My map-making career is now ending and i want to share my memories with you.
The beginning: 2004-2006
My memories of my map-making debuts are not so clear anymore but i still remember my first melee maps. I had no idea of the competitive scene back then and my inspirations were the blizzard maps and the ums maps i played on battle.net. Unfortunately i don't have the maps anymore, some of them already had some very basic features present on good melee maps like one entrance to the main but not all of them.
This is the main era where i learnt everything i need about RTS level design, i can apply all the concepts and ideas i was taught to any RTS game, even if the scales aren't the same, the game basics are.
One Day, i have no idea how, i discovered Staredit.net and a melee map contest was held there so why not trying it! This led me to make my first melee map ever uploaded: (2)Shine
What i didn't know at that time is the fact that this map will follow me in my journey to the highest levels of foreign map-making where people like Starparty, trcc, Testbug and few others belong to.
I am now not alone with my maps anymore and I even compete with other players. The most surprising thing with my first map on the internet, it finished 4th, i totally didn't expect that.
Link to the results: Staredit contest results Being in that contest led me to the most important website of my map-making career:Broodwarmaps.net, BWMN for the shortcut, and from that day everything will change.
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This is my first map ever uploaded on BWMN as ProTosS4EveR, Fall of Tenochtitlan, yes it is bad and it was just my arrival on the website. Names with pre-columbian civilizations references are going to be a recurrent thing in the future. Let's remember this map to watch the improvements on my next maps.
The second map i uploaded is a remake of my contest map (2)Shine, i wonder what happened during the time between these two maps, the changes in the style are so radical it looks like they come from two different people
Let's now jump to my two most commentated maps on BWMN (which weren't played a lot) to see my improvements after two years. That first map is going to be (2)Coastal Battery
My map layouts are getting better, i now fully understand the main size, the natural placement, the backdoor expand and third gas expand. You can see an improvement in my decoration and also picture editing to make it brighter and more colorful otherwise it's not that pretty. The map turned to be quite passive because of the layout but it was still a good map for my own improvement.
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The second map is Rise of Teotihuacan (Nightmarjoo calls it Rise of Teosomething, for some reason he can't read Teotihuacan T_T ). This map is based on a two players korean map i saw on mapdori.com where the natural is behind the main and has two backdoors. There was a lot of back and forth in the edits of the map because of the very short main to main distance. This map is also the beginning of my usage of the korean texture pattern where the isometric patterns are stretched vertically, i'll come back to it later with other maps and some examples.
We are reaching the succesful part of my Brood War map-making which is around 2008-2009 with two maps getting into the iCCup ladder map pool. The first map is none other than a four player version of my good ol' map Shine! The Main/natural/mineral only expand is identical to the two players version and the third gas is placed in the middle as a transition to the rest of the map. The best thing in the history of this map is that the legendary progamer YellOw played on that map, an huge honor for a foreign map-maker.
A year later, an other map gets selected, Texcoco! This map has a standard main/natural setup but the third gas expand's ramp is blocked by layers of zerg eggs which make it easier to defend. The four plateausand side paths make interesting tactical positions. I think this is my best brood war map. Simple, with a small twist and a good execution.
Concerning the decoration, this is the korean decoration style mixed with my own. Here are some examples of korean maps, you can see the very stretched out patterns. + Show Spoiler +
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With this map begins a period of inactivity, i would make a map every two or three months but nothing huge. New proleague maps come and go with amazing designs in complexity like Plasma or simplicity such as Python where everyone was wrong on the impossible TvP theorycrafting.
Here is the list of my Brood-War maps on BWMN LINK
New game, new challenges! There is no already established system therefore aliens everything is possible! The goal from day 1 is getting into a korean Starleague, reaching the top of the top where the legendary map-makers like Rose.Of.Dream, Ragnarok[Valkyrie], str18-02 are.
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Since no one knows anything about the game, i just make brood-war maps in SC2. This... is my first SC2 map ever made during April 28th 2010, exactly three months before the start of the full game. This is just a brood-war map with SC2 graphical engine.
During the beta, i'm contacted by konicki to create a map team with prodiG which will become the iCCup map-making team which was launched the day the full game was in the stores.
