Map of the Month #9 - Page 16

I'd love to do it like fenX and end my mapmaking career here and now. But I'm coming back anyway, even if I get more and more demotivated. Wasting time in the editor... fml

The proportions of this map are very similar to a Brood War map- the mains are pretty big compared to the rest of the map which is tight but sufficiently open for balance purposes. The contrast between chokes and open areas is a bit extreme, but it "raises the skill cap" for players meaning the player who has better positioning and faster response time can get the advantage in an engagement if his opponent doesn't play well.

As far as layout, I like how whoever takes their third first almost decides which way the map will be split- players will take their half of the map divided horizontally. Ten expansions is not very many considering there are two single-gas expansions, but I think it will play out alright since most are pretty easy to defend (easy wall-offs and chokes to abuse).

I love how the pathing moves through a very small choke when you click the opponent's base, but there are many alternative routes that only require slightly longer distances to get to open space. This will play out nicely because micro and map awareness will be crucial when spotting engagements and defending harass.

The expansion layout is very nice. Each third expansion offers two nice benefits and drawbacks- you can take the gold which spreads your army out and risks drop, or you can take the blue which is closer but doesn't provide high income. The closer third is right beneath a jutting piece of highground, which means controlling at least part of the center is required. I also like how each expansion leads to another, which ends in the map being split to five base per player (the perfect number in my opinion).

I'm not a big fan of how the natural is laid out, I would prefer if there was a single choke you could wall instead of just being able to wall from ramp to CC in the natural. The highground third is a nice option for cross positions, but I don't think it will be taken very often in vertical positions since it is so close to the opponent and pretty far from your natural compared to the lowground third. Essentially those expos and the golds are useless in vertical positions, which leaves about five bases (sometimes six) that players can take- a good number, but I dislike maps which incorporated useless expansions in certain positions.

That being said, this is a solid map with nice aesthetics, and that is why the other judges chose it.

The proportions on this map feel somewhat off to me, the main and natural are very small while the middle is gigantic. I think the middle should be slightly smaller and the main and natural should be enlarged. Maybe you could decrease the rush distance too, because right now its on the longer side and drops are somewhat difficult.

This is almost a Shakuras Plateau remake, with a few changes. Overall each change improves the map flow in my opinion, except the aggressive third is slightly too open. Adding extra paths in the north and south of the middle are nice to help the balance of ZvP (helping Zerg, where Protoss used to be overpowered).

I love how the middle of this map is nicely connected to each of the outer expansions- it has nice army positioning and troop movement. In general I think the first three or four expansions are laid out very well, but the fifth and sixth (corner expansions) are a little bit too close to the third and fourth, which seems to encourage turtling and mass expanding slightly too much in my opinion.

I think if you altered the corners so the map only had ten bases (five per player) it could play out a lot better. Good work though, it's cool to see a custom texture even though I'm not sure I like it.

I'm not a fan of how the natural is set-up- I would prefer a choke wall-off in addition to the ramp to CC, but it isn't a huge deal.

The biggest problem I have with the map is the expansion layout. Taking a lowground third is the easiest option since it is the closest and farthest from the opponent, but it doesn't lead into another expansion. The golds are too close together to be split and the fourth to the right is really pushing into the opponent's territory, which is very realistic to take in most games- even if you do though, you can't take a fifth unless the opponent has vacated his main and natural already (and hasn't taken a gold). So overall I don't think the map split is very good (well thought out, just not quite correctly executed) and having twelve full expansions in such a small map is kind of oversatured.

I would love to see a remake of this map where the map could be split in different ways with each expansion leading to a new one and having each expo viable to take in each possible map split.

