Custom Map #217: Ptechnological Pterror. By: planetfall

[planetfall]

Oh wow, really enjoyed this map. I think this is probably my most favourite so far of all your maps (all of which I enjoyed.)
Really liked the idea behind creating land on voids.
A nice tricky start which needed some thought behind it as there were emitters on both sides to defend against but also a corrupted forge which needed to be taken out quick to prevent spores from going out of hand.
And then once that was done, BOOM, a whole different ball game in the approach that was needed to finish the rest. But fortunately, a good supply of ore and aether meant that things didn't take an awfully long time as the Ptero-Formers were quite inefficient anyway (as they were supposed to be.)

So all in all, I thought it was yet again, a nice innovative map, and one which was well balanced too in terms of difficulty.

Thanks for the great map and as always, am looking forward to the next map! :)

Interesting you should say this is your favorite... because this is the only one that I'd say has severe issues (landing the CN in the top right, erratic behavior of ptero-formers, and occasional survival of guppies when building ptero-former bases, to name a few. The first is facepalmingly obvious, the second )

I'm not complaining, though  8)

My goal for this map was to make strange puzzley gameplay that still felt like cw3, which it seems to have accomplished.

Just some other things by the way...

I wasn't able to build a Ptero-Former on the left PZ after nullifying that emitter. It seems this occurred because the constructor can only move 3 cells/pixely/square thingies at a time meaning I couldn't quite get the centre of the constructor on that PZ. Wasn't a major problem though as I managed to make up for the speed by building multiple Ptero-Formers as was advised in-game. I suppose though I could've built a Generator PZ and a Ptero-Former would've quite likely fitted well on that.

Secondly, again I'm really sorry, I dont know if it's just me being a bit slow-minded but would you mind explaining to me the stats that contribute to the Ptero-Formers capabilities? I think I've got it right. The Build Cost is pretty self explanatory. Then for the Cell Cost, is that the cost it takes to terraform one bit of land? And then Seconds per Cell, is that how long it takes to terraform one bit of land?
Also thirdly, am I right in assuming that the Ptero-Former stores 100 energy/packets? Assuming that I am right about what the Cell Cost is, then it would make sense that my Ptero Former would only terra-form 12 bits of land before going for a refill because 100/8 = 12.5 (when I was first connected to the tech shrine on the left, not the one on the top right)

That is all correct. PZ generators target 6 cells away from themselves, so it's always possible to build a technyte unit on a player-built PZ.
It's also not possible to align a constructor with an ore deposit, because the average player may not know that ore mines get no bonus from PZs. Once I have a mine-based "super unit" the ore deposits on all the planets they come across will magically realign to a 3x3 grid.

[Helper]

Oh right... you moved it... Probably should have included a crplcore that creates unterraformable bumps so there's no 9x9 area to land on.

Well, that's an idea for another map.

Dude! Don't be harshing my mellow.
:)
It is plenty tough enough as is.

[TLMike]

Spoiler

I made a PZ next to the Beam Tower Upgrade Station and parked a Sprayer there in level 10 terrain. It sucked up AC from the BTUS, and blasted away all the C long enough for me to create platform using the VtT Pteroformer. It wasn't really THAT hard of a map. Liked it, though :>

[close]

[Lenori]

Loved it! can't wait for the next one.

Spoiler

Bad thing is my normal playing style makes doesn't work very well for starting at the bottom, so I was taking advantage of landing in the NE corner.

[close]

Given the thought that has gone into your new units, the idea of you creating a custom enemy frankly terrifies me :o 

Can't wait to see them.

[Helper]

I think I had a blinding flash of the obvious overnight, but will verify.

The Constructor:
It doesn't matter WHERE it is when you're creating an object. The different objects are created by the 'recipe' you use, NOT the location. Right?

(continues mumbling to self

[pawel345]

I finally had the time to play all of your maps and I must say I'm amazed :D They are incredibly cool :D And all those new special units :D

Especially the beam station is great :D The PZ maker and the Pterp Are nice, but sort of irritating to use and I never have enough place to build all i want :P

After finishing your map series, would you upload the scripts somewhere so they can be used by others?

[planetfall]

I think I had a blinding flash of the obvious overnight, but will verify.

The Constructor:
It doesn't matter WHERE it is when you're creating an object. The different objects are created by the 'recipe' you use, NOT the location. Right?

(continues mumbling to self

Eeyup.

[planetfall]

I finally had the time to play all of your maps and I must say I'm amazed :D They are incredibly cool :D And all those new special units :D

Especially the beam station is great :D The PZ maker and the Pterp Are nice, but sort of irritating to use and I never have enough place to build all i want :P

After finishing your map series, would you upload the scripts somewhere so they can be used by others?

Since there are so many units already I will probably make an "encyclopedia" thread that explains them all, and put the scripts there as well.

For now you can rip the scripts directly from the map using the editor. You might want to wait however because I'm going to update the constructor, pteroformer, and possibly PZ generator scripts pretty soon.

[pawel345]

Yes, I simply thought that they would make a cool addition to some maps, for example the PTM maps, but ofc when they are completely finished, so that would be around the time you finish your map series I guess :P

[planetfall]

Yes, I simply thought that they would make a cool addition to some maps, for example the PTM maps, but ofc when they are completely finished, so that would be around the time you finish your map series I guess :P

Well, beam stations are basically done and mostly perfect, and their variables can be tweaked to fit the purposes of the map far better than other units' can at the moment. PZGs are pretty reliable too, though. One or the other might be added to PTM3 to make it a little more playable...

[ak]

Control-E doesn't work for me, on a Mac.  :-\ So how do these things work? 

[TLMike]

The CTRL+E mechanic doesn't work while the game is paused. (PF should add an OperateWhilePaused function to that, maybe.) So if you were attempting to do that with the game paused, that may be your issue.

That said, I'm not sure if the function works on a Mac :/
You might try the CMD key? I'm not really suuure.

[ak]

Just needed to update to the latest version.  Great map!  Everything makes a lot more sense now :)

[planetfall]

I'm using a mac, and it works fine while paused.
Often OperateWhilePaused cores don't work on the first frame of the game, though.

The other thing might be there is a background emitter or drone behind the terrain where you are scanning, and the scanner is picking that up but not displaying anything. I've tried to fix its priotitizing, but then it claims to have found power zones in empty areas and doesn't scan actual cores very well.

[TLMike]

Often OperateWhilePaused cores don't work on the first frame of the game, though.

That. I meant to say that I was mistaken, but I had other Mike things to do.