Custom Map #345: Dax's alternate ending

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This topic is for discussion of map #345: Dax's alternate ending


Author: garry131

Desc:
Dax must find a way to spread his resources thin enough to be everywhere he is needed at the same time, or the survivors will perish!! How would you eliminate the vast quantities of creeper?

[hegemontree]

I'm thoroughly enjoying this very difficult map.

However I should point out that at 1:46 the middle of the 3 sealed bunkers died, prematurely ending the game. 

[snowmaker (JM)]

I'm thoroughly enjoying this very difficult map.

However I should point out that at 1:46 the middle of the 3 sealed bunkers died, prematurely ending the game. 

You let a "ghost" past your defenses.... I did that too  ;)

[hegemontree]

I'm thoroughly enjoying this very difficult map.

However I should point out that at 1:46 the middle of the 3 sealed bunkers died, prematurely ending the game.  

You let a "ghost" past your defenses.... I did that too  ;)

Nope, it just happened again at 1:17 only 2 ghosts have launched and I saw where they went.
The screenshot below is from a save of that run that shows the bunker taking damage before the first wave of phantoms is launched.
Interestingly, when I reloaded it the game lasted till 1:24.
I'm running 0363 are you running the same version.

EDIT:  I should say again this is still a good map!

[snowmaker (JM)]

Yes, I am running the latest ... version 363. I am not sure why the center bunker is taking damage at that point.

[Grauniad]

I too have suffered an unexpected failure on this map when a bunker got destroyed about 4 minutes into the game.

[garry131]

I am of course, very sorry to hear of this bunker problem.

Originally I had the emitters down one square lower in the chambers.

While I fiddled with other elements, I played it a real lot... for fun.

Very near the end I moved the emitters up to where they are now. A pinch higher.

I played it about 3 more times, with no troubles.

I don't want a flaw in the "final" episode.

Hmmmm. You could open it in the editor and relocate the emitter(s), or I could resubmit a corrected version.

Anyone else get cheated out of solving this level?

[Katra]

Yes. I was robbed after about 7 minutes... There appears to be some random factor that sometimes (usually?) causes the sealed bunkers to suffer damage long before they can be reached. Also, restarting from a save seems to only result in a small variation in the time of your demise. (At least with a save within two or three minutes of when the bunker dies.)

[knucracker]

The only thing I see is that a phantom hits that center bottom bunker.  This is enough to allow creeper to get under the bunker at which point it never manages to get it completely removed (thanks to the wall of creeper beside it).  If you build 4 reactors at game start under the LS and then just wait and watch the bottom center bunker, it should get hit followed by destruction a bit afterwards.

[Kithros]

In one of the screenshots it happened before the phantoms launched - the only thing I can think of is that every 9th shot of the blaster, there is no creeper directly beside the bunker (but there is creeper diagonally from it both up and down an equal distance away)- and the blaster shoots after the creeper moves, and normally targets the creeper above it - but because they're an equal distance, there might be something obscure in the targetting of the blaster that can sometimes make it target the creeper below it, and if it does that the creeper above it will fall down on it and then it can't deal with the creeper around it anymore. I can't really test this though because I've never had the bunker die.

[knucracker]

Yeah, that center bunker is one cell closer to the creeper than the bunker to its left.  The wall of creeper beside it has to be held at bay and can never be allowed to move over the bunker, else it won't even be able to push it back.  Clearly a phantom strike can initiate this.  But, other scenarios I can think of might be the frame timing for when then bunker fires.  If it gets off by as little as one frame, then it could allow creeper to move over one subcell.  This could maybe happen on a game load... not sure if I store the fire timers of bunkers in a save game.  If not, then they could load up with a reset fire timer and that could cost them a few frames.

[Grauniad]

Can phantoms maybe *not* target bunkers?