Custom Map: Cache

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This topic is for discussion of map: Cache


Author: Vile

Desc:
The Creeper's trapped you in a cave. You don't have time to build new stuff (and your schematics database is hosed again). Use what you find, but replacements cannot be made.

[Vile]

Any feedback on this one?  I'm fairly new to map-making, but I thought this one played very well after play-testing it probably 30-40 times.

[cquante]

Any feedback on this one?  I'm fairly new to map-making, but I thought this one played very well after play-testing it probably 30-40 times.

I usually avoid maps that have too much pre-built, and maps that have too much wall.  Yours has both.  Having said that, once I was into the map I found the limited resources to be an interesting idea.  The walls still were an issue.  Anytime someone uses that much wall in a map, you can almost count on a long dull wait while the creeper eats it's way through.  I'm your average player.  I got the blasters, then the reactors, and then the mortars, and marched my way down the corridor toward the creeper.  I did all that in less than seven minutes.  Unfortunately once I reached the end of the corridor there was no way to go further until the  creeper eats through the wall.  Boring for an average player.  Now I see from the score board that it can be finished in seven minutes or so, but it either isn't obvious, or uses skills I don't currently have.  If this was one of my maps, my suggestion would be to make relay tech reachable just inside the creeper territory, or provide a stepping stone (a spot you can place a collector) just reachable in the creeper area, and only reachable after the mortars have blasted back the creeper a bit.

Good luck with your map making.

[Vile]

Thanks for the feedback!  I'll explain what I did below, under the spoiler alert.  I typically agree about the walls - they were only used here to give it a feel for a fortified weapons cache.  Perhaps I should have just used regular terrain, but my intent was never to wait for the creeper to eat through the walls.  As a matter of fact, I figured if it eventually did, then you'd probably lose quite quickly at that point.

The biggest point of this map was to make you use limited resources.  I didn't see many maps out there that did that.  Some of them limit what you can start with, or you can NEVER get certain items.  This one actually limits the number of each item so that you have to focus on strategy instead of brute force.

*** SPOILER ALERT *** - Don't read below unless you want to...

What I did was move the city slightly closer to the storerooms.  This isn't necessary (I play-tested to make sure that moving the city was NOT necessary), but if you do, you don't have to fight in the hallway hardly at all since you shave off about 45 seconds' worth of build-time.  Once you've managed to get back to the cave mouth, you can place a collector in the bottom-left corner.  Then place your three mortars as close to the opening as you can.  From that point, you can blaster swarm out to secure your first collector diagonal down and left of the opening.  I use 4 blasters to do this.  From there, you can simply move up to the first totem, or down to the other.  Neither way seemed to be faster to me.  Use at least one mortar and the blasters to make your way.  The emitters are high, but two blasters moving forward at a time, or one in a narrow space is enough to push back the creeper.  I don't cap either emitter...in fact, I don't think you can given the terrain and the limited amount of blasters and mortars.  I just contain it to the two corners while activating the emitters.