Weekly 5-Map Tournament – A young woman named Bright - closing 04 Feb 2013

[MizInIA]

@MizInIA - I am about the last one to ever offer advice where "Experimental" weapons are available, but with those huge Emitters (Super Titans) working, you have to get your Dark Beam up and running pretty quickly.

Go for the gems as quickly as you can, build Reactors at a pace NOT to exceed your power (don't go into deficit), and get the DB covering that first Emitter in the top left corner.

I have never played with the experimentals much. the one time i played with the dark beam it sucked all my power(and I ended up dying). does it use more power the longer the beam it projects? or is it static consumption?

[Helper]

I have never played with the experimentals much. the one time i played with the dark beam it sucked all my power(and I ended up dying). does it use more power the longer the beam it projects? or is it static consumption?

Good question. The power use DOES remain constant after you start it and I think (THINK) it is about 13 energy. The really good players can 'pulse' it and get it in use much more quickly than the rest of us, but I have never figured that out (or the "Magic Mirror" tricks they use).

[MizInIA]

Thanks Helper! I will have to try that. part of my problem is I like actually playing the game in real time which means I rarely pause (and my scores reflect that) but that also means some of the get up and running quick maps are harder to complete.

[asmussen]

According to the CW2 Unit Data Overview thread, the dark beam uses 12 energy/sec:

http://knucklecracker.com/forums/index.php?topic=6373.0

Although the maps where you need to use the dark beam are probably mostly doable without pausing, optimal use of the dark beam definitely requires frequent pausing, flipping mirror directions and advancing frame by frame. You can much too easily allow creeper to get by into a previously cleared area if you try to fiddle with your mirrors in real time. They are a little tricky to figure out at first, but once you understand how to put the dark beam into effect, it is extremely powerful, and there is often little reason to build any weapon OTHER than the dark beam unless you have to fend off drones during your initial economy buildup, or protect against phantoms.

[SmileyCoder]

Smiley,
Is that score by the 'empty' user an inadvertent duplicate submission of your score for map #4?

Yup. I haven't played CW since I installed a fresh image on my laptop just before christmas, so as I entered the first score...I managed to hit submit before noticing the name field was empty.

I shall get to work on figuring out a theme for next week and post some maps as soon as the kids are asleep.

[ctuna]

SmileyC: Great job, again. I'd pay big time (theoretically, that is) to see your 1:22 strategy on the last map.

[Helper]

ctuna - that was an impressive time. I took several runs at that one and couldn't get there from here.
:(

[SmileyCoder]

I don't know if I will have time to make a video of that play. I can say that I used 3 makers, no blasters or launchers, and maybe 5 reactors. Drones were dealt with by shields.

[ctuna]

I don't know if I will have time to make a video of that play. I can say that I used 3 makers, no blasters or launchers, and maybe 5 reactors. Drones were dealt with by shields.

Thanks - you seem to often use shields for drones, and you've told me that before. I really am a slow learner.