Custom Map #3372: Tribute. By: Pusillanimous

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This topic is for discussion of map #3372: Tribute


Author: Pusillanimous
Size: 128x84

Desc:
A tribute to a book series that, it seems, survived the first Creeper Wars, and then for long enough for Lia to read it. (Author b'day) Lia and Skars have gone to watch another struggle against an inexorable, all-deouring enemy. Sadly, Skars set the Arc wrong, and they end up in a Creeperian analogue of the world they wanted. When terror rains out of the east, the people of this world must rediscover the technologies of the past. Full points to anyone who recognises the map without reading the dialogue

[GoodMorning]

For anyone who wondered:

The author of the Pern saga was born on the first of April, leading to this.

For those who are stuck...

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There's a reason that most of the shields are off at the beginning.

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Spoiler

Weapons are provided for a reason, take good care of them.

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Spoiler

The complex can be taken early.

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The energy packs are not for normal use.

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There's a boon for observant players.

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Those shields need to be kept alive, or your time will be very long indeed.

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The Spores have low health.

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Most of the techs can be obtained.

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There's a bit of open space to boost production.

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The Digitalis is supported by a half-dozen invisible Sniper-vulnerable cores, not required to win.

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For those who want to know about the CRPL...

Spoiler

Two cores: The red planet, and the "complex" mentioned in the dialogue.
The planet produces the spores, which more directly left along the map.
The "complex" produces techs, but needs a lot of power.

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For those who want a full walkthrough...

Spoiler

Keep the shields off as much as possible.
Move the Mortar to the lower-right of the shielded area.
Move the Cannons to the Creeper-covered land just below.
Relay down.
Grab the Aether pack.
Send in a Sniper, if it looks helpful.
Be careful about connecting to the CRPL structure, that's what burns the energy packs.
You can break off the assault, but it will be harder later.
The structure will take a lot of energy to build. It takes just as much power to run, but techs will unlock progressively.
Three Beams should make the rest easy.

It should also be possible, though difficult, to mount the first attack through the PZ in the middle.

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And for those who read the books...

Spoiler

I'm sorry I couldn't find a good way to include dragons. And the map was created while looking at the map of Ninth Pass Pern.

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[GoodMorning]

What did I do wrong here?

I can see that this was disliked, but what should I do better in future? Low ratings don't help me to improve my map quality without feedback.

[RrR]

I found this map hard. I took the runner nests out before going for the CPRL core - I hadn't read the spoilers, so I didn't know what it did or what I needed to do to win. I lost several shields and had energy problems, especially after losing some reactors. Not knowing what to do and the constant death from the skies made the map more frustrating than it needed to be.

[D0m0nik]

I found this hugely frustrating, having to rely on shields vs spores is a challenge at the best of time but when you do not have reactors it is not fun at all! I think with this map if you loose some units then it becomes impossible to come back, this is demotivating as it makes the map feel helpess.

I agree it was also not clear what to do and I had to came here for spoilers.

[GoodMorning]

Thanks for the feedback.

I seem to have a recurring problem with not being clear enough, probably due to spending significant time tuning the CRPL, so that I know the content/procedure/strategy backwards. I will try to improve in future.

The intention was to provide only as much as is needed, but clearly I got the balance wrong. I was aiming for the harder version of the campaign slip-emitter mission, where shields are the only defence. I also wanted to see whether people enjoyed the challenge of irreplacable units, and using shield-control to manage spore defence.

Anything else that I should do in future/not do again?

[D0m0nik]

I think just a really clear description is all you need, it is a clever map but I think it almost needs a warning in the description. Eg Very Hard map, limited resources, puzzle, CRPL etc then use the story at the start of the map to set the scene.

Some of sorrontis' maps can be very difficult but you tend to know there will be nasty surprises coming and you are preppared for it.

[GoodMorning]

Thanks very much for the feedback. I do try to make enjoyable maps, but seem to regularly miss the mark.
Any tips on how to make sure I have enough direction/hints in there?

[Johnny Haywire]

Hey dude! Just came across this map as I'm exploring older maps... I used to read the Pern books when I was a little kid - some of my favorite books!

I didn't read the spoilers either but when I paused and checked out the little complex to the lower right, I could see 1) that it couldn't be nullified and 2) that it hooked up to a collector. Didn't know what it was going to do but figured that was the game's goal.

I ended up going down the middle just because it seemed the safest course of action. Since stuff kept getting blown up I made an "auto save" that would save the game every minute because otherwise I kept forgetting and dying. I kept the shields on since that's another thing I'd forget - I kept one or two on "standby" to rotate with a shield that had taken a hit. Once I had that rhythm going it was pretty simple, although a bit aggravating because yeah, who likes shields anyway?

I would say one thing that could make this map more enjoyable - and a bit more like the books - is to make the strafers into some kind of beam weapon that could fly on a path and maybe carry enough energy to kill 2-3 spores when built on a PZ. They'd then need to refuel and take off again. That's the closest thing I can come up with to the dragons that burned the thread when it fell. I have no idea how much work that'd be to code but maybe it's something you'd like to do, since April 1 is just a couple weeks away.  ;)

Thanks for the map! I liked this map and thought it was a cool challenge, even with the constant annoyance of having to save the game & shift shields around.  ;D ;D

[GoodMorning]

Thanks - I'd forgotten about this one, though at the time I had meant to try again.

I'm glad you enjoyed it. I doubt I will complete a better one for this year, but the future is large.

If and when I make a new version, I think it may be more CRPL than not. Certainly it would/will be larger.

Edit: Next year. I only got as far as the terrain. So, a year's worth of forgetting to write the scripts it is!