3P Maps

[TLMike]

An interesting if unfortunate problem. Still: these towers are excellent.

[asmussen]

Okay, I have a theory.  Apparently strafers and bombers have the same bug as guppies; they return CONST_ISLANDED=TRUE even while in flight.  (I've updated my bug report.)  So my tower mistakes the strafer for a ground unit.  Because it thinks it's a ground unit, it attempts to check line-of-sight.  This results in invalid coordinates being fed into an IsTerrainLOS call, which skips them and grabs the previous item on the stack instead--which is unfortunately a Do Loop's counter.

You can resume your game by selecting the strafer and destroying it.  This problem will go away after Virgil fixes the bug in CONST_ISLANDED.

That's ok. I restored from an earlier saved game and finished the map already. It was a good map!

[knucracker]

One problem is that the LOS function isn't range checked... I've just added that to the CRPL function.  In this map it would cause an exception every game loop, hence the apparent lockup.  The game shouldn't ever generate an exception based on anything that happens in CRPL, so that's one thing fixed.

As for the state of ISLANDED... I've received a few reports about this and the flying units.  So I will take a look at this.  The confusion probably comes from there being both a Strafer and a StraferPad and that Strafers internally derived from a different base class than other units (like mortars).  Strafers (and a few other) are "Flying" units, not to be confused with "Movable" units like Mortars.  I probably just need a little more logic to handle them with regards to this particular attribute.

[Grauniad]

There is actually a clear difference between a airborne unit being in the air and a terrain-based unit being in the air...  One is offensive and has capabilities, the other is passive and can't *do* anything in that mode.

[ThirdParty]

I've issued a maintenance release of Beqaa and Reticle.  This release is recommended for all users.

Changelog:
- Guppies, strafers, and bombers are now targeted more-or-less correctly.  (I realized that I could identify flying units by checking to see whether they were aligned with the grid.)
- Added a beam sound.
- Modified the intro texts to make the "line of sight" restriction more explicit.
- Rangefinder popup now also displays when the game first loads.

The confusion probably comes from there being both a Strafer and a StraferPad and that Strafers internally derived from a different base class than other units (like mortars).  Strafers (and a few other) are "Flying" units, not to be confused with "Movable" units like Mortars.  I probably just need a little more logic to handle them with regards to this particular attribute.

Sounds plausible.

By the way, I don't know if you saw my other bug report, but StraferPads have unit type "STRAFER" and Strafers themselves have unit type "".  Ditto for the other flying units.  Runners also have unit type "", which is very awkward.  It would be nice if the type names were more rational.

There is actually a clear difference between a airborne unit being in the air and a terrain-based unit being in the air...  One is offensive and has capabilities, the other is passive and can't *do* anything in that mode.

Fair enough.  I don't care if Virgil uses the ISLANDED attribute or a different one, just so long as he gives us some way to distinguish airborne units that are sitting on their launchpads (or, in the case of guppies, at their destinations) from airborne units that are airborne.

[ThirdParty]

Presenting: 3P Khyber (download)

Special Feature: Corrupted Collectors which prevent ground units from coming into range, forcing you to attack enemy emitters from behind and in a strange order  The enemy also grows gradually stronger as you progress, to keep it from being a total pushover at the end.  (Though you're definitely growing stronger faster than it is; the hardest assault is the first one.)

Gameplay: The map is long (it took me about 1 hour and 45 minutes to win, playing leisurely while listening to music) but not especially difficult, with enemy emitters and spore towers set very low, and no digitalis threat; it's for those who enjoy making steady progress and securing large, oddly-shaped frontiers (as opposed to people who are looking for survival challenges or assault puzzles).  This wasn't really the map I set out to make--my initial concept for the Corrupted Collectors worked on a small scale but then lagged when used on a large scale, so I had to change my plans at the last minute--but I think it's fun in its way.

Geology: The natural history of 3P Khyber involves a mountain range attempting to rise up directly in the path of a river.  The river holds it down for a bit, eventually loses the struggle, shifts to a more northern course, and then the cycle repeats.  You can see the outlines of some of the abandoned riverbeds, now positioned at fairly high altitudes.  I think this erosion-based terrain makes an interesting contrast to the gravity-based terrain of 3P Hawai'i (recall the seamounts created by underwater landslides) and the tectonics-based terrain of 3P Beqaa (it was subtle, but the two mountain ranges were actually one mountain range getting ripped apart).  I don't know whether anyone other than me cares about realistic terrain or can even tell the difference between this sort of thing and the fractal generator, but I think it adds a certain something.

