|
graphics by iCCup
A huge question that has been asked so many times, it should be added to the FAQ, has been "When will new maps be added to the iCCup Map Pack? And what maps will they be?". For too long, we have only seen the download link to MapPack v2.4. Every time a map was posted, the discussion would inevitably turn to whether or not the iCCup map pack will be updated. Well, your answer is here as four new maps are being added to the ladder, one of them by the famous Rose.of.Dream, a Korean mapper who created the equally famous Fighting Spirit. But, with the discontinuation of the Proleague, we can no longer depend on the Korean scene for everything related to Starcraft: and a larger part of the responsibility to keep Starcraft: Brood War as strong as ever has fallen to the foreign scene. With the large, choking canopy of KeSpa withering away from Brood War, the sapling BroodWarMaps.Net has been allowed to blossom in the open air; contributing three of the four new maps through their dedication and hardwork to forge these maps and push them through an entire tournament. Before, they have gotten maps added to the iCCup Map Pack, such as Faoi, but hopefully these maps will have a longer staying time and impact with the community.
Maps make up a huge part of Starcraft, and the maps must evolve to keep up with the times. Maps of old, from an era where Blizzard maps were used in professional play, would no longer be able to be played with the metagame. And so, the a few anachronistic relics have been taken out in order to give a chance for these new maps to flourish.
Now, iCCup is proud to present; MapPack v2.5 Please note that there are some issues being reported with the new maps, and that the iCCup team is working on fixing all bugs in all maps to make one giant update.
Here's a look at the four new maps;
DeserTec1.0 by Freakling from the BWMN community + Show Spoiler [Image] +![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/ikKlEOV.jpg) Map Size: 128x128 + Show Spoiler [Features] + *Force Fields -- Under the "force fields" (designated by pylon power matrices) ranged attacks have a 50% chance to miss *Low Ground Main, High Ground Natural *Low 3rd Gas -- Geysers at 1, 5, 7, and 11 o' clock expansions only have 2500g *Central Valley - - A Valley runs vertically down the center of the map, dividing the East and West
+ Show Spoiler [Map Stats and Match List] + + Show Spoiler [Analysis] +DeserTec has a really plain expansion layout, but is made very interesting by the "forcefield" mechanic, which holds many implications for all matchups. In ZvZ, lings may be able to run a bit more freely through the center as not all muta shots will hit, in PvP the essential Dragoon will now be weakened against the then-laughable zealot. TvT may become a bit more luck based, as whether your tank shots hit or not become so much more crucial. In ZvT, Zerg is barely affected as muta harass in the main is has no forcefield to deal with, and lurkers, lings, and ultras are melee units. Terran will certainly have to be more careful as M+M forces will only be half as effective, perhaps introducing greater firebat play. For a mech TvZ, tanks will only be effective in siege mode, necessitating more tanks and more mines to protect them. ZvP is hard on both sides, as the crucial dragoons and hydras both are affected, leaving a more zealot and ling heavy composition. This may be in Protoss' favor as Psi Storm is still effective as ever, and muta snipes are twice as hard. Now, in the most debated matchup on this map; TvP. While many claim Terran is now underpowered as they claim Tanks and Vultures don't stand a chance against speedlots, remember the spider mines which now will slow down dragoon pushes as they take twice as long to clear them. Will my analysis hold true? Only testing can tell, so go play some games and report how they go. GL HF.
