Custom Map #1527: CRAZY COW. By: SXW

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This topic is for discussion of map #1527: CRAZY COW


Author: SXW
Size: 480x270

Desc:
Very Hard and not for sandbox.

[Jaap]

Hmmm pretty hard to get a good start on this map.
How do you kill these annoying carriers?

[sky_killer]

any help in starting out ?

[Something]

any help in starting out ?

I haven't beat it yet, but one run I did get a good foothold. I saved my place a few times so I can try again from a good place without starting over. I got about that whole left side landmass under my control for a while.

It's an annoying map, I may not finish it. I hate to be critical of any map, I really do. I enjoy a difficult map, but this is different, it's just annoying. I had to play with my sound muted some for all the alarms from those stunners and it just grated my nerves.

Also I can't read any of the story so I don't know what info those might hold. I'm not even sure what language it is to attempt a translation, I know it's eastern but that is all.

Now map tactics stuff I'll hide in a spoiler box in case anyone doesn't want to see it:

Spoiler

I figured out the best first move is to get the energy node up, immediately move the command module to the lower front end of the safe pocket and let the lathe kill that artifact and the flip the emitter. You can reach it from there and it gives you some breathing room and time.

Have that lathe ship building from the start, you will need it.

Then collect the plan for the discharger ship you can't live without it, it's on the upper left side of the safe space.

Once that ship with 3 lathes is built and the power stores charged the hole at the top end of the map filling with struc is an easy kill, maybe for the bottom as well but you'll only have time to take control of one or the other. The top one has the mire emitter in lathe range so I'd go to the top, and kill it so you'll have a chance at taking over the landmass. Once you get a few Omni's collected it's pretty easy to mire land and adds a lot of power, I'd use an amp gem for landmass power on this map.

If you ever for one minute ignore the command module something will hit it and game over, no wait 15 seconds and jump it back in, game over.

However, more stuff happens later in the game and you start being harassed by some potent ships and an ungodly amount of stunners. By ungodly I mean you can't do crap and if you don't mute them somehow it drive you nuts. I need to see if I can kill only stunner sounds because I mute the whole game and then stuff happens I don't know about.

[close]

[ChaosMaster130]

I agree with the above post pretty much.

Spoiler

Taking out the north carrier after you get the spawn area under control is a must. After that, I would take control of the spot just east of spawn, followed by the south area. Where you go next is mostly up to you, though I would REALLY try and get the second lathe ship pickup a bit NE of the start area, as it can help a lot when you need to lathe stuff down fast.

[close]

The rest is just trial and error/learning the map. Good luck!  8)
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..
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Spoiler

Look for spots where you can sneak omni's in, micro-managing 1 to draw fire if needed. As certain spots are much easier to handle if you can take out specific enemy buildings with a omni strike force before you send in your fleet.
I also found a spot on the metal ground at the SE corner that can lathe both the cannon and the mine, letting you take that spot out safely from then on. Try building a omni there with a AMPed supply ship.

[close]

[Laithaldien]

Also I can't read any of the story so I don't know what info those might hold. I'm not even sure what language it is to attempt a translation, I know it's eastern but that is all.

Chinese iirc (I used google translate to get the meaning).
Info about the carriers N/S appearing in 3.5mins, something about the cannon at the beginning, stunner warning, some cannons hitting very hard.
Most important bit of information (and the main reason I didn't even attempt this map):

After 45mins, a pretty much invincible ship (amped up to over 9000) will destroy anything in its path (which covers the whole map).

Too bad, map looked quite interesting. I just strongly dislike time-limited maps. And instant death maps with lots of enemy stray MK3 shots.

[reddwarf12]

Thanks to those who already posted some help on how to get started. After a few tries, I got to where the western part of the map was secure, and I had lots of bigger ships built for defense. Was getting more omnis, amping ships, and making eastward progress. Then, about 30-35 mins in, their stunners started pouring out nonstop waves that disabled my whole fleet at once and carved right through to my HQ in under 2 minutes. And so now someone else has (thank you!) posted that some monster ship would be appearing at the 45 min mark anyway?   

My hats off to those who can do this.

I thought I read somewhere that people can use custom fleets (or other cheats), and that that still counts as a completion and that still gets listed under "Times." Since I read that, I stopped believing the "Times" at all. I don't know which ones are real.

I'm intrigued by this level, and will probably keep trying it for a few more days. If anyone finds any more useful tips, I'll appreciate your posting those. Thanks! 

[ChaosMaster130]

More tips I can give you.