Very nice main and natural layout, the use of rocks is pretty clever. I've learned to like the fact that pylons can harass in from the highground, its pretty cool since protoss has been "lacking harass" recently. The highground third is pretty easy to defend once you break the rocks, and leads nicely into the fourth into the center. The problem comes up at this point- you can double back and take the fifth against your main, but it is really too close to the opponents fourth to be realist to hold. Additionally having to go backwards to expand is kind of annoying and not good map flow, because each expansion should lead naturally into the next one. However if you try to take the fifth next to the opponent's main, its going to be too close to your opponent and you have to move your army through the tiny ramp if you can't go through the middle.

Additionally, there is an almost useless piece of terrain between the highground third and the fourth, which is just kind of sloppy map design. That being said, I can tell there was a lot of thought put into the map and aesthetics, and it turned out very well. Just a couple problems with the design and concept.

The natural's backdoor is pretty annoying since there isn't highground to defend it with, and it's so close for the defender to break down if you wall your front. But overall the main and natural are nicely laid out and well sized.

The primary problem is that if you expand to the close third then fourth, you really can't take a very easy fifth except the gold, which is really out of the way and is very hard to hold since it is so close to your opponent/tower and it's very open. The map will probably play out very well, just has a some oddly distanced expansions that make a lot of scenarios hard to take bases and potentially imbalanced.

Cool ideas with the forced cross. I like how it is two maps combined into one. This could be one of the best maps I've seen with just some slight layout and balance adjustments.

The primary problem in the bottom left and top right spawn positions is the lack of a ramp at main or natural and the cluster of six bases. Having no ramp makes PvP a nightmare, and also messes up static defense, forcefields, and long range units in all of the other MU's- making the natural unusually hard to hold in most circumstances. All of the six bases are so closely packed together and easy to defend that turtling and/or mass expanding is a little bit too powerful and potentially imbalanced.

In the top left and bottom right spawn positions, the main issue is the natural and the clustered six bases (same as the other position). The natural's mineral block really just serves as an annoyance to take down when you try to take a defensive third, and can also be exploited very easily by the attacker with tanks pushes, blink, and any other common aggression.

Great work, the overall layout and concept is very nice. The expansions are placed well too. The primary problem with the map is that there isn't an obvious or easy to defend third- you have to break rocks to take the gold, break rocks to take the defensive third, or take the very aggressive highground third that is pretty far away. The top right and bottom left are a little bit too choked, and also don't offer enough options for pathing when choosing your engagements or harassing.

Cool ideas with the LoS blockers, just the map is too big. The middle is very oversized, and the bottom expansions are huge especially the very bottom middle expo. Could be a great map if it is remade to be smaller in my opinion.

The natural is very awkward to hold since you can't wall from ramp-CC or a choke walloff. This will be extremely imbalanced in all match ups.

The only other problem is that the third in vertical and horizontal positions is slightly too far- the lowground expansion is so hard to hold because of its positioning and distance from the natural plus is not ideal to reinforce for the defender, and the gold requires breaking rocks and spreading yourself out slightly too much for 2 or 3 bases.

With just a few adjustments, this could be a very good map. Great attention to balancing each spawn location, I can tell a lot of thought went into its design and balance. You have a good sense for mapmaking, keep working at it!

I love seeing this asymmetrical map. It's really unique and clearly a lot of careful work designing it. There are a few concerns I have with it:

-cluster of expansions in the bottom left are too turtley
-bottom cannot be split in top left vs. top right
-really choked and limited pathing in the top right

I think the conceptual problem is that you were trying to make each spawn position have the same potential for taking expansions, using chokes, etc. But in my opinion if you want to do this, you should have used symmetry. The best use for an asymmetrical map to me is to do very drastic differences in each spawn location- maybe one main is lowground, one person gets a gold third, etc. but balancing it (the real challange).

Great work balancing the map, I can tell there have been many tests and adjustments to refine the it. In my opinion, it will be very even for all the races, except it is a little bit too far to take a fourth when you are expanding through your backdoor.