Gemlong1.0 by JungleTerrain from the BWMN Community + Show Spoiler [Image] +![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/UWaKGhw.jpg) Map Size: 128x128 + Show Spoiler [Features] + *Circular Ridge -- A circular ridge is in the center, cliffing the mineral-onlies *Reduced Mineral Onlies -- The outermost mineral patches of each mineral-only has only 749 minerals
+ Show Spoiler [Map Stats and Match List] +Gemlong Map StatsTvZ 4 - 5 (44.44%) ZvP 3 - 3 (50%) PvT 5 - 2 (71.43%) TvT 1 ZvZ 12 PvP 0 These map stats and matches are from the BWMN Open
Resonance II1.0 by JungleTerrain from the BWMN Community + Show Spoiler [Image] +![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/YH2w4FF.jpg) Map Size: 128x96 + Show Spoiler [Features] + *Neutral Command Center -- Neutral CC that Zergs may infest *Easily Wallable Main -- The main can be walled off with one barracks *3rd Choice -- There are many choices for which 3rd gas to take *Poxy Spots -- Mostly buidable center offers many good proxy spots
+ Show Spoiler [Map Stats and Match List] +
Wind and Cloud0.99 by Rose.of.Dream + Show Spoiler [Image] + + Show Spoiler [Features] + *Surrounding Plateaus -- A series of plateaus around the center of the map move the fight from the center of the map to the area around it for control of the high ground *will be updated later + Show Spoiler [Map Stats and Match List] +
In order to make room for these new maps, a few maps had to be taken out + Show Spoiler [Removed Maps] +A huge theme throughout this has been the new replacing the old, and with the addition of these four new maps, the dust must be swept out and four maps have been removed to make room for more modern maps. Central Districts1.2 by 김진태 ([Ragnarok]Valkyrie) + Show Spoiler [Protoss Plains] ++ Show Spoiler [Image] +Era: 2010 - 2011 Also known as Central Plains this (3) player map was used in the 2010-2011 season of the Shinhan Bank Proleague. The original version(as a candidate for Round 4 of the '09 Proleague) featured a gas expo in main, an island expo, and a gas expo backed by a cliff + Show Spoiler [Initial Version] +. The modern(if it can be called modern) version has a bit more conventional layout, although it is still quite "unique" and macro-heavy, having, in addition to a natural; a gas expansion back door, which leads to another gas expansion on the high ground which is a semi-island as the ramps leading to that expo are blocked off by eggs. The natural has a small cliff where units can be dropped to harass the mineral line. While in Beta-testing, the sponsor of the Proleague was uncertain so a 'P' for Proleague was drawn in the center of the map, instead of the current Shinhan logo. After Round 1, this map was replaced by Bloody Ridge due to the high Protoss favor of this map: of the 35 games played on this map, 33 had Protoss players and there were 27 PvPs. This map has had its run, but with its lack of play as well as racial imbalance, it's time to retire. Troy 1.0 by 김응서 (Earthattack) + Show Spoiler [The Gates of Troy] + + Show Spoiler [Image] +Era: 2008 Troy was one of the maps where the discovers something new, and wows everyone with his creation. The idea of a semi-island map was familiar at the time, the players would start off on an island and slowly the map would evolve into a land-based map, whether the mains were the only islands or portions of the map could be opened up by destroying neutral units or buildings. Troy, took this idea, and reversed it. Due to a difference between the sizes of Vespene Geysers and Assimilators, the proper placement of two Geysers with Assimilators on top created a passageway where any unit could pass through, including (surprisingly) Ultralisks. When one Assimilator was destroyed, the passageway would narrow,allowing only small units to pass through. When both Assimilators were destroyed, not even a Zergling could pass through(although somehow, the anorexic Ghost could slip through). So, slowly as the poor neutral buildings were razed, the map bases would disconnect from the center and the map morphed into an island map. This threw off many players at first, and players would have to change their play styles to adapt for this. Slowly, the players learned how to play on this map, and towards the end of this map's Proleague life, a Protoss imbalance appeared. While the the overall map stats seem passably balanced, once one takes out the initial time when everyone was adapting to a new mechanic, Protoss just seems too strong. Triathlon by 송기범 (CyGnus), i_terran + Show Spoiler [Invisible Eggs] ++ Show Spoiler [Image] +Era: 2010 - 2011 Zerg OP. Proven even more so by eggs everywhere showing the Zerg presence already there. Idk I'll write more about this later, I'll have to research it a bit. Shit happens when you mix Protoss and Zerg together to get Eggs under Arbiter cloaking fields... Roadrunner by 우상희 (Str18-02) + Show Spoiler ++ Show Spoiler [Image] +Era: 2009 - 2010 A funny thing about this map is that, during initial testing, many players stated that they disliked this map. Initially, it wasn't selected but then it was put into the map pool for Winners League . Let's see how that goes, not listening to your players.. Good games Protoss, maybe they let Central Plains in to make up for how many warriors of the void died here.
