same, i died around 450k also lol. i had 6 lives and thought i was getting my gold for sure, lost it all at 3rd playthrough at terran level, god damn it. when i died i lost my drones and it was downhill from there cause i was still sticking to pulse laser and couldn't kill shit all over the place fast enough, i should have switched to wide missiles for this level i think especially when you have no drones.

well, finally got my gold last night without dying once . bomb spam is key. after 3rd playthrough the difficulty isn't increased i think, got bored and i wasnt dying either so i just suicided my 8 lives and went to play multiplayer lol.