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Author Topic: Weekly Seed #9 [Alpha 3c] [Seed: SeedyRobots]  (Read 7153 times)

zxc

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Weekly Seed #9 [Alpha 3c] [Seed: SeedyRobots]
« on: September 28, 2015, 02:34:21 AM »

Copying the format of earlier weekly seeds. I think I got everything right - if not, let me know.

This week's seed: SeedyRobots


The Weekly Seed is open to anyone.  High scores are not the only feature of the runs and the main reason for putting this together is to share our experiences, stories, and tactics over the course of your run.

Rules are as follows:
  • The Weekly Seed begins from the date this thread is posted and lasts exactly 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 screenshot below of the Scrapyard and Level -10 matches your seed
  • Play through the game once.  This is a friendly competition, 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.
  • Due to the spoilerific nature of this thread do not read the comments if you are intending to participate and haven't played your run!
  • Any scoresheets submitted after seven days will not be included.
  • Good luck!







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: SeedyRobots] should display in the log window.

Congratulations on entering the seed, now get in there!
« Last Edit: September 28, 2015, 04:14:38 AM by zxc »
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jimmijamjams

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Re: Weekly Seed #9 [Alpha 3c] [Seed: SeedyRobots]
« Reply #1 on: September 28, 2015, 04:10:44 AM »

Looks good!  Thanks for taking this on :)
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Happylisk

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Re: Weekly Seed #9 [Alpha 3c] [Seed: SeedyRobots]
« Reply #2 on: September 28, 2015, 06:32:00 AM »

I'll get to this over the weekend.  Looking forward!
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Kyzrati

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Re: Weekly Seed #9 [Alpha 3c] [Seed: SeedyRobots]
« Reply #3 on: September 28, 2015, 08:59:03 AM »

Yay! With the tournament over, I can participate again! I usually play on Fridays, so I'll be in on this later.

Joining the seed runs with everyone has been good to force me to play at least one full game a week, which is otherwise very difficult because I'll usually spend all my time implementing features and testing rather than playing for real ;)

Thanks for picking it up, zxc.
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Oarsman

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Re: Weekly Seed #9 [Alpha 3c] [Seed: SeedyRobots]
« Reply #4 on: September 28, 2015, 01:39:54 PM »

This didn't take me long...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)





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zill

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Re: Weekly Seed #9 [Alpha 3c] [Seed: SeedyRobots]
« Reply #5 on: September 28, 2015, 03:25:09 PM »

My first attempt at the weekly seed, I barely fired a shot and only managed a score of 150 :-[

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
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fernsauce

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Re: Weekly Seed #9 [Alpha 3c] [Seed: SeedyRobots]
« Reply #6 on: September 28, 2015, 09:24:50 PM »

Well, this was unexpected. This is, for the record, my first attempt at any of these seed runs and my first victory.

Spoiler: scorecard (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: run info spoilers (click to show/hide)
« Last Edit: September 29, 2015, 08:56:53 PM by fernsauce »
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zxc

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Re: Weekly Seed #9 [Alpha 3c] [Seed: SeedyRobots]
« Reply #7 on: September 28, 2015, 10:09:29 PM »

Well, this was unexpected. This is, for the record, my first attempt at any of these seed runs and my first victory.

Wow, congrats! Nice gear 8)

I'll have a look at and comment on the run info after I do my own run.
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Kyzrati

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Re: Weekly Seed #9 [Alpha 3c] [Seed: SeedyRobots]
« Reply #8 on: September 28, 2015, 11:33:54 PM »

Whoa, a new victor!? The leaderboard has three now in just a week since the tournament's end! (I'm guessing this is partially a result of the new guides? :P)

Haven't done my own run yet so I can't comment further :)
« Last Edit: September 28, 2015, 11:35:36 PM by Kyzrati »
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fernsauce

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Re: Weekly Seed #9 [Alpha 3c] [Seed: SeedyRobots]
« Reply #9 on: September 30, 2015, 02:01:09 PM »

Whoa, a new victor!? The leaderboard has three now in just a week since the tournament's end! (I'm guessing this is partially a result of the new guides? :P)

I did read zxc's guide to stealth, which helped a fair bit. I also read the manual (after reaching Research and dying horribly) which was also really, really helpful. I had no idea you could even perform remote hacks prior to that, which makes hacking-heavy strategies a lot more effective. As it turns out, stacking network scanners is really, really effective.

Wow, congrats! Nice gear 8)

TBH I was going to quit and come back after hitting research, but I was so well equipped that I just kept on trucking. It worked pretty well, probably mostly because of all the hacking gear I had that let me find exits before any programmers ever showed up.

