Custom Map #8045: Fortress Two. By: Anator

AutoPost · December 27, 2019, 05:20:16 AM

This topic is for discussion of map #8045: Fortress Two

Author: Anator
Size: 128x128

Desc:
Heres my second level. Worked on giving much higher quality terrain and emitters. There are four different areas you will have to go clear starting from the center this time. I think this is a bit more difficult but not too bad all in all. All feedback is appreciated. Good luck in the second fortress.

teknotiss · December 27, 2019, 07:27:01 AM

hey dude, you wanted feedback?

so great map design, good one 10/10.

not so keen on so many scripts interacting they way these do. it makes it very tricky to work out the most effective way of doing this, but since it takes a fair bit of play time for the player to work out where they went wrong, and so needs to restart/reload from a while back, it can be a bit off putting.

i think perhaps have some warning messages setup so we can learn how our actions are having consequences?

for example one of your scripts increases the strength of emitters when we kill another one, perhaps have a pop up tied to emitter deaths telling us how much stronger the increase is each time.

but do not be disheartened, this is a good map, and when i have a couple of hours free i will beat it and post a score.

also be ready for some amazingly low times too, some of the players here are a bit good! ;) 8)

marvinitfox · December 27, 2019, 03:23:09 PM

A very nice map indeed.
Balance still needs some tweaking.
Here's my opinion on the map and its fancy zones.

Start: aside from the starting squares being asymmetrical (for the obsessive among us), great.
one is tempted to go outside the initial square, but it requires a bit of thought to figure the best route.

Funny scripts: Please tweak the descriptive text a bit. It is somewhat unclear when effects are global or limited to one quadrant.
SE: boosts +20 per emitter killed... This is HUGE, so you sorta have to kill this corner first.
NE: very simple. almost too simple. Spore on emitter in nice, but where's the ramp-up? Maybe something like accelerating timer on spores? needs something more than what it has now.
NW: boosts +20 *per mortar*. Good Gravy this is HUGE. It is almost a complete ban on mortars until you kill this quadrant. P.s. nice sadistic touch putting the terp unlock in the far corner of the only region that need Terp!
SW: _{_{(read this in Yosemite Sam voice)}}ok, thats it. I'm ah gonna kil ya! I gonna kil ya ded, then raise yer corpse with vile necromancy, just so's I can kil ya ded AGAIN!
That mechanism of the emitter delivering its payload in "random" spots is the most absolutely vile thing in existence!!!

P.s.
I also do think your script is broken on it.
When I had only one emitter left in that quadrant, it was still depositing 4-5 spots of snot per in-game second, according to the onscreen timer. This from an emitter than claims 15/1sec
Is there any chance your creep allocation is being done per 1-second of realtime, not gametime?

Also: the targeting is ***absolutely*** not real random.
It strongly preferentially targets locations that are (1) nearby and (2) contain a building under construction.

Quote from: teknotiss on December 27, 2019, 07:27:01 AM
not so keen on so many scripts interacting they way these do. it makes it very tricky to work out the most effective way of doing this, but since it takes a fair bit of play time for the player to work out where they went wrong, and so needs to restart/reload from a whie back, it can be a bit off putting.

The "tricky to work out" part is very much what makes this map. The descriptions in the message capsules are pretty good, and the player absolutely has to pause for a moment and think about it. Think ahead, that is, not blunder and reload.

Quote from: teknotiss on December 27, 2019, 07:27:01 AM
i think perhaps have some warning messages setup so we can learn how out actions are having consequences?

This should not be needed, as the description are clear enough, and the emitters all have *very clear* mouseover text that shows what they are doing (thanx for that!).
The onus is on the player to not do something silly. Example, the only time I needed to reload is that one time when I accidentally (out of habit) made a small armada of some 200 mortars in one batch.... I'm amazed the game didn't crash to desktop, so rapidly did the NW fill with creep!

Quote from: teknotiss on December 27, 2019, 07:27:01 AM
for example one of your scripts increases the strength of emitters when we kill another one, perhaps have a pop up tied to emitter deaths telling us how much stronger the increase is each time.

Nah. the message capsule warned us, and the mouseover shows what has changed.

teknotiss · December 27, 2019, 07:38:02 PM

as you say dude, but i want to know what Anator thinks, and does next! 8)

Anator · December 28, 2019, 01:16:23 AM

Thanks for your feedback guys. So first off i want to say the randoms should most definitely be random. The scrips might be buggy on timings (my bad if it is so im still new to this and it took me many hours and discord help to figure them out) but the placement should be random as the script never once grabs unit coordinates. I noticed in playing it seemed to gravitate towards units but i think thats because with the ones nearer to walls they have a smaller range. I do like the idea of displaying how much the emitters gain as a popup for the ones that grow on killing others, but I think with the mortars that would be unnecessary. In playing you can safely have 5 mortars to hold off 3 corners while you clear one as I did it that way. I honestly dont know what exactly I want to do next though I am starting work on another one tonight. Part of this levels challenge was meant to be figuring out which corner to tackle first. Also sorry about the terp being in the only area that needed it actually was advice from a friend of mine on that one. I do agree the spores section needed some ramping up though. Hopefully I addressed everything in this post.

Helper · December 28, 2019, 04:43:11 AM

10/10
Fun stuff!
More!
Thanks!
H

Anator · December 28, 2019, 02:40:06 PM

I've now got an idea of what im going to do next. Little different of a map style. Should be pretty cool ive got some crazy script ideas in mind.

Builder17 · December 28, 2019, 02:57:17 PM

Quote from: Anator on December 28, 2019, 02:40:06 PM
I've now got an idea of what im going to do next. Little different of a map style. Should be pretty cool ive got some crazy script ideas in mind.

Interesting, feel free to tell what they are like :)

Anator · December 28, 2019, 03:50:30 PM

Quote from: Builder17 on December 28, 2019, 02:57:17 PM
Quote from: Anator on December 28, 2019, 02:40:06 PM
I've now got an idea of what im going to do next. Little different of a map style. Should be pretty cool ive got some crazy script ideas in mind.

Interesting, feel free to tell what they are like :)

I think I'm gonna keep those ideas a secret for a little bit yet until I figure out how to make them. Discord will probably find out sooner because I'm sure ill need help figuring out how to make those scripts somewhere along the line. The theme though is this map will be more void im going for a destroyed planet feel this time. This will serve to be a testing ground for other commands/scripts for later levels too.

Anator · December 30, 2019, 02:02:48 AM

Little update on my next map. I've got the basic outline done and plan on getting terrain finished tonight. Theres a chance I'll get it done by the 31st but I'm thinking it'll be the first or later. Hopefully wednesday at latest is my goal. Then I've got a project off the topic of Fortress maps that a friend gave me the idea of and It'll be cool if I can pull it off. More on that later.