Does anyone actually know how to beat this? I think all the players who say they have beaten the game are lying.
So I have a Node on each of the big islands in the corners. They're both clear of creeper. What now? I can't get to the advanced totem because of all the creeper there... when I dump cannons there they die before I can Guppy them and I don't have enough space to build more than a few. I can't expand otherwise the thing will launch. Grahhh.
(This is one of my Noob posts, from when I was more Noob than I am now. Don't judge me by this post.)
lol seriously dude,a hard map doesnt mean it is unbeatable,
just take control of the 2 first island,build some bretha to clear the island of the main target path,then build relay to go there
I suggest get a line of shields and dump a nullifier at the end (http://knucklecracker.com/forums/index.php?topic=14242.msg103882#msg103882).
And just by lying it is not possible to post a completion score in the score table. So perhaps they are liars and hackers?
once you have the islands clear you could put a ton of blasters like 10 in that area where there is no AE tower then send a lot of guppies there don't forget to make a few mortars and send them there to then when you have that little area clear connect it with a relay from the upper island also don't be afraid to lose some unites and be very aggressive BTW did you play till game time 18:00 if you would be suprized
You can:
1. PZ relay from one of the first islands
2. Relay across from one of the tiny islands
3. Use a few guppies to supply the spot not covered by the exclusion zone
4. Clear out the runner-infested islands for more room and faster upgrades
5. Save up for the singularity weapon and bombard it with mortars on the main island
6. Build a few bertha's to help establish a front on the main island
Quote from: Grauniad on October 09, 2013, 06:32:48 PM
I suggest get a line of shields and dump a nullifier at the end (http://knucklecracker.com/forums/index.php?topic=14242.msg103882#msg103882).
I'm going to have to delete that post.
Quote from: Clean0nion on October 09, 2013, 06:55:58 PM
I'm going to have to delete that post.
I suspect it may live on to haunt you. ;)
I did it like this:
Place one command node on the north east island. Once you have taken out the emitter (anti creeper + canons work nicely), place a sniper tower in the power field. It will take out the creeper ships and slow down the time it takes the creeper to gather the ore. A few sniper towers on the small ore island to the right will help as well, even though they are far less effective. Build a forge on this island asap, so you can gather as many upgrades as you can. After that, this island is pretty much done. If you increase its energy output far enough, you can build guppies to aid the other island, since it has to power the attack.
Simultaneously, land a command node on the south east island and pretty much do the same as above, clear the emitter, place a sniper tower. Don't forget to look out for the spores and build towers appropriately.
When your south east island is secure and has a good energy output, put two mortars on the left edge and fly a bunch of canons over to get a foothold. Take out the emitter and clear the island of any creeper and digitalis, until only a few canons targeting the digitalis are enough to keep it at bay. After that, you can pretty much ignore the entire creeper to the left. This was the point where the creeper had gathered enough ore in my game. Around 14:30, I think. You still have 20 minutes after that, so there's plenty of time.
Next up, the main assault. You should have your southeast island build up to produce loads of energy by now, aided by a few energy upgrades. Fly an armada of canons over to the main creeper island and take out the first emitter. Proceed towards the right spore tower and take it out, while assaulting the emitter to the north. A bertha canon can help you reduce the amount of creeper significantly on both emitters.
Once that is done, you have 2 emitters and the totem left. Go straight for the totem and leave a few canons to protect your relay stations. You can take out the second spore tower at some point, too, since it will be no longer flooded with creeper. Or you just place an anti spore tower near it and call it a day.
I finished at around 80-90% on the totem, I think. Not very good, I suppose, but at least I beat it.
Oh, and don't bother with building Terps, they just cost time. Just place some collectors in the beginning and put reactors in the spaces between. Don't tear anything down unless it is absolutely necessary, you have plenty of space to build reactors, they don't have to be packed as close as you can.
If it helps you, I found this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QA4ahMvNvns) video on how to do Farbor. :)
Quote from: Clean0nion on October 09, 2013, 06:04:23 PM
Does anyone actually know how to beat this? I think all the players who say they have beaten the game are lying.
Just because you haven't figured it out, doesn't mean we share the same fate. Check the times.. It's not been done just once, but multiple times..
Quote from: Grauniad on October 09, 2013, 06:32:48 PM
I suggest get a line of shields and dump a nullifier at the end (http://knucklecracker.com/forums/index.php?topic=14242.msg103882#msg103882).
And just by lying it is not possible to post a completion score in the score table. So perhaps they are liars and hackers?
Haha, beautiful response.