Also, the whole Access bug where the programmers never find you is kind of a relief. I imagine that's getting fixed, but it's kind of nice for now that you can take as much time as you want :P
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zxc

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Re: Weekly Seed #9 [Alpha 3c] [Seed: SeedyRobots]
« Reply #10 on: October 01, 2015, 12:01:34 AM »

My run ended on -2. It was all going very well until I stepped on a (double) stasis trap - and it turns out that stasis traps alert nearby enemies in some way, which I didn't know before. Lost all my gear and got shredded. I made it to -2 but couldn't rebuild properly and died. Stasis traps are pretty much the most deadly thing for a stealth build, by a long, long way. I think if that didn't happen it was going to be a relatively easy win otherwise.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
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kumo

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Re: Weekly Seed #9 [Alpha 3c] [Seed: SeedyRobots]
« Reply #11 on: October 02, 2015, 01:46:36 AM »

I thought after the Alpha Challenge that I would do better than before, but the bots knocked me down a peg or two. Previous game 8200, this game 708...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
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Kyzrati

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Re: Weekly Seed #9 [Alpha 3c] [Seed: SeedyRobots]
« Reply #12 on: October 03, 2015, 12:50:38 AM »

Argh, worst run in a long time. Was going with a walking combat build as I usually do and got pincered by two pairs of Hunters on -6, which just ripped me apart.

And this was my first full game with 3c, too :/

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Score 4805 (click to show/hide)
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Kyzrati

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Re: Weekly Seed #9 [Alpha 3c] [Seed: SeedyRobots]
« Reply #13 on: October 03, 2015, 12:55:32 AM »

it turns out that stasis traps alert nearby enemies in some way, which I didn't know before.
Nope, you were just unlucky in that case. There's no warning function associated with any trap but the alarm trap.

Stasis traps are pretty much the most deadly thing for a stealth build, by a long, long way.
I figured that would end up being the case.

In my run after the Hunters scrapped me I ran around with the Datajack in my inventory, pulling it out whenever encountering traps to reprogram them to take out my pursuers, which was pretty fun, but I didn't get to find an exit before running into more enemies (not enough of the floor was explored yet...). Partially my fault since I detoured into a dead end to grab a lone Drone Bay that might've helped me escape faster.
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Happylisk

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Re: Weekly Seed #9 [Alpha 3c] [Seed: SeedyRobots]
« Reply #14 on: October 04, 2015, 06:17:07 PM »

Now that the tournie is over I've been experimenting with a couple of things.  Today's experiment was how well can I do drunk.

The answer was -4, 8k score which was better than I expected.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
« Last Edit: October 04, 2015, 06:24:22 PM by Happylisk »
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Kyzrati

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Re: Weekly Seed #9 [Alpha 3c] [Seed: SeedyRobots]
« Reply #15 on: October 04, 2015, 06:40:40 PM »

Haha, I don't know how well this experiment's results can be applied across multiple players. Perhaps next time we need a graph of "inebriation level vs score" :)
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Happylisk

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Re: Weekly Seed #9 [Alpha 3c] [Seed: SeedyRobots]
« Reply #16 on: October 04, 2015, 06:59:34 PM »

It was interesting to note the things I did differently.  The main thing was I was too lazy to bother with teriminals and fabricators.  The latter was more responsible for my early death (low storage = less ability to withstand attrition). 

Also, using programmers to get a feel for where the exit is is way too effective.  I breezed through factory 7-5 using them.  Garrisons will be a very nice addition to the game. 
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Kyzrati

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Re: Weekly Seed #9 [Alpha 3c] [Seed: SeedyRobots]
« Reply #17 on: October 04, 2015, 07:34:24 PM »

Yeah, garrisons were one of the mechanics I wanted before Alpha 1, but ran out of time and had to stop adding features. It's one of the things that is really needed for a number of reasons, the biggest (and reason I came up with that mechanic in the first place) being to make it more difficult to gauge precisely where the exits are. (Before yourself I don't think anyone really figured this out, though.)
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zxc

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Re: Weekly Seed #9 [Alpha 3c] [Seed: SeedyRobots]
« Reply #18 on: October 04, 2015, 11:00:42 PM »

it turns out that stasis traps alert nearby enemies in some way, which I didn't know before.
Nope, you were just unlucky in that case. There's no warning function associated with any trap but the alarm trap.

