Custom Map: Nice Job 3: The Farmer

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This topic is for discussion of map: Nice Job 3: The Farmer


Author: UpperKEES

Desc:
You'll be under attack from all sides. Don't advance too fast or too slowly. Positioning of weapons and choice of upgrades will make a difference.

[UpperKEES]

Title:	Nice Job 3: The Farmer
Difficulty:	Medium
Creeper type:	Land & Air
Remarks:	You'll be under attack from all sides. Don't advance too fast or too slowly. Positioning of weapons and choice of upgrades will make a difference.
Description:	You are a farmer in the dry lands of Africa. Today you have some trouble with your irrigation system, donated by the United Nations. Unfortunately you are located in its water basin. Your job: quickly power all water pumps and save your family working on the plains. And oh, don't forget about the swarms of grasshoppers; your family is rather allergic to them. Better use some insecticides.
Download page:	Nice Job 3: The Farmer
Full size screen shot:
More maps:	Apply here for another job ;)

[UpperKEES]

Spoiler

Positioning of weapons and choice of upgrades will make a difference.

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I like to repeat the above hint, as this map is definitely 'hard' if you make the wrong choices. I've already posted this in my custom map thread, but I'm not sure if people will look there now the new comment system is in place.

[pasqualz]

Hey, Upperkeys, I don't know if you saw, but I finally finished the developer! It took quite a few more tries but I did it. Unfortunately, I've tried the farmer over 75 times and I still can't get to a point where I can keep the creeper from flooding into the central area where OC is. Forget about even having time or energy to build a single SAM!!! Please help. And please be more descriptive than just saying "Positioning of weapons and choice of upgrades will make a difference." Give me your first four moves and I'll see if I can get teh rest from there. Thanks!

[UpperKEES]

Hey, Upperkeys, I don't know if you saw, but I finally finished the developer! It took quite a few more tries but I did it.

Yeah, I noticed! I like it that you really go for the challenges and don't mind a few tries, even for very hard maps. :)

Unfortunately, I've tried the farmer over 75 times and I still can't get to a point where I can keep the creeper from flooding into the central area where OC is. Forget about even having time or energy to build a single SAM!!! Please help. And please be more descriptive than just saying "Positioning of weapons and choice of upgrades will make a difference." Give me your first four moves and I'll see if I can get teh rest from there. Thanks!

Spoiler

I go for 3 upgrades & techs before the walls break (for sure the blasters & SAMs). Initially I only build collectors, so my first 4 moves are pretty clear. I think I moved the city slightly to save building 1 collector.

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What upgrades do you choose? And how many blasters do you build? And where do you put them?

I think I should have rated this map 'Hard' instead of 'Medium', because it's pretty tough without the right upgrades and positioning of your blasters.

[pasqualz]

I usually try moving OC to the left so that it's right next to one of the artifacts. I then start building collectors down to the blaster and up to the SAM. By the time I have th eblaster, I create 2 blasters, one close to the emitter that's to the left of the blaster section and one close to the emitter that's to the left of teh SAM section. By this time, i'm usually less than a minute from the creeper breaking through. I then build a blaster to the right of OC to try and protect it from incoming creeper. By this time I have about 50 seconds to build a SAM, but I never get it built, an in fact, I've never witnessed the first incoming spore attack, because once the creeper breaks througjh the walls, my 3 blasters can't stop it. I usually start a connector chain heading for the reactor upgrade, but I usually don't get to it, or if I do, I don't have enough energy to build a reactor, or I run out of time and the creeper overwhelms me. I sens I'm missing some simple maneuver or setup that can hold off the creeper for longer than my configuration does. Please help!

By the way - my first upgrade is usually build faster, then 10% more energy, then move faster. that's pretty much what I do on every map.

[UpperKEES]

Okay, you'll have to do things differently. About everything. ;)

I usually try moving OC to the left so that it's right next to one of the artifacts. I then start building collectors down to the blaster and up to the SAM. By the time I have th eblaster, I create 2 blasters, one close to the emitter that's to the left of the blaster section and one close to the emitter that's to the left of teh SAM section. By this time, i'm usually less than a minute from the creeper breaking through. I then build a blaster to the right of OC to try and protect it from incoming creeper. By this time I have about 50 seconds to build a SAM, but I never get it built, an in fact, I've never witnessed the first incoming spore attack, because once the creeper breaks througjh the walls, my 3 blasters can't stop it.

