Custom Map #1355: Orbital Weapons. By: Jason Stevens

[DestinyAtlantis]

at no point did i max build speed. does that really help much?  ???

I'm not sure about the factories (haven't yet played a map with them), but you can build everything in just a few seconds with max build speed... as long as you have the power (higher build speed=higher packet deman per second).

[Karsten75]

I'm not sure why this map has such a bad rating. As Anti-creeper maps go it's one of the better and more ingenious maps out there. I had at least 4 restarts before I even figured out my starting tactic and then one more to account for the spore waves. After that - a bomb-fest in the extreme.

Hint: Guppies are never targeted by spores.

Very good map - keep on map-making!

[jasons2645]

Spoiler

Doh!  I totally missed the freeze to destroy the inhibitor!  Nice find.  And good suggestions on the other items, including the instructions.  Not sure I'll post a V2, but we'll see what else folks come up with...

[close]

[teknotiss]

Spoiler

Doh!  I totally missed the freeze to destroy the inhibitor!  Nice find.  And good suggestions on the other items, including the instructions.  Not sure I'll post a V2, but we'll see what else folks come up with...

[close]

do it! with a lower cost for the AoO's please! ;)

[Mexxor]

Spoiler

Doh!  I totally missed the freeze to destroy the inhibitor!  Nice find.  And good suggestions on the other items, including the instructions.  Not sure I'll post a V2, but we'll see what else folks come up with...

[close]

do it! with a lower cost for the AoO's please! ;)

I second this ::)
Maybe make the cost for converts not so extremely high as its now (600 packets) and keep the Mass the same (250/200 it is i think). Probably the best to keep the freeze AoO's out of it or make them so expensive it'll take 5 mins on max buildspeed to make one  ;D. Maybe set the factories to produce the AoO's for a cost of 200, but make the packet request lower? ::) ::)

[Karsten75]

I find myself continuously replaying the starting sequence to see how I can optimize it...getting past the spore waves and not running into a huge energy deficit is a challenge.

[Karsten75]

And I've just figured out the "ultimate strategy."  next time... :)

[Karsten75]

Now all that remains is to figure out how RnR dis it...  ???

[Johnny Haywire]

I honestly didn't think this one had much of a difficult start. Maybe that's because I started on your lowest-rated (i.e., hardest) maps first.

Whenever you have an energy gem to siphon, once you hook up to it build as many reactors around your CN as it will feed. Think of building early energy as an investment - the longer you can produce your own energy, the more that will stack up later. On my first run, I took a guess and built 10, and hooked up to only 2 of the green emitters. Once that was all done, I still had some energy left over so you can maybe build 11-12 right off the bat.

Notice that the spores don't launch for several minutes after start. All you need to do is just max a powergrid while holding off the creep and then build a ton of beams. After that, you can expand or do w/e you want.

BTW, this won't win you any speed challenges. This is just a safe, easy way to start that will require no saving or pausing after the initial build.

As for the map itself, the orbitals are very enjoyable to play around with. You can use Freezes as walls - think of them as perma-shields. Or, as others have mentioned, if you want to go in for a quick kill just take out an inhibitor with a freeze + converter or mass driver.

Jason, your maps are really creative and I'm really liking how you come up with slightly different ways to use similar features. I hope you're still making maps, because they're consistently a perfect balance of being challenging and fun!

[GoodMorning]

One thing to note - I gather that freeze artifacts will halt Spore countdowns and Runners, too.