– Authors Map Description –

"In the heart of a scorched world where the sands whisper secrets older than memory, the battle for the rarest resource begins. Control it… or be consumed by those who will."

This map took a while to bring to life. I was lucky enough and proud to call it a full-on collaboration with razcle, whose ideas and input shaped it into what you see here. One could say it was the ‘spice’ he provided that made all the difference.

Modes (in order of difficulty):

Story
35 waves
Demo mode (scores not saved)
Difficulty: 1/5

Story Leaderboard
45 waves
Difficulty: 3.75/5

Super Story
78 waves
Difficulty: 4/5

Super X Grinder
146 waves
Difficulty: 4.25/5

– Authors Map Description –

Commander, we’ve unearthed something unprecedented on 16 Psyche, that celestial body NASA has been probing, teeming with iron, nickel and… uhm, gold, you’ve surely heard about it. Bottom line is, we’ve stumbled upon some sort of mining machinery of unknown origin. Our eggheads have taken to calling it ‘Moebius Machine’ for some reason.
Anyway, needless to say, the Treasury is… let’s just say, particularly enthused about this development. Naturally, the government snapped it up quicker than a kid in a candy store, working tirelessly to decipher its function through reverse engineering.
But here’s where things get dicey. Just when we thought we were making progress, this dormant giant decided to wake up. It’s like it’s got a mind of its own – all of a sudden engines humming, gears shifting and cogs turning. They say the tech is leagues ahead of anything we’ve got, maybe even millennia. It’s a safe bet to assume that whoever built this is no primitive civilization, and they might not be too happy we’ve been poking around.

Your mission, Commander, is to be our lead negotiator, in case someone comes calling, and we’re not talking diplomacy. You’re to assert our claim with whatever means necessary – don’t shy away from using persuasive arguments, even if they come from our warheads. This shiny new toy and the entirety of 16 Psyche are ours now and ours alone, understood? Stand your ground and prepare for deployment.

Good luck! You’re gonna need it.

―

Credits: Special thanks to razcle for invaluable support throughout the map’s creation involving a lot of patience, once again.

―

Modes (in order of difficulty):
Story
35 waves
Demo mode (scores not saved)
Difficulty: 1/5

Story Casual
36 waves
Difficulty: 2.5/5

Story Leaderboard
50 waves
Difficulty: 4/5

Super X Grinder
140 waves
Difficulty: 4.5/5

Super G Challenge
85 waves
Difficulty: 5/5

– Authors Map Description –

"This is commercial towing vehicle Nostromo out of the Solomons, registration number one-eight-oh-niner-two-four-six-oh-niner."
―Ripley (from Alien)

―

Credits go to razcle for having my back … scripts, solutions, workarounds … you name it.

―

Modes (in order of difficulty):
Story
35 waves
Demo mode (scores not saved)
Difficulty: 1/5

Story Casual
36 waves
Difficulty: 2.5/5

Story Leaderboard
50 waves
Difficulty: 3.5/5

Super X Grinder
140 waves
Difficulty: 4/5

Super G Challenge
85 large waves
Difficulty: 5/5

– Authors Map Description –

Born-a high forever to fly
A-wind-a velocity nil
Born-a high forever to fly
If you want, your cup I will fill
…
They call me mellow yellow.

Donovan (1966)

_____

Credits for script and knowledge support as well as brave pioneering go to razcle, decca and suspiria exclusively.

_____

Modes (in order of difficulty):
Story
35 waves
Demo mode (scores not saved)
Difficulty: 2/5

Story Casual
36 waves
Difficulty: 3/5

Story Leaderboard
50 waves
Difficulty: 4/5

Super X Grinder
140 waves
Difficulty: 4.5/5

Super G Challenge
85 waves
Difficulty: 5/5
Extra Large

– Authors Map Description –

Foxfire, also called fairy fire and chimpanzee fire, is the bioluminescence created by some species of fungi present in decaying wood. The bluish-green glow is attributed to a luciferase, an oxidative enzyme, which emits light as it reacts with a luciferin. The phenomenon has been known since ancient times. (Source: Wikipedia)

Some things cannot be done without the help of companion level architects, script wizards and testing pioneers, this map included.
Credits go to razcle and OCD for guiding me through the deep waters of this creation.