Some months later, members of an other map-making team, Team Six, joins us. Monitor, neobowman, Grebliv G.Wen are now on board. For some reasons i don't remember, UsedMan and FiveAlarm don't join us. http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=142384
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My first succes in SC2 comes a year later with MLG selecting Testbug into their map-pool. Since a tournament of this size uses this map, other smaller tournaments start using it as well. For those who wondered why i used Testbug as the map name: he is the best foreign map-maker ever, the master of three players maps. Testbug's map list
At the end, 873 official tournament games are played on it which is a lot. I don't forget the iCCup invitational with Startale where JulyZerg played on Testbug. At this moment, I have a link with pretty much the entire foreign scene. MLG is good, but it ain't a Starleeeaaague, we have to go deeper higher.
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At the end of 2011, the Team Liquid Map Contest is held to get some maps into the ladder. Getting in a map into the ladder means entering the GSL. I... Have... To... Win...I have to be the first foreign map-maker to get into a Starleague. There is no other option. It's time to use what everyone underrates: chokes, this can reduce the power of deathballs. Cloud Kingdom is born.
The layout is actually so simple yet so effective and is the result from everything i learnt in Brood War and SC2. The name Cloud Kingdom is one of my prefered i invented, i always wanted to name a map like this but i couldn't think about something good enough.
The map gets into the top 5, one step is done, now it's time to be the first. I check the votes every hour and see Ohana get more and more votes. I feared i would fail so close to my goal. Only the staff votes can save me now. The waiting of the results was no bail-biting.
December 19 2011 06:03, the results are out! Cloud Kingdom is second in both polls and Ohana is 1st and 5th which means my map wins the contest! Now i knew i'm going to enter the GSL!
Some weeks later, January 9th 2012, this is it! I finally reached a Starleague after 6 years of efforts, and the funny thing is the first official match on a foreign map is played by the legend of the legends, Boxer. The entire world plays on my map now... except... the Kespa players, the ones i originally wanted to play on my maps.
That bitter taste won't last very long, The hybrid BW/SC2 Proleague is announced, this is going to be my first, unique and last chance to get the Kespa players play on my map in official matches, it's now or never.
After an other nail-biting waiting, i finally see Cloud Kingdom in the Proleague map pool, the very top off the map-making world, i can't write well enough to describe my joy at this moment. And that day finally came, May 20th 2012, CJ Effort against KT Motive, the summit of my career.
There is still the OnGameNet Starleague to conquere and the goal of Broodwarmaps.net, Global domination, will be achieved. So close but still so far! I had to wait again, not being sure if i'm going to make it. The prelims map pool doesn't have Cloud Kingdom in it, i can understand, there are always 3 maps in the prelims and a fourth on is added into the Ro16 so i had to wait, again and again. But this time, i won't make it, my story ends in front of the closed gates of the OSL, knowing they will never open again for me. In this day, September 25th 2012, 3250 official tournament games have been played on Cloud Kingdom. TLPD Stats
I am now retiring because of a lack of interest in the gameplay of SC2, i wanted to see if there are plans to fix the game basics in HoTS but there are any. My school year also starts very soon and i will only have a tiny amount of free time. More details here
Great read man! I am so sad to see you go as CK remains my favorite sc2 map. Hopefully one day you will make a triumphant return to the pro mapmaking scene!
It was great chilling with you at meltdown paris. I hope we get to meet again
Cloud Kingdom is far and away the best map that has been made for SC2. Your input, insight and wisdom will be greatly missed by the map making community. Good luck in all your endeavours, hopefully we will see you again in the not-too-distant future
Sad to see you quit map making :< You had so many creative ideas when it came to how a map should play out. Glad I got the chance to help you test maps and give feedback!
Gl and hf with whatever you decide to do in the future, be it school or whatever, I'm sure you'll thrive =)
(As a side note: the reason I haven't been online lately to help you test, is because I've been playing HotS)
Cloud kingdom is definitely one of the best balanced maps ive seen in SC2 along with Daybreak and Ohana. The best maps are simple and allow for flexibility of play and that takes so much consideration so its really sad to see someone who can make maps like that leave. I really hope you come back for HotS to give us some more maps
Cloud Kingdom is my favorite map though I wasn't aware of all your BW maps I thank you for all your efforts to the starcraft community. Wish we had 100 more like you. GL HF
Thanks for all your many contributions over the years, to both the map pool and to the community. It's sad to see you go after achieving so much success, but I'm sure you'll find equal success in whatever you set your mind to, so I wish you the best of luck in wherever you choose to go from here.
