Check out the MotM Wikipage! Huge thanks to pyrestrike for this! Also, follow us on Twitter to stay updated on MotM news!
News!
Its that time again - time to announce the official winning map of Map of the Month #7! This month we had several very good maps, but one map proved to be absolutely spectacular. Please congratulate TPW Odyssey by lefix! + Show Spoiler +
Now, some MotM #8 news: MotM #8 will officially begin taking submissions August 1 (there will be a thread). As always, there will be a couple changes, but nothing too drastic, and there are no map restrictions. The judges panel next month will be FlopTurnReaver, monitor, LSPrime, Barrin, and of course lefix (make sure to congratulate him!).
Map of the Month #6 - the Season 1 Finals is coming up soon! June 26th and 27th! Click here for more info!
Tune in to Map of the Month #5 today at 5:00pm EST! Cast by imba.tv!
Hey guys, I'm here to announce this month's winner of Map of the Month! This month, we put forth a challenge, and forced you to create 3 player maps. The competition was fierce, attracting top mapmakers from the US, Europe, and Korea. But after all the games played in the tournament, we felt that one map stood out from the others.
I'm happy to announce the winner of this month's Map of the Month competition: (3) The Eighteenth, by Silence-!
We saw some awesome games on this map; from huge macro battles to fast cheese games. I'm proud to add The Eighteenth to the MotM Official Map Pool.
The final pool for MotM #4 is set. Thanks to everyone for mapping - I know this month was extra hard due to the restriction, but by and large TL responded with good maps.
This month we had funcmode guest judge. dimfish decided that he wanted to submit one of his own maps, and stepped down for the month. So, funcmode, prodiG, FlopTurnReaver, BoomStevo and myself were left to judge all the 3p maps.
These finalists will be the map pool for the MotM Tournament #4, which will be cast on iCCupTV by our very own prodiG!
But we know why you're really here. It's awards time.
The Sixth Man Award - Strip Mine, Grebliv. Strip Mine was a good map. The forward 3rd golds were very interesting.
Most Attractive Map - The Eighteenth, Silence-; The Machine, Archivan. Both of these maps were really well done aesthetically, and in ways that complemented the map architecture. The Eighteenth was an awesome unique idea and executed perfectly, and The Machine is done with Archi's trademark mystical style with a dash of steampunk that works nicely.
Most Original - Triangle Love Moon, dimfish. Really cool symmetry, bringing back island bases, and the debris piles in the naturals... this map is full of original ideas.
The Guest Judge Award - Masada, winpark. funcmode wanted to specially recognize Masada as one of his favorites this month
prodiG's special awards will be up soon!
I'll be sending out scorecards to anyone who pm's me for them. You do not have to share these with anyone, they are for your information only - if you've got any questions about your score please do it privately. Averages went down this month, but thats to be expected with a difficult restriction like this. For your information, here are the averages this month (last month's in green): Balance/Originality/Fun /Aesthetics/Total 5.37 / 6.66 / 5.07 / 5.89 / 22.98 5.91 / 6.54 / 5.71 / 5.68 / 23.84
Again, thanks to everyone who contributed. MotM 4 is looking great! Just remember that this is only the beginning, that we strongly encourage you to play these top five maps and see what makes them so good! Hang out in channel MotM, I'll set up games on all of these maps when I can on NA, and keep an eye out for events on EU as well!
Next month is back to normal - any map can be submitted. Looking forward to some great maps!
Thanks to everybody who made this possible, FlopTurnReaver, prodiG, funcmode, as well as every one of you mapmakers and players! Looking forward to a great Tournament.
The finals for the MotM Tournament #3 have finished! Thanks to everyone for watching. Congratulations to Eleven Gaming's xiExO for his victories over Topin, OnixPKM, coL.Antimage, and ROOTDdoRo! The VODs can all be found at iCCupTV. There are some excellent games in there, including a Mothership!
Click on the names to see the winning maps. Please leave your comments on the maps; all will be taken into account to decide the winning map this month.
These finalists will be the map pool for the MotM Tournament #3, which will be cast on iCCupTV by Raelcun and our very own prodiG!
But we know why you're really here. It's awards time.
The Sixth Man Award - Fault Lines, EatThePath. Fault lines was a good map that used textures really well to zone the map. Definitely check it out!
Most Attractive Map - Sanctuarium, funcmode. There are so many awesome details. The tiling, the color scheme - everything just works. A terrific work of art (and it plays well too)
Judge's Choice - Leviathan, BoomStevo. Don't accuse us of favoring our own! Every judge, including the guest judges, gave Leviathan top points. Gameplay is amazing, aesthetically its great... its just a great map.
Most Original - Fault Lines, EatThePath. He used texture combinations no one would even think of using and made it work, and the middle is a really different idea from anything that's been done so far.
The Guest Judge Award - Sanctuarium, funcmode. dezi and NullCurrent wanted to specially recognize Sanctuarium as one of their favorites.
For your information, here are the averages this month (last month's in green): Balance/Originality/Fun /Aesthetics/Total 5.91 / 6.54 / 5.71 / 5.68 / 23.84 6.26 / 6.41 / 5.73 / 5.94 / 24.34
Again, thanks to everyone who contributed. MotM 3 is looking great! Just remember that this is only the beginning, that we strongly encourage you to play these top five maps and see what makes them so good! Hang out in channel MotM, I'll set up games on all of these maps when I can (on NA or EU)
Next month is 3p map month! Remember that you are not allowed to use more than 3 Bel'shir textures (increased from 2). We want to encourage new styles, and Bel'Shir is getting boring :/. Looking forward to some awesome 3p designs next month!
Notes from the Judges Work on proportions! Monitor put together a great Proportions Guide. While you shouldn't follow it to the letter in every map you make, there are a lot of maps that needed a bit of work proportions-wise.
Also, shoutout to Bitter Jungle. A really cool map, Bloodbath 2.0.
Also, I'll post a little article written by dezi about judging soon
Thanks to everybody who made this possible, dimfish, FlopTurnReaver, prodiG, dezi, NullCurrent, as well as every one of you mapmakers and players! Looking forward to a great Tournament.
Month #3 of MotM is now open! There are a couple changes this month to the way we're running things.
1) We will no longer pay a cash prize to the map winner each month. Winning MotM nets you playtime in front of thousands of viewers - last month, more than 14,000 unique viewers watched the MotM tournament. In addition, your map is added to the all-time MotM map pool. Thats something that I've mentioned before, but haven't really explained. Every 6 months, the previous 5 winners will compete against each other. The winner of that competition will recieve a cash prize, as recognition that the map is the best we have.
2) We are removing the poll to determine the winner. When we first came up with our system, we wanted to involve the community as much as possible. However, we knew that polls would be easily broken, and it could simply turn into a contest to see who has the most friends. We (and we assume the entire community) would much rather the best map win. Please don't take this as disrespect to NullCurrent, we fully support Marshlands. However, several vulnerabilities were exposed this past month, and we are moving to address them. We do still want community feedback and input. We will ask for community feedback on all the finalist maps, and we will take it in to account when we decide a winner.
Thanks!
Congratulations to NullCurrent for Marshlands! He is this month's MotM winner.
It's time to vote for your favorite! Which map do you think is the best this month? Be sure to play some games on them - you can find all maps by searching "MotM" on Battle.net. The poll will not close until February 28th! Also, check out this awesome interview with NrGdde, this month's winner!
These finalists will be the map pool for the MotM Tournament #2, and after that, you the public will vote for your favorite!
And now for the awesome awards!
The Sixth Man Award - Zel'Kalith, NastyMarine. The choice for the fifth map was incredibly difficult. Zel'Kalith is a fine map that deserves recognition.
Most Attractive Map - Disaster Park, lovablemikey. There are so many awesome details. Disaster Park blew away every one of us. Look at it in-game. Absolutely gorgeous.
Judge's Choice - Ptolemy, Grebliv. It looks good, it plays well, and it makes rotational symmetry work. Ptolemy recieved our highest total score, and was an easy choice for top 5.
Most Original - Mazy Hill, Ragoo. The spiral LOS Blockers combined with the changes in slope were a really interesting and innovative idea.
Cleanest Map Award - Spaced, funcmode. Its sharp, clean, and you'd take it home to meet your parents. Its a nice break from the clutter of most maps.
The BroodWar Map Award - Aztec. It IS a BW map lol.
The Guest Judge Award - Zel'Kalith. monitor wanted to specially recognize Zel'Kalith as one of his favorites.
****** Also, News for next month and beyond Next month's category will be the same, 1v1 maps (any number of spawns). However, I'm going to announce April's restriction now. The restriction is that your map must have 3 spawns. I realize that this is difficult, which is why you're getting an extra month's notice! Good luck ******
I'm pleased to announce that iCCupTV will be streaming and casting this month's MotM! Give it up for prodiG :D.
What is Map of the Month?
Map of the Month (MotM for short) is an organization devoted to encouraging well-made maps and giving great maps the publicity they deserve. Let’s face it, one of the things that made BW so popular and so successful long-term were the huge number of maps created by the community. In SC2, due to Battlenet 2.0, it is much harder for new maps to gain any support or become popular. MotM was created with this in mind.
In some ways, MotM is similar to the iCCup map-making team. We too will have a monthly map pool, and will have tournaments that use our map pool. However, we are different in that we are an open organization. Anyone - even members of other organizations - can create a map and submit it to be part of the map pool.
Rewarding mappers is also a big part of the competition. We want to encourage mappers to put as much effort as they can into mapping. For this reason, we'll be awarding cash prizes to the best map every month. To my knowledge, this hasn't happened before, at least not in the SC2 scene. For the moment, the prize is $25 each month, coming straight out of our pockets .
Of course, creating new maps is great, but often getting them played is the hardest part. So, we will have an MotM Tournament complementing the map competition each month. High-level players will compete in a live-cast tourney for another prize. The maps will also be hosted with an "MotM-" tag attached, so that finding them online will be easier.
ANY MELEE MAP can be submitted for any competition. That means if we ask for 1v1 maps, but you really want to make a 12-spawn map, go right ahead – we’ll only judge it on its merits as a 1v1 map. We may think that 12 spawns is a little much, but if you can pull it off as a viable, good map – do it! ANY PERSON may submit a map, with the exception of judges. You may submit up to 1 map per competition.
Map requirements: Melee gametype. Must be submitted on time. Must be submitted properly. Must fit the category of the month. Cannot be a clone.
Judging Regulations: Judges score all maps on a 40 point score card. 10/10/10/10 for Balance/Originality/Fun/Aesthetics. The top ~10 maps score-wise will be debated, and the 5 maps the judges agree upon will be published with the MotM tag and Author credited. All maps will be given their score cards after the competition, and judges are free (but not required) to attach comments.
Community Involvement
The huge community of SC2 players is really important to us. Even if you are not a mapper or don't play in the tournament, you can still participate!
Once the finalist maps are announced, we'll accept any replays on one of those maps. submit your replay to submit.motm@gmail.com. We'll cast a few replays before/after each tournament.
The community also gets involved in deciding the winning map. By the end of the month, there will be plenty of resources to call on when you decide to vote: playtime (all maps will be uploaded to NA/(possibly others) and tagged with MotM), the tournament, judges scores of the finalists, etc. You get to pick the winner!
Leadership
MotM was orignally brainstormed by Cyber_Cheese. From his idea, myself, BoomStevo, dimfish, FlopTurnReaver, and prodiG worked together to create MotM. Each month's winner earns a guest spot in the judges seat! Board of Directors: iGrok, BoomStevo, dimfish, prodiG, FlopTurnReaver Current Judges: iGrok, prodiG, BoomStevo, Dimfish, monitor
Sponsorship
MotM’s main prizes are sponsored by fans of SC2. We have no corporate sponsors, but we have big plans for the future. Anyone who wishes to donate to MotM will only help us to grow! In the future we plan bigger prizes, more side awards, and possibly even have Map of the Week mini challenges. Sponsors: iGrok dimfish pyrestrike bkrow
Q: How do you determine the top maps? A: Judges score all maps on a 40 point score card. 10/10/10/10 for Balance (is the map fair to all races?), Fun (How fun is it to play or spectate on the map?), Originality (We don't want 30 LT clones ^^), and Aesthetics (Eye candy! Let us bask in the artistic beauty!). The top 7 maps score-wise will be debated, and the judges will choose 5 finalists. They will each will be published with the MotM tag for 3 weeks so players and voters can try them out.
Q: Can I find out my score? A: After the map pool is announced, all mappers will recieve their scores.
Q: I won! ...what now? A: Congratulations! You just won $25! You may be a guest judge for the next month's MotM, and your map will be added to the MotM All-time map pool. Long-term, it will hopefully be part of a major tournament - perhaps even the GSL one day.
Q: I'm from a different map organization or team... can I still submit a map? A: ANY mapper may submit a map to MotM, and have an equal chance to win.
Q: Why must I give you my map file? Are you trying to steal it? A: The reason we ask for the map file is twofold. First, it is helpful for the judges so they can see the map, not just images, and play the map, regardless of region. Second, the top maps will be published using the MotM tag. That way it will be easier for people to search "MotM" on Battle.net to locate the maps, and it guarantees the maps will be published in the correct region(s) for tournaments. When the maps are published the authors will be credited. We're not trying to steal anyone's work, just trying to give these maps the exposure they deserve.
To contact us, please pm or email igrok.motm@gmail.com
This is better than I had hoped for, I really am diggin how organized this is. One question. So we have almost an entire month to polish our maps currect? Though, thats probably a good thing.