Dedicated to my fellow playful primates.

Modes (in order of difficulty):
Story
35 waves
Demo mode (scores not saved)
Difficulty: 1/5

Story Casual
36 waves
Difficulty: 2.5/5

Story Leaderboard
45 waves
Difficulty: 3.5/5

Super X Grinder
145 waves
Difficulty: 3.5/5

Super G Challenge
88 waves
Difficulty: 4/5
Extra Large

Story LB Challenge
50 waves
Difficulty: 5/5

– Authors Map Description –

"Nucular… It’s pronounced Nucular."

Credits: I’d like to thank razcle for the jump start – both architectural and script wise. Without his ever helping and guiding hand, I would have been lost long ago.

Modes (in order of difficulty):
Story
35 waves
Demo mode (scores not saved)
Difficulty: 2/5

Super X Grinder
150 waves
Difficulty: 3/5

Story Leaderboard
40 waves
Difficulty: 3.5/5

Super Grinder
101 waves
Difficulty: 4/5

Super S Challenge
50 waves
Difficulty: 4.5/5

Super G Challenge
80 waves
Difficulty: 5/5
XXXL Version

– Authors Map Description –

< Commander: I’m afraid I have some bad news. We lost contact to one of our colonies on LV-426. Terraformers. Planetary engineers. They put up those big atmosphere processors to make air breathable, building better worlds. It takes decades.
We don’t know exactly how many lives are envolved. Sixty, maybe seventy families. All that we know is that there’s still no contact and that… a Xenomorph may be involved. Basically, it is a bug hunt.
Somehow they cut the power. So we’re on emergency lighting. Try to keep as many core facilities intact as possible. It is a multi-million dollar installation after all. You come here, and you gonna conquer, and you gonna kick some. Is that understood?
If things go south, nuke the site from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure. Be aware that this should be our last resort, right before "Game Over, Man!"
All right, sweethearts, what are you waiting for? Breakfast in bed?
Stop your grinnin’ and drop your linen! >

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Missions (in order of difficulty):

<story>
"How many drops?"
"Thirty six … SIMULATED."
Practise mode without real damage (scores not saved)
Verdict: (1/5) "I can guarantee your safety."

<story LB>
41 waves of spearheading specimen
Verdict: (3/5) "We’ve been trained to deal with situations like this."

<super X grinder>
145 waves of pretty unfriendly visitors
Verdict: (3.5/5) "They ain’t paying us enough for this, man."
Gameplay: up to 2 hours

< super G challenge >
90 waves of relentless xenomorphs
Verdict: (4/5) "Man, I’m telling you, I got a bad feeling about this …"
Gameplay: up to 3 hours

<story LB challenge>
45 ferocious waves of humorless xenomorphs
Verdict: (5/5) "You’re dogmeat, pal!"

CAUTION: Due to its size the map is NOT resumable after exiting the game!
I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As for the credits I like to thank DJ for testing and razcle for guidance, scripts and above all: other-worldly patience. Thanks for all the support I am blessed to get here.

Now, enjoy the bug hunt!

– Authors Map Description –

Let’s reunite the twin brothers Castor and Pollux once and for all.

Somewhere in colonized space, a human settlement is suffering a severe alien attack…

"Here is Gemini II (Pollux). Not only have our defenses been taken by surprise, we also have to deal with two opposing battle fronts simultaneously, which caused heavy casualties. Alongside, civil structures and defense towers have been destroyed. High energy laser weapons raining down on us from orbit as we speak.
You have been instated as commander of the last resisting forces.
All of our resources will be at your disposal to stop the invasion.
Intelligence tells us the awaited 2nd wave of attacks will be brutal, determined to finish the job they started, threatening to eradicate human achievements in this sector for generations.
We don’t expect reinforcements to arrive in time.
You are on your own."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Story:
35 short waves for early assessment. It is but a glimpse.
(scores not saved)

Story Leaderboard:
40 waves. Your first real test as a commander here.
Don’t underestimate!

