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![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/HaaAx.jpg)
available now on NA servers as wrl Castaway
I decided I really liked the layout of one of my prior maps, but ultimately the aesthetics were lacking. I wanted to try and make something lush and beautiful without feeling like just another Bel'Shir map. I think in the end it might look too similar to Bel'Shir Beach (despite not using any Bel'Shir textures or doodads), but I still think it has a lot of differences that set it apart stylistically and thematically.
Specs:
*134x144 playable
*8 (plus 2 half) normal bases
*2 gold bases
*Medium rush distance (just over XNC nat to nat)
Tileset:
+ Show Spoiler +Valhalla Organic Cliffs
Tarsonis Manmade Cliffs
Xil Sand
Tyrador Rubble
Aiur Dirt
Agria Grass Green
Aiur Grass
Haven Grass Rocky
Haven Rock Smooth
Haven Rock Rough
Features:
*Mid is broken up by two rows of LOS blockers, you can use the towers to look over the first row, but it does not reach the second.
*Your third can be either a low ground with a siegable rear, a 6 mineral 1 gas base, or a rocked gold.
*The natural has a 10 unit choke (2supply+2rax, 3rax+1supply)
*The natural has a rocked backdoor with LOS in front of it allowing a sneaky probe or SCV to proxy or for stealthy drop play.
*Base area is relatively small and accessible by air, so Zerg will have good scouting opportunities.
*Combined the watchtowers cover all ground routes, but are awkwardly located to try and control both. They do not cover airspace all that well. I thought it was important to have towers to avoid base trading due to the multitude of attack routes, and their location actually results in some interesting play in mid.
Overhead
+ Show Spoiler + Click for big ![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/rC2Sfs.jpg) ![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/ypNBIs.jpg)
Analyzer
+ Show Spoiler +
Details:
+ Show Spoiler + Click for big Main + Nat: ![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/M7cXcs.jpg) Center: ![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/okuIps.jpg) Southwest Beach: ![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/gtz2qs.jpg) Northeast Beach: ![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/bM74Bs.jpg)
Let me know what you think aesthetically/balancewise.
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Castaway.. reminds me of that very good movie 
Very beautiful map.. nothing much to add for aesthetics..
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This is pretty nice. The colors are nice and bright, makes it look very islandy/sunny. However I think you should spread the sand all throughout the water and make it shallow like the bahamas or something, because right now it looks like it just drops off 10 feet from the shore.
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dezi
Germany1536 Posts
Nice one
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This is good, an even spread of bases and a good risk/reward for the gold. I love the aesthetics!
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o.o that looks good and its a solid layout
the stone beach looks really realistic
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Reminds me of XNC as far as base structure goes.
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Very nice, I think it's perfectly distinct from Bel'Shir Beach. Very nice use of green textures and foliage atop the rocky stuff. The only thing I could suggest to improve: maybe you can do some elevation tool work in the rocky areas. Specifically, if it were me I would use a small brush size and make some really lumpy parts in the center passage between the two ramps, and I would make it unbuildable so it doesn't look weird to get flattened out by buildings. You could put some non-path-obstructing rock doodads in to indicate unbuildable. I suggest this because the texture looks amazing and helps the illusion, but the two ramps seem unnaturally symmetric and planar.
By the way I think you did a great job making two sandy hollows where the erosion seems natural, even though I can't think of a place where you actually get sand in the interior of some rocks. ;D
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Thanks for the comments everyone.
On July 16 2011 05:59 KingTony wrote:
Reminds me of XNC as far as base structure goes.
There was a conscious decision to incorporate the best elements of XNC and Steppes of War while adapting the size and structure to more recent metagame trends.
On July 16 2011 06:10 EatThePath wrote:
Specifically, if it were me I would use a small brush size and make some really lumpy parts in the center passage between the two ramps, and I would make it unbuildable so it doesn't look weird to get flattened out by buildings. You could put some non-path-obstructing rock doodads in to indicate unbuildable. I suggest this because the texture looks amazing and helps the illusion, but the two ramps seem unnaturally symmetric and planar.
Unfortunately it is one of those situations where playability supersedes aesthetics. It would significantly effect balance and intuitiveness if the center was unbuildable. Specifically creep tumors would be a problem if it was unbuildable, but I will continue to look around the map for places to use the height tool. I just loathe the resulting appearance of a building being dropped down on top.
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wow this looks really good :D
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finally someone makes a map that doesnt suck
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I don't normally comment on other people's maps, but I actually really like it. Very nice.
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Yeah, I don't mind the decision going the other way at all, I just thought it'd be worth a try. I didn't mention cause I guess I take it for granted, you can checkerboard for creep tumors (which allows sensor towers too, but whatever). Or you can put the rocky terrain in the middle and leave a narrow lane on either side (atop the sandy ramps) for tumors. Or some other scheme that allows tumor extension with selected 1x1 availability.
Also the problem I perceive in the picture might not be noticeable in game, I'll check it out.
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your Country52797 Posts
On July 16 2011 06:52 WniO wrote:
finally someone makes a map that doesnt suck
Well, thank you! I'm glad to hear that every map I make is automatically bad!
Seriously, *stunned face*.
That...is...amazing.
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Added two new detail screenshots of the abandoned buildings and the beach. Two questions though:
1. Can anyone tell me why the thumbnail screenshot gets screwed up on BNet? All of the terrain is black, but all of the doodads appear to glow.
2. Are there not enough variations in chokes/open areas? I feel like most of the map is the same width.
On July 16 2011 09:46 EatThePath wrote:Yeah, I don't mind the decision going the other way at all, I just thought it'd be worth a try. I didn't mention cause I guess I take it for granted, you can checkerboard for creep tumors (which allows sensor towers too, but whatever). Or you can put the rocky terrain in the middle and leave a narrow lane on either side (atop the sandy ramps) for tumors. Or some other scheme that allows tumor extension with selected 1x1 availability. Also the problem I perceive in the picture might not be noticeable in game, I'll check it out.
