Over a decade has past in StarCraft and with StarCraft 2 so close on the horizon that we can almost smell it, it’s safe to say that it’s been quite a ride.
Innovations have not only occured in the field of actually playing the game or hosting tournaments, but also in the act of map-making. Things like inverted ramps and neutral buildings, that we these days take for granted, were in fact a result of diligent work of programmers and map-makers and was not present back in the days when StarCraft first was released.
With innovations such as those in the art of map making, the standard of the maps have drastically risen and with it our expectations. Due to this, it’s easy to forget that the maps of today are a result of the maps of yesterday. It’s easy to forget the innovations that Blizzard themselves brought to the scene. Some of them were successful, most of them weren’t, but nonetheless they were innovations.
So let’s sit back and take a look at some of the innovations that we might have forgotten.
Mineral line as a wall
While using minerals to restrict access between bases might be something many relate to maps like King of the Abyss, Iron Curtain or to some extent Outsider, the fact is that the first time it showed up in StarCraft was on a map called Landslide.
I would, however, argue back that the step from making trees serve as a wall between bases is less innovative than having minerals serve the same purpose, due to the fact that it's less intuitive and also because that wood in WarCraft II was cut through at such a quick rate that it was imperative that maps had a lot of it.
What was so unique about Landslide was the fact that not only did Blizzard take the concept of resources and turn them into a wall, but they also deliberately set the amount of resources so low that they in fact only served as a wall.
The concept of using minerals as a wall was later used again on the maps Vulcan's Forge and Mystique, though with more minerals in each patch that time around.
Critters. Lots and lots of critters.
This definitely goes under the label of an innovation that really didn’t work too well.
Since StarCraft is a battle of not only resources but also territory, critters that get in the way of your army or interrupt the placement of a building can change the tide of war drastically. Ask Reach what he thinks of critters and I’m sure that you’ll understand what I mean.
Now, while a few critters might change things up a bit and offer occasional entertainment for the viewers, an entire map covered in them might cause most players to go into nerd rage. While it might be a fun idea on paper, I doubt that Crazy Critters can be considered a map with high replay value.
You see all those critters? Or did you just see the Rhynadons? Look closer. There are a ton of Bengalaas too.
To get a better idea of just how strange that map is, here’s a video of a game played on that map:
I think it’s safe to say that it wasn’t a good idea.
While Crazy Critters is the most extreme of all critter-maps made by Blizzard, it’s actually not the only one. Check out Scorpion Ravine, Ursadon Flats and Kakaru Keys for more examples of Blizzard experimenting with critters, though to a much more sensible degree.
Map depicting something
While this really is stretching the bounds of what can be labeled as an innovation, it is worth mentioning. While maps like Python, Enter the Dragon and Tears of the Moon all have names reflecting their layout, this too was something Blizzard implemented a lot earlier with maps like Desert Bloom, Baby Steps and the oh so humble map Blizzard.
Valley Of Wind is a strange map. While the layout makes it a semi-island map, there is something that sets it aside from all other maps: It’s possible to cliff your opponent’s natural by just walking there up a ramp that’s inside your main.
Let me rephrase that. It sets it aside from all other maps with one exception. Overlook.
Overlook is arguable one of the most innovative maps released with Brood War. It’s a three-player map where each player has the ability to safely harass one of the two opponents’ natural, while being exposed to harassment from the other one.
The uniqueness of this type of layout is sometimes credited to Valley Of Wind while Overlook, that was released years before it, is overlooked, if you excuse the pun.
Money Maps
While many players, including myself, don’t really like money maps, it’s hard to argue that they aren’t popular. Arguably the most famous of all money maps is Big Game Hunters, possibly challenged by Fastest.
To this day money maps are vastly popular and it all started with BGH. + Show Spoiler +
Back when I first started playing StarCraft online, circa 2000, I was very reluctant to play standard games since I would be crushed by pretty much everyone. My solution was to play an UMS game called Hydra Rancher. I wasn’t very good at that either but at least I wasn’t completely demolished every game. But I digress.
UMS maps have been around in StarCraft since the beginning and fans have made their own UMS maps too. However, what Blizzard did was to create UMS maps that played out like regular maps but with a twist.
Warp Gates is a map that was, together with its two successors Warp Gates 2 and Evolution Warp Gates 2, in professional leagues between 2000 and 2004, though not on Use Map Settings.
You see, if played on Use Map Settings, Warp Gates turns into a 2v2 map where players can teleport units from their own base into the base of their ally or onto a high ground expansion.
While neither of these innovations were ever used in professional leagues, it still provides an interesting change to the casual gamer. Call it a silly idea, call it a fun little curiosity, it still was innovative.
In conclusion
This text is getting way too long so it’s time to sum it all up. Blizzard have made a ridiculous amount of StarCraft maps and the ones I have pointed out above are far from the only ones that have been original or interesting.