This is a fantastic idea. A small monetary motive should really fuel some creativity and devotion. Also, making it open to the entire community is a great move as well.
We are giving everyone a heads up and we're really looking forward to involving everyone in the effort to support new maps and their makers. January will be the inaugural month for the competition but don't forget, it's called Map of the Month. Each month will provide a chance for people to submit new maps, play new maps and decide the winner! More details coming soon.
Will there be any bias towards mapmaking organizations such as my mapmaking team vs maps that will receive less attention? (I know this was a subject of debate in the early stages of the other thread, just want to clear the air). EDIT
Anyone - even members of other organizations - can create a map and submit it to be part of the map pool.
nvm
Also, as far as commentating goes I'd love to be the one to cast the tourney and I'm sure I could convince someone else at iCCup.TV to cast with me.
On December 09 2010 16:09 Cyber_Cheese wrote: I wasnt the original suggestor, cant remember who did it now I'm disappointed you left me out of something bigger
On December 09 2010 16:09 Cyber_Cheese wrote: I wasnt the original suggestor, cant remember who did it now I'm disappointed you left me out of something bigger
As I recall, I did invite you :p
On December 09 2010 16:10 prodiG wrote: What's your criteria for selecting maps?
Will there be any bias towards mapmaking organizations such as my mapmaking team vs maps that will receive less attention? (I know this was a subject of debate in the early stages of the other thread, just want to clear the air). EDIT
On December 09 2010 15:31 Barrin wrote: So this is part of what you've been up to dimfish, I didn't know you were in on this
If there's anything I can do to help without just let me know I'm totally down Anything that doesn't disqualify me from entering my maps o.O I will be submitting a map every single month.
I'm really excited about MotM and what we need to get it started are some great entries, some great community feedback and replays, and then an audience for the tourney. The best way to help out (and be eligible for entering maps) is to participate in each way you can and bring some friends, too.
So let's go, mappers, pick your best map and shine that pig up!
i just wanted to say thanks a lot to cyber-cheese for taking up the idea of a motm and open a thread and especially to iGrok for starting to actually organize something beyond the firsth thread! hope there are no bad feelings that I did not join you guys, but for me there is so little time right now for sc2 and i rather use it for mapping looking forward to the competition!
one questions: maps that have already been released can be submitted, too?
may I ask what was the reason you guys decided on "only exlusive releases" instead of "honoring great maps that are already out but never received the deserved recognition"?
I mean one could still easily take an old concept (or whole map), e.g. the expansion layout, add something here and there, change textures and slap a new name on it right? If I look at my maps, there are several types: two or four starting points, rotational and mirror symmetry, basic stuff and really different stuff - starting out from these I could produce several new maps and the concepts would still be pretty much similar, right?
don't get me wrong, no hate against your decision, I am just really curious how this was discussed.
There were three things that factored into this decision.
#1, we really wanted to encourage as much creativity as possible. #2, it is, after all, a Map of the Month competition. The map should be created roughly in the previous month. (we have discussed resubmission as well, I'll explain that later). #3, and the biggest one, maps that have already been made public have an advantage over newer maps - however slight that advantage may seem. Public feedback is often useful, but it gives an advantage to certain maps.
By all means, use concepts from previous maps to help you make new ones - just no clones please ^^
may I ask what was the reason you guys decided on "only exlusive releases" instead of "honoring great maps that are already out but never received the deserved recognition"?
I mean one could still easily take an old concept (or whole map), e.g. the expansion layout, add something here and there, change textures and slap a new name on it right? If I look at my maps, there are several types: two or four starting points, rotational and mirror symmetry, basic stuff and really different stuff - starting out from these I could produce several new maps and the concepts would still be pretty much similar, right?
don't get me wrong, no hate against your decision, I am just really curious how this was discussed.
+1
I suggest allowing previously published maps this first time, then applying the new maps only rule going forward.
On December 09 2010 22:11 iGrok wrote: There were three things that factored into this decision.
#1, we really wanted to encourage as much creativity as possible. #2, it is, after all, a Map of the Month competition. The map should be created roughly in the previous month. (we have discussed resubmission as well, I'll explain that later). #3, and the biggest one, maps that have already been made public have an advantage over newer maps - however slight that advantage may seem. Public feedback is often useful, but it gives an advantage to certain maps.
By all means, use concepts from previous maps to help you make new ones - just no clones please ^^
Well, i started Sedan in dezember but already published a version at EU and posted pictures at TL and due to your rules this map can't participate? I really thought the MotM would be something that puts attention to maps finished during that month and not just started then.
I've only got 2 questions at this point though: #1 What about semi BW-ports? As in maps created from scratch but with some of the features of a BW map?
#2 Will the Map-rotation of one month only be going with maps submitted in that month? Or will there be a system where the best maps will be in the rotation for a long time until they are outclassed by newer maps? Cause if not, I think the best maps will have a hard time getting picked up by other tournaments and by this having a hard time getting community-made maps being played around the world.
First off I love this idea. Ive had a couple great ideas but they never got finished (they barley got started) i think a little competition is exactly what I need to get me motivated =p
Wondering about submission though. Would it be ok for us to submit our maps by publishing them on bnet in the correct time. I'm sure I'm not the only one that doesn't want to send people unpublished creative works with the intention that if they are good enough they will be published by someone else. Has nothing to do with fear of not receiving credit, I just want my account tied to the original release weather I win or not.
I guess from a long term perspective it would be better to have the winning maps all published by the same person.
Not sure if I can partcipate this time, I have to read through a 5cm high batch of medical history papers over christmas and have to finish a map collaboration with EffectS too, but I guess I'll find the time anyway. Having a casted tourney on a map of mine sounds just too cool, and I have a nice idea already.
No, previously released maps cannot be submitted. All maps must be new. You can test them privately, but no public release for maps you submit
Did this just disqualify my entry in the other MotM thread where it said:
post a picture of your map, post a link to its forum thread, and optionally (preferably) what you think seperates it from the rest, what you like about it, why it should win blah blah.
This is really confusing. Is the competition here: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=170000 run by the same organization? Or is the current MotM competition (see above) unaffiliated with the MotM organization. If not why disqualify the current entrants in competition who had no instructions to keep the map private?
On December 10 2010 07:28 Antares777 wrote: That thread I believe was the discussion for this thread. At the bottom it gives a link here: it's the same competition.
Antares is right, that thread was just kicking the idea around before it really got organized.
Awesome, I'm definitely going to try to make some time for this.
I have a question, say a really awesome 1v1 map gets made and wins the monthly contest, then what? Will some show tournaments be played on the map? Basically I've seen some really good maps that people pour incredible amounts of time & effort only for it to fade into obscurity? I guess unless Blizzard puts it into the ladder or some major tournament adds it to the map pool it's doomed to obscurity.
With that said I'm still going to try and make a map because I really enjoyed making maps for WC3 and this editor the textures are 10x better then WC3.
This is quite possibly the most important project for Starcraft 2 in existence right now, apart from, well, Blizzard making the expansions. Still, diversifying the maps until we have a huge pool of radically different maps will really flesh out the play of the game and make the strategies so much deeper and better understood. I need to start making maps, just because of this.
What happens to the winning maps, and also to all the other maps that are deemed especially good or creative? Do they get put into some MotM map pack each month, and added to a map index of high quality maps? Is there even a "starcraft 2 map list" for high quality, serious competitive maps?
To answer the question of "What happens to the winners?" without going into too many details:
The top maps each month will be used in a tournament. After the tournament the best map will be determined and that map will be added to a winners map pool.
To answer some popular questions: We agreed that BW ports and inspirations are acceptable. They will just lose points for originality, which is one of the scoring things - I'll release the score-card soon - should help you guys out!
Also, upon review, old maps will be allowed for this month only. And you can make map threads and discuss your maps - we want to encourage the best maps, and peer criticism is a big part of that. After this month though, we'd appreciate it if you'd create a new map each month (and we'll semi-enforce it by throwing categories at you ^^).
I am also happy to announce that iccup.prodiG will be joining the judges council! prodiG is an excellent map maker and heads the iccup map making team. He is also a man of integrity, and I trust him to be unbiased in his judgments should other iCCup members submit maps. Please welcome prodiG!
On December 10 2010 13:14 iGrok wrote: To answer some popular questions: We agreed that BW ports and inspirations are acceptable. They will just lose points for originality, which is one of the scoring things - I'll release the score-card soon - should help you guys out!
Also, upon review, old maps will be allowed for this month only. And you can make map threads and discuss your maps - we want to encourage the best maps, and peer criticism is a big part of that. After this month though, we'd appreciate it if you'd create a new map each month (and we'll semi-enforce it by throwing categories at you ^^).
I am also happy to announce that iccup.prodiG will be joining the judges council! prodiG is an excellent map maker and heads the iccup map making team. He is also a man of integrity, and I trust him to be unbiased in his judgments should other iCCup members submit maps. Please welcome prodiG!
Oh, and he hasn't been told yet xD
I can assure everyone that my choices will not be biased. If you want your map to win my vote, you'll have to make sure it is balanced, original, aesthetically pleasing (at LEAST to the standard of Blizzard maps) and produced to the same quality you've come to know from the iCCup mapmaking team. I set my standards high and I'll be very blunt and brutally honest, but if you're serious about winning something like this I'm sure you'll come up with something very nice!
As with the other judges, I'll be taking a break from judging from time to time to enter a map of my own to the contest. I'm also helping organize the tournament format for the end of the month. Details are still being finalized so stay tuned!
On December 10 2010 13:14 iGrok wrote: To answer some popular questions: We agreed that BW ports and inspirations are acceptable. They will just lose points for originality, which is one of the scoring things - I'll release the score-card soon - should help you guys out!
Also, upon review, old maps will be allowed for this month only. And you can make map threads and discuss your maps - we want to encourage the best maps, and peer criticism is a big part of that. After this month though, we'd appreciate it if you'd create a new map each month (and we'll semi-enforce it by throwing categories at you ^^).
I am also happy to announce that iccup.prodiG will be joining the judges council! prodiG is an excellent map maker and heads the iccup map making team. He is also a man of integrity, and I trust him to be unbiased in his judgments should other iCCup members submit maps. Please welcome prodiG!
Oh, and he hasn't been told yet xD
I can assure everyone that my choices will not be biased. If you want your map to win my vote, you'll have to make sure it is balanced, original, aesthetically pleasing (at LEAST to the standard of Blizzard maps) and produced to the same quality you've come to know from the iCCup mapmaking team. I set my standards high and I'll be very blunt and brutally honest, but if you're serious about winning something like this I'm sure you'll come up with something very nice!
As with the other judges, I'll be taking a break from judging from time to time to enter a map of my own to the contest. I'm also helping organize the tournament format for the end of the month. Details are still being finalized so stay tuned!
We've heard some complaints and we've discussed them. After much deliberation, we have decided that we are going to allow any map to be submitted. The only restrictions are 1/person and no clones (identical map, different textures).
Map requirements: Melee gametype. Must be submitted on time. Must be submitted properly. Must fit the category of the month. Cannot be a clone.
Judging Regulations: Judges score all maps on a 40 point score card. 10/10/10/10 for Balance/Originality/Fun/Aesthetics. The top 7 maps score-wise will be debated, and the 5 maps the judges agree upon will be published with the MotM tag and Author credited. All maps will be given their score cards after the competition, and judges are free (but not required) to attach comments. All of the top 7 maps will be commented on.
This month's category is simple: 1v1. Like I've said before, if you want to make a 1v1 map that has 12 spawns, go for it. But it'll be judged on 1v1 play
oh man i love the scorecard. everyone's maps are way better than mine though... think i might just do a reworking of bloodbath or something... big maps are so hard to balance out. Edit: Is there going to be an official thread that we post our maps to when jan1-7 comes around, or should we just make seperate threads for each of our maps? or submit them to this thread. hmm maybe im just missing something.
I am really looking forward to see how this works out. I hope it explodes into something big! :D
Anyway, what are you guys doing to promote this competition? I imagine there are a lot of good map makers who do not visit TL, so I'm hoping you will be posting info for this at SC forums across the web. The more people who participate the better. I will try to participate myself, but I am a map-making nub. D:
Is it possible to have collaborative maps and if so is the author one, the other, or both (or does it matter)? Is it possible for say a duo to make two maps and submit both of them under their names? Do they as a team count as one person or two people?
@mangoloid: At the moment, we have only announced on Team Liquid - consider it a bonus head start cause this site is so awesome! Just don't tell the BNet forums about us please >.>
And please, make a map! The only way to get better is to do it.
On December 15 2010 16:31 iGrok wrote: Would you guys like to see us score the current Ladder maps?
yeah, if you give them all 10/10s. --- actually yes, if i were you i would give them 6/8/7/10, but i think you will be harsh and be all like 3/7/2/6. btw why did you make the submission date so long? ive gotten sick of the map i worked on so im making a bunch of little ones
If your map is finished, go test it, tweak it, and test it again. Also, having a new map pool every week would not allow players time to learn the maps (and would also drain my bank account quite rapidly!)
Hi, didn't followed this thread for a while now but if i understand the latest informations it seems we're allowed to send any map we want regardless of the time it has been made?
I'm fully behind this initiative. The thing that's always made blizzard multiplayer games so successful is the unbridled raw potential in the community.
