3P Maps

[ThirdParty]

This topic was for sharing my maps, prior to the release of Colonial Space.



3P Tharsis
featuring hemishields
(released 12/6/2013)


(info)



3P Racquet
the smallest CW3 map in history
(released 11/29/2013)


(info)



3P Nihon
featuring unpleasant surprises
(released 11/28/2013)


(info)



3P Natlan
(released 11/22/2013)


info



3P Khyber
featuring corrupted collectors
(released 11/6/2013)


info



3P Beqaa
featuring corrupted beam towers and no PZs
(released 10/29/2013, updated 11/1/2013)


info



3P Reticle
featuring corrupted beam towers
(released 10/29/2013, updated 11/1/2013)


info



3P Hawai'i
with an endless ocean
(released 10/21/2013)


info

[ThirdParty]

3P Hawai'i (download)

Features:

• Gameplay is mostly standard CW3, but unlike DMD maps there are no redundancies.  Your four main challenges are to establish a base (O'ahu), assault an enemy digitalis nest (Maui), make an optional airlift against a small enemy outpost (Kaua'i), and fight an uphill battle against an enemy air suppression tower (Hawai'i); each is interesting, feels like a real accomplishment, and is different from the others.
• The edges of the map, rather than being void, connect to an endless ocean with constant creeper depth.  This prevents you from draining the map, but protects you from creeper accumulation.
• All enemy structures emit creeper, rather than having separate emitters, so power zones are at a premium.  Also, you get a lot of aether resource packs before you finally get access to a totem, so you'll have to make tough decisions about what upgrades are most important.
• The map is based on fascinating real-world topography and bathymetry, with major landmarks labeled; it puts procedurally-generated maps to shame.  It has also been fine-tuned for maximally-interesting gameplay; channels are just narrow enough to cross easily, peninsulas are just long enough that a mortar at the end will be able to reach a valuable target, and so on.
• No unfair surprises.  There might be occasional waves lapping at the shoreline, but I promise not to destroy your entire base with a tsunami.  It took me 56 minutes game time (15 minutes real time) to win, but I'm a slow and methodical player by nature, so many of you will be able to finish it much more quickly.

[TLMike]

This map looks pretty awesome.

[Cavemaniac]

This map looks pretty awesome.

It is awesome!

Got a game on the go and loving it.

Is it my imagination or have you somehow managed to make the creeper more gelatinous?

It seems to flow slower and you can punch holes in it.

Awesome!

[TLMike]

I think that's a byproduct of his script that keeps the "ocean" full.

[eduran]

Brilliant map, well done.

[ThirdParty]

Is it my imagination or have you somehow managed to make the creeper more gelatinous?

It seems to flow slower and you can punch holes in it.

I think that's a byproduct of his script that keeps the "ocean" full.

Honestly, I'm not sure.  I think it's your imagination, but I can't pretend that I haven't felt it too.  During balancing, I actually increased the creeper flow rate from the usual 0.2 to 0.25; so theoretically it's slightly less viscous than usual.  And contrary to TLMike's theory, it still flows at the same speed if I disable the ocean script.

I think the effect is just an illusion caused by the unusual situation.  Usually we're either fighting on the front lines, where any creeper we destroy is quickly replaced by nearby higher-elevation creeper or a nearby emitter, or else we're cleaning up a stagnant pool, in which case it quickly dries up and the "holes" we punch never close.  But on this map we have what is effectively a three-unit-deep, infinitely-wide stagnant pool.  Each mortar shell punches one heck of a hole, and there's no high-elevation creeper available nearby to close it: the initial deep, narrow hole will evolve into a shallower, broader hole, but can never really stop being a hole since the creeper to refill it would have to come from somewhere.  But since the total creeper in the pool is infinite, it can't dry up, either; after an infinite length of time, the hole would smooth out completely and the pool would be back at its original depth.  So we're left with the feeling that the creeper is flowing slowly.

[teknotiss]

love this map. good work dude, i love the "sea of creeper" effect/script especially (i'll no doubt be shamelessly stealing that one ;)).
now you just have to do a world map  :D
(or perhaps i should, then i have a reason to steal the script, right?)

[ThirdParty]

love this map. good work dude, i love the "sea of creeper" effect/script especially (i'll no doubt be shamelessly stealing that one ;)).
now you just have to do a world map  :D
(or perhaps i should, then i have a reason to steal the script, right?)

Yeah, go for it.

