I had a bunch of stuff written about the drama that came out of the finalist announcement, but I scrapped it because it started to not make sense. If you want more information about what I think needs to happen for MotM, then go to my link above. Otherwise, you'll just have to deal with the fact that subjectivity is the name of the game, undeniable and indisputable, and with that, you have to live with the fact that outside of this organization, you've got nothing else.

iRk

Sweden83 Posts

July 13 2011 09:34 GMT

#271

Awsome maps! Looking forward to it!

iGrok

United States5142 Posts

July 14 2011 18:53 GMT

#272

If I missed your score pm (I know theres at least one person) - Please send me another! Sorry!

SidianTheBard

United States2475 Posts

July 14 2011 21:09 GMT

#273

Any judges do any sweet write ups? Every other MOTM had them!

ihasaKAROT

Netherlands4730 Posts

July 15 2011 12:08 GMT

#274

On July 15 2011 03:53 iGrok wrote:
If I missed your score pm (I know theres at least one person) - Please send me another! Sorry!

not my score but pmed u for some feedback (like other months) any chance you can take a look at that?

AaronJ

United States90 Posts

July 18 2011 00:48 GMT

#275

Does anyone have an idea on around when MotM 8 will happen?

FlopTurnReaver

Switzerland1980 Posts

July 18 2011 00:53 GMT

#276

Seeing how every MotM started at the beginning of each month I'd say it's probably gonna be somewhere around the beginning of august.

AaronJ

United States90 Posts

July 18 2011 01:27 GMT

#277

HAHA Thanks I never would have guessed.

FlopTurnReaver

Switzerland1980 Posts

July 18 2011 04:58 GMT

#278

+ Show Spoiler +

If we look at this months submissions we can clearly see that the teachings of one of our spiritual leaders – which is Dustin Browder – are disappearing slowly. No blocking of every expansion except for the natural. No denying of half the chokes. Nothing to complicate expanding to an island. What happened to island expansions anyway?

As you see it wasn't that easy to determine a winner for this months Dustin Browder Award. However there actually was a map that sticked out because of its unique usage of Destructible Rocks. The World Tree by ihasaKAROT. It's also the first time this award complies to it's title because it actually changes the balance quite a bit:

Have rocks: Balanced
Rocks gone: ZERGS WREAK HAVOC!!

This is one map where you want to send your first 4 Zerglings to your opponents side to start destroying the rocks, ignoring scouting SCV's and early Marine pressure, just to get that advantage in the late game.

I salut to you sir for remembering our mighty lord of mapbalance, Dustin Browder.

+ Show Spoiler +

Do you know Brood War? Have you played it? Didn't you love those cool maps that got created for each season of SPL and sometimes for the individual leages? I sure did and still I wonder why so few mapmakers of today are taking a bit out of those fantastic examples. Well actually sometimes you do see a map that reminds you of the good old days. That's what this award is about.

This month there was one map in particular that reminded me about Brood War maps. The map is calld Judicator Castle and was created by Mereel. Doesn't it make you think about Destination? Or even.. ok mostly Destination. It owns its resemblance amongst others to the 2 bridges outside the natural but also.. ok mostly to those bridges I guess.

It's not only a very Brood Warliesque but also a very good, balanced and fun map. If you're ever bored by the ladder and MotM winner maps you should definitly give it a try. I say thank you for this bit of nostalgia in our almost too innovative world of mapmaking.

+ Show Spoiler +

Ok to be totally clear, this is not about the map looking like the result of a drunk cocaine orgy or anything like that. This is simply a statistical determined award. The map Odyssey by lefix has not only gotten the highest average score but also the highscore in every single category. This makes it bi- highscoring.

Yes I know, score doesn't mean as much as you may think in our decicion about the top 5. Yet this map has convinced everyone of the judges. I mean seriously, have you looked at this map? It's not only beautiful and shiny but also looks like it's incredibly fun to play. Even though it was incredibly hard this month to limit ourselfs to only 5 maps, this map was determined to be top 5 rather quickly.

So all that's left is to wait for witnessing some games on it to see if the map's really as good as we think. Also I'd like to stress that highscore doesn't mean at all that the map's definitly gonna win the competition end of the month. Certainly it has a good chance to though. Keep your eyes open for this treat in the upcoming tournament. I can guarantee you that you'll see some awesome games on this map.

+ Show Spoiler +

In painting, you have unlimited power. You have the ability to move mountains. You can bend rivers. But when I get home, the only thing I have power over, is the garbage.

Who has never enjoyed watching Bob Ross paint something amazing with very simple techniques? Who has never though 'Wow this looks so easy, I should try it myself sometimes' but never pulled through with it? I'm sure most of you out there have at one point. When I think about mapmaking I feel like there are many similarities with painting. Yes it is about constructing terrain on which people can play a game, but what is a construction without good looks?

The difference between a map with some textures on it and a map with actually well planned and executed textures is just huge. It's not as hard as you may imagine but in the end it comes to patience and determination. You can just mix some different grass and dirt textures and spread it over the whole map. Or you think of a concept and really make it look gorgeous. There are no happy trees on ugly textured maps, I can tell you that much.

So this award is not only about nice texturing. There were a lot of stellar looking maps this month. The reason this map – Broceliande by fenX – catched my eye is that the creator chose the ugliest and most limited tileset possible, which is Agria. Don't believe me? I challenge you to find me 3 other maps using this tileset that don't look totally repulsive. I'm not saying it's the best looking map I've ever seen, but he certainly got the best out of the selected textures.

Agria will thank you for displaying that not everything using its textures necessarily must be hidious. You definitly deserve some appreciation for this and I'm sure we'll be seeing your submissions up top in the future, at least when it comes to the aesthetics. But that's our little secret.

Congratulations to all the winners. Keep up the great work!

Sencerely
FTR