Custom Map #1947: Space Creepers. By: Tyler

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This topic is for discussion of map #1947: Space Creepers


Author: Tyler
Size: 60x80

Desc:
Have you ever heard about 'Space Invaders'? Have you ever wondered about playing CW in a retro arcade mode? Or do you want to take a break from my extreme difficult puzzles? :) Then this map is made for YOU! -- INFO: This is a fun map inspired by great classic 'Space Invaders' by Tomohiro Nishikado. I hope you will enjoy it. DO NOT look at your (or other players') final time at the scoreboard. It is only for scoring reasons, one game will last about 5-10 minutes. -- #CRPL #FUN

[Tyler21]

Additional Info


1. There is a much simpler easter egg version of this game on the map titled 'The Doomsday Device'. Will you find it?
2. I have always been very bad in Space Invaders, so I am pretty sure that most of you will get higher scores than me :)



Detailed gameplay

I. Enemies
There are three types of Creeper ships: Standard, 'Shooter' and Spore ships.


Standard ships emit a very small amount of Creeper every frame, unless they are on AC (AC is yellow on this map for better distinction and visual experience). They have only 1 healthpoint so they are destroyed immediately when they are hit.


Shooters fire Creeper packets at you and have 2 healthpoints (need two hits to be destroyed). These packets are destroyed when they hit 1) a wall, 2) the ground, 3) an active shield's range or 4) your blaster's bullet. The amount of Creeper that is released after the hit depends on which of the above things is hit by the packet, and its amount is decreasing in this order: ground > wall > shield > blaster's bullet ( = zero AMT).


Spore ships spawn regular spores and have 3 healthpoints. You can only hit the spore with your standard beams.

All ships take damage while they are on AC, otherwise they slowly regenerate their health.


II. Scoring system
You receive scores for
a) destroying Creeper ships with your blaster (10/20/30 points for destroying a standard/shooter/spore ship)
b) hitting Creeper 'packets' (but not for destroying spores) (1 point)
c) for ships being destroyed by AC (5/10/15 points for standard/shooter/spore ship)


III. Energy and shields
Keep in mind that shields, beams and your blaster consume energy just like in the standard CW3.
Until the beams are ready I suggest to stop resupplying shields.
Shields also produce a small amount of AC while they are active. More AC on the ground will prolong your game.

IV. Upgrades
When you destroy a ship there is chance that it will spawn an upgrade box (but only if you destroy the ship with your blaster, being destroyed on AC field will not spawn upgrade boxes).
This chance is much bigger for shooters and spore ships than standard ones. You can collect the upgrades by hitting them (they are collectable for 15 secs. after spawn).
There are three types of upgrades:


+10 AC rockets
This upgrade boosts your shots with some AC. Multiple upgrades will stack (so if you collect 3x, your 30 next shots will be boosted).
The rocket emits AC throughout its path and emits a significant amount if it hits a ship or a wall. You can amass a large quantity of AC on the ground by hitting the bottom of the walls.


Increase fire rate
Increases your blaster's fire rate. The effect is permanent and you can collect this upgrade max. 10 times.


Increased bullet speed
Increases your bullets' speed. The effect is permament and you can collect this upgrade max. 10 times

If you already maxed out your fire rate and bullet speed, ships will only spawn the +10 AC upgrade.



Known bugs

• It can happen that you don't see the victory screen (but you see the 'game over' text and hear the 'victory' music). Don't worry in this case, your score is saved once you get the 'game over' text and you can post it to the leaderboard after you leave.
• Sometimes the bullets are not destroyed after they leave the map border. This does not influence your gameplay.

[Telanir]

I really enjoyed this map, a sophisticated port to Creeper World 3 of an entirely different game, it pushes the boundaries of what you think might be possible.

10/10

[thumbmaster]

This "map" is fantastic! It reminds me very much of the StarCraft Arcades. My son, who's never seen Space Invaders before, was totally blown away by the game play mechanics. I had to explain to him how you don't "win" in Space Invaders. You merely try to do your best to defend as long as you can until you're overrun. He was a bit saddened by that.  :(

[Grayzzur]

Awesome idea, well executed. Fun to play. Brings back the old arcade memories.

[alfanugan]

Impressive work, thanks!

[stdout]

Very nicely done.

[mzimmer74]

Brilliant adaptation for CW!  It always amazes me what people can come up with in this game. Nicely done!

[hbarudi]

How does the scoring work?
The list is the most unusual of any map.
The time they did it was at 155:20:40.5 exactly how long is that? Wait, everyone has that as their time?!
My time is (77:40:20) but I didn't play for long, I used the 4x speed until the creeper flooded my area and send my CN's to orbit.
So exactly how long is my time?
How does the scoring change to longest time is better when it is usually the opposite?
My score is 3573, which makes me 70th place on scores, the time arrangement shows 36th place for me
Also what does 19883:46:40.0 as my status mean?
Any explanation for the scoring?

[Tyler21]

How does the scoring work?
The list is the most unusual of any map.
The time they did it was at 155:20:40.5 exactly how long is that? Wait, everyone has that as their time?!
My time is (77:40:20) but I didn't play for long, I used the 4x speed until the creeper flooded my area and send my CN's to orbit.
So exactly how long is my time?
How does the scoring change to longest time is better when it is usually the opposite?
My score is 3573, which makes me 70th place on scores, the time arrangement shows 36th place for me
Also what does 19883:46:40.0 as my status mean?
Any explanation for the scoring?

Simply ignore times and sort by score. Your score is exactly the same that you achieved in the game.
If you sort by times you get the order of completion (because times are the same) but these are not important.

The explanation
CW3 has an inverse scoring system: the later you finish a map the less score you receive. The next thing is that score is not a linear function of time, so the decrease in score per frame becomes smaller as you play further and it's quite complicated to calculate completion times from the standard scores.
So there was no other way for custom scoring but to set the regular score to 0 and add an additional score of x that is exactly the same that you earn by shooting enemy ships.

In order to set the regular score to 0 the script modifies every player's completion time to the maximum possible time (= 0 score) right before winning the map. I did not know that the score is 0 already for the frame 2²⁴-1 (16,777,215 frames that is equal to 155 hours, 20 minutes and 40.5 seconds), so I have set it to ~2³¹-1 (this is roughly 19883 hours, etc, and this is the maximum integer that is applied in CW3 elsewhere, for instance for creeper levels. Whenever creeper level reaches ~2,147.5, it turns to AC, and this is actually a strategy for some really difficult and puzzling maps). This value, 19883... is reflected in your status but the scoreboard rounds it down to 155... (for which the regular score would be 0).

But where did you see 77:40:20 as your time? I see 155:20:40.5 on the scoreboard as for everyone else.