Custom Map #11717: Isle of volcano. By: BigBertha

[AutoPost]

This topic is for discussion of map #11717: Isle of volcano


Author: BigBertha
Size: 255x255

Desc:
Combining some elements of various maps that I've made up till now, like the general shape of Perimiter (11695), the volcano from Dueling Volcanoes (11674), the sniper alley from both Sequence and Salvage (11698 and 11701, respectively), and a few other things. The sniper alley was a huge problem for me, let me know if I made that too hard or too annoying. It took me WAY too long to clear it, but I trust that some of you guys can outdo me here. Good luck, and have fun playing!

[Johnny Haywire]

Dude, this was fun! I had to pause to get the guppy, but other than that it was very playable at max speed all the way through.

I didn't think the runner alley was too bad. I went straight for the guppy, then used guppies to directly power the totems on the left and help power the CN there. It probably took about 20-25 game-time minutes, I don't really know. I set the bombers and stuff and then worked on spreadsheets while they did their thing.

After that, I grabbed the Bertha then went straight for the inhibitor.

I like the constant threats in your map. While you can afk this one, you do have to be careful. That central island could spill over if you leave it too long, so it's good to zap it every now and then.

I also really like how different and clever your maps are. And even within each map there are a variety of challenges. That's really cool. Totally appreciate all your hard work!

Thanks for the map! =)

[toolforger]

Sniper alley as such was not a big problem.

Spoiler 1: How to avoid getting swamped twice in the shooting gallery:

Spoiler

Don't go for the emitter using strafers. It will clear out the turqoise blockers sure enough, but afterwards you'll be flooded with stored creeper and it will take about an hour to clear that, which is Not Fun.
Instead, send the strafers along the edge of the digitalis. This will release some creeper that will clear the blockers, with pretty little creeper flooding into your island.
When done, use the strafers to clear the gallery part, not cannons - these will accidentally shoot digitalis and release another blob of digitalis to clear. It's possible to time everything, but strafers are just easier.

[close]

Spoiler 2: Sniping from the gallery

Spoiler

That's not too bad, but you'll want to charge your snipers before sending them to action.
If you send them in uncharged, they'll get cut off from energy before they can keep the runners away.
It's not a biggie, eventually the snipers will shoot enough runners anyway, but you save a whole lot of time.
Important: You'll need three or four beams, otherwise spores will start to interrupt the energy supply, which will make more runners reach your shooting line.

Spoiler

You can send five strafers along the middle of the top digitalis, and five at the bottom digitalis.
Runners that end on the wrong line of the strafer hits will have to walk longer to come into range, so your snipers have less runners that need to be targetted immediately.
This isn't strictly necessary but saves time.

[close]

[close]

Spoiler 3: Avoiding getting swamped after nullifying the emitter

Spoiler

When you build the nullifier, set it to disarmed while it's building.
Once it's charged up, you can kill all the stuff on the shooting gallery and prepare for the oncoming onslaught of 400-deep creeper from the digitalis.
Don't bother saving the CN, it will get overwhelmed no matter what you do; it can't hurt to place some cannons and mortars there just to help clear out some of the creeper masses, but it won't make a lot of a difference.
The real defense is on the small islands:
Bombers to keep the front islands covered in AC. They will actually get to 500 AC and start to overflow into empty space.
Strafers patrolling in a vertical line in front of the digitalis (not on the digitalis, that would just start getting creeper across the gap into your islands - that will happen soon enough but you don't want that to happen while still setting up).
Mortars to clear creeper masses.
Enough reactors to keep the stuff powered.
Two beams to keep the spores from annoying you. Two are now enough because you'll have less units to the left and the spore towers will send most spores to the right.

[close]

Feedback 1 for the author:
The sheer amount of creeper to clear out in the top left, without Berthas, is just an annoying wait.
Reducing the depth will probably kill the purpose of it all, but it would have saved a very annoying wait if it were just half the width.
There is really not much you can do while you wait for the creeper to be whittled down: You can't progress elsewhere, you can't really intensify the fight to speed it up due to lack of space and limits to the number of strafers/bombers.

Feedback 2 for the author:
The areas at the bottom are really, really nasty. They are hard to go through, you can't nullify them from left to right like you could in previous scenarios, and it's hard to keep them under control without constantly watching them but you have to concentrate to advancing upwards.
It's the point at which I was too annoyed to keep it up, though I guess one could start a new base there - but... really? Just build a new base, wait until all the reactors are finally online, while keeping another onslaught of level-400 creep from all sides at bay? Sure that's a challenge, but it's on of patience, and a second patience challenger after the top-left corner is just one too many, at least for my taste.

Summary: Nice ideas, but too many annoying parts.
Also, having to do with collectors for the energy network is just restrictive. If you're fast with making progress downwards, you'll be punished by interrupted energy supply because too many packets are already on their way and no new packets are being sent. Either halve the map size, or please allow relays; otherwise, it's just being punished for being quick because you'll be slowed down until the Forge gives you faster energy packets.
Getting the relay so late was kind of a disappointment as well: I had everything maxed at that point and around level-50 packet speed, so relays did not make enough of a difference to matter anymore.

[BigBertha]

I honestly didn't like the amount of creeper that ended up in the top right either, that's why I said what I did in the description. Though your strategy for dealing with it was a lot better than the one I ended up using!


Regarding the bottom ones, that was the intent. I've discovered I can use the walls against the player by blocking clear firing lines, and I like the way that plays into the game. That said, you do have some options there still that make it much easier to manage.

Thanks to both Johnny and Toolforger for the feedback!

[teadrinker]

I am so clueless on how to reach the Guppy, can anyone tell me how?
Nvm... I R smart!

[Martin Gronsdal]

Build a collector on each side of the southeast corner. Then fly a unit such as a cannon, beam, or sprayer back and forth so that both collectors remain connected through the flying unit at all times. This will help build collectors along the west side of the corner and eventually allow you to pick up the guppy.

[Lore]

Build a collector on each side of the southeast corner. Then fly a unit such as a cannon, beam, or sprayer back and forth so that both collectors remain connected through the flying unit at all times. This will help build collectors along the west side of the corner and eventually allow you to pick up the guppy.

Nice little skip. That certainly would be much faster than fighting for the terp first.

[Martin Gronsdal]

I haven't really tried it myself, but I assumed getting the terp wasn't possible through regular gameplay.

[toolforger]

Build a collector on each side of the southeast corner. Then fly a unit such as a cannon, beam, or sprayer back and forth so that both collectors remain connected through the flying unit at all times. This will help build collectors along the west side of the corner and eventually allow you to pick up the guppy.

Heh. I just tryharded the corner. It took some time, but spared me having to keep the flying unit in its position.

Nice trick, by the way. I knew the details but it didn't occur to me that one could actually use that.
Probably because I hate things that I have to continually stay aware of, so whenever my thoughts went in that direction, I didn't pursue.

[Lore]

A tip for the lower middle area if you are struggling: once you have terps, raising the height of the pathway makes dealing with the recessed emitters much easier.

[Johnny Haywire]

A tip for the lower middle area if you are struggling: once you have terps, raising the height of the pathway makes dealing with the recessed emitters much easier.

I saw those and decided it would be easier and more fun to bypass that and just go straight for the inhibitor. after picking up the stuff from the lower left with the CN. Just a thought.