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[Q] What qualities determine map balance?

Forum Index > Brood War Strategy
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randomscrub
Profile Joined June 2008
Bulgaria44 Posts
September 01 2008 09:46 GMT
#1
I know this has probably been asked before, but I tried several searches and I couldn't find an appropriate thread so...

What map qualities make a map a protoss/zerg/terran map? I think knowing these things could be really helpful when learning how to play new maps.

Right now, my immediate guesses would be

Terran:
- easily defendable 3rd
- many small movement obstructions in the middle, ie thin walls
- natural or 3rd can be hit by tanks in a relatively safe place

Protoss:
- cliffs
- islands?

Zerg:
- many ramps
- lots of gas
- far away 3rd
- open middle

anyway I could be wrong but those are my current thoughts
Ilikestarcraft
Profile Blog Joined November 2004
Korea (South)17733 Posts
September 01 2008 09:49 GMT
#2
how are protoss good on maps with cliffs;;;
ils
"Nana is a goddess. Or at very least, Nana is my goddess." - KazeHydra
village_idiot
Profile Blog Joined July 2008
2436 Posts
September 01 2008 10:01 GMT
#3
carriers
Elite]v[arine
Profile Joined October 2007
United States264 Posts
September 01 2008 10:23 GMT
#4
easily defendable 3rd gas would make pvz protoss favouring (i think)
AKAs: Pyro]v[aniac ,
DhakhaR
Profile Blog Joined August 2007
United Kingdom721 Posts
September 01 2008 12:51 GMT
#5
unbuildable in the middle favours P against T
Boblion
Profile Blog Joined May 2007
France8043 Posts
September 01 2008 12:54 GMT
#6
On September 01 2008 21:51 DhakhaR wrote:
unbuildable in the middle favours P against T


Luna ? :p
fuck all those elitists brb watching streams of elite players.
RaGe
Profile Blog Joined July 2004
Belgium9950 Posts
September 01 2008 13:22 GMT
#7
you can't split it up in races, gotta split it up in matchups
Moderatorsometimes I get intimidated by the size of my right testicle
DhakhaR
Profile Blog Joined August 2007
United Kingdom721 Posts
September 01 2008 13:55 GMT
#8
On September 01 2008 21:54 Boblion wrote:
Show nested quote +
On September 01 2008 21:51 DhakhaR wrote:
unbuildable in the middle favours P against T


Luna ? :p


haha yeah, although Luna is quite balanced TvP
Tropics
Profile Joined August 2007
United Kingdom1132 Posts
September 01 2008 13:59 GMT
#9
On September 01 2008 22:22 RaGe wrote:
you can't split it up in races, gotta split it up in matchups


this. plenty of map features only give an advantage in one mu, and there are some features that'll give p over z but t over p even more, etc.

gotta be in mus, not races
LastWish
Profile Blog Joined September 2004
2015 Posts
September 01 2008 15:14 GMT
#10
On September 01 2008 21:51 DhakhaR wrote:
unbuildable in the middle favours P against T

I wouldn't say this really matters nowadays, because many terrans seem to include gols to their army much earlier.
Also vessels seem to be rather standard, crushing my obs with gols, and mines killing everything... *gosh* that's so unfair.

Terrans have evolved again, like few years ago many would be surely convinced that non-wall maps favor toss.
- It's all just treason - They bring me down with their lies - Don't know the reason - My life is fire and ice -
Februarys
Profile Blog Joined February 2008
Korea (South)259 Posts
September 01 2008 15:41 GMT
#11
Cliffs favor Terrans so much

Siege Tank on Cliff = gayness

Carriers also benefit from Cliffs and elevation changes but its not that drastically different. Any uncrossable terrain benefits Carriers, so you can't single out and say Cliffs. However, how many more times do you see tanks than carriers in any matchup game?
Jaedong is the Hope of Zergs.
kpcrew
Profile Blog Joined December 2007
Korea (South)1071 Posts
September 01 2008 15:45 GMT
#12
if savior was playing

kid raped on imbal maps 24/7
Clan Lzuruha
Elite]v[arine
Profile Joined October 2007
United States264 Posts
Last Edited: 2008-09-01 16:12:02
September 01 2008 16:11 GMT
#13
if boxer was playing for real kids be getting rapes 24/7 too...
AKAs: Pyro]v[aniac ,
LemOn
Profile Blog Joined July 2005
United Kingdom8629 Posts
September 01 2008 17:04 GMT
#14
On September 02 2008 00:14 LastWish wrote:
Show nested quote +
On September 01 2008 21:51 DhakhaR wrote:
unbuildable in the middle favours P against T

I wouldn't say this really matters nowadays, because many terrans seem to include gols to their army much earlier.
Also vessels seem to be rather standard, crushing my obs with gols, and mines killing everything... *gosh* that's so unfair.

Terrans have evolved again, like few years ago many would be surely convinced that non-wall maps favor toss.