I always thought Cloud Kingdom was pretty good but after watching hundreds of pro plays on the map I have changed my mind a bit about it. It is outstanding and not only by far the best SC2 map ever made, it is also the most revolutionary and important map made to date.
Ouch that hurts, thanks a lot for what you've done for the sc2 community. I understand what you mean about HOTS ... I think not a lot of people dare to say it but a lot of us were hoping that blizzard would try to change some of the core issues of WOL, but they wont.
I remember watching you on episodes of the Mappers show hosted by Nerski (let me find the link... here's Nerski's YouTube channel). I was so impressed. You have my heartfelt congratulations on the goals you accomplished! Focus on them, as all the SC2 fans that I know consider you a great mapmaker.
I would hope you make maps again in the future, but if SC2 isn't very interesting to you then obviously it's very selfish to ask that of you. Good luck with your education, and let the community know if you ever return to work on another project.
Thank you for your work. I loved testbug (I have played about 15-20 games on that map) and I currently LOVE Cloud Kingdom (I have played too many games on that map to count).
I really hope that you find your passion for Starcraft again - and if not, I hope you find something else that you are amazing at that you enjoy. Best of Luck.
I really like the broodwar maps you made. I did not have internet access in my childhood when I was alot into broodwar, so unfortunate for me. Your sc2 maps are brilliantly designed, making for some of the most epic starcraft moments I will never forget. Good luck in the future, I wish you a successfull life.
See you Super, it was always cool seeing what you managed to pull off in each new map. I shall endeavor, in your absence, to forge the path to awesomeness ^^
Also, I hope HotS really becomes something worth coming back for, that would be the definition of win-win right there.
But awesome, best map in the ladder pool is thanks to you. NA Ladder obviously isn't the summit of your career, but thanks so much, and I'm glad the same map was able to achieve so much success for you. Thanks for the great couple of SC2 maps and all the pretty pictures of the BW maps. ^_^
I seriously wonder why would you retire as a map maker...I mean for sure you can find sometimes to make a map here and there...I mean it doesn't take much time right ? And since he was such a long time map maker, for sure he will see a map or whatever and get inspiration about another map. Just saying...^^
I can't begin to understand the complexities of mapmaking but I can thank you from the bottom of my starcraft heart for CK. My favorite in the community contest!
Be well on your journey, may it take you far and wide and back again.
On September 26 2012 01:51 bOneSeven wrote: I seriously wonder why would you retire as a map maker...I mean for sure you can find sometimes to make a map here and there...I mean it doesn't take much time right ? And since he was such a long time map maker, for sure he will see a map or whatever and get inspiration about another map. Just saying...^^
I might not be representative - but my 2 last maps easily took ~60 hours each. And looking at Super's work, it's very possible he might take more time.
You can really tell your passion about all of this from your writing and i've spoken to you a few times in various stream chats over the years about maps and mapmaking, hopefully we'll see you back here at it again at some point!
On September 26 2012 01:51 bOneSeven wrote: I seriously wonder why would you retire as a map maker...I mean for sure you can find sometimes to make a map here and there...I mean it doesn't take much time right ? And since he was such a long time map maker, for sure he will see a map or whatever and get inspiration about another map. Just saying...^^
I might not be representative - but my 2 last maps easily took ~60 hours each. And looking at Super's work, it's very possible he might take more time.
That's what I'm saying actually, there is no crysis of time for maps, so making one every 2 months shouldn't be a drag right ? Just work 1-2 hours a day on it if you really like it.
Ahh, I do hope to see you return to the map-making scene - and the Starcraft scene in-general - Cloud Kingdom/Testbug are maps who have been the hosts to many of my favorite games.
Well that quickly went from me being like "well this is one of the best topics I have read on tl in a while, what a great guy" to 'oh shit pls don't quit T.T'
Sad to see someone who influenced brood war and especially star 2 as much as you did go, I'll miss getting exited about you making a new map... I don't think wol will ever see a map that did as much for the game as cloud kingdom did, your use of chokes and high ground low ground really did revolutionize the way we all look at maps.