Thanks to iCCup.Fry for preparing the new map pack.
iCCup Article by iCCup.s0Ldi3R
(4)[BWMN]DeserTec (4)[BWMN]Gemlong1.0 (4)[BWMN]Resonance II
The OP is still a work in progress...trying to make it prettier and prettier. Also, if there's info you think that's incorrect here, or there's any information/trivia/misc. I should add, please PM me.
|
Just a question - why do they need to make room for the new maps? Why can't we just have every map that was ever made in the map pool?
|
Cool. Hope people will actually play them!
|
On February 11 2013 04:30 fazek42 wrote: Just a question - why do they need to make room for the new maps? Why can't we just have every map that was ever made in the map pool? maybe it has something to do with motw, like every map from map pool should be in motw at least once for some period of time
|
These maps look great, its a shame that 99% of iCCup players wont play them because they are not Proleague maps...  iCCup should make these maps worth more then 130 points to encourage people to play them.
|
Norway25712 Posts
Yeah, would love to see some sort of encouragement to play on other maps than the classic FS and EC and such.
Also YEAH Wind and Cloud!
|
On February 11 2013 04:30 fazek42 wrote: Just a question - why do they need to make room for the new maps? Why can't we just have every map that was ever made in the map pool?
Well no one wants to have to know like 100+ maps, also would you really want maps like Into The Dragon or Paradoxx with the current metagame? There's simply no point in keeping outdated maps, map packs should only contain either relevant or innovative maps...For example Troy gates were new and innovative at the time, but the execution of their usage wasn't that stellar, what set it apart were merely the Troy gates...another example is Fortress which used a cool new mechanic, but overall the map itself wasn't that great. A final example (with some speculation on my part) would be DeserTec. The new "forcefield" mechanic where there is a 50% miss rate for projectiles against units in those areas has never been used like this before in competitive play (trees and Demon's Forest don't count) and it certainly gives new play styles to this map, but the map itself has a pretty boring expo layout and such with only the (over usage?) of miss-chance files to set it apart, perhaps in the future a better executed map that smoothly incorporates this effect will be created to replace DeserTec...
|
What are those circles on desertec? pylon radiuses?
edit: traceurling answered my question.
|
I dont know most new maps from 2011-12 becasue all I can see on ladder is FS and python... sometimes some1 hosts MP or Heartbreak Ridge to proxy gates or smth.
+ Show Spoiler +edit: remove old maps from tours/ladder, force ppl to play new maps. Boohoo several dinosaurs gona cry because they wanna stage a comeback on some old shit like longinus or blue storms or too lazy to learn new maps w/e it's not 2006-07
|
On February 11 2013 04:33 nbaker wrote: Cool. Hope people will actually play them!
There seems to be a lot of people who want to play new maps...it all starts with the community, perhaps set up a Skype chat or a channel dedicated to finding people willing to play new maps? Like maybe start an "op motw" for people who only want to play MOTWs?
|
Aaaaw yeah ! Finally ! Thanks Fry !
|
On February 11 2013 04:30 fazek42 wrote: Just a question - why do they need to make room for the new maps? Why can't we just have every map that was ever made in the map pool?
Apparently the PVPGN System only allows 50 maps to bet set as ladder maps, more won't work. Technical issue.
On February 11 2013 04:42 Musiq wrote:These maps look great, its a shame that 99% of iCCup players wont play them because they are not Proleague maps...  iCCup should make these maps worth more then 130 points to encourage people to play them.