Alright, here are our average scores for each map, ranked best to worst. Each one is out of 40 points using our 10/10/10/10, and then we average out the scores
31.6 Xel'Naga Caverns 29.8 Shakuras Plateau 29.8 Metalopolis 27.6 Blistering Sands 26.4 Scrap Station 26.2 Lost Temple 25.6 Jungle Basin 25.4 Steppes of War 25.4 Delta Quadrant
Just to give you an idea.
We're currently holding a mock discussion about the top 7, and we'll tell you which of our top 5 we decide on.
On December 17 2010 06:39 iGrok wrote: Alright, here are our average scores for each map, ranked best to worst. Each one is out of 40 points using our 10/10/10/10, and then we average out the scores
31.6 Xel'Naga Caverns 29.8 Shakuras Plateau 29.8 Metalopolis 27.6 Blistering Sands 26.4 Scrap Station 26.2 Lost Temple 25.6 Jungle Basin 25.4 Steppes of War 25.4 Delta Quadrant
Just to give you an idea.
We're currently holding a mock discussion about the top 7, and we'll tell you which of our top 5 we decide on.
Its coming faster than you think!
hmm, where did xel naga lose its points? that map is soo good... but i do agree though on delta, i dont think that map is as solid as the others.
On December 17 2010 06:57 iGrok wrote: XN mostly lost points for Aesthetics. Its rather blah
actually i never noticed how average it was from the overview. still think you guys are a bit harsh, but if you harsh to everyone there shouldnt be a problem.
When you give the scores for the maps in the contest, will you give the point breakdown or only the point total? If the answer is only the total, I am requesting to be shown the breakdown. I know I would be curious about how I scored in all four categories.
Alright, after deliberating, our top 5 maps are the following. They'll be released in alphabetical order:
Blistering Sands
Metalopolis
Scrap Station
Shakuras Plateau
Xel'Naga Caverns
Also, here's an example of a judge's note to a runner-up:
Steppes of War: the map promotes a lot of cheese thanks to it's 22sec ramp-to-ramp timing but if matches here extend to a more macro-oriented style the map is very interesting. Steppes of War would greatly benefit from being expanded to add another 5-8sec on the ramp to ramp time.
Again, this is just an example of the process we'll go through for the real tourney The tournament will be officially announced January 1st. Mappers have obviously been given a head start
On December 15 2010 19:56 dezi wrote: Hi, didn't followed this thread for a while now but if i understand the latest informations it seems we're allowed to send any map we want regardless of the time it has been made?
That is correct.
I didn't know this. Are there any other rule changes that I should be aware of? I just reread the topic twice, and it didn't say anything about publishing the map beforehand. Is that now allowed?
On December 11 2010 14:31 iGrok wrote: Update guys:
We've heard some complaints and we've discussed them. After much deliberation, we have decided that we are going to allow any map to be submitted. The only restrictions are 1/person and no clones (identical map, different textures).
On December 11 2010 14:31 iGrok wrote: Update guys:
We've heard some complaints and we've discussed them. After much deliberation, we have decided that we are going to allow any map to be submitted. The only restrictions are 1/person and no clones (identical map, different textures).
On December 17 2010 06:39 iGrok wrote: Alright, here are our average scores for each map, ranked best to worst. Each one is out of 40 points using our 10/10/10/10, and then we average out the scores
31.6 Xel'Naga Caverns 29.8 Shakuras Plateau 29.8 Metalopolis 27.6 Blistering Sands 26.4 Scrap Station 26.2 Lost Temple 25.6 Jungle Basin 25.4 Steppes of War 25.4 Delta Quadrant
Just to give you an idea.
We're currently holding a mock discussion about the top 7, and we'll tell you which of our top 5 we decide on.
Its coming faster than you think!
Wow, I would like give most of the maps a far worse score.
28 Xel'Naga Caverns 26 Shakuras Plateau 24 Metalopolis 19 Blistering Sands 16 Scrap Station 18 Lost Temple 18 Jungle Basin 10 Steppes of War 20 Delta Quadrant
Plus, I don't like the marking scheme. I'd prefer a 10/5/5/5/10 with Balance, Originality, Fun, Deco and misc.
On January 01 2011 06:15 WniO wrote: When are you guys going to release the next months maps guidelines, since it might be a good thing to start early.
On December 17 2010 06:39 iGrok wrote: Alright, here are our average scores for each map, ranked best to worst. Each one is out of 40 points using our 10/10/10/10, and then we average out the scores
31.6 Xel'Naga Caverns 29.8 Shakuras Plateau 29.8 Metalopolis 27.6 Blistering Sands 26.4 Scrap Station 26.2 Lost Temple 25.6 Jungle Basin 25.4 Steppes of War 25.4 Delta Quadrant
Just to give you an idea.
We're currently holding a mock discussion about the top 7, and we'll tell you which of our top 5 we decide on.
Its coming faster than you think!
Wow, I would like give most of the maps a far worse score.
28 Xel'Naga Caverns 26 Shakuras Plateau 24 Metalopolis 19 Blistering Sands 16 Scrap Station 18 Lost Temple 18 Jungle Basin 10 Steppes of War 20 Delta Quadrant
Plus, I don't like the marking scheme. I'd prefer a 10/5/5/5/10 with Balance, Originality, Fun, Deco and misc.
holy cow dude a 10 for steppes of war? be nice /// the aesthetics are imo really good and subtle, the middle area looks like a marsh of sorts. id give it an 8 alone for looks. EDit: thanks iGrok
a short video showcasing each of the 3 first maps to get on the podium would be a good thing?
ingame footage (done by a good mechanic who works on it) cut to a sexy video addressing the reasons why said maps won (what half of the casting of the finals should be about) and all the maps' cool and unique features with the mapmaker's favoured music and stats and blablabla (just picture what could be featured).
that would add to the prize pool for both mapmakers and players,
in any case that's the way awesome maps should be showcased in their respective threads
That's a good idea, baskerville. We'll look into incorporating that in the future, but probably not this month - too much new stuff going on =)
If/when this is incorporated, we'll likely have a few film editors offer demos, and pick our favorite. You'll definitely get a chance at making the films.
On January 01 2011 06:15 WniO wrote: When are you guys going to release the next months maps guidelines, since it might be a good thing to start early.
Guidelines in general won't change much. However, we'll be doing different categories each month. I'll go ahead and say that February will have the same category as January - 1v1. Remember that you can still submit a map with 4 spawns for a 1v1 category - or 3 or 5,6,7,8 or even 100 if you want =)
I just want to thank everyone for their submissions! We'll be hard at work over the next day or so to score all the map submissions. We'll release the results as soon as we can (probably the 9th-10th)
On January 08 2011 15:22 iGrok wrote: I just want to thank everyone for their submissions! We'll be hard at work over the next day or so to score all the map submissions. We'll release the results as soon as we can (probably the 9th-10th)
Wow, didn't thought i could make it in the top 5 with such a strong competition. Glad to see The Crucible was strong enough to accomplish this. Looking forward to see the scorecards and improve my work furthermore
On January 10 2011 14:41 iGrok wrote: All maps are now online. Search MotM to play!
Are they only uploaded to US, or are they also uploaded on EU? Because I cannot seem to find them when searching.
They are currently only uploaded to the NA region but we are looking for volunteers to upload them to the other regions. If you would like to help please send an e-mail to iGrok: iGrok.motm@gmail.com
On January 10 2011 19:58 baskerville wrote: where when how are we suppose to vote to elect the map winner from the finalists?
There will be a vote after the tournament. We want people to be able to watch games played on the maps before deciding the best. We will be sure to make a note of the vote in this thread. Stay tuned.
On January 10 2011 23:04 NullCurrent wrote: A question about the next Map of the Month Tournament:
How early can I submit a map to TL forums (to ask for help in balance testing and all that) which I intend to submit to MotM (#2) ?
There aren't any rules as to when you can post a map. You can post it whenever you like and the earlier the better! The more feedback and testing you can do the greater it's chances will be in the tournament.
On January 10 2011 23:04 NullCurrent wrote: A question about the next Map of the Month Tournament:
How early can I submit a map to TL forums (to ask for help in balance testing and all that) which I intend to submit to MotM (#2) ?
There aren't any rules as to when you can post a map. You can post it whenever you like and the earlier the better! The more feedback and testing you can do the greater it's chances will be in the tournament.
I read somewhere that old maps were only accepted this first tournament, and the following tournaments should only allow new maps. Does this apply from now on? (ie. only maps posted/uploaded the last month can enter into the tournament)
PS. This is just to clarify for others, I have no intention of using any of my old (and crappy) maps.
That was something we had thought about, but eventually we decided that more testing is better for everyone.
Which brings me to my next point: If you're going to submit, PLAY YOUR GOD-DAMN MAP. Next month we will be disqualifying any map with messed up player settings. We had to properly set up more than 2/3 of the maps just so that we could playtest them. I'll be adding this and a few other rules to the OP soon.
That was something we had thought about, but eventually we decided that more testing is better for everyone.
Which brings me to my next point: If you're going to submit, PLAY YOUR GOD-DAMN MAP. Next month we will be disqualifying any map with messed up player settings. We had to properly set up more than 2/3 of the maps just so that we could playtest them. I'll be adding this and a few other rules to the OP soon.
Also, decline is back up and fixed
great! having the extra tank was a little.. different from my initial design but is is like a proof that you guys (the judges) really tried around and checked everything everywhere like the siegeing of expansions, hehe.
"Careful not doing typos on that word remember the last time!"
on my eu account
this because maps not featured "crossrealms" (eu is the issue for now...) will probably suffer from it, the players and the vote must come first when thinking about this...
Alright guys, the new deadline is posted in the OP. Next month we'll only be accepting submissions between Jan. 31 and Feb. 4th.
In addition, I want to make this very, very, very clear. Play your maps with a friend before you submit them. If your map's player settings are messed up, we won't accept it. Thats proof that you didn't actually try out your map, and we're looking for higher quality than that. Remember that you'll also be DQ'd for not posting or emailing the map file or for cloning a map.
Looking forward to next month - only bigger and better things await
Yes! We'll take any and all donations. Email igrok.motm@gmail.com and we can talk about it, of course anonymous donations are accepted also but we'd like to credit those who contribute!
On January 11 2011 13:52 Barrin wrote: I didn't really think much about it until now, but having your map selected in MotM is probably the best way to get useful feedback.
On January 12 2011 08:40 Antares777 wrote: If I publish on a map on B.net during January, can I have it compete it February's MotM if it is not competing in Janurary's MotM?
I had finished another map, but I wanted to wait before I published it to make sure I wouldn't harm its ability to compete in future MotMs.
I know that this was covered on whether or not you are allowed to post maps, I was just curious if this was the same for publishing them?
Please feel free to publish your map. In fact we encourage you to do so. We want you to go through the process of publishing your map because when we get them we want them ready to be published!
beautiful, balanced, and epic are 3 words in which I'd like to describe the maps. Decline is my personal fav since it's a nice big 4p map perfect for macro, or the nice 2 base play. MORE MAPS!!! xD
(eu listeners can't really be expected to do it, since it's always 3/4 in the morning for us, and we all know what we are like in these conditions, it'd probably be awful)
Hey guys, if you want to read a pro-gamer's opinions on these maps and mapping in general, check this interview with mouz.MorroW. :D Just something to think about when you're playing these maps and creating your own in the future
On January 13 2011 18:07 iGrok wrote: Hey guys, if you want to read a pro-gamer's opinions on these maps and mapping in general, check this interview with mouz.MorroW. :D Just something to think about when you're playing these maps and creating your own in the future
Very good read, I think this will help me a lot and made me realize some newer issues to map making and balancing.
As MorroW said, I think there's a need for more interaction between pro-gamers and mappers. Be it through tournaments such as MotM or by testing beta editions of certain maps.
he has a valid point in saying that Decline is different in close positions han in mid or far... unsure about about making close position a blocked-spawn (shakuras). already that about it when making the map. what do you other guys think?
I would push the golds further to the blue expansions at the edge and widen the cliff between the close spawns. Then check the rushdistance and if its significantly under 125 game units, widen it more.
And personally, if it still doesnt work, stare at the map for like 3 hours (seriously) and then redo everything exect main and natural
On January 13 2011 20:29 Madsquare wrote: I would push the golds further to the blue expansions at the edge and widen the cliff between the close spawns. Then check the rushdistance and if its significantly under 125 game units, widen it more.
And personally, if it still doesnt work, stare at the map for like 3 hours (seriously) and then redo everything exect main and natural
cheers, madsquare
if I understand your suggestion correctly than this would only help to add one to three to rush distance, because there is no change in the direction.(/edit)
actually i redid the part between he naturals several times. the point is that the shared third triple-vespene needs a certain openness (entrances) that take away some space. if you look at the cliff area there (behind the altar-thing) you recognize the process of cutting it deeper into this area and therefore push the third back to make the close-spawn rush distance just a few seconds longer.
one thing I tried was a DR at the end of this cut just before the potential tird base that made the rush time ab bit longer, but that it was not elegant enough...
I have a personal request to all mappers. When you're playing StarCraft, join the channel "MotM". Even if you just have the game open and aren't playing, just idle in the chat room. I can't be in there all the time
When players join the channel and see a bunch of other people in there, that will make them want to play MotM maps even more.
Even if your map wasn't selected for the final 5 this month, you could be there next month, and the more people involved in playing custom maps, the better!