Thanks for the work sir. Good map making is hard to come by and underrated. Chokes do break up deathballs and we need more of them. Cloud Kingdom is a beautiful map and still uses one of the best tile sets in the game.
On September 26 2012 01:51 bOneSeven wrote: I seriously wonder why would you retire as a map maker...I mean for sure you can find sometimes to make a map here and there...I mean it doesn't take much time right ? And since he was such a long time map maker, for sure he will see a map or whatever and get inspiration about another map. Just saying...^^
I might not be representative - but my 2 last maps easily took ~60 hours each. And looking at Super's work, it's very possible he might take more time.
That's what I'm saying actually, there is no crysis of time for maps, so making one every 2 months shouldn't be a drag right ? Just work 1-2 hours a day on it if you really like it.
His post indicates its more about not liking sc2 and less about time.
On September 26 2012 01:51 bOneSeven wrote: I seriously wonder why would you retire as a map maker...I mean for sure you can find sometimes to make a map here and there...I mean it doesn't take much time right ? And since he was such a long time map maker, for sure he will see a map or whatever and get inspiration about another map. Just saying...^^
I feel you, but once you reach a certain level mapmaking can easily consume your every waking hour, it does for me. It's not so much a matter of squeezing it in every now and then, it's more like if I don't make myself stop, it will consume time that I need for other things. Superouman's case may be different, since he's becoming a bit bored of SC2 now as well, but just to give you an idea.
I suppose retiring at your peak is the way to go. Bit disappointed because I'd love to see this tale grow a little longer or see another great map to rival cloud kingdom. Best of luck with school and I hope you'll return if LotV proves a worthy successor to BW.
If you read Zerg Help Me Thread at all, you know I love and revere Cloud Kingdom as one of the best maps in SC2.
And after reading this, I can understand a little better why you were so intensely competitive in the TL contest, though I still think your attitude towards Ohana was a bit too disrespectful.
Good luck with school. Hope you come back with HOTS and give us more great maps.
Thank you for what is probably the best SC2 map to grace any and all of the map pools in the entirety of the game. Sorry you feel that way about the game but in all honesty, I can't blame you at this point.
SC2, while playable, has a lot of issues and if Blizzard doesn't take a time like this to address many of their underlying issues, I feel they will be missing their greatest opportunity to do so and lose a large chunk of the SC2 player base.
I hope Blizzard comes to their senses and hope you find time in the future to continue mapping. Thanks for your contributions!
Wow, you story was so interesting to read. I am a relatively new fan of Starcraft and stories like yours make me appreciate it even more. Good luck in the future and I hope this ain't a permanent farewell.
It's great to look back and see how much you've improved since your first maps, and how much you've accomplished! I can't say I'm too happy to hear about you retiring, with any luck you can return, because you're awesome Superouman!
Besides, we're going to need skilled mapmakers to handle some of the player's balance concerns just like we did in BW via the maps themselves. And we also need somebody to make sick 3 player maps as well (I haven't seen Testbug himself here, so it falls to you).
Good luck in all your future endeavors, and thanks for all you have done!
I hope you still work on maps a bit in your free time, without you, we would still be laying god awful games on shattered temple, scrap station xel'naga, than you for everything, hope to see you around here.
Haven't paid attention to BWMN for quite some time, so I didn't know Cloud Kingdom was done by one of the members. Seems like you got something much better than Map of the week on BWMN, hehe. (Also sucks that SC2 is a bore fest, killing your motivation.)
I am now retiring because of a lack of interest in the gameplay of SC2, i wanted to see if there are plans to fix the game basics in HoTS but there are any.
SC2 really bites compared to BW, I think everyone who's been around for a while will agree with you on that. I wish they'd fixed it with HotS, but maybe some day another RTS game will come along and knock Blizzard off their monopoly-hill. This is kind of a dead genre anyways. Good luck to you and thanks for giving so much to this community!
On September 26 2012 04:03 ScoutWBF wrote: Wow, I got mentioned.
Haven't paid attention to BWMN for quite some time, so I didn't know Cloud Kingdom was done by one of the members. Seems like you got something much better than Map of the week on BWMN, hehe. (Also sucks that SC2 is a bore fest, killing your motivation.)
