOU AIM TO GET BY PLAYING INFANTRY (best rec/high bty/points/fun/best squad/combination):

I can clock up nice bounties, i know that. I don't feel the need to maintain a high w/l as most of the time i can better serve my team in death than i can in life at times. As a result, i place teamwork and fun as #1 and #2 priorities.

WHO IN YOUR OPINION IS THE BEST MEDIC IN CTF:

Tansc

WHO IN YOUR OPINION IS THE BEST INFANTRY IN CTF:

Live2kill or airinfantry

WHO IN YOUR OPINION IS THE BEST JUMP TROOPER IN CTF:

Timeaus or pet virus

WHO IN YOUR OPINION IS THE BEST HEAVY WEAPONS DUDE IN CTF:

Chapel

WHO IN YOUR OPINION IS THE BEST COMMANDO IN CTF:

KOSH, Python or Live2kill

WHO IN YOUR OPINION IS THE BEST ENGINEER IN CTF:

AKenCoFish, Unit92, airengineer

WHO IN YOUR OPINION IS THE BEST OVERALL PLAYER IN THE GAME CURRENTLY:

Tough question. I'll give a list of people i respect as players:
airinfantry (airengineer etc etc)

WHAT QUALITIES MAKE THIS PERSON SHINE ABOVE THE REST:

I think he puts teamwork above all else. He plays every type of character like a champion and has the best weapon setups i've come across in the game. He's the kind of guy who feeds base anchors ammo, gives constant updates of home integrity, and organises defense, which is the key to winning games imo. The qualities define the best of the best.

WHO IN YOUR OPINION IS THE FUNNIEST PERSON IN INFANTRY:

RAM1024. "This is some totally fucked up shit here man". The guy has me in tears. Scrum's singing it pretty funny too.

WHO IN YOUR OPINION IS THE MOST ANNOYING PERSON IN INFANTRY:

Terry whines like a castrated bullock.

WHAT POTENTIAL FUTURE INCLUSIONS IN THE GAME ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO:

Real Time Strategy, like the rest of the world. The biggest inclusion i'm looking forward to is the commander class. That's MY class i love organising people and putting the pieces where they need to be put. Air strikes, getting soldiers to paint targets then have the commander fire some form of maingun down on an area that you can specify on a GPS Satelite map or something - that will absolutely kick nut.

ON A SCALE OF 1 TO 100, RATE INFANTRY IN ITS CURRENT FORM:

I'd give it around a 68. Well on its way to becoming a classic :)

DOES ROD HUMBLE TITILATE YOU:

Nope but Jeff does. He makes me all warm and fuzzy.

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