Alpha Challenge 2015 (September 8-22)

[zxc]

Bugged start?

Spoiler

[close]

No second power source at the scrapyard.

[Kyzrati]

In theory it's not 100% guaranteed you'll have everything from the base set, though based on how it's handled I'd be very surprised if you don't get two power sources every time.

Assuming you don't drop one and it gets picked up by the Recycler, both should generally be lying around in the northwest quadrant of the room (though we obviously don't see it here). If you give me the seed when you're done I can look at why it wasn't placed. (Also, if it truly didn't place then there should be an error listed in your run.log file during map generation, to the effect of "...unable to place item '[name]', skipping.")

[zxc]

I just won that game. Morgue:

Spoiler

Cogmind - Alpha 3c

Name: zzxc

---[ ESCAPED! ]---

Performance
-------------
Evolutions (9)             4500
Robots Destroyed (46)      230
Value Destroyed (696)      696
Prototype IDs (6)          120
Alien Tech Identified (0)  0
Bonus (2000)               2000
              TOTAL SCORE: 7546

Cogmind
---------
Core Integrity             1369/1600
Matter                     39/300
Energy                     1/50
System Corruption          7%
Temperature                Cool (2)
Location                   Surface

Parts
-------
Power (4)
Propulsion (5)
  Experimental Cesium-ion Thruster
Utility (14)
  Long-range Sensor Array
  Hacking Suite
  Connection Mask
  Improved Utility Shielding
  Improved Utility Shielding
Weapon (2)
  Point Singularity Launcher

Inventory
-----------
Advanced Sensor Array
Light Quantum Reactor

Peak State
------------
Power
  Vortex Chain Reactor
Propulsion
  Experimental Cesium-ion Thruster
  Impulse Thruster Array
  Impulse Thruster
Utility
  Long-range Sensor Array
  Decoy Generator
  Hacking Suite
  Connection Mask
  Improved Utility Shielding
  Improved Utility Shielding
Weapon
  Chainsword
  Point Singularity Launcher
[Rating: 83]

Favorites
-----------
Power                      Light Nuclear Core
  Engine                   Light Ion Engine
  Power Core               Light Nuclear Core
  Reactor                  Light Anti-Matter Reactor
Propulsion                 Flight Unit
  Treads                   Improved Treads
  Leg                      Aluminum Leg
  Flight Unit              Flight Unit
Utility                    Long-range Sensor Array
  Device                   Long-range Sensor Array
  Storage                  High-capacity Battery
  Processor                Advanced Signal Interpreter
  Hackware                 Decoy Generator
  Protection               Hardened Light Armor Plating
Weapon                     Chainsword
  Energy Gun               EM Pulse Gun
  Ballistic Gun            Assault Rifle
  Launcher                 Grenade Launcher
  Slashing Weapon          Chainsword
  Special Melee Weapon     Datajack

