Custom Map #2135: Operation biting frost. By: Vertu

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This topic is for discussion of map #2135: Operation biting frost


Author: Vertu
Size: 256x256

[Morthica]

I started in the middle and everything was "fine" until the 20k stash went off lol.. easier start than the last map but harder to break out the start area.

Just tried at the top and that was 10x easier but damn that SCM missile thing WASTED me. If you didn't have to rely on the Battleships shield so badly (and Greenar being so important) it'd be a bit easier.

Fun map. Just frustrating to try a dozen times - need a break.

Edit: Okay I did it! Using the Orbital Conversion on the Burst Breeder helped so much I wish I'd have thought of it quicker - such a difference, it wipes pretty much all the crimson creep.

I love these maps, so much fun!. Up there with FPS and PAC for sure.

[Niflthaena]

Whoof. I had fun, but that was brutal. Took three tries to survive, and it was never the ACM that did me in - it was the creeper, often due to skimmers stunning my core buildings.

Balance seemed a lot better than the last map.
* None of the custom units trivialized it; the reactor was still useful, but there's enough creeper to fight and things to spend energy on that the extra 50 generation is simply useful - not game-breaking. I spent the last third of the map at about 180 produced, 140 consumed.
* The difficulty ramped up well. The burst breeder is insanely strong, and it ignoring the cut-off actually worked quite nicely - once it came online it kept the total creeper supply well above the cut-off, even without the rest of the map producing, but that gives the player enough breathing room to scale up and handle both the burst breeder and the rest of the map. The ACM missile's a little questionable - it's a hard wall, either you can counter it or you basically lose. Adds a nice sense of urgency, though.
* Once out of the early-game, clearing the rest of the map was less of a slog - unit placement was more interesting, and trickier to nullify, and the most dangerous units are likely to stay active for the majority of the map. With a good orbital economy, though, the Burst Breeder was a tremendous asset - the whole spawn is Convertible for tens of thousands of free AC, which does a great job easing movement between the enemy clusters.

Not sure about the weather node. It makes it so you can't zoom out all the way, since its... clouds?... block the camera.

[Vertu]

The weather node causes it to snow though for what ever reason, smoke particle effects were reduced in this map. That is why the converter emitted few smoke particles along with the lack of snow falling down.

Edit: Also, why are people calling it the ACM??? I swear I put SCM...