Fluffy Land (level)

[annikk.exe]

Hello all,

Here is my first attempt at a level.  It's pretty basic but should hopefully be fairly hard...  all feedback appreciated.  :>

*Update* Changed the initial greeting text to make the lose condition clearer.

[Jazz Ad]

Really nice job, thank you!
It was really entertaining to play. The plot isn't too obvious, you don't know at first how things are gonna go.
I like how the enemy makes surprise attacks at fluffy.
However, once again the main issue for map developers is to try making the game challenging.
I beat it in only 2 tries, which doesn't make it very difficult.
A very nice effort anyway, I hope you have more coming.

[annikk.exe]

Thanks for your comments :>

Yes I gathered that making maps difficult is... well, difficult.  I'm working on some heavily scripted stuff now, not quite sure where it's going yet but check back in a week or two and hopefully I will have something finished.
There aren't many people designing levels, are there?

[Jazz Ad]

I would but I'm terrible at coding, actually I know pretty much nothing about it.
Unless they come with a wysywyg editor it ain't going to happen for me.

[smeece85]

I made an account just to say thank you for your work.  I have played your level a couple of times and found it to be fun and to also have a little variety!

The first time I played it, the powerful planet decided to create three upgraded defense trees, so the constant barrage from the laser mines was a challenge.  The second time, it was easier since, for some reason, the planet decided to only make one.

I beat it both times, but it was fun each time.  I just wanted to thank you and other map creators for adding life to the game beyond the single player levels.  Keep up the good work!!

[annikk.exe]

::glows::  Shucks, thanks man :>

I am knee deep in code right now.  New level Flufforia is going to be heavily scripted... I figured I would try to make something really unusual and fun, rather than just trying to make a difficult level.  There is huge scope in the editor to do awesome crazy things, like for example you could create asteroid fields based on mathematical functions, like fractals...  You can manually order a specific empire to send a specific number of seeds from a specific asteroid to another specific asteroid, so you can basically script attacks and fine tune them to be super-challenging.  There is so much scope to do cool stuff, it seems a shame there aren't more people getting involved.  :>

It doesn't really take long to understand the lua language.  If you have the slightest idea about programming in ANY language, even just pseudo-code, it's really not that hard to understand what is going on and learn the basics in an evening.


Now I'm off to figure out how to script for laser mines !

[Jazz Ad]

I played it a few other times ad it is still interesting. I liked it.

[Rudolf]

Excellent stuff. It is really nice that people are making levels, and we will try to promote this as much as we can!

[annikk.exe]

I made another new thread where I am posting solutions to problems I've found.  There are some problems that I've not been able to fix yet, such as naming your asteroids.  Help with those would be greatly appreciated :>

Man, this scripted level I'm working on has taken on a life of its own.  It's getting pretty damn complicated...  Currently I'm trying to figure out why part 3, wave 2, is not triggering.  I've been trying some cool stuff like hiding asteroids to the player as they move along the belt, and that has all been working great.  I've also thrown together some code which in theory cause 2 enemy laser mines to instantly spawn on a frontline planet and instantly start attacking....but there are bugs preventing me from getting to that part of the level at the moment :P  so eh.

Could take a while to finish and properly test this new one... it's up to 13kb already and there is still at least double the amount of code needed to finish it off.  I hope there isn't a hard limit to the number of "If" statements allowed or anything...? :P

[TorchFire]

Great work.
This level is very well crafted.  It offers challenges in both offense and defense.  It took a couple of tries for me to create a strategy for myself against this enemy. 
Very enjoyable.

[Jazz Ad]

I think this is the first level I which flowers are so important. Actually if you don't use them properly you have no chance to win.
You're onto something. Keep the good work coming.

[annikk.exe]

Problems with new level are sorted again.  Part 3 of the level is just about finished now :>  I think there will be 5 parts in all.

::codes::

[Rudolf]

Looking forward to it!

[annikk.exe]

15kb and counting!  Enemy laser mine spawns are working now ^_^

[annikk.exe]

20kb and counting!  Although probably about 1kb of that is code that I've commented out and probably won't use now.

I've spent ages and ages trying to figure out different ways that the player can screw up the scripts or the level, or get their seedlings stuck, etc.  I'm pretty sure I've accounted for every eventuality now, and the enemy won't do anything excessively stupid.  One of the hardest things to do is to detect accurately whether the player has failed the mission, or if they could (in theory) still recover and go on to win.

This thing is look pretty shiny now.  I should have all the functional components finished by the end of tomorrow night.  By the end of the weekend the balancing should be done so currently it looks like Sunday 31st of January for the release of this monster of a level.


My hope is that the level I am working on will inspire others to learn how to make levels.

[w4tc]

Nice lvl
fery good work 

[Rudolf]

I think we neeed to promote the modding a bit, your stuff is certain to help so thanks again!

