In-game mechanics | Hints Grey Goo Guide

Last update: 11 May 2016

Forget the building units. Grey Goo uses the mechanics known from, e.g. the Red Alert series. This means that you are going to build everything from the level of the GUI. Also, you are not going to manage resource-gathering units. Your job is only to point to the building location and wait for the job to be finished. The same goes for repairs and selling buildings. Both of the orders can be issued with the buttons in the bottom panel, instead of with the building units. This is important, because it makes useless some of the tactics, used in the other strategy games, which consist in attacking builders and production centers.

Forget about harvesters. While playing as either Beta or Human, provide the vehicles due for the mines with protection. Apart from that, you do not need to supervise them, because they work automatically. The Refinery provides as many vehicles as necessary, for the proper functioning of the mine. If one is destroyed, a new one will be built for free. For this reason, in the long run, more than destroying the harvesters, it is more profitable to destroy the mine.

Use hotkeys. Learn controlling the bottom panel with the keyboard. Put units in groups, thanks to which it will be easier to control them in the battlefield. Group factories to have more control over their production. Use hotkeys to develop your HQ quickly and to create the units that you require. Thanks to this, you will be able to react to the situation, in the battlefield, more efficiently and build structures faster.

Use the options of the interface. The game menu provides you with access to two options. Thanks to idle refinery on the left-hand side, you will select the first inactive refinery. Thanks to this, you will be able to build a new mine, without the necessity to search for the inactive refineries in your own. This option is especially useful, if you have more than four refineries. In the case of Goo, this allows you to select Mother Goo outside of resource deposits. The Toggle resource display option tells you where there are resource deposits on the map. It is important because, thanks to this, you can assess where your enemy is, or which direction of development they have adopted. To win, you require resources.

Swap technologies. By right-clicking on in the upgrades menu, you can cancel out the technology you have. Thanks to this, you can work out a new one. Use this option if the previous upgrade ceases to be useful.