Synopsis
| ROSE is one of the tightest, fastest levels around. Stealth, misdirection, and a relentless killer instinct are the tools you will need to prevail here. |
Retired Residents
Radman
| ROSE is one of the tightest, fastest levels around. Stealth, misdirection, and a relentless killer instinct are the tools you will need to prevail here. |
| Black Rose "This was game two of our big vendetta, and I had already lost in his D2 home, Vamped. So this game was do or die for me. Busdriver or bust! I was very confident going in, though, despite the fact that Ender had never before lost in this level. You see, I designed this level. I know it inside out, cube by cube, and I also know ENDER just as well. On a level like Vamped, in D2, Ender can maintain his distance, he can use his burner to make his attack and then be gone. Not here. I knew his game would be designed around the missiles, and I was prepared. So we start the game, and he is slinging smarts left and right, literally. And I dodged, only... I ducked into a tunnel and waited for the smart to fly past me... and after I was sure it had, I reversed out of the tunnel... right into the silent smart! It must have been going incredibly slowly! I swear this was 10 or more seconds after it impacted a wall. OK, so it's 1-0 now, and I gave up a "free" kill -- something I hate to do. Ender got juiced, and despite his claims of being D1 rusty from all his play in the Interplay D3 tourney, he was all over me. He kicked my ass to a score of 5 2, and he was in total control of the pace of the game. You sure do get your mettle tested when you are down a game in vendetta in a heated rivalry and down 5 2 and gettin your ass kicked in the second game. I couldn't let it happen that way. I was a scared Pyro, and he was about to put me down on the mat. So I got up from my desk and went and got a drink, took some deep breaths, came back. I waited another 20 seconds, until I saw him fly past where I had died... and I respawned. There were now 5 smart missiles... an extra had formed. I decided I had to reduce that to 3 if I was going to win. So I just went totally passive and let him fling smarts while I collected the respawns, and when I had all 5 on board... I went after him as hard as I could, hoarding the smarts so that I would die with all five of them on board. Got 2 kills and the reactor killed him once, before he nabbed me to bring the score to 5 4 him. In his story from game three, Ender mentions that he got up from HIS desk the same as I did here -- only for me, it helped me, and for him, it helped me too. :) ... With the missiles now down to 3, so he could not trap me with smart after smart, he had to go with his guns some more. I hit a groove like never before. I mean, like NEVER before in my history. I was untouchable with the smarties. Ender put on a clinic in the use of smart missiles -- might have shut out an LT. I kid you not! But I put on an even bigger clinic in missile dodging. Two and three at a time, coming from all directions and me often unable to see them coming... and I felt no fear. I just moved on instinct, and slipped between all those cheerful green greetings like they were child's play. Like all his attacks were Fool's Chess, while I was closing in on checkmate. Then I had the lead, and all three smarties, and the homer, and lots of shield, and the spreadfire, and the vulcan... and Ender was the one starting to run a little scared. Two point lead, three, four... a suicide for Ender, and a reactor kill on him, then another... and I am using plasma, not fusion, like he was expecting. We would dogfight near the reactor and that would always go badly for him. He had started out being a totally passive spread whore and boater, but without those weapons, once I got hold of them... he seemed to lose his edge. I would not have won this game without tremendous discipline and the ability to recover my wits after a bad start. I looked up and saw that I had 14 kills, and also 14 deaths. Yet Ender had 8 points. Since the reactor had only killed me once, that meant it had gotten him FOUR times, plus his suicide! There was no easing up, though. I dodged at least 50 smarts, all in tight places, sometimes brilliantly placed. He said later he felt like he was firing blanks, but he wasn't. I got kill # 19 when I caught him boating the reactor well. He went to the well way too many times. He would have done better to be less predictable there, even if it meant not having the missiles. I was hoarding them mostly anyway, when I got hold of them. The game ended at 20 12, but the score lies. If my smart dodging had been just 10% less efficient, it would have been 20 12 for HIM, not me. So I got my Busdriver, and tied things up, and game three was to be in my D2 home, Pro Lightning. And the pressure in that one would be on Ender, not me." |
-Sirian