On January 15 2011 04:59 iGrok wrote: I have a personal request to all mappers. When you're playing StarCraft, join the channel "MotM". Even if you just have the game open and aren't playing, just idle in the chat room. I can't be in there all the time
When players join the channel and see a bunch of other people in there, that will make them want to play MotM maps even more.
Even if your map wasn't selected for the final 5 this month, you could be there next month, and the more people involved in playing custom maps, the better!
its so lonely in here tt. ill host some koth on the 5 finalists if ppl join.
BoomStevo "There will be a vote after the tournament. We want people to be able to watch games played on the maps before deciding the best. We will be sure to make a note of the vote in this thread. Stay tuned."
+1
however the earlier the voting parameters are "set in MoMT thread(s)" the better
iGrok, forgive and correct me if I am wrong, but I didn't see how or where I can submit a map for the MoTM competition. I have a map I would really love to submit because a lot of players like it. Is there a e-mail or thread in which I can submit it? I know I can only do it between Jan 31 - Feb 3
On January 20 2011 09:56 IronManSC wrote: iGrok, forgive and correct me if I am wrong, but I didn't see how or where I can submit a map for the MoTM competition. I have a map I would really love to submit because a lot of players like it. Is there a e-mail or thread in which I can submit it? I know I can only do it between Jan 31 - Feb 3
For last month he made a new thread in the Tournaments section, where map makers posted all their maps.
thanks holy bm blizz for motm need more players "hosting" play on eu though (iGrok said it perfectly: just keep "MotM" bratchannel open and be ready to create/join)
Hey guys, we're going to start streaming games soon. Check out livestream.com/thundertoss. We should start casting those at 5:00 est, in roughly an hour. Be sure to tune in!
Uhhh, I know I just announced that, but I may have to delay a bit... I've got to try to track down some of the replays lol. Tune in anyways, there're some good game on the stream
Hey guys, we'll be starting again soon, 01:00 GMT (+00:00). There were some awesome games last night, and we'll see some more great ones as well! Looking forward to it
On January 26 2011 22:26 ihasaKAROT wrote: Me too, cus I cant wait to submit my map for it ^^
Maybe have a theme for upcomming months, not just a player requirement.
Arctic Jungle Wasteland Darkness Rich
Themes like that come to mind. Dunno, do what u want
Noo please not, I don't want to re-texture the map I already want to submit :D Glacial Spike didn't get enough love in the vote, totally love snow textures and great map concept. After watching some parts of the vods I have to say that all the maps look terrific ingame
On January 27 2011 23:07 Barrin wrote: Next month we should really push to get this spotlighted, or at the very least make a thread in the general forum for the voting so more people see it (link to it from here).
I came up with some other ideas but they escape me atm.
That's what I thought yesterday as well. Seems not many people find this vote^^ Then again you wouldn't want a bunch of guys vote just judging from a quick glance at the pictures.
On January 27 2011 23:07 Barrin wrote: Next month we should really push to get this spotlighted, or at the very least make a thread in the general forum for the voting so more people see it (link to it from here).
I came up with some other ideas but they escape me atm.
That's what I thought yesterday as well. Seems not many people find this vote^^ Then again you wouldn't want a bunch of guys vote just judging from a quick glance at the pictures.
Hopefully MotM will grow bigger next month
If it was in general, we would probably get hundreds of random votes; it would definitely be inaccurate. Whichever map is top in votes would be voted for haha.....
I think the Custom Map Section is a good place for it, but I think there should also be the same poll on other sites and average the results.
would habe been great to have people posting a comment what they like in each map. probably in february here should be a big "please leve a comment" on map next to the poll?
"The Crucible" is just fantastic, good job. I like the Natural an the two entrances to the natural, gold mineral patches are well placed and the look is just great. Would love to see this Map in Ladder Pool :D
On February 06 2011 08:12 Barrin wrote: Watch dezi be the first and only person to win twice in a row.
With this months competition (and my map being not that kinda innovativ) i don't think this gonna happen. But i gonna use the time i'll have during march to finish a better map for april. Maybe i can grab a special award: Hottest map (for the most lava used) ^^
If i would have had the time to judge this month, my top 5 most likely would include: -Mud Rock - for it's kinda new look and a good layout -Marshlands - because of the good layout -Shrike - for macro intense battles -Neonights - the look is just amazing Can't decide on the last one - so many good maps out there (Barrin with his nearly lost map, the Flower thingy, the Green Goblin erm Grebliv, madsquare with his BW style maps (love those)) ...
Meh, i hope many of you are ill next month so i have a easy time judging :p
On February 09 2011 00:40 iGrok wrote: Update on the front page
Looks like just the logo was updated on the front page of this topic =)
Check the news tab. But w/e, the news is that this month MotM will be on iCCupTV! And it'll be cast by none other than Raelcun, and our very own, prodiG!
YES :D go iCCup TV, they got me into this custom map crazies in the first place. Shouldn't the tournament thread be updated though? I think we could attract some more attention that way, in light of their own huge announcement.
On February 09 2011 03:58 pyrestrike wrote: YES :D go iCCup TV, they got me into this custom map crazies in the first place. Shouldn't the tournament thread be updated though? I think we could attract some more attention that way, in light of their own huge announcement.
Yes, I'll update that when we update the map list ^^.
On February 09 2011 04:11 Barrin wrote: On a more serious note, how dare you get me hoping you posted map finalists. I have hopes and dreams here. And you just playin with them. Teasin me.
On February 09 2011 04:11 Barrin wrote: On a more serious note, how dare you get me hoping you posted map finalists. I have hopes and dreams here. And you just playin with them. Teasin me.
Also, I'm sure updating the entry would be just fine.
Haha, I've seen that piece of legend before I said I was good, not godly, lol.
I've updated the page a little for now, but I'm using the current banner, which I think could use a "standard" one. I'll start on the stuff for the first tourney now!
My bad o^^o Fixed! I'll make a link if you wanted to make a page for your map For now I will post links to either map threads, or pics if the thread isn't available.
Yep, I know, but I want to get the MotM 1 page done first, and that is probably going to take a while to get all the details in. ^_^;; I want to get that in eventually but I am relearning the wiki code while I'm doing this and it is bugging me >_>
i'm anticipating too. I have to work in 1 hour 30 minutes, I don't want to go work the night shift and not know the results till tomorrow haha, that would kill me.
Thanks for the corrections :D I've got a draft up of MotM 1 so far. Need to include more about the format, links to maps, and the actual tournament info, but I think I figured out how to do most of it.
What I am thinking of doing is changing the Map Finalists into a list like the Map page on LP, so we can get the thumbs and people can see the map right away. That should be easy to edit in after the information is put in though.
On February 09 2011 09:37 IronManSC wrote: 45 minutes left D:
dear god can these minutes go by any slower. btw when the new finalists are revealed im gonna practice my strats down so that i cant lose. i dont care if i have to face that root guy to start
Argh, with the random TL crash my edits aren't being saved >:O Luckily I've got it backed up, but still, this sux. Will have to to throw it in later :/
I have a couple details to fill in that I can't quite find, namely the tourney results. I was using the challonge brackets, which are missing some numbers... Anyone have those?
I apologize to everyone for the delayed results. My internet crashed and burned, but its back up now. Huge thanks to dimfish for posting the results up!
Hey guys, I thought it'd be interesting to share an altered average. This is the average scores of all the maps that didn't make the top 5 (below are the total changes)
I wanted to put this out because a lot of people are going to think they're getting low-ish scores. I feel like we graded on a more exponential scale this time, which in basically means that small differences in quality can lead to large differences in score. As you can see, the top maps pulled the average up by more than a full point. There were a lot of good maps this month, and I'm thrilled by the general quality. Just thought this'd be interesting ^^
EDIT: Scores are now out. If you haven't recieved yours let me know. I'll be sending out invitations to the tournament asap, and then getting some sleep xD
Played some games today on Marshlands, Mud Rock and Neonights. Here's what we (me and my mate) think about these maps:
Mud Rock -the lightning is as pain (while it might look good in the editor ingame it's just way to much)
Neonights -maybe the rocks to the 3rd aren't needed -the minerals patches need to be more clustered (doesn't look good right now)
Marshlands -Natural might be a little bit to vulnerable to air harass -there might a little bit to much air space around the map (maybe shrink borders a little bit)
On February 13 2011 09:23 dezi wrote: Marshlands -Natural might be a little bit to vulnerable to air harass
I don't know if it is a good or bad thing, from what I can see there is always something which is quite easy to do to counter air on highground, be it overlord, hallucination, scan or something else. Also it would change the feel of the natural a lot. If you think it is really necessary to make it easier to spot air units coming from the area between the naturals, then I might be able to increase the area behind the minerals, but that will ruin the look of the map a bit.
If anybody can help me test this, I'd be grateful.
On February 13 2011 09:23 dezi wrote: -there might a little bit to much air space around the map (maybe shrink borders a little bit)
The air space is a bit hard to reduce, if I shrink the borders of the map it will be virtually impossible to harass the mains with mutalisks as there will be too little space to flee on, there is already a lot of space to which you can run with ground units which will be able to drive them away. Reducing the space even more will make it even harder to harass. This is kinda inherent in the 45 degree rotation and placement of the mains.
That's just what we experienced will playing the map > there was a little to much space around the main. F.e. i could sneak in a Medivac with Hellions (+Pre Igniter) without coming close to any rocket tower till i was right behind the mineral line.
On February 14 2011 05:13 dezi wrote: That's just what we experienced will playing the map > there was a little to much space around the main. F.e. i could sneak in a Medivac with Hellions (+Pre Igniter) without coming close to any rocket tower till i was right behind the mineral line.
Ok, I'll see what I can do about the map bounds.
Do you agree on the natural, or do you think it is ok?
Well, the KotH was a blast - I'll keep running them as often as I can. But I do have a Valentine's Day gift for everybody! An Official MotM Replay Pack! Enjoy
@Flopturn, i think prodigy had problems with that so i followed his lead. i could be wrong though, i think one iccups maps had like cliffs you could walk up or something rediculous. ugh.
For the pathing fill tool, so far I haven't had any troubles with it (fingers crossed), I just make sure that I cover the area completely and not even let a single green patch onto the areas which shouldn't be pathable. The View->show pathing is a really good help.
About the replay pack; it is a really good effort, but some games just ended after a few seconds which was a bit disappointing.
On February 16 2011 07:34 iGrok wrote: By the way, we're looking for between 4 and 10 people to help our organization grow. If you're interested, send me a pm. You will need skype
Basic job would be running games on MotM maps, and refereeing games in the tournament. But if you have any other skills and want to help, we'd love to have you as well.
I guess an NA account would also be a bonus, but by no means required.
I'll have to stick with what I do currently with the wiki I wish I could help with the games but my weekends are usually pre-booked. IF I end up free somehow on Friday night I will let you know, iGrok :D The tourney is starting at 7:30 EST right? You should actually clarify & bump this on the official thread so that we don't get confusion or lose players D: It happens all the time and could be easily taken care of.
I did have a question about the wiki that I'm not sure about. Do you want to include the map submission requirements, rules, etc, on there as well?
I am also going to put a helpful links section for things like NullCurrent's awesome 3p map tutorial, the melee map requirements FAQ, and the symmetry guide
Replied :D Also, I forgot that we already have a Reference thread, so I will just link to that instead, and include help links that pertain specifically to MotM.
Also, sad news to report, I can't link to the VODs for MotM #1, as they seem to be unavailable, I think Ascend removed them from his past videos (even though they come up on when you search for them on Justin.tv), maybe because j.tv only lets you keep so many videos or something
Replied :D Also, I forgot that we already have a Reference thread, so I will just link to that instead, and include help links that pertain specifically to MotM.
Also, sad news to report, I can't link to the VODs for MotM #1, as they seem to be unavailable, I think Ascend removed them from his past videos (even though they come up on when you search for them on Justin.tv), maybe because j.tv only lets you keep so many videos or something
Thanks guys I fixed the Mud Rock link, so thanks for pointing that out too Johanaz, sorry about the mis-link. If you guys can think of other ways to improve it or find errors in my stuff please let me know (or edit it yourself, it is a wiki after all! :D )
On February 18 2011 04:13 iGrok wrote: Hey guys, we really need some volunteers for tomorrow night's games! If you can help out, we'd really appreciate it!
On February 18 2011 04:13 iGrok wrote: Hey guys, we really need some volunteers for tomorrow night's games! If you can help out, we'd really appreciate it!
EDIT: On NA ^^
What time? It says 7:30 on the tournament thread but no time zone or and you didn't use the time bbcode :/
I might be able to help if it's early (like 00:30 GMT (+00:00)). After 02:00 GMT (+00:00) I won't be available, at least for a couple hours, if not longer.
Okay. In that case I probably won't be able to help until the second or third round :/ I'm not 100% on availability but if I am free I will message you, over skype I'm assuming. My bnet is pyrestrike.637
I've been gone for a while and completely missed everything. So please forgive me for this. But is this months competition still taking maps? and if so are they 1v1's?
Finally do i post in this thread if i can still post?
On February 19 2011 18:58 Archivian wrote: I've been gone for a while and completely missed everything. So please forgive me for this. But is this months competition still taking maps? and if so are they 1v1's?
Finally do i post in this thread if i can still post?
The current tournament does not accept new maps, as the tournament already has begun and the finalist maps were announced a few weeks ago. Wait for the next tournament, I don't think it will take too long before you can start submitting maps to it.
Maps should not be posted in the Organization thread, instead you should use the tournament thread for the appropriate MotM tournament for posting maps (in the SC2 Tourneys subforum), in this case you should wait for MotM Tournament #3 to post your map.