It's a beast of a map, to be sure. It's definitely beatable, there's just not nearly as much margin for error as in other maps. Don't underestimate the power of anti-creeper, slap down some mines on the ore patches that aren't being harvested early on and let loose a few sprayers when you invade the main island. That'll help you get close to the factory a lot faster and hit it with nullifiers.
I do think the time limit should be extended by just a little bit in the next update, though. I got the #17 best time when I beat it and the factory was still at like 85%.
It's actually fairly easy... you just have to hurry in the beginning.
If you want to make it a bit easier on yourself, you can drop all 3 command nodes on the center island and nullify 1 pair of building nodes and the spore tower on the bottom right corner, then fly the command nodes back to their obvious locations. This DOES require good timing, however, but it's not that hard with framestepping. just build a collector then a nullifier -with a Plasma Cannon to ensure the creeper stays back- to take out the spore tower and the nodes at the same time. That'll give you an extra 2:30 alone... And once you nullify the upper left emitter, you can put a sniper on the PZ, and with a few upgrades, it'll take out the upper right 3 building ships. Assuming it takes you 5 minutes to get to that point [easily doable] you'll end up with another extra 8:50 in phase 1. Total, you'll have 21:10 before phase 1 ends. That's plenty enough to build an army to assault during phase 2.
It's probably easier to do in phase 1. I did it with probably less than 1 second to spare!
Spoiler
I managed to take out two of the collector nodes before the ship got to 90 and the third at 95, but the last one was harder to get to. I somehow managed to beat the clock and destroyed the last node at 99% at the same moment the last transport ship was descending for a landing to push it to 100! I don't think it's possible to cut it closer than I did. :)
I failed on my first attempt pretty bad and phase 2 seemed less likely to succeed so I started over. Does anything outside that map change at all if you beat it in phase 2?
Quote from: Neko187 on October 10, 2013, 12:13:49 PM
you can drop all 3 command nodes on the center island and nullify 1 pair of building nodes and the spore tower on the bottom right corner
That's not possible.
Quote from: NFITC1 on October 10, 2013, 12:32:44 PM
I failed on my first attempt pretty bad and phase 2 seemed less likely to succeed so I started over. Does anything outside that map change at all if you beat it in phase 2?
No, nothing changes.
Quote from: Clean0nion on October 10, 2013, 01:08:17 PM
Quote from: Neko187 on October 10, 2013, 12:13:49 PM
you can drop all 3 command nodes on the center island and nullify 1 pair of building nodes and the spore tower on the bottom right corner
That's not possible.
Yes it is.
Edit: In fact, it's even possible through some command node juggling to nullify the upper right build nodes. not sure if it's worth it though...
No it is definitly not worth it. The corner islands are the only hope for establishing an economy. And notice how little health the CN's have in the pic.
Yeah, I found this a difficult map, and didn't do terribly well. I'm not a very fast player; I'm more of the slow, methodical type.
I secured the northwest and southeast islands by moving quickly at the start. I put snipers on the power zones to try to slow down the enemy ore harvesting, and expanded to the small creeper-free islands on the north and south (had to use guppies for the south one), so I could fill them up with snipers too. (Though I had an accident; an enemy spore hit the northern island.) Then I tried to assault the western and southern islands. Unfortunately, I was rushing and my assault on the western one failed somehow; I did manage to get a solid foothold on the southern one, though, and fill it up with anticreeper. Around this time the enemy ship launched. Oops.
I now had twenty minutes to reach the northeast corner. I gave up on trying to take the western and southwestern islands, and instead just ordered some guppies to ferry spare ore and energy from my stalemated northwest base to my active southeast base. At this point I had six operational ore mines (well, as long as my snipers could keep them from being crushed; it takes about 3-4 snipers per mine), and my forge had completed all range upgrades; so I dismantled the old guppy-supported sniper base on the tiny island between the main island and the south island, and replaced it with a landline and some sprayers. They were able to establish an anti-creeper foothold on the southwestern end of the main island, and I successfully got a connection in place. From there it was an easy ten-minute sprayer-supported march across the main island.
(I guess that's fairly similar to what MatrixQ did, although he seems to be using more firepower and less anticreeper.)
Anti-creeper is your friend.
Really helps get a stable foothold on the main island with relays.
I beat it at like, 96% construction xD.
Quote from: 4xC on October 10, 2013, 11:32:17 PM
No it is definitly not worth it. The corner islands are the only hope for establishing an economy. And notice how little health the CN's have in the pic.
Your point? They don't die when they lose all their health, just get sent back to orbit.
This is a run-through by me before the release. I still haven't made it this far since the release (too busy...). But, not only is it possible to take out the bottom right platforms, it's possible, with extensive micromanaging to place a foothold on the main island :) I hope to eventually make a video of how to do this once I make it there. Very slowly...
