Micro Match is a new map that I'm currently working on which is primarily focused on the micro management of units. The main premise of the game is simple, players are paired against eachother in a variety of arenas, and given an assortment of units that they must kill eachother with. There are no reinforcements or defensive structures available, which means the only tools available to you are your units, your micro and your strategy.

This makes for a very intense, competitive type of play that is both very enjoyable and rewarding. But as well as being fun, it can also help your micro ability in more standard StarCraft 2 melee games. To encourage this, many of the unit arrangements in these battles will be taken from real scenarios in professional StarCraft 2 play, and the arenas in the map will be strongly influenced by the map pools on the ladder and in various tournaments. The intention is to create an environment that is both enjoyable and resourceful for players, so that you can get the most you can out of the experience.

On top of this, when the map is in its final stages it will feature a full fledged ELO ranking system with league rankings just like the StarCraft 2 ladder. You will be able to look back at all your match statistics and achievements, and compare them with your friends. There will also be rewards for various achievements and an active leaderboard that will be updated with each match.

My aim is to create the most comprehensive and actively updated Micro Map on the battle.net servers, and hopefully with the feedback, participation and support of TL and the SC2 scene this can be possible. Below is an overview of the various aspects of the map, as well as an estimate for when it will be 'complete' (paraphrased because it will always be improving) including a progress bar.

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Servers: Currrently aiming for SEA, NA & EU

Up to 8 players per game with 6 observers that can step in if anyone leaves
Race selection at the start of the game and race change allowed between matches
Brief vision of enemy units at the start of the match, then fog of war is enabled. Some arenas include LoS blockers as per normal melee maps
Matches will initially be in Bo3 Round robin tournament format
After all players have versed eachother the top 4 scoring players will play single elimination for 1st and 2nd place

Expected 270 battles, 45 per matchup (e.g.: TvZ, PvP) divided into 15 per arena size (Small, Med or Large)
ELO-style ranking system updated live with each match
Variety of leagues similar to the StarCraft 2 ladder
Tracking of wins and losses, total, between races, between arenas and for each battle
Tracking of mAPM (micro Actions Per Minute)
Ability to observe other matches either as observer or as player after yours is finished
User portraits, reward portraits for certain achievements
Bonus ‘fun matches’ that don’t count towards your ELO and are a little crazy.

Current Arenas

Small

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Medium

Large

To be added, feel free to message me with battles you would like to see in the map for consideration.

These are estimations as to how far the map is complete based on what is left to do

Core battle setup: 80%
Arenas: 7/12, 58%
Battles: 11/270, 4%
Ranking System: 0%
Profile/Statistics View: 0%
Art direction 20%

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The first playable alpha version can be expected in about 2 weeks, though this may be subject to change depending on the situation.

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Creator:
XenoX101

Testers:

Special Thanks:
A1win
dOsiLe
XorioZ
Nash|327

Any feedback and/or constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. If you would like to be a part of this project - even just as a tester - please let me know

.

Thank you

Habakkuk

United States10 Posts

June 19 2011 19:19 GMT

Looks really great, beautiful arenas.

Please include phoenix micro for Protoss

And I have always wanted to see Terran players micro SCVs for repair on mech units.

I admire the depth you're going for, and would be glad to help discuss or test...PM or find me on bnet Habakkuk.124

Complete

United States1441 Posts

June 19 2011 20:51 GMT

pretty awesome

love playing these fun little ums matches when i dont feel like laddering it up

FallDownMarigold

United States3704 Posts

June 19 2011 21:01 GMT

On June 20 2011 04:19 Habakkuk wrote:
Looks really great, beautiful arenas.

Please include phoenix micro for Protoss

It's not that interesting. Generally it's just move command SCV onto a unit, right click auto-repair "on" and they will smartly do the rest.

CardinalSC

United States145 Posts

June 19 2011 21:12 GMT

This is exactly what I've been looking for! You are a great man

Edit: Are you going to create battles that are specific down to unit count? I feel like a "random feature" would work well, maybe in a later version. You could assign values to each unit, and spawn equivalent army values by resources or some other metric. This would obviously result in sometimes lopsided battles, but I think it would be a fun aspect.

