This topic is for discussion of map #14: MD 1: The Test (http://knucklecracker.com/creeperworld2/viewmaps.php?mapid=14)
(http://knucklecracker.com/creeperworld2/thumb.php?id=14) (http://knucklecracker.com/creeperworld2/viewmaps.php?mapid=14)
Author: Fisherck (http://knucklecracker.com/creeperworld2/viewmaps.php?author=Fisherck)
Desc:
Did you ever wonder what happened to the other commanders during the ingame story? In this series you follow one of those commanders, who aids in saving the NHA as much as Dax Joven, if not more. And what better place to begin, than the test that started it all...
There's a very easy way to beat this map with little difficulty.
Spoiler
If you dig a path for the LS, you can move into the underground chamber and place it where the fields create a space big enough for the LS. There you can build your forces, take out the emitters one by one, and then destroy the remaining Creeper.
Quote from: Nemoricus on August 18, 2011, 04:49:11 AM
There's a very easy way to beat this map with little difficulty.
Spoiler
If you dig a path for the LS, you can move into the underground chamber and place it where the fields create a space big enough for the LS. There you can build your forces, take out the emitters one by one, and then destroy the remaining Creeper.
I think that's on purpose, knowing Fish and his other maps, he likes digging the ship underground.
And once he said he'd make a map in which you could easily nullify them emitters from below.
Btw: Where did you get those custom characters from?
Yep, that is completely intentional. 8) I take full advantage of everything possible, including in my own maps. It is the first map to the series, so I left a "backdoor" for players ;). But if you look closely at the fields, you will notice that all along the edge (inside the terrain) is a single layer of fields pointing away from the cave. If your careless, that could cost you. :)
So, a few things about this map and the series. First off, I am not giving away the name of the series quite yet, because that would give away part of the storyline. ::) This map follows a commander parallel to the ingame story. In fact, this starts a little bit earlier than the ingame story. And I also felt that Virgil left a couple cliff hangers and alluded to a few things. I intend to take full advantage of these and probably delve a bit deeper, explaining what I think happened in the background. The rest of the story you will have to find out. ;)
This screenshot is 5 seconds in. Hopefully you have done something by now. ;)
And no reason to go into gameplay, as that has already been discussed. :D
(http://i52.tinypic.com/wvpqmt.png)
I am confused to the timeline here. Does this occur before the first mission (campaign wise), at the same time as a mission, or after the end.
I assume after the end, Because we have repulsor tech (which was not invented by us) and Dr. Aliana Abraxis is not currently a captive, so it has to be either before that occurs, or after the end of the campaign. Also, knowing about the Styglek manipulating them, So I assume after the last mission?
Quote from: Ranakastrasz on August 18, 2011, 05:42:30 PM
I am confused to the timeline here. Does this occur before the first mission (campaign wise), at the same time as a mission, or after the end.
I assume after the end, Because we have repulsor tech (which was not invented by us) and Dr. Aliana Abraxis is not currently a captive, so it has to be either before that occurs, or after the end of the campaign. Also, knowing about the Styglek manipulating them, So I assume after the last mission?
This is before the first mission. But only just.
Dr. Aliana Abraxis never shows up in this map, so I am confused as to why Ohh, now I understand. I guess I did not make this clear enough. ;D The very beginning dialogue is after all this has happened. It is past the ingame storyline and the storyline of my series. At the end of mission 20 (ingame), it thanks you for participating in the historical holovid series, then says that there are more. In my series, the part that says [Present] is when they activate one of the historical holovid series, and make it available to the public (who are previously unaware to this). The holovid series is what you are following. Is that clearer?
Quote from: Sqaz on August 18, 2011, 06:51:01 AM
Btw: Where did you get those custom characters from?
Sorry, forgot to answer that. :)
I found them by looking for a very long time. It was a while before I was happy. Unfortunately I am no artist, even with 24/24 pixels. :D
Quote from: Fisherck on August 18, 2011, 05:58:24 PM
This is before the first mission. But only just. Dr. Aliana Abraxis never shows up in this map, so I am confused as to why Ohh, now I understand. I guess I did not make this clear enough. ;D The very beginning dialogue is after all this has happened. It is past the ingame storyline and the storyline of my series. At the end of mission 20 (ingame), it thanks you for participating in the historical holovid series, then says that there are more. In my series, the part that says [Present] is when they activate one of the historical holovid series, and make it available to the public (who are previously unaware to this). The holovid series is what you are following. Is that clearer?
