Custom Map #1188: Ship Alooone 6. By: FOXX

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This topic is for discussion of map #1188: Ship Alooone 6


Author: FOXX
Size: 500x222

Desc:
6th Map in the Series. 4 More Custom Modules added And Bigger ScrapPiles ;) but more Scrap -> Bigger Enemies More Info on Forum #EditStruc #FastBuild #ProximityEmitters #EmergentUp

[FOXX]

Scripts by Kajacx

Some general info

- You Start with 2 Scrap, ShipLevel 0 and 5 LevelPoints.

- Destroying an Enemy Ship gives you 80 Exp and a 0.5 change of the Ship leaving Scrap behind.

- Max Shipsize Ship 1 = 8x8 Modules
               Ship 2 = 8x8 Modules
               Ship 3 = 8x8 Modules

- The 2nd Level is Reached at 60 Particles. Each Next Level Increases with every 10 Particles Destroyed by the Upgradable Ships.

- You get a game event tag if you don't have enough Scrap to Upgrade or Level to Unlock.

- Each time you Upgrade your Ship your Upgraded Ship needs to be Rebuild and If the Upgradable Ship has an AmpGem on it you have to pick up the AmpGem after each Upgrade. Sorry, but there was no other way for this.

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OPENING CONVERSATION

It´s about collecting Scrap for Upgrade Parts and Destroying Particles to Level Up and Unlock more Modules.

Press CTRL+F for the Upgrade Options then Select the Ship you want to Upgrade and place the Ship in the Map.
Select which Part you want and place the Part in the Map - Shift for Info on Upgrade Parts.
Then Select the Ship Layout you want and Place that into the Map.
Now you have your Upgraded Ship ready to Build.

Press CTRL+SHIFT+F for the Unlock Options.
From here you can Select what Module you want to Unlock If you have the Matching Level.
Press Shift on Parts for Unlock Info.

After you Upgrade a Ship there may be an issue where the other Ship is Build on the map but in the ShipSlot it's not build. There is no way around this so keep an eye out for that. If the Ship is on the Map it's OK.

3 Tips:
- Upgrading works under Pause.
- You can do more Upgrades before Building your Upgraded Ship.
- - Max ShipSize Ship 1 = 7 Modules in Width and 7 Modules in Height.
                             Ship 1 = 8 Modules in Width and 8 Modules in Height.

Lastly -> For the Building Time its best to have an AmpGem on Move/Build Speed Increase.

Let's Create our Custom Ships :)

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Module Costs

Module Costs:
Module	Scrap	Level
Lathe (L)	3	2
Cannon (n)	2	1
Cannon+ (N)	2	2
Missile (m)	2	1
Missile+ (M)	2	2
Discharger (D)	3	2
Engine (E)	2	2
Grabber (B)	2	2
Energy Tank (T)	3	3
Reactor (R)	2	3
Guppy (G)	2	3
Port (P)	2	3
Shield (S)	3	4
MK7 (K)	4	5
Fighter Base (F)	5	5
Missiles (Y)	3	5
Cannons (Z)	3	5
Orbs (1)	3	3
Convertors (2)	3	3
Emergent Sniper (3)	3	2
Particle Maker (4)	4	4
Custom Reactor (5)	3	3
Particle Bomb (6)	2	2
CW3 Bomber (7)	3	4
CW3 Strafer (8)	3	4

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Enjoy :)

[FOXX]

My EndShips and Stats

[bluebolt]

Why is there an emote directly after strafers in the module costs? And everything is looking better and better :)

[GoodMorning]

The emote is the SMF converting 8 followed by the closing ) into a 8).

I'm also having fun with these - keep it up.

[FOXX]

Hah, didn't see that. for the forum i could leave the numbers and letters out but it's easier to copy / paste.
Those are the module number / letter parts.

Next one i will be adding another system to this system ...

greets
FOXX

[daniels220]

Just wanted to chime in and note that the changes to the mechanics that you've been forced to make for the concept to work—fast building+free CM cost and pre-filling tanks on build—create some serious exploits. It's kinda fun to ruthlessly abuse, but maaaaybe not what you intended.

"Insta-gib any enemy ship/doppel on the map"

You can build one of your custom ships directly on top of the CM of an enemy ship. About 50% of the time this will destroy the enemy ship. Also only (!) about 50% of the time your ship will be immediately destroyed—other times it will actually even finish building. You can also kill Doppels this way, by building with your CM outside the Doppel but part of the ship overlapping the Doppel core. Even if the Doppel is too big, some careful pause micro can allow you to utilize the blast effect of losing the ship the first time to push the Doppel body away and expose the core.

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"Movement is free, energy is irrelevant"

Because tanks auto-fill on build, once you have a tank on a custom ship it gains the ability to essentially teleport (just destroy and rebuild—usually faster than waiting for conventional travel). Because the CM is free this can be done outside energy supply range, allowing for sniping of back-line emitters. This also allows for further abuse of the fast-build mechanic, as each time a ship is built it gains the ability to absorb however many tanks it has worth of damage—with no practical limit on how fast this can happen, i.e. I can sweep struc continuously without taking any apparent damage, then when the tank runs out, destroy and rebuild.

