That silly gold Elite is really gonna wish he hadn't chased me outside…

(7:35) Level 4 ('The Silent Cartographer') on Easy. Continuing with the theme of goldie fireworks after my set-up tutorial BCM212, here's my first movie on the fun you can have. It demos four launch recipes using a total of six set-ups. There are 21 launches in all, and things get especially explosive with the final recipe!

Released January 16th 2017, gameplay recorded January 11th-15th 2017.

00:02 (2-plasma tag launch) This first recipe is the simplest example of a 2-plasma tag launch, and it featured at the start of BCM24. The plasmas are applied low down, then 61 needles are applied to burn down their fuses so they go off as soon as the Elite is released (actually they go off one at a time, but it looks like one explosion). You get 6 needle bangs into the bargain.

00:52 Whoops! I was a bit too close to the bang on this third launch. Same for the fifth launch coming up. Gotta watch it with these tag launches!

01:01 I liked the way this fourth launch ends, with the sound of some blood landing near me. A comical squelching sound.

01:12 On the fifth and final launch of this sequence, there's an anomaly which I didn't notice at the time. On releasing the Elite, the first plasma bang doesn't go off right away. It's two frames late (two twenty-fifths of a second late). When I spotted this, I thought two needles must've gone astray, because that would account for the delay. But I inspected the footage and can't see anything wrong with my needling. I did it carefully and it looks like all 61 needles hit. So I don't know what's up with that. But anyway, the delay isn't really noticeable.

01:21 (4-plasma airburst) From here on the launches are more powerful and I switch to a pistol before launching, so I can always zoom in for a closer view if I want (plus, the pistol doesn't block much of the view). This second recipe is for a rocket-powered 4-plasma airburst, with 8 needle bangs including one on launch (making for a satisfying start). I apply 70 needles then the plasmas, then use 3 rockets. It has the longest prep time of the four recipes, taking over 40 seconds work.

In the opening launch I apply the plasmas across his chest and shoulders, but in the others I mostly place the plasmas on feet and hands. In three cases it looks like he's holding plasmas, which looks amusing. Notice how the airburst tends to cause a jink in the flight trajectory. The third and fifth launches are the most striking examples of that.

02:50 In this fourth launch the Elite gets propelled against the cliff wall and starts going up it, then the airburst sends him flying out over the sea. Nice!

03:14 (4-plasma tag launch) For my third recipe we're back to tag launching again, but this time using 4 plasmas for more boost. I apply 40 needles, then 4 plasmas to the feet, then (to get the first plasma to the verge of exploding) a further 59 needles. You get 10 needle bangs as he sails across the sky.

For the first launch I get a bit decorative with the needling, giving him shoulder spikes for fun (this was done in the preceding clip too), but in the subsequent four examples the needling was kept simple.

04:58 Some nice blood splatter on the cliff wall, in the final launch!

05:11 (6-plasma cascade) This final recipe is an example of having a sequence of plasmas going off in quick but perceptibly discrete succession - something I'm calling a 'cascade'. In this case it's a rocket-powered 6-plasma cascade, with the first bang going off on release. Separation is done with about half a clip each time (I mostly wasn't being fussy about being exact), and 57 needles are used in all, producing 6 in-flight needle bangs. 4 rockets provide the main boost. Plasmas are applied to the chest; I decided to keep it simple like that.

This first launch is something of a ground skimmer, passing a little too close for comfort! Having the Elite right in front of a vertical surface makes it easy to give him a low trajectory of course.

06:05 Second launch. See how those plasmas steepen his trajectory? Nice! I could've let this clip end when the needle bangs stopped, but I let it continue a few seconds because I like when the Elite is seen crossing the moon and falling beyond the arch.

06:24 Third launch. Similar to the 2:50 clip, the Elite gets propelled against the cliff wall and curves around then out to sea.

06:36 Fourth launch. My rocketing had him aimed at a tree, and he gets rebounded out to sea, kind of like the previous example except he stays relatively low.

06:50 Fifth launch. Another example of the plasmas causing a steepening trajectory. He goes pretty high!

07:03 Sixth launch. This extra-long clip seemed ideal for the finale, as I back off a long way, resulting in a lovely view of the Elite crossing the sky.

Closing remarks Even with just these four launch recipes, there were lots of variations I could've explored in terms of where needles and plasmas are applied, but I mostly kept things quite simple, and almost all the needling was in the chest area. However, there are plenty more movies I'm liable to make on this stuff, and in particular I'm looking forward to doing more with cascades. Really I should've done more movies on level 5 Elite fireworks after BCM23 and BCM24, but somehow I still haven't got back to those guys. I will though, even if this gold Elite has taken over for now.

Initially I was just going to cover three launch recipes in the movie, but when I reminded myself about the plasma cascade idea, the effects were so good that I had to include a recipe for that too. And indeed, that fourth recipe makes for a good climax I think.

Also, initially I was using only five set-ups to get my situational variety. But I decided to try creating one more, and was able to get the Elite standing in the shallows. He looks very picturesque there, so I'm glad I did that. I ended up using that set-up for the third recipe's opener, and it also provided two of my favourite clips, namely at 2:22 and 6:05, where he gets launched towards the arch.

The set-up seen created in BCM212 was used for three of the clips. That was actually my third set-up on Easy. The first was the one where he's in front of a tree.

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