No, there is a lot more to say about the maps of Blizzard than what is covered in this article. For now, I can just say that I am interested in seeing what maps Blizzard will produce for StarCraft II and what innovations they will bring forth.
nice article, good quality post for someone new to the site. don't quite agree with you though since it's not just the utilization of individual features that makes a map high quality but the incorporating of these features with an understanding of the strengths and weakeness of each race in every matchup to create compelling competitive play. so just cuz blizzard came up with a certain gimmick doesn't mean their maps were good.
ah that blackhole one is cool. im going to make environmental maps in SC2. like units lose health once they enter a sandstorm or what have you. its going to be boss.
When I think of innovations in map making, I think of backwards ramps, null terrain, neutral darktemplar/mines, neutral creep colonies, neutral buildings, specially placed gas geysers etc...
Except for mineral wall, none of these seem like innovations. If you told me Blizzard invented mineral wall I'd have thought of crystalis and said 'eehh.. not really.' So you get points for that, I guess.
I kind of agree with d_so's point too. Back in 1998-2000 everyone used the dumbest combinations of units, and probably every combination of units possible in StarCraft. That shouldn't degrade how innovative it is for someone to do a weird combination in progaming and make it actually viable. Like when you hear D players saying 'hey I do that ! that's my build!' and they're clearly not utilizing it the same way.
So I don't agree with you (as someone who mapped quite a long time), but I think you did a good job putting it together
You forgot Gauntlet, they basically copied it, with a few changes, on the desert tileset due to the wider bridges, and it was used in the pro scene for a bit.
You missed the map (5)Diablo..... It's actually a really fun map for 2v2, although the centre is poorly designed.
I can list a few more you missed. And I've only been into the SC scene for about a year :S (technically, I've had the game since it was out, but I wasn't really into it)
Blizzard really did do a lot with their maps. Although, I don't know how much innovation they can have in SC2 - a lot has already been done with the original, and in many respects, the games are similar. Although, maybe some of the concepts which were flops in the original could be amazing in SC2. We'll have to wait and see.
if you talk about blizzard and evolution of map making you cant skip wc3 ...
even without dota there are hundreds of amazing custom maps and i guess im not the only one who had more fun with wc3 custom maps than with the real game. with the sc2 editor being even more powerful, i can see the same happening to me for sc2.
what a great write-up. ah, challenger brought back humble memories of my first game of starcraft ever, where i learned, versus a computer, of the homosexuality that is 16 speedlots.
Off topic but does anyone know if Blizzard could remake sc:bw maps for sc2 if they weren't the ones who created them? I'm guessing yes since it's their game but just wondering.
On March 10 2010 19:58 PobTheCad wrote: good writeup although i think there was also a crazy critters style map for warcraft 2
MUTTON.PUD
Seriously. My friends and I had a Mutton tourney in high school. Turns out Mutton is imbalanced since one of the starting positions doesn't have an area full of critters so you can place your first building easily.
Seriously. My friends and I had a Mutton tourney in high school. Turns out Mutton is imbalanced since one of the starting positions doesn't have an area full of critters so you can place your first building easily.
at least mutton gives you something to do whilst you wait 5 mins for your first hall to build kill as many sheep as you can with clicks!!
On March 10 2010 19:58 PobTheCad wrote: good writeup although i think there was also a crazy critters style map for warcraft 2
MUTTON.PUD
haha I couldn't remember what this one was called. I was trying all sorts of crappy google searches like map "warcraft 2" sheep -explode -clicking -"warcraft 3". In this case I'm glad you beat me to it since I wasn't coming up with it D: Google is seriously failing if no combo of war2, sheep and map leads to mutton.pud
I personally thought the creation of StarEdit itself was the real innovation (absolutely nothing like it from other companies), but awesome read anyway.
I seldom read the articles..i find them too long and really of little interest. But your write up is fresh and creative. 5/5 article. and thank you to make me a jump in the past
A nice article. If only you could get more people to play fun or creative maps that are out of regular usage... (anything besides BGH, Fastest or a few Korean maps, ie Python, Desti)
Hell, its hard enough at times to even find someone that will play vs random... >.>
People in general are pretty herd like though, online or offline, so im not surprised.
the trex/skull wc2 maps look massive, something i've always thought would be cool in scbw is if really big maps were available, like 4x the size of the max you can get now. hopefully that's possible in sc2 because i think you could create maps with some really unique map control situations with more space to work with. it'd be great if a bigger unit cap could be edited in too
EPT![[image loading]](http://i731.photobucket.com/albums/ww316/Slugbreath/Blizzard-maps.jpg)
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King of the Abyss, ![[image loading]](http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft/images/a/a6/Landslide.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://classic.battle.net/images/battle/war2/images/lp/classic/(4)nowhere2run.jpg)
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![[image loading]](http://classic.battle.net/images/battle/war2/images/lp/classic/(6)skullisle.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft/images/e/ec/Valley_Of_Wind.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft/images/b/b2/Overlook.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://classic.battle.net/images/battle/war2/images/lp/bne/(4)Gold_Rush_BNE.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft/images/1/1f/WarpGates.jpg)
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