Tilorn

Serbia75 Posts

June 19 2011 21:20 GMT

Can't wait for this to come to EU.

ChickenLips

2912 Posts

June 19 2011 21:46 GMT

I actually thought just today about creating the exact same thing (ELO, specific unit scenarios, statistics).

You should imo, focus on a lot of the standard compositions, ling/bling vs ling/bling, ling/bling vs marines ( / and marauders / and tanks ) , blink vs blink, roach/ling vs blink (this is really cool, because you have to use different blink strategies depending on the Z's composition), MM vs gateway units, banshees vs marines (with and without stim), marine / tank vs marine / tank, ling/roach/bling drop vs blink stalker / colossus.

A lot of potential, the only factor that will define its success is your willingness to commit to it, as it is a metric shitton of work

smaugswe

Sweden121 Posts

June 19 2011 22:42 GMT

I would love to be a tester :D And looking forward to this map i have a great feeling this is going to get on the top 10 list of custom maps pretty fast :D
(live in eu)

FatalRuin

United States44 Posts

June 19 2011 23:23 GMT

I would like to be a tester as well if you don't already have enough people to help test.
Saeko.233 on US
This would be a nice way to see if my micro has improved from playing a good bit of LoL recently :D
So far this map is looking fantastic and by the amount of work and effort put in the OP, it looks like you are willing to commit to this map. I really hope you do and are rewarded for all the effort that went into its creation.

WeedRa

Germany815 Posts

June 19 2011 23:35 GMT

#10

This needs to be on EU aswell

And maybe i can become a tester?

Zedders

Canada450 Posts

June 19 2011 23:41 GMT

#11

hey great!

Just a suggestion, don't bother making -all- the possible matchups as balanced as possible. A little/or a lot of imbalance creates thought and frustration and eventually better micro. It's also a big thrill when a matchup that looks one-sided goes the other way

Snoman

Canada191 Posts

June 20 2011 00:26 GMT

#12

Looking forward to this!

Loes

Canada115 Posts

June 20 2011 05:01 GMT

#13

Wow this looks really sick. I hope this works out, and im really looking forward to it =D.

ElPeque.fogata

Uruguay460 Posts

June 20 2011 18:01 GMT

#14

Great.

We need a good microtraining map.

There are some but include unexistent units or are very badly balanced.

Id love to have one to train real scenarios.

MasterReY

Germany2689 Posts

June 21 2011 10:08 GMT

#15

Any prediction when it will be released?

I think you could cut down on the number of battles for now and add more with updates after release while balancing the ones which were in there from start.

If you release the map with 270 battles its VERY VERY hard to check the balance of every battle and make it even, because you need to see a specific battle often enough so you can judge.
So i guess its best to start out with 60 or so and balance those with updates after the map is released while adding new ones bit by bit. This would just contribute to the balance

And like i already said i would like to be a tester ;D

XenoX101

Australia722 Posts

June 21 2011 12:34 GMT

#16

On June 21 2011 19:08 MasterReY wrote:
Any prediction when it will be released?

I think you could cut down on the number of battles for now and add more with updates after release while balancing the ones which were in there from start.

If you release the map with 270 battles its VERY VERY hard to check the balance of every battle and make it even, because you need to see a specific battle often enough so you can judge.
So i guess its best to start out with 60 or so and balance those with updates after the map is released while adding new ones bit by bit. This would just contribute to the balance

And like i already said i would like to be a tester ;D

I will be releasing it before reaching 270 battles as an Alpha/Beta and I am admittedly still uncertain on this number, but the idea is to keep it big enough to be unpredictable while small enough that one can still get comfortable with all the matches. This number in fact translates to 90 battles per race, with 30 per small medium large arenas, so breaking it down it still sounds reasonable at 270, but this can as most things be subject to change.

johnnywup

United States3584 Posts

June 22 2011 14:54 GMT

#17

ill help testing

raser

Norway297 Posts

June 22 2011 14:57 GMT

#18

if you want testers in EU i would not mind helping out

Minigun

616 Posts