Ya I didn't want anything that felt beyond the scope of what is typical in your average melee map, and I def want the mid to be a viable spot for something like a planetary fortress wall or a proxy pylon or something.
The issue with the ramps feeling a bit too symmetrical is a result of the map originally being designed as a man made building as opposed to a natural land mass. I'll look in to ways to make it feel a bit more organic.
On July 16 2011 07:47 Phried wrote:
I don't normally comment on other people's maps, but I actually really like it. Very nice.
I read your post like this:
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/Zvcts.jpg)
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1. What sort of lighting settings are you using? I assume the bnet thumbnail is screwy due to funny quick-render lighting effect.
2. The spacing seems fine to me. All your chokepoints are about the same size but it's okay because they flow really well, so you can pick your terrain to your preference easily. You can also change routes freely.
The center doesn't really bug me in game, so I wouldn't worry too much about it. It'd be nice if you could apply some irregular elevation to the ramps cause they're unbuildable anyway, and this would break up the straight waterline. Sadly ramps say no to raise terrain brush.
Are those palm trees in the sandy low ground areas symmetrical? If not that's fine, just wondering what you intended and if they are.
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map looks great, but I just checked the Analyizer Pics... 123.3 rush distance will favor terran brutally (T>>P>Z) 
damn, sry, just got that this is natural to natural...
still I'd like to see the main to main rush distance, I guess it would be like 135 by the looks of it, which would be still not a lot, but should be playable.
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Hey wrl. This is a really sweet map, I love the 2-player style layout, and the fact that there are a total of 12 bases on the map with a lot of high-ground/low-ground variation. Excellent work.
If it's okay with you, I would actually like to use this map in the map pool for a weekly tournament that I run (StarCraft II Rebirth's). I was looking at wrlCastaway this evening while our Diamond/Masters tournaments were going on and actually had several members of our community help me test it out. We played about 10-15 games on it today checking for imbalances and whatnot and everyone actually seemed to like it; nothing stood out to them that was a serious issue in any match-up. I think it'd be a great addition to our currently only Blizzard/GSL/MLG maps, as it would definitely help add a change of pace and it would also help your work get more attention.
Let me know if that's cool with you. Thanks.
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1. Can anyone tell me why the thumbnail screenshot gets screwed up on BNet? All of the terrain is black, but all of the doodads appear to glow .
Try having the lighting settings window open in the editor when you publish the map. Once you open the lighting window, lighting should be 'corrected'.
Do you have a map thread? I don't recognize your nick.
The map layout is solid, but to me, it looks liek a lot of other 2p maps. I like how you made the safer third with less minerals, so it's a trade-off to take rahter than the one on low ground. You might want to have some wider ramp into the low ground and some more diversion in choke/ramp sizes.
About rocks on gold bases. I just had this discussion: void rays can charge up on rocks before they attack. If you dont add rocks, though, you have the usual probelm with encouraging terran to take the gold with the first CC. Which is the lesser evil? The map I discussed had rocks by the gold just next to the rocked nat backdoor and solved the issue by remvoing the rocks by the gold, having 5 mineral fields and adding LosB in the proximity of the gold base to make it harder to defend.
Aesthetically, it's very pleasing to the eye. I dont care if it looks like Bel'shir Beach or not, as long as the beach concept is not overused. I dislike the rock texture used in the mains beacuse of the big chunks of rocks it includes. Beacuse its flat texture and not rock doodads, they look strange. Rahter use anothe rock texture, beacuse the cocnept of rocks in the middle and grass on the edges is lovely.
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On July 16 2011 16:32 BloodreaveZ wrote:
Hey wrl. This is.....
Check your PMs!
On July 16 2011 17:52 Meltage wrote:Show nested quote +1. Can anyone tell me why the thumbnail screenshot gets screwed up on BNet? All of the terrain is black, but all of the doodads appear to glow . Try having the lighting settings window open in the editor when you publish the map. Once you open the lighting window, lighting should be 'corrected'. Do you have a map thread? I don't recognize your nick. The map layout is solid, but to me, it looks liek a lot of other 2p maps. I like how you made the safer third with less minerals, so it's a trade-off to take rahter than the one on low ground. You might want to have some wider ramp into the low ground and some more diversion in choke/ramp sizes. About rocks on gold bases. I just had this discussion: void rays can charge up on rocks before they attack. If you dont add rocks, though, you have the usual probelm with encouraging terran to take the gold with the first CC. Which is the lesser evil? The map I discussed had rocks by the gold just next to the rocked nat backdoor and solved the issue by remvoing the rocks by the gold, having 5 mineral fields and adding LosB in the proximity of the gold base to make it harder to defend. Aesthetically, it's very pleasing to the eye. I dont care if it looks like Bel'shir Beach or not, as long as the beach concept is not overused. I dislike the rock texture used in the mains beacuse of the big chunks of rocks it includes. Beacuse its flat texture and not rock doodads, they look strange. Rahter use anothe rock texture, beacuse the cocnept of rocks in the middle and grass on the edges is lovely.
Thanks for the response. That trick with the lighting window opened didn't seem to work, but I'll keep messing around.
I do worry a bit about the rocks so close to the main, but it could be a point players would observe vs Protoss to keep their buildings away from that end of the starting area. I've actually moved the rocks a unit down in the latest version just to help alleviate this problem. It will still block expansions from being placed.
I've added a 2nd version of the map called wrl Castaway TE that will be updated less frequently and also has the lowered supply depot at the main ramp.
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EPT![[image loading]](http://imgur.com/rC2Sf.jpg)
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