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Active: 2760 users

[M] (4) TPW Artifice

Forum Index > SC2 Maps & Custom Games
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1 2 Next All
funcmode
Profile Joined June 2010
Australia720 Posts
August 15 2011 02:19 GMT
#1
[image loading]

Finalist in August's Map of the Month tournament!

Available on: EU / Should be up on US for MotM#8.

Updates:

-

Introduction:

TPW Artifice is a 4 player rotationally symmetric map, with a standard main/natural setup, destructible rocks at the natural choke, a close third with 7 minerals and 1 gas, and a more distant third with 8 minerals 2 gas. There are custom Xel'naga watchtowers (pics further down) near each of the lowground third bases.

+ Show Spoiler [More Info] +
So... I've been trying to make a balanced 4P reflective symmetry map without blocked spawns recently, but it's actually practically impossible - so, using some of the terrain, I made a rotational symmetry map instead. The end result has a base and expansion format similar to Sanctuarium, however there are (imo) significant differences; for example the terrain should push more of the action towards the centre of the map. The natural is fast-expandable, but not as tight, and the rush distances are longer to name just a few.

I'd appreciate it if Artifice and Sanctuarium's (and other similar maps) similarities were left out of the discussion here - I had zero intentions of copying/mimicing the design, it just happened. In no way do I see this as Sanctuarium 2.0 or anything like that, I didn't even think about it while making it. I promise I'll try and be more ambitious in my map designs from here on out, so if you guys can keep comments relevant to this map specifically as I said I'd appreciate it - thanks!

Map Details:

Spawns: 2, 5, 8 & 11
Size: 140x140 (playable)
Bases: 16
Watchtowers: 4
Rocks: At each natural choke.
LOSB's: At each watchtower and in the narrow paths around the middle high ground.
Tileset: Ulaan, Castanar, Monolyth.

Note: You can walk through the green force-field walls!

[image loading]

(SUPER-HQ) Top-Down View
(SUPER-HQ) Angled View

Map Analyzer Images/Rush Distances: + Show Spoiler +
Summary: + Show Spoiler +
[image loading]

Rush Distances: + Show Spoiler +
[image loading]
[image loading]
[image loading]
[image loading]

Custom Xel'Naga Towers: + Show Spoiler +
Inactive:[image loading]

Active:[image loading]

Vanity Shots: + Show Spoiler +
[image loading]

[image loading]

[image loading]

[image loading]

[image loading]

[image loading]

Thanks for reading!

theplanetaryworkshop.com
@funcmode - TPW Mapmaking Team - theplanetaryworkshop.com
WniO
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
United States2706 Posts
August 15 2011 02:48 GMT
#2
The layout is really bland to be honest, but you found and crafted a new clean style texture wise so gj everything looks great.
Yoshi Kirishima
Profile Blog Joined July 2009
United States10366 Posts
August 15 2011 03:37 GMT
#3
I like it, crisp, looks natural, unique visual/texture, not hard to learn (memorize the map)

This map reminds me of Tal'Darim Altar, which I don't like much, and I think this is better than that.

Thank you for making, I think I'm going to love this map

Hope you win!
Mid-master streaming MECH ONLY + commentary www.twitch.tv/yoshikirishima +++ "If all-in fails, all-in again."
LunaSaint
Profile Blog Joined April 2011
United Kingdom620 Posts
August 15 2011 04:31 GMT
#4
Been waiting for this thread~

The texures nad theme overall are beautiful!
Orcasgt24
Profile Joined August 2011
Canada3238 Posts
August 15 2011 05:39 GMT
#5
I look at that map and instantly thought of Tibirium from Command and Conqure
In Hearthstone we pray to RNGesus. When Yogg-Saron hits the field, RNGod gets to work
Archvil3
Profile Joined September 2010
Denmark989 Posts
August 15 2011 08:44 GMT
#6
When you posted this map for MOTM it looked like it was cool and okay but nothing special on the pic you posted. On a closer look this map is visualy amazing! It's a really fucking sweet theme you got going on there and looks executed very well. The layout looks cool as well, nothing revolutionary to write books about but all round solid, balanced and interesting enough to justify putting it in the top 5 of the MOTM. Good job!
Let thy speech be better than silence, or be silent.
Zeon0
Profile Joined September 2010
Austria2995 Posts
August 15 2011 09:02 GMT
#7
its like 5 easy to take bases? i would love such a map, but i think expanding is way too easy on this map.
Hater of MKP since GSL Open Season 2 | Fanboy of: NesTea Stephano IdrA DIMAGA MorroW ret DongRaeGu Snute SaSe Mvp ThorZaIN DeMusliM
Ragoo
Profile Joined March 2010
Germany2773 Posts
August 15 2011 09:50 GMT
#8
I'm going to be honest: At first I thought this was a super boring standard map and didn't like it. But now that I see all the effort that went into this unique aesthetic style and the fact that you used custom watchtower models, I love this map.
Kinda sad how my view changes so much cause of looks, but take it as a compliment for excellent aesthetic work
Member of TPW mapmaking team/// twitter.com/Ragoo_ /// "goody represents border between explainable reason and supernatural" Cloud
iMMortaL.797
Profile Joined June 2011
United States94 Posts
August 15 2011 15:37 GMT
#9
I love the aesthetics, easy to macro, but the middle is not so open as to make this a zerg-favored map.
Gl!tch
Profile Joined December 2010
United States573 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-08-15 16:51:02
August 15 2011 16:50 GMT
#10
Very much like the map. Love the use of those green forcefields for aesthetics. I've been wanting to create a similar custom xel'naga tower, how do you get it to change from one model to another? i see you used the Library Disk and then the Library itself.
“I mean, they say you die twice. One time when you stop breathing and a second time, a bit later on, when somebody says your name for the last time.” ― Banksy
funcmode
Profile Joined June 2010
Australia720 Posts
August 15 2011 18:11 GMT
#11
On August 16 2011 01:50 Gl!tch wrote:
Very much like the map. Love the use of those green forcefields for aesthetics. I've been wanting to create a similar custom xel'naga tower, how do you get it to change from one model to another? i see you used the Library Disk and then the Library itself.