Spoiler

First of all it's important to know that a blaster is much more efficient in confined spaces. Once the creeper spreads out, it will be hard to control. This mean you better attack it in the irrigation canals. At first glance you would probably say you would need 6 blasters for that....

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Spoiler

Secondly I recommend you to first build as much energy as possible (for any map) and only build your weapons when they are really needed (preferably ready in the last second). You might want to time it to get it right. Without upgrades (and deficit!) a blaster will take 25 seconds to be built, plus a few seconds to get charged. The advantage of generating more energy first, is that you can use this energy to create even more energy (it grows exponentially).

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I usually start a connector chain heading for the reactor upgrade, but I usually don't get to it, or if I do, I don't have enough energy to build a reactor, or I run out of time and the creeper overwhelms me. I sens I'm missing some simple maneuver or setup that can hold off the creeper for longer than my configuration does. Please help!

Spoiler

Maybe nice to know that I completed this map myself without building any reactor. ;)

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By the way - my first upgrade is usually build faster, then 10% more energy, then move faster. that's pretty much what I do on every map.

Spoiler

I would never pick the build 20% faster upgrade as my first one, especially during the first minutes of the game. You still have little energy, so you can't build much faster anyway (it also costs 20% more energy to build 20% faster). My first choice is almost always -10% building costs. This will gain you more energy than the +10% energy upgrade in the early stage of the game, which is often my second choice. Have a look here to read a little more about these upgrades. Regarding the last upgrade to pick before the walls break: please read back my first paragraph of this post now you have all this new info.... :)

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[pasqualz]

Finally! Even with the hints and tips it took me about a dozen more tries! I would get the creeper under control, but then a spore would alwaysd seem to get through and crash right where a crucial connector was! I'm glad I persisted! Thanks!

[UpperKEES]

Spoiler

Yeah, you need about 4-5 SAMs to be safe.

[close]

I'm glad you made it. :)

[ctuna]

With all the hints, tips, and map editor, I managed to get 4 techs and upgrades (all the upper ones and the blaster), build 4 blasters and 2 SAMs before the first spore wave. Only collectors were necessary to stay just ahead of the energy loss. After the first spores, adding reactors and speed, plus an occasional extra SAM, made safety a non-issue. I may be able to shave some time off with better multi-tasking or doubling up on reactors. Thanks for the help, everyone.

[csr]

Definitely a hard map.... until you figure it out, then it is easy. So I suppose Medium would be an appropriate rating :P. Glad I could do it without consulting the hints 8). Gave me a sense of accomplishment.
Like the rest of your maps, always take me a few tries (or more) before I can win.
Nice Job!

[UpperKEES]

With all the hints, tips, and map editor, I managed to get 4 techs and upgrades (all the upper ones and the blaster), build 4 blasters and 2 SAMs before the first spore wave. Only collectors were necessary to stay just ahead of the energy loss. After the first spores, adding reactors and speed, plus an occasional extra SAM, made safety a non-issue. I may be able to shave some time off with better multi-tasking or doubling up on reactors.

Thanks, that could be great tips for others. :)

Thanks for the help, everyone.

You're welcome.

Definitely a hard map.... until you figure it out, then it is easy. So I suppose Medium would be an appropriate rating :P.

I'm glad I 'calculated' the appropriate average. ;D

Glad I could do it without consulting the hints 8). Gave me a sense of accomplishment.
Like the rest of your maps, always take me a few tries (or more) before I can win.
Nice Job!

Yeah, I know that feels pretty good. On the other hand it's always nice to know that the hints will be there if you need them. Thanks for playing!

[thepenguin]

I'm not able to get this one (yet)  :D

[UpperKEES]

Looking at your scores for my other maps you should be able to after reading the tips above. Just do'nt try too much at the same time and think about your blaster placement and use of upgrades; that's the key.

[kropernic]

Yeah !!! I'm first XD