Thank you for all that you've done! It's been an honor to read about your experiences with map-making. You will be remembered as the one to establish the modern standard for map-making in SC2!
Well damn. It's sad to see a great mapmaker leave. I hope whatever you do in the future is fulfilling as seeing your map with over 3000 tournament plays, countless training games/fun matches, and to have seen kespa players play it in proleague.
While I feel that it's far too soon to be judging SC2 this harshly (we don't even have hots officially released yet, let alone lotv out!, just think of how long it took broodwar to get to where it is... and that's years after it was released and after all the balance patches were finished...), it's understandable that sometimes you just no longer feel motivated to do something.
Good luck in the future, and thanks for the great maps.
Even though I disliked Protoss kingdom I think your work is awesome. Mapmakers truly are pillars of the community and it is sad to see you and IronmanSC both leaving
It's really sad to see you go. But I'm not surprised though, because you seemed very frustrated with the community when I read your comments in the "dream forge" thread.
But damnit! Why are so much good people retiring lately
Thank you for everything. Cloud Kingdom is my absolute favourite map, not only the aesthetically beautiful, but balanced really well. (*cough* if one disregards the PvT matchup *cough* )
Thank you for your priceless contributions to the community Superouman. Your rise to the top of the mapmaking world is truly inspirational. Cloud Kingdom is THE best map in use right now in terms of the overall balance between racial balance and entertainment value. Best of luck to you in school and I hope SC2 improves to the point where you'd want to come back and make maps for us again one day.
Such an awesome blog, I loved reading every bit. The last bit also made me scared because I've read that sentiment everywhere about how stale and boring the gameplay of SC2 has become.
I hold out hope. Best of luck to you hope you come back and make another baller map for HOTS
Oh man, this is unfortunate. The community was relying on you to make the next generation of ladder and tournament maps, I swear Blizzard should of hired your team a long time ago. Regardless, good luck with school, thank you for all the work you've done!
Awesome write-up. I never knew that you created Testbug... I always thought that Testbug made it lol. I remember hearing someone say that on a shoutcast... maybe HDStarcraft? Anyways, all your maps rock. Sucks to see you go, but good luck with whatever you do!
I don't understand why people even bother with SC2 when it seems predominantly labelled as inferior in terms of gameplay and strategic dynamic compared to Brood War (the OP cited lack of interest in the gameplay as one reason for his retirement). I say this as someone who only got into SC after WoL. It's confusing because with CS 1.6 (roughly the same age as BW), it is highly renowned/regarded by gamers, and correspondingly draws more players and outdoes its sequels on a daily basis (see http://store.steampowered.com/stats/). Yet with SC, 90% of the players play WoL even though there's this overarching love for BW, and sometimes I see bitterness surface over the state of the game.
I don't want to detract the thread from its intended topic or anything, but I am still new to SC and TL relative to most so hopefully I can get a quick explanation ITT. When I read things like what I plucked from OP's post it can be somewhat discouraging.
Cloud Kindgom is by far my favorite map. The layout, the name, the tactical positions... I feel everything in it is perfect, and I'm proud it is the work of a fellow frenchman. Goodbye Superouman, you will be missed.
Oh gad, I'm going to miss you bro. When I first saw the pictures of your map during the contest, I was so amazed. Beautiful, stunning, epic. Come back soon.
I remember right before Cloud Kingdom entered the ladder pool being so excited to play it in Playhem's. Thanks for your contributions and good luck going forward.
Very often great maps are made but the creators unknown. I'm one of the many guilty ones. Although I want to thank you for such a great map as Cloud Kingdom! I've certainly had some great games on the map for all match ups. I can't say that about many maps in the ladder pool. I hope you do well in your studies and good luck!
Hey you (and Morrow I think) commented on one of my maps on BWMN one time! I was happy for your when I saw testbug and cloud kingdom do so well. happy trails
Sorry I don't know you from BW, but Cloud Kingdom is my favorite map by far (I did recognize the name of the blogger because of CK). I hope it stays around a long time.