@pyrestrike: Thanks! the loading screens took some tweaking before they started to look good
Just want to drop by and give some appreciation for everyone who run this show. The tourney was super smooth, the maps are great, the casts are awesome. So great to see some good games on these maps. Thanks! ;D
Decided to go with Marshlands. Good games on that map. I could go into more detail on why I choose that as my vote, but I don't want to bore you all! :D
This was a really hard choice. I couldn't decide so I just went with what I was partial to, Mud Rock, everything a close 2nd. Very interesting to see how this voting proceeds...
On February 23 2011 12:57 SidianTheBard wrote: Decided to go with Marshlands. Good games on that map. I could go into more detail on why I choose that as my vote, but I don't want to bore you all! :D
Thanks!
I think it would be good if you detailed to why, as other mappers might get some insight into what a good map is and isn't. Not to say that Marshlands is a perfect map, but apparently it has some good characteristics
About the games, it was a bit fun to see people thinking rush distances were so long because it was large, and droned and droned and finally died But the most rewarding games were the macro variants.
Neonights, because I think funcmode needs a big pat on the back with a 'good job!' for painstakingly painting the middle like he did. I can only imagine the hours put into that
Not just the painting middle tho, its a very well balanced map, looks good and Ive played a few customs on them that I won thats allways a plus ^^
good seconds for all the other maps, really close this time, reallly close.
edit: neonights is a (4) player map in the poll, but its really a 2player map
Thanks for your votes! It was so awesome to watch the stream (excellent cast btw.) and showing VODs to my friends and so on. Great interview with dde. Just loving every minute of this :D
I´ve rewatched that Colossus run, and microed a Colossus ball through the choke a bunch of times: The choke is 4 Colossi wide. In the finals, Protoss had two pylons sat in the choke.Then, the front Colossus stops right next to the pylon to thermalance some Marauder, which leaves a barely 2 Colossus wide choke for the rest to go throughI think dde showed some incredible tactics and micro - using map geography brilliantly!
Since NullCurrent asked, here is why I decided to vote for Marshlands over the others. I think I'll go thru the maps and say why I didn't choose them. + Show Spoiler +
Flower:
Main & Natural on the same level is something we haven't experimented with that much but I still don't like it. This also means proxy buildings will be harder to scout since you will have to scout your entire main as well as your nat because you don't have a ramp to fall back to to lose vision + have the advantage. Also, I just dislike the highground in the main. It's a very cool feature but I feel having that will allow people to drop units up there then have the high ground advantage to have a place to fall back to. Think about terran dropping 4 marines and a tank up there and being able to say build a bunker up there. Tough stuff to deal with. :x
Neonights:
I like the main, natural and the 3rd. I would prefer if there weren't rocks to the third so if zerg has to get a quick third they wouldn't have to worry about breaking down those rocks to defend it easily. I think the middle is too tough for zerg especially since getting their gold will be almost impossible due to terran/toss taking over the base above the gold then raining hell down. This pretty much forces zerg to take the blue base before the gold which then would be very hard to defend. I think without the rocks and switching up the middle bases would make me like this map a lot more.
Ptolemy:
I absolutely hate the placement of the watchtowers. They give way too much vision to the defender. Suddenly if you have a unit placed at that watchtower you only have to worry about the 2 narrow chokes by your 3rd which is just too great for terran units and collosus/storm. Also, maybe this is just me but I dislike how to get a 4th you have to go into another base. I feel like there should be a 4th in the middle someplace. Seems this map pretty much forces you to 3 base (which is good because 3 base is fine) but it seems if you try to get 4 bases you will have to be so spread out that it will be hard to defend. (then again, maybe that's why the watchtowers are placed where they are to make it easier to defend..hmm?)
Mud Rock:
Originally when this map got posted I loved it, I thought the colors in it where amazing and the layout overall was great as well. But after closer inspection I feel the middle needs to be reworked. I don't see the golds ever getting used because defending them would be extremely difficult. At most I see this getting up to 4 base with no one using the golds. Then again I didn't see all the games on this map so maybe I am wrong, but just overall. Also monitor mentioned in (can't recall if it was here or another thread) but a ton of the main is siegeable. What if a terran turtles up on next to the side of your base. They could do soooo much damage and then you would have to encounter then through the tight choke that follows the sides of your base.
Marshlands:
First off, let me just say that I think 4 player maps make better 1v1 maps then 2 player maps. I like the variation that can be played depending on where you spawn. Cross positions tend to be more macro games where horizontal/vertical positions can be macro games but can also be 1 or 2 base play (more so then cross anyway). I actually enjoy that the whole map is on a 45 degree (like metalopolis etc etc) because I think that makes it look better. My only problem with this map is (and it's tough to do with a 4 player map) is that if you spawn at 4 and 6 and say you are zerg you then have to break down the rocks to quickly expand to a 3rd. That is one of the major downsides with 4 player maps. I like the positions on where the 3rd bases are but I dislike how hard it would be to get a 3rd if you spawn at said positions because you either take time breaking down rocks or expand to the middle of the map. I enjoy the middle with the watchtowers but I also like that if you go the back ways you won't get catch by the towers.I also enjoyed the games that I saw that were played on this map because it usually ended up being much longer, macro games with lots of harass.
Overall: It come between Mud Rock and Marshlands for me, Mud Rock I think looks better where as Marshlands plays better. Now obviously for which map to vote on I went for the one that plays better because that's what matters.
Hmmm...maybe if Marshlands had the look of Mud Rock.....
Sorry for the long post, but you asked for here, so enjoy! :D
First i'd like to say that alle maps are pretty good and it's quite hard to decide which one is the best out of those.
Flower I like this one because of its innovative ideas and design. Still would like to see some more doodads and maybe some natural cliffs mixed in. The overall design and lightning is baller (even if it got pixelated on the stream). I also like the fact the main and nat are on the same cliff level (but i would like to see the small high ground to defend the choke between the both tuned down in size). MotM#2 Tourney Final Game 5 showed the map favors one base play (short rush distance nat 2 nat and long main 2 nat distance). It even gets worse once you try to grab a 3rd and move out (this way beeing even closer to your opponent).
Ptolemy I'm not a big fan of that kinda secured back-nats but the bigger main ramp makes up for this. The tourney showed us that the map still was played very aggressive (due to this different ramp style) and brought us some quite interesting games. But i don't like the layout once you leave your main. The bridges are way to good for FF or Tanks (and longer way around to the 3rd becomes useless because you are already at 2 bases once you move there). So this map has the same problem as Crevasse from the GSTL but here the flank options are even more limited and the 3rd is way more secure (further away from the ramp). I also don't see how you ever gonna take and hold a 4th on this map (if you aren't already way ahead). But that's a problem of all rotational maps. My last concern: where's the reaper love
Neonights The texture and doodad job is very sweet on this one (hope we see some more maps featuring this custom tileset ) but long story short: the XWT is way to strong. I really would like to see how this map would have been played without a XWT or with 2 repositioned XWTs. Now people tend to rush or cheese on this map because whoever can control the XWT later on seems to win nearly 100% (some spread out tanks can secure the whole mid and all ground paths from there).
Mud Rock Darn, the map looks so good in the pictures but ingame it just hurts my eyes. Beside of this fact i like nearly everything (the layout, the XWT placement, the clean doodad work, the gameflow the map features).
Marshlands This map really allows to take more than 3 bases you can hold regardless of the spawn positions but maybe the rush distances on close position and the layout of the nats (it's very hard to create a wall) favor rushes. Some also suggested to slightly decrease the map size but i'm not quite sure 'bout this. With slightly reworked nats and maybe smaller backdoor ramps this is a killer and LT really looks dull compared to it (close posi LT > dumb game, close posi Marshlands > wanna macro? go ahead).
My vote still goes to Neonights because with just small changes i think this map could turn into the best of all 5 but at least all maps are very good and i'm already very excited to see the maps in march :D
Darn, the map looks so good in the pictures but ingame it just hurts my eyes. Beside of this fact i like nearly everything (the layout, the XWT placement, the clean doodad work, the gameflow the map features).
Thanks. Have u seen the map ingame after I dimmed the lighting?
Darn, the map looks so good in the pictures but ingame it just hurts my eyes. Beside of this fact i like nearly everything (the layout, the XWT placement, the clean doodad work, the gameflow the map features).
Thanks. Have u seen the map ingame after I dimmed the lighting?
Yep, i personally still find it somewhat to shiny but you can't please everyone :p
On February 25 2011 07:19 dezi wrote: Marshlands This map really allows to take more than 3 bases you can hold regardless of the spawn positions but maybe the rush distances on close position and the layout of the nats (it's very hard to create a wall) favor rushes. Some also suggested to slightly decrease the map size but i'm not quite sure 'bout this. With slightly reworked nats and maybe smaller backdoor ramps this is a killer and LT really looks dull compared to it (close posi LT > dumb game, close posi Marshlands > wanna macro? go ahead).
Thanks for the feedback, I've tried to implement some of it and posted images in the Marshlands thread: Possible changes to Marshlands
If any of you have more suggestions or minor things you want me to fix, I'm all for it, just post them in the Marshlands thread and I'll consider them.
PS. I think I'll post my opinions on the different maps soon (excluding Marshlands because of bias).
Yep. Apparently my clock is a few minutes behind lol.
The winner this month is Marshlands by NullCurrent!
Congratulations
This was a very close race, and exposed some issues with our current model. For this reason, I'm postponing the start of MotM 3 by a day. Look forward to more information tomorrow!
On March 01 2011 14:05 iGrok wrote: This was a very close race, and exposed some issues with our current model. For this reason, I'm postponing the start of MotM 3 by a day. Look forward to more information tomorrow!
On March 02 2011 18:42 ihasaKAROT wrote: We need oscars n stuff, good speechin
I only give credit where credit is due
I would definitely not have managed to make the map as good as it is on my own, and I think feedback is a very important element to the map development process.
Thats the whole point of these forums People help people. See how (imho) 75% of the map isnt the mapmaking, but the testing of the map, community is so important!
MotM is a great tool to get the map exposed and commented on, cant wait till iGrok puts up the new topic
The MotM Wiki is currently being updated with the rules changes and with this month's tourney info. I'm planning on including some more stats this time, like total map submissions (at least through the TL thread until I get a final number from the judges) :D
iGrok, could you put a link to the wiki on the OP? You also need to update the current judges list and all-time map pool
Thank you Pyrestrike for splendid wiki arbeit. I'm up for making a video showcasing the winners' maps... (for all previous motmts) Would love to contribute <3 + Show Spoiler +
just email/pm me pertaining replays / previous showcasing / editing you want (music/data/mapmaker's background/pop stats/crazy looking cat... you name it) and i'll pm you back with a vod you can showcase yourself
<3 greentooth's butchy bush... needs blood red for color = motmt will provide the bloody 'rines 'lings and 'lots to complement it
Quick note to the mappers out there: April is 3p map month (as most of you know).
Also, using more than 2 textures from the Bel'Shir tileset is not allowed. You WILL be DQ'd for it. Learn to use textures other than Bel'Shir. It is one of the best stock sets for sure, but enough is enough lol.
On March 08 2011 12:42 iGrok wrote: Quick note to the mappers out there: April is 3p map month (as most of you know).
Also, using more than 2 textures from the Bel'Shir tileset is not allowed. You WILL be DQ'd for it. Learn to use textures other than Bel'Shir. It is one of the best stock sets for sure, but enough is enough lol.
@MotM staff: whats the policy on maps that dont fit the requirements when the postingperiod has ended? are they allowed in or do they have till the 10th to sort it out? whats the dealio
On March 09 2011 08:04 ihasaKAROT wrote: @MotM staff: whats the policy on maps that dont fit the requirements when the postingperiod has ended? are they allowed in or do they have till the 10th to sort it out? whats the dealio
What is the question here? Maps submitted before or after the deadline that don't fit requirements will be disqualified. I'm confused what the issue is, karot
On March 09 2011 08:04 ihasaKAROT wrote: @MotM staff: whats the policy on maps that dont fit the requirements when the postingperiod has ended? are they allowed in or do they have till the 10th to sort it out? whats the dealio
What is the question here? Maps submitted before or after the deadline that don't fit requirements will be disqualified. I'm confused what the issue is, karot
Well, theres a few maps that dont fit some of the requirements this month. But its nothing big, a maptopic is missing and theres one that isnt melee (not the EU published version atleast). Was just wondering if for example you have till 10th to make the maptopic, or fix stuff like that.
"urban map"
<3 <3 <3
gogogo... ever since Koagel's i've been slurping on the screen for someone to get to it...
Let me know if you want some teasershots Been working on it for about 5 hours, I've nearly got 1 out of 3 spawns done (first version). Its gonna take forever , infact my head is so full of ideas I couldnt get any sleep tonight Now im tired at work tho :s
Alright guys, the OP in this thread has been updated.
Also, I know I'd be sending out pms to everyone, but I'm going to send them out on a request basis. If you want your scores, send me a pm saying so and I'll reply.
This takes half the time, and it means I won't have to waste time on people who don't particularly care.
Hurrah, two awards, lol! So close! Thanks for that.
But honestly I'm not even disappointed. There were so many worthy maps and literally all my favourites got picked! So pumped for the games. I want to say thanks right now to all the judges who do the hard work of sorting through so many sweet maps.
Special Surprise time! dezi wrote a little something about being a judge this month. Enjoy!
