Mission: Which is the 'best' country?

[Loren Pechtel]

Thailand--I see no viable approach at all.  It's an upside-down map in which over 50% of the space in the third row (the ground is almost totally flat) will be full of creeper within 20 seconds.  There are strength 13 drones behind one decayable medium block and half of that third that won't immediately flood with creeper is also decayable.  To dig in deep enough to avoid the creeper (gravity is going to bring it up, not down) requires removing 30 blocks, two of which are cost 10 blocks.  This merely gets away from the creeper, it provides no building space and no defense against the drones.

Kiroths can you try this map for us? thanks

I'm not quite sure why you're saying you need to dig to avoid the creeper - if you were playing it safe and just didn't dig to the central chamber at all early on, the creeper will never be remotely threatening for an extreme amount of time since it will just puddle at the top of the map. For the easiest and probably most effective way to deal with the drones (it should be easily possible to fight them off too if you had to):

Spoiler

[close]

When going for time it would definitely be worth grabbing the white gem, but if you just want to beat the map it's not necessary.

And you can defend yourself this way??  Your screenshot doesn't show any reactors.

[Katra]

I have gotten sufficiently far past this point to say it is possible.  (In digging to the gateway you take a red gem.) (Have not completed yet due to lack of time.) The random movement of the drones sometimes does take too long for them to exit the chamber (you can't get the shaft bottom shield built before the field shift dumps the creeper on it.)

[Kithros]

Thailand--I see no viable approach at all.  It's an upside-down map in which over 50% of the space in the third row (the ground is almost totally flat) will be full of creeper within 20 seconds.  There are strength 13 drones behind one decayable medium block and half of that third that won't immediately flood with creeper is also decayable.  To dig in deep enough to avoid the creeper (gravity is going to bring it up, not down) requires removing 30 blocks, two of which are cost 10 blocks.  This merely gets away from the creeper, it provides no building space and no defense against the drones.

Kiroths can you try this map for us? thanks

I'm not quite sure why you're saying you need to dig to avoid the creeper - if you were playing it safe and just didn't dig to the central chamber at all early on, the creeper will never be remotely threatening for an extreme amount of time since it will just puddle at the top of the map. For the easiest and probably most effective way to deal with the drones (it should be easily possible to fight them off too if you had to):

Spoiler

[close]

When going for time it would definitely be worth grabbing the white gem, but if you just want to beat the map it's not necessary.

And you can defend yourself this way??  Your screenshot doesn't show any reactors.

Defend yourself from what? If you fly to the bottom-left, the creeper won't reach you for 7 minutes, and even then all you need to have  built in that time is 1 single launcher to defend yourself.


EDIT: To put it into perspective, I built all this without building a single weapon (other than the nullifier) - and again, it is not necessary to pick up the white gem, it will however make things faster (ie. you don't need to mess around with shielding the creeper from the middle chamber if you don't mind playing through it slower). The creeper at the top of the map is still nowhere close to threatening me.

Spoiler

[close]

EDIT AGAIN: Finished the map and put a score up since people seem to be having trouble with it - I still don't see why this map should be so hard as long as you don't overreact to the creeper puddling at the top of the map though..

[Katra]

That makes 3 scores on Thailand.  ;)

Definite nomination for the fun list - but I strongly recommend against going for the white gem until you're ready to attack the big center chamber.

[Loren Pechtel]

Thailand--I see no viable approach at all.  It's an upside-down map in which over 50% of the space in the third row (the ground is almost totally flat) will be full of creeper within 20 seconds.  There are strength 13 drones behind one decayable medium block and half of that third that won't immediately flood with creeper is also decayable.  To dig in deep enough to avoid the creeper (gravity is going to bring it up, not down) requires removing 30 blocks, two of which are cost 10 blocks.  This merely gets away from the creeper, it provides no building space and no defense against the drones.

