Custom Map #5105: Voidstones(Insane). By: Stoof

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This topic is for discussion of map #5105: Voidstones(Insane)


Author: Stoof
Size: 100x100

Desc:
An insanely hard and action packed defense of a small outpost in the void. Will require boldness and precision. Expand quickly but be prepared to give up positions you can no longer defend. Use mortars to destroy creeper behind walls.

[Djenzy]

Please give me a walkthrough for this map, this feels within hand reach but I fail every time, give me a tip.

[Stoof]

Of course, thanks for showing an interest. I describe the general strategy and also played through it once and took some screenshots. I'm sure there are easier ways, this requires some fancy micro, but this is the way I got used to a while ago when I went for top time.

Spoiler

You should start building a mortar after placing 4 collectors, while still building collectors towards the top. As soon as the mortar finishes, start moving it forward to get in position to hit the closest emitter. You can lift it and set it down again in the same spot again to avoid damage, this can be done by moving it to a new position and then back to the original position while paused. Build a cannon and take the bottom island; no need to worry about the CN taking damage since it has a lot of hit points. You now build 2 mortars for the walls that are about to collapse. You won't finish them quite in time but you should be able to defend using the cannon. Start building beams when you are first warned that the spores are coming.

The game slows down a bit after you defend the first wall breaks and take your new islands behind the walls. Your top priority now is to destroy the first emitter and get a mortar on that power ring. The best way to do that is to have the nullifier in front followed by a mortar, a cannon and a collector in that order.

The next target it the top left island, don't bother nullifying anything else. The bottom left walls should break before you get the top left island, make sure to have at least 1 mortar in place something like 15 sec before that happens and have 2 cannons or a sprayer to defend the mortar once the walls break. The bottom right walls should break somewhere around the time you take the top left island. Don't worry about that, just give up the space and defend the island where you have your cn. You now have the top left half of the map and that is enough to win the game any way you want to.

Here is an album with some screenshots from one of my games. I think there are some safer, but slower, strategies but this is something like the one I played for the top time. It is very greedy but works. It requires quite a bit of precise micro but you have some margin to build more defenses if you want to be safer.
https://imgur.com/a/Ki3Po

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[Djenzy]

aha, the way i tried it was starting with collectors (obviously), put a blaster for that small emitter to the left and leave it there, it's a small emitter so I didn't prioritize it. I went straight for that right emitter and the small creeper storage with 2 walls on top. I'd feel stable for a minute or two and tried each way, whichever way I tried i failed but it felt so close every single time.
I know some hard maps which are just stupid, not fun to play at all, yet this feels satisfying even when losing, really like this one. Might be a bit to hard for every player but whatever ^^
Same with aliancasterer from tormented space, a hard map but it feels close every time and you get it by trying over and over. Now I have 2 favorite maps

(edit: I just found out there is a normal and a hard version, I thought the insane version was the only one  ;D)

[Stoof]

Ok, thank you. Really happy you like it and it is really helpful to hear what you like about it so I can try to keep that for future maps. I have been thinking about making a Voidstones 2 but I haven't done it yet since it takes so much time to balance this type of map. Changing the amount of creeper in creeper storages is a real pain and moving creeper storages is even worse. It is not like changing the location or amount of an emitter. I want there to be many possible solutions and no obvious strategy, which means I will get it wrong the first few attempts and will have to restructure it several times.

When I made the map I also didn't kill the small emitter as quickly as I do now, but after a while I realized that it is more of a problem than it seems. It has 3 paths to your base and if you don't get a mortar there it will be a hassle to defend everywhere. Also, you get so much from killing it. You don't need to spend resources on defending from it, you get a little bit more area, and you get a power zone to help you defend the top/bottom as well as help you take the top island. The emitter to the right is less important to kill than I originally expected though. It takes a long time before you get a benefit from nullifying it and it is not that hard to just defend since the path is so long and narrow. Also, the power circle is not as useful.