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Author Topic: Weekly Seed #8 [Alpha 3b] [Seed: Trapped!]  (Read 20405 times)

Kyzrati

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Weekly Seed #8 [Alpha 3b] [Seed: Trapped!]
« on: September 01, 2015, 12:30:17 AM »

I'm still taking care of these in jimmijamjams' absence, which means none of the achievements indicated below, but instead I'll be working on planning our upcoming tournament, which will have a bunch of ongoing achievements and should be a lot of fun. In the meantime, use this seed and your own runs to get acquainted with the new mechanics!

Note: If you happened to have grabbed Alpha 3 before the 3b hotfix and want to continue using it, this seed will produce the same results in that build as well.

(I wanted to name this weekly seed "It's a trap!" only to discover that it doesn't read the seed nicely from the config file if you close the program and restart the game, because the seed name includes spaces. I didn't want to mess anyone up so I decided to use "Trapped!" instead. I'll fix that issue for the next version, and make sure it can read seeds with spaces from the config file.)

Edit 150905: For this particular seed I've written a step-by-step guide to the first few floors as I tackled them. You can read it further down in this post.

This week's seed: Trapped!


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.  Some super secret achievements will be selected with some RNG at the end of each week from my steadily growing list.  Please leave suggestions for the naming of next seed or other achievements to include to my list once you have finished 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: Trapped!] should display in the log window.

Congratulations on entering the seed, now get in there!
« Last Edit: September 05, 2015, 01:53:51 AM by Kyzrati »
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zxc

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Re: Weekly Seed #8 [Alpha 3b] [Seed: Trapped!]
« Reply #1 on: September 01, 2015, 02:57:48 AM »

One weird thing I've noticed is that not all items are labelled. Is that normal? You can see it in the first screenshot in the OP. The first engine isn't labelled, for one. I'm not sure if it's always been like this or it's a recent bug.
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Kyzrati

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Re: Weekly Seed #8 [Alpha 3b] [Seed: Trapped!]
« Reply #2 on: September 01, 2015, 03:06:58 AM »

Not a bug--it's actually labeled but the label appears under the one to the right for Lgt. Treads. You can see the very left edge of the label before it goes under (I see two others that are overlapped as well). There is a limited number of label orientations for a given item (six) and the UI can't always find an optimal position, or any position at all, and something will often end up being covered in cases where you have a lot of parts in close proximity.

So it's essentially caused by the limitations of a grid-based ASCII labeling system. There are some cases where as a human viewer you might be able to find a better orientation for everything, but the algorithm is already as complex as I'd want to make it (pretty complex). Any more complex would also require a lot more computing power, and might even slow down the labels if there are a hundred or more on the screen.

In high-density situations I just use mouse hover or look mode to auto-label individual items for better accuracy.

By the way, this seed has an interesting start with that armor and treads just waiting for you right there in the beginning, as if to say... COMBAT BUILD :)
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zxc

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Re: Weekly Seed #8 [Alpha 3b] [Seed: Trapped!]
« Reply #3 on: September 01, 2015, 03:12:46 AM »

I'm not shying away from combat this time round! That is all I can say for now.

edit: Not sure where else to say this, but in the Alpha 3 changelog ' MOD: Direct "Purge Threat" terminal hack doesn't show unless there are threat records to purge' - doesn't this make Alert Level a lot less useful?

Oh, I used a Detect Traps hack and found out I walked straight through some blade traps without even spotting them! Sneaky traps...
« Last Edit: September 01, 2015, 03:24:27 AM by zxc »
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Gobbopathe

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Re: Weekly Seed #8 [Alpha 3b] [Seed: Trapped!]
« Reply #4 on: September 01, 2015, 03:37:38 AM »

edit: Not sure where else to say this, but in the Alpha 3 changelog ' MOD: Direct "Purge Threat" terminal hack doesn't show unless there are threat records to purge' - doesn't this make Alert Level a lot less useful?

