Custom Map #333: Delving Deeper. By: Decagon

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This topic is for discussion of map #333: Delving Deeper


Author: Decagon
Size: 384x216

Desc:
The HDF fleet is pushing ever further into Redacted Space in the hopes of finding a solution to the Particulate problem... and to perhaps find a weapon with which to combat the encroaching Hydraxil Collective. Having mustered all the tech they have collected thus far, they proceed deeper into enemy territory.

[Keeper Decagon]

So yeah, I've already seen that there are a bunch of plays of this map, and quite a low rating. I kind of expected it (I was a bit iffy about the difficulty and overall flow of the map), but I would appreciate some criticism, no matter how harsh. You know, so I can improve as a map maker.

Also an important thing to note is that this map is one of the first I'd made, but had it shelved for a while until recently. I guess I should've started over.

[gehenna]

enemy should attack later, i have no time to build anything useful against the big ships

ok after a lot of thinking i have a solution maybe :D

[Keeper Decagon]

enemy should attack later, i have no time to build anything useful against the big ships

ok after a lot of thinking i have a solution maybe :D

Ah, I see. I found that the big ships can be handled with having a number of destroyers focus firing, since they only need to be damaged a bit until they flee to regenerate. By the time those ships arrive, you really should have built some destroyers, as well as lathed those island-bound emitters. They help to keep the Particles away. Benign Emergent helps too.

I could make the ships come a bit later, perhaps, to give the player a better chance to build up a fleet. Thanks for the suggestion. :)

[Crimson King]

Spoiler

I was able to take out an emitter and ship spawner at the back at the beginning before the ships built, but they do build too fast for such powerful ships.

My solution was to let the enemy destroy a mine next to a ship that didn't have a completed bridge module. While the enemy ships focused on that ship I was able to build up a fleet and inch my way along until I could safely build an omni on the metal behind the center energy mines.

Once the cannons and dopple spawners were offline, I was able to reclaim that mine and build the ship. Decent idea for a map, but one shouldn't have to bait and switch or rely on luck getting certain ships built in time to beat a map.

[close]

[Doug]

I gave it a go a couple of times. First time I started with flipping emitters but they seem to get flipped right back. Second time I focused on building a fleet, over mire the land for emergent but once those big ships came I was toast. The big guns took out all my small ships in one hit and then they killed the destroyers. I'll give it another go... I like challenging levels but it seems like you are way outgunned in this one.

[gehenna]

its beatable, i am at the end, please dont look at the time :D

[ChaosMaster130]

I'd say the only problem was that we only got ONE MK7.
if we could get like 2-3 more or even just one this map would be much better.

[Keeper Decagon]

I'd say the only problem was that we only got ONE MK7.
if we could get like 2-3 more or even just one this map would be much better.

There is one MK7 on that ship you can collect, as well as TWO MK7s on the Heavy Cruiser you start off with. I assume you didn't build the Heavy Cruiser?

[Doug]

Spoiler

Since I couldnt get a good foot hold to start on the left I took a different approach. I doubt this is the intended method but it works. Deploy headquarters at the right and start destroying the emmitters/ship yards. When the big ships start appearing destroy hq and re-deploy it at the left. They will chase you all the way to the other side. Once they are there destroy hq and redeploy on the right. This will give you enough time to destroy one emitter or ship yard at a time before they come back. Kill the ship spawners first. Once the large ship yards are gone you can deploy your hq in the middle of the large ships like a bomb killing them one by one. Once they are gone kill the rest of the emitters at the right and then start your base on the left. Again probably not the intended route but I dont like to lose to a map lol

[close]

[strigvir]

Too low energy, too shitty ships (on most of them the bridge is located right near the front, when the enemy ship with 3 MK-7s has its buried in the middle), too little gems, too many particles right at the start (and they come at quad formations). Also "build a destroyer" is a luck-based tip, since until clearing the mirers the western landmass spawns emergents which easily plow through the assembled bridges.
But the final nail in the coffin for me is that you non-ironically send a ship with 3 MK-7s to our base.

[Keeper Decagon]

Too low energy, too shitty ships (on most of them the bridge is located right near the front, when the enemy ship with 3 MK-7s has its buried in the middle), too little gems, too many particles right at the start (and they come at quad formations). Also "build a destroyer" is a luck-based tip, since until clearing the mirers the western landmass spawns emergents which easily plow through the assembled bridges.
But the final nail in the coffin for me is that you non-ironically send a ship with 3 MK-7s to our base.

Fair enough, I completely understand what you're getting at. This map was, in all honesty, a more haphanded attempt at making a harder map, but even with that in mind, it is far from impossible with what you're given. I am by no means a good PF player, and I could still use what I had to finish the map.

Spoiler

The enemy Cruiser has a glaring weakness in its design that has its forward MK7 on the very front of it, without armour to protect it. Granted it has a shield, but that wouldn't protect it all that much. This means that if you can even destroy one block and disable that MK7, the Cruiser retreats back to the fortress to regenerate (it's a feature of the Move_to_Ship_Smart AI setting for ships). If you are unable to do enough damage with your ships, consider Emergent. A few Benign Emergent directed towards the direction the ship comes from more often than not results in them plowing into the front of it, damaging the MK7 and thus sending it away. This will give you enough breathing space to allow you to build your fleet and push forward.

And yes, there are a lot of Particles that come at you, but many of the ships you're given have multiple lasers each, even the Frigates. These make their overall survivability much greater than usual against large masses of Particles (making sure to manage ship positioning as they fire is also key).

[close]

If you're still struggling, and if anyone else is still having problems, I can try and release a "fixed" version of this map, or I could try and provide a blow by blow recount of my playthrough of this map in its current condition.

Thanks for all the replies so far, btw! :)

[TheEpicCowOfLife]

I wouldn't say that the map was extremely hard. The start was a bit tight, but I figured by literally plopping down all my medium-big sized ships right as I landed, and using an RC along with my HQ to run around and gather energy packets to power them, by the time the packets were drained, I could have a big enough fleet to send back the enemy ships, and supply them with amp gem upgrades.

A big tip, the friendly emitters are very good at destroying doppels and working as cover-fire. Get some of those ships with grabber modules and unleash a stream of particles against them.

The mire spawners were taken care of quite easily, just throw down 4 omni's in range of each mire spawner, they will take care of the mire spawner before they run out of health and are forced to retreat.

Lastly, with a grand total of 2 discharger modules, it can be quite difficult to destroy all the stunners. You have to micromanage the stunners quite effectively. Good luck.

As for the final push o_o
That is quite difficult. You're going to have to use friendly particles to meatshield you.

[GoodMorning]

A little Omni trickery at the correct time can get you the metal-enclosed central island on the right. Once you have mired the middle and built the mines, you are difficult to dislodge. After that, you need only rush an Omni in to build the Totem.

[Johnny Haywire]

This was only the 8th map I've played so far I think, so I'm still not sure exactly what are the victory conditions of each map. On this one, I did something a bit different because a lot of people mentioned how tough the really big ships are.

After I got the first mine going, I used self-powered omnis to build up stuff while I... um... destroyed my HQ ship. After 18 seconds or however long it is, I jumped behind enemy lines with it and (after repeating the process a few times) killed almost all the emitters and the ship production factories. Then it was just a matter of killing those ships once and they didn't come back.

Dunno if that's the right way to do it or not. But it worked for me ok. The game really didn't seem that hard to me. Cool map and a cool game!  ;D