This topic is for discussion of map #1144: StormTheCastles
(http://knucklecracker.com/creeperworld3/queryMaps.php?query=thumbnailid&id=1144)
Author: stdout
Size: 128x128
Desc:
Our inexorable march toward the capital city of Daventry has not gone un-noticed by the humans, and they have responded with terraformed strong castles, armed with formidable forces. A valiant effort, to be sure, but ultimately they will fail. We are eternal in number and the more we consume, the stronger we get. Take these castles. Smash their machines and cripple their defenses. #PlayAsCreeper and thanks to stewbasic (again) for the CRPL. Big thanks to Linden and RrR for beta testing this map.
do you hail from 'famptonshire? i grew up in a town called toaster (well that's how it's said anyway, not spelt!!) :D
this is the second mention of daventry i think i've seen from you!
great map dude! 8)
Thanks - I'm really glad you liked the game!
The Daventry reference comes from the very old video game King's Quest which was set in the imaginary land of Daventry. Also, my first name is Dave so I always liked the idea of a kingdom named after me. ;D Plus it sounds cool. Every time I need to come up with a location name, I always default to that.
Fabulous, Stdout. It's even better now. I've played a few times from various start points, and it's great fun! I can't seem to manage to keep more than one start-point up and running, but it's fine - I'm a self-confessed noob anyway. :)
The north and east ones are lost causes BUT you can use them in the early game as supports for the other emitters. ;)
Quote from: stdout on September 15, 2014, 03:15:26 PM
The north and east ones are lost causes BUT you can use them in the early game as supports for the other emitters. ;)
As far as I can tell they're all lost causes.
Quote from: Loren Pechtel on September 15, 2014, 03:33:13 PM
Quote from: stdout on September 15, 2014, 03:15:26 PM
The north and east ones are lost causes BUT you can use them in the early game as supports for the other emitters. ;)
As far as I can tell they're all lost causes.
A tip:
Spoiler
If you start at the west, you can quickly take the second PZ and use a spore tower to advance a little.
If you start at the south, you get a better foothold.
For either case, link the emitters. You'll lose the others but they're very good to give you that fast foothold (as stdout said).
It is possible to keep at least three of the initial emitters alive. I've managed West Central & East and West South & East. Was easier when I held the Centre emitter. Need to defend against nullifiers while probing for weakness - challenging.
i went with holding west, center and south, i may try west, east and south this time.
north might be an idea though... hmm many replays of this map i feel! 8)
Replayability is something I try to shoot for with these kinds of maps. :)
Quote from: stdout on September 16, 2014, 11:25:51 AM
Replayability is something I try to shoot for with these kinds of maps. :)
I think I've played each of your PlayAsCreeper maps at least 10. This one I played 4 times in a row trying to get a good time. Really I made this account to say thank you and to ask that you please keep making these types.
Thank you Ratboy!
Quote from: stdout on September 17, 2014, 03:14:36 PM
Thank you Ratboy!
i've had two of these style maps under construction for a few weeks now and they are both nearly done, but since this one has the cancel script i'll have to restart them! >:( bummer huh?
What do you mean by the cancel script?
If I can provide any help, by all means ask. stewbasic has also said he'd be glad to provide whatever assistance is needed.
i was using the first map as a basis, and the cancel button doesn't work in that one.
but i noticed it did in yours, perhaps stew fixed it and i missed that post, if you didn't do it ::)
The cancel button has always worked for me so I'm not sure why it wouldn't be working for you. It might be that the Temp.crpl may have gotten removed? That can happen if you launch a map, save it, and load the launched map. You have to start with the one that contains the Temp.crpl.
I suggest you start a thread over here:
http://knucklecracker.com/forums/index.php?board=32.0
and let us help you. If you attach your current map, I'd love to check it out and see if I could fix up the CRPL for you. There shouldn't be a need to start over.
I went and checked, and stew had changed the script, i ripped it from his map so i didn't have the updated one he posted here.
http://knucklecracker.com/forums/index.php?topic=16718.msg120810#msg120810
(at least i assume it's fixed, i'm just going to rip it from your maps since i know that cancel works there)
I'll not take long to remake them, it's the balance of the start that's tricky really, and i think i know what i'm doing now. it's a bit different from regular map starts, i made them way too easy the first time, but moving a pz a few cells in one direction can really amp the trickiness factor! ;)
also i may have some luck trying to just replace the scripts, i'll try to get them done this weekend. no promises. :)
the main reason it's taking so long in general is i've been really busy recently. ::)
I'm looking forward to it!!
I really enjoyed this map. Thanks stdout. Best "play as creeper" so far. It feels like you're figured out how to make a good difficulty curve for creeper.
Thanks!
I don't get it, How does anyone even get started, I even looked at the spoiler and I last at best 10 mins and maybe get to make 1 additional emitter or spoor tower. So my question is who are these maps made for? The average player imo can't get a foothold with all the overdone defenses.
???
Quote from: chwooly on September 23, 2014, 09:47:11 AM
I don't get it, How does anyone even get started, I even looked at the spoiler and I last at best 10 mins and maybe get to make 1 additional emitter or spoor tower. So my question is who are these maps made for? The average player imo can't get a foothold with all the overdone defenses.
