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Author Topic: Game length  (Read 4524 times)

sssimon

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Game length
« on: April 15, 2007, 01:15 »

Hi!

I have a question regarding the length of the game. How much time would you say is needed to finish the game? How much time do you spend on each level? Is it necessary to explore every nook and cranny? I wouldn't be asking if there were saves available ;-)

Thanks Kornel for making great games :-)
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Anticheese

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Re: Game length
« Reply #1 on: April 15, 2007, 02:32 »

It's certainly not necessary to clear out the level, there is not even enough ammo to clear all the maps! A good idea would be to grab some ammo, medkits and grenades, then run to the elevator and make your way to the Queen.
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zaimoni

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Re: Game length
« Reply #2 on: April 15, 2007, 06:36 »

It took me about three hours to record the replay of the winner I posted a while back.  That would be for a turncount of ~120,000, temporarily clearing Military 1-5 and then simply looking for staircases on Main 6-8.  [As documented elsewhere, they won't stay cleared: noise attracts aliens.]  There are probably easier ways to win.

It is not necessary to (temporarily) clear most of the levels.  It is incredibly useful to remember (or record) the fastest mapped path back to the Civilian Tower Level 1...if you aren't tracking that, you're inviting Yet Another Stupid Death.
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sssimon

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Re: Game length
« Reply #3 on: April 15, 2007, 11:30 »

Hmm... 3 hours. Quite a lot ;-) I like to play in half hour sprees, which means I would have to find 6 of them throughout the day ;-)  Is the lack of savegames intentional?

Is there something special about the Military Tower? More ammo and guns?
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zaimoni

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Re: Game length
« Reply #4 on: April 15, 2007, 14:39 »

The lack of savegames was a time-limited implementation decision (as a 7-day roguelike, the savegame feature got axed when time started to run out).

The military tower (have not tested Security Tower) is one of the few ascent routes that will reliably hand you both a gyrostabilizer and a smart gun in reasonable proximity.  (The Main Tower certainly won't.)  Its main disadvantage is that it has absolutely no .44 colt ammo; it should not be used if you plan to use the .44 colt rather than the M4P3.

A secondary disadvantage is that it is possible to run out of krak grenades as emergency elite killers before finding a pulse rifle (the pulse rifle is not practically guaranteed on Military 2).  The MP5 can kill an elite, but you'll use up 6-8 med-packs in the process (assuming Unskilled Medical, although I think Basic Medical would be qualitatively similar), and it is a very inefficient use of 9mm ammo.
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BDR

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Re: Game length
« Reply #5 on: April 15, 2007, 14:41 »

The towers and what's special about them:

Civilian: Has a lot of sidearm ammunition (.44, M4A3, and sawed-off/12-gauge shotgun ammo).  Doesn't have as many actual *weapons*, however, so if you're looking for a .44 to replace that pansy M4A3 you should probably look elsewhere.

Storage: Has a lot of ammo, medkits, and grenades, as well as a fair amount of weapons and armor.  You'll probably find your first .44/nice armor/nice primary here, but beware: you can only see about 5 spaces around you, meaning that if you don't take down the aliens you see fast they will tear you apart.  Personally, though, I think this disadvantage is far outweighed by the copious amounts of ammo and medkits, and for that reason (if possible) I make it a habit to stay in this tower as long as possible.

Military: Has advanced armors, some of the nicer primary weapons, and all the heavy weapons.  Visibility is reduced, but not as much as in the Storage tower.  It's a nice place for what you get, I suppose, but it doesn't seem to have enough ammo to really support me when I look for better weapons.

Medical: Has many medkits, and according to some people has less aliens than the other towers.  Probably not the best place to replenish ammo if you're not finding enough to break even, though. (I don't spend much time in this or the next tower.)

Engineering: Currently not all that useful, but in the future will have workshops where you can modify your weapons/buy extra medkits/etc.  AFAIK, however, right now all it has going for it is a slightly reduced alien count, as well as a fair amount of common ammo types.

Main: The biggest distinguishing feature of this tower is that the Queen is on level 8 of this tower.  Other than that, not a whole lot different than the other towers AFAIK.

One last thing: If you enter a tower and the computer warns you of radiation, that means that your health will gradually decrease every few turns or so that you remain in that tower.  To stop losing health, you have to either use an elevator or head off to a different tower.  Anyone with a more complete listing of differences may feel free to correct this.  I generally don't visit Main, Medical, or Engineering at all unless I have to..
« Last Edit: April 15, 2007, 14:45 by BDR »
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zaimoni

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Re: Game length
« Reply #6 on: April 15, 2007, 20:31 »

I suspect, even after the spawn rate adjustments between AliensRL original and AliensRL++, that the Engineering tower would be useful for stocking up on smartgun ammunition...starting at Engineering 2.  [Note: I only tested this in AliensRL original; frequency of smartgun and pulse ammunition spawning was intentionally reduced going to AliensRL++.]

The Military and Security Tower's visibility isn't reduced enough to be a serious hindrance (M4P3 actually suffices to handle the low-grade aliens in isolation, you just can't waste moves with hunters and expect to not take a hit).  The only sidearm that works as a "single alien stopper" in the Storage Tower is the .44 colt.  At Basic Fitness, the M4A3 needs at least range 6 to handle a juvenile safely, and range 8 for both a warrior and a hunter...categorically loses in Storage Tower, but workable otherwise once you replace the MP5.

A direct Military Tower ascent (until maxed out on all of available ammunition types other than 60mm grenades, med-packs, and grenades) without side trips essentially prohibits using the .44 colt: its ammunition doesn't spawn there.  60mm grenades don't seem to spawn frequently in Military 1-5, and I tend to do the above "supply maxout" somewhere in Military 5 in a direct Military Tower ascent.  (Provided pulse rifle shows on Military 2, otherwise things get risky...my one not-tactically-stupid death so far was not finding a pulse rifle on either Military 2 or the half of Military 3 I managed to explore before I got to test the med-pack burn rate of MP5 vs. elite.)
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