Knuckle Cracker

Creeper World => Custom Map Discussion => Custom Map Comments => Topic started by: AutoPost on June 11, 2010, 08:27:58 PM

Title: Custom Map: Nice Job 17: The Gamer
Post by: AutoPost on June 11, 2010, 08:27:58 PM
This topic is for discussion of map: Nice Job 17: The Gamer (http://knucklecracker.com/creeperworld/mapcomments.php?id=2262)
(http://knucklecracker.com/creeperworld/thumb.php?id=2262) (http://knucklecracker.com/creeperworld/mapcomments.php?id=2262)

Author: UpperKEES (http://knucklecracker.com/creeperworld/viewmaps.php?author=UpperKEES)

Desc:
Ever dreamt of making money by playing games? This is your chance! Don't worry if you're building with a slight deficit for a while; the few shots your blasters can fire should be enough to maintain your position. You might need a few restarts to get it all right. Recognize the map within this map?
Title: Re: Custom Map: Nice Job 17: The Gamer
Post by: UpperKEES on June 11, 2010, 08:42:36 PM
Title:
Nice Job 17: The Gamer
CW:US
(http://www.greenfunder.com/icon_trophy.png)   (An easy version of) this map has been selected for CW:User Space! Are you able to finish the hard edition as well?
Difficulty:
Hard
Creeper type:
Land only
Remarks:
Ever dreamt of making money by playing games? This is your chance! Don't worry if you're building with a slight deficit for a while; the few shots your blasters can fire should be enough to maintain your position. You might need a few restarts to get it all right. Recognize the map within this map?
Description:
Why didn't you think of that before? Gaming is what you like, so why not earn your money playing games all day?

So you paid $10 to subscribe for the OCWC (Open Creeper World Championships).
You can earn $10,000 by winning this tournament.

You went to bed early this time and you feel confident at the moment you take your seat between thousands of other gamers. You even recognize a few familiar faces from the photographs at the KnuckleCracker forums.

"Hey Spiffen! Good luck man!"

Then the CW screen appears and you can't believe your eyes....

"Oh no! Tucana once more!"

Who said making money is easy?
Download page:
Nice Job 17: The Gamer (http://knucklecracker.com/creeperworld/mapcomments.php?id=2262)
Full size screen shot:
(http://knucklecracker.com/forums/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=978.0;attach=750;image)
More maps:
Apply here for another job ;) (http://knucklecracker.com/forums/index.php?topic=978.0)
Title: Re: Custom Map: Nice Job 17: The Gamer
Post by: NNR_Alex on June 11, 2010, 11:23:02 PM
fun man, terrible score, i'll have to try it again later.
Title: Re: Custom Map: Nice Job 17: The Gamer
Post by: UpperKEES on June 11, 2010, 11:42:14 PM
Heheh, I did expect some rather low scores for this one to be honest. When I tried to set my own score to submit for approval of this map, I completed it in about 20:30 minutes, but then I found out the score hadn't submitted correctly, so I had to try again. :( The good thing was that I improved myself by about 1:15. :)

I just noticed that JM also improved his (or her) score and obtained a score almost equal to mine, so I'm sure even faster times are possible.

Spoiler
I think I've overbuilt a bit during my attempt (I went up to 13 energy before I went for the totems :P).
[close]
Title: Re: Custom Map: Nice Job 17: The Gamer
Post by: NNR_Alex on June 12, 2010, 01:24:56 AM
i'd have an easier time now for sure that i figured out a few things.  i went for the artifact first because i thought it might contain some hints or something, nope.  Also found out getting to the reactor tech went a little quicker than i thought it would.
Title: Re: Custom Map: Nice Job 17: The Gamer
Post by: UpperKEES on June 12, 2010, 01:43:03 AM
Spoiler
Yeah, getting that tech is crucial for completing the map, so this had to be possible with only 3-4 units of energy per second (about the maximum you can get by only building collectors on the available space). It's the first thing I do when I've secured my position and collectors.
[close]

Wow, so you were able to get to the artifact without the aid of reactors? This means probably more different solutions are possible than I imagined.... Did you have enough energy to power your blasters? Apparently yes....

