Custom Map #1392: Tsunami Alert. By: imalex

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This topic is for discussion of map #1392: Tsunami Alert


Author: imalex
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[CyberDyneSystems]

Wow, I'm stumped!

[CS Z]

My time was pretty pathetic.

For those who are stuck, here's the first tip:

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Run away!  RUN AWAY FAST!

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Still stuck?  Here's a guide:

Spoiler

You have no chance of holding back the 6M creeper.  If it were possible, I would have done it.  There's just not enough energy and time available.  Believe me, I tried (it's one of the major reasons why my posted time was so bad).  But there is plenty of energy to the far left.  You just have to get there.  It helps to know that each wall lasts exactly one minute of in-game time from the time creeper touches it until it breaks through.  So pressing P to pause is your friend.  Build towers to get energy, then build a few mortars and cannons and start pushing left, moving your units and the Rift Lab as you go, and building more units (mostly mortars and some cannons) as you have time and energy.  If you are moving at the correct pace, you'll clear the next section when the creeper hits the previous section and wipes out the towers there.  When you get to the Bluite area, set up the factory and build a few sprayers but don't really use them much.  Generally keep them away from creeper - you'll need the AC they carry in a bit.  Also build a Terp or two as energy permits so that the ERNs can be quickly unburied when you arrive.   Drop AC from the sprayers on the AC breeder as soon as possible to kickstart it.  When you finally get to the far left, have and/or build at least four full columns of mortars, build the ERN portal and load it with ERNs, fill the resource area with miners and put two ERNs on two of the miners.  Build about four Berthas.  More mortars is better but don't go too crazy.  You'll initially lose the final wall and a few units but at that point, the big massive scary wave will change directions and start heading back to the right.  That's when the real clock starts ticking.  You should try to reclaim the Greenar area to the next wall and get enough rockets to have completed a couple of orbital Conversions before the massive wave returns.  Bertha + mortar your way to that next wall to secure it.  A density of approximately 4 mortars deep works pretty well.  Then, once energy becomes relatively abundant, build more Berthas and eventually air units.  At that point, it's a pretty standard approach to complete the Reclaim objective.

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[CyberDyneSystems]

Thanks for the tips.
On my first and second go I tried to do similar to what you describe, but was never fast enough clear the new area before loosing all my power source behind me. I just need to be faster. The sprayer AC trick I would not have come up, with, but as it is, I never made it far enough to really get a good amount of bluite. I'll have to give a another go (or two... ) :o

[CS Z]

This is just some general CW4 advice not specific to this map:

Sometimes you've gotta be a tad aggressive.  Waiting until all the creeper is gone is sometimes not sufficient.  Cannons tend to be slightly more resilient than mortars since they target the creeper closest to them and nearby units but don't damage that much creeper per shot even though they fire more frequently.  So plopping them into the middle of a small amount of shallow creeper might make them temporarily lose a couple bars of health but let you forge ahead much faster.  As you build units, you can start leapfrogging them over each other.  While some units are in back getting to full health (or close enough) and loading up on ammo for a few seconds, the front units are taking some damage but not too much as you don't want to have to rebuild too many units because you got too aggressive.  Also towering when paused allows you to see how far you can legitimately move units and still be connected to the network.  If they've got full ammo, they can fire for a bit on their own without ongoing support from the network.  By the time the units land, the new towers will likely already be built (or at least close enough to not matter).