Custom Map #1895: Spiral Takeback. By: stdout

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Thanks tek :)

D0m0nik the process for making a PlayAsCreeper map is actually quite streamlined and very easy to do now. Just follow the instructions on this page: http://knucklecracker.com/forums/index.php?topic=17638.0 I'd love to see a map from you!

warren: go to Colonial Space and sort by rating. 18 out of 21 of the highest rated maps in CS are PlayAsCreeper. I think that says something about their popularity.

[Xeos]

I stopped making maps because my imagination is limited by my noob coding skills. My ideas exceed my capability in this area so I get frustrated with it :( I know there is lots of excellent help here, but I want to do it myself and not bother people.

Now commenting on this map, have I mentioned Stdout that I HATE berthas.. ( I think I have :P ) and this map is technical and interesting as it is but the constant attacks by the berthas kills my enjoyment so I get to a point when I say, that's it and stop playing the map and don't go back to it. It's a shame as if this didn't have berthas, I would have really enjoyed it.. Maybe it's just me as some people like them.

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I've heard a lot about the berthas and I agree that sure do add an element of frustration. You're doing something and it's going great and suddenly SLAM a bertha knocks out all your area. Then 30 seconds later the same thing happens. But it adds an element of difficulty that is hard to get otherwise.  One way of dealing with that is to leave an emitter elsewhere on build-up mode. It releases 400 C every 10 seconds I believe and the berthas will often target that area instead of your main work area.

I find PZ enabled mortars to be my biggest nemesis. They kill all your creeper AND prevent any digitalis growth from the emitter. Ugh.

Well, I'm going to be making more maps. Maybe I'll make a few without berthas and see if I can still make them fun and challenging without being too easy.

[RrR]

One way to neutralise the berthas is to

Spoiler

fire a spore at one of the one-pixel islands. Berthas cannot resist the deep creeper. Only a useful tactic if you either have spore towers to spare or some are too close to beams to be useful

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[strigvir]

Now commenting on this map, have I mentioned Stdout that I HATE berthas.. ( I think I have :P ) and this map is technical and interesting as it is but the constant attacks by the berthas kills my enjoyment so I get to a point when I say, that's it and stop playing the map and don't go back to it.

Berthas are quite close to the initial start so they aren't big of a deal.

I've heard a lot about the berthas and I agree that sure do add an element of frustration. You're doing something and it's going great and suddenly SLAM a bertha knocks out all your area. Then 30 seconds later the same thing happens. But it adds an element of difficulty that is hard to get otherwise.  One way of dealing with that is to leave an emitter elsewhere on build-up mode. It releases 400 C every 10 seconds I believe and the berthas will often target that area instead of your main work area.

The main problem with berthas is they operate automatically while the player has to micromaganage a lot in order to "trick" them. And they don't get a notification before the attack, akin to spore shots in normal game.

I find PZ enabled mortars to be my biggest nemesis. They kill all your creeper AND prevent any digitalis growth from the emitter. Ugh.

They tend to attack all creeper in vicinity, which is the weakness. If you surround them they will spread their attacks all over the place while the digitalis out-expands the shots.

Well, I'm going to be making more maps. Maybe I'll make a few without berthas and see if I can still make them fun and challenging without being too easy.

I have yet to see maps where berthas add any difficulty whatsoever instead of frustration.

[Xeos]

One way to neutralise the berthas is to

Spoiler

fire a spore at one of the one-pixel islands. Berthas cannot resist the deep creeper. Only a useful tactic if you either have spore towers to spare or some are too close to beams to be useful

[close]

That's a great tip thanks :) Makes them redundant to a point so map makers shouldnt bother putting them in anymore   ;D

[speef]

Fun map. The big huge "this is impossible" map with progressive weak points was a fun concept.

Spoiler

It's possible that the relay you nuke at the beginning and the collector you nuke to wipe out power generation are TOO weak. ;)

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I actually wound up starting over once on this map, which is unusual for me (outside of pastor healer maps, anyway).

[StarShawn]

first time playing as creeper and I'm loving it. haven't beaten this map though. I keep getting stuck after I expand to second spiral

[mzimmer74]

first time playing as creeper and I'm loving it. haven't beaten this map though. I keep getting stuck after I expand to second spiral

I would HIGHLY recommend starting with PAC maps on a MUCH easier map.  This one is quite difficult to figure out and you'll want to be much more familiar with the tactics of PAC maps.  Go to the thread http://knucklecracker.com/forums/index.php?topic=17788.0 and you'll see the various PAC maps with their "estimated" difficulty level.  That should help you get started on them and be able to learn the basics.  They really are a LOT of fun.

[Loren Pechtel]

first time playing as creeper and I'm loving it. haven't beaten this map though. I keep getting stuck after I expand to second spiral

This isn't where you should start playing PAC maps.

By the time you have the second spiral there are plenty of weak points to dump a coordinated spore storm on.

[StarShawn]

first time playing as creeper and I'm loving it. haven't beaten this map though. I keep getting stuck after I expand to second spiral

This isn't where you should start playing PAC maps.

By the time you have the second spiral there are plenty of weak points to dump a coordinated spore storm on.

yeah I started playing the other maps by stdout (love them all) and beaten them. this is now my final one
I shall rid this spiral of human soon.

[Helper]

warren: go to Colonial Space and sort by rating. 18 out of 21 of the highest rated maps in CS are PlayAsCreeper. I think that says something about their popularity.

What inference are you drawing from the ratings?
Only about one out of six people who download these PAC's can post a score, and fewer than that bother to rate them.
From the comments posted, it appears as though a very loyal hard core of players love these and rate them very highly - but the results may be skewed because of that.
I like to download and look at them - several makers have done some terrific graphics work - but have only found a couple worth the time to play.
H

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The map that has the most submitted scores is #197 (Tri-World, a regular map) where 715 players submitted a score. #2 is a PlayAsCreeper map which had 682 scores submitted. There are several other PAC maps in the top 10 most scores submitted.

It's not just a small band of loyal players driving ratings up on these maps. They are popular with a huge number of CW3 players. I'm not offended but when someone says an incorrect statement, saying that PAC maps are only for "a limited few" then I think that needs to be corrected.

[J]

PAC maps got a massive popularity boost because they introduced something that many people wanted: play as the creeper against Abraxis, just like the story missions were new when you got the game.
Looking at the steam stats, 85.4% of the players completed Tempus and 48% completed Meso. How many of the 44.1% of the players that entered CS started playing a PAC map? How many continued playing them?

[warren]

I think the #PAC tag pushes up the ratings slightly. For those who don't like PAC, they immediately know to skip the map and consequently don't rate it. The limited few I was referring to is specifically #PAC fans who happen to also be mapmakers. I also believe that the non PAC audience may be larger, but get fewer plays per map as there are way more non PAC maps.