Custom Map: Hard Art 6: The Screams

[UpperKEES]

What I do is:

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- First I build my collectors to the north, picking up the upgrades on the way. I leave a spot open in the middle to be able to move OC a little.

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- After building about 7 collectors I build 1 blaster at the end of the bridge to stop the creeper flowing in from the top.

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- Then I expand my collectors to the bodies of the screaming men. When these are finished and almost all available surface is covered I start building a blaster on each of the men. I don't put it very close to the creeper, because I only want it to fire when the creeper has flooded the left and right and tries to flow over these two people, thus saving energy.

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- Now you can start adding reactors. I would at least collect 10 per second and also add some storage for your drones and paratroopers before going anywhere.

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- In the meanwhile keep an eye on the creeper to the left and right of the bridge. Hover your mouse pointer over the creeper to know its exact level. When it's about 3.5 start building a mortar (or 2) or 2 drones. The bridge is elevation level 4 and you don't want the creeper to get in.

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- The only remaining danger left for now are the screams. Make sure you add some blasters to the bottom of the head of the left person at the 6 minute mark (the arms are great for this, because from there you can fire directly into the mouth). You can move these blasters to the right later on to handle the next scream.

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Let me know if you can keep your defences closed now. Conquering the rest of the map is another story.... ;)

[SPIFFEN]

Lol think i have manage to build up some defence now ,
but thats in the same time as you finnish the map =P
Well i hope i manage to finnish the map atleast =)

Edit : i finnished it =) last score so far =P
Took me about 35 min before i noticed how easy it was to cap the emitters =P
Guess i got scared by the opening text =)

[UpperKEES]

i finnished it =) last score so far =P

:) I knew you would be able to do it!

Took me about 35 min before i noticed how easy it was to cap the emitters =P

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Yeah, 1 blaster is enough, but 2 is better so they don't get damaged after the emitter increases.

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Guess i got scared by the opening text =)

I only said you would probably need a couple of tries. Wasn't I right? :P

[SPIFFEN]

After i manage to get the start right , i did it .
But i think i used about 30 tryes first =P
I easyly overbuild , and i did overbuild after i got the start too =P

Here's an pic of my start when i manage to stay safe =P :

[UpperKEES]

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The main difference between our approaches is that I built less weapons and more collectors and reactors in the beginning. Before you start building reactors you should always build collectors wherever you can, because these are much more cost efficient. Two mortars should be enough and you can move the blasters needed to handle the screams, so that would also save some time and energy.

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Anyway, just finished it and that's what counts! :)

Just wondering: which upgrade didn't you pick? +15% fire rate I guess?

[SPIFFEN]

Yeah i dropped the fire upgrade , might be the reason i didnt manage the map before ,
when i selected all the upgrades =P
And i thought i needed alot of fire power on the top of the bridge ,
but it'snt needed if you manage to stay safe =P

[Sqaz]

Your collector placement is kinda strange, why are they so close to eachother instead of covering as much terrain as possible.

[UpperKEES]

Yeah i dropped the fire upgrade , might be the reason i didnt manage the map before ,
when i selected all the upgrades =P

Building up your energy supply efficiently is the most important thing (for any map) and I'm sure that was your problem here as well.

And i thought i needed alot of fire power on the top of the bridge ,
but it'snt needed if you manage to stay safe =P

Correct.

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The blaster at the top gets distracted when the creeper starts flowing over the edges of the bridge, so better take care of that with mortars or drones.

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Your collector placement is kinda strange, why are they so close to eachother instead of covering as much terrain as possible.

Yeah, minimal overlap is best, so it really pays off to think about to collector layout and make the supply lines more straight by placing other units (like reactors or speed nodes) in between them later on.

[SPIFFEN]

Because i did'nt pay any attention to it ,
i just wanted to be abel to stay safe .
But it's an nice hint for others to do better than me =)
( I did waste alot of time rearenging my collectores later =P )

[UpperKEES]

Yeah, finding the appropriate balance between staying safe (building up defences just in time) and generating as much energy as possible (after estimating how much you will need to finish) is one of the hardest things for most maps. Do it right and you have found the key to the highscore.

[DethbyIT]

That was a great 2+hours!
I think I made every mistake possible, but still managed to bulldog through.

Definitely one to re-play at some point - but not until my eyeballs aren't quite so red :))

uK - thanks for the entertainment - good stuff!

dbit