Custom Map #3302: Enemy Within. By: Sun YuDai

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This topic is for discussion of map #3302: Enemy Within


Author: Sun YuDai
Size: 210x210

Desc:
I like castle maps, and so I wanted to play with the concept of having enemies both inside of and outside of the castle. I also wanted t obuild a map that required the player to completely surround the creeper before being able to deal with it, this delivered. Note the nullifiers are in the four outer corners, but they would be way easier to get to if you weren't defending against the enemy within.

[sunyudai]

Gah, I hate when I see typos in the description only after posting. Also had trouble with the description box when uploading, it failed to scroll with the text and I started typing outside of the visible part of the textbox.

Fair warning, this one has a tricky start. You effectively need to secure the entire castle, from both inside and out, before moving on to the offensive, and you don't have much time to do it.

Anywho, some strategy thoughts:

Spoiler

So, the way I think of it, there are 10 enemy controlled areas:

The four corners: NE, NW, SE, SW.
The four sides: N, S, E, W.
Two inside zones: The outer ring with all the digitalis, and the inner ring with all the spawners.

Three general approaches are:
- lock down a corner first, to get the nullifiers. Work your way radially around the outside and only tackle the center when the outer ring is complete (Using a few mortars to keep it under control). This is by far the most difficult of the approaches, but it does make for the fastest playtime if you can pull it off. If you take the corner quickly enough but leave the AC emitter, the crawlies get to the outer ring and can mess with your economy, you need the snipers to push them back.
- Lock down a side first to get the reactors and berthas, then work your way around radially. This was the slowest approach, the Berthas honestly just don't help as much as you'd expect with this map. Honestly I wound up taking the side to get the drops, then abandoning it for a different side. Viable, but slow.
- Lock down the center first, then work your way outward. This was almost as slow as taking the sides, but I was able to remove enough guns after locking down the center in order to keep my economy green so that when I moved onto the sides and started making my way around, I was able to keep them. This was much safer than starting in the corners, but obviously takes  bit longer to pull off. This is the approach used for setting the par time, starting in the corner shaved ~20 minutes of game time but also took be five or six resets to pull off.

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[chwooly]

How does anyone find these types of maps enjoyable?

If you don't start exactly perfect (requiring 10-15 restarts)and pause every 5 seconds to make moves you can't get anywhere. Then of course someone will post a ridiculous win time that they got by pausing the required 5 seconds and in reality it will have taken them 4 hours to actually beat the map.

[D0m0nik]

Chwooly - Different people like different things, it is what makes us unique!

Also just because you don't like a particular map remember that the map maker still put in a lot of time and effort and the least you can do is be polite about it.

And yes you are right, a lot of pausing is needed, it took me one restart and one hour to get a 12 min time. I personaly love this type of map as I like to be fighting on many fronts at the same time, on this map you are litteraly under attack form every side and it makes for a good challenge.

[chwooly]

Chwooly - Different people like different things, it is what makes us unique!

Also just because you don't like a particular map remember that the map maker still put in a lot of time and effort and the least you can do is be polite about it.

And yes you are right, a lot of pausing is needed, it took me one restart and one hour to get a 12 min time. I personaly love this type of map as I like to be fighting on many fronts at the same time, on this map you are litteraly under attack form every side and it makes for a good challenge.

I must have misread something, I don't find what I said to be impolite, I was just asking how anyone can like these maps. I appreciate all the hard work and long hours put in to make these maps and I wish that I was able to find the pleasure in them that you and others get from them. I have tried many times and they just don't fit my style of play or what I expect. Anyway if anyone else finds what I have written impolite or rude then I apologize. It was not my intent.

Cheers ;D

[Cavemaniac]

Teknotiss is gonna love this map - it's like one of his castle maps, but on an acid trip!

I love OCD castle maps!

[D0m0nik]

Sorry Chwooly, I did indeed misread a tone that was not there. Very sorry.

[Tjgalon]

I think the only think I dislike it locating tec I miss after I finally start washing over them, with my power, lol.

[jaworeq]

Main difficulty of this map is initial setup (made easier by energy packs) and getting that first nullifier tech with only 1-2 totems to get upgrades. Once you nullify first emitters, it's really just a clean-up of big size map.

[sunyudai]

Main difficulty of this map is initial setup (made easier by energy packs) and getting that first nullifier tech with only 1-2 totems to get upgrades. Once you nullify first emitters, it's really just a clean-up of big size map.

Mostly true, although I suually get all 8 totems in the center before even trying for the nullifiers.

How does anyone find these types of maps enjoyable? (...)

I hear the complaint, and this was admittedly more of a trying out of a concept than designing a full game-play experience.

Still, I like complex maps with a lot of variety in needed strategy. I didn't find the start as heard a you describe (But then again,  I designed it...)

Teknotiss is gonna love this map - it's like one of his castle maps, but on an acid trip!

I love OCD castle maps!

Thank you! that was a higher compliment than I expected from this particular endeavor.

[toolforger]

Well, tricky start is pretty true. I don't like this kind of map but I can see that this is more a matter of personal taste.

Downsides:
- Having lots of tech that give small amounts each means a lot of annoyingly repetitive "oh you got a new tech" message boxes.
- No need for snipers or berthas that you cannot reach unless you already have enough mortars and cannons to keep the creeper away from pretty any spot on the map that you want.
- Limiting relays to a large number means that it doesn't make any difference early on, and becomes boring bookkeeping about relay setup and teardown in the endgame. (I had a single-relay line in the moat and a double row of collectors, so I didn't need that many relays or collectors actually; reactors were enough to power the mortars to a fully sufficient level.)