Custom Map #861: The Rinser of Winds. By: Sorrontis

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This topic is for discussion of map #861: The Rinser of Winds


Author: Sorrontis
Size: 500x480

Desc:
Winner of the second contest was Planetfall. As requested, I made a map using his phase shield script. I hope you enjoy it. After 60 hours of map making, playing, tweeking, rinse & repeat. I'm done. This was an impossible request. I hope it was good enough. #PRPL :See Forums for Credits

[Sorrontis]

CREDITS

Thanks to Planetfall for that crazy script I had to work with.
Thanks to Virgil for fixing those issues with phalanx guns and such. ;)
Thanks to Goodmorning for the help with all the other scripts I needed help with.
Thanks to all of you who have patiently waited for a true Sorrontis map.

[Sorrontis]

HINTS!

Spoiler

What... It's empty? Oh noes!

[close]

[Sorrontis]

Alright, Alright, here's some real hints:

• Have multiple hard saves (not just a quick save) and by that I mean having saves that span the last 10-15 minutes of in game clock
• There's some pleasant and not so pleasant surprises. Surprise!
• There are 3 obvious start points, and 1 special hard start point. Each start point is different.
• Because of mire and so many cannons, you will feel some lag at times (depends on your computer). Sorry  :-\
• Be careful. There are a few things you can do to make this map literally impossible. Hence why you need so many saves ;)

[GoodMorning]

For those who won't wade through the scripts, but find this too chaotic... (I gave in after five restarts and read).

• 
  Mouseover that partial-sphere custom graphic for a description of what the specific thing does. Only works with an exact lineup with the middle.
  
• 
  
  Spoiler

  Hold K.

  [close]
• 
  I'm not sure where Sorrontis thought a "hard" start point, but it will probably be area-skippingly rewarding, if near-impossible to claim. My guess is the lower-left, but I'm likely wrong.
  
• 
  There's a script in play to keep you from swapping starting areas. (Not spoilered because it's made clear quickly.)
  
• 
  Many things can be shut down from elsewhere.
  

More guesses/speculations/solutions when I play again. So far, I've taken unacceptable losses when the hard particle bursts on the left pop - it might be better to start in the middle.

Sorrontis, literal impossibility is not helpful - there should always be a way to recover, if you can do more than survive.

[Sorrontis]

I'm not sure where Sorrontis thought a "hard" start point, but it will probably be area-skippingly rewarding, if near-impossible to claim. My guess is the lower-left, but I'm likely wrong.

It is not. :P It's a place I put there for anyone foolish enough to look for more of a challenge. The reward, you get the ship "Exp. 99" right off the bat. I can't be fast enough to grab this spot and still survive.

Sorrontis, literal impossibility is not helpful - there should always be a way to recover, if you can do more than survive.

Yeah, I am aware.

Spoiler

It has to do with the fireworks. There's a random element to it that when you destroy the trigger, there's the possibility of an emitter in the center column. If that happens, you have to reload a few saves back.

[close]

It's only happened once in the 10s of times I played the map, and at this point I had to give up.

More guesses/speculations/solutions when I play again. So far, I've taken unacceptable losses when the hard particle bursts on the left pop - it might be better to start in the middle.

Ah, left, right, middle. It's all good. They all have surprises ;) What must you do, do not turtle; expand quickly, until it's time to turtle. Wraiths and Stunner Hunters are cheap defenses.

[GoodMorning]

It is not. :P It's a place I put there for anyone foolish enough to look for more of a challenge. The reward, you get the ship "Exp. 99" right off the bat. I can't be fast enough to grab this spot and still survive.

Oh, that? I was looking for something much more complex.

[Sorrontis]

Wow! My worst (the worst?) rated map! 9 ratings of 1! I did my job well! Or it's really that bad.  :-\

[GoodMorning]

I'm currently at 10:37, waiting for the next storm on the left. I've written off the right to particle bursts for the moment.

The K trick is cruel. If not warning, at least have some two-interpretation dialogue. The fact that it comes up during the first left particle storm? At least it didn't come up during the second.

Edit: Oh, and the Exp99 start is my new best friend - that many lathes, cannons and dischargers is a huge help.

Edit: Why not use pixel coord setting for the comet? It looks so much neater.

Edit: 20min in, central bursts captured. Save also captured. It looks like it will be hard to lose from here, so I'm bewaring a trap. I do wonder if it would be faster to capture the hard start immediately, then warp out and wait out the storm, building stores with <spoiler>.

[Sorrontis]

The K trick is cruel. If not warning, at least have some two-interpretation dialogue.

There is a warning :) Look up to the left ;)

Edit: Why not use pixel coord setting for the comet? It looks so much neater.

Ummm... I don't know. It was an early code and I forgot to change it :(

[GoodMorning]

There is a sign - it says "is your friend". This is not - in any way, shape, or form - a warning.

This is definitely a map for those who "seek challenge".

Edit: I think this is the first map I have played on .5x for any length of time, and one of the few with a half-dozen saves or more.

Edit: That's enough for the moment. I'll take a break in this interval while I'm not cursing your name. :) That will probably come when the next trap is triggered.

[Sorrontis]

There's a counter. Why would a friend count every time you borrow from him?

[GoodMorning]

Chances given to access additional resources? Esp. when there's the odd gem in the mix? There's no hint it's "borrow" either.

Now, were it me, I'd make it triggerable at any time, but with a minimum interval.

[Sorrontis]

Fair enough :)

[GoodMorning]

Finished, and not a load in it (this time).

I didn't have use for either PhaseShip - by the time they built, there weren't non-Doppel particles around, and Omnis were taking care of the middle.