EXTREME PWN LAZ0RZ!!12

[annikk.exe]

Well, I've beaten it loads of times without seeing the bug.. Which version of Eufloria are you on?
I am super glad you like it but disappointed to hear that my creation is not behaving the way I intended.
I wonder if the 2 AI's are arriving at an asteroid at the same time, and both planting trees, or something..

[threephi]

v2.07... I've managed to see very young mismatched trees and they always occur on an asteroid where a battle is taking place and a tree has been destroyed so the roots are available for replanting, never on a new unplanted asteroid.

[threephi]

Given how frequently I have seen the bug occur, annikk, are you certain there was no buggy asteroid those times you've won?  Of course since you wrote the darned thing you do have an advantage

[annikk.exe]

I'm fairly colourblind, so I would be unlikely to be notice.  But none of the other beta testers noticed anything like that either...

So are you saying that it's frequent that 1 or 2 trees are of the wrong faction?

And then every now and again all the trees are wrong, and that's what causes the problem ?

[threephi]

I've seen individual wrong trees at least a dozen to twenty times every time I've played this level, compared to maybe ten times total on all other levels combined, across over 650 hours playing Eufloria according to Steam .  Three out of a total four times playing this level, I have seen one asteroid have every tree on it belong to the wrong player, which causes the game issues I described originally.  An asteroid can have one, two, or three incorrect trees on it, but significant consequences only occur when all three are incorrect.

One of the two possible cases (friendly planet with three enemy trees) makes it easier to win since the enemy keeps sending seeds to an asteroid he cannot conquer.  Even though your allied AI keeps sending seedlings to their doom against vastly superior enemy numbers on that asteroid, it is only a part of your total force.  So you can bide your time carefully using the laser mine to hover just outside the attack range of the enemy seedlings orbiting that asteroid to slowly reduce their numbers.  Meanwhile, your own forces gather strength to the point where when you finally get rid of all the seedlings on the buggy asteroid, you have enough to overcome the ferocious late-game super seedling counterattack.

The other possible case (enemy planet with three friendly trees) is impossible to win since the reverse is true--you can never conquer that asteroid since your seeds won't attack a friendly tree.

My experience has been that without case #1, the level becomes so hard once the super seedling counterattack gains steam that it's not so much fun

[flashfire]

Given how frequently I have seen the bug occur, annikk, are you certain there was no buggy asteroid those times you've won?  Of course since you wrote the darned thing you do have an advantage

I was a beta tester for this map and I didn't notice the bug at all, I played 10 times And although fairly noob I found the end seedling rush do able using some missdirection( learned from past abuses at the hands if annikk's infected AI)

[Mr Frank]

The AI takes FOREVER to finish the game, holy seed.  I think it lasted three or four hours, but the game was pretty much in the bag within one.  The late game was tedious.  The AI's stupidity about splitting its forces is great when I'm fighting against it, but a pain in the butt when I'm waiting for it.  I'd love to see something like this on a smaller map.  A giant "final boss" army appearing from their rear asteroid would be cool and fun to deal with once the mine was fully upgraded.  The spawning of very powerful seedlings just felt obnoxious and drew the endgame out even more, but maybe that was just because I bit off more than I wanted to chew in terms of play time.

However, that's just whining.  This is technically impressive and extremely cool.  I had LOADS of fun in the early game and will play any others like it that I see.

[annikk.exe]

Thanks for the feedback! :>  Points noted.

[threephi]

Funny that this thread has a few new posts in it, since I just started playing this level again recently (and loving it, and beating it quite handily .

But running into the wrong-tree bug again got me thinking, and combing through the Infected AI code, and I came up with a simple fix

Rather than clog up this thread, and since it has to do with the Infected AI engine itself, I have made a lengthy post about it in the Annikk's Mechanics thread.

[annikk.exe]

Threephi,

Thankyou for this!!  This is awesome.  :>  I've briefly read over your post on the Mechanics thread, and will study it properly later on and try out the demo you attached.  It's really cool that you made it all the way "inside" so to speak, and saw how the engine works.  Kind of hard to explain but it's like a special magical place that (up until now) only I've been to.  :P  That sounds pretty cheesy I guess but eh..

Anyway.. thanks!! :D

[Pilchard123]

That sounds pretty cheesy I guess but eh..

Pretty cheesy? What is your definition of very cheesy then?

On second thought, don't tell me, I might implode.

[annikk.exe]

Updated with the fix.  :>


By the way, would you guys have any interest in an Extreme Pwn version of EverSwarm?  IE with random levels each time you play?

[Aino]

That would be awesome and replayable

[threephi]

Threephi,

Thankyou for this!!  This is awesome.  :>  I've briefly read over your post on the Mechanics thread, and will study it properly later on and try out the demo you attached.  It's really cool that you made it all the way "inside" so to speak, and saw how the engine works.  Kind of hard to explain but it's like a special magical place that (up until now) only I've been to.    That sounds pretty cheesy I guess but eh..

Anyway.. thanks!!

You're welcome   It's only a sliver of repayment though considering how many outstanding levels you've given us...

I can't say that I've plumbed all the mysteries of the infected horde (I only barely skimmed the rallying point code and most of the neighbor assessment, just enough to realize they don't influence tree planting) but the overall structure is what impressed me... it seems easy to extend it or modify it in the future.  Maybe I'll geek out on it a little more in the mechancs thread

Spicing up Everswarm sounds great!  I've given it a few plays and success seems quite dependent on starting position, you either have enough room to expand, or get boxed in and swarmed pretty quickly.