We can't do more than set up different MOTWs, the picks are made by users. It'd be worse on a server like FISH though that doesn't use any kind of MOTW system. One of the few advantages of not having an Elo based ranking.
|
Inverse ramp main and half the map with a 50% miss chance for ranged units... Someone really hates Terrans.
|
On February 11 2013 04:55 traceurling wrote:Show nested quote +On February 11 2013 04:30 fazek42 wrote: Just a question - why do they need to make room for the new maps? Why can't we just have every map that was ever made in the map pool? Well no one wants to have to know like 100+ maps, also would you really want maps like Into The Dragon or Paradoxx with the current metagame? There's simply no point in keeping outdated maps, map packs should only contain either relevant or innovative maps...For example Troy gates were new and innovative at the time, but the execution of their usage wasn't that stellar, what set it apart were merely the Troy gates...another example is Fortress which used a cool new mechanic, but overall the map itself wasn't that great. A final example (with some speculation on my part) would be DeserTec. The new "forcefield" mechanic where there is a 50% miss rate for projectiles against units in those areas has never been used like this before in competitive play (trees and Demon's Forest don't count) and it certainly gives new play styles to this map, but the map itself has a pretty boring expo layout and such with only the (over usage?) of miss-chance files to set it apart, perhaps in the future a better executed map that smoothly incorporates this effect will be created to replace DeserTec...
What do you mean trees and Demon's Forest don't count?
Is that a different miss percentage than 50%?
|
On February 11 2013 06:34 CakeOrI)eath wrote: Inverse ramp main and half the map with a 50% miss chance for ranged units... Someone really hates Terrans. Once upon a time there was a dragoon. After serving for a long time as a zealot, he lost his body and was transported back to Aiur. There he decided, like many of his brethren, to become a dragoon. As a dragoon, he was the veteran of many conflicts, often leading the charge into Terran minefields clearing out mines all while under siege tank fire in order to clear the way. Then, this dragoon was deployed to DeserTec. There he met his end clearing minefields as he and his brothers took twice as long to clear the way to the tank line and sustained heavy splash damage. The end I hope that didn't sound sarcastic...I just wanted to point out that some Protosses have mentioned clearing mines is a bitch. Also for TvZ, this could lead to more firebats? Idk I dont play Terran...
On February 11 2013 06:35 Wohmfg wrote:Show nested quote +On February 11 2013 04:55 traceurling wrote:On February 11 2013 04:30 fazek42 wrote: Just a question - why do they need to make room for the new maps? Why can't we just have every map that was ever made in the map pool? Well no one wants to have to know like 100+ maps, also would you really want maps like Into The Dragon or Paradoxx with the current metagame? There's simply no point in keeping outdated maps, map packs should only contain either relevant or innovative maps...For example Troy gates were new and innovative at the time, but the execution of their usage wasn't that stellar, what set it apart were merely the Troy gates...another example is Fortress which used a cool new mechanic, but overall the map itself wasn't that great. A final example (with some speculation on my part) would be DeserTec. The new "forcefield" mechanic where there is a 50% miss rate for projectiles against units in those areas has never been used like this before in competitive play (trees and Demon's Forest don't count) and it certainly gives new play styles to this map, but the map itself has a pretty boring expo layout and such with only the (over usage?) of miss-chance files to set it apart, perhaps in the future a better executed map that smoothly incorporates this effect will be created to replace DeserTec... What do you mean trees and Demon's Forest don't count? Is that a different miss percentage than 50%?
I meant that trees give 50% miss rate an Demon's Forest was most notable for its use of trees to create a 50% miss rate zone(and vision blocking) but that no map before has used tile editing to create a misszone...Sorry if I wasn't clear
|
Does the "force-field" act like a dark swarm? or dies it apply only to the units firing inside?
|
That was an awesome story right there. Awesome news and an awesome story?! :D
edit: Can you put the BWMN links to the maps too?
|
Magic Woods9326 Posts
On February 11 2013 06:54 rice_devOurer wrote: Does the "force-field" act like a dark swarm? or dies it apply only to the units firing inside? I would think only misschance is applied to units firing from inside to outside and inside to inside. It would make sense to give defenders advantage outside of your natural.
|
Yeah, that forcefield thing sounds horrible. Idk about balance, but why have it in?
|
I'm very happy to see some BWMN maps make it in there! Although I am quite suprised desertec was one of the choices. I think Melting Pot or Cross Game would have been better picks. Resonance II was my favorite so that was a great choice.
ps. Im assuming these 1.0 version are actually the latest ones just renamed?
|
|
|
|