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Hello there.
It's been a while since I wrote my last guide, so I'