Hello, my name is dezi and i'm a guest judge this month. I got this "job" due to winning MotM#1 but wasn't able to judge during february (semester exams).
My first task was to score all maps. This means playtesting them and scoring them in the individual categories (Balance, Originality, Fun, Aesthetics). Scorewise you're only allowed to give full points (1-10) in the individual categories and all judges do this for each map. To score all maps the MotM team uses a google spreadsheet which allows too easily sort the maps afterwards by average score.
But reaching a high score doesn't mean your map automatically reaches the Top 5 of a months Mappool. This only allows the judge panel to determine maps that could be part of the Top 5 (so we can sort out maps that aren't quite as good).
Yesterday late at night (at least it was late at night in Europe) we had a skype conference trying to find out 5 maps. So we opened up all the maps that claimed a top spot and discussed the positive and negative aspects of the individual maps. So maps that reached a relativly high score dropped out due to flaws or they just weren't pleasing enough.
But lets see our Top 5: Leviathan: easy pick - doesn't need an explanation The Edge: while the aesthetics are a little bit dull the layout is very original and we all had much fun playing the map Sanctuarium: out of all the 4 player maps this was the one that gained the most points (prodiG sees similarities with Jurassic Park ) Those were our first and easy picks and now it started to get hard. We discussed 3 hours if i recall correct and had maps like Memorial, Frozen Sanctum, Fault Lines, ... on our list. Out this kinda big bunch of 2 player maps we decided to pick Aldaris Betrayel due to its outstanding design. For our last spot we initially had Memorial and Fault Lines in mind and we couldn't decide which one to use. After a little bit of debating we dedicede to make a vote in the chat. Everyone writes down which map to choose and we send our vote once iGrok counted from 3 to 1. Memorial won 4:2.
It's kinda sad that we have to drop a map like Fault Lines but after our first few picks all the other maps were really close.
The more you know: During the whole judging time we all hang in a secret skype channel which allowed us to discuss the maps and i can say all of the judges are really nice guys. They know their "job" and especially their editor So it was kinda fun and entertaining to judge will all these guys and you even can learn some things to improve your own map making. So whoever gonna win this month can feel really honored to judge along side them.
Surprise: This month also brought up a special map: Bitter Jungle or Blood Bath 2.0 if you want to call it so. It's for sure a fun map and we had a long discussion whether to or whether to not put this map in the top 5. We want to get this extraordinary map recognized so we came up with the idea to use this in a kinda special way.
For your information, here are the averages this month (last month's in green): Balance/Originality/Fun /Aesthetics/Total 5.91 / 6.54 / 5.71 / 5.68 / 23.84 6.26 / 6.41 / 5.73 / 5.94 / 24.34
People are only going to get better at this, so if I am to win a contest, I better do it soon lol.
For your information, here are the averages this month (last month's in green): Balance/Originality/Fun /Aesthetics/Total 5.91 / 6.54 / 5.71 / 5.68 / 23.84 6.26 / 6.41 / 5.73 / 5.94 / 24.34
People are only going to get better at this, so if I am to win a contest, I better do it soon lol.
@NullCurrent ok, thanks for reply. I thought they were uploaded on US but not EU. So you're hosting them youself? The limit to how many maps we can post sucks for ocations like these
Alright people, its getting to be that time of the month again.
I'm putting the call out to anyone and everyone who wants to help run MotM. You'll need to be available on March 24th, 7:30 p.m. EST, for at least an hour. You will need to have skype.
Your responsibilities will be making the game, inviting the players, alerting me if any issues come up, and reporting the results.
Last month, SidianTheBard, NullCurrent, Pyrestrike, WniO, and Wildfire all helped out. Huge props to them!
Dang. I was hoping to help out this month since I didn't submit a map. My raid starts at that time so I can't make it . Maybe next month since I'm only currently working on a 2 spawn map. Good luck to all the players.
If I'm online I will definitely help out again, was fun to be an admin for the matches, especially when those players are ddoro and desrow. Fun to spectate high level players live. :D
About the MotM maps on BNET, Would be possible to upload the winner maps from each month onto BNET at a time? I notice that so far its always been the current month's winners. I'm on the EU server, and it would be awesome to have access to all the winning maps so far at any time.
On March 23 2011 05:53 KingGhidorah wrote: About the MotM maps on BNET, Would be possible to upload the winner maps from each month onto BNET at a time? I notice that so far its always been the current month's winners. I'm on the EU server, and it would be awesome to have access to all the winning maps so far at any time.
Great work btw.
It's a matter of hosting slots, really. We need volunteers to host slots, make a commitment to host permanently, and be available to MotM admins in case there is a map update. It's tougher than it sounds.
Many maps are published by the authors, without the motm tag. Some are also published by a cross-realm host. For instance, all current motm maps coudl be found published on EU before the motm versions were published.
Meltage, even mappers themselves can't guarantee they will host a MotM winner forever! (with or without MotM tag) Hopefully mappers are working on new projects all the time. Kind people who don't care to publish their own maps are the perfect slot donors, don't let those slots go to waste!
Hey, once again there's gonna be a Pocket MotM Tournament this evening, 20:00 CET on the EU server. If you'd like to play or obs, join chatchannel "MotM". You'll find the bracket here and later also a replay pack if you missed it.
On March 23 2011 23:57 dimfish wrote: Meltage, even mappers themselves can't guarantee they will host a MotM winner forever! (with or without MotM tag) Hopefully mappers are working on new projects all the time. Kind people who don't care to publish their own maps are the perfect slot donors, don't let those slots go to waste!
Why don't you spell it out esteemed colleague: PLAYERS have to host their fav map!
More fun/attractive:
On March 24 2011 00:39 FlopTurnReaver wrote: Hey, once again there's gonna be a Pocket MotM Tournament this evening, 20:00 CET on the EU server. If you'd like to play or obs, join chatchannel "MotM". You'll find the bracket here and later also a replay pack if you missed it. Hoping for some good games & cu later.
Hope you get enough players and thanks for eu <3 FlopTurnReaver
Total with ya man. Im just rarin to release mine as soon as the motm4 tournament post is created. Im sure we'll get a flood of releases but not as many as we'd hope just because of the 3p difficulties.
Anyways to the point - when is the motm4 post opening up or are we getting two month for this one (i know you already gave as 2 months notice but is that build time too)? Is it going to open up for a week again at the beginning of the month?
Sanctuarium - i really liked that low ground back door, great for nydus and proxy pylon play or atleast i can imagine it being good for that, some really good pvp matches on that one The edge - i didnt like that so much, seemed a bit bare and a bit too standard, also im not convinced its as detailed as the otehrs but a good stab at a 3 player map Memorial- seems to have a bit of everything, i can see this being used on ladders tbh, not a huge leap in terms of anything radical but it looks really cool, loads of opportunity for more than 2 base play Leviathan looks cool but i think cos the natural is quite far away and the run distance i think this wud suck for zerg players ( although im a toss player) Aldaris betral-I really liked how the natural is the kinda main path, like the idea of teh short route being blocked by rocks
Fav probs Memorial then aldaris betrayal - awesome maps
Well guys, its that time again - time to announce this month's winning map!
We had a lot of great games this time around. Check them out on iCCupTV!
Earlier, all the judges met to discuss which map stood out. And amazingly, every judge had the same favorite map.
It is my pleasure to welcome Bitter Jungle to the MotM Official Pool! BJ is a very fun map. It is more than just Bloodbath 2.0; BJ is a perfect balance between crazy rushes and utter chaos, and we welcome it on board! Congratulations WniO for this amazing map!
The real winner this month is funcmode's Sanctuarium! A great map with some great matches on it!
Sanctuarium will be added to the MotM official pool, and in June will have the opportunity to win a cash prize in the previous winners Tournament! Congratulations!
Yeahhh my map is pretty much done, pulled a suicideshift mapping to mirror/flip the damn thing Now just gotta dress it up in even more doodads and im done
Thanks iGrok :D I will commence updating some of the wiki while being up way past my bedtime for GSL lol. I am going to really need some juice tomorrow morning D:
Please let me know of any corrections that need to be made, like whether or not our resident WniO took a game off Cruncher there weren't any replays in the pack for that one.
2nd edit: sorry about the spoilers, I really was sleepy >_>
@iGrok I was just going to ask for the replays again .. thanks. The quality of the VODs are so bad at times, especially when you had to turn down the quality to avoid lagging.
I'm pleased to announce that later today I will be streaming a live interview with xiExO, the winner of MotM #3! I will post again once the time has been finalized.
If you have any questions for ExO, pm me with them!
Also, if you haven't watched the interview with xiExO in the above post, I really reccommend it. He talked a lot about how to make a map from the player's perspective that is really good information to think about!
On April 11 2011 11:56 iGrok wrote: Top 5 maps now announced!
Also, if you haven't watched the interview with xiExO in the above post, I really reccommend it. He talked a lot about how to make a map from the player's perspective that is really good information to think about!
I've all ready found it helpful when making my last map, made me look a a few things differently or tha I wasnt looking at properly.
ouch, between Masada and 18th hole, I don't know what to pick... those two stick out though and I'd love for those to get some really good games on them. Someone PM me to play on them - I'm a high Diamond level player.
Its a personal taste I guess. Im picking Eighteenth, for origionality and still balanced. Masada is a sick sick map, but it doenst add anything for me.
i felt like autumn hills would be hard to top this month. now it isn't even a finalist. that was quite a suprise to me :D also i can't believe i will finally see people playing one of my maps without having to force them to! can't wait.
Looking forward to see this months tourney but i especially looking forward for the next MotM. I think it will be very hard to reach Top 5 in MotM#5 because many mappers paused this month and also many mappers have improved lately.
This is not about MOTM but the map testing thread indicated I should post this here.
I was wondering if anyone would like to test the maps below. I'm a low level player and haven't had a chance to really play for a while (Dissertation time) also my friends are low level and so can't really abuse maps like the higher skills, and to be quite honest the quality of feed back is different.
But I was wondering if anyone Gold or higher would try out the maps and pm me or post in the thread some feed back on pros and cons (or a replay). My map making has changed alot since my early maps so I would be nice to kind of benchmark my progress. I was thinking of entering one of these for next month (though I am working on 2 others).
They are all available on EU and DL links are in the threads for Non EU players
I've never made a map before but I've got a lot of ideas, so I think a contest is what I need to get my ass in gear. Where do you find up to date information about the next MotM? This thread says something about the current submission date being Jan 31st to Feb 3rd?
On April 13 2011 04:02 Albrithe wrote: I've never made a map before but I've got a lot of ideas, so I think a contest is what I need to get my ass in gear. Where do you find up to date information about the next MotM? This thread says something about the current submission date being Jan 31st to Feb 3rd?
Nice catch! That's pretty out of date. The next map submissions will be open in the beginning of May! In the meantime, tune in on April 23rd for the MotM Tournament :D
And prodiG's awards are coming, just be a little patient
So as I already announced there's most certenly gonna be another motm pocket tourney tomorrow (wednesday) evening around 20:00 CET (EU Server). If you wanna play or spectate join the chatchannel "MotM". We'll probably start around 20:30 respectivly as soon as we got our 8 players together.
Because Stars' War ran so late, as well as numerous behind-the-scenes issues, we've decided to postpone todays cast until tomorrow. If we started casting now, we'd be casting until at least 3am EST. Casting will be Sunday and Monday at a time as-of-yet undetermined. I will let you know as soon as I can.
I sincerely apologize for all the casting issues we've had, and I'm working to address them. Thank you for continuing to support us.
i have to say this month was pretty disappointing.
-maps didnt really stay up to the standards (the golf map looks really good at the overview but ingame it was a bit confussing also most of the maps where pretty empty. especially the moon map.)
-dde just lulzed through the playerfield....it just dont create good game when one player is way better then his opponents ( i know no one can change that but thats how i feel)
-the hole stream issue....really dont put a good light on this tour, feels like no one really cares. (dont know what happend backstage)
maybe we could hype this more for next month, cooperate with TL and push this on the mainpage or something....we need more competitors like dde for example.
i hope next month gonna be better, in every aspect
On April 25 2011 12:03 Mereel wrote: -the hole stream issue....really dont put a good light on this tour, feels like no one really cares. (dont know what happend backstage)
That was no fault of the organizer. iCCup TV had a pretty crazy (not in a good way) weekend, and many things got screwed up.
We apologize to iGrok, and MoTM, and of course the fans. Just know we tried EVERYTHING to get things working but every single disaster that could have happened this weekend did.
On April 25 2011 12:03 Mereel wrote: -maps didnt really stay up to the standards (the golf map looks really good at the overview but ingame it was a bit confussing also most of the maps where pretty empty. especially the moon map.)
I wonder if those maps that were picked were empty, because of the recent trend in bigger and more open maps?
On April 25 2011 12:03 Mereel wrote: -dde just lulzed through the playerfield....it just dont create good game when one player is way better then his opponents ( i know no one can change that but thats how i feel)
maybe we could hype this more for next month, cooperate with TL and push this on the mainpage or something....we need more competitors like dde for example.
I wonder if that is a prize money issue, a bigger pot might mean bigger games. Should map makers have to pay to enter their maps? I dont like that idea coz i'm a student living on debt, beans, and shoes But if it was like a $5 entry fee, I would enter but only if i thought my map was prestine (i do that anyways - but it might be easier on the judges coz there might be less volume). But also it could add a serious bump to the jackpot .