Here's the core of the ocean script, in case anyone wants to use it without reinventing the wheel:

Code Select Expand


# Ocean.crpl
# Created by: ThirdParty
# Created on: 10/15/2013
# ------------------------------------------
$currentTide:4.5

once
CreateList ->edgeListX
CreateList ->edgeListY
do(MapHeight 0)
do(MapWidth 0)
# The edges of the map have been marked with walls.
# Note that the edge list must be built in the final version, it can't be stored in advance.
if(GetWall(i j) neq0)
SetWall(i j 0)
AppendToList(<-edgeListX i) AppendToList(<-edgeListY j)
endif

# All low-lying areas should begin the game flooded.
if(not(GetVoid(i j)))
SetCreeper(i j max(sub(<-currentTide GetTerrain(i j)) 0))
endif
loop
loop
endonce

# Seepage to/from edges.  Note that this needs to be done every frame or we get annoying flickering.
do(GetListCount(<-edgeListX) 0)
GetListElement(<-edgeListX i) ->tX
GetListElement(<-edgeListY i) ->tY
SetCreeper(
<-tX <-tY
add(
mul(GetCreeper(<-tX <-tY) 0.96)
mul(max(sub(<-currentTide GetTerrain(<-tX <-tY)) 0) 0.04)
)
)
loop


[Eketek]

The edges of the map, rather than being void, connect to an endless ocean with constant creeper depth.  This prevents you from draining the map, but protects you from creeper accumulation.

I have conquered the state of Hawaii and drained and sealed away its surrounding ocean of creeper.

[teknotiss]

The edges of the map, rather than being void, connect to an endless ocean with constant creeper depth.  This prevents you from draining the map, but protects you from creeper accumulation.

I have conquered the state of Hawaii and drained and sealed away its surrounding ocean of creeper.

how long did that take? :D

[ThirdParty]

I am pleased to present a new enemy tower, and two new maps using it.  (There's two because I wanted to show a fuller range of possible uses for it, one with it in a minor role as a defense bolster and the other with it in a major role as the primary opponent.)

-----

Corrupted Beam Tower



This unit fills the same ecological niche as an Air Exclusion tower: it's a defensive tower intended to prevent aerial assault.  However, it goes about it in a different way: by shooting at any unit it sees above itself.  This means that any flying unit, even things like cannons and mortars, will have difficulty approaching it (unless they attack in large numbers and are willing to accept losses).  It can also shoot at high-elevation land units, so Terp-based assaults are made more difficult as well.

edit 11/1/2013: I've uploaded new versions of the maps, fixing a bug and making minor some aesthetic tweaks.

-----

3P Beqaa (download)



This map is based loosely on my memories a fun CW1 map I played in Chronom or Evermore at some point, and it has a very CW1 play style.  I've disabled Berthas and Power Zones, so you have to make a conventional ground assault, and aether is very limited, so you'll have to pick and choose your upgrades.  (However, unlike CW1, the enemy has Digitalis/Runner Nests and Corrupted Beam Towers, and you have Anti-Creeper, Terraforming, and Shields.)

This is a slightly more difficult map than 3P Hawai'i was: creeper piles up very quickly in the small space, and the digitalis grows fairly aggressively, so surviving the startup is a bit hectic.  And even after the situation is stabilized, the Corrupted Beam Towers complicate your assault more than Air Exclusion Towers would.  My win time was just over an hour (not counting the first attempt in which my base got destroyed about ten minutes in due to running out of energy at an inconvenient moment).

As usual, I guarantee no unfair surprises.  Enemy towers release a bit of extra creeper when nullified, but not enough to be a serious threat.

-----

3P Reticle



This is a very different map, more space-islandy.  Corrupted Beam Towers are the only enemy, but they're on islands (and one is at the bottom of a crater), which is where they're at their most effective.  On the other hand, you have Power Zones, Berthas, and unlimited aether.  So this is probably the easiest of the three maps I've released so far; there's no serious threat to your position, space is adequate if not plentiful, and so the only challenge is the puzzle of figuring out how to advance onto nearly-unreachable islands with unfamiliar defenses.  My game time was again a litte under an hour, but that included a few moments of sitting back and watching it run while I contemplated my next move.

By the way, unlike the real-world geography of the other two maps, this one is a very artificial and symmetrical-looking map.  However, don't be fooled by appearances; it was designed to encouraged interesting supply routes and to present unexpected asymmetries.

Note: a newer version, made more difficult in order to discourage brute-force assaults, is available in Colonial Space.

[TLMike]

I must say, I admire your effort. I've been waiting for some imaginative enemy towers, and this certainly fits the bill. I was going to gripe that one cannot see the effective range of said towers, but, then, I unpaused time and behold, you have thought of everything. So, well done.

EDIT: Your beams don't play the beam sound when I fly a unit into range. Was this on purpose, did you forget, or do you simply not care?

ALSO: The beams continue to target units (Blasters and Mortars) which have landed. Was that intentional?
My mistake: it's part of the script which targets any unit on the same terrain or higher.

[TLMike]

@ Beqaa's mission text: XDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

[ThirdParty]

Your beams don't play the beam sound when I fly a unit into range. Was this on purpose, did you forget, or do you simply not care?

Oops.  I play with the sound off, and so forgot.  Let me see if I can fix that...

Hmm, does anyone happen to know the name of the beam-firing sound?  I can't seem to find it in the list of available options.  Edit: I've played through the sounds that are available, and don't really like any of them.  Two kind of sound like beams, but one of those is loud and the other goes on for two long after I call it.  I think I'll leave it on silent.