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Hi friends!
CasterMuse (CM) recently offered foreign and Korean map makers an amazing opportunity to feature their maps in Season 4 of his gosu StarLeague featuring:
Zerg
Action
HerO
Miso
Killer
Sacsri
HyuK
Ggaemo
Shine
Terran
Light
Sharp
Rush
JyJ
Royal
Ample
ShiNee
Barracks
Protoss
Shuttle
Stork
nOOB
YSC
Free
Ruin
Best
Motive
And from Season 3
Soma Z
sSak T
snOw P
Piano T
Not surprisingly, CM received many map submissions from foreign and Korean map makers, including LatiAs (author of Neo-Sylphid and Eclipse), Waldstein (author of Ringing Bloom), Gosomi and Minerals (whose maps are being featured in Season 4 of STPL), StyleZerg (a BW and SC2 mapper veteran), Star V and JoJo (both of whom recently started seriously mapping), as well as the master mapper himself Freakling.
CM has selected six maps today and he will allow members of his discord community to vote on them (1 vote per person allowed, I believe). He will also ask players in his Star League Season 4 to vote on the same maps as well as his wonderful Afreeca TV fans/viewers.
Please participate in the voting process in the CM discord (inside the channel called "polls").
This is the first time foreign maps are being considered for a major progamer and semi progamer Korean league outside of ASL. It is an amazing opportunity and I encourage everyone to thoughtfully participate in the voting process. Take the time to review the map images and map files and make an informed decision if you do decide to vote. You can see all the map submissions (including those that were not selected by CM) and download all map files in the channel called "map discussion" inside CM's awesome discord.
The deadline for voting is December 11, 2020 at midnight in Korean time (GMT+09:00).
Here are the maps that were selected by CM.
Blindside (v0.83) By Mineral[tQ] [foreigner, American]
Beehive [Metamorphosis] 2.02 By Freakling [foreigner, German]
Explosion .091 By Waldstein [Korean]
Apocalypse 1.31 By LatiAs [Korean]
Dance [Spider*] Monkey 1.3 By Stylezerg [foreigner, Mexican]
Windbreak Ridge 1.7 By Gosomi [Korean]
Blindside
![[image loading]](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/742445719436394537/786079926717251634/Blindside0.86.png)
Beehive [Metamorphosis]
![[image loading]](https://i.imgur.com/UDATbau.jpg)
Explosion
![[image loading]](https://i.imgur.com/SQqmTAX.jpg)
Apocalypse
![[image loading]](https://i.imgur.com/vu2qPtI.jpg)
Spider Monkey
![[image loading]](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/750522689206091867/786052590794047498/PNG_wwfyu.png)
Windbreak Ridge
![[image loading]](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/771769123356934185/785467504054108180/2WindBreak_Ridge_1.1.png)
Happy Belated Birthday CasterMuse! Thank you for this wonderful opportunity.
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great initiative!
I really think that all the STPL Season 4 maps should get submitted
I would absolutely love to see korean pro gamers try them out, especially Desert Dwellers, Paradise and Blindside.
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Agreed. I think foreign map makers can compete with their Korean counterparts who have dominated the 'popular map' scene since Python at least. LT was the last 'popular' foreign map (by default as it was made by Blizzard). However, we could do more to support foreign map makers (and map making in general) provided the needs/interests of foreign players are taken into account in the development of foreign made maps.
Personally, I would like to see more foreign map makers, greater interest in maps and map making, more dialogue between mappers and high and low level players, more qualified foreign maps in ASL/Ladder map pools, more qualified foreign maps in leagues/events and more players using map software (Scm Draft2) to analyze maps (even if only for their own benefit).
Thanks to anyone who checked out this thread!
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Are there bigger higher resolution photos of the maps?
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On December 09 2020 11:25 sntct wrote:
Are there bigger higher resolution photos of the maps?
I replaced the Blindside image with the one Minerals just posted above. I also asked StyleZerg to provide another image of Spider Monkey, which I posted above. If you double click on the images of Blindside, Beehive and Spider Monkey, you should be able to zoom in.
As for the other maps, those were the images submitted to CasterMuse.
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amazing maps. I want them all. in all matchups
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Blindside is great. Blizzard should really consider it for the next ladder map pool.
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Here's an update regarding the wonderful map contest.
"Hello, CasterMuse here. Let me tell you the final results of the map contest.
1st place: Windbreak Ridge By Gosomi(달콤한고소미)
2nd place: Blindside By Minerals[tQ]
Thank you to all the mapmakers who participated in the map contest. once again, Congratulations!"
![[image loading]](https://i.imgur.com/n4TDq8c.png)
Congratulations gentlemen and thanks to everyone who submitted a map in the contest and participated in the poll. This was a major opportunity for foreign map makers, potentially paving the way for similar opportunities in the future so I hope current mappers keep mapping and new ones join them! People are also acknowledging and discussing maps more, I like to think, thanks to folks like Qikz and Caster Muse who provide opportunities such as these.
I would like to point out that unlike foreign players, foreign map makers can compete with their Korean counterparts; their maps are conceptually, aesthetically and technically up to par in many ways, but they require some more support and opportunities from the foreign community in order to get their maps (which represent the foreign scene) into major leagues such as ASL and Ladder. I do personally feel Koreans will favour their own map makers and so there will always be a little bias against foreign map makers there but that should not discourage our efforts to increase foreign influence in the map domain provided the maps are up to par with today's meta and the needs of players. Yes the whole map making thing has been marginalized throughout SC's history, and may not seem as interesting as gaming, but it is a wonderful craft and forms the basis of the entire game so it would be great to see more attention paid to it in various venues.