Stats
-------
Classes Destroyed          7
  Worker                   7
  Builder                  2
  Hauler                   3
  Recycler                 4
  Watcher                  1
  Swarmer                  28
  Programmer               1
NPCs Destroyed             0
Best Kill Streak           7
  Combat Bots Only         9
Matter Collected           1222
  Salvage Created          1126
Parts Attached             83
  Power                    15
  Propulsion               18
  Utility                  27
  Weapon                   23
Parts Lost                 37
  Power                    8
  Propulsion               11
  Utility                  13
  Weapon                   5
Average Slot Usage (%)     58
  Naked Turns              29
Spaces Moved               3984
  Fastest Speed (%)        909
  Slowest Speed (%)        14
  Overloaded Moves         0
  Propulsion Burnouts      0
  Targets Rammed           10
  Cave-ins Triggered       0
  Teleports                0
Heaviest Build             64
  Greatest Overweight (x)  19
  Average Overweight (x)   2
Largest Inventory          4
  Most Items Carried       4
  Average Items Carried    3
Core Damage Taken          1169
Volleys Fired              60
  Largest                  2
  Hottest                  60
Shots Fired                69
  Gun                      40
  Cannon                   0
  Launcher                 29
  Special                  0
  Kinetic                  9
  Thermal                  0
  Explosive                29
  Electromagnetic          31
Shots Hit Robots           79
  Core Hits                77
Overload Shots             0
  Energy Bleed             0
  Heat Surge               0
  Short Circuit            0
  Meltdown                 0
Melee Attacks              86
  Impact                   0
  Slashing                 85
  Piercing                 0
Damage Inflicted           4669
  Projectiles              351
  Explosions               2317
  Melee                    1974
  Ramming                  27
Highest Temperature        423
  Average Temperature      108
  Shutdowns                1
  Energy Bleed             0
  Interference             0
  Matter Decay             0
  Short Circuit            0
  Damage (minor)           0
  Damage (major)           0
  Damage (core)            0
Highest Corruption         7
  Message Errors           0
  Parts Rejected           0
  Data loss (map)          1
  Data loss (database)     0
  Misfires                 0
  Misdirections            0
  Targeting Errors         1
  Weapon Failures          0
Haulers Intercepted        3
Robots Corrupted           0
Robots Melted              1
Tactical Retreats          16
Communications Jammed      26
Parts Field Recycled       0
  Retrieved Matter         0
Parts Merge Repaired       0
Drone Launches             0
  Drone Recoveries         0
Derelicts Assembled        0
Traps Triggered            0
  Indirectly               0
Trap Hack Attempts         0
  Triggered                0
  Disarmed                 0
  Reprogrammed             0
  Reused                   0
Machine Familiarity        15
  Terminals                15
  Fabricators              0
  Repair Stations          0
  Recycling Units          0
  Scanalyzers              0
Machines Hacked            15
  Terminals                15
  Fabricators              0
  Repair Stations          0
  Recycling Units          0
  Scanalyzers              0
Total Hacks                42
  Successful               9
  Failed                   33
  Catastrophic             18
  Database Lockouts        0
  Manual                   26
  Terminals                42
  Fabricators              0
  Repair Stations          0
  Recycling Units          0
  Scanalyzers              0
Terminal Hacks             9
  Record                   3
  Part Schematic           0
  Robot Schematic          0
  Robot Analysis           0
  Prototype ID Bank        0
  Open Door                0
  Level Access Points      2
  Branch Access Points     0
  Emergency Access Points  0
  Machine Index            0
  Terminal Index           0
  Fabricator Index         0
  Repair Station Index     0
  Recycling Unit Index     0
  Scanalyzer Index         0
  Alert Level              1
  Unreport Threat          0
  Locate Traps             1
  Disarm Traps             1
  Reprogram Traps          0
  Dispatch Records         0
  Maintenance Status       0
  Security Status          0
  Surveillance Status      0
  Patrol Status            0
  Transport Status         0
  Investigation Status     0
  Extermination Status     0
  Reinforcement Status     0
  Assault Status           0
  Recall Investigation     0
  Recall Extermination     0
  Recall Reinforcements    0
  Recall Assault           0
  Hauler Manifests         0
  Registered Components    0
  Registered Prototypes    0
  Zone Layout              1
  Sector Layout            0
  Machine Controls         0
Hacking Detections         16
  Full Trace Events        13
  Feedback Events          0
  Feedback Corruption      0
  Feedback Part Disabled   0
  Feedback Blocked         0
Robot Schematics Acquired  0
  Robots Built             0
  Total Robot Build Rating 0
  Robot Fabrication Matter 0
  Robot Fabrication Time   0
Part Schematics Acquired   0
  Parts Built              0
  Total Part Build Rating  0
  Part Fabrication Matter  0
  Part Fabrication Time    0
Parts Repaired             0
  Part Repair Time         0
Parts Recycled             0
  Recycled Matter          0
  Retrieved Matter         0
Parts Scanalyzed           0
  Part Schematics Acquired 0
  Parts Damaged            0
Robot Analysis Total       0
Robots Rewired             0
Robots Hacked              0
  Non-combat               0
  Combat                   0
  Parse                    0
  Link                     0
  Rebooted                 0
  Overloaded               0
  Assimilated              0
  Manual                   0
  Secondary                0
Robot Hack Failures        0
Allies Hacked              0
Hacks Repelled             0
Total Allies               11
  Largest Group            0
  Highest-Rated Group      0
  Highest-Rated Ally       0
Total Orders               0
  STAY                     0
  GOTO                     0
  ROAM                     0
  FOLLOW                   0
  GUARD                    0
  AID                      0
  BUILD                    0
  TUNNEL                   0
  DROP                     0
  PICKUP                   0
  COLLECT                  0
  EXPLORE                  0
  RETURN                   0
Terraforming Orders        0
  Walls Built              0
  Walls Tunneled           0
Ally Attacks               0
  Total Damage             0
  Kills                    0
Allies Corrupted           0
Allies Melted              0
Peak Influence             201
  Average Influence        30
Maximum Alert Level        1
  Low Security (%)         99
  Level 1                  0
  Level 2                  0
  Level 3                  0
  Level 4                  0
  Level 5                  0
Squads Dispatched          23
  Investigation            16
  Extermination            1
  Reinforcement            6
  Assault                  0
Exploration Rate (%)       19
  Regions Visited          12
Turns Passed               1867
  Depth 11                 37
  Depth 10                 180
  Depth 9                  178
  Depth 8                  98
  Depth 7                  238
  Depth 6                  47
  Depth 5                  361
  Depth 4                  107
  Depth 3                  220
  Depth 2                  193
  Depth 1                  208
  Scrapyard                37
  Materials                424
  Factory                  753
  Research                 413
  Access                   208
  Mines                    32

