Heh. Isn't going to win any prizes, but I thought this was a clever save when I accidentally built black powder with mercury instead of sulphur:
t,9,13;t,7,11;b,3,9;b,6,7;c,13,11;b,12,7;b,11,5;t,3,3;t,3,5;m,1,9,90,3,cdloruwwwwww;m,13,9,90,3,cddocllorruu;m,3,13,0,3,wwcdluorwwww;m,4,7,90,1,wwwwwwclorow;m,7,9,90,3,cddocllorruu;m,5,13,0,1,wwwwcuuoddww;m,9,9,270,3,orrwwwwcdllu;m,9,7,0,2,ollwwwwwc2rr;m,12,3,90,3,c2ddouuwwwww;m,7,5,0,1,wwcuuwloddrw;m,3,1,90,1,oluuwwwc1ddr;m,6,5,180,2,cdr2oluwwwww;
It isn't really a programming puzzle, more timing and modulo arithmetic. It's quite hypnotic watching a complex machine in action:
b,3,10;p,10,9;p,4,6;b,1,3;m,7,9,0,2,rucdlowwww;m,11,13,270,3,ddrcluuoww;m,13,9,90,3,cdllolluww;m,9,6,0,3,wwwjcllorrwwww;m,10,5,90,3,wwwwwwjcddrrorruu;m,12,3,180,1,wwjcuuoddwwww;m,3,13,270,2,odlwwwwcur;m,7,10,180,2,olwwwwwwcr;m,4,8,270,1,wwwwjowwrrc22rr;m,1,6,0,2,wwwwjcl1orwwwww;m,2,5,270,1,jcuuoddwwww;m,4,1,180,1,wwwjcru2r2olld;m,4,3,0,3,wwwwwjcddrrorruu;
34 isn't too hard, however the first thing you need to do in the level is get your purple one stuck so he doesn't accidentally go through the exit. The rest is just shuffling.
I finally got the "impossible" badge, and while luck seems to be a big factor also from what I observe of the game mechanics I think starting position plays a big role too.
Ignore people who say you should start in Madagascar, that way lies madness. I reckon on any given clock tick the chance of a location shutting any one of its amenities is a function of the infection rate in other countries weighted by distance.
This means that starting in New Zealand gives a big advantage. I guess likewise Argentina, but that lacks all the transport links, plus it isn't so well placed to help infect blasted Madagascar.
The way I did it was to use a virus, level one of all resistances except drugs (my theory is that during the infection phase your pathogen should be as weak as possible to keep numbers down), insect transmission and no symptoms. Once everywhere was infected, I cranked drug resist to max and purchased as many lethal symptoms as I could afford.
Nice game, but the apocalypse mode seems incredibly tough. Even with a row of max upgraded ion cannons, planetary shield and a couple of missile defence lasers I still get brutalised by a huge wave of shielded missile carriers and missile laser carriers. As soon as they take out even one of your ion cannons, you're essentially dead.
For people struggling to get started, bunkers are incredibly important. Basically, you need to fill the middle row with them to keep your population above a billion.
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