Not sure this is the correct answer, but I would say not seeing the "Purge threat" does not mean the alert level is minimum. Seeing it just tells you the alert level is not minimum.
Well, that's how I catch it
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Kyzrati

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Re: Weekly Seed #8 [Alpha 3b] [Seed: Trapped!]
« Reply #5 on: September 01, 2015, 03:42:37 AM »

Gobbopathe is right.

And zxc you're lucky you didn't get chopped to pieces then :)
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zxc

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Re: Weekly Seed #8 [Alpha 3b] [Seed: Trapped!]
« Reply #6 on: September 01, 2015, 05:35:36 AM »

Sure, if you don't see Purge Threat you don't learn anything. But seeing it means it's not minimum, which is plenty of info in itself unless you're running around destroying everything and are definitely above minimum threat.
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Kyzrati

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Re: Weekly Seed #8 [Alpha 3b] [Seed: Trapped!]
« Reply #7 on: September 01, 2015, 05:43:22 AM »

I don't mind giving that bit of information to the player, plus it shows if you're above zero, and you're almost always above zero if you've destroyed anything at all, which you'll generally be aware of, anyway.

Alert Level is mostly intended for those who are, as you describe, going around destroying everything--e.g. combat builds or those with an army at their backs (which will increase in likelihood with each release, for those who want to take advantage of it).
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Gobbopathe

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Re: Weekly Seed #8 [Alpha 3b] [Seed: Trapped!]
« Reply #8 on: September 01, 2015, 06:27:04 AM »

Just made a screenshot. I have both "Purge threat" and "alert level" entries.



Alert level inform me I am still at "low security". The first step if I remember well, < 200 right ? Still I have the "purge threat" entry, which means I am above 1.
Well, I did not learn anything actually :) but indeed as Kyzrati wrote you should see it always, not a scoop
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zxc

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Re: Weekly Seed #8 [Alpha 3b] [Seed: Trapped!]
« Reply #9 on: September 01, 2015, 06:46:23 AM »

I don't mind giving that bit of information to the player, plus it shows if you're above zero, and you're almost always above zero if you've destroyed anything at all, which you'll generally be aware of, anyway.

Alert Level is mostly intended for those who are, as you describe, going around destroying everything--e.g. combat builds or those with an army at their backs (which will increase in likelihood with each release, for those who want to take advantage of it).

Ah I see. I thought Purge Threat only popped up once you reached Level 1 alert level.
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Re: Weekly Seed #8 [Alpha 3b] [Seed: Trapped!]
« Reply #10 on: September 01, 2015, 04:41:54 PM »

Wow! Furthest I've come so far. Traps can be really tricky but I think they add a whole new dimension to the game, especially since you can use them for your own game :). I had  a feeling that all my hacking-chances were lower than in other (pre-Alpha-3) games, but doing this run more brute force was pretty fun too :)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
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ryvn

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Re: Weekly Seed #8 [Alpha 3b] [Seed: Trapped!]
« Reply #11 on: September 01, 2015, 06:59:26 PM »

Died in glorious combat on -10 facing off against a squad of Grunt-class 'bots. They opened fire as soon as they came into sight down a long hallway. I'd lost my grenade launcher earlier, so I was rocking two Assault Rifles. I reasoned that my targeting computer and more defensive treads should give me an edge in a protracted firefight, so I decided to stand my ground.

Then they shot off my targeting computer. I decided that things might go better from up close, so I stepped through a doorway to force them to come to me. It's hard to tell without the ability to distinguish between identical 'bots or watch enemy turns in sequence, but I think they were cycling which of them stood in the door to prevent me from focusing fire. I eventually lost my guns and made a dive for a nearby Medium Laser, but my core was shredded before I could fire it.