Prototype IDs
---------------
Vortex Chain Reactor
Improved VTOL Module
Experimental Cesium-ion Thruster
Point Singularity Launcher
Precision Energy Filter
Advanced Particle Charger

Alien Tech Recovered
----------------------
None

Game
------
Seed: 1442832102
^Manual?: 0
Play Time: 81 min
Sessions: 2
Mod: N/A
Game No.: 26
ASCII: 1
Keyboard: 0
Font: 18/Terminus
Map View: 76x50


X=9904511650319173724979788917
879824877932478297232727224789
219898832797972347742824144281
749722299224989197797978737772
777971972978777797777777777727
777777799797777777777797787777
777797777777777779797728777779
777777777779997977778779877777
217779877874922182777739397779
393977777779778777879977797779
772779777797792874872192928937
177773474479777221292189171877
717773771799277818777779777919
177121843328994222828497924782
988897279489728227487937828399
721277791728773277787773777897
717712728777737122

[close]

It was seed 1442832102. 81 min and my fastest turncount win at 1867 turns. I tried to focus on speed and not stealth but it was tough. We'll see if turncount is important for the best escape score. Of course there are other factors I know, but I've wanted to try to copy Biomatter's fast wins anyway (~ 1k turncount). I think the game is harder now than in those versions (speed bug fixed, traps, etc) so I think it was a decent run. I took a lot of core damage though, because I was brute-forcing it with speed and also spent a while almost-naked early on. I also had to wait out a lot of turns due to having no heat dissipation.

[Happylisk]

Heh, it might be tough to top that considering you don't know the formula and it's not only based on speed, but you can try (and perhaps give Happylisk a chance to take your 1337 title if he's having another go or two at high scores ).

Unfortunately I think I'm done for the tournie.  I'd love to play more, but I think my very patient ladyfriend has had enough of watching me play cogmind for now    Plus, my only goal was to get a win which was nice.  Now, I want to begin exploring how to integrate allies into a combat run.  I'll wait for the tournament to be over to begin that experiment. 

Don't think it'll be possible to snatch 1337 from zxc either.  With the gap between us, a good run to Research wouldn't do it.  I'd have to get a big fat win to close the gap (and that's a 3-4 hour investment right there). 

I was hoping to get more achievements, but heaviest, most corrupting, and most corrupted seems rather appropriate for me given how I play. 

E: Congrats zxc!  It's interesting looking at a stealth log after knowing the game better.  99% low security level, only 29 combat robots killed.  So different.  Also, there are so many items in this game I've probably never seen.  Vortex Chain reactor?  Sounds awesome. 