Spoiler

Do not be afraid of using ships as shields for your lathe ships. If you can take out a key cannon or emitter, then using a small/medium ship as a bullet shield to let your lathe ships do their job is almost always worth it IMO.
And if you feel up to some micromanagement, a couple of the cannons have firing AI that can be cheesed a bit by moving the ship/omni they are aiming at from side to side, letting you move in to lathe them quite easily once they run out of ammo.
Speaking of ammo, cannons will turn off to reload if idle for a couple of seconds(I've yet to count exactly how many seconds) So if you rush in and destroy the enemy mine and back off out of cannon range, the turret will turn off even if it has plenty of ammo left, letting you move in safely.

[close]

[Something]

I thought I read somewhere that people can use custom fleets (or other cheats), and that that still counts as a completion and that still gets listed under "Times." Since I read that, I stopped believing the "Times" at all. I don't know which ones are real.

I'm not sure about anything else, but I know if you use custom ships (sandbox) there is a separate leader board.

I play a lot of maps with custom ships only and they still show up as not played for me in the exchange.

Back to the map I agree on liking the look of it but disliking a time limit. I tend to turtle anyway, almost never play for speed, so that kinda kills a map for me sometimes.

[svartmes]

Wow Epic map!
I did not like the time limits forcing you to speedrun but overall a really well-made map and a difficult challenge for sure! 
I give it 9/10. Removal of the timed stunners and a overall slight decrease in difficulty and this would have been a 10.

[Jim359]

A beautiful map, ruined by over use of stunners.  The amount of stunner used makes me want to make an inappropriate comment.
I would advise not wasting your time trying to play this map.  It seems almost as if there is only one way to beat this map and if you don't find that "path" then you wont finish.

[alche]

REached a pont where the stunner came all the time lagging the game and made it impossible to continue (also permastunning the ships)

[CyberDyneSystems]

I gt to a point that I could weather the entire force of stunners, and was very slowly making progress. It was tedious and hard, but I thought I had brokne the maps back, just much more plodding along ahead....

then this mega fake/cheat missle ship with a million missles spewing came out and took out my entire front line in one pass,.
That's it for me,,. and hours of my life I'll never get back.

[Red Wizard]

I made a translated version version of the map.  I was about to remove the time limit factors and upload it to the exchange, but see my comments below.

To confirm a couple things:

Translations:

Spoiler

Arc-Bot: This map is made for extreme challengers, so it is named "Mad Cow". If you have not cleared "STORY" and "INCEPTION" or if you have less exposure to medium/high difficulty maps, it is not recommended to challenge this map. At the same time, it is not recommended to use sandbox mode (if used, it will make this map lose its challenge and challenge value.)

Ticon: Ummm, I know you don't want to listen to our nonsense, but I think since what we said will help you to some extent, it's better for you to listen.

Ana: OHHHHH! First of all, I hope he (she) is not a coward who opens a sandbox.

Ticon: Watch your words! Respect our Commander, for he will lead us to victory.

Ana: Feel sorry. Notice the Ticon Particle Burst near the base?
Demolish it ASAP or it will unleash havoc.

Ana: Also, be careful with the Stunner Spawner, it's the key to our victory.

Ticon: Do you know our fleet? A good commander should be fully familiar with his fleet and its functions.

Ticon: Hello, Amicus. What information did you learn? Please tell us all about it.

Amicus: That's right, the enemy has deployed aprons in the upper and lower left corners of the map, and is expected to dispatch in about 3 and a half minutes.

Ana: It seems that we should develop our fleet as soon as possible.

Ticon: Yes. Amicus, any good news?

Amicus: We have deployed target drones near the base. If we can successfully attract the opponent's firepower, the development of our fleet will be guaranteed.

Thoth: To sum up, first, develop as soon as possible, and don't give the enemy an opportunity; second, dismantle the example bomb as soon as possible; third, use the blaster reasonably.

Thoth: After the development is almost done, remember to activate the intelligence!

[close]

Time limit:
There are currently two things that are time limits in this map.

The first one is the stunner that releases 24 stuns every 2 seconds with a 33 minute initial delay.  I can't really see how anyone could survive this.  I was just about to remove it, but I noticed CyberDyneSystems' comment above mine saying that they were finally at a place where they could weather it.  I guess I'm going to leave it in and see how I do.

The second is a large (but not larger than the other big ships on the map) ship that is released at 45 minutes.  The ship has 99999 energy, build rate, heal rate, and fire multiplier.  All that said, this ship is actually pretty easy to beat, which I was able to test with pretty high reliability in the map editor.  Haven't tried this in an actual play, though.

Spoiler

The ship follows a predefined path around the map.  The heal rate doesn't affect how the ship takes damage, just how fast it heals. So all you need to do is destroy a single tile under the bridge square, which you can do by placing a few omnis directly in its pathway, and ensure they are set to not fire at mire or structure.

[close]

[Red Wizard]

I gt to a point that I could weather the entire force of stunners

How on earth did you weather the 24 stunners?  That stun locks every ship I have.