Thanks, and regarding the custom watchtowers; honestly, this was a massive pain in the ass. It took me hours to figure out, and I only persisted because I'd already invested so much time in to getting it working. I eventually got it all sorted at like 5am one night a week or two ago, and promptly went to sleep, so my memory of how I actually did it is a little hazy =/.

Essentially, what you have to do is - in the Xel'Naga unit in the data editor - change the model to the one you want to use, and then edit the event triggers to get the animations you want (I only use one model here, the animations are already built-in). It was quite easy to do that part, but my problem was the animations were the opposite of what I wanted (it looked "active" when it wasn't, and lowered into the ground when activated). Swapping them around wasn't easy (I'm not an expert on animations or event triggers, I had to find a way to reverse the "walk" and "stand" animations assigned to the model, or something like that).

I know this probably doesn't help a great deal, it's not something I'm eager to revisit but if I can find the time I'll try and put together a guide/walkthrough to doing this kind of thing. I also encountered some weird bugs, like every time you activated the tower it would jump about a marauder's height upwards, exponentially, so eventually the tower would be floating miles above the map... ;D

On August 15 2011 18:02 Zeon0 wrote:
its like 5 easy to take bases? i would love such a map, but i think expanding is way too easy on this map.

I get the impression you haven't actually played the map yet, apologies if I'm incorrect, but I'd argue that perhaps it's quite an easy 3 bases (with the third only having 7 minerals and 1 gas) but after that it gets surprisingly more difficult to take and hold expansions. Remember you can walk through the green force-field walls, so the map is actually a lot more open than it visually appears (this inspired the name).

On August 15 2011 18:50 Ragoo wrote:
I'm going to be honest: At first I thought this was a super boring standard map and didn't like it. But now that I see all the effort that went into this unique aesthetic style and the fact that you used custom watchtower models, I love this map.
Kinda sad how my view changes so much cause of looks, but take it as a compliment for excellent aesthetic work

I appreciate the honesty. You're not the only person who was quite underwhelmed when they first saw the map, and as WniO said layout-wise it's a little bland and I won't try and deny that. I'm glad you changed your mind though, I always put days of effort into map aesthetics and I guess on some it shows better than others and here the overall theme came together really well. It got to the point where I had to stop detailing because I was worried the map might develop "prodiG syndrome" (aka massive FPS drops ;D).

Thanks for the replies everyone
@funcmode - TPW Mapmaking Team - theplanetaryworkshop.com
Fearlezz
Profile Joined April 2010
Croatia176 Posts
August 15 2011 18:18 GMT
#12
Yeah, it does look awesome, especially when you zoom in the angled view. So pretty... And I'm sure it's not my place to suggest things like this, but I'd kill for some LOS blockers in main to hide tech/pylons/drops (a la Metalopolis)
Gl!tch
Profile Joined December 2010
United States573 Posts
August 15 2011 18:54 GMT
#13
Thanks, and regarding the custom watchtowers; honestly, this was a massive pain in the ass. It took me hours to figure out, and I only persisted because I'd already invested so much time in to getting it working. I eventually got it all sorted at like 5am one night a week or two ago, and promptly went to sleep, so my memory of how I actually did it is a little hazy =/.

Essentially, what you have to do is - in the Xel'Naga unit in the data editor - change the model to the one you want to use, and then edit the event triggers to get the animations you want (I only use one model here, the animations are already built-in). It was quite easy to do that part, but my problem was the animations were the opposite of what I wanted (it looked "active" when it wasn't, and lowered into the ground when activated). Swapping them around wasn't easy (I'm not an expert on animations or event triggers, I had to find a way to reverse the "walk" and "stand" animations assigned to the model, or something like that).