Okay... so I did in the end beat the map at 63%.
Here's how I ended up doing it. (long post)
Spoiler
On the south east island, I put down a CN and some collectors, relays, etc. Added two beamers and some mortars. Built my way up to the emitter and nullified it, then put a sniper on the PZ. I did the same on the north west island as well, but added more reactors and a forge.
Once the creeper's ore collection was complete, I destroyed both snipers, and put a Bertha on each PZ.
I then spent the next while building up my reactor supply, and put all of my aether into energy efficiency, along with a bit of packet speed.
I then built and charged around 20 guppies, 15 on the north island and 5 on the south. On the south island, I built about ten cannons, and about five mortars on the north island. Once both these and the berthas had charged, I moved the cannons to the central island, on the northwest corners just above the exclusion zone. When the cannons were the same distance from this spot as the mortars, I began moving them as well to the same spot. When the mortars were halfway there, I paused.
I arranged the destination of all the weapons into a ring so that I could fit my third CN into the middle. I also sent all of my guppies as near to it as I could. Finally I aimed both berthas at the site's approximate location. Then I unpaused.
When the weapons were about to land, I threw down the CN, and the berthas fired at almost the same time. Having a Bertha on a PZ means its ammo can store two shots and it fires three bombs in a triangle shape instead of one. This cleared the space very well, and it was a safe landing.
I moved the weapons about, one by one, so I could fit in a few collectors and reactors. Then guess what I did?
Spoiler
I BUILT A LINE OF SHIELDS AND DUMPED A NULLIFIER AT THE END.
Yes I did. Level complete, no emitters destroyed, no sporers destroyed, no anticreeper used, no expansion to other islands. And 63%.
For someone who complains on the forum so much, I think I did pretty well. Thanks to all you guys for helping me, and sorry to all the people I called liars and hackers. Except those who are.
Spoiler
Spoiler
LOL... funny that. :)
Quote from: Clean0nion on October 11, 2013, 12:51:47 PM
Okay... so I did in the end beat the map at 63%.
Here's how I ended up doing it. (long post)
Spoiler
On the south east island, I put down a CN and some collectors, relays, etc. Added two beamers and some mortars. Built my way up to the emitter and nullified it, then put a sniper on the PZ. I did the same on the north west island as well, but added more reactors and a forge.
Once the creeper's ore collection was complete, I destroyed both snipers, and put a Bertha on each PZ.
I then spent the next while building up my reactor supply, and put all of my aether into energy efficiency, along with a bit of packet speed.
I then built and charged around 20 guppies, 15 on the north island and 5 on the south. On the south island, I built about ten cannons, and about five mortars on the north island. Once both these and the berthas had charged, I moved the cannons to the central island, on the northwest corners just above the exclusion zone. When the cannons were the same distance from this spot as the mortars, I began moving them as well to the same spot. When the mortars were halfway there, I paused.
I arranged the destination of all the weapons into a ring so that I could fit my third CN into the middle. I also sent all of my guppies as near to it as I could. Finally I aimed both berthas at the site's approximate location. Then I unpaused.
When the weapons were about to land, I threw down the CN, and the berthas fired at almost the same time. Having a Bertha on a PZ means its ammo can store two shots and it fires three bombs in a triangle shape instead of one. This cleared the space very well, and it was a safe landing.
I moved the weapons about, one by one, so I could fit in a few collectors and reactors. Then guess what I did?
Spoiler
I BUILT A LINE OF SHIELDS AND DUMPED A NULLIFIER AT THE END.
Yes I did. Level complete, no emitters destroyed, no sporers destroyed, no anticreeper used, no expansion to other islands. And 63%.
For someone who complains on the forum so much, I think I did pretty well. Thanks to all you guys for helping me, and sorry to all the people I called liars and hackers. Except those who are.
Pics or it didn't happen.
Also: do you WANT Virgil to nerf them?
Another Also: Not the fastest time.