We should post on MODDB as well as here, but we need to find the time to put tohether a useful post on how to mod the game with LUA, which is hard for us as we are still very busy.

Volunteers for a modding guide anywhere? ;-)

[annikk.exe]

I'll do a modding guide.  I am a competent level designer (in LUA, at least..) and have a good command of the english language.  My day job is Network Admin which means I am not busy for a lot of the time....apart from when something goes wrong.  ;)  So I should have plenty of time to write something.  I guess my posts about problems/solutions is all very well for someone that can already write levels and scripts, but not so great if you are just starting out and have no clue whatsoever how to go about making your first level.

[smeece85]

Very excited to play your level!  I have played the original fluffy over about 4 or 5 times and it is interesting how the difficulty can fluctuate based on the quality of the planets nearest the start.

Thanks for your continued efforts!

[annikk.exe]

As of tonight all functional elements are in and working.  Still left to do is strip out un-needed commented-out code (probably about 2-3kb of the stuff), and complete rebalancing.  The latter is necessary because I intentionally made it very easy so it would be easy to test all the parts.  Now I will need to make it a bit harder so it keeps you guys busy more than 20 minutes :P

24kb .lua file now.. :O

[Rudolf]

I'll do a modding guide.  I am a competent level designer (in LUA, at least..) and have a good command of the english language.  My day job is Network Admin which means I am not busy for a lot of the time....apart from when something goes wrong.    So I should have plenty of time to write something.  I guess my posts about problems/solutions is all very well for someone that can already write levels and scripts, but not so great if you are just starting out and have no clue whatsoever how to go about making your first level.

That is awesome, really nice of you and with a bit of luck will help attract way more people to modding the game.
there is loads that can be done but a guide would help loads. :-)

[Rudolf]

Finally played Fluffyland, nice level! The high core health makes conquest decisions quite important. :-)

[cinemabaroque]

I had fun with this, its a good first map and I can't wait to try return to fluffyland when I get off work tonight.  I was surprised the first time I played and didn't notice the major enemy until I was too tied up to keep him off my base.  Lots of fun losing in Eufloria.  You are right, making levels hard is, well, hard.  Again, can't wait to try your new masterpiece! 

Thanks for the new levels.

[daniwrig]

I had a lot of fun playing this level and thought the difficulty was perfect (for me).  It took me two tries, the second time I did not expand so aggressively and gathered all of my guys and laser mines at the right time just before the powerful planet sent its first wave to attack my outlying planet so I wiped them out.  I watched the powerful planet for a minute and it was scary how quickly it got back up to 100 seedlings again with 10 trees. 

Thanks for making this level.  I'm looking forward to your future levels.

[evoke]

I am having fun but am confused.  My first playthrough, I captured some planets and for a time had 3 flowers and a lot of momentum, with which I made 3 lasers...but my lasers are not respawning.  (?!!)  After a respawn or two, they just tapered out and stopped spawning, which was, candidly, devastating due to being unexpected and things look pretty grim now, since the AIs seem to have no such spawning hobbling.   Is that deliberate?  Or a bug?

Fun either way I guess.  Just way more challenging if lost lasers do not come back and must be juggled with care so that they always heal and never face stronger lasers or linger too long in hostile territory.

Thanks for the map.  Great effort, smooth presentation.

-evoke

[annikk.exe]

That sounds like a bug, and one I've seen in all levels, not just this one.  Doesn't seem to happen very often but I think there is some specific set of conditions which can cause a mine to stop regrowing.

[evoke]

Indeed.  The level has behaved fine on the next two plays.  I lost the next, nice design on the ninja attack by the AI, I caught 220 at once underprepared of what the large asteriod was like, and chuckled in delight.

Cracked it the forth try (3rd was an opener disaster) with, in hindsight, not that much laser reliance, by shaving metagame to within an inch of its life in knowing the board layout and AI placement.  Controlled growth in appropriate directions is really key on the board.  Overall, it's a very nice design, it's the first custom level I've tried of 8 or so downloaded and just groundbreaking and revelatory in what Eufloria can do and be.  Tremendous thanks.

I am keen to try it again, as the replay value is high generally, with the specific hardcore challenge of no laser use.  I think I might have been able to finesse it, but the proof is in the pudding.  Maybe, maybe not.  Some luck may be necessary in the AIs choices and laser numbers / positions - in any event, quite fun to try, or just to replay normally.  Eager to try your other boards.

-evoke

I am not positive, but the respawn issue may involve a flower from another planet being used on a just-made youthful defense tree, and then the resulting laser being lost on the original flower-origin world.  Perhaps not.  I see no sane coding reason (I code by dayjob) why some of those things would affect each other.  I will try to pay accurate memory recall attention if it happens again.

Interestinly, it happened to two of the three defense trees that game, which makes it not quite random nor repeatable, but seems to imply a set of conditions being generally met.  Probably argues against the likelihood of the above hypothesis being correct, actually.  Merely remarking.