My friends and I were vaguely aware of esports, though never aware of just how big the OSL/MSL or even how important iccup was to the scene. We'd grab random replays to watch (be sure to count down from 3 to sync!) and give our own analysis - looking back from now it was hilariously bad but we enjoyed it none the less. I remember running across texcoco (had no idea what its name was till today) and being blown away by the eggs between the natural and third. Ended up looking for as many replays as we could on that map just because we thought it was so neat.
Flash forward a few years and I had no idea it was the same guy making testbug and cloud kingdom. I was never a true BW fan but its neat to follow your legacy from one game to the next. Thanks for the maps and the hard work!
I'm no hipster so I can't say anything about the BW maps, but Testbug and CK are iconic for me because of MC vs Idra at Columbus, and CK is... well, CK.
As stupid as it sounds, i really love cloud kingdom for the natural wall, flat, no ramp, 9 square up/down, cliff on either side, it feels so much nicer than walling at the top of a ramp, forge-gateway-1squaregap-pylon and a few suprisingly effective building placements that make it easier to hold, balancing out the lack of ramp somewhat, although its not really a major vunerability blabla ranting
Thank you for everything. You created some fucking awesome maps, and as the creator of my favorite map (even as a terran), I wish you luck in whatever you do! Hope you come back tho <3 Can't have enough of anyone that's this amazing.
Sorry to see you go, but obviously school takes priority.
Maybe if we're lucky you can do something akin to what Day[9] did when he got to busy to compete: educate! I know there are lots of people who would love to learn what you can teach them about elements of map design and how to effectively use the map editor. After all, in the end, for SC2 to remain a vibrant, competitive and balanced game in years to come, it is going to have to come down to the mapping and modding community.
Thanks for all you've done for the BW and SC2 communities! Much ♥!
It's kind of sad these aren't getting more attention because this really seems it deserves a lot of attention from people who watch BW and watchED BW (Kind of hard to access this information if you aren't active in the forums tho).
Good Luck with your retirement I loved your work!!!
all the best of luck for your post-mapmaking career. really sad for the mapping scene though, because you consistently produced high quality maps many people could look up to.
and ck... what can i say... style, simplicity and yet so good. really elegantly designed. at the time of its production so extremly far superior.
Best of luck man and don't let Battlenet forums/ Reddit get you down. (Man I can't believe the reaction to one of our great map making talents saying why they lost interest is "f-you buddy. We didn't want you anyways.")
It's just a shame that map making was never handed over the community in a larger way. It's always been an uphill battle with Blizzard's control over the map pool.
GG WP and good luck with your life. I am guilty of not giving enough praise to the mapmakers but you guys make it happen even more so that the blizzard dudes in some ways.
Thank you for everything you have given to the community.
I read your post of reasons why you are retiring on the b.net forums and couldn't agree more with everything you said. Hopefully it will spark change. All the best to you.
That reddit thread disgusts me. It's sad to see how map makers are underpreciated and undervalued. Blizzard doesn't give a crap, pro-players don't give a crap, tournaments don't give a crap, and it seems like comunity doesn't give a crap either.
Thank you for your great influence and thank you for Cloud Kingdom. I hope other map makers will continue to create something as great (and not just Korean ones)
On September 27 2012 06:11 Falling wrote: Best of luck man and don't let Battlenet forums/ Reddit get you down. (Man I can't believe the reaction to one of our great map making talents saying why they lost interest is "f-you buddy. We didn't want you anyways.")
It's just a shame that map making was never handed over the community in a larger way. It's always been an uphill battle with Blizzard's control over the map pool.
Fully agree, what better way to interact with the community then to use it's maps, even get a competition going every reset with a nice bit of pricemoney ?
In the end Blizzard will never be able to balance the game without maps, it's the maps that will give us the closest thing to balance.
Oh well, sorry to hear you retire man, thank you for the long years you gave us and pro gamers maps to play on !
On September 26 2012 00:49 Adebisi wrote: Cheers, good luck in the future and your efforts will not be forgotten, Cloud Kingdom still by far my favorite map to watch competitive play on!
Omg isnt this the amazing game director for DH/MLG etc?
On September 27 2012 06:11 Falling wrote: Best of luck man and don't let Battlenet forums/ Reddit get you down. (Man I can't believe the reaction to one of our great map making talents saying why they lost interest is "f-you buddy. We didn't want you anyways.")