There was not so many entries last month but Im sure that would have been at least $60 added?
And next months 1v1 standard melee will probably mean alot of entries.
bigger jackpot might bring a better balance of players?
I dont know but its just a suggestion.
On a different note.
Just a suggestion. What if players and map makers didnt know what the 5 maps were until the tourniment. Like a blind Tourniment.
-Alot of map makers would tune in to see if their map made it (though im sure they watch anyway). -Players cant prep for the map in the usual way (I wonder who could adapt the best to a map they havent seen? ) - Also more broadly for map makers, it might be cool to inspire players to 1v1 on custom maps a little more for practice.
Is this a bad idea? or has it been done? I'm a noob to tourni's and leagues and am only just getting into it now. (TSL = awesome)
On April 25 2011 12:03 Mereel wrote: -maps didnt really stay up to the standards (the golf map looks really good at the overview but ingame it was a bit confussing also most of the maps where pretty empty. especially the moon map.)
I wonder if those maps that were picked were empty, because of the recent trend in bigger and more open maps?
On April 25 2011 12:03 Mereel wrote: -dde just lulzed through the playerfield....it just dont create good game when one player is way better then his opponents ( i know no one can change that but thats how i feel)
maybe we could hype this more for next month, cooperate with TL and push this on the mainpage or something....we need more competitors like dde for example.
I wonder if that is a prize money issue, a bigger pot might mean bigger games. Should map makers have to pay to enter their maps? I dont like that idea coz i'm a student living on debt, beans, and shoes But if it was like a $5 entry fee, I would enter but only if i thought my map was prestine (i do that anyways - but it might be easier on the judges coz there might be less volume). But also it could add a serious bump to the jackpot .
There was not so many entries last month but Im sure that would have been at least $60 added?
And next months 1v1 standard melee will probably mean alot of entries.
bigger jackpot might bring a better balance of players?
I dont know but its just a suggestion.
On a different note.
Just a suggestion. What if players and map makers didnt know what the 5 maps were until the tourniment. Like a blind Tourniment.
-Alot of map makers would tune in to see if their map made it (though im sure they watch anyway). -Players cant prep for the map in the usual way (I wonder who could adapt the best to a map they havent seen? ) - Also more broadly for map makers, it might be cool to inspire players to 1v1 on custom maps a little more for practice.
Is this a bad idea? or has it been done? I'm a noob to tourni's and leagues and am only just getting into it now. (TSL = awesome)
I dont think its a good idea to have a blind map pool. Just from the games I played and watched the players obviously never played on the maps before or tested them. (lots of looking around the bases when the games started.) Fees to get in is not a good idea either. What i think needs to happen is mappers just need to step up their game. Personally im taking this very seriously and while making maps that are fun and small is great I understand its not fitting with motm. Perhaps a bigger prize pool is necessary, but i dont know if thats possible. One suggestion i would like to have is a larger player pool (maybe 32?) and just cast the games when they get to the top 8. EDIT: also the maps should not have so many doodads... makes the game so choppy for poorer comps.
i don't like the idea of having an entrance fee, but if you put up a paypal donate button, i'd probably send a few bucks every once in a while because i think motm is awesome and i want to see it grow
the games could indeed have been a little more epic. but i don't think there is anyone to blame. there were definitely good players who have already proven their skill in previous tournaments.
i agree the map pool quality this month was a little bit lacking. but that is to blame on the 3 player restriction and the difficulty (and annoyance) involved to create them but this shouldn't worry us that much because i am pretty sure with next month we will see huuuge number of ridiculously amazing maps that have been made in the past 2 months :D and hopefully with that we can get create a little more hype/interest about the tournament again.
the casting issue was probably the most annoying problem, at least when you wake up at 1am in the night the watch it, wait till 5 am and then go back to bed because it was cancelled - but can't sleep because you were drinking coke and energy drinks all the time to stay awake however, you did get some worthy replacement casters. big thanks to mrbitter and cats for jumping in
Hey guys, a lot of people want to know what happened to this month's MotM. I'm going to keep this brief, but here's basically what happened.
MotM was on the iCCup Casting Calendar for April 23/24th. Stars' War was later added as well for the same date, but iCCup has multiple streams and casting teams so they figured that would be fine. On April 23rd, iCCup's casting team for Stars' War was MIA, and so iCCup had to make a decision whether to honor the prior MotM commitment or to cast the much larger Stars' War tournament. At first, they believed they could delay MotM by an hour, but after 3.5 hours of delay, we decided to simply postpone the event, and begin casting on April 24th, either removing the Ro16 or Adding April 25th to the cast. Mid-day April 24th, I asked iCCupAoD if everything was good to cast MotM, and was told that MotM would have to be postponed again. At this point, I made and executive decision to change casting teams. Fortunately, MrBitter was available, and so with literally 1 hour notice we got himself and CatsPajamas to cast. Due to time constraints, we only cast the Semis and Finals of the games, and so I released the full replay pack immediately.
I sincerely apologize for the issues this weekend. iCCupDiamond has apologized as well in this thread. I understand that they had to make a difficult choice, and there was no good solution. I want everyone to understand that everyone involved did the best they could.
MotM will go on, and I'm looking forward to a great month #5.
I'll be donating some money for the MotM #6 so we can see all the top voted maps played by some "sick nerd ballers". I don't know if it'll be enough to get the attention of a lot of top end player but I encourage everyone to consider donating any pocket change they can spare to make the MotM #6 a real big success and a representation of the hard work that we all put in to these maps.
On April 28 2011 05:43 lefix wrote: no restrictions i think. also, if you're on eu come join the channel motm ingame and play/obs in the koth which is happening right now
lefix is right, MotM 5 is open to all valid melee maps. Of course read iGrok's post carefully when it comes and see if we're allowing Bel'Shir tilesets this month.
the 5 winning maps from motm#1-5 will be motm#6, afaik. so there will be no submissions for #6, on the other hand, you'll have 2 months time for your #7 map
can we make motm#6 a normal month and the best 5 from motm 1-5 at a other date i nthe month? because waiting 2 month is a little bit long in my opinion
I gotta do some serious testing tomorrow then to find out whether I should submit Hysteria or Affliction. I have a week from tomorrow right? Aw man I just got myself stressed...
On May 02 2011 11:38 Antares777 wrote: I gotta do some serious testing tomorrow then to find out whether I should submit Hysteria or Affliction. I have a week from tomorrow right? Aw man I just got myself stressed...
EDIT: 500th post in this topic
I'd say submit Hysteria, with these changes:
1) make main ramp normal, 1x wide (instead of the 2x it looks like now) 2) Open up the path from the 4th to 5th, add more ramps too 3) Move the XelNaga towers so they don't favor turtling (maybe no towers?) 4) Add a ton of doodads. Everywhere. Try some ground decals, put some doodads against cliffs, and find some trees/foliage that fit. 5) Add some interesting textures in the middle
Congratulations Silence, I remember when you released your golf map a whole month or two before you were going to put it into motm. It's a solid map, keep it up buddy!
Also i second dims calling, if you like what motm does, drop iGrok a short pm about how awesome and handsome he is. And please be patient, we ran into some slowing issues.
These were my attempts at Zergy maps. But honestly Im not sure if they are Zergy enough, Same goes with my Protoss themed ones. Are there more textures than the ones that I used somewhere?
btw sorry to sound completely noobish, but what is Hots? I have actuallu been living under a rock with my University work and so have no clue about the world beyond my desk.
I'm pleased to welcome NullCurrent as the Official MotM Graphic Artist. NullCurrent has been making various graphics for a while now, including the tournament thread titles, and we wanted to reward him by making it official. So, officially, welcome aboard!
Hey everyone, MotM is now also present on Twitter. Do you wanna get news as fast as possible without searching on TL? Just follow us and you'll know what's up ad any time.
Also, thank you all for score showcasing, so nice to be nice
On May 13 2011 10:30 FlopTurnReaver wrote: Just PM any creator and ask if you can have the mapfile for upload. I don't think anyone would decline such an offer.
u ze man
in short: gg to all participants, thank you to the judges and i vote OMF (sure, i'd like it to be more color crazy, but i honestly think it's the most "interesting" as a whole, plus.. heck units guts will paint that blue red )
I have one Q i would like to ask.(Been curious about it since the competition started )
Are special "Trigger based" features allowed? Like one map i'm working on has several "Turrets" that are controled by a single control point. By controling these "points",the turrets will be turned to your side and attack enemy units that enter its range. Would my map including these features be D/Qed for it?
I know even if these features are allowed they may not be very well received. As they can take a while to get used to...
On May 19 2011 13:10 dimfish wrote: In the editor if you go to Map -> Map Status... and it reads Melee then you're fine.
For clarity, is that the ultimate defining line?
Like...
What about increasing/decreasing the hitpoints of destructible rocks?
Or making high yield geysers give 1 more gas per trip?
Or anything else with the data editor? (within reason at least, but I guess you'd also have to define "within reason" then)
It's not a big deal to me, though. I personally stay within "Melee" map status.
the game itself wont allow those changes. any change to the default values will cause the map to become custom.
If I had a dollar for every time I've explained this in this forum one way or another, I'd be rich.
You can chance (thx adso) change ANYTHING other than the default melee triggers (win conditions: a player wins when they are the only one still in the game or the last one standing with any buildings) and the map will still appear as melee in Battle.net. The melee status in the editor simply shows that something has been changed but has no bearing on how it will function in-game.
You can change the HP and damage of every unit in the game, and in SC2 it will appear as "Melee, Custom" and the only relevance it will have is filters in battle.net.
As for the issue at hand, anything that modifies values of any of the races that the players will control should be against the rules. Changing HP, pathing radii, stats, etc on something like a Marine should be out of the question. Changing the HP, pathing radii, stats, etc on a neutral building or unit that the players do NOT control is okay - destructible towers, changed HP on rocks, even neutral creeps.
Well it's usually very late and people leave right after but one thing was that they felt a lot of maps were kinda big and they'd like to see some "middle sized" maps. I think they were perticularly talking about Hysteria. Someone also mentioned that Void Rift felt a bit small (only cross spawn).
The general opinion was though that the maps are really cool and definitly more exciting than the Blizzard maps.
EDIT: The Creep Tumor thing was an easy fix that I just forgot about before the tournament. Was only 1 game it happened.
On May 20 2011 06:13 FlopTurnReaver wrote: Well it's usually very late and people leave right after but one thing was that they felt a lot of maps were kinda big and they'd like to see some "middle sized" maps. I think they were perticularly talking about Hysteria. Someone also mentioned that Void Rift felt a bit small (only cross spawn).
The general opinion was though that the maps are really cool and definitly more exciting than the Blizzard maps.
EDIT: The Creep Tumor thing was an easy fix that I just forgot about before the tournament. Was only 1 game it happened.
nice feedback, thanks! Maybe you should repost this in the tourney thread, too so it can be found with the submissions
On May 27 2011 03:12 Johanaz wrote: Ok guys. What´s going on? Who won? Where can I see replays? Did you find casters? Are there any VODs?
Johanaz, I think you are living in two-days worth of time zones in the future! The plan is to cast on May 28/29 (Sat/Sun) and by my crazy United States computer clock it is May 26 (Thur).
Am I the only one to realize this. One of the maps to be voted on (Ptolemy - Grebliv) is designed to look like a swastika. I guess it was inevitable that a few controversial designs would emerge.
On May 27 2011 12:29 Ultra Brian wrote: Am I the only one to realize this. One of the maps to be voted on (Ptolemy - Grebliv) is designed to look like a swastika. I guess it was inevitable that a few controversial designs would emerge.
It is not designed to look like a swastika. 90 degree rotation maps might just have a resemblance.
And not that it matters, but that map was from a previous contest...
On May 27 2011 12:29 Ultra Brian wrote: Am I the only one to realize this. One of the maps to be voted on (Ptolemy - Grebliv) is designed to look like a swastika. I guess it was inevitable that a few controversial designs would emerge.
It is not designed to look like a swastika. 90 degree rotation maps might just have a resemblance. And not that it matters, but that map was from a previous contest...
Plus... The swastika or whatever reference (gas comes to mind, but that is just the tip) .. This is drawing..
the nazi ruined this particular shape for you..? While no one should jest about atrocities,they did not manage to ruin it for the rest of us.. so please don't try where they failed
On May 27 2011 12:29 Ultra Brian wrote: Am I the only one to realize this. One of the maps to be voted on (Ptolemy - Grebliv) is designed to look like a swastika. I guess it was inevitable that a few controversial designs would emerge.
Haha I missed you racial-sensitive-swastika-discover-guy
Ha ha. imagine the tourney, 8 ffa games of semifinals, you could get the regular 16 really good players then just fill in the other spots with random people. two top tier players per semifinal. That would be ridiculously epic.
long live motmt long live motmt live motmt long live motmt live motm making live motmt long live motmt live motmt live motmt live motmt live motmt long live motmt live motmt live motmt live motmt live motmt ty Barrin for all his attentions live motmt live motmt live motmt live motmt live motmt live motmt live motmt live motmt live ty Dustin motmt live motmt live motmt live motmt live ty BoomStevo motmt live motmt long live motmt live motmt live motmt live motmt ty dim live motmt live motmt live motmt ty zany prodiG live motmt live motmt live motmt live motmt long live motmt live motmt live motmt long live motmt live motmt live motmt live motmt live motmt live motmt live motmt live motmt live ty bkrow motmt live ty Flop motmt live motmt ty monitor live motmt live motmt live motmt live motmt live motmt live motmt live motmt live ty David motmt live motmt ty WniO live motmt live ty pyrestrike motmt live motmt live motmt live motmt live motmt live motmt live motmt long live motmt live motmt live motmt live motmt live motmt live motmt live motmt live motmt live motmt live motmt live motmt live motmt ty iGrok live motmt live motmt live motmt live motmt live motmt long live ty tl mods for featuring customs and most assuredly motmt and sc2bw motmt live motmt long live motmt live motmt live motmt long live motmt live motmt live motmt live motmt live motmt live motmt live motmt long live motmt live motmt live motmt ======> may it live forever (alongside bw)
I found the map "One Must Fall" played tonight interesting. Liked the positioning of the rocks in the middle, that the towers didn't cover. Also interesting placement of the expansions in relation to the towers.