Story Leaderboard Challenge:
40 waves.
Special mode on request.
Highly challenging.

Super Grinder:
101 waves. No compromises.
Survive or be obliterated.

Super X Grinder:
150 big bad waves.
Good luck. You’ll need it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Addendum: Map size has gotten a bit out of hand, I’m afraid. Thus, resuming the game after quitting might not work at all times (especially on incoming big waves). But that shouldn’t stop you enjoying it, as I did in the creative process.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Edit: Story Leaderboard Challenge added due to request.

– Authors Map Description –

As a newcomer map maker of sorts I like to say a word or two if I may.
The ones actually reading this I give my word not to bother you after that with tedious personal stuff of mine. 😉
I have 5 short points to make. Bear with me if you will …

1. Modesty: I am not going to aspire to be as brilliant as some of the artists here any time soon. The people I am speaking of know who I am talking about. I bow before and try to learn from thee.

2. Complexity: I like sophisticated solutions. Period. Simplicity and aesthetic minimalism are great and signs of real talented clear-visioned minds, but I leave that to others more capable and experienced. I am far from being there yet.

3. Challenge: Yes, there should be some, even if this means that not everybody is about to get a gold medal or succeed every mode and difficulty. Life is hard and so are my maps about to be … at least as intended. But I can promise this much: Whoever is willing to have a slightly deeper look will probably find multiple solutions sooner or later. I want to make fun and challenging maps. Frustrating ones – not so much.

4. Respect: As I was a pure consumer of dg2freemaps.com myself for quite some time, going through this creator’s catharsis, I feel a little ashamed about me silently munching other peoples creativity. I am not expecting much myself, don’t get me wrong, but I would like people to know how much passion, time and dedication is needed to hit the upload button in the end. Please consider leaving some comments / feedback once in a while to every mapmaker. It is hard to fathom how much this means to "us" and well, fuels our very motivation. So it is actually in your own interest.

5. Gratitude: Last but not least I should be allowed to address my teacher and mentor … razcle. Without your help and patience with a dumb nut like me ;), I would not have been able to go through it and deliver something I am proud of in this relatively short period of time. Not in a million years. In fact I enjoyed the whole process of being your humble apprentice. Not that I am done now – I have still so much to learn and will always appreciate your advice as long as you choose to be around.
Besides dedicating this map to you and trying to become a decent map maker, the next thing is probably to pay it forward some day, offering my help to the next one who’s asking.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oh, I almost forgot the map …

In case someone is wondering about the name: Castor and Pollux are twin half-brothers in Greek and Roman mythology. "Gemini" is Latin for twins. The latter offered his immortality to be with his beloved mortal brother. So most likely there will be a follow-up map (Pollux) … not to separate the two.

There are 4 modes available:

Story: "Preview" – 35 short waves. First rough look at what to expect. Nothing more, nothing less.(scores not saved)

Story Leaderboard: "Cold Water" – 40 waves, quite challenging. "Hop in .. not just the toes!"

Super Grinder: "Lasting Winter" – 101 waves for the Insatiables. Some endurance needed.

Super G Challenge: "The Ordeal" – 50 waves. The real deal in terms of challenge (not for everybody)

Please don’t expect everything to be 100% balanced. I am still on a learning path. Losing a few cores here and there can happen to the best. Some awesome beta testers (OCD and DJ) have managed without losing any though. Glenn, your initial help and feedback helped me a lot. I would like to thank all of you at this point for your time, cooperativeness and curiosity. The rest is up to you people.

Have fun!