2 games ago, I found this advanced coolant network or something like that, that was a 2 utility slot item that did something insane like -90 heat per turn or so.  Give me 2 of those and 4 nova cannons any day of the week. 

[zxc]

Don't think it'll be possible to snatch 1337 from zxc either.  With the gap between us, a good run to Research wouldn't do it.  I'd have to get a big fat win to close the gap (and that's a 3-4 hour investment right there). 

If you did I'd just go and win another combat run. I do want that achievement. The other achievements the rest of you can fight over, but 1337 is mine.

E: Congrats zxc!  It's interesting looking at a stealth log after knowing the game better.  99% low security level, only 29 combat robots killed.  So different.  Also, there are so many items in this game I've probably never seen.  Vortex Chain reactor?  Sounds awesome. 

2 games ago, I found this advanced coolant network or something like that, that was a 2 utility slot item that did something insane like -90 heat per turn or so.  Give me 2 of those and 4 nova cannons any day of the week. 

Honestly it wasn't a stealth run. I made almost no attempt at stealth. It was an equip-flight-units-and-beeline-to-the-exits run. Got into a LOT of nasty situations. Do not try this at home. Also I'm convinced that there is a fairly common trap formation where there are stasis traps placed in front of a behemoth in the late-game. I've gotten caught in front of a behemoth far too many times to be just coincidence.

Vortex Chain Reactor is the best power source I've seen in the game so far. Screenshot:

Spoiler

[close]

I got the coolant network on one of my failed combat runs. It was pretty swell. You can see it in action here (I died on this floor):

Spoiler

[close]

[Kyzrati]

Whoa, that's a fast win, zxc. It's hard to do a direct comparison with the difficulty of Alpha 1, since some things have gotten harder (traps, speed bug fixed) and some easier (smaller squad sizes and lower Programmer frequency).

Thanks for playing and joining the discussions, Happylisk. And for pulling off a win . Take a well-deserved break so you don't get banned from Cogmind . I'll still be here chugging along for quite some time...

Also I'm convinced that there is a fairly common trap formation where there are stasis traps placed in front of a behemoth in the late-game. I've gotten caught in front of a behemoth far too many times to be just coincidence.

No, you're just lucky like that

...hm, now that you mention it, on closer examination the distribution mechanics do make that combination somewhat likely. It wasn't intentional, but I like it

[zxc]

Whoa, that's a fast win, zxc. It's hard to do a direct comparison with the difficulty of Alpha 1, since some things have gotten harder (traps, speed bug fixed) and some easier (smaller squad sizes and lower Programmer frequency).

My money's on a turncount speedrun being tougher in this version than Alpha 1. However, in that run I didn't get a programmer squad sent after me even once all game. I guess it was because I was speeding through the levels and not wasting time.

...hm, now that you mention it, on closer examination the distribution mechanics do make that combination somewhat likely. It wasn't intentional, but I like it

You're a bastard. I hope you know that.


I'm on eight wins now and counting (five during this challenge). I'm collecting them now! One question: does turns passed consider 1 action = 1 turn, or 100 time = 1 turn? Also, how does move speed interact with breaking stasis? Do you break out of stasis 10x faster at 10 move delay than you do with 100 move delay? Or are breaking attempts all the same length of time regardless of propulsion?

Edit: The scoreboard never updates when you want it to. I really want to know whether my last run improved on 1.08. Also, these are fantastically odd scores. I wonder if you did something like score = (1000 / turns) + (3000 / core damage taken) + (highscore / 20000) etc. with a bunch of factors like that.

Edit2: Yay. 2.02 score. So it seems the best escape algorithm loves low turn counts. My 1337 achievement score took a hit but it should be OK. I'm not in the top 3 for Against All Odds though, which I find strange because I managed to escape with this peak setup (and even this is inflated because I couldn't move with the launcher equipped, and other than the sensors my utilities were mostly useless. Also the chainsword seems pathetically weak - maybe I just got unlucky with a ton of rolls but it compared unfavourably with stuff like katanas):

Spoiler

Peak State
------------
Power
  Vortex Chain Reactor
Propulsion
  Experimental Cesium-ion Thruster
  Impulse Thruster Array
  Impulse Thruster
Utility
  Long-range Sensor Array
  Decoy Generator
  Hacking Suite
  Connection Mask
  Improved Utility Shielding
  Improved Utility Shielding
Weapon
  Chainsword
  Point Singularity Launcher
[Rating: 83]

[close]

[Kyzrati]

Whoa, that's a fast win, zxc. It's hard to do a direct comparison with the difficulty of Alpha 1, since some things have gotten harder (traps, speed bug fixed) and some easier (smaller squad sizes and lower Programmer frequency).

