This topic is for discussion of map #8081: Beware the Digitalis Maze (Hard Version)
(https://knucklecracker.com/creeperworld3/queryMaps.php?query=thumbnailid&id=8081)
Author: Jason Stevens
Size: 256x256
Desc:
This is a trickier map than it appears to be at first glance. You may be tempted to start in the northeast, but if you do, you will discover why you must beware of the digitalis maze - and it's powerful amplified pumps... #Pump #Toggle-Pump #Flip-Emitter #Heavy-Creep #Spore #Sleeper-Spore #Runner Good luck!!
any tips?
nothing I try works, dead pretty quick every time
Quote from: knighty on January 04, 2020, 09:02:32 PM
any tips?
nothing I try works, dead pretty quick every time
All of his maps require you use Cheat Engine to complete them.
Quote from: Schizo on January 04, 2020, 09:47:09 PMAll of his maps require you use Cheat Engine to complete them.
I didn't even know that was a thing
I'm not agianst cheats... but wiht a game like this... what's the point in playing if you cheat?
I'm not aware of what Cheat Engine is either :) What is this?
Quote from: knighty on January 04, 2020, 09:52:03 PM
Quote from: Schizo on January 04, 2020, 09:47:09 PMAll of his maps require you use Cheat Engine to complete them.
I didn't even know that was a thing
I'm not agianst cheats... but wiht a game like this... what's the point in playing if you cheat?
lumpik, how on earth did you get 24 mins?! That's pretty impressive!
Quote from: jasons2645 on January 05, 2020, 10:12:37 AMI'm not aware of what Cheat Engine is either :) What is this?
I gave it a try, it's pretty rubbish really, can give you unlimited resources, unlcoks all units, gives infinate units where they're limited, and all upgrades (and then some)
but... just spoils the game for me tbh
I nver rush, my times are always terrible, I like the puzzel aspect of the game and a slow/steady/mathodical approach
Yeah, I'm with you... Doesn't sound very fun... But I had no idea that even existed - I wonder if some of the best score times we've seen have been using that...
Quote from: knighty on January 05, 2020, 03:33:40 PM
Quote from: jasons2645 on January 05, 2020, 10:12:37 AMI'm not aware of what Cheat Engine is either :) What is this?
I gave it a try, it's pretty rubbish really, can give you unlimited resources, unlcoks all units, gives infinate units where they're limited, and all upgrades (and then some)
but... just spoils the game for me tbh
I nver rush, my times are always terrible, I like the puzzel aspect of the game and a slow/steady/mathodical approach
Jason's maps are hard, but definitely possible to beat. :)
"speedrunning" this one only took 8h IRL, 18:13 ingame...
Tactic i used:
Spoiler
-land middle-north inside the walls, starting standard game with:
- activate aether gen in the river until it's at 20 or 30 (power + buildspeed)
- ~15 collectors, forge, nullifier, 2-3 cannons to stay alive, 2 PZ reactors, a terp to close the wall, few beamers + 1 PZ beamer for first wave (then another PZ reactor)
- about 2-3 min ingame, after first wave, activate aether gens in the northeast (siphons die for now) and send a cannon over to cut the line without wasting much ammo
- more reactors & beamers, 2-3 mortars hold the wall, max reactors, minimum other stuff
- ~15 reactors, get 4 strafers to cut the digitalis on the north-west so the pumps stop. reloading the strafer pad can be delayed.
- ~25 reactors, get a guppy and second cannon over to the north-east for more aether and siphons
- ~40+ reactors and ~8 beams, time to break out (~5 min ingame time?)
- A bit later you should be pretty good on energy, decent on aether from 3 factories and 20-30 beamers, dying can generally only be from lack of beamers now.
- i only activated the expensive aether gen, as well as starting the other to build up after like 40+ beamers
TL;DR
reactors
guppy over to north-east
don't bother with stuff like taking the digitalis-river until you run out of space for reactors.
That's pretty impressive... I designed the map so that if you didn't start in the maze, the creep coming into the river would quickly become overwhelming. Sounds like that was not the case and you were able to survive the ever-increasing creep pumped over...
Quote from: Lightforger on January 07, 2020, 09:29:50 PM
Jason's maps are hard, but definitely possible to beat. :)
"speedrunning" this one only took 8h IRL, 18:13 ingame...
Tactic i used:
Spoiler
-land middle-north inside the walls, starting standard game with:
- activate aether gen in the river until it's at 20 or 30 (power + buildspeed)
- ~15 collectors, forge, nullifier, 2-3 cannons to stay alive, 2 PZ reactors, a terp to close the wall, few beamers + 1 PZ beamer for first wave (then another PZ reactor)
- about 2-3 min ingame, after first wave, activate aether gens in the northeast (siphons die for now) and send a cannon over to cut the line without wasting much ammo
- more reactors & beamers, 2-3 mortars hold the wall, max reactors, minimum other stuff
- ~15 reactors, get 4 strafers to cut the digitalis on the north-west so the pumps stop. reloading the strafer pad can be delayed.
- ~25 reactors, get a guppy and second cannon over to the north-east for more aether and siphons
- ~40+ reactors and ~8 beams, time to break out (~5 min ingame time?)
- A bit later you should be pretty good on energy, decent on aether from 3 factories and 20-30 beamers, dying can generally only be from lack of beamers now.
- i only activated the expensive aether gen, as well as starting the other to build up after like 40+ beamers
TL;DR
reactors
guppy over to north-east
don't bother with stuff like taking the digitalis-river until you run out of space for reactors.
Yeah, there's a possibility between "rush strafers too fast and die from lack of reactors/mortars" and "build strafers too late and die from pumps".
If the pumps were connected by solid ground instead of digitalis-only it would be a lot harder, but probably still barely possible.
Anti-air zone over the maze would kill any possibility of starting outside the maze, but that wouldn't be very fun ;)
Also a major hint i learned only after finishing:
Spoiler
giga-spore towers die from anti-creep, making it possible to snipe the 2 on the middle island, and possibly more. This allows running all factories much earlier
which probably could shave off another 2-3 minutes... but that's another 5h+ game.
Maybe the easilest way to pass this map and some other hard maps by Jason
Spoiler
build a sprayer early, gather 10 AC and land close to the giga spore tower, destory it. So will the giga spore tower destoryed if no creeper nearby.
By using this method, you can safely land on the north-middle, build 3 sprayer, turn all red emitter to produce AC, and destory all giga spore tower, which make this map a quite easy walkthrough.
I would guess that Jason didnt know this method hhh :)
If you like good old-fashioned hard-core maps, this is a brutal one - especially if you don't read the hints.
Strafers. Why didn't I think of that?
Well, this game can be won using a completely different method. It's possible to take out ALL of the crazy spore towers pretty early on, but you'll be facing a huge amount of creeper. For the last spore tower, I had to use a PZ bertha (from the small island base) + 4 suicide sprayers.
You can then take the island with all the totems and before long start pushing back.
Just in case you're reading the forums and actually wanting to attempt this crazy map.