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Author Topic: Weekly Seed #56 [Alpha 10] [Seed: Escape Plan]  (Read 2530 times)

zxc

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Weekly Seed #56 [Alpha 10] [Seed: Escape Plan]
« on: September 07, 2016, 10:55:35 AM »
This week's seed: Escape Plan

Cogmind has it all worked out.

The Weekly Seed is open to anyone, and we encourage you to share your experiences, stories, and tactics over the course of your run.

The rules are as follows:
  • The Weekly Seed begins from the date this thread is posted and lasts about seven days.
  • Make sure you are running the correct version of Cogmind (see thread subject).
  • Enter the seed and abort your current game to initiate the seed (more details are below).
  • Verify you are not running the tutorial and that the screenshots below match your game.
  • Play through the game once. This is a friendly event and we are all honest people.
  • When finished, post your scoresheet here (it should be the newest file in /scores) and any other screenshots/stories/strategies you wish to share with the community.
  • If you want to share details about the seed or your approach, make sure you use spoiler tags.
  • Due to the spoilerific nature of this thread, be sure to avoid reading details about the seed if you haven't completed your run.

Good luck and have fun!





HOW TO ENTER A SEED

Press F1 to go to the MENU, select OPTIONS, select Seed, and enter this week's seed:




Select GAME, select ABORT:




If you have followed the steps [Manual seed applied: Escape Plan] should display in the log window.

Congratulations on entering the seed, now get in there!
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justgage

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Re: Weekly Seed #56 [Alpha 10] [Seed: Escape Plan]
« Reply #1 on: September 07, 2016, 10:07:21 PM »
First time posting! Got tons of weapons, tried to be stealthy but in the end I was outnumbered despite being so near the exit. Lost a lot of integrity from digging into a wall only to be buried alive by an engineer.

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lord

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Re: Weekly Seed #56 [Alpha 10] [Seed: Escape Plan]
« Reply #2 on: September 09, 2016, 04:45:19 AM »
Huh, every time my grave in Extension zone >_<

// -5/Extension

Photos from my robots party, and afterparty time:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Last breath:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Score:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
« Last Edit: September 09, 2016, 04:47:38 AM by lord »
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Decker

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Re: Weekly Seed #56 [Alpha 10] [Seed: Escape Plan]
« Reply #3 on: September 10, 2016, 09:06:44 AM »
I almost made it. Close but no cookie.

I started by visiting Data Miner, and I got the password for Warlord's stash and to hack God Mode. On the way out, I found the special entropy gun. I don't know how it works exactly, but I felt it doesn't do it quite fast enough to be effective. Next time, I'm leaving that gun right where it is.

Using Data Miner's password, I raided Warlord's stash. The spectral analyzer is very good. The prototype force field and power source are mildly useful. They lasted up to the beginning of the proximity cave, which isn't bad at all. On the way out of the base, I accidentally pissed off the base defenders while shooting at the bad guys, so I fled.

I paid Zhirov a visit and got the nice power boost.

I met Warlord again in Research. It turns out Warlord held a grudge due to the friendly fire incident. Tsk tsk. He said that he was disappointed in me and that it's time to go back to the scrapyard. So I pulled a dirty jack and hacked God Mode. The look on Warlord's face! I didn't see much of the resulting fight, but I think they ganged up on God Mode and killed it eventually. I had to leave fast since Warlord and his friends pack quite a bit of firepower. The bastards pursued and I got beaten pretty hard.

I escaped to Access surrounded by 6 robots. This triggered a bug. They became friendly in Access. Well, you never have too many friends.

Access sucked. I had sensors + signal interpreter, and I was flying pretty fast. My sensors got shot off at the beginning. I had to fight many terminators. I ended up disabling 3-4 garrisons, figuring I might as well cut down on programmer dispatches since the alert level shoots to 5 almost immediately anyway. I got sensors again, and they got shot off again before I could end the fight and swap them out. I killed about 5 scouts but none would give me new sensors.

I found Command, but the 3 terminals didn't yield the exit. I eventually ran out of propulsion units when the enemies were pouring faster than I could move and reequip. I ran naked and found the exit. The terminal had 0% chance of opening the door. Game over.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I don't know what's the best strategy in Access with those beefed-up terminators and garrisons everywhere. Hackware typically doesn't survive long, armor or no armor, and corruption soon makes hacking impossible. Perhaps hoarding sensors before Access and being extra careful with the sensor swaps would be helpful. Or perhaps moving really fast and not fighting anything except pests and programmers, possibly going naked once all the propulsion units get shot off.

The one thing that doesn't work is fighting your way around, because once the fighting starts for good, it's no longer possible to explore much of the map. Ironically, it's the workers that screw you the most. Suicidal workers caught in the crossfire call for reinforcements, and destroyed infrastructure causes construction progress impeded dispatches. Also, the workers systematically block your way when you need to move fast. The hostiles themselves can be dispatched quickly as long as you have launchers. It's just that they don't stop coming.

Tough challenge!

Score:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
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Kyzrati

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Re: Weekly Seed #56 [Alpha 10] [Seed: Escape Plan]
« Reply #4 on: September 10, 2016, 08:53:55 PM »
Wow Decker, always killing it with that score. Pretty epic run, and you're the first Cogmind to have reportedly hacked God Mode. Good thing you had that code--nice save :)

I apparently forgot to have Warlord's Access stragglers check to see if they are supposed to hate you or not :P. I'll get that fixed.

Really close to the end there!