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So my ending ships were essentially:

Spoiler

Three very similar combat lathes, with a shield, tank, 2 upgraded reactors (to get around the 30eps limit a bit—but just adding more tanks might have been better, honestly), 4-5 engines, 5-6 lathes, and nothing else except what they came with. In the end I spent much of my time waiting for Omnis to mire land and kill landlocked emitters—an unusual reversal from normal gameplay, where it's the Omnis that tend to feel overpowered and the ships that lag behind. I realize it might have made sense to pick up Rock Burner, but not sure it would have been worth the bother overall.

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[GoodMorning]

Yes, that's an exploit with the mechanics. It's there so that upgrading doesn't become a waiting game.

In this case, the CM would be free but the hull would not, which prevents the tricks you mentioned.

Spoiler

The "free energy" only goes up to 1000, to two tanks is worthwhile.
Two tanks, extra engines, and a half-dozen lathes is my preferred build, though I don't micromanage too much in these maps.

You spend most of the time waiting for the lathe modules to rebuild if you do this - though it's occasionally the engines.

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[FOXX]

Well Daniels220,

you have done your homework :)
All is true what you say and all these exploits are known and accepted.
It was one way or the other way and the other way in this case was normal building (and empty Tank for example) so there kinda was no choice as the repeatedly building your ship is not good for gameplay.
With the Fastbuild option this system works better gameplay wise and thats what its all about. Having fun playing.

So you can choose your own way with playing these maps and all what can -> is allowed. Play as you like :)

Greets
FOXX

[daniels220]

Some thoughts, if you wanted to try to cut down the exploitability:

Spoiler

Could you make the CM cost 1 energy instead of 0? That way it could only be built within energy supply range but would still build very fast.

I don't suppose the fast-build setting can be changed in PRPL? You could crank it up just long enough to get the ship's hull built, then turn it back down so it doesn't remain nigh-invincible to particles. It's clearly (?) global, so this would have the effect of making all other ships briefly way stronger, but better than all the time.

You could also only do this if the ship was just upgraded—set a global flag when an upgrade is "committed", then when the ship is built, check it. If set, pulse the build speed and clear it. Same with filling tanks, and for that matter cutting the CM built cost to 1 or 0—if you lose a ship, you get to pay the full cost of rebuilding it.

Or, as a further refinement, can PRPL ask how much energy a ship has? You could record the current energy level of the ship when destroying it, and restore it (but no more) when rebuilding.

Also, is there a way to change the lathe cost of a built-in object, so that the amp gem dropped when upgrading an amped ship would be picked up near-instantly? Or to detect it, remove it from the map and replace it with a PRPL core that is rapidly latheable and programmatically grants an amp gem? I ended up not amping any of my ships, because I was too busy abusing rebuild micro, but if that possibility were less attractive I would...

[close]

And, lest you think I'm only here to criticize ;), let me say—I think it's a very cool concept and a lot of fun to play—and it actually took me several games to realize the full extent of the exploitability, so it's certainly possible to play "normally" and still have fun. Also, thank you so much for making particles destroyed by impact count for XP, and giving some XP for lathing. In earlier maps I found leveling up painfully slow—with those changes, I think it's perhaps a bit too quick, though I guess if I had wanted to unlock MK7 and fighter bay I would have been XP-constrained until pretty late in the game.

[FOXX]

Some thoughts, if you wanted to try to cut down the exploitability:

Spoiler

Could you make the CM cost 1 energy instead of 0? That way it could only be built within energy supply range but would still build very fast.

I don't suppose the fast-build setting can be changed in PRPL? You could crank it up just long enough to get the ship's hull built, then turn it back down so it doesn't remain nigh-invincible to particles. It's clearly (?) global, so this would have the effect of making all other ships briefly way stronger, but better than all the time.

You could also only do this if the ship was just upgraded—set a global flag when an upgrade is "committed", then when the ship is built, check it. If set, pulse the build speed and clear it. Same with filling tanks, and for that matter cutting the CM built cost to 1 or 0—if you lose a ship, you get to pay the full cost of rebuilding it.

Or, as a further refinement, can PRPL ask how much energy a ship has? You could record the current energy level of the ship when destroying it, and restore it (but no more) when rebuilding.

Also, is there a way to change the lathe cost of a built-in object, so that the amp gem dropped when upgrading an amped ship would be picked up near-instantly? Or to detect it, remove it from the map and replace it with a PRPL core that is rapidly latheable and programmatically grants an amp gem? I ended up not amping any of my ships, because I was too busy abusing rebuild micro, but if that possibility were less attractive I would...

[close]

Nice thoughts and options.
All the Scripts are made by Kajacx and i think if there was a better way to PRPL this system he would have done that. (i think)
I don't know enough about PRPL to give answers to these options.

And, lest you think I'm only here to criticize ;), let me say—I think it's a very cool concept and a lot of fun to play—and it actually took me several games to realize the full extent of the exploitability, so it's certainly possible to play "normally" and still have fun. Also, thank you so much for making particles destroyed by impact count for XP, and giving some XP for lathing. In earlier maps I found leveling up painfully slow—with those changes, I think it's perhaps a bit too quick, though I guess if I had wanted to unlock MK7 and fighter bay I would have been XP-constrained until pretty late in the game.

I don't consider this as criticism but as communicating to make things better.
All the credits for this amazing system go to Kajacx as he made it all.
When i Finalize maps i don't use exploits because i have to see how it plays and i want to make maps for everybody and in series like this i fiddle with the settings also to show the abilities of the system and what you can do with it.

Thanks for feedback Daniels220
Greets
FOXX