Custom Map #1864: Attack on Titan. By: Amber

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This topic is for discussion of map #1864: Attack on Titan


Author: Amber
Size: 320x200

[Karsten75]

A fair amount of effort has gone into making the level layout and terrain look attractive -  kudos for that.

As for the rest, not so much.

In a recent negative Steam review, the reviewer wrote

Basically almost every single level follows one difficulty curve, peaking the moment the flow of creeper has stabilised (that is, all areas where creeper generators are located are flooded and it is now coming towards you) and your entire goal is to get your creeper clearing per second up to a level where it can deal with that or turn off generators before that.

This is a fairly common complaint and it is embodied by this map.

Now don't get me wrong, there are a great number of players that are perfectly happy to while away a few hours methodically securing a base and then spreading out over the terrain, conquering all, coloring it green and being the Creeper in reverse.

For others, we like the challenge of a quicker attack, securing a base and getting a decisive victory.

This map does everything to not allow that - starting with the most obvious, the objectives.

When we implemented the "Reclaim" objective, the whole idea was to avoid a tedious, long and drawn out clean-up operation to get that last, emitter in the far corner of the map. The idea is that it is the required objective. Clean up x% amount of the map, perhaps nullifying a few enemy units in the process, and then claim your victory. Then the "for fun" objectives can be any of the rest, such as complete unit nullification.   The way this map allocated it, the reclaim is meaningless. Yes, sure, I've beaten the map, and will have earned the required objective after this, but the struggle, the tough battle is over.

Then for the lack of upgrades and ERNs. The primary purpose of those are also to speed up the game, build faster, fire faster, move faster, don't sit on an enormous map where a l unit will literally take several minutes to travel over the map.  Not including ERNs does not add to the fun or the difficulty of the map, it just males it slower and more tedious.