I really should stop trying to explore all of the early floors. My games tend to go well if I prioritize getting my gear upgraded to the best available on the level and then leave immediately, and every time I decide to take things slow I end up getting pulverized. I would have left earlier but I was looking for a Signal Analyzer to check out its new branch identification function.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
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Kyzrati

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Re: Weekly Seed #8 [Alpha 3b] [Seed: Trapped!]
« Reply #12 on: September 01, 2015, 10:30:42 PM »

Wow! Furthest I've come so far. Traps can be really tricky but I think they add a whole new dimension to the game, especially since you can use them for your own game :). I had  a feeling that all my hacking-chances were lower than in other (pre-Alpha-3) games, but doing this run more brute force was pretty fun too :)
Good to hear about traps!

No changes were made to hacking difficulty aside from the gradually decreased chance to Purge Threat after each success (and the same was applied to all Recall hacks, basically the things you can use to control difficulty level). I will always include anything like that in the changelog.

You were probably just tending to find more higher-level terminals, where the base chances are lower but you get direct access to more targets.

Then they shot off my targeting computer. I decided that things might go better from up close, so I stepped through a doorway to force them to come to me. It's hard to tell without the ability to distinguish between identical 'bots or watch enemy turns in sequence, but I think they were cycling which of them stood in the door to prevent me from focusing fire. I eventually lost my guns and made a dive for a nearby Medium Laser, but my core was shredded before I could fire it.
Make sure you're always carrying spare weapons--not being able to shoot is a bad position to be in ;). This is why once you reach the mid-game melee weapons are good for backup, because it's harder to lose those. They're not very useful in Materials, though.

I would have left earlier but I was looking for a Signal Analyzer to check out its new branch identification function.
Take out a Watcher. However, this particular goal has become all the more difficult in Alpha 3 because they now have their proper speed...
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Re: Weekly Seed #8 [Alpha 3b] [Seed: Trapped!]
« Reply #13 on: September 02, 2015, 05:28:41 AM »

You could have named the seed "itsatrap!", no spaces !
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Kyzrati

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Re: Weekly Seed #8 [Alpha 3b] [Seed: Trapped!]
« Reply #14 on: September 02, 2015, 05:37:07 AM »

True, I tried that but it didn't look very good at all because I wanted to keep the proper capitalization and punctuation, e.g. "It'sATrap!" Didn't want to make it too hard to type in ;)
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Re: Weekly Seed #8 [Alpha 3b] [Seed: Trapped!]
« Reply #15 on: September 04, 2015, 04:17:27 AM »

Just an update.

Image
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Is there a way to show automatically resized images on this forum?

Early game has been decent so far, despite some shakiness due to forgetting some stuff. Upgrading according to my theory that utilities are the best slots even with a combat build.

Locating traps with a terminal hack is very useful. I haven't stepped on one yet, also.

Just dispatched a programmer with ease. I rather like using weapons.
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Kyzrati

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Re: Weekly Seed #8 [Alpha 3b] [Seed: Trapped!]
« Reply #16 on: September 04, 2015, 05:59:10 AM »

Is there a way to show automatically resized images on this forum?
Automatically, only by including it as an attachment, which obviously isn't appropriate for inserting it along with the associated text.

In the post itself, the only way is to modify the [img] tag to something like [img width=500].

I could check to see if there are any SMF plugins for doing it automatically. It is somewhat annoying to have massive fullscreen shots. I always play in a 720p window, so no big deal there :P (Edit: I did some searching around and tried a few things, but it looks like there's no real good way to handle resizing that is both automatic and convenient for the viewer without adding javascript, especially since we spoiler most images and those are handled differently :/)


Hoping to start my run tonight. Everyone had better take advantage of the overheating enemies as best you can, because I'm totally fixing that soon (finished testing and tweaking today). Turns out I was a bit too lenient on that in Alpha 3.
« Last Edit: September 04, 2015, 07:22:03 AM by Kyzrati »
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Re: Weekly Seed #8 [Alpha 3b] [Seed: Trapped!]
« Reply #17 on: September 04, 2015, 10:18:47 AM »

For this run I'm going to do something a little different.

Rather than blast through the first few floors without writing much (because I usually get to the Factory in about 10 minutes :P), in order to help out some newer players I'll provide a much closer blow-by-blow account of every single action taken through Materials. This is kinda like what jimmijamjams did back in seed #3 with his early game advice, only in this case it'll be specific to this seed. (Note for anyone looking at this later: This seed will produce the same world for any Alpha 3 version.)

