Custom Map #1362: The ocean. By: MIBNL

[AutoPost]

This topic is for discussion of map #1362: The ocean


Author: MIBNL
Size: 320x200

[Ionie]

Was there a bug in the code somewhere, given how no airsacs, spores, blobs or skimmers spawned? All the spawners were set on "0 in 10 minutes".

...I mean, I prepared fully that they'd ramp up as the game went on, built snipers and missile launchers all over my islands, but the attack never came...

[CS Z]

I did the same thing just in case those 0's turned into other numbers OR there were units hiding somewhere with real numbers.  I was expecting the emitter to at least pulse at 5 minutes though.  That didn't happen either since the creeper cap was already maxed out.  By the time it does pulse, it's kind of pointless.

To date, MIBNL only seems to do vanilla maps (no 4RPL) that can usually be cheesed or are sometimes a slog due to having a bunch of creeper already placed on the map.  The maps always have a bunch of grammatical and spelling errors in the ADA log too with fairly nonsensical story lines.  Karsten75 (K75) recently "nominated" one of MIBNL's maps (https://knucklecracker.com/forums/index.php?topic=37797.0) for "Most typos in the ADA log" although I think this map gives that map a run for its money.  It would be nice if they either proofread their own stories (reading it out loud catches most mistakes) and also run the content through a spellchecker or at the very least run the script by someone else with decent proofreading skills before hitting the publish button.  A typo here or there is acceptable to most people and really great storytellers can intentionally introduce typos as part of building out their lore/universe (e.g. "PRAYSE THE MOTHER" - or, in the case of one of my maps, the sassy, tongue-in-cheek "PRAYSE...YO MOMMA!").

It would be nice to just filter in the game by maps with server-confirmed non-standard 4RPL (excludes Bertha/Airship/Sweeper) and/or properly configured InfoCaches (i.e. displays multiple ADA messages).  That would exclude all of the vanilla maps which are more or less the same thing on repeat.  Using 4RPL either means a mission style map with a story or a map with custom units.  And multiple ADA enabled InfoCaches means at least a possibly good story line.  For vanilla maps, a terrain analyzer to determine "quality" could be used to rank and filter on the quality of the terrain.  Some combination of those things should become the default search for the game and push people to make more interesting and complete maps when making a vanilla map if they want anyone to play it.  There could be a warning step during publishing if the map falls below the default filter thresholds, "Your map does not appear to be very interesting and most people won't even see or play it...publish anyway?"