[annikk.exe]

Overall, it's a very nice design, it's the first custom level I've tried of 8 or so downloaded and just groundbreaking and revelatory in what Eufloria can do and be.  Tremendous thanks.

Thanks for your kind words :>  But in terms of doing groundbreaking things with Eufloria, this was just my very first map that I made when I was learning to make levels, and actually doesn't do anything that new, in my humble opinion...  however I'd encourage you to check out Day & Night and Return to Fluffy Land where I have made some completely original features like supplemental swarming AI and pulsating asteroids, which I feel showcases the mod-ability of Eufloria much better..  :>

[evoke]

Thanks.  In fact, I died hard on day and night earlier today, and was quite bemused to observe the AI go hyperlogical with a intriguing pattern of swarming and secondary targeting, saving the main world for last when a human strategist would have long gone for the kill, drawing the inevitable finish out for many ebb cycles. 

What was groundbreaking and relevatory about fluffy, granting it was the first custom I played and no doubt other authors are also skilled, is that I could take a 10 minute break for snacks on a normal Eufloria level at more or less any point of the game, and rarely be adversely affected.  It was outright difficulty to lose if you tried, short of deliberate suicide sabotage, if you were RTS skilled or a Spike psychotype metagamer, etc.  About to shelve it, then fluffy - and it's suddenly, hello, sitting upright, paying keen attention, the win is at stake beacuse making a tactical blunder or having poor opener judgement could mean curtains.  Totally revitalizes.

Am keen to progress to the other author's customs.  Just chitchatting.  The custom levels on offer from the 2-3 authors here just look great.

[Bonobo]

Dang, I'm 52 and therefore I qualify for "Old Fart", OK?

Haven't been able to win this level in 7 or 8 attempts. Even tried accelerating game play to find out about "their" strategies.

Any spoiler tips for an old l4m0r?

BTW I think I found a bug in this level: I had it once that I picked a flower and wanted to plant it next to a defense tree, and the flower kept circling and hopping around the asteroid. Did not plant, and also wasn't selectable anymore <shrug> I guess I'll just move on and check out Return to Fluffy Land.

[annikk.exe]

Hi Bonobo :>  Hmm, well Fluffy Land just uses the normal Eufloria AI, there isn't really anything particularly special going on in the scripting...  The only thing I can suggest is from my own experience of playing it, that you should avoid the enemy swarm wherever possible.  Defend your home asteroid if they attack it, but apart from that just flee from aggressors and let them take whichever of your asteroids they please.  Instead focus on capturing undefended or unoccupied asteroids.  On most or all of the asteroids, build all dyson trees - it's all about the swarm here, and besides, you have a 30% chance to get a flower from each Dyson Tree - incredibly good chances.  The idea is that you need to capture a certain number of asteroids so that you are producing seedlings faster than the enemy empire.  You can capture new asteroids faster than he can, and ultimately you can outswarm him.

Use the flower at the beginning to build a mine.  The mine will be key to winning, make sure it is seeing action and not just sitting around your home asteroid - then it isn't helping.  If you use this strategy you will pretty soon own all the asteroids around about your home asteroid and there's no path from the enemy asteroids, and the threat of an attack on Fluffy becomes moot.  :>

[Bonobo]

Thanks, Annik, I'll try that out. Meanwhile, I've found some new fun: playing standard levels or dark matter in FAST mode

[annikk.exe]

At long last.  :>

[Bonobo]

Cool

And also cool to see how responsive Alex and Rudolf are and that Eufloria is moving on.

[Jazz Ad]

AH yeah good old Fluffyland.
I hadn't played it for a while.
It is perfectly balanced, difficult enough that you loose once in a while, without becoming frustrating.

[Aino]

One year after this map, I arrived ont he forums :O

Not exactly the date, but around then I began to post... Haven't played this map in a LOOOOOOOONG time, and I don't remember anyhting either :S

Better go play it

[annikk.exe]

Just to reiterate for anyone new that reads this...  FluffyLand was my first tentative step into the world of level design, and although some may have fond nostalgic memories of it, I am far more proud of my newer maps like Everswarm and Extreme Pwn Laz0rz.  :>


I still play Extreme Pwn Laz0rz sometimes.

[Aino]

I'm coding a little basic map now, inspired by this one

It will have Infected AI too

[threephi]

In my opinion, this is one of the absolute best levels ever, and given the fact that it has now been downloaded over 1,000 times, I thought it deserved a bump

When I fire up Eufloria, I almost always start with a round of Fluffyland.  Its attractiveness lies partially in its simplicity, as a game takes only 30 minutes or so, which is much shorter than most other levels.  But it is also so well balanced and replayable that even after literally hundreds of rounds, I find that victory still requires application of all the game strategy I have learned.  Just the right balance of expansion, offense, and defense must be found each playthrough in order to win.

So kudos to annikk, and let's hear it for the original, and still the best, Fluffyland!