Custom Map #2243: Starbase Defence. By: MysteryMaster

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This topic is for discussion of map #2243: Starbase Defence


Author: MysteryMaster
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[CS Z]

Uh, well, I had everything more or less "nullified" by 8 minutes in.  Took me a moment to realize that the Nullifier unit wasn't available, so I just set up shop around each enemy unit (snipers for blobs/skimmers, missiles for spores and the poor air sac that didn't have a chance, and mortars and cannons for everything else).  I spent the rest of the time building a bunch of mortars and snipers because I saw your warning about "eggs being flung everywhere" on Discord.  I eventually figured out that there was only one egg launcher and by the 25 minute mark when it finally started up, it was a complete non-threat as it was already totally surrounded by mortars and snipers.  Ran at 4x to get the hold objective faster.

I'm sure this map presents a challenge to some players.  I look at three standard emitters (even with Creeper++) and think, "Huh.  I wonder if I can cheese this somehow?"  As a vanilla map, it was fine and the design of the base was solid.  Could make for a nice FPS or PAC map.

[MysteryMaster]

Yea, one thing i've always noticed about my maps is the difficulty is almost always too easy.

I think that's more a fault of how i play the game.
I'm not super great at the game, so all of my maps end up being 1 of 2 things:

1: too hard for me to beat, but probably not too bad for other people
2: beatable for me, but too easy for others.

It's super hard for me to make a challenging map since my own skill kinda prevents me from playtesting them.
It's why i try to make weird gimmick maps, since the difficulty from those comes from the gimmick.
I'm definitely trying to improve, but i'm not quite there yet.

As for the base design, i actually had a LOT of fun building it.
I really like making cool things with the terrain editor, pity they're usually not super good for actual gameplay.

thanks for the feedback!

[CS Z]

Pause microing helps a lot (pause, plan next move, resume, repeat every 10-15 seconds).  There were a bunch of ERNs available immediately plus all the UltraAC and solar cell starter energy.  That pretty much means miners can be ERNed (I ERNed two miners right away, which gives ~12 energy/sec in the first 30 seconds of gameplay), the top 2 and bottom 2 slots of the ERN portal can be filled (middle two aren't as important), and energy is plentiful shortly after that.  Then it's just a matter of cranking out mortars and cannons and the occasional sniper and missile and a few Terps to dig up the remaining ERNs.  I also ERN'ed a single beacon, which completely covered the dark tower.

There's also the supposed threat of incoming eggs to spur one to build out very fast.   ;)  I sacrificed my totem completion time for reaching deep into the map a lot sooner.

One other thing to keep in mind is that cannons can sit in up to 3.0 deep of creeper and they won't blow up.  They clear their immediate area and do it a lot faster than a bunch of mortars can and heal up fairly quickly.  Pair cannons with mortars and just keep cranking more out as energy permits.  Hanging around 50 deficit is not great but still okay enough to consistently move forward.  Pylons help move energy across the network much faster and keeps units better supplied.  Slapping down a Microrift about halfway across the map (or just moving the rift lab) helps shorten the distance too and keep units far from the lab from starving.