Spoiler
Next time you can also have a look in the Map Editor (here (http://knucklecracker.com/creeperworld/mapeditor.php) available for free) to check that artifact. This will save you a lot of time and prevent nasty surprises, unless you prefer to play a map without that knowledge of course. I often use it to check the intensity of emitters and to have a look at upcoming spore waves, so I know what to build and when. It reduces the element of exploring a bit though.
[close]
Title: Re: Custom Map: Nice Job 17: The Gamer
Post by: NNR_Alex on June 12, 2010, 03:18:21 AM
Quote from: UpperKEES on June 12, 2010, 01:43:03 AM
Did you have enough energy to power your blasters? Apparently yes....

lol define 'power your blasters'  i don't know what my energy collection was off the top of my head, i'll discribe things as best as i remember, this'll give some people a few hints if they havn't gathered as much.

i just used collectors to rush the tech, after that and they started to go poof i was in a bit of a bind, i didn't have any weapons built yet and eventually my collectors on the ground got trashed.  i got a mortar up and running and a blaster, the mortar i had to batter power on the frame of the computer to keep the frame from being totally covered in creeper, was able to clear enough away that i could move the blaster so i could relay from the right mouse button to the frame and keep the connection stable, i also built another mortar on the mouse, this way the city would stay save and i could control the creeper on the screen as well.  from there it was slow expantion and a deficit almost the whole time, but as long as my mortars got off a shot every few seconds  the important areas didn't flood over, i got a few more blasters built that would do the 'no power shot' you know the one i'm talking about, like 3 shots, pause, another 3 shots, etc, and yeah that's exacally what they were doing when i got the artifact.  turns out a third mortar and a few battery powered fully charged blasters is what got me the reactor.
Title: Re: Custom Map: Nice Job 17: The Gamer
Post by: UpperKEES on June 12, 2010, 09:13:32 AM
Ow, that's really the hard way! I never thought of leaving the desk itself empty and use relays to connect the hardware. Maybe I should give it another go to find out if that saves me precious energy. Well done (regardless of your completion time)!

As you may have noticed in the comments for The Collector (http://knucklecracker.com/forums/index.php?topic=3300), I hardly use mortars at all.

Spoiler
Same for this map; I used blasters only. When I was playing around last night and just trying to stay alive on the mouse, I had only one collector and a mortar (after saving the pod of course). To my surprise this didn't only work fine, but it also showed me that a mortar doesn't use more than 1 unit of energy per second, while I always had the impression that it used at least 2. :o Probably I often watched my depletion levels during the initial charge, which costs a lot of energy. Nice to find out after 5-6 months of playing CW.... :P I guess I should reconsider using them more often.
[close]

Spoiler
By the way: in my final attempt I got the reactor tech after about 6:15 minutes of gameplay. From that moment I've been building reactors one by one with a deficit (between 20 and 40 most of the time) for over 5 minutes before all weapons got fully charged!
[close]
Title: Re: Custom Map: Nice Job 17: The Gamer
Post by: SPIFFEN on June 12, 2010, 03:49:49 PM
LOL im getting worse in this game , cant event save the pod  ???
Might need some more fluid first , carusell water  :P

Im honoured that you used my name =)
To bad i payed 10$ , dont think i'll win the tournament  ;)
But it is'nt over yet =)
Title: Re: Custom Map: Nice Job 17: The Gamer
Post by: snowmaker (JM) on June 12, 2010, 06:40:58 PM
You can hold down the right side of the screen with one mortar and a blaster. After the mortar is up, you don't even need the blaster to protect the mouse  ;)
Title: Re: Custom Map: Nice Job 17: The Gamer
Post by: SPIFFEN on June 12, 2010, 06:52:18 PM
Quote from: JM on June 12, 2010, 06:40:58 PM
You can hold down the right side of the screen with one mortar and a blaster. After the mortar is up, you don't even need the blaster to protect the mouse  ;)
Am i the only one that play this map with the POD in it ?
Right now i cant manage to save the POD , so i need some hints to how to do that first =P
Title: Re: Custom Map: Nice Job 17: The Gamer
Post by: UpperKEES on June 12, 2010, 06:53:25 PM
Quote from: UpperKEES on June 11, 2010, 08:42:36 PM
You even recognize a few familiar faces from the photographs at the KnuckleCracker forums.

"Hey Spiffen! Good luck man!"

Quote from: SPIFFEN on June 12, 2010, 03:49:49 PM
Im honoured that you used my name =)

For people who don't understand, see here (http://knucklecracker.com/forums/index.php?topic=2809.0). ;D

Quote from: SPIFFEN on June 12, 2010, 03:49:49 PM
LOL im getting worse in this game , cant event save the pod  ???

Quote from: SPIFFEN on June 12, 2010, 06:52:18 PM
Am i the only one that play this map with the POD in it ?
Right now i cant manage to save the POD , so i need some hints to how to do that first =P

Heheh!  :D

Spoiler
Have you tried just building a string of collectors to it? (Don't build anything else but 1 or 2 more collectors when you have the spare energy.)
[close]

Quote from: SPIFFEN on June 12, 2010, 03:49:49 PM
To bad i payed 10$ , dont think i'll win the tournament  ;)
But it is'nt over yet =)

Neither do I at the moment, as max has beaten my score by almost 2 minutes. Luckily the tournament allows multiple tries, so it's indeed not over yet. :P Time to try some new strategies; love that!