ASL seems to pretty much determine Blizzard's ladder map selection now (even though this was a foreign/American made game!) and many of the maps are being re-featured in each ladder season, leaving less spots open for new maps, and even less slots for foreign made maps given the fact that Koreans have dominated the 'popular map' domain since Python at least. But I think that could be changed around a little bit with more collaboration/dialogue between foreign map makers and players and organizers.
Big shout out to CasterMuse for opening the door and big shout out to Rus_Brain for sponsoring his wonderful Star League, increasing its prize pool from $3,691 to $5511!
I'd like to end my congratulatory and encouraging note with a link to the wonderful BroodWarMaps.Net site which has been the staple of foreign (and Korean!) map makers for many, many years.
Please also consider joining the BWMN discord server.
And if you can afford to please become a Patreon of CM's discord for as little as $5 per month. He is providing a lot of exclusive content (see the replays channel of his discord) and opportunities to foreigners (including the above map contest as well as the possibility of featuring 1-2 top foreigners in the next season of his StarLeague).
Thank you kindly for reading~
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we chose the most similar maps to the standard ones. boring
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I think the maps selected are actually non standard in many respects when compared to popular maps such as fighting spirit, circuit breakers, neo-sylphid, eclipse and polypoid but perhaps you were hoping for more experimental maps like Beehive [Metamorphosis] which is an island map? In general, it's good to get conversations going about what constitutes a standard, comfortable, simple map and what doesn't. These contests are great for encouraging dialogue over maps among players, map makers and fans/viewers Also I think if some foreigners were to financially support CM a little, he would feature foreigner maps in his events consistently, including in his major leagues which is a big plus for the foreign scene. I am a patreon of his discord myself.
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On December 11 2020 07:24 andertalets77 wrote:
we chose the most similar maps to the standard ones. boring
if you're calling blindside standard, ill take the complement 
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On December 11 2020 09:12 ox.tQ wrote:
I think the maps selected are actually non standard in many respects when compared to popular maps such as fighting spirit, circuit breakers, neo-sylphid, eclipse and polypoid but perhaps you were hoping for more experimental maps like Beehive [Metamorphosis] which is an island map? In general, it's good to get conversations going about what constitutes a standard, comfortable, simple map and what doesn't. These contests are great for encouraging dialogue over maps among players, map makers and fans/viewers Also I think if some foreigners were to financially support CM a little, he would feature foreigner maps in his events consistently, including in his major leagues which is a big plus for the foreign scene. I am a patreon of his discord myself.
non-standard map this is the map where the player is forced to abandon the standard buildorders (openings) and come up with something that is not often used. That would be more interesting. What is it about these maps that will make players move away from the standard buildorders?
I offered money, but I couldn't send it using the details provided. paypal said the problem is on the recipient's side
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That's a very useful definition andertalets77. Perhaps our map maker could weigh in and point out what is not so standard about blindside or windbreak ridge...
Many thanks for offering to support CM. I am not sure what the issue is. I signed up on his patreon page fine. Do you have discord? Perhaps you could message him: CM #4888
Or message him on TL? I think he would greatly appreciate it.
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This is the first time foreign maps are being considered...
He used Clay Fields in Season 3:
 CasterMuse StarLeague Season 3
Great to see foreign maps getting looked at, good stuff, well done.
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On December 12 2020 04:26 ox.tQ wrote:
That's a very useful definition andertalets77. Perhaps our map maker could weigh in and point out what is not so standard about blindside or windbreak ridge...
Many thanks for offering to support CM. I am not sure what the issue is. I signed up on his patreon page fine. Do you have discord? Perhaps you could message him: CM #4888
Or message him on TL? I think he would greatly appreciate it.
I wrote to him about this problem. he knows. but he hasn't offered me an alternative payment yet
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Jukado, my apologies! Thank you for correcting me and pointing out that your wonderful map was featured and played on numerous times in Season 3 of CM's SL.
Andertalents77 thank you very much for your persistence. Does the following address work:
onlywantstar@naver.com ? Maybe you have already tried. Perhaps you could donate to his Match page instead? https://matcherino.com/tournaments/40407/overview
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On December 14 2020 09:32 ox.tQ wrote:Jukado, my apologies! Thank you for correcting me and pointing out that your wonderful map was featured and played on numerous times in Season 3 of CM's SL. Andertalents77 thank you very much for your persistence. Does the following address work: onlywantstar@naver.com ? Maybe you have already tried. Perhaps you could donate to his Match page instead? https://matcherino.com/tournaments/40407/overview
this is the address I can't transfer money to. as for the link to the donation site, I can't figure out how to do it
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Thanks for your reply. You can easily create a matcherino account and click the ‘contribute’ button on CM’s matcherino page (linked above) and donate via your preferred payment method (PayPal, credit card, etc).
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On December 14 2020 22:26 ox.tQ wrote:
Thanks for your reply. You can easily create a matcherino account and click the ‘contribute’ button on CM’s matcherino page (linked above) and donate via your preferred payment method (PayPal, credit card, etc).
I did it. I transferred 100 dollars
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Oh my god that was awfully generous of you. CM will be very pleased. Thank you kindly.
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