Posts from The 3rd stage of the annual John Van Caneghem Tournament (2010).

For eight days, I also saw it, but unfortunately, I didn't have time to bring it to life (((! And 7 days is definitely the minimum. IMHO.

How long did it take? I spent a week agonizing over my own, finishing 1-4-4 first, then 1-3-4, and finally just 1-2-7.

My first playthrough took 20 days, then I shortened it to 10, but I realized I was going down the wrong path, and that was the main mistake, as I wasted a lot of time!

I decided on level 7 or 8 right at the beginning. I played through it twice, but I didn't have the willpower to do it a third time. I definitely spent a total of two days on it, plus some preliminary map exploration.

Added 4 minutes later
I don't have strong stats – I can only take 2nd or 3rd place :smile15:

I decided on level 7 or 8 right at the beginning. I played it twice – I didn’t have the willpower to do it a third time. I definitely spent a total of two days on it + preliminary map exploration.

Added 4 minutes later
I have weak stats – I can only take 2nd or 3rd place :smile15:

Never mind the place, if it’s not too much trouble, upload the save files, because I really want to take a look, and I’ll check out Vanechkin’s tomorrow...=))))

Results:


I apologize in advance for the delay. I managed to randomly get more parameters with fewer artifacts than Entomb. Now we are waiting for a miracle walkthrough from Antonshka, who promised to complete it in less than 7 days, at least theoretically. Sorry if I made a mistake in the results or forgot someone… I’m rushing to work….

Password for the archive with the save file: yanoob

I apologize to everyone for my result – I managed to win on the 3rd attempt; in the first two, I simply couldn't handle the computer. After that, as usual, laziness took over...

2 Entomb – don't be upset, you were so close to winning again. It seems that's just your fate :)

If anyone is interested, I have this map. The only interesting battle was against Alamar. I cast Astral on him from head to toe, and no army was needed.

Now we wait for a miracle Walkthrough from Antoshka, who promised to make it in under 7 days, at least in theory.

A miracle run in 5 days.
1. Map Analysis.
After a brief look at the map, it is easy to see that to achieve victory, you need to get the artifact (wings). Access to it is blocked by the black and white garrisons. Accordingly, to visit the black and white key-holders, you must first visit the red, blue, light blue, purple, and brown key-holders. Access to them is open—you just need to reach them. As a small obstacle, there are computer players on the map whose heroes have expert logistics and pathfinding, as well as elemental magic. This isn't a particular problem; on the contrary, it provides additional advantages.
2. The method for a 7-day run is banal and simple: on 112 we arrive at (62/25). On 113 at (36/25), then on the same day to (27/7), and from this Castle we send a messenger towards the dungeon (54/19) which is reached on 115. (Along the way, the colorful key-holders are visited. Our goal is the hard-to-reach black key-holder at 9/67).
On 115, from the dungeon, we send a hero to the dungeon (65/57), which we reach on 116.
On 116, we send a hero to the dungeon 31/70, which we take on 117. And from there, on the same day, we visit the black key-holder. By this time, it will not be particularly difficult to visit all the other key-holders.
And then we calmly take the wings. And Win.
Question: is there any way to shorten this result?
3. Analysis of movement modifiers
3.1 There are many computer heroes with expert logistics and pathfinding.
3.2 Gloves and boots are available immediately. + You can buy more for whoever lacks them.
3.3 There is an oasis!!! at 68/2 near the starting Necropolis.
3.4 There is no flight, stable, DD teleport, or fly on the map. (There are DD and teleport via quests—but they are clearly hard to access)

So, which of these modifiers can help us speed up the run to less than 7 days?
Correct, the Oasis. Because it is exactly what gives +800 MP to the hero's movement after every battle.
So, a flight of fancy leads us to the idea that we need to visit the oasis repeatedly—this will allow us to place a "escorted" computer hero at point 68/3 or 67/2 (in a test cheat run, I was able to put him in the "right" place on 115 without much difficulty by blocking his movement with three of my own heroes).
Thus, after these simple manipulations, we have a "mega-accelerator." After all, for just 2500 gold, you can buy a hero at the starting Necropolis (70/1), visit the oasis (68/2), and crash into the "escorted" computer hero. This will give us a boost of 459 MP. That is, with "sufficient" gold, we can "sufficiently" accelerate our hero so that he can make a forced march in the shortest possible time.
Let's calculate:
1. A forced march from dungeon (54/19) to dungeon (65/57) is performed by a hero with exp logistics + boots + gloves. + 7 boosts. All in 1 day. Oppa!! We have already shortened the run by 1 day :).
2. The forced march from dungeon (65/57) to dungeon (31/70) is done similarly. In total, we CAN visit the black tent on 115.
The other tents are visited much more easily.

