Custom Map #5173: 100 Spores Every 100 Seconds. By: BermanPost

[GoodMorning]

I'm not looking for overflow once it spreads, I'm looking for the Spores to dump so much Creeper in the same place, on the same frame, that it converts before having a chance to flow away.

So far, I've had imbalances in the Spore distribution... Six targets and the Creeper is spread too thin, one or two and it has enough to cancel all the AC from a conversion. Three to five give various amounts of Creeper, some as low as a few hundred. The amounts added up to about 2K Creeper leftover after conversions...

So, perhaps if you can game the RNG this is possible, but it's definitely not practical.

[ea3401]

I finally managed it after many attempts :)

22 spores on a single point converted to 2147 anticreeper and 53 creeper, which makes 2095 anticreeper

Divided by 9 (3x3 square) makes -232,8 hight.

But you are right: I doesn't help very much.

[BermanPost]

I was not aware of this creeper-overflow glitch that turns creeper into anti-creeper.

The 'intended' strategy (which really just means the strategy I used to beat my map), as has been used and explained previously in this thread by other is;

Spoiler

understanding what the spore towers will and will not shoot at.  if you destroy all of your completed buildings except the beams, prior to the spores being fired, they will not fire until you complete another building.  You can use your Command Nodes to complete your spore defense, and once ready, build your energy production.  Just make sure you can build up your energy production in time to reload the beams.  Once your spore defense is up, take over the mini-islands, nullify the emitters, use those power zones to create a long connections with relays, assault the main enemy island, use some terps to get your nullifiers in range, then mop-up.

[close]

Enjoy.

[GoodMorning]

It was a glitch ... in CW2 development.

By general acclaim among the beta testers, it was kept, then actively added to CW3.

[Genesys]

I was not aware of this creeper-overflow glitch that turns creeper into anti-creeper.

The 'intended' strategy (which really just means the strategy I used to beat my map), as has been used and explained previously in this thread by other is;

Spoiler

understanding what the spore towers will and will not shoot at.  if you destroy all of your completed buildings except the beams, prior to the spores being fired, they will not fire until you complete another building.  You can use your Command Nodes to complete your spore defense, and once ready, build your energy production.  Just make sure you can build up your energy production in time to reload the beams.  Once your spore defense is up, take over the mini-islands, nullify the emitters, use those power zones to create a long connections with relays, assault the main enemy island, use some terps to get your nullifiers in range, then mop-up.

[close]

Enjoy.

I used the same method, but

Spoiler

Instead of destroying things, I placed all three Command nodes in the center of the map, and built ~100 spores around them using only Command Node energy, then I moved them 3 rows deep on the bottom edge of the strip of land. I then "almost" built a field of 50 reactors and collectors; almost meaning I built them up to 47/50 and then disabled them.  Once everything was in place, I enabled them so they all completed at once and let the spores loose.  By the time the spores got within killing range, my energy production was fine and I was ramping up my ether production.

[close]

[ea3401]

My method:

Spoiler

Double line of Collectors and evenly spaced CNs.
Beams, as many as possible.
Delete the Collectors before the tower fires.
Finish charging beams from CNs until at least the middle-bottom of the island is carpeted.
Then build a new Collector powergrid, having stopped Beam resupply.
Turn the Beams back on, and they can recharge in time for the next wave. After that, all else follows.

[close]

You could also

Spoiler

Build one Cannon and move it to a neutral place to bait the spores.
With this tactic you can directly rebuild your power network after first wave of spore attac.

[close]

[GoodMorning]

Why didn't I think of that? It would have saved so much time and effort.

[Fogmoz]

Oh nice, I had no idea there was a conversion glitch. However, I also had no idea that Spores were designed to not target something - I always assumed they either fired at units randomly or with some sort of basic hierarchical priority that included every player unit. Cool!

[Johnny Haywire]

Sorry for being so late to this really cool map!

I wish I'd seen all the comments earlier about this being so difficult, because my solution for this map is so easy a beginner could do it, but it might be too boring for most. Anyway, hope it's helpful...

GoodMorning's tactic is a good one but I don't like to be bothered with pausing & stuff, and I don't mind doing a mission with a lot of afk-time. So my method won't break any records but here's what I did...

1) Build two rows of beams all the way across the map... using ONLY your CN's. (Yeah, it's faster with collectors but again, we're watching a TV show so extra building time is no big deal)
2) Spread your CN's out so they can be surrounded with reactors. Then set about 50-60 reactors to build all at once (this will take a while - 5-7 real-time minutes, depending how fast your computer is.
3) A few minutes before the reactors finish, sneak a CN to an empty island and build a blaster (as a distraction). Fly your CN back to finish building the reactors, while having a bit of fun flying your blaster to get the spores to fire on nothing.
4) Once the reactors are almost built (48-49 out of 50 or so), deactivate them until the spores fire one last time at your blaster. Then set them to build, and complete your powergrid.

This method is so easy it might even cross the line from safe to boring. But it's an easy win on the first try with no pausing or saving needed, so hey - it's got that going for it at least.

Thanks so much for this map! (I LOVE spore maps for some reason, dunno why). The 100 spores being destroyed in a nice fan pattern was cool! Great job!  ;D ;D ;D

[Martin Gronsdal]

now, imagine this with an emitter - or two -  on the CN island....