Experimental Reactor

[007bistromath]

In the final mission, we got some new toys. The point of the whole thing, as usual with a mission with a new mechanic, was to learn to use them. It was tricky! That beam sucks up a whole lot of juice, and the C-bombs won't outpace that million power emitter if drones keep crashing into them. Once I realized that the point was to stabilize before reserves were dry, I had a false start that was pretty interesting. I noticed there was a point at the left of the map where I could dig pretty deep without needing to commit, so I figured I was supposed to set up beams to give myself time to work, and then infiltrate with C-bombs and a conventional outpost. It would've made for an intense, multi-stage approach to the final battle. Unfortunately, if there was a way to get that to work fast enough, it was outside my range of play styles. I eventually figured out the right way, and that had its own interest, but the whole trouble with that being the last mission is that once I learned the experimentals, I didn't get to play with them as before. Unfortunate!

So, it's obvious that I'd like to see some missions where you do something like my false start. The beam protects your base from direct assault and isolates a work area while you establish a beachhead with your other tools. I realized after not too long that actually doing that would require dropping a completely stupid amount of gems on the player, though. To finish the last mission, I had to use four of the things, which meant that I had reactors on literally every available surface in order to afford the bombs without stuttering. Commotion! With that kind of space requirement, it'd be really tough to make something like what I want.

There's space left in the experimentals tab... For new weapons, a new power source! For some significant and possibly rising initial investment, you should be able to build a thingy over an existing reactor to multiply its output by a factor of... whatever would fix this problem. Something between three and ten, I don't know, screw around with it. The initial cost would prevent you from using a tiny space to support conventionals except in some extreme circumstance where it's necessary, and mappers would be free to design things that use the beam as a stopgap instead of the main weapon.

[Echo51]

Did you make sure to build tech domes and upgrade the reactor output? also that shouldn't be needed, other then in special cases in custom maps ;)

[Grauniad]

You can use the experimental weapons in both the code maps (0-g maps) and in custom maps. I know that some of the winning approaches for high-complexity code maps requires the approach you outline.

And as has been mentioned, reactor output can be increased globally by amping up your research.

Good luck!

[Kithros]

If you're creative with dark mirrors you'll very rarely ever need more than 1 dark beam (pretty much only when excessive drones are involved - I'm pretty sure a single dark beam could take down a nexus even if you were careful about opening it up), and getting to +12 energy doesn't take all that much space - if you want to see how powerful experimental weapons are, you should look through some of the code maps in the 'Impossible Code Maps' thread - most of those maps are possible because of how ridiculously powerful experimentals are when used properly, though many of them do rely on using unconventional approaches.

EDIT: Oh, and the last day actually is possible without the huge amount of crystal energy you're given doing something kind of similar to what you've said - I did that a few months ago:

[Cavemaniac]

In the final mission, we got some new toys.

the whole trouble with that being the last mission is that once I learned the experimentals, I didn't get to play with them as before. Unfortunate!

I know! I completed the original missions waaaay before code missions or custom missions were available and I was soooo left wanting more!

In fact, once the editor was available I created my own map just so I could play with the experimentals (map 257, Unfinished Business).

The emphasis in my map is C-Bombs 'cos I like setting them off (!) but the DB is vital to the mission too.

Since then, there have been many awesome maps created which allow/require the use of experimentals.

It's a real trick to get the balance right with experimentals - they can make the game too easy/boring if used wrong - they need to be saved for special occasions.

For maps where you can play with experimentals, try:

Boss Mode, map 276

The Hotel, map 270

You Have To Fire The Beam, map 248

There are plenty of others out there too.

Enjoy!

[007bistromath]

Yes, I had reactor efficiency to full. I think the problem was that I was running four of the things simultaneously. That's 48 plus whatever overhead you need to produce the C-bombs. I very likely could've done it with fewer beams, but I was having trouble with the drones cutting the beams and making my C-bombs do a tiny amount of damage. Really annoying.

I'm not really complaining that they're all that hard to use, though. I just think that to make maps such as what I describe easier, a little power boost might be warranted.

[Cavemaniac]

Yes, I had reactor efficiency to full. I think the problem was that I was running four of the things simultaneously. That's 48 plus whatever overhead you need to produce the C-bombs. I very likely could've done it with fewer beams, but I was having trouble with the drones cutting the beams and making my C-bombs do a tiny amount of damage. Really annoying.

I'm not really complaining that they're all that hard to use, though. I just think that to make maps such as what I describe easier, a little power boost might be warranted.

Oh.

I think I just clicked.

Even if you have enough power generation capability to run all your units, your LS can still only dispatch 60 power packets at a time, which means that you can't distribute the power you have fast enough to power your Dark Beams sometimes.

The 'trick' is to have at least one gem power as this over-rides the 60 packet rule - infinite packets, but slow frame rate.

There's a number of threads relating to this issue on these forums - do a search.

One good map that needed multiple Dark Beams made use of a work-around, by giving you the 'gift' of a gem right at the end - you just had to make sure you never ran it out or the map was impossible to complete!