Now, part of mapmaking is balance and albeit a big one, but another major factor is the concept. The concept is how you design the map's gameplay, and what you are encouraging/discouraging. All of the greatest and notable brood war maps had definitive concepts- blue storm (tons of pathing options, large army movement around the center, etc.), katrina (expansions and main/natural layout encouraging using air), etc. I would love to see you use your balance and layout skill to develop the concept for you future maps- decide what makes the map "unique" from any other standard melee map.

As an extra note that I need to mention, having 10-12 (12 if two are mineral only or 1-gas) expansions in a two player map is plenty with a good design. Fourteen is far too many especially when every one of them is a full expo. It is best to design a concept so that every expo counts in every possible situation, so you don't have useless expansions or unnecessary turtling on clumped up bases.

Cool ideas, each of your maps have really been improving. I'm very impressed, keep at it! There are only a few issues with this map that brought it down:

-Extreme positional imbalance; if you spawn clockwise to the opponent, you can expand defensively meaning the rush distance becomes longer for the opponent to attack you as you take bases. If you spawn counterclockwise, you are forced to expand very aggressively meaning that the rush distance becomes much shorter for the opponent to attack you as your expand. This means there is a lot of potential for imbalance in all match upss.

-The middle four expansions are not the best design and are somewhat unreasonable to split between players. The problem is that they are very close to one and other, don't have any highground chokes to use defensively (see: TPW Concrete Dreams to see what I'm talking about), and controlling the middle watch tower means you control nearly the whole map and the opponent can only hold his expansion if it is a dead even game.

-Awkward main and natural setup, with no clear area to put production buildings. Not a huge issue, but putting buildings in the natural is kind of strange since they have to rally down the ramp and around to the main's choke. There isn't really enough room to put very many structures (mostly important in the late-game) on the small highground overlooking the fourth.

-Finally, I think the main-main distance is a little bit too long in cross positions since you have a free inbase expo. These positions will probably be ridiculously turtly because of the basically "free" three bases and easy fourth/fifth/sixth/seventh.

One funny problem I see is that it is easier to hold three bases than it is to hold two bases in all positions except horizontal, and maybe even then. I never like free expansions because it just makes turtling too easy and doesn't make for very good or skilled games.

Another major problem is that taking a fourth is nearly impossible unless you're already way ahead because you have to spread your army out a lot to defend it. This will likely lead to extreme imbalance in many matchups.

Also the middle is really too open, it is extremely hard to push out in vertical and cross positions without risking a complete surround or counterattack. I'd like to see some more chokes in the middle and sides for Protoss and Terran to abuse.

I like it that you can wall from ramp --> CC in the natural, but I would also prefer that you could wall a single choke instead of two wide ones. It won't affect balance very much, but its just my preference.

Good work with the expansion layout, the rocks are very clever at the third expecially. I like the options for expanding, seems nicely balanced. My only concern is that the gold would be pretty powerful to put a gold at and get map control.

Some of the primary reasons this map wasn't chosen for top 5:

-very far distances throughout the map and between certain expansions
-tons of wasted space on the sides
-boring and bland textures/doodads throughout the map, and poor map borders
-clustered three bases a little bit too turtly (gold, third, and fourth)
-lack of a solid concept and gameplay focus, see Nightmare Hollow for some more details
-lack of natural highground pod for overlords (not a big deal, also lacking on TPW maps)

With this being said, I love the work you've been doing on this map and Shurik'n and I really think you're getting to be a great mapmaker. Keep at it!

Good main and natural layout, but I think the main is a tad bit on the too-small side. I would like it to be enlarged before it is used in competitive play. There isn't much space to build enough production facilities comfortably on 1-2 bases when you're terran or protoss.

I'm not a fan of the almost-free third bases, they're just going to encourage turtling. I think a good solution would be to remove the rocks- the rush distance will be fine, the natural will still be fine, and the map flow will be a lot nicer with more pathing options.

The middle expansions are a little bit too close for my taste, but they'll probably play out okay. Unfortunately its kind of another of the standard four-player rotational maps.