Custom Map #11517: S03-0D - Redstone XVI. By: LappySheep

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This topic is for discussion of map #11517: S03-0D - Redstone XVI


Author: LappySheep
Size: 160x60

Desc:
Difficulty spike. As always, expecting low ratings. I recommend visiting the moons prior to gain an advantage. It's recommended to save often, especially in the early game.

[LappySheep]

Forgot to add it to the description (not like many people read it anyway) - unit data.

[Johnny Haywire]

I thought this map was a pretty enjoyable challenge and although it isn't overly difficult it does keep you on your toes and forces you to build carefully. And quickly.

First of all, I don't particularly like strafers, although they're better than shields. I think shields are the absolute worst of all units. I've only used them in maybe 1 out of every 400 maps I've played because they're... yanno, let's just not go there. I just can't use any kind words to describe them.

Strafers are slightly more useful, especially when needing to cut digi in the middle of a lot of creeper, or to cut digi in space, or in similar circumstances. But they can also be used as a (very) weak form of bertha - to target creeper remotely. They're like wimpy but very mobile blasters. And they're crazy cheap in this map so you might as well use them.

I also don't like pausing. Or having to save the game. Or rushing. In this map, you really need to build enough power quickly to supply about 20-30 beams. If it helps you to have a specific goal, aim for producing 20 power by the 10-minute mark.

Gameplay: I found it helped to cycle the beams from "armed" to "disarmed" so they could fire together and kill stuff more quickly - thereby using less total energy overall. You need to start building a sniper by the 4-5 minute mark because it will take a LONG time to build. And the roaches in this one are insanely hard to kill with beams. I hit one with around 30 beams fully charged and only got it down to about 25%.

As the description suggested, I relied mostly on AC and used my first upgrade @ 20 aether to increase AC production. You can build more energy. You can't build more AC production.

The CRPL doodads: There's no need (as far as I can tell) to waste energy collecting them early. They're for a later game. Focus on what you need to survive this map first, but just don't forget to collect the other stuff before you leave.

I like the idea of an enemy that produces additional enemies. That's really cool. And it also gives you an incentive to move and capture the ore mines before the enemy does. While I'm not a huge fan of snipers, pausing, saving, etc. I found that I still enjoyed the map even with all that thrown in the mix. Kudos for yet another good job. I think a lot of players will struggle with this map, largely from being inexperienced or not being able/willing to read. Not much you can do about that but players who've played this for a good while - or players whose skills are just inherently above average - should enjoy it.

Thanks for the map! =)

[LappySheep]

I thought this map was a pretty enjoyable challenge and although it isn't overly difficult it does keep you on your toes and forces you to build carefully. And quickly.

First of all, I don't particularly like strafers, although they're better than shields. I think shields are the absolute worst of all units. I've only used them in maybe 1 out of every 400 maps I've played because they're... yanno, let's just not go there. I just can't use any kind words to describe them.

Strafers are slightly more useful, especially when needing to cut digi in the middle of a lot of creeper, or to cut digi in space, or in similar circumstances. But they can also be used as a (very) weak form of bertha - to target creeper remotely. They're like wimpy but very mobile blasters. And they're crazy cheap in this map so you might as well use them.

I also don't like pausing. Or having to save the game. Or rushing. In this map, you really need to build enough power quickly to supply about 20-30 beams. If it helps you to have a specific goal, aim for producing 20 power by the 10-minute mark.

Gameplay: I found it helped to cycle the beams from "armed" to "disarmed" so they could fire together and kill stuff more quickly - thereby using less total energy overall. You need to start building a sniper by the 4-5 minute mark because it will take a LONG time to build. And the roaches in this one are insanely hard to kill with beams. I hit one with around 30 beams fully charged and only got it down to about 25%.

As the description suggested, I relied mostly on AC and used my first upgrade @ 20 aether to increase AC production. You can build more energy. You can't build more AC production.

The CRPL doodads: There's no need (as far as I can tell) to waste energy collecting them early. They're for a later game. Focus on what you need to survive this map first, but just don't forget to collect the other stuff before you leave.

I like the idea of an enemy that produces additional enemies. That's really cool. And it also gives you an incentive to move and capture the ore mines before the enemy does. While I'm not a huge fan of snipers, pausing, saving, etc. I found that I still enjoyed the map even with all that thrown in the mix. Kudos for yet another good job. I think a lot of players will struggle with this map, largely from being inexperienced or not being able/willing to read. Not much you can do about that but players who've played this for a good while - or players whose skills are just inherently above average - should enjoy it.

Thanks for the map! =)

Hmm... I think strafers are decent at their job but pretty bad elsewhere. I'm hoping that they see use (especially in later maps) where they shine at their niche. In terms of shields, I think they're underrated personally and combined with sprayers can force weak emitters into stalemate (since that's two opposing forces which slow down creeper spread). It's a slightly different dynamic than using cannons, and I'm not really sure how to explain it, but I do remember having a discussion about it in the KC Discord many years ago.

Regarding the pausing/saving, it is sadly going to be a theme throughout future maps. I can try to work in some kind of dialogue which implies minor details about when things start ramping up so you can pre-emptively work on countering that, but it is going to be inevitable when the difficulty goes up.

In terms of the artifacts, I imagine you might have benefitted from getting the "ore capacitors" tech, since you're going to be using primarily sprayers anyway and it is free energy which gets paid back to you (relative to the cost of energy invested in unlocking it) fairly quickly if you've got many beams (12 beams with the 4 starter ore deposits taken means it's paid back in two minutes. That might sound like a lot of time, but considering your strategy of "cycl[ing] the beams from 'armed' to 'disarmed' so they could fire together and kill stuff more quickly", the amount you would need to micro-manage would be less because there'd be less dependency on them having "enough" energy.

Of course, I'm only speaking from how I view the intended solution as my own completion of the map, and if it works less-well than yours, then that's fine. Just some things to consider.

On the topic of the drones and the lairs that they morph into, there's a strategy that will be critical for completing the next few maps (hopefully, unless there's severe cheese) which can also be used on said drones. They're a minor feature in Redstone XVI but they will become crucial points of contention in some of the later maps.

Thanks for playing!

[Johnny Haywire]

Sounds cool - looking forward to it!

As far as shields vs. blasters or mortars - my thinking is that it's *usually* better to expend energy to destroy the creeper rather than just pushing it back, which has its limits. I say *usually* because there are some maps where I've used them to shave a few seconds off the time since they can initially clear the area faster than blasters. I've played multiple "shield only" maps and managed to win without cringing too much so it's not like I think they're worthless. Just worth less than all the other units >D  LOL

And strafers on a PZ are very effective. They go from being meh to mega on a PZ.

Also, I don't really hate pausing so much if the map is really challenging. Your maps are challenging enough to justify it, imo. It's just most maps that I don't pause or save - takes less RL time to just let it run, and it adds a little more excitement to the mix.