Well, this level is definitely a GG for me. I've watched videos, read advice, spent ages constantly pausing to micro everything and still cant even get close. I've spent hours on several attempts and its just not happening, i really hope this level gets a nerf so i can continue with this game, its been really good up to this level, such a shame for a time based level to ruin the whole thing. :'(
Quote from: PsudoSage on October 13, 2013, 08:34:06 PM
Well, this level is definitely a GG for me. I've watched videos, read advice, spent ages constantly pausing to micro everything and still cant even get close. I've spent hours on several attempts and its just not happening, i really hope this level gets a nerf so i can continue with this game, its been really good up to this level, such a shame for a time based level to ruin the whole thing. :'(
well you may have tried, but you haven't mastered the whole energy management thing yet. :)
i like to overbuild, but you can't on this one, i didn't even build terps, i just crammed in reactors as fast as i could wherever i could.
the key is to stay just in the green with energy production.
also every second saved in the early game is worth 10's of secs later.
so get a few collectors on each single emitter island, when i had 2 collectors i started a blaster (you will be in deficit still but you need to get out asap). then more collectors and then reactors, one at a time. get a mortar per island when the C is getting a bit heavy, and you should be good to get going.
good luck with that, and don't quit, this mission is hard, but a lot of the community maps are going to be much harder.
this isn't a reason to give up, it's a challenge to improve your skill level.
8)
also pause alot! ;)
I have been managing my energy properly on this level, i have tried constantly pausing for every thing thats built to set up my next build, no terping or anything just mortar, blaster and a sprayer to start with. Ive tried making lots of reactors but it just doesn't help, reactors take so long to build and this is a time map. I started trying this map at 5:30pm yesterday, its now 2am and im still nowhere with it.
Quote from: PsudoSage on October 13, 2013, 09:17:33 PM
I have been managing my energy properly on this level, i have tried constantly pausing for every thing thats built to set up my next build, no terping or anything just mortar, blaster and a sprayer to start with. Ive tried making lots of reactors but it just doesn't help, reactors take so long to build and this is a time map. I started trying this map at 5:30pm yesterday, its now 2am and im still nowhere with it.
You do know that there are two stages in which you can complete the map, before and after the ship is launched, correct? Because that gives you a total of 30 minutes, which should be PLENTY of time.
After several hours and with only 2% to spare I finally did it. Still got the rest of the level to beat but ive saved a slot after destroying the middle thing. Time for a tea break
Quote from: PsudoSage on October 13, 2013, 11:47:45 PM
After several hours and with only 2% to spare I finally did it. Still got the rest of the level to beat but ive saved a slot after destroying the middle thing. Time for a tea break
First or second stage?
First stage I suppose, it seems to make it very clear in the opening text that once the ship is built, its game over. If I was coming to the level for the first time, I wouldnt know that there is actually another stage after the ship is built with an additional 20 min till game over
I did it in the first stage, the second stage is even harder to get to I think. The extra 20 mins wouldn't really help much. The last level is pretty crazy too, nice game. Looking forward to trying out some of the other zones and making some maps now.
Quote from: PsudoSage on October 14, 2013, 02:21:41 PM
I did it in the first stage, the second stage is even harder to get to I think. The extra 20 mins wouldn't really help much.
The first time I played the mission I failed the first stage just by a few seconds and I got it in the second stage within 8 minutes. Second stage is a lot easier to win.
Quote from: TrickyDragon on October 14, 2013, 02:09:19 PM
First stage I suppose, it seems to make it very clear in the opening text that once the ship is built, its game over. If I was coming to the level for the first time, I wouldnt know that there is actually another stage after the ship is built with an additional 20 min till game over
Yeah, I think it'd be really easy for somebody to get stuck on this if they knew they weren't going to make the first deadline, and they keep restarting the map before the 100% mark assuming that they'd gotten themselves into an unwinnable position. Could be very frustrating for some players.
Well, hopefully they'd
a) see the scores and realize longer completion times were possible ot
b) they 'd come here or go to YouTube or anywhere else and find out that there is a second stage.
Only two things are limitless G..... But I suppose if they care, they will land here eventually.
... The Universe and Human Stupidity.
I am actually posting a walkthrough of this map later tonight. 14 minutes game time turned 35+ mins in real life. I beat it just before I ran out of time on the first phrase.
HOW I READ THIS:
Quote from: TrickyDragon on October 15, 2013, 12:46:56 PM
Only two things are limitless G..... But I suppose if they care, they will land here eventually.
Dragons........ Yea, Dragons.
I got there in Phase 1 by the skin of my teeth on my second try. No shenanigans, I just built up from the top left and bottom right islands and then island-hopped from the top left to the shipyard via the small creeper-less islands at the top. Built a lot of snipers, which bought me a few extra minutes and meant I could mine a lot more ore, which was very helpful in my assault on the centre. (Not sure if this is the right approach - if you're quick, I suppose you could do it without snipers.) The things that took me the most time were clearing out those starting islands (the emitters aren't strong, but you're really cramped) and establishing a beachhead on the main island (shield/relay drop supported by a sprayer - I should probably have used my berthas a bit better to open up a window).