The theoretical question of possibility is now settled. All that remains is to figure out WHERE? WHERE TO FIND so much gold on 115?
The map is medium. But there are 2!!! utopias
1. A utopia with 20k gold.
2. A utopia with 50k gold.
Is that enough for us? ... I calculated—it seems enough, and there's plenty left over.

Moving on. We come to the question: How to take the utopias? And with what?
At first, I wanted to take the one with 50k. But there isn't enough meat and gold is low.
Given that the utopia with 20k is taken in passing and gives an artifact +4 to All,
I decided to start there.

So: Taking the utopia (40/50) on 113.
To take the utopia on 113, you need to:
1. Reach it.
2. Kill all the dragons, and essentially take it. How simple :) .
We reach the utopia like this: from 62/25 we send a hero with pathfinding!! (we'll need to carry an army, and our army consists of dread knights) and logistics + gloves + boots, heading towards the castle 58/50.
On 113, the castle 58/50 is accessible. In addition, we need to take all the golems in 62/29 and 60/43. Possibly the dreads in 64/31 as well—I haven't worked out the nuances. This castle on 113 is very useful because two computer players are hanging around nearby. Experts in logistics and pathfinding—they are very useful to us. We kill one of these heroes (the orange one has offense (expert) and armor (basic) skills). We buy this hero, take the army, and take the utopia on 113. In principle, this is not easy, but not super difficult. I think any of the top three prize-winners are capable of accomplishing this.
Result: we have 20k gold, a purse, artifacts +4 to all and + something else there for magic. In principle, we bring the army back, possibly on the same day—or possibly the next—it's not critical. Our goal is to take the second utopia (43/1) on 115. We collect the purse again in the golem caches, of which there are many there. If this is not enough, we can teach Meteor to our heroes; they are highly leveled in terms of mana and magic skills. In test cheat mode, the utopia was taken quite simply. Of course, to tie all this into a single unified run, one would have to try, but there is nothing fundamentally difficult.
With a sufficient amount of gold and the mega-accelerator, I see no difficulties that would prevent finishing the game on 115.

Antoshka, respect. Seriously. The idea seems difficult to implement, but theoretically it's possible!

By the way, I forgot to add one result from player _KAP_, but I will definitely add it to the final table! The tournament, as it seems to me, was successful, despite the small number of participants, but there is still a feeling that the result could have been better... Thank you to everyone for participating, especially those who were with us for the first time!

Where are our main heroes? SergeyY and medstrax? Hello?

By the way, I guess I'm the winner. Does anyone need a walkthrough, a description of how to capture utopias, or maybe some saves?

of course, save files are needed!

Congratulations:
Yes, thank you all for the tournament))).
Congratulations to Kostya on his victory.
Special respect for the theory in 115 - very cool idea with the rush!

Disadvantages:
I can only express my dissatisfaction with the size of the map, but a lot also depends on the actions of the computer and its 6 colors.

Interesting:
I noticed that the first 3 places were taken by players from the same clan. Maybe the tournament was rigged?

Results:
I am quite satisfied with my result, because I thought that someone would overtake me. + I gained experience for future tournaments (namely, an incorrect assessment of the theoretical minimum in days)
If anyone has questions about the walkthrough or needs saves - 392 513 504
That's it, I'm waiting for the next tournament.

Good luck to everyone, see you at the next offline arena.
P.S. If I have time, I'll draw something myself))))

Dirty_Player
By the way, I think I'm the winner. Does anyone need a walkthrough, a guide on capturing utopias, or maybe some save files?

I need to study, so I need descriptions and walkthroughs, and guides on capturing utopias...
I watched the final game of Dirty_Player.GM1 and didn't understand who and when managed to defeat 2 Azure Dragons before the Wizard Dedok:smile35:
In short, I would like both save files and explanations.

Vanechka
If anyone is interested, I have a save file.

I looked at the save files and realized how inexperienced I still am!
Where do the Heroes with boots and gloves disappear to? They reappear the next day...
Is this a relay, where the next city is captured and a booted Hero is bought in it? :smile35:

Of course, GLORY to the FINALISTS!:smile49:
Brainy monsters!:smile14:

A very cool idea with the time limit!

was used in the second-to-last Battle Builder, where the map that needed to be cleared in 7 days was cleared in 4 days.
My mistake.

But still, it's interesting.

Where are our main heroes? SergeyY and medstrax? Helloooo.

Congratulations to the finalists!!! Monsters! :smile20:
But I don't like it when the organizers show the best result!:p