Post 08 Nov 2014, 03:35

How to Beat Invasion (Zombie Apocalypse)

Those who have been members for at least the past year might be aware that I beat Skypper's Zombie Apocalypse Solo map (now called "Invasion") in r5503. At that time, I didn't have a good screen recorder, but I recently purchased Action and put it to good use.

Here is an unedited/direct upload of the recording of me beating what I call v1.2 script LIVE. You see what I saw and only that. (Enjoy! :) ) Note that I did not talk as I played (I recorded only the system audio), and I did not include music. However, if anyone is curious what music I was listening to as I played, I just had this repeat on my iPhone. Lastly, this video is unlisted, and thus you can only see it if you use the above link.

And here is the accompanying replay file (you will see in the recording that I saved the game just once at the end, I didn't pause, and I didn't cheat).
Zombie Apocalypse Solo v1.2.zip
I have put this modified script and map which I play in this recording (and shown in the replay) in this post. I'm not claiming this to be my map or script I just made some modifications for my own entertainment which you can play if you like.

My wish is that this full game recording will show how anyone can beat this map if they simply do what I did/do. I admit, beating ZA for the first time was like training for a marathon. However, I have done the hard work of discovering quality setups and maneuvers which can be a starting point for anyone interested in beating this map.

To me, this map was a puzzle like a Rubik's cube which I needed to solve. The positioning of the bowmen is obviously the most crucial aspect of winning this game, but I believe seeing how effective my setups, especially my central/main setup (it slaughtered the AI, no matter how large; it required "minimum" losses; and it slaughtered the AI quickly) will teach the theory of effective range unit positioning for any game (having range units face sideways works wonders in KaM Remake...for those who would like to see another illustration of this, see my TSK11 30m52s replay in this post)...after all, this recording was in r5503...don't mistake it for another release: I can almost guarantee that these setups are of even higher quality if used in another version of the Remake. I simply developed this setup in this version to guarantee that.

Every game is different, but the pattern is clear enough for me to deduce that the setups I had at the end work very well most of the time. In this particular game, the left setup failed at the end, but in other games, other setups might at least partially fail but this setup will not fail at all. However, I believe the central setup which consumes the most AI is by far the best I have seen so far because it simply slaughters this particular AI. The AI from v1.1 is inferior in comparison (the extra group of swords from wave 42 onward makes a BIG difference).

Now that reloading saves doesn't seem to break replays, I might exploit that to make a zero loss replay. I can dream, can't I? :)

Again, this is with autofeed, but I might provide a recording and replay in the future for how to beat this map without autofeed while having the map clear the entire time. (As of yet, I have almost succeeded, but have not beat this map without autofeed in this manner.) Of course, I will use the same number of recruits, the same AI, and the same map to be consistent.
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Invasion won: with 0 losses and without save reloads|TSK 20 in 4.47 minutes|Border of Life Co-op Won in 1h33m55s|The Official KaM Speedrun Page
What makes me an Expert isn't my skill in of itself but my desire to win big.