New Player - Having trouble

[Hatefiend]

So I just did an online game of EE on Save-EE (we did prehistoric to pre-WW2 (whatever that epoch is, not sure if this is a standard format or not)). I was kind of upset because no one was talking in-game. It's like... this is a really small community, can we not talk to eachother and socialize? Maybe they didn't speak english or something but at least type something so I know what they are speaking Zzzz.


Anyways, I have really high actions per minute so I sent my first 5 scattered all into different directions to find my patch of food, made a settlement next to the patch. Bound my main building to a hotkey, then with my remaining villager looked for nearby wildlife to hunt. Any new villager went to hunting.

I figured that wood, iron, and gold are pretty much worthless for the start of the game so I only focused on Food and Stone. Once I had around 20 villagers, I sent 4 to scout for more patches of food. I found two more and sent six villagers to each, building a settlement and tower to guard.

I feel like making a barracks isn't needed until you have Granaries. Any food I spend on Barracks units is less food I'll have to epoch up to get toward Granaries and more workers. The one exception is Archery range which I can make Slingers that cost only wood and gold. Those are super expendable since they aren't too hard to find.

Docks kind of feel really wonky, BUT they are kind of like trading wood (the cost of making the structure, the cost of the fishing boats) for food (food you get from fishing boats). I saw one of my opponents just making insane amounts of Clubmen and I was kind of thinking he's an idiot because he's probably gouging his food supplies by making those. And yet, somehow he's still on par with me.

Somehow I just lost complete control of the game and it went really downhill. Next time I'll record the game on twitch but like... I really just don't understand how I lost. Is there a way to see scoreboard after a game has happened? I alt-f4ed out of the game out of frustration because I needed to log off anyways. I can't find replays in the client either but I read a post saying that replays don't really exist? Is that true?


Thanks for any replies. I play StarCraft 2 competitively at a really high level so maybe there's some core knowledge I'm missing when it comes to EE.

If you can, be really descriptive when it comes to your comments. I really don't understand much jargon so if you say like 6 citizen food 6 citzen gold 3 archery I'm not going to understand at all what you're talking about.

[Arntzen]

Hello and welcome to EE!

If you play SC2 competitively and are looking to play against great EE players for competitive games (fast-paced games) kind of similar to SC2, but of course, mostly similar to AOE, you should try out the setting called liga. A PRE-WW2 game is as far away from competitive as you can get.

Since I'm assuming you're already a good RTS-player, I guess it's not going to take you very long to pick up on liga.
Generally the best way to learn is by playing, and any eC player will be up for liga games any time. We'll also train you if you'd like that, by giving tips etc etc.
Another great way to learn would be by watching a couple videos just to get the feel of how competitive games look like in EE.

For example these:
Liga Best of 3 Kazter vs Shev
viewtopic.php?f=69&t=3933
Liga Best of 3 Kazter vs Nafrayu
viewtopic.php?f=69&t=3931


Anyway, thanks for posting here. My name in lobby is _[eC]_Arntzen_, in case you want practise/play games.

Oh and ye, do not altf4 LOL. Makes the others have to wait for like 30 secounds, which is very annoying. And if you didnt altf4 you'd know that there is statistics after every game you can watch to see citizen time-line, army time-line, economy and more.

[Hatefiend]

Hey man,

No no, trust me I'm not fed up with Empire Earth or anything. I've played it since I was a kid but only recently (after StarCraft 2) have I had a new desire to actually learn how to properly play Empire Earth. Just the other day I was streaming and a user told me about 'Populate' (http://www.twitch.tv/hatefiend/b/669359874?t=15m29s) and that you could have multiple settlements that can spawn in Citzens. All my life I thought you had only one main structure to produce workers LOL In StarCraft 2 expanding to be able to make more workers, more bases, etc is a very core concept so I think I understand that now.


But I actually really want to understand this game and just need some help. I've read some guides around here but the way they are notated is really not user friendly to new players. Like... one core concept I think I figured out about the game is that whoever gets to Granary tech first has a MASSIVE advantage. Like... once you get Granaries running, your food just skyrockets. In fact, does 6 workers on a food patch give less food than say 6 workers on a Granary field (i know the max is ? Assuming you had no % to farming, but let's include the first upgrade you can get at Granaries that costs like 75 food 75 wood.

Like from the original post, can anyone of those questions be answered? I guess there's no match history or replays right? What are some core concepts for playing EE effectively? How can I best use my APM? Are any buildings pointless (ex. houses)? Are docks good, if so, how good? At what point should I hunt and at what point should I stop? Are walls crucial? How do I know whether to make Cavalry, Archers, or Footsoldiers from the Barracks? What are the main game types? 'Middle' for example is probably exactly what it sounds, but which eras specifically? What's the standard number of workers you should start with? What is the standard map, resource count, etc? Is there like a defined number of resources near your base (like i know there's always a food patch). Is getting a scout dog worth it or should I just use a civilian? Etc.

I feel like most of this information should be available somewhere out there since this game is so old but I can't seem to find any that is directed towards new players.


Thanks for the help!

[assys]

take a look at arntzen's signature "a good place to start"
there might be everything you are searching for.

[Black Star]

To answer some of your questions precisely:
-there are no replays, only the statistics
-many people chat in game, but also many dont speak enligsh
-since EE has a lot of starting options ( maptype, mapsize, starting/ending age, citizen amount , population limit etc...) there were always a lot of different game types played, however since the community got smaller and smaller many of them vanished. The common ones being still played are:
Mid SH, Prehistoric to Nano(P2N) SH, Liga, Grenwar. They are all explained in the " A good place to start " topic.
- you either start with 5 or 20 citizens. 5 for settings starting with Deathmatch or Tournament Low ressources, 20 for Standard High ressources (Standard Low and Tournament High are not used in common settings)
-there are 4 types of maps being played regular: Continental for p2n 1v1 and 2v2, Mediterrean for p2n 3v3 4v4, Islands for, well islands games and Plains for every other setting
-Hunting is important in early game for food flow, its value decreases with time ( exception: p2n games were you have to manage your food ressources until you can make farms.
-fishing is only used in p2n games or p2n Islands games, and yes it is very powerful
-houses are one of the key buildings in this game ( again see " a good place to start " -> Understanding Moral), there are no buidlings being completely useless.

I just can agree with assys : " A good place to start" will answer most your questions
Also if you want to get a feeling of how the Gameplay i can highly recommend the Videos section of this Forum, you will understand why people make massive amount of clubman in p2n by simply watching a p2n 1v1.

If you have any specific questions feel free to ask