Game Mechanics Quiz 1 - How much do you really know?

[thepenguin]

11 blasters either way

[J]

A:18 and B:14

[UpperKEES]

do the grids only count H and V or also D?

It would be pretty hard to have a distance of exactly 3 diagonally, because of this. :P

11 blasters either way

Incorrect.

A:18 and B:14

Incorrect.

[UpperKEES]

Emitter	Start (seconds)	Interval (seconds)	Intensity (ccc)	# blasters needed without firing rate upgrade	# blasters needed with firing rate upgrade
1	0.1	0.1	1	1	2
2	1.1	0.1	1	2	2
3	0.1	0.2	2	1	1
4	1.1	0.2	2	1	1
5	0.1	1.0	10	2	1
6	1.1	1.0	10	2	1
7	0.1	1.1	11	2	2
8	1.1	1.1	11	2	2
9	0.1	3.5	35	3	2
10	1.1	3.5	35	3	2
			Total:	A: 19	B: 16

So A= 19 and B= 16

This is all done through empirical testing, and even though some of the results are strange it should be perfect :P.

Correct. :) Again one point for you. The race for the first place stays very exciting! (Third place is still available.... ;))

Some results indeed seem a little weird, but there's a good explanation for it now I understand better how CW works. Of course it again has to do with the fact that CW is a frame based application.

Explanation:
I've been researching the exact capping conditions for a long time, see here. Virgil's words didn't make that much sense to me at that time, but now they do. Let's compare a few of the strange cases:

1. Emitters 1 and 2 seem very similar. Same intensity and interval, only emitter 2 starts 1 second later. So why does emitter 2 need an addition blaster to cap it without the firing rate upgrade? Blasters can't fire every frame; they fire once every 7 frames. CW also doesn't use seconds to measure time, so an interval of 0.1 seconds is translated into an amount of frames (3.6 frames, rounded up or down, I don't know, but I'm sure it has to do something with the fact that 2 * 3.6 is close to 7). This means sometimes a blaster will be in sync with an emitter and sometimes it won't (beats me how this is implemented exactly, because you would expect a shift of phase). This means the moment an emitter starts does determine how many blasters are needed to cap it!

2. Let's have a look at emitters 1 and 2 again, this time with the upgrade used. Now a blaster fires every 6 frames, causing blaster 1 to get out of sync with the emitter and not being able to cap it anymore, while it fires faster! Weird, huh? This means applying the +15% firing rate upgrade is not always to your advantage.

3. All other data seems pretty logical. Emitters 5, 6, 9 and 10 need 1 blaster less when the upgrade has been applied, but in most cases it doesn't matter. I'm sure more weird situations can be found, but that would require a lot more testing (or understanding the exact way CW translates time into frames).

I've attached my testmap for people who like to see this for themselves without doing too much effort:

[ontheworld]

i just wanted to make sure going one left and up screw up becuase of diagonals...

but yeah, now i'm too late

[UpperKEES]

Sqaz was the first to reply, so he would have gotten the point anyway.

I'll try to post the next question tonight. :)

[UpperKEES]

Question 7 has been posted. :)

[Fisherck]

I would build a SAM in area A, because with the spore attack coming in one and a half minutes, you will need defence from that and you have about maxed out your energy if not gone a little over. With three areas to protect you better start now and might as well start with the most important are (the city).

[UpperKEES]

I would build a SAM in area A, because with the spore attack coming in one and a half minutes, you will need defence from that and you have about maxed out your energy if not gone a little over. With three areas to protect you better start now and might as well start with the most important are (the city).

Incorrect.

[Nate Dog]

There are about 5 answers I can think of, but I'm gonna go with a storage unit in A (doesn't matter where) since it appears more packets are being requested than OC can supply.

[SPIFFEN]

I would build an Relay in section E , Because spores usally attack them first ,
and if it does'nt i got connection to move forward =)

[Sqaz]

I'd go for a storage unit in C, cause only 16 packets can be delivered now instead of the 13 you've got energy for. Sector C that's because I'd use to open spaces in A,B,F to build a SAM, or, dependeing on their place, move a blaster there to hold off the spores.

[J]

Before I give an answer, what are the location of the free spaces

[UpperKEES]

I would build an Relay in section E , Because spores usally attack them first ,
and if it does'nt i got connection to move forward =)

Incorrect.

I'd go for a storage unit in C, cause only 16 packets can be delivered now instead of the 13 you've got energy for. Sector C that's because I'd use to open spaces in A,B,F to build a SAM, or, dependeing on their place, move a blaster there to hold off the spores.

Incorrect.

Before I give an answer, what are the location of the free spaces

Does not matter.

[UpperKEES]

There are about 5 answers I can think of, but I'm gonna go with a storage unit in A (doesn't matter where) since it appears more packets are being requested than OC can supply.

Correct. :) One point for you.

Explanation:
18 weapons are constantly firing with +15% firing rate, requiring at least 20 energy (per 0.89 seconds).
5 weapons are being built with +20% building speed, requiring about 6 energy (per 0.89 seconds).
1 drone will be recharging soon.

You are currently collecting 23.7 energy (per 0.89 seconds), which is obviously not enough to support the demand, so you are already having quite a deficit. One thing is worse however: Odin City can only disperse 20 packets (per 0.89 seconds) because it can only store 20 packets without a storage unit. This means 3.7 energy is lost (every 0.89 seconds!), causing an even worse deficit. When you don't solve this quickly you will be losing your caps....

Best thing to do is to build a storage unit as soon as possible and as close to Odin City as possible (so it will be finished quickly). This will allow Odin City to disperse up to 32 packets. In the meanwhile you probably want to deactivate all weapons currently being built. The storage unit will be finished in time to be able to build a few SAMs before the spores arrive.