On Lower levels there is nothing better than turrets with true sight that automatically snipe observers
Much is the father figure that I miss in my life. Go Daddy! DoC.LemOn, LemOn[5thF]
dickless123
Profile Joined August 2008
Korea (North)33 Posts
September 01 2008 19:16 GMT
#15
cliffs benefit terran siege tanks and toss's carriers. also any kind of gay lurk drop or w/e.
thunk
Profile Blog Joined March 2008
United States6233 Posts
September 01 2008 19:29 GMT
#16
You should really break this up into matchups, like rage said.

Long, Narrow corridors favor P in PvZ and T in TvP. They're about balanced in TvZ because while you can d up with seige tanks and bunkers you can also swarm the corridors for Z inbal.

I think Cliffs favor T more than P, personally.
Every time Jung Myung Hoon builds a vulture, two probes die. || My post count was a palindrome and I was never posting again.
anotak
Profile Blog Joined March 2008
United States1537 Posts
September 01 2008 19:32 GMT
#17
this is a complicated matter and sometimes certain things that on most maps affect balance one way do the opposite. Ex. Katrina's cliffs and easy 3rd. Everyone was convinced it was a T map. Then stork came along.

things that affect balance
- no gas at natural T>Z, Z>P, T>P
- too easy to defend 3rd and 4th gas Z>T
- nat with more than one entrance T>Z and Z>P
- tightness vs. openness. Generally tight maps tend to favor terran at least in TvP. Big open maps make pushes hard.
- minerals close to walls or edge of cliff or something makes them easy to muta harrass
- cliffable minlines = T map
- island without a 0/8mineral block blocking the cc/nexus spot are T features
- linearity (as in no multiple paths, just push from expo one to expo 2 to expo 3 etc) T>all
fusionsdf
Profile Blog Joined June 2006
Canada15390 Posts
September 01 2008 21:56 GMT
#18
cliffs always favor terran
SKT_Best: "I actually chose Protoss because it was so hard for me to defeat Protoss as a Terran. When I first started Brood War, my main race was Terran."
Muey
Profile Joined August 2007
Finland149 Posts
September 01 2008 22:38 GMT
#19
On September 02 2008 04:32 anotak wrote:
- no gas at natural T>Z, Z>P, T>P


I always thought this was a P>T feature, since the basic P army in PvT isn't very gas-heavy at all, and you usually you take a relatively quick 3rd anyway, while on the other hand, a no-gas nat will severly cut back on the amount of tanks a T can field from his initial two bases?
Xiberia
Profile Joined September 2007
Sweden634 Posts
September 01 2008 22:51 GMT
#20
On September 02 2008 07:38 Muey wrote:
Show nested quote +
On September 02 2008 04:32 anotak wrote:
- no gas at natural T>Z, Z>P, T>P


I always thought this was a P>T feature, since the basic P army in PvT isn't very gas-heavy at all, and you usually you take a relatively quick 3rd anyway, while on the other hand, a no-gas nat will severly cut back on the amount of tanks a T can field from his initial two bases?

P needs a shitton of goons, which ends up being quite gas heavy while tanks are extremely cost efficient. Zeals are just there for support and if you start having excess minerals, vultures are > zeals and also do well vs goons, so i guess that might be why T>P.
This is coming from a Zerg player though, so i might be wrong.
GrandInquisitor *
Profile Blog Joined May 2005
New York City13113 Posts
September 01 2008 23:22 GMT
#21
No, I'd concur that no gas at natural benefits Protoss over Terran. PvT rarely involves taking your second gas that fast; the only thing you're spending gas on is dragoons, and eventually speed + storm + air, but by that point you should have a third.

Half the reason you can afford to go air relatively quick PvT is that you have a huge gas surplus from having a predominantly 100/0 and 125/50 army. Compared to a Terran army (75/0 and 150/100), that's a lot less gas.
What fun is it being cool if you can’t wear a sombrero?
zobz
Profile Joined November 2005
Canada2175 Posts
September 01 2008 23:56 GMT
#22
Though there are some features that benefit specific mus there are features that support a whole race, which would be nice to list too. Protoss also benefit from extra mineral patches. And i remember physician starting a thread about how short distances favoured p though at first thought that doesn't seem very true
"That's not gonna be good for business." "That's not gonna be good for anybody."
jinwoooooooo
Profile Blog Joined November 2007
United States176 Posts
Last Edited: 2008-09-02 00:42:56
September 02 2008 00:41 GMT
#23
Map balance is really situational. Sure, you may think an easily defendable 3rd base favors terran, and it usually does. But on maps such as andromeda where the 3rd base is extremely easy to defend, tosses win out on the map. The fact that tosses can also easily defend their 3rd base makes timing pushes difficult, which means the terran must get their 3rd fast as well. This leads to a huge macro war. With that large center, it's very difficult for terrans to extend beyond their 3rd base. On the other hand, tosses can extend past their 3rd easily, even more so because of the island expos.
ilbh
Profile Blog Joined May 2007
Brazil1606 Posts
Last Edited: 2008-09-02 01:06:24
September 02 2008 00:59 GMT
#24
What determines map balance? me, if i play its imbalanced. period.
Part of the inhumanity of the computer is that, once it is competently programmed and working smoothly, it is completely honest.
il0seonpurpose
Profile Blog Joined January 2007
Korea (South)5638 Posts
September 02 2008 01:22 GMT
#25
A far away 3rd for zerg isn't good is it?
Elite]v[arine
Profile Joined October 2007
United States264 Posts
Last Edited: 2008-09-02 03:10:06
September 02 2008 03:09 GMT
#26
On September 02 2008 10:22 il0seonpurpose wrote:
A far away 3rd for zerg isn't good is it?