Quote from: Incompetent on November 03, 2013, 01:37:05 AM
I got there in Phase 1 by the skin of my teeth on my second try. No shenanigans, I just built up from the top left and bottom right islands and then island-hopped from the top left to the shipyard via the small creeper-less islands at the top. Built a lot of snipers, which bought me a few extra minutes and meant I could mine a lot more ore, which was very helpful in my assault on the centre. (Not sure if this is the right approach - if you're quick, I suppose you could do it without snipers.) The things that took me the most time were clearing out those starting islands (the emitters aren't strong, but you're really cramped) and establishing a beachhead on the main island (shield/relay drop supported by a sprayer - I should probably have used my berthas a bit better to open up a window).
For someone who's apparently so incompetent, that's pretty impressive.
First post on here, just because I feel vaguely pleased that I was able to figure out this level without my usual method of winning, which is best described as "look for someone who already figured it out". I'm also kinda surprised that there have been so many different ways of going about it.
I solved it at about 93% on phase 1 (because I honestly didn't know there was a phase 2, I figured it was just Game Over at 100%). After two attempts that were going nowhere, I realigned strategies, and went for a two-step approach: secure the NW and SE islands first, then make a hyper-aggressive beachhead on the west corner of the main island where air support could happen. The key to all of it was energy management. Everything had to be on a tight, tight budget, so clearing the first emitters was done with a single mortar and sprayer each. Every other scrap of energy went to reactors, and the beam cannons when they became necessary.
Securing the west beachhead took quite a bit, and didn't go quite as smoothly as I would have liked. First came strafers and bombers to thin things out. Then came a crowd of five cannons and shields to cover them a bit, along with guppies to support. I lost one shield and a full guppy in the process, which came close but not quite to wiping out that idea. But with cannons clearing out a spot, that left room for mortars, a slow collector/relay grid, and a nullifier on the SW emitter, and once a shield was on that power spot, the rest was all about getting emitters in place ASAP to stop the ore supply. Total game time: 14 minutes. Not the best, but I feel pleased about having pulled it off without help.
Nice work and welcome. :)
a really really fun map, and the only one in story mode that really has a time limit to it (Arca gets really hard when it goes for a long time, but you can still play it forever without either being in a won position, or losing entirely.)
I think the whole time limit thing makes this a rough map for a lot of people, and many creeper world players aren't playing for the best times normally, so this one can really throw people off!
My first time, I failed the ship by less than a minute, then I failed the totem too (at first I thought they said I had 20 seconds, not 20 minutes! I thought I'd die the moment the ship reached the totem...got surprised there!)
I like how this game kinda punishes players who give up too early rather than seeing a lose screen...stay with it long enough, and you learn you have a whole nother 20 minutes while the ship transmits at the totem!
Anyway, my second time I just smashed the ship at about 97%, very satisfying! Someday I want to smash Arca before the nexus gets up...I've seen it on youtube, looks awesome!
I managed to beat the level after like 10 times of trying!
But...
The worst thing happened to me :'(
In the middle of my game I just had a program finished being updated and it said it will restart in 15 mins.I completely ignored it continued playing.After 14 mins...I destroyed all the ore processors I screamed"WOO HOO!"But right at that moment my computer restarted and when I went back into the game to check if it saved....It wasn't :'(.I slapped my self in rage and I just knew 100% I couldn't beat it again...
Can someone upload the level completed or something?I really don't have the energy to do it again.. :-\
Quote from: TonyP2000 on October 19, 2013, 10:50:22 PM
I am actually posting a walkthrough of this map later tonight. 14 minutes game time turned 35+ mins in real life. I beat it just before I ran out of time on the first phrase.
Link please?
Quote from: Ringo on November 09, 2013, 08:30:07 PM
Quote from: TonyP2000 on October 19, 2013, 10:50:22 PM
I am actually posting a walkthrough of this map later tonight. 14 minutes game time turned 35+ mins in real life. I beat it just before I ran out of time on the first phrase.
Link please?
Here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gz-QLtpPX3I (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gz-QLtpPX3I)
Thanks for the youtube guide, but can anyone guide me on how to finish this map under 20min ??
And by the scores that i have seen, some people might be using hack/cheats :P .
I am still stuck on this map, have tried to complete it many times, but failed.
I desperately needs some guidance.
Quote from: Mafia on November 11, 2013, 09:29:16 AM
Thanks for the youtube guide, but can anyone guide me on how to finish this map under 20min ??
And by the scores that i have seen, some people might be using hack/cheats :P .
I am still stuck on this map, have tried to complete it many times, but failed.
I desperately needs some guidance.
Umm
Put 2 CN on the upper island and one at the bottom
Take out those emmiters fast as possible
After that build reactors,cannons,morters,and bertha's .Not to fast though.
After that you should be ready :)