Custom Map #449: Armies. By: l2edl3aron

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This topic is for discussion of map #449: Armies


Author: l2edl3aron
Size: 255x153

Desc:
Difficult but doable. Requires some cunning.

[RrR]

Vicious. Occasional spores are creeper but not targeted by the beam. As if this planet wasn't difficult enough already.

[ea3401]

I killed the spore tower at the beginning. You can do without anticreeper spores.

[Tyler21]

There is something wrong with the spore tower on the South.

Isn't it an AC spore tower?
It always emits regular spores despite the fact that its color is grey and the notification message mentions -1,800 payload...

EDIT: sorry, I was wrong, this happens only occasionally, not always

[D0m0nik]

Just found l2edl3aron's maps thanks to Tylers list of the most challenging maps, wow, this looks like the easiest and boy was it tough. Great map though.

[RrR]

Tried this map again with a new tactic and, eventually won.

The AC spore tower is a vanilla unit, but will occasionally send two spores to the same target. That dumps -3600 AC which causes integer overflow and converts into a large amount (~1200) creeper. The best (perhaps only) strategy is to

Spoiler

nullify the spore tower before it causes problems. Conveniently this gives a PZ for a reactor.

[close]

[D0m0nik]

Exactly what I did RrR, after that it took a while but was actually quite straight forward, basic energy management.

The other maps are not all so straight forward, U283 and Pool have both got me stuck at the mo!

[Tyler21]

Tried this map again with a new tactic and, eventually won.

The AC spore tower is a vanilla unit, but will occasionally send two spores to the same target. That dumps -3600 AC which causes integer overflow and converts into a large amount (~1200) creeper. The best (perhaps only) strategy is to

Spoiler

nullify the spore tower before it causes problems. Conveniently this gives a PZ for a reactor.

[close]

Thanks for the clarification, that makes much more sense now.

Spoiler

However, I decided not to nullify that tower, and I found it quite helpful in the late game (as your total unit number is high, there is only a very small chance that two AC spores will hit the same area)

[close]

Exactly what I did RrR, after that it took a while but was actually quite straight forward, basic energy management.

The other maps are not all so straight forward, U283 and Pool have both got me stuck at the mo!

I believe that Pool is the most difficult non-CRPL map I have ever played. Unlike in 3P's masterpiece trilogy (Rocket, Pocket, Racquet), where you can eventually make minor gradual steps towards victory, in Pool you have to optimize everything right from the beginning. As there is a long delay between your actions (setting up the base) and the 'feedback' (how efficient your base will do against the creeper), usually you have to start from scratch when things go bad (the same holds for U283). This action-feedback gap is what makes this kind of maps terribly difficult and that's why they require a high level of expertise.