depends how easy it is to defend.
link of Luna. if zerg took cross map main with 2-3 lurkers at ramp it would be easy to defend and far away right?
im talking zvt of course.
AKAs: Pyro]v[aniac ,
CharlieMurphy
Profile Blog Joined March 2006
United States22895 Posts
September 02 2008 06:36 GMT
#27
You could further break this down in to what terrain best/least suits certain units.

Ex, Mutalisk (or any air really) benefit greatly from cliffs around main and nat.
..and then I would, ya know, check em'. (Aka SpoR)
Stimpacked
Profile Joined June 2008
Philippines368 Posts
September 02 2008 06:57 GMT
#28
everybody said cliffs benefit terran but z always have mutas and scourges and P always have shuttles...
live and let live...
fatalis
Profile Joined July 2008
United States11 Posts
September 02 2008 17:06 GMT
#29
It just so happens I was thinking about this and created a map designed to favor zerg. Its your normal ramp map leading to expo, but behind the main theres a canyon with zero building room for turrets. Also, theres a cliff behind the natural with zero building space. To top it off, inside your main area is gas with no minerals so you can pop down a hatchery next to it and do a very easy 3 hatch 3 gas. Plus the middle of the map is built sort of like rushhour
ZerO-
Profile Joined June 2008
Canada6 Posts
September 02 2008 19:14 GMT
#30
On September 03 2008 02:06 fatalis wrote:
It just so happens I was thinking about this and created a map designed to favor zerg. Its your normal ramp map leading to expo, but behind the main theres a canyon with zero building room for turrets. Also, theres a cliff behind the natural with zero building space. To top it off, inside your main area is gas with no minerals so you can pop down a hatchery next to it and do a very easy 3 hatch 3 gas. Plus the middle of the map is built sort of like rushhour


main reason why they edited Blue Storm 1.1 or 1.2 to create that extra gap behind mineral line at nat so it was less muta friendly.
Got Pho?
Elite]v[arine
Profile Joined October 2007
United States264 Posts
September 02 2008 19:30 GMT
#31
On September 03 2008 04:14 ZerO- wrote:
Show nested quote +
On September 03 2008 02:06 fatalis wrote:
It just so happens I was thinking about this and created a map designed to favor zerg. Its your normal ramp map leading to expo, but behind the main theres a canyon with zero building room for turrets. Also, theres a cliff behind the natural with zero building space. To top it off, inside your main area is gas with no minerals so you can pop down a hatchery next to it and do a very easy 3 hatch 3 gas. Plus the middle of the map is built sort of like rushhour


main reason why they edited Blue Storm 1.1 or 1.2 to create that extra gap behind mineral line at nat so it was less muta friendly.

so they made room for turrets?
AKAs: Pyro]v[aniac ,
dickless123
Profile Joined August 2008
Korea (North)33 Posts
September 02 2008 20:29 GMT
#32
unbuildable or open mid favors Z and P
LastWish
Profile Blog Joined September 2004
2015 Posts
September 02 2008 20:33 GMT
#33
On September 02 2008 09:41 jinwoooooooo wrote:
Map balance is really situational. Sure, you may think an easily defendable 3rd base favors terran, and it usually does. But on maps such as andromeda where the 3rd base is extremely easy to defend, tosses win out on the map. The fact that tosses can also easily defend their 3rd base makes timing pushes difficult, which means the terran must get their 3rd fast as well. This leads to a huge macro war. With that large center, it's very difficult for terrans to extend beyond their 3rd base. On the other hand, tosses can extend past their 3rd easily, even more so because of the island expos.


Andromeda is rather easy in PvT because the distances are far away and mid is opened enough.

I'd say that long distances favor most Zerg in general, no suprisingly, it's the fastest race.

No gas maps, more than PvT favors TvZ and are generally not good for PvZ.
High gas maps favor Toss generally.

Corridors + cliffs are good for TvP, but once Toss reaches carriers it goes PvT. The viability of getting carrier tech probably determines if it's balanced.

Cliffs over nat, or abusable obstacle at nat(like arcadia) favor Terran, and even zerg if the minerals are in lurker distance.

Open maps disfavor Terran in general, but favor Z over P.

Far away natural is usually an advantage for Toss.

Air maps favor Toss.

Small islands, with buildable terrain favor Toss, but Zerg too.

Early unreachable expansions without mineral block are good for Terran.

...
- It's all just treason - They bring me down with their lies - Don't know the reason - My life is fire and ice -
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