It's just a shame that map making was never handed over the community in a larger way. It's always been an uphill battle with Blizzard's control over the map pool.
Exactly what i expected from SC2 crowd. Quite sad that they can't even let it go even for people like SUPEROUMAN. Makes me no wonder why no SC2 pros / community figures talk about BW anymore. Even Day9 got flack for that, amazing.
Yo Super, it is glio on SC2 . Just to say you good bye, you stop map macking on SC2 for the sames reasons I've stopped to play SC2. It was a pleasure to test a lot of your maps, which were often originals. (I remember the kind of daemon forest on SC2).
I didn't know you were a map macker on BW too, it's funny because I liked and used to play often on Texcoco !
After reading your post on the battle.net forums I just wanna kiss you. This is probably the perfect list of things that need to be fixed. If only have of those were fixed the game would be sooo much more entertaining. Spot on analysis. Have fun in retirement and thanks for everything :D
Thanks for your work. Hope to see you back one day.
Sad to say I never got to play your BW iccup maps. As a barely D+ player, I stuck to the staples. But I quite like Cloud Kingdom.
I agree with your list of gripes about SC2 gameplay. Especially the lack of multiple engagements / drops. You nailed the reason: small unit size + superior pathing + long range = deathball. Boring to play, boring to watch.
I have a massive amount of respect for you as a mapper sir, and I'm saddened by this news. Cloud Kingdom has, by itself, taught me more about map-making than any other single thing and I am fascinated by its elegant genius. Thank you for your contributions, and I hope you come back in the future.
Keep well and be sure to check out those b.net comments. They are hilarious.
"I am now retiring because of a lack of interest in the gameplay of SC2, i wanted to see if there are plans to fix the game basics in HoTS but there arent any."
This should be an eye-opener for the recent SC2+ lurkers/followers of the TL, coming from one of the better map makers in both BW and SC2. If somebody tries to argue with me about the problems of SC2 compared to BW IRL, I for sure will mention you as a concrete case for an argument.
Thank you for your efforts.
PS: Just read the Bnet thread, wow... I dont like slow-minded people, but it becomes unnerving when they try to argue about BW/SC2.
We're entering a stage where we need people like you... I will never forget the first time I saw testbug being used in official matches, it was truly refreshing.
Cloud Kingdom is a beautiful map and you should be proud of yourself for creating it.
On September 26 2012 04:03 ScoutWBF wrote: Wow, I got mentioned.
Haven't paid attention to BWMN for quite some time, so I didn't know Cloud Kingdom was done by one of the members. Seems like you got something much better than Map of the week on BWMN, hehe. (Also sucks that SC2 is a bore fest, killing your motivation.)
Wish you the best in the future.
I won't forget Lolicat Spielplatz dude, never
Why? Wasn't the map quite shitty? I think I only did like 3-4 good maps. Actually I completely forgot about the map :D
But maybe you actually meant that the map was so shitty that you will never forget it 8D
That's true. Doubt somebody has ever played the map though. Not even I have played it :D I miss the island maps. Unpopular in BW and non-existant in SC2. :/
Anyway, I will take it as a compliment then. So what are your plans for the gaming future? Switching to a different game? Currently some dudes and I are doing a remake of Machines (3D RTS from 1998) in Spring engine and I'll do the maps and game balancing. If you're interested in any way I'd be happy to get back to you.
On September 28 2012 03:28 Scrutinizer wrote: "I am now retiring because of a lack of interest in the gameplay of SC2, i wanted to see if there are plans to fix the game basics in HoTS but there arent any."
This should be an eye-opener for the recent SC2+ lurkers/followers of the TL, coming from one of the better map makers in both BW and SC2. If somebody tries to argue with me about the problems of SC2 compared to BW IRL, I for sure will mention you as a concrete case for an argument.
The list presented on battle.net shows a profound understanding of the game and Blizzard would do well to learn from it.
SC2 is a good game, it's my favorite game, but there can be no doubt that it has substantial room for improvement.
I humbly beg Blizzard to either delay HOTS until Superouman's criticisms can be addressed appropriately, or simply cancel it.
i agree with you points about sc2 still sad to see you retire maybe you should develop a rts yourself cause i doubt blizzard will change anything on your list