Kiroths can you try this map for us? thanks

I'm not quite sure why you're saying you need to dig to avoid the creeper - if you were playing it safe and just didn't dig to the central chamber at all early on, the creeper will never be remotely threatening for an extreme amount of time since it will just puddle at the top of the map. For the easiest and probably most effective way to deal with the drones (it should be easily possible to fight them off too if you had to):

Spoiler

[close]

When going for time it would definitely be worth grabbing the white gem, but if you just want to beat the map it's not necessary.

And you can defend yourself this way??  Your screenshot doesn't show any reactors.

Defend yourself from what? If you fly to the bottom-left, the creeper won't reach you for 7 minutes, and even then all you need to have  built in that time is 1 single launcher to defend yourself.


EDIT: To put it into perspective, I built all this without building a single weapon (other than the nullifier) - and again, it is not necessary to pick up the white gem, it will however make things faster (ie. you don't need to mess around with shielding the creeper from the middle chamber if you don't mind playing through it slower). The creeper at the top of the map is still nowhere close to threatening me.

Spoiler

[close]

EDIT AGAIN: Finished the map and put a score up since people seem to be having trouble with it - I still don't see why this map should be so hard as long as you don't overreact to the creeper puddling at the top of the map though..

It's not the creeper I was particularly worried about, but defending myself from the drones and having build space.  How are you maintaining those shields holding back the creeper on the left?  I would have expected them to have popped by now.


Anyway, another one that's got me:  Tajikistan.  Zero-g, surface emitter, I'm getting overwhelmed.  I can just barely get dug in over on the left but I can't get phantom coils up in time and then repulsars for when the creep breaks through the shield.

[Loren Pechtel]

The Swiss didn't live up to their reputation.

[Kithros]

I just replace the shields whenever they turn the other way - but again, as I've said many times - you *DO NOT NEED TO* take the white gem, which means you do not need to ever build shields there if you just dig around the decayable terrain.

[Katra]

Tajikistan is toast.  ;D Another for the fun list.

The trick is to snag the group of three crystals in the center while moving the LS down and left. Then build a quick shield wall straight up from the highest point of ground in the center. Build up power and back up that shield wall with a few blasters, a second layer of shields, and repulsors in that order. (I lost the top half of my wall because I tried to delay building the second layer for the top few sections; but I was able to eventually fight back the breakthrough with blasters.)

Don't forget to keep your reactor farm covered with phantom coils as you dig down. If you have space cleared and aren't in deficit you should be able to build the first set when the first siren goes off. (I also deactivated the lot as soon as the last phantom died the first two or three cycles; then reactivated when the siren went off again.)

Screenshot is when I was ready to start my attack. (This ended up a two dark beam map.  ;))

[Cavemaniac]

All updated.

Good work guys - we're getting a nice list of 'fun' maps together.

Won't be long and we'll be able to vote/argue about which is best!!

Edit: Cyprus. Pretty standard...

[xoft]

Guatemala beaten. A surface gateway/emitter in the same square, which is something less common; up gravity, top build, but nothing too challenging, really.

[xoft]

Also, I've beaten Burundi and Cambodia some time ago, they're not yet crossed out in the list (maybe I forgot to write it here ;) . Burundi would be a nomination for the fun list, it has a rather challenging start

[Katra]

Chile

Decent map but not particularly challenging. (Makes good practice for clearing large chambers with fields.)

Comoros

Another nomination for the fun list. Real tricky start; creeper separated from surface by 1 layer decaying terrain. Then about the time I was about to replace my initial shield cap with repulsors the drones from a deeper chamber broke through.

Another huge chamber; but no fields on this one. (I did no digging to get the LS to its position in screenshot. Almost makes micro rifts irrelevant.)

[Cavemaniac]

All updated.

I was just about to tackle Chile too - it's been on my mind lately!

I was standing on Ocean Beach at the Whangarei Heads, looking out to sea, where there's nothing between New Zealand and Chile but about 4,000 miles of South Pacific Ocean...

[Loren Pechtel]

Sweden is boring.  You have tons of build space, no big chambers to fight.

[lich98]

All updated.

Good work guys - we're getting a nice list of 'fun' maps together.
Won't be long and we'll be able to vote/argue about which is best!!

With a hurt/heal? then we can run a contest to see who can get the best scores/times total! cool