[TLMike]

As usual, sir, your maps are mildly amazing. Well done.

[Ceraus]

While it was a straightforward map, I liked Hawai'i terrain and gimmick. Having the option of "digging down" in the ocean to get more room, Aether or a better front is interesting; same for the optional "missile range" (which I went for). It's scary to visualize the incoming Creeper wave as a tsunami.

Khyber's corrupted Collectors were well used. The reason why I usually dislike such large maps is that they tend to repeat themselves or have uninteresting areas. But this map's clear, linear goals made it all good, and it was fun to prepare for the massive Creeper wave the Collectors would unleash upon destruction.

Also, I do appreciate well-thought terrain; throughout the map, I felt I was traversing actual mountain ranges and river beds. In retrospect, however, I wish I had not forgotten Terps existed during this map.

Now, those dreaded corrupted Beams.

I started with the normal-looking Beqaa. The extra Energy down in the Creeper lake was a nice touch. Establishing defenses wasn't too bad, but I had a hard time pushing against the combined enemy forces in the corners and didn't score as well as I could have. Those enemy Beams are evil!

Reticle went much better, though, and I felt the difficulty was balanced just right. I used a suicidal approach to the central Beam, having Cannons dying left and right while a farther Terp raised a wall in front of itself. I wish I'd tried the wall tactic sooner, though, say during Beqaa.

[ThirdParty]

3P Natlan (Download)



Gameplay: tech is pretty heavily restricted; in particular, you have neither Terps nor Reactors, so every inch of territory wrested away from the creeper feels like an important victory.  In addition to territory, there are also various other minor objectives you can go for: picking up bits of aether, disconnecting sections of digitalis, getting mortars into improved positions, managing to connect an ore mine, etc.  (The map is less linear than my previous maps; at any given moment, there are a number of options for how to proceed.)  Meanwhile, creeper and spores tend to make inroads against any areas you fail to pay attention to.  So the map lends itself to very strategic, positional play.  I think it's my most fun map yet.  (Albeit probably the least innovative--there's almost no special scripting.)  Difficulty similar to my previous maps (and playstyle somewhat reminiscent of 3P Hawai'i, insofar as you're trying to reclaim land from the sea); it took me about an hour of game time to win.

Geology: although 3P Natlan is superficially similar in appearance to 3P Hawai'i, it has very different geology.  3P Hawai'i involved a moving volcanic hotspot in the middle of a plate, creating mountains which then slid sideways into the sea.  3P Natlan is a mid-oceanic ridge caused by two continents (just barely visible along the edges of the map) pulling apart, creating an entire line of volcanoes; the mountains then don't just slide into the sea but are tectonically ripped apart.  (I felt a little silly doing a ridge when they're so plentiful in the DMD, but it was a structure which I hadn't done yet and which seemed to fit the gameplay concept that I had in mind.)

[Clean0nion]

ThirdParty, I intend to use a chunk of your code from Khyber for one of my own maps entitled "Skarsgard World". I'll be modifying it. If you don't respond to this I'll assumer your response will be "Yep, sure, but give plenty of credit." Thanks in advance if this is your response. If you don't want me to use your code, just say, and I won't.

Obviously my map won't be as good as yours, it's messy and badly-structured in comparison.

Update

I ended up using none of your code or images and remade all of it myself. I did, however, use your concepts and the colour of the corrupted soylent. I also added some digitalis. I've sent you a PM containing the start of my map.

[close]

[ThirdParty]

Of course you can use anything you want.  We'll end up all having more fun in the long run if we build off one another's ideas and scripts than if we each just go in his own direction.

[Clean0nion]

Of course you can use anything you want.  We'll end up all having more fun in the long run if we build off one another's ideas and scripts than if we each just go in his own direction.

Thanks muchly. You still get credit though,

[ThirdParty]

3P Nihon (download)

This is a somewhat playful map.  It's not particularly hard--the startup is potentially a bit rough, but once you get your base established there aren't really any major threats to it--but you're a bit cramped for space, and every time you nullify an emitter, something bad happens.  So you get to experience various funny disasters that don't normally happen, and see what they do to your base.  My time to win was about 40 minutes, so this is a bit shorter than my other maps.

[eduran]

...the startup is potentially a bit rough...

I found it to be impossible. No idea how I am supposed to survive for more than 5 minutes.

[TLMike]

I found it to be impossible. No idea how I am supposed to survive for more than 5 minutes.

Witchcraft.