Spoiler: Warlord spoiler (click to show/hide)

Access will become somewhat easier once you have "access" to the Research branches ;). Next release!

@lord: Aw, and you were pretty close to one of the Extension exits, too xD. Good job apparently making an absolute mess of Storage, though!
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Josh Ge, Developer - Dev Blog | @GridSageGames | Patreon

mindreader

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Re: Weekly Seed #56 [Alpha 10] [Seed: Escape Plan]
« Reply #5 on: September 12, 2016, 09:31:56 AM »
Quote from: Decker on September 10, 2016, 09:06:44 AM
I don't know what's the best strategy in Access with those beefed-up terminators and garrisons everywhere. Hackware typically doesn't survive long, armor or no armor, and corruption soon makes hacking impossible. Perhaps hoarding sensors before Access and being extra careful with the sensor swaps would be helpful. Or perhaps moving really fast and not fighting anything except pests and programmers, possibly going naked once all the propulsion units get shot off.

Is it actually possible to fight your way past -3 or so?  By that I  mean has anyone actually won a game where it was largely a combat build past that point?

The only times I've gotten past were when I fought, lost everything and then managed to randomly find a bunch of jets laying around, then proceeded to run by everything I could.  I've even had times where I knew where the stairs were and I just couldn't get to them through the mountain of enemies in every corridor.  The only thing that seems to work is to just ram my way past them, because if I pull back to try and find another way, if even one robot sees me, I will soon draw a mob and be trapped.
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Kyzrati

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Re: Weekly Seed #56 [Alpha 10] [Seed: Escape Plan]
« Reply #6 on: September 12, 2016, 11:05:58 AM »
Quote from: mindreader on September 12, 2016, 09:31:56 AM
Is it actually possible to fight your way past -3 or so?  By that I  mean has anyone actually won a game where it was largely a combat build past that point?
Sure, I did it in every single one of my wins on stream (as have pretty much all the other winning combat runs by others). That's where the points are--dismantling whole armies ;). You don't have to, though. Using hacking and intel to your advantage to minimize contact, even as a combat build, will make survival easier. (And of course beginning next release you'll have some new alternative routes through Research, too!)
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Josh Ge, Developer - Dev Blog | @GridSageGames | Patreon

mindreader

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Re: Weekly Seed #56 [Alpha 10] [Seed: Escape Plan]
« Reply #7 on: September 12, 2016, 01:14:55 PM »
I really need to catch one of those streams.  I've only caught one that was aborted early and it didn't seem like you play all that much differently than I do up to the mid game, although I did learn a couple minor things.

Unfortunately twitch deletes footage really soon after it happens, and hardly anyone that knows what they are doing uploads to youtube.
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Kyzrati

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Re: Weekly Seed #56 [Alpha 10] [Seed: Escape Plan]
« Reply #8 on: September 12, 2016, 08:05:48 PM »
Yeah, I kinda like the temporary nature of Twitch streams, though it's also a bit sad that all those victories were lost to time :P. I could transfer to YT, but don't really have the time to make a big production of it, so I don't bother.

And more recently I would've streamed a bit, but this stupid new laptop has some weird audio connection that needs a special headset--incompatible with my current headset and mic. Still having trouble finding what I need. I'll get back to it eventually, though first I have to do this trip to SF/Roguelike Celebration.
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Josh Ge, Developer - Dev Blog | @GridSageGames | Patreon

Decker

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Re: Weekly Seed #56 [Alpha 10] [Seed: Escape Plan]
« Reply #9 on: September 12, 2016, 08:57:10 PM »
Quote
Is it actually possible to fight your way past -3 or so?  By that I  mean has anyone actually won a game where it was largely a combat build past that point?

-3 and -2 aren't too bad for pure combat. From time to time you'll be unlucky, but you can usually find an exit before the alert gets too bad, since there are many exits.

Access is different. There's only one (unlocked) exit, and it's a crapshoot whether you start near it. If you don't, well, it's too bad. Having a scanner helps because it increases the odds that you'll spot the behemoths, but you still need to be lucky enough to venture in the general vicinity of the exit.

In some games I've entered a garrison when I couldn't make much forward progress at alert level 5, hoping to respawn near the exit, or to reduce enemy patrols if that fails. Of course it's also luck-dependent. When Command is unlocked, you'll have twice the chance to stumble upon an exit, so it should help some.

I feel Access could use some tweaks to make the challenge more uniform for pure combat builds. For instance, it might be worth it to provide some way to reduce the alert level in Access (beyond alert purge). Or to make it increase much slower, to account for the enemy bots being high level and therefore contributing a lot to the alert level increase. Or to provide a 100% chance to locate the exit, in exchange for having to fight a huge wave of enemies. Or to provide a way to prevent the enemies from spawning at alert level 5, e.g. by requiring the player to clear 3 garrisons.

*edit* Of course, that's if the Research branch doesn't already cover one of these options or something along these lines.
« Last Edit: September 12, 2016, 09:00:20 PM by Decker »
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Kyzrati

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Re: Weekly Seed #56 [Alpha 10] [Seed: Escape Plan]
« Reply #10 on: September 12, 2016, 09:13:54 PM »
The difficulty of Access is exactly where I want it right now--relatively difficult unless you have made previous efforts to reduce the difficulty. At present, though, there is still only a partial set of tools in that vein since the end game is still being worked on (yes, including Research branches).

When done, there will be numerous ways to make Access easier, and while right now players have yet to discover several of those which already exist, the ones to be added later will be more obvious :)
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Josh Ge, Developer - Dev Blog | @GridSageGames | Patreon