I know this probably doesn't help a great deal, it's not something I'm eager to revisit but if I can find the time I'll try and put together a guide/walkthrough to doing this kind of thing. I also encountered some weird bugs, like every time you activated the tower it would jump about a marauder's height upwards, exponentially, so eventually the tower would be floating miles above the map... ;D

See i can change the model but getting it to change from one model to another when activated i cant figure out. (Specificaly, the Zhakul'das Obelisk #3 to Zhakul'das Obelisk #1).

Ty for help, triggers and stuff along those lines are just too complicated :D idk how all those custom mappers do it.
“I mean, they say you die twice. One time when you stop breathing and a second time, a bit later on, when somebody says your name for the last time.” ― Banksy
HypertonicHydroponic
Profile Blog Joined October 2010
437 Posts
August 16 2011 02:31 GMT
#14
On August 16 2011 03:11 funcmode wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 16 2011 01:50 Gl!tch wrote:
Very much like the map. Love the use of those green forcefields for aesthetics. I've been wanting to create a similar custom xel'naga tower, how do you get it to change from one model to another? i see you used the Library Disk and then the Library itself.

Thanks, and regarding the custom watchtowers; honestly, this was a massive pain in the ass. It took me hours to figure out, and I only persisted because I'd already invested so much time in to getting it working. I eventually got it all sorted at like 5am one night a week or two ago, and promptly went to sleep, so my memory of how I actually did it is a little hazy =/.

Essentially, what you have to do is - in the Xel'Naga unit in the data editor - change the model to the one you want to use, and then edit the event triggers to get the animations you want (I only use one model here, the animations are already built-in). It was quite easy to do that part, but my problem was the animations were the opposite of what I wanted (it looked "active" when it wasn't, and lowered into the ground when activated). Swapping them around wasn't easy (I'm not an expert on animations or event triggers, I had to find a way to reverse the "walk" and "stand" animations assigned to the model, or something like that).

I know this probably doesn't help a great deal, it's not something I'm eager to revisit but if I can find the time I'll try and put together a guide/walkthrough to doing this kind of thing. I also encountered some weird bugs, like every time you activated the tower it would jump about a marauder's height upwards, exponentially, so eventually the tower would be floating miles above the map... ;D

If you could at all find your way to explaining how you did the watchtowers I'd be eternally grateful. Particularly I want to know how you determined that the tower was active or not via triggers, or if you didn't use triggers for this part of it. I have been working on this for a little while and I still haven't found the perfect way to pull this off. The triggers I am using are mostly working but still a bit buggy at the moment.
[P] The Watery Archives -- http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=279070
hobbidude
Profile Joined December 2010
Canada171 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-08-18 09:48:50
August 18 2011 09:44 GMT
#15
I think the visuals, doodading and textures, are the mosting appealling and architecturally interesting of any map i have ever seen.
exeONEmaxi
Profile Joined July 2011
Ukraine10 Posts
August 19 2011 06:31 GMT
#16
Good map. Thx.
Artifice
Profile Joined May 2010
United States523 Posts
August 20 2011 11:26 GMT
#17
I like this map
-stOpSKY-
Profile Joined September 2010
Canada498 Posts
February 16 2012 05:26 GMT
#18
I saw this map is in the second round of the playhem, does anyone else notice REALLY bad lag on it? I play in games with around 15% cpu usage but when I play this map my usage spikes to like 98% and just lags the shit out of me. I noticed some people who were streaming the playhem were getting the lag too(WBC was the person I saw experiencing the bad fps drop).
Timetwister22
Profile Joined March 2011
United States538 Posts
February 16 2012 07:08 GMT
#19
On February 16 2012 14:26 -stOpSKY- wrote:
I saw this map is in the second round of the playhem, does anyone else notice REALLY bad lag on it? I play in games with around 15% cpu usage but when I play this map my usage spikes to like 98% and just lags the shit out of me. I noticed some people who were streaming the playhem were getting the lag too(WBC was the person I saw experiencing the bad fps drop).


That's a result of the Omni Light doodad, which is used to make the bottom layer glow all green and what not.
Former ESV Mapmaker | @Timetwister22
-stOpSKY-
Profile Joined September 2010
Canada498 Posts
February 16 2012 08:18 GMT
#20
On February 16 2012 16:08 Timetwister22 wrote:
Show nested quote +
On February 16 2012 14:26 -stOpSKY- wrote:
I saw this map is in the second round of the playhem, does anyone else notice REALLY bad lag on it? I play in games with around 15% cpu usage but when I play this map my usage spikes to like 98% and just lags the shit out of me. I noticed some people who were streaming the playhem were getting the lag too(WBC was the person I saw experiencing the bad fps drop).


That's a result of the Omni Light doodad, which is used to make the bottom layer glow all green and what not.


Weird so it just causes like 95%+ cpu usage and retarded low FPS? Lol...sounds dumb.
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