Are you sure?

https://youtu.be/G6RxhfiSHmU

Fortunately I recorded it. You can see me waiting several turns to make sure that the swarmer patrols were moving slow enough to trigger the stasis traps myself to move forward in the floor. The moment I trigger it, the swarmers suddenly move MUCH faster and straight to me. At the end of this, I had zero items, and the entire loss of the run can be attributed to this one moment.

Regardless, I've learnt that it's never worth it to trigger stasis traps yourself. But I do think that situation was not meant to happen.
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Kyzrati

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Re: Weekly Seed #9 [Alpha 3c] [Seed: SeedyRobots]
« Reply #19 on: October 04, 2015, 11:22:09 PM »

Heh, what a coincidence that you have it recorded :)

Yes, I'm sure. In this case what's happening in the video is a relative speed change that has them approaching faster than you might expect. You are originally moving at 4.3 spaces per turn, then suddenly while stuck in the trap you spend several full turns in a row trying to escape (it costs one full turn, not your movement speed, to move against the field once). That squad just happened to be going in your direction, another clue being that only the first one was moving out ahead of the others--that one's the leader. If they had actually known you were there they would've shared their target info and all sped up and been on you at more or less the same time.

Patrols are statistically more likely to take corridors than be in rooms, so based on the map shown there was already a near 50% chance that they'd round the corner and past your location.
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zxc

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Re: Weekly Seed #9 [Alpha 3c] [Seed: SeedyRobots]
« Reply #20 on: October 04, 2015, 11:23:54 PM »

You are originally moving at 4.3 spaces per turn, then suddenly while stuck in the trap you spend several full turns in a row trying to escape (it costs one full turn, not your movement speed, to move against the field once).
I was waiting out many turns at the start. That's 100 time units per turn. Something just isn't right about this whole scenario.
« Last Edit: October 04, 2015, 11:26:06 PM by zxc »
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Kyzrati

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Re: Weekly Seed #9 [Alpha 3c] [Seed: SeedyRobots]
« Reply #21 on: October 04, 2015, 11:29:08 PM »

I saw that, and they weren't doing much, but then patrols do also stop for certain periods. I've looked at the code several times (including when you first mentioned it) and there is nothing different about how stasis traps are handled--alarm traps are the only ones that have code to alert nearby robots--so if this happens with stasis traps it would also happen with all other traps, too. It makes sense that this feeling could come from stasis traps, compared to other types, since they're the only ones that keep you in place for a while as events around you unfold as normal.
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zxc

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Re: Weekly Seed #9 [Alpha 3c] [Seed: SeedyRobots]
« Reply #22 on: October 04, 2015, 11:34:46 PM »

Well I'm going to have to say that's an incredible coincidence for them to start moving so quickly the moment I step on it. I waited about 20 full turns just standing there, with them going at a speed at which I ought to be safe for another 50 turns, and then the moment I step on the trap they are attacking me within 3 turns. Roguelikes teach cruel and unusual lessons.

Heh, what a coincidence that you have it recorded :)
I intend to try recording some videos to support my guide when I can get a better mic.
« Last Edit: October 04, 2015, 11:40:01 PM by zxc »
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Kyzrati

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Re: Weekly Seed #9 [Alpha 3c] [Seed: SeedyRobots]
« Reply #23 on: October 04, 2015, 11:51:43 PM »

I'm genuinely curious if you experience it in other cases where it's 100% irrefutable that's what happened. Apparently it's already happened to you more than once, though as said there is statistical bias towards this occurrence.

There could also be other factors at play somewhere... I just tested it to be sure and see nothing out of the ordinary: Multiple patrols passing nearby had no response for the duration I was stuck in a stasis trap.
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zxc

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Re: Weekly Seed #9 [Alpha 3c] [Seed: SeedyRobots]
« Reply #24 on: October 05, 2015, 12:04:26 AM »

I'm genuinely curious if you experience it in other cases where it's 100% irrefutable that's what happened. Apparently it's already happened to you more than once, though as said there is statistical bias towards this occurrence.

There could also be other factors at play somewhere... I just tested it to be sure and see nothing out of the ordinary: Multiple patrols passing nearby had no response for the duration I was stuck in a stasis trap.

Well, you have the exact seed, floor (-3), trap and patrol.  If you really wanted to, you could test that exact situation I was in more thoroughly. I'd do it myself but I'd want some kind of cheat/exploration/devtools mode to get there as it's non-trivial to reach -3 playing normally. I don't think it would be a good use of your time to test this but I'll keep my eyes open for other instances of stasis traps behaving unusually.
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