| Black Rose "This was sort of a grudge match for me. Ender had taken in me in my D1 home level back when I was in Eris, and I was determined to return the favor, and take him in his. Sirian, who made Black Rose, says the level is about fusion. I tend to disagree -- with two fusions on the level, each pilot can retaliate equally with the purple stuff. To me, Black Rose is about the SPREAD! Yeah, that's right, the little blue balls. There are two plasmas, vulcans, lev4 quad sets, and fusions, but there is only one spread.. and whoever exploits it best, wins the game. My match started with Ender with me getting the first kill. I was able to get him to eat a little vulcan, and a little plasma, and without much pain, got my spread from his spew. He didn't have much trouble dispatching me with his trademark smart missle trap, and it was tied 1-1. More vulcan was in order for ender, and plenty of spread. I was up 2-1. Ender had some nice moves in the level, but after playing Kaffiene twice in it, I was accustomed to playing FAST players in it. And FAST is what Ender is all about. Until you've played Ender, you just really haven't seen raw speed. We exchanged two kill bursts with the spread controlling the game, until it was 5-5. Ender forgot to pick up the spread after a spew, and I was able to rack off my two kills promptly. With me down to 6 shields, his kali crashed. Tough rocks for ender, I was about dead :) I do hate restarts though, I always seem to start them off bad. I can remember my game with Kaffiene in Black Rose, where after a blown reactor, Kaff racked off four straight kills. I would have preferred at the time to have just kept going, even with my 6 shields. I felt like I was in a rhythm. And sure enough, when the game restarted, Ender rattled off two kills on me. One was almost whole from terrorizing me with the vulcan while I tried to get the spread out of its little cubby. Tied at 7-7, I decided it was time for the purple stuff, which, until that point, hadn't been touched really at all in the game. I don't think either pilot picked up a fusion cannon until several kills into the game. I was able to kill ender, with one fusion shot, and some well timed plasma. More spread was in his future, and he ate it nicely. After killing me to make it 10-8, Ender's mistakes began to pile up. For three out of the next four times I died with the spreadfire in this game, he forgot to pick it up out of my spew. This most certainly led to his demise, as the rest of the game I went on a 10-4 run to win 20-12. Near the end of the match, about four kills left to go, I could tell Ender had given up. He was a bit rusty, I was camping his spew quite well, and he mothed right into my smarts and fusion shots. Thus his fate was sealed, and the busdriver was mine. One factor may have been that his missle usage was underpar for him that game; He had only 5 smart missle kills to my 3. This was definately a fun match, and Ender was classy after it. Most players after losing in their home level attempt to come up with excuses, and often times point the finger at my connection. But Ender instead complimented it on how much better it had become! Props to Ender, a classy dude :). I told him we should trade homes after the game, he can have my old Eris. I want Black Rose." ;) |
-Birdseye
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R OSE is the most popular of Sirian's level designs. The main dogfight room has lots of unusual architechture and provides for a different sort of fight than your typical open area. There are five exits from this area, plus the reactor niche sits watch over the far corner. The back room is on the opposite corner of the level, and it is a great deal smaller, allowing for only the most in-your-face sort of dogfight. That room also has five exits. So there are two rooms connected by five various tunnels: three which have doors, two that are larger and completely open. The largest tunnel has what some might describe as a third room: a flat open area with one column where rat fights often occur. There are three secret closets which hold additional weaponry. The entire level is very highly interconnected. |
 
While smart missiles do not dominate the gameplay when two masters of this level
clash in battle, they pose a grave risk to the average player. The quarters are tight
and there are many places to get trapped or to get stuck on a wall if you are not
intimately familiar with the layout.
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This level is small and it only takes moments to chord from one side to the other, so it is vital to keep track of your opponent at all times. Consequently, if you can misdirect your opponent and move with stealth, you can lay into his backside time and again. If you play on insane, be wary of the reactor, it is like having a third player in the game sometimes. Many of the missiles respawn near the reactor in Black Rose. Don't let your opponent get them all! Overall Rating: 9 |  |
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The wise player will resist the temptation to overuse his burner. If anything, stealth is even more vital in White Rose. Getting into a fight after you've just used most of your burner to cross the level is asking for disaster. Most of the missiles in White Rose respawn in the back corner, by the exit, so the balance of power is the opposite of Black Rose when it comes to who is controlling which room. Finally, don't overlook the power of quads in here; used wisely, they can be devastating. Overall Rating: 9 |  |
| Level Name | DF | TR | TM | TP | EB | GM | 3D | WF | CR | LV | ST | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black Rose | 8 | 9 | 9 | 3 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| White Rose | 8 | 9 | 10 | 3 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 9 |
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