In Orbit, High Orbit, To The Moon

Vendae · 06-23-2012, 02:40 PM

Hi, I would like to read your suggestions for getting this achievements.

I got the first of them while campaigning, but I am having a hell of a time with the latter two. At the moment, I am using a level I designed, featuring only red blocks in a Zen Mode 12x12 grid. While it works pretty well, a) it is not as quick as I would like and b) it stops from time to time (admittedly, quite rarely, only about forty minutes or so on average; but still).

How did you folks got it?

Thanks in advance.

Fiskbit · 06-30-2012, 04:20 AM

I don't know of any board setups that are guaranteed not to stop such that you can just leave it running indefinitely. You're off to a good start with a one-color 12x12 zen board, though. You might try using trampoline mode for some additional stream distance, but I'm not sure if that will make it more likely to stop or not. Some additional things you can try include emitters to get things going again if they stop and eaters to introduce more churn into the blocks. Quad repeaters may be helpful, but I'm not sure. I recommend using the level editor to create a board with the precise probabilities of each block to get the balance just right, but remember that the game does not track stats when using the level test feature in the level editor, so when you're satisfied with your level, be sure to exit out of the editor and open the level like any other custom level or you'll be very disappointed.

If you're feeling adventurous, you could try utilizing a strategy similar to what I've used for the 500-block chain, where you have a 12x12 one-color trampoline zen board with a high rate of eaters and a flood item. The flood item makes the streams go in all 4 directions (effectively making all the red blocks into quad repeaters), the eaters eat the blocks that are already part of the chain, and trampoline mode allows the streams to travel far enough and stick around long enough to hit the new blocks that enter as the blocks below are eaten. This keeps a single chain going for a very long time and makes each block send out a high number of streams that travel very far, so it may be more reliable and able to reach your goal more quickly. It has drawbacks, though; getting the eater balance right is challenging, it can still fail, and sometimes you get columns without eaters that stop producing new blocks to feed the chain.

There used to be a bug where chains with 1000 blocks would cause a crash, but I believe that's fixed now, so that method could work out for you.

I hope that's helpful!

Vendae · 07-04-2012, 04:04 PM

Oh, sorry for this late reply.

Well, I polished my level and discovered that I was raking in some quite quick stops. If all goes well, it does not stop in average till the second hour or so playing. Still, it's frustrating how slowly the stream distance increases :S.

I might give a try to the setting you suggested for the 500-block achievement. However, last time I used it was still crashing when reaching the 1000 landmark, so I do not know if it will make do.

Thanks for your ideas

.

06-23-2012, 02:40 PM	#1
Vendae Join Date: Dec 2011 Reputation: 9 Posts: 71	In Orbit, High Orbit, To The Moon Hi, I would like to read your suggestions for getting this achievements. I got the first of them while campaigning, but I am having a hell of a time with the latter two. At the moment, I am using a level I designed, featuring only red blocks in a Zen Mode 12x12 grid. While it works pretty well, a) it is not as quick as I would like and b) it stops from time to time (admittedly, quite rarely, only about forty minutes or so on average; but still). How did you folks got it? Thanks in advance.

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06-30-2012, 04:20 AM	#2
Fiskbit Arcen Games, LLC Join Date: Oct 2009 Reputation: 7 Posts: 43	I don't know of any board setups that are guaranteed not to stop such that you can just leave it running indefinitely. You're off to a good start with a one-color 12x12 zen board, though. You might try using trampoline mode for some additional stream distance, but I'm not sure if that will make it more likely to stop or not. Some additional things you can try include emitters to get things going again if they stop and eaters to introduce more churn into the blocks. Quad repeaters may be helpful, but I'm not sure. I recommend using the level editor to create a board with the precise probabilities of each block to get the balance just right, but remember that the game does not track stats when using the level test feature in the level editor, so when you're satisfied with your level, be sure to exit out of the editor and open the level like any other custom level or you'll be very disappointed. If you're feeling adventurous, you could try utilizing a strategy similar to what I've used for the 500-block chain, where you have a 12x12 one-color trampoline zen board with a high rate of eaters and a flood item. The flood item makes the streams go in all 4 directions (effectively making all the red blocks into quad repeaters), the eaters eat the blocks that are already part of the chain, and trampoline mode allows the streams to travel far enough and stick around long enough to hit the new blocks that enter as the blocks below are eaten. This keeps a single chain going for a very long time and makes each block send out a high number of streams that travel very far, so it may be more reliable and able to reach your goal more quickly. It has drawbacks, though; getting the eater balance right is challenging, it can still fail, and sometimes you get columns without eaters that stop producing new blocks to feed the chain. There used to be a bug where chains with 1000 blocks would cause a crash, but I believe that's fixed now, so that method could work out for you. I hope that's helpful!

07-04-2012, 04:04 PM	#3
Vendae Join Date: Dec 2011 Reputation: 9 Posts: 71	Oh, sorry for this late reply. Well, I polished my level and discovered that I was raking in some quite quick stops. If all goes well, it does not stop in average till the second hour or so playing. Still, it's frustrating how slowly the stream distance increases :S. I might give a try to the setting you suggested for the 500-block achievement. However, last time I used it was still crashing when reaching the 1000 landmark, so I do not know if it will make do. Thanks for your ideas .