My money's on a turncount speedrun being tougher in this version than Alpha 1. However, in that run I didn't get a programmer squad sent after me even once all game. I guess it was because I was speeding through the levels and not wasting time.

Yep, when you're racing that fast, they don't have enough time to react.

...hm, now that you mention it, on closer examination the distribution mechanics do make that combination somewhat likely. It wasn't intentional, but I like it

You're a bastard. I hope you know that.

Requirement #1 for being a roguelike dev

I'm on eight wins now and counting (five during this challenge). I'm collecting them now! One question: does turns passed consider 1 action = 1 turn, or 100 time = 1 turn?

Ha, you are on quite a roll now. Turns passed is game turns, yes; not actions. (If it were the latter I'd definitely use that term. I will be adding Action Counts to the score sheet for the next release.)

Also, how does move speed interact with breaking stasis? Do you break out of stasis 10x faster at 10 move delay than you do with 100 move delay? Or are breaking attempts all the same length of time regardless of propulsion?

An attempt is an action that takes 1 full turn regardless of your propulsion.

Edit: The scoreboard never updates when you want it to. I really want to know whether my last run improved on 1.08. Also, these are fantastically odd scores. I wonder if you did something like score = (1000 / turns) + (3000 / core damage taken) + (highscore / 20000) etc. with a bunch of factors like that.

Edit2: Yay. 2.02 score. So it seems the best escape algorithm loves low turn counts.

I honestly didn't have enough data when coming up with the formula for Best Escapes--too few previous wins! Still, it works out fine because the aim was to emphasize turn count to make sure speed/stealth runs could have their place on the leaderboards since they'll obviously get beat out by score. Destruction still plays an important role, though, so if you can wreak more havoc and get out faster you'd have a better escape rating. I would definitely redo the entire formula in the future if applicable to some event.

I'm not in the top 3 for Against All Odds though, which I find strange because I managed to escape with this peak setup (and even this is inflated because I couldn't move with the launcher equipped, and other than the sensors my utilities were mostly useless.

A few of the achievements, including that one, are slightly more easily taken by less experienced players who manage to reach the mid-game by barely scraping by. I wouldn't call carrying a Vortex Chain Reactor and Point Singularity Launcher "barely scraping by" . There are players out there who are barely playing with prototypes, much less some of the most awesome gear you can find!

Also the chainsword seems pathetically weak - maybe I just got unlucky with a ton of rolls but it compared unfavourably with stuff like katanas)

Musta just been unlucky, since it's a direct upgrade. (Also the slower/longer attack animation might make it feel a little weaker, whereas you can get repeated slashes off and see results more quickly in real time with a Katana.)

Edit3: Also you can see here that this *4 rating flight unit is worse in every way compared to the *3 flight unit (I guess maybe the max integrity is better - that is the only explanation):

Spoiler

[close]

I'll look into that one.

[Kyzrati]

Bonus stats! (Day 12 isn't over yet, but I'm posting this now anyway.)



I found a problem with two records that were throwing off the play time and fixed those, so you'll see total play time fell from the previous stats. Also, the rather high Max play times you see in Materials are not errors--they're a few new players learning the game (stopping a lot, reading the manual, etc.), especially on -10.

[zxc]

A few of the achievements, including that one, are slightly more easily taken by less experienced players who manage to reach the mid-game by barely scraping by. I wouldn't call carrying a Vortex Chain Reactor and Point Singularity Launcher "barely scraping by" . There are players out there who are barely playing with prototypes, much less some of the most awesome gear you can find!