That makes it much clearer, So it is another holovid, following another commander, and it occurs after mission 20, but before *present*.
Thanks!
Quote from: Ranakastrasz on August 18, 2011, 06:12:48 PM
Quote from: Fisherck on August 18, 2011, 05:58:24 PM
This is before the first mission. But only just. Dr. Aliana Abraxis never shows up in this map, so I am confused as to why Ohh, now I understand. I guess I did not make this clear enough. ;D The very beginning dialogue is after all this has happened. It is past the ingame storyline and the storyline of my series. At the end of mission 20 (ingame), it thanks you for participating in the historical holovid series, then says that there are more. In my series, the part that says [Present] is when they activate one of the historical holovid series, and make it available to the public (who are previously unaware to this). The holovid series is what you are following. Is that clearer?
That makes it much clearer, So it is another holovid, following another commander, and it occurs after mission 20, but before *present*.
Thanks!
Not quite. :) It occurs before *present*, but it is not after mission 20. Mission 1 in my storyline occurs before mission 1 ingame (barely), and mission 5 in my series will occur the same time as mission 6 ingame. *Hint *hint. :)
Also, about the repulser tech. I am reluctant to remove more units than I have to becuase that limits game play. The ingame story adds on units so people can learn how to use them. Hopefully, by now, people know how to use them all. ;) So, this is not 100% accurate. :P
My most downloaded CW1 map, Earth at Night (my first map), has 351 downloads. My most downloaded CW2 map, MD 1: The Test (also, fittingly my first map) now has 352 downloads. :)
In about 6 days, this map has gotten more downloads than my other map that has had 18 months. That is the power of Virgil. ;) Thank you everyone who downloaded this map, and inevitably, the many others who have yet to do so. 8)
Thank you for making it :)
I actually enjoy playing missions with a kind of story, so your series are very appealing. Played through first one only for now, but already have downloaded 2nd and 3rd and looking forward for development of the storyline!
Enjoyable map; gradually when I advance chronologically, I will encounter the rest of the series :)
Minor things (typo):
18/20: interferince
...well, that was all. 8)
Quote from: Lord_Farin on August 25, 2011, 11:16:16 AM
Enjoyable map; gradually when I advance chronologically, I will encounter the rest of the series :)
Minor things (typo):
18/20: interferince
...well, that was all. 8)
Darn. I go through all the dialogue so many times, that by the time I actually play for time I am so sick of it that I can't even read it. :)
Nice map again Fish! :)
Looking at your time I'm not sure if the opening text is a bit misleading about what to do first.... ;)
Not misleading just.. incomplete (at least the way I did it). I might play through this again sometime, I made lots of small mistakes.
Quote from: UpperKEES on October 08, 2011, 11:13:16 PM
Nice map again Fish! :)
Looking at your time I'm not sure if the opening text is a bit misleading about what to do first.... ;)
Quote from: Kithros on October 08, 2011, 11:42:44 PM
Not misleading just.. incomplete (at least the way I did it). I might play through this again sometime, I made lots of small mistakes.
I actually did exactly what the opening said. :) For those who understand the gamplay better, I (purposefully ;)) left a "back door". But that comes after what I said in the beginning. I can't think of another way to start the map "economically" without putting shields to block the cavern...
Sorry, I figured you used the same approach that I tried:
Spoiler
Fly the LS to the bottom of the map right at the start and park it under the green gem. ;) Haven't tried to optimize this approach though; I never built any shields, so I had to spend quite some time cleaning up. The nice thing is that you are never in danger.
I still cannot find any way to survive with a shield, without backdooring. How do you do it?
To start with, don't bother with using repulsors to defend the front - using repulsors in the opposite direction of a directional field is horribly inefficient (to be clear, I'm not saying repulsors are useless on this map - it's ok to use repulsors perpendicular to the fields, just not in the same/opposite direction)
Ideally if you don't fly under you should try to dig down and nullify the emitters quickly to stop the creeper from piling up under the shields - while it's entirely possible to hold the creeper off, it is far better for your time if you can rush to the emitters before you run out of room for shields. If you have to hold the creeper off, be sure to build 4-5 launchers or so to kill off the creeper before using any blasters, blasters against high densities are a bad idea. Once the densities have died down a bit you might want to disable 1 or 2 of the launchers and use some blasters - as long as you've built reactors everywhere you can you should be fine defending yourself at that point.
I restarted this one a fair few times before i clicked on about moving the ship :-\
It was fun though!