Thanks for the great tournament this weekend. I really enjoyed watching the stream and the new maps made for a much needed change. That guy from ImbaTV with the Goggles (McDuff i think?) made it even more unique :D.
On June 02 2011 08:07 WniO wrote: which map take the cake? btw is there any official motm rules for next month or will it just be the past top 5 finalists.
Btw, are there any plans to make a month for 2v2 maps? With the growing importance of 2v2 maps in team leagues and Prodigy's team league+ new 2v2 maps, I guess that would be interesting
I just watched the VOD from the Finals in MotM #5 Tourney. All the 5 maps looked incredibly good. My favourite was Ithaca, but i have to say, that Curfew and especially Void Rift blowed my mind. It was just a plessure to watch games on that map. They got a really good design and besides that Void Rift got a new and fresh look/style. For me Void Rift is my MotM #5. Well done.
This month, we had five epic maps. Five maps that I would want to see played in GSL. Personally, I think that all of them are absolutely great. The judges each retreated to their respective fortresses of solitude to make their decision, and with 4 judges reporting in we're were at a deadlock decision. Finally, the fifth judge made a tie breaking vote, and so I am please to announce this month's MotM winner:
Hysteria! Congratulations to Antares777. Hysteria is unlike any map we've ever seen, and delivered some amazing games, particularly Game 1 of the Finals!
We're looking forward to seeing all the MotM winners next month, in a grand Super Tournament! (details still to come).
Also, be sure to download the MotM #5 Replay Pack to watch some amazing games on the MotM maps.
As you may already know, Map of the Month #6 (June) will pit against each other the last five month’s winners---The Crucible, Marshlands, Sanctuarium, The Eighteenth and Hysteria---in a super Grand Tournament (details still to come).
But that doesn’t mean there isn't an opportunity for mappers to show their skills! For MotM #6, in addition to the Super Tournament, we also present:
Map of the Month #6 Aesthetics Challenge A great map has balance and looks amazing.
The purpose of this challenge is to submit a map with a solid visual look or theme. In order to take the map layout out of the equation, every submission should be a redress of this ugly duckling of a map:
It is your job to turn this duckling into an amazing-looking man-eating ninja swan.
What constitutes an amazing looking map? Should there be 10,000 lights? Should you use every doodad in the catalog? Should the map be a beautiful menagerie of critters with some minerals in there somewhere?
No!
An amazing-looking Starcraft 2 melee map should:
Always put the game first. Can you see the important pathways, cliffs and choke points at a glance? If not, players will constantly be spending valuable game time deciphering your map’s layout and they won’t play it next time. That means map death.
Never go overboard--if it takes 1 hour to load your map just to play at 5 fps, welcome back to MAP DEATH.
Finally, a good-looking map has a scheme, or unity or a theme. If your map looks like a pretty, well-crafted pile of misha-mush, well it’ll be forgotten quickly. Lots of simple schemes (like a two-tone scheme, just two dominant colors) or complex themes (The Eighteenth) will stick in the minds of players and the audience. They’ll meet the good looks of your map first, then fall in love with the layout second.
Don’t change the map layout in terms of big terrain changes or adding destructible rocks, etc. It’s ok to change cliff contours to achieve a specific look, or add doodads into the pathable areas, as long as the passageways still function essentially the same.
Do change the cliff types, textures, background, maybe the lighting (this is REALLY HARD to find better settings than the Blizzard pre-sets, be careful). If you have never tried to do this stuff in the editor, now is a perfect chance to learn!
More map resources A bunch of links to helpful mapping threads compiled by Barrin.
Putting out a call to the veterans Here is a chance to help out your fellow veterans and newcomers alike! We invite everyone to collaborate in this thread on the challenge--help each other find resources, techniques, tutorials. Everyone can kick their mapping game up a notch.
iGrok will at some point this month be streaming a live Lighting tutorial, so make sure to tune in for that!
One final point: for the Aesthetics Challenge, the winning map will be chosen entirely by you, loyal, beautiful and handsome TeamLiquid community members! So fire up the editor and start your submission, or keep an eye on this thread and start making a list of your favorites as they roll in.
Hey all, FTR guilt-tripped me into posting D: (j/k <3) Sorry about the MotM/LP stuff... I haven't kept up and have just been lurking for the past couple months Busy IRL and just playing other things. I think I can figure out the brackets for #5, I can update it in a couple weeks (i'm about to have free time in the not-so-good way :/)
Just give me some time and I'll take care of it, or show someone how to do it if you guys want it done sooner.
http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/Map_of_the_Month is finally updated! I updated all the pages, and put up #6 with info about both the aesthetics contest and the championship tournament :D There are a couple edits still under review, so you can click on the draft versions if you wanted to get a sneak peek. Can't wait for this weekend!
I like double elimination when you play BO3 or less.
Phoenix fighting! That was so cool that you guys got him into this tournament. He's been a great ladder player for so long, good to see him get a chance to show his skills to a wider audience.
Keep up the good work, seems like a great tournament idea.
On June 02 2011 19:38 Ragoo wrote: Btw, are there any plans to make a month for 2v2 maps? With the growing importance of 2v2 maps in team leagues and Prodigy's team league+ new 2v2 maps, I guess that would be interesting
But one criticism: I hate that MotM and iCCup stuff is never on EU. Considering that EU has a way bigger quantity of high level players MotM on EU would probably have an even better quality : (
Also regarding your petition, you should ask some smaller weekly EU cups if they want to use Hysteria and/or Sanctuarium. There are lots of them^^
No current plans to have 2v2 maps. Not to say it won't happen! I am almost always available on skype! If you don't have my skype information and would like it, simply send me a pm and I'll add you to the MotM Staff room
On July 01 2011 04:01 iGrok wrote: I am almost always available on skype! If you don't have my skype information and would like it, simply send me a pm and I'll add you to the MotM Staff room
Is that an answer for me? And if so, what's the MotM Staff room? :O
For the record, I am not including team names when listing maps or players, as I've been advised by LP staff. It makes sense too, players keep changing teams and maps always have different headers based on who published xyz version.
Without average scores anymore, I won't be including that on any future pages. The Intangibles category damages the average stats anyway.
I'm also removing the awards section from the wiki. They're awesome and fun, but they don't really have a place in the documentation because of inconsistency in the awards. I could continue with the runner-up award but that might be it.
I'm going to be redoing the information page completely as well, I feel that it's outdated and fumbling in terms of information. Depending on how things go IRL, and with my own concerns for MotM, this might be the last major thing I do for MotM.
Also... We also don't have a map winner for Map of the Month #6. From the poll it should be Mad Lab but I would like it if there were some official word on who won, so that I could include it in the documentation. It kind of fell by the wayside with the petition and all but it's still important given the mapper's work and effort put into it.
On July 13 2011 17:35 pyrestrike wrote:Also... We also don't have a map winner for Map of the Month #6. From the poll it should be Mad Lab but I would like it if there were some official word on who won, so that I could include it in the documentation. It kind of fell by the wayside with the petition and all but it's still important given the mapper's work and effort put into it.
On the day the contest finished it was LSPrime's submission, but I could be wrong...
On July 13 2011 19:02 ihasaKAROT wrote: MotM #1 thru #5 dont have the link to #7 in em.
It's because I've made changes to some of them that haven't been approved by LP staff yet. Any time a page changes it needs to get approval before it becomes the default page. You can still check out the latest version by clicking "Draft" on the top right tho :D
On July 13 2011 17:35 pyrestrike wrote:Also... We also don't have a map winner for Map of the Month #6. From the poll it should be Mad Lab but I would like it if there were some official word on who won, so that I could include it in the documentation. It kind of fell by the wayside with the petition and all but it's still important given the mapper's work and effort put into it.
On the day the contest finished it was LSPrime's submission, but I could be wrong...
I iGrok, do you have confirmation of the actual total votes for motm 6 challenge on the closing hours, because i was there at midnight and can tell you it wasn't LSPrime?
Its that time again - time to announce the official winning map of Map of the Month #7! This month we had several very good maps, but one map proved to be absolutely spectacular. Please congratulate TPW Odyssey by lefix! + Show Spoiler +
I must admit, when I first saw Odyssey I was skeptical. I personally believed that a 2 player map needed more than 10 bases to provide a macro game, particularly when every expansion was into the opponent. Others, such as MrBitter, at first glance agreed with my assessment. Odyssey seemed much too small to provide entertaining, long games. Well, as anyone who watched the cast of Whiplash v Maestro can tell you, that is completely wrong. Odyssey is set up in such a way that each player's focus rotates throughout the game. Odyssey offers terrific opportunities for fast-paced games, but a macro game is quite possible, and plays out extremely well.
To the other mappers, I'll send you a short list of feedback I've collected from judges and players - hopefully this will lead to even better maps in the future!
If you haven't seen the cast, please go watch the tournament on MrBitterTV! The featured series (which is fucking awesome) starts at 1 hour 17 minutes. If you want to watch every game, including those not cast, you can download all the replays here!
Now, some MotM #8 news: MotM #8 will officially begin taking submissions August 1 (there will be a thread). As always, there will be a couple changes, but nothing too drastic, and there are no map restrictions. The judges panel next month will be FlopTurnReaver, monitor, LSPrime, Barrin, and of course lefix (make sure to congratulate him!).
The SC2 community is looking for better maps. Lets be sure to give them some!
congratulation lefix! Ody is a map that is easy to read for players as well as spectators and that is a competitive, balanced as well as really entertaining map to watch!
Great map. The choice of using no horizontal/vertical lines on the mechanical parts was ballsy, but came out looking great and the layout comes together perfectly without being gimmicky.
Time to buckle down and finalize aesthetic improvements on my map. Can't wait for MotM 8 already!
Have to say that I too was sceptical when I first saw the map. Besides the aesthetics it looked solid but nothing out of the ordinary. But I am convinsed. It's a really fucking good map and I absolutely love it. Grats Lefix, well deserved winner!
@MrBitterTV o.O Map of the Month coming to ESL? New amazing prizes for mappers and players alike? #IAMSOEXCITE
If this is true it's amazing news! Sooooo looking forward to this, it's about time you guys' hard work is appreciated! Here's to more tournaments following ESL's lead!
lol w00t, if that is true it's the most amazing thing for the map making community since GOMTV picked up custom maps! Like srsly, more price money+ESL support and marketing+soo many more good (european) pros participating! If that was true I guess the iCCup guys and maybe even GSL map makers will participate more regularly as well and MotM will get so much more prestige +excited+
I don't really get it ... ESL will use TPW Odyssey in their mappool starting september, and that's it ? Well, ESL already used maps from ICCup and GSL in the past, and if they keep the same mappool for 1 year again I don't see it changing our lives. Maybe I misunderstood or missed something, but I'd expect something more :/
On August 25 2011 23:13 Gl!tch wrote: Thats amazing, i can think of no greater reward for a map maker then to have his/her map used in tournament play.
Yeah, players, commentators, and pretty much everyone else involved in e-sport can make money with it. Mapmakers only dream is to have their map played.
On August 26 2011 01:43 fenX wrote: I don't really get it ... ESL will use TPW Odyssey in their mappool starting september, and that's it ?
What I read is that ESL will host the MotM tournament which means bigger prizes and alot more pros participating+more marketing and then they will probably use maps from MotM but afaik nothing has been revealed about that yet.
Their new map pool seems pretty... mediocre... but at least experimental kinda.
To the creators and supporters of MotM, I just want to say that this is a fantastic idea, good luck! There are so many talented people making maps that it only makes sense for some friendly competition to be introduced into the world of SC2 mapmaking...
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![[image loading]](http://imgur.com/ivIWa.jpg)
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Then, the front Colossus stops right next to the pylon to thermalance some Marauder, which leaves a barely 2 Colossus wide choke for the rest to go through![[image loading]](http://imgur.com/NsWT9.jpg)
I think dde showed some incredible tactics and micro - using map geography brilliantly!
![[image loading]](http://imgur.com/jUpxN.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://imgur.com/GexxQ.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://imgur.com/V0RT7.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/KqoCtl.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/Ky6Azl.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/pHi5bl.jpg)
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![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/2LSpLl.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/M2iE4l.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/Ha444l.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/P3Xrnl.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://janeheller.mlblogs.com/dr-evil.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/YesR9.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/ZjG7C.jpg)
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![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/18FN8.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/FyzGC.jpg)
Like I have a hard time seeing how a 12 spawn map will ever win MotM...![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/Af4Ar.png)
motm ![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/IBtwx.png)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/FSbKu.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://th207.photobucket.com/albums/bb176/fozzy71/Smileys/th_icon_drevil.png){kind=icon}
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/kmp0A.jpg)