That's very true. Still, by the standards I'm used to, it felt like I reached the Surface nude! Got better things to do than to pick up items!

Edit3: Also you can see here that this *4 rating flight unit is worse in every way compared to the *3 flight unit (I guess maybe the max integrity is better - that is the only explanation):

Spoiler

[close]

I'll look into that one.

I removed that edit after some thought because I suspect the reason is twofold: 1. most likely higher max integrity 2. the *4 one has burnout whereas the *3 one has burnout 0 which DISPLAYS as though it's better but it probably means it can't be overloaded.

Juicy stats, K!

[Kyzrati]

Oh whoops. Yeah I hadn't looked in detail at the parts you were referring to. The ability to overload is a game-changer there--the whole reason for the difference

More stats to come! Altogether too many, almost... but I'm having fun with them. I used to use Calc for my spreadsheets and for the Challenge just switched to Excel--the latter hands down blows the other one away. Putting together cool graphs is a breeze.

[Agroesch]

Well I'll be afk for a few days so I won't be able to do any more runs for the tournament. I really wish I could have squeezed out a win but it didn't happen. I only made it to access once and with limited options at that. I had some great fun runs though. Hopefully I'll stay on the high score board XD

Kyzrati your game is magnificent. It breathes more fresh air into a strictly traditional roguelike format than I ever would have thought possible.

Thank you

[Kyzrati]

Thank YOU for supporting and playing, Agroesch. I thought you might've managed a win before time was up, but it's true combat runs through Research are a tough proposition that can turn on a dime unless you really stack the odds in your favor (just ask the EM / inventory hoarders ). In any case it's unlikely the top 10 will do much more shuffling in this final day.

24 hours left everyone!

A few more achievement names and a couple definitions were revealed; last batch before the end when all is revealed and compiled

[Kyzrati]

Well, I was putting together more graphs anyway, so may as well share them

[zxc]

I don't quite understand that Inventory Size graph. What's the X axis?

[Kyzrati]

The x-axis is what I get for doing this in a hurry

It was supposed to be depth, but I forgot to link that row to the chart so Excel just numbered them on its own. They're supposed to be -10 to 0 like the others, from left to right. It'll be fixed for the final version (and larger).

[zxc]

You silly billy. Also, I assume the max/avg/min refers to aggregates of the max inventory size of a run, while carried refers to the avg of the avg items carried in a run.

[Kyzrati]

That chart was kinda slapped into that lonely corner without much explanation, either, yeah.

Max/avg/min all refer to the Largest Inventory but taken only at the point of death/winning because that's all we know. "Carried" is taken at the same point, using the average of everyone's Average Items Carried (so it's not super meaningful other than to tell us a lot of Cogmind's run around with near empty inventories for a while).

[Gobbopathe]

Dammit, I think I will not be able to achieve a single game

[Gobbopathe]

-6 at the moment, still running. But I should stop soon. Too bad

[Chad]

Thats it for me in the tournament. I've tried to get a place back in the top ten, but it seems that im more a quantitative player, not the qualitative one
Had some nice runs (and many bad ones), I've tried stealth and combat runs. Both went very bad in late factory/early research. I reach always a point where I run into Programmers or squads and that ends very bad.

Thx for the tournament, I really enjoyed it!

[sve9]

Yeah, It was an amazing tournament K, looking forward to more statistics to come!

[Kyzrati]

Full statistics coming next week!

You're welcome and glad you all enjoyed it

Chad: I noticed you playing a heck of a lot and taking a number of achievements. The last Factory floor is where the difficulty (once again) really ramps up, so that's a tough barrier. The top 10 ended up being pretty competitive with a lot of players reaching that same general area!

-6 at the moment, still running. But I should stop soon. Too bad

You know you could just get yourself killed and that will still count as a game considering you've already made it so far! Still 1 hour remaining

I'm going to process the latest data in a moment.

[Kyzrati]

Alpha Challenge 2015 is officially over... announcements, reward list, and a new results page coming shortly!

[Kyzrati]

Alpha Challenge final results are here, and prize list here

Congratulations and thank you for participating!

(Also, of course all the achievement names and descriptions have now been revealed )