Welcome back to another episode of Grey Goo Video Analysis! This time, we'll be analysing the gameplay and first person commentary (by Grey Box's Mike McGehee, aka Wayward Chicken) on the latest developer face off between the Human Faction and the Goo Faction (available
here), with the main emphasis placed on the mysterious Goo. With the Goo faction, we will highlight different mechanics and strategies that the Goo can opt for. Of course, we will provide the basic strategic elements in this particular gameplay, so sit back and enjoy the read.
General Gameplay Guides
1. Brush Defense
It is known that the Brush provides good cover for units hidden in it. This allows the hidden units to get the first shots off on incoming attacking forces and this may give players an edge in the battlefield.
A good way to enhance this defense is to position units at the edge of the brush, but still hidden in it. This will cause the incoming attackers to have to try to push their way into the brush. Due to the unit pathing and space occupancy, units do not stack one on top of another in Grey Goo. This also means that enemy units cannot push through enemy units as well (except for the Bastion which we have seen can split enemy forces).
The Human Revolvers are forced to push their way into the brush, but their sight is limited due to the Goo blocking their pathing
2. Terrain Artillery
The terrain which Wayward Chicken ("WC") was playing in had quite a few choke points and brush+hill combinations near the expansions of the starting base. This makes it a good point to utilise artillery to secure these junctions as well as to harass economic locations well from a distance.
The Crescents are raining goo blobs on the Human extractors. This harrasses the harvesters collecting their load, stopping the economy in its tracks.
3. Constant Scouting
As any faction, the starting scout can be hidden at a location after its preliminary scouting to provide further information later on to determine the build and hence the tactic that is possibly employed by the opponent.
In this game WC used his drover to scout the enemy base constantly in the early game. Later on he scouted for the potential expansions and attempted to deny the enemy economy with his Crescent artillery. However he scouted minimally or not at all nearer to the mid-late game. This is a Goo faction vulnerability due to the lack of air units. But it was fine in this scenario as the Goo faction had already locked down the Human encampment with the Goo forces sitting by the peripherals of the expansions and it was safe for WC to expand and do anything else he likes. Also WC denied enemy scouting by reacting quickly to enemy air scouts. This was possibly as WC had scouted the air tech very early in the game.
The Goo faction has gained almost full control of the map by restricting the Human faction to its main headquarters.
Goo Gameplay Guides
1. Fast Scouting
The Goo faction have access to the Drover (Anti-infantry equivalent to the Human Trident) which is significantly faster than the Human Trident. This enables the Goo scout to outrun and escape from enemy scouts which have greater armour.
The Trident attempted to retrace its steps to hunt down the Drover. But the latter is too fast for that.
Having the Drover means as a Goo player you can adapt and respond to enemy tactics faster and avoid enemy scouts by choosing a more appropriate path of travel. In the commentary, the WC moved his Mother Goo away the moment he saw that the Trident scout was heading to his spawn location.
2. Mobile Economy
The Mother Goo can digest the resources on the move. Unlike extractors, they don't not need to stay over the spigots to gain additional size potentials. Sufficient resources are extracted by the Mother Goo when it touches the spigot and these resources are slowly digested and assimilated to promote the growth of the Mother Goo thereafter.
The darker blue segment of the arc shows the reserves yet to be assimilated.
The Mother Goo will assimilate this segment even while not positioned above the spigot.
This keeps the Goo base on the move, making it an unpredictable faction to determine their whereabouts and their tactics (Economical or Aggressive). Use this to your psychological advantage to keep the enemy on tenterhooks and force him to be overly defensive or overly laid back.
3. Dynamic Force
The Goo units may be weak compared to the damage output of the human faction. However this can be overcome by having a good array of unit composition from light units such as striders to damage dealing units such as destructors, while having a good ratio of attacking units to Bastions which serve as the shield for the Goo offensive. This, in combination with a few support-units like the radiant and tempest will make the Goo force an all-rounded one which can respond to heavy threats while recovering over time for the next engagement.
Combining Artillery, Seige and Damage-Tankers, the Goo is a force to be reckoned with
4. Consumption Recuperation
The Mother Goo is able to recuperate its hitpoints and regenerate its size if it was damaged during the consumption. The regeneration of its hitpoints occurs slowly over time. This mechanism works just like the reclaim of metal from Supreme Commander. It combines with the Goo Economic mechanism in which the resources reclaimed are to be digested and assimilated over time.
Left: Shows the Mother Goo moving in for the kill. Taking some damage as a result.
Right: Shows the Mother Goo leaving the premises. The darker blue arc length in the UI increases.
5. Continued Corrosion
Any Goo Proteans and the Purger can corrode/consume enemy units/structures and hence deal damage over time. This occurs when the animation for 'consumption' becomes visible - A layer of goo coating surrounds the unit/structure. Once such affected units or structures are destroyed, they turn into goo material and add to the resources of the goo protean, potentially increasing their hitpoints (But it does not go beyond the maximum presumably.). This has been observed for the Mother Goo, but it is not certain if it applies to other Proteans as well.
The Human structures (Teleporter shown) are covered in blu-ish goo which slowly eats the structures for a limited duration.