Quote from: JM on June 12, 2010, 06:40:58 PM
You can hold down the right side of the screen with one mortar and a blaster. After the mortar is up, you don't even need the blaster to protect the mouse  ;)

Yeah, I guess I should try to use a mortar as well, although I'm not too worried about OC and the mouse, but more about the network connections....

Welcome to the forums by the way! :)
Title: Re: Custom Map: Nice Job 17: The Gamer
Post by: SPIFFEN on June 12, 2010, 07:01:19 PM
QuoteHeheh! Have you tried just building a string of collectors to it? (Don't build anything else but 1 or 2 more collectors when you have the spare energy.)
LOL that worked , i was sure i needed an blasters to make the pod stay safe =P
Title: Re: Custom Map: Nice Job 17: The Gamer
Post by: UpperKEES on June 12, 2010, 10:06:57 PM
What also worked is my new strategy! 8) I was able to shave 7 minutes off my previous score.... (I played it from a different computer, so unfortunately the number of missions still displays 1.) I made some mistakes, so probably 1 minute faster should be possible.

Normally I'm giving the tips here, but this time I have to thank both Alex and JM for their useful comments. Glad I'm still learning something about this game. :) Also glad that those 10,000 bucks are coming my way again. ;)
Title: Re: Custom Map: Nice Job 17: The Gamer
Post by: Sqaz on June 13, 2010, 06:09:52 AM
Yay, 18min on my first try, I could've topped of a minute if I'd have seen that artifact (I was already thinking the totems didn't work).

I liked this map, very nice and a bit hectic start.
But why can't you move that city, I always like a movable city as that gives me a feeling of freedom.
Title: Re: Custom Map: Nice Job 17: The Gamer
Post by: F0R on June 13, 2010, 06:26:20 AM
Nice job on this map
Title: Re: Custom Map: Nice Job 17: The Gamer
Post by: The smoking revolver on June 13, 2010, 09:00:33 AM
Quote from: F0R on June 13, 2010, 06:26:20 AM
Nice job on this map
Pun intended or not?:D
Title: Re: Custom Map: Nice Job 17: The Gamer
Post by: J on June 13, 2010, 09:02:08 AM
I'm more a game creator than a gamer. :D
Title: Re: Custom Map: Nice Job 17: The Gamer
Post by: UpperKEES on June 13, 2010, 12:43:31 PM
Quote from: Sqaz on June 13, 2010, 06:09:52 AM
Yay, 18min on my first try, I could've topped of a minute if I'd have seen that artifact (I was already thinking the totems didn't work).

I liked this map, very nice and a bit hectic start.
But why can't you move that city, I always like a movable city as that gives me a feeling of freedom.

Ow, that's not bad at all! Glad to see you back here sqaz; I missed you.... :)

You can move the city on almost all of my maps and I guess I could have left it moveable on this one as well, because:
- there's not much to gain on this map, as the only other place available to OC is on the case of the computer and this only shortens the supply route to the reactor tech.
- the mouse is a much safer place (just let the game run for a few minutes after saving the pod), so it's much cheaper to defend.

I wanted the player to play this map via the 2 mouse buttons however, so the choice is made story wise. ;)

Quote from: F0R on June 13, 2010, 06:26:20 AM
Nice job on this map

Thanks F0R! :)

Quote from: Jstudio on June 13, 2010, 09:02:08 AM
I'm more a game creator than a gamer. :D

Believe me when I say there's no need to choose.... ;D
Title: Re: Custom Map: Nice Job 17: The Gamer
Post by: Vexsin on July 28, 2010, 03:31:16 PM
Whoot! 2nd place!

What's the runner up prize?

BTW, I like how your computer looks like an old Pentium 1 tower with an old fashion IBM keyboard
Title: Re: Custom Map: Nice Job 17: The Gamer
Post by: UpperKEES on July 28, 2010, 03:56:13 PM
Quote from: Vexsin on July 28, 2010, 03:31:16 PM
What's the runner up prize?

I'd say about $5000,- (tax free) ;)

Quote from: Vexsin on July 28, 2010, 03:31:16 PM
BTW, I like how your computer looks like an old Pentium 1 tower with an old fashion IBM keyboard

Heheh! Yeah, I needed to make quite a large tower (who has 3 DVD drives and still a 3,5" floppy drive?), while I didn't have that much space for the keyboard, so I had to leave out some keys, like the numeric keypad.
Title: Re: Custom Map: Nice Job 17: The Gamer
Post by: snowmaker (JM) on December 28, 2010, 08:48:42 PM
I finally understand how you got such a good time... so many months ago. Upgrades really make a difference  ;)
Title: Re: Custom Map: Nice Job 17: The Gamer
Post by: UpperKEES on December 28, 2010, 10:09:28 PM
Yep, they do, but I actually played this map twice (from different computers, so it shows only one mission) and the second time I used a very different strategy. I believe my first time was around 17-18 minutes.