I'll go with a combat-oriented build, because that's been my preference lately, plus they've been buffed for Alpha 3. In the starting scrapyard pictured in the OP I'll attach the Ion Engine, Lgt. Treads (x2), Assault Rifle and Med. Laser, pick up the Lgt. Assault Rifle and Lgt. Ion Engine as spares, then head up the stairs.

Spoiler: -10/Materials (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: -9/Materials (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: -8/Materials (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: -7/Factory (click to show/hide)
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Chad

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Re: Weekly Seed #8 [Alpha 3b] [Seed: Trapped!]
« Reply #18 on: September 04, 2015, 12:06:04 PM »

First time for me to participate at a weekly seed competition and it went very well :)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I didn't encounter any traps unit floor -7 (I think). There I jumped into a trap and fell into the garbage area (I think). Some big robots  attacked me (I even don't know their name :D) and beat the hell out of me. I was sure that this was the end!
But suddenly the walls broke and an army of robots came through, they destroyed all the bad guys and followed me. They were an amazing help through floor -7. But I had lost them all when I reached the way up to -6. There I survived a good while, lost everything several times and got new stuff, before I finally died!
But it was fun.
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Re: Weekly Seed #8 [Alpha 3b] [Seed: Trapped!]
« Reply #19 on: September 04, 2015, 02:44:49 PM »

I finished this a few days ago, so I don't recall exactly what happened (too many intervening games ;)

One thing I do recall was hitting a chute trap and dropping into an event that I had not seen before.  Quite awesome!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
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Kyzrati

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Re: Weekly Seed #8 [Alpha 3b] [Seed: Trapped!]
« Reply #20 on: September 04, 2015, 06:32:37 PM »

First time for me to participate at a weekly seed competition and it went very well :)

I didn't encounter any traps unit floor -7 (I think).
Oh you got the cinematic save, too ;). BoomBlip was raving about it on Reddit.

You won't start finding more traps until the Factory--the earlier levels are small and dense enough that adding more than a tiny selection of traps would cause them to be way too central to the gameplay there (and possibly frustrate beginners).

In any case, good you managed to survive falling down that chute and turn it into a good thing.

@Shobalk: Apparently you found some of the new content as well :) (Although looking at your score sheet it wasn't this particular run.)
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Re: Weekly Seed #8 [Alpha 3b] [Seed: Trapped!]
« Reply #21 on: September 05, 2015, 03:56:10 AM »

(...)
Oh you got the cinematic save, too ;). BoomBlip was raving about it on Reddit.
Oh yeah, it was really cinematic, sad that I managed too late to take screenshot out of wine :-/
But for the next time I'll be prepared ;)
I'm exited to see more of those cinematic events in the future :)
You won't start finding more traps until the Factory--the earlier levels are small and dense enough that adding more than a tiny selection of traps would cause them to be way too central to the gameplay there (and possibly frustrate beginners).
Sounds reasonable, good work there! :)
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Re: Weekly Seed #8 [Alpha 3b] [Seed: Trapped!]
« Reply #22 on: September 05, 2015, 09:38:59 AM »

First run where I totally dominated factory.  Always had tons of guns and armor, no problems.  Research though... oof.  Programmers up the wazoo and eventually my poor cogmind core couldn't take it.

Traps were fun.  Tread buff was funner.  I'll be at the surface with a blasty build before you know it. 

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
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Re: Weekly Seed #8 [Alpha 3b] [Seed: Trapped!]
« Reply #23 on: September 05, 2015, 10:28:51 AM »

I don't know if I was distracted, but that was one of my worse games. Once I started getting into difficulty I should have gone back and patched myself up rather than continuing onwards...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
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Re: Weekly Seed #8 [Alpha 3b] [Seed: Trapped!]
« Reply #24 on: September 05, 2015, 05:16:21 PM »

Best score yet.  Good one.

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