Frequently Asked Questions

Please note that this is the Forged Alliance FAQ, for a FAQ of SupCom in general please click here.




1.1 What is Forged Alliance?
A Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance is a stand alone expansion pack. It's usually abbreviated as "FA".

1.2 Does this mean that I don't need the original game to install/play FA?
A Yes.

1.3 But, what happens if for example Player1 only has FA and Player2 has both SupCom and FA?
A Quoting jables:
• If you have only FA and your opponent has only FA you can both play each other only as Seraphim.
• If you have only FA and your opponent has both FA and SupCom you can play only as Seraphim, and your opponent can play any of the four factions.
• If you both have FA and SupCom, you can both play any of the four factions.
• If you have FA and SupCom, and your opponent has only SupCom, you can play him using only the SupCom units and balance. This will basically run the vanilla SupCom exe, so you will be playing with SupCom balance, units, and UI, and also need to have vanilla SupCom installed.
• If you have only FA and your opponent has only SupCom, you can not play one another.

1.4 How do I create and use Building Templates?
A Select 2 or more existing buildings and click the Add Template button in the bottom part of the GUI. It should look like a window with a +. To use templates, click on an engineer/SCU/ACU and click on the Templates button next to the Experimental Tech button. If you are still confused, then this thread has a few images showing where the buttons are.

1.5 My FPS is terrible in FA compared to SupCom, wasn't it supposed to be more optimized?
A It is, but the new range overlay system causes slowdowns on a lot of computers. If you want them disabled, click on the green arrow in the top-left corner of your GUI and uncheck all boxes.

1.6 What is the latest FA patch?
A Patch 3598 is the latest, GPGnet will automatically download and install the latest patch. If you can't logon to GPGnet for some reason, then use this link: http://thq.vo.llnwd.net/o10/SC/live/sup ... 5.3598.exe

1.7 Did the build order change in FA?
A Yes, the BO (in general) right now is Factory-PG-PG-Mex-Mex.

1.8 Why can't I speed build units anymore even if I have lots of engineers assisting?
A Assisting factories (and quantum gateways) has been nerfed, so unless you have the Kennel (UEF) or Hive (Cybran) engineering station it's best to create multiple factories instead.

1.9 Is there a list of all FA units with their specifications somewhere?
A There is: http://supcomdb.com/db/

1.10 Where can I get a list of all the FA console commands with descriptions?
A There is, go to this thread for the list.

1.11 What are the main differences in FA compared to the original SupCom?
A Here are the main differences:
• A new playable faction.
• New units (and experimetals) for the original 3 factions.
• New multiplayer maps.
• Campaign starting several years after the end of the original campaign.
• Updated graphics.





If you have any questions/answers you would like added or any suggestions feel free to PM me.

"Why does it run so slowly" - popular one.

the latest patch is 98, not 96. The thread title in GD is wrong.
Direct links to download the patch:
http://forums.gaspowered.com/viewtopic.php?t=22758

Put one of the solutions to the slowness: If the range overlays don't fix it, try running the game with /nosound. If that fixes it, update all drivers, but especially sound and very especially motherboard chipset drivers.

Question 3 seems a very complicated way of explaining something simple.

SupCom and FA are two independent games. When playing FA online, having both games registered to the same GPGnet account unlocks playing as Aeon, Cybran and UEF. Otherwise you can only play online as Seraphim. Single player and LAN play are fully functional without the presence of SupCom.

QFT

I'm trying to make it as simple as possible, but it keeps getting more complicated then jables' explanation. >_<

I gave a (imho) pretty good starting point for a faq entry in my previous post... nobody says you can't change the question to match the answer

It doesn't answer some other questions like being able to play with UEF/Aeon/Cybran if the other player(s) don't have the original SupCom.

This is not the truth at T2 or T3, its just slower to produce these units and there is no way around it. Not just that, but the Kennel does not have better buildrate/mass than a T2 factory, but a T3 hive does.

If I own a copy of SupCom and have previously installed it and played online with through GPNet, can I now uninstall it because I no longer play SupCom online?

I probably wont be able to play the single player side of it, which is fine.

Can I still play with all 4 factions on GPNet?

Can I still use all 4 factions when playing single skirmish, etc?

Can I still use all 4 factions when playing Lan games?

Its to save on disk space basically.

Correct, if you don't intent to play against people who only have SupCom then you can uninstall the vanilla install.

I just reformatted my comp, and I want to play FA online and LAN with all 4 factions. I own supcom and FA, is there a way to do it without having to install supcom, install FA, and then deinstall supcom?

Also, I'm still rather short on HD space, so will deleting things like the campaign files and cinematics and that sort of thing mess anything up? I'm guessing GPGNet checks to make sure that everyone's install is the same to avoid hacking, but it'd be nice to know before I try it, mess it up, and then have to reinstall.

Also, the patch seems to error out immediately. Does it need GPGnet installed, I just realised that it's not installed by default anymore? If it does, doesn't it kind of defeat the purpose of having a standalone patch?

I just installed FA on my pc, I was adjusting the sound because it was extremely quiet even with my speakers all the way up, my other games sound fine. When i was gettin the briefing and when i was playin i can't hear any FX sounds or voices just music. how do i fix this cuz it's extremely aggrivating?

"• If you have only FA and your opponent has only FA you can both play each other only as Seraphim."

Lol... wait WTF o_O

makes sense no? cause you need SC for ALL factions...

- How do I "give all" units to allies in FA? Is there a hotkey for it?
- How do I see all the hotkey commands that I can do in FA, in-game? It's different than in Vanilla.
- I disabled the start up movie pretty easily in SupCom. How do I do that in FA?

there may be an easier way to do it but this is how i give all in fa
pull your view out to farthest...shift drag the selection box over all your stuff, deplomacy screen and then give selected units, next give your mass and e too

The 99 patch can be downloaded at the usual place.

I guess in the faq we should describe that you are able to get a patch from the retail to latest or the previous patch to the latest by typing the correct version numbers in the link.

Forget the zoom out & shift-drag part: use ctrl-x.

why is the restorer so quick to build + cheap compared with inferior counterparts?

I know i will probably get blasted with messages calling me a n00b after this but, i have no idea on how to get a MOD i downloaded into the game could someone help me?

Where did you download it from? If from the Vault, it should have put itself in the right place, in which case you need to go into the Mod Manager screen (under options on the skirmish/multiplayer host screen), and then tick the mods you want to use.

If you downloaded it from somewhere else and it's not in the right place, is there a readme file with it?

OK,

I am about to buy FA, it deserves it, and i am going to buy it to 2 more friends, but does this remain as it is? After so long the game has been released?

Do i and my friends have to buy vanilla and FA to play with the 4 factions unlimited?
If so, is there a... "golden pack" that i can get to buy both cheaper?

Thanks, and sorry for the necroing.

yep. there's a gold edition that bundles both vanilla SupCom and FA together.

it is likely the cheapest way to get both games, and it's most certainly the solution with the least hassle.