Impossible Code Maps

[florrat]

And Kithros has done it again. Congratulations!

[J]

I was typing some random words and found this:
Secret no-grav large/high

[deathsandwich]

I can't believe I underestimated conversion bombs again!  ??? Congrats Kithros!  :)

I have managed to confirm that
Beam me up scotty! large/high
is indeed possible, but I took a very different approach.

Spoiler

I couldn't find a way to make the method Kithros suggested work (I found the creeper too dense and fast, even on repulsors) so I went this way:



I needed a launcher too to make sure the creeper stayed away, but eventually...



...and the rest is pretty simple.  8)

[close]

Secret no-grav large/high is definitely possible too:

Spoiler

Fly over to the right collecting crystals and it should be possible to dig yourself out of trouble. Don't forget the phantoms though! (like I nearly did...)

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[Lord_Farin]

I have just beaten Rho Rho Upsilon Large/High which was reported beatable earlier on.

Spoiler

I started by picking up the gems and digging in as follows:

Note the blasters taking care of the drones.

Then it was kind of a rush to finish the dark beam before the big drones came out (16 HP-ish on the left centre)
but I managed to:


From there it was tedious and straightforward

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[Lord_Farin]

I was typing some random words and found this:
Secret no-grav large/high

Definitely possible:

Spoiler

[close]

EDIT: I will probably finish it later; it is getting late.

[Lord_Farin]

Heaven  large/high  9.4m surface emitter, zero G, and nowhere to dig in due to creeper pools just below surface on both sides. And -if you survive that long - phantoms and a 56.7m emitter below one layer of decaying ground.

screenshot is my best try - got one crystal which allowed me to get shields up, but I couldn't dig to the other crystals before they failed.

I managed to get at least a (temporary) stalemate, but there is no room to build reactors for a dark beam. I will have to look into it.

Spoiler

[close]

[Kithros]

Heaven  large/high  9.4m surface emitter, zero G, and nowhere to dig in due to creeper pools just below surface on both sides. And -if you survive that long - phantoms and a 56.7m emitter below one layer of decaying ground.

screenshot is my best try - got one crystal which allowed me to get shields up, but I couldn't dig to the other crystals before they failed.

I managed to get at least a (temporary) stalemate, but there is no room to build reactors for a dark beam. I will have to look into it.

Spoiler

[close]

That map very heavily favours conversion bombs - I built dozens of conversion bombs and mass shields to get more room for the dark beam.I probably shouldn't have dug next to the surface emitter, I was hoping the conversion bombs hitting there would be more effective - though it might have helped more than I realized by making sure the density above me wasn't as much so I'm undecided on that.

Spoiler

[close]

[deathsandwich]

I did it without using so many conversion bombs, which ended up costing me a lot of time. I was forced to build a dark beam too early because my repulsors were not holding up and I ended up stuck in a slow fight, zapping emitters every now and then.  :( I won, eventually...

Anyway, my point is that using loads of conversion bombs on that emitter probably does help a lot.

I haven't tried this map for very long but I think it is probably possible... There are loads of drones but you have some time to build up. Four blasters can just about hold them off, but I'm not sure if it is possible cap the creeper on the surface.

can this be done large/high

[Kithros]

I did it without using so many conversion bombs, which ended up costing me a lot of time. I was forced to build a dark beam too early because my repulsors were not holding up and I ended up stuck in a slow fight, zapping emitters every now and then.  :( I won, eventually...

Anyway, my point is that using loads of conversion bombs on that emitter probably does help a lot.

I haven't tried this map for very long but I think it is probably possible... There are loads of drones but you have some time to build up. Four blasters can just about hold them off, but I'm not sure if it is possible cap the creeper on the surface.

can this be done large/high

I used a very different solution to this one than most maps:

I built a dark beam right away (well, 14 seconds into the map), and then built up some reactors, and placed shields around the gap with the dark beam pointing in like in the picture. From here I can turn the dark beam on/off for short bursts to defend, and whenever the shields get low on health I can turn them on for longer bursts to replace them. This lets me defend indefinitely, so I build up some tech domes - after 3 reactor efficiency upgrades I have enough to get +12 energy by destroying all the tech domes and the 2 shields by the surface and replacing them with reactors (with better reactor layout this could probably be done with 2 upgrades, but I didn't feel like bothering).

Spoiler

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[cclloyd9785]

With 2 surface drone gateways, and 2 surface emitters, and little space to dig in, I am almost certain that little how ask large/high is impossible.

[Grauniad]

That map very heavily favours conversion bombs - I built dozens of conversion bombs and mass shields to get more room for the dark beam.I probably shouldn't have dug next to the surface emitter, I was hoping the conversion bombs hitting there would be more effective - though it might have helped more than I realized by making sure the density above me wasn't as much so I'm undecided on that.

Could you, in the interests of educating us all (me, specifically) take a full-motion (not accelerated) video of the first 60 seconds or so of this map? I'd love to see your strategy, since everything I tried fails in the first 20 seconds. I can't get enough shields up to get to the red gem (I've discounted going after the white or green, since that might take too much resources and create another weak point in my planned hideout).

The sucky part is that the medium is probably harder, since one has to contend with drones from the outset as well. And on easy it's barely worth bothering.

[deathsandwich]

Medium is possible too.  8) I made a real mess of this so please ignore the time...  :-[

Spoiler

I'd rather not say how I got here, as I wouldn't want you to copy what I did.

[close]

Edit: You meant medium complexity right? Small/High looks to be the worst in my opinion.

[Fisherck]

1500 meters 3:26 Large/High
This one is a good one. There is an extreme lack of space. And I was going to fix this with a nice conversion bomb in the chamber at the top right. But when I tried, the upper left chamber of drones got loose and completely decimated my defences. My only solution would be to use the conversion bomb to stop the first wave of drones. But besides that, I am not sure... :)

Oh, and be glad I did not use this one in the tournament I just posted. ;)

[Kithros]

One I posted ages ago in this thread is possible - 8727 large/high

*MANY* conversion bombs later....

Spoiler

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The phantoms are a huge drain on energy in this map with 12 of them spawning every 40 seconds - but it's still possible.

[florrat]

popcorn Large/High is possible too. I had to resort to the tactic Liberation Ship Decoying which I don't like to use, but it was actually pretty effective.