Custom Map #1741: Arc Eternal Redemption - Viscosity Engine. By: Hubs

[strigvir]

I didn't get to finish because honestly most of the latest PAC maps are just constant brushing pixel-by-pixel with no thought whatsoever. If you put PZ-beam covering the 1/3rd of the time constrained map, at least allow us to view its range so we wouldn't have to guess it with 20s spores. Putting a PZ-mortar under a PZ-beam means we can't take out a mortar by cutting it off from the energy net and the only way to get it is to brush-brush-brush. Oh, and it's not possible to see the results of brushing during a pause so we have to do it in real-time.
The beam<->spores problem isn't unique to PAC maps though, as spores are mainly a pushover in vanilla game too. If you have less than "number of spores/2" beams then you get wrecked, otherwise they do nothing. PZ-beam solves all spore problems in its massive range and that mechanic doesn't do any favour for PAC maps.
The other problem is we have to micromanage spore towers in order for them to do anything. They certainly need some automatisation in targeting non-protected buildings by their own in "free-fire" mode, instead of randomly shooting into heavy protected areas. Mortars and berthas after all autotarget the thickest creeper without the player needing to guide each their shot.
And the reason for my rant is because this map reuses the vanilla campaign map but plays nothing like a flipped version of it, unlike previous maps in the series.

[stdout]

Tell us how your really feel, strigvir!  ;D

Spores do automatically target buildings. They aren't just randomly throwing spores out there.

And you can brush digitalis while paused. You just don't see the effect until the next frame. Hit the letter "N" while paused to advance just one frame (1/30th of a second)

[TimeWeaver]

I enjoyed the map.  The creeper totally froze on me and I was stumped until I realized I could draw single pixel lines.  Slow going, but when I finally took down the tower all the lines of creeper exploded.  That was an awesome effect to watch.

I really don't understand strigvir's rants.  They seem to rail against PAC games in general and have nothing to do with this specific map.  If he doesn't like PAC, then don't play 'em.  Sheesh.

[Hubs]

strigvir, I actually agree with you on the PZ beam issue. They're so overpowered that spores become useless. As for this being a brush-brush-brush map, that's kinda what PAC maps are. Regardless, everyone has their own taste in maps and I can't please everyone :).

I enjoyed the map.  The creeper totally froze on me and I was stumped until I realized I could draw single pixel lines.  Slow going, but when I finally took down the tower all the lines of creeper exploded.  That was an awesome effect to watch.

Yeah, the frozen creeper mechanics are really cool to experiement with and create some cool effects.

[Ten_Tacles]

I really, really liked, at first I thought letting that machine do its work would certainly make that map impossible, until I realized spore towers still worked, and become a lot better at taking out turrets when the creeper doesn't move from its spot :P

[Linden]

It took me a while to get at the tower before 100%, but I did it eventually. Thanks, Hubs, for another really interesting map. I enjoyed it! :)

[Brilliand]

I liked the viscosity engine idea, but the process of breaking past the PZ mortar+PZ beam combination was terribly frustrating.  I was expecting breaking through into the right center to be pretty much impossible, but once I took out the structures on the right, the humans started having energy issues (I guess it was all the PZ collectors I destroyed back there).  I'm wishing there was some way to see the enemy's exact energy production/usage numbers in PAC maps.

Strigvir, you can increase your digitalis brush area by pressing "R" while in digitalis painting mode.  The maximum brush size isn't too bad, though I sometimes wish I could make it even larger.

[Grimeripe]

I really liked the first maps. but this one seem to require frame-by-frame buildup to cover enough of the map to be able to do anything once the creeper freezes.

After two hours I manage to take down one more cannon, and after that everything is covered by superbeams so i can't even get near another power unit.

Sorry, it started good but this one is just not fun for me.

[Zelourn]

I can't seem to figure out how to get rid of the building that slows you down. I have destroyed the first Command node and had digitalis underneath the building mostly but it would go away. the mortar spam dis allows me to place it under the entire structure. Any hints would be appreciated, cool map but irritating