???
did you play stewbasic's first one of these maps? called CreeperComeback i think.
if not, you should, it's not as tough, then try stdout's other CCB maps once you have the gist of it.
if you just need a step by step start i'll post a detailed one later, i have to head out again now
I consider myself an average player at best. (seriously, i forget to look at the energy sometimes (and thus waste it), have a hard time controlling 2 bases, no comment for 3.
For this map, you just need to have some experience, if you have played 1 or 2 of the other maps, you should be able to at least survive this map with 2-3 emitters, maybe 4, but i have yet to replay it, and as i said, i'm average at best.
Quote from: teknotiss on September 23, 2014, 12:54:55 PM
Quote from: chwooly on September 23, 2014, 09:47:11 AM
I don't get it, How does anyone even get started, I even looked at the spoiler and I last at best 10 mins and maybe get to make 1 additional emitter or spoor tower. So my question is who are these maps made for? The average player imo can't get a foothold with all the overdone defenses.
???
did you play stewbasic's first one of these maps? called CreeperComeback i think.
if not, you should, it's not as tough, then try stdout's other CCB maps once you have the gist of it.
if you just need a step by step start i'll post a detailed one later, i have to head out again now
I think I tried stew's first map but that was a long while ago, I will have to take a look and give it another shot and check out some of the other maps. It looks interesting and I will probably find it fun once I figure out how to get going.
Thanks
Quote from: chwooly on September 24, 2014, 10:48:28 AM
Quote from: teknotiss on September 23, 2014, 12:54:55 PM
Quote from: chwooly on September 23, 2014, 09:47:11 AM
I don't get it, How does anyone even get started, I even looked at the spoiler and I last at best 10 mins and maybe get to make 1 additional emitter or spoor tower. So my question is who are these maps made for? The average player imo can't get a foothold with all the overdone defenses.
???
did you play stewbasic's first one of these maps? called CreeperComeback i think.
if not, you should, it's not as tough, then try stdout's other CCB maps once you have the gist of it.
if you just need a step by step start i'll post a detailed one later, i have to head out again now
I think I tried stew's first map but that was a long while ago, I will have to take a look and give it another shot and check out some of the other maps. It looks interesting and I will probably find it fun once I figure out how to get going.
Thanks
no worries, one more tip is burst mode for the emitters is critical early on, use "e" or "r" to set emitters onto it and to activate it before it's filled.
Quote from: stdout on September 15, 2014, 03:15:26 PM
The north and east ones are lost causes BUT you can use them in the early game as supports for the other emitters. ;)
I've actually found a way to keep them all alive.
Spoiler
Set the North, West and East to burst mode. Use the center to support the south and quickly spread digitalis to cover the 2nd south spot. Then use the South to support the center just long enough to kill the nullifier. Use the South and Center to support the East. Add the 2nd south and support as soon as the digitalis has grown to allow it to be built. The east should be able to kill it's nullifier a few seconds before it completes it's charge up. From here you go back to support the center again to kill the nullifier and expand. The east should be able to hold it's own with the starting node supported by the 2nd nearby node. The same is true with the south. The west node can handle itself in burst mode as can the North node. The center can also hold it's own once you expand to the 2nd slot, but you can also occasionally redirect the south to boost it for a minute or two before needing to go back to supporting the south. There has been an occasion where some bad timing of a bertha shot can make the single north bust node fall behind and get nullified.
LOVE IT!!! I do wonder if its at all possible to make these maps larger... not like max size, but just a tad bit bigger. I'd do it me self, but I uh...don't know how.
Maybe we can get a map with ALL THE THINGS in it.... Play as creeper, with some flip emitters, corrupt mortar, wormhole (slipstream?), etc. =P
But I'll settle for any more like this one. This reminds me of playing SimCity in the old days. You spend hours having fun building a city, then you also enjoy being a sadistic mayor and calling disaster after disaster just to watch the city burn...
I did once make a PAC map with a corrupted mortar and it worked really well. I have definitely thought about doing a 200x200 or bigger battle field with flip emitters and other fun crpl toys.
Stdout I had an idea, if possible could you put runner nests in the construction menu. ;)
Game randomly wouldn't finish for me. Claimed every PZ, defeated every enemy. Nothing left on the map but a beautiful sea of Creeper.
Didn't ruin it for me as I wasn't going for a speed run anyway, just not sure if it's a one off bug, something I've missed, or something wrong with the coding of the map.
I'm not really sure. The rules are that you need to destroy all the small units (non-bertha and non-CN), the PZs don't really matter, since you switch between spores and emitters.
I use the escape key to unselect items, but the escape key also makes dialogs go away. When you win, you get the dialog to claim victory/keep playing and if you hit escape, it keeps playing. I have won games in the past without realizing because I hit escape just as the win dialog came up.
So after a very long time, and after playing a bunch of other PAC maps, I decided to give this another shot. It wasn't a bad map after all. However it does take more than a basic knowledge of how to play. Overall, good job and thanks.