Rollercoaster
From TribalWar
Rollercoaster is a wide open desert map with rolling hills. The base consists of two exposed Solar Panels which power a Plasma Turret, an ELF Turret, a Medium Sensor, two Inventory Stations, a Vehicle Station, and two Force Fields which protect the inventory stations inside the base. The flag is exposed on all four sides leading to many possible cap routes.
Contents |
Tribes 1 Strategies
Common Tactics
At the start of the map, two of the defense (usually the Light Defense) should place pulse sensors behind the base to help in spotting backcappers. The cappers should take remote inventory stations and deploy them where they are unlikely to be found, allowing them to get loadouts even if the base is down. Because Rollercoaster is a somewhat large map, it is more important to get away with the flag than to grab as much as possible, so the time the cappers spend going to their remote invs will not be wasted. The rest of the offense should suit up in Heavy and focus on taking down the enemy base as quickly as possible.
Keeping The Base
Keeping the base relies on exploiting the inventory stations to their maximum potential. Because the two solar panels are out in the open and very easy to take down, the farmers will be working non-stop to keep the base operational leaving the team with effectively 8 players. The traditional strategy is:
Defense
- 2 Farmers. One farms the far side of the base while the other farms the flag, each keeping their respective solar panels up.
- 1 Heavy on Flag
- 2 Light Defense. Usually both snipers.
While there are only 8 effective players and 3 effective defense, the farmers can keep your base covered in turrets and also serve to distract the enemy offense, taking the load off the flag defense. The HoF should concentrate primarily on getting in the way of enemy cappers; once stopped, a light capper is relatively easy to dispatch. The two snipers stand on the flag roof and take potshots at the enemy offense, using their lasers as backup in case the HoF misses a capper.
Offense
- 3 Heavy Offense. Two HO will be designated to concentrate on the base while the other will clear the flag.
- 2 Cappers. Side and backcap routes are the most popular to run.
The HO should try to keep the enemy base down as much as possible. The stand is not a priority until the cappers are on their way. The cappers should primarily use fast side routes unless the enemy is playing naked as incoming/outgoing backcappers are extremely easy to snipe. Front routes are possible, but can be easy to stop and should not be used except in an emergency.
Clustering
A Rollercoaster cluster is fairly generic, although 2 dedicated cappers will still be used instead of free-for-all grabbing.
Defense
- 2 Stay at Home Light Defense
- 2 Chase Light Defense
4 LD on the stand, but only 2 of them will chase enemy cappers. The other 2 will stay behind to keep the stand clear and to prevent llama grabs. The stay at home LD will also clear the stand if a flag return needs to timed for a potential cap.
Offense
- 4 Light Offense
- 2 Cappers
The LO should concentrate on keeping the base down and clear the flag when the cappers are coming in. The cappers should be suited, although they can go naked if a grab is needed. It can be effective to have both cappers come in from opposite routes at the same time, allowing either capper to grab a missed flag or pick up a dropped flag in the field as their outgoing routes will be eachother's incoming route.
Notable Matches
Sticks vs NuTz, 2000-11-16, OGL
In the opening minutes of the match, sLaM aka PimpStick sets up and executes a flawlessly planned Heavy Cap. Heavy Capping on most maps is usually seen as a show of skill and meant to provoke the opposing team, especially in the upper levels of competition. The route has gone down in history as the sLaM route (similar to the Nat Route), and The Sticks went on to win the map 8-4.
The Doctors vs South Side Stoners, 2000-05-07, OGL
This match was notable in that players from both teams released demos, something usually not done by top teams. What is especially interesting is that both BlueNose (Capper) and BurnYaBad (HoF) released demos, allowing normal players to see a highly skilled capper and the defense that opposed him. BurnYaBad added to the treat with a few extremely nice long range mortar shots on BlueNose.
High Tolerance vs Keeping it Clean, 2001-01-31, OGL
The only recorded match where a single capper, $uper$wank, made all 8 caps on a single map. Doubly impressive is that this feat was done on 8 grabs, resulting in a perfect map.
High Tolerance vs NuTz, 2001-02-28, TWL
The bodyblock that killed Tribes
High Tolerance was up 1-0 in the match after taking Raindance from NuTz 6-5. Both teams played hard on Rollercoaster and the map ended in a 7-7 tie. During overtime, clamsoda made a clean side grab of the NuTz flag and was safely home, but was bodyblocked by his teammate Bionic just inches from capping the flag. In the ensuing chaos, sKILLz took out clamsoda and returned the flag while PC-Cola grabbed and eventually capped, winning the map for NuTz and forcing the tiebreaking map of Obfuscation.
After High Tolerance went on to lose Obfuscation and the match, Cassiopeia aka SarcaStick posted a thread calling NuTz out for cheating resulting in the cover being blown on what most players had already suspected. The resulting furor over NuTz, cheats, and the release of Tribes 2 turned a lot of players off of Tribes 1 which is why Bionic's bodyblock is claimed to have killed Tribes. If he had not blocked clamsoda, High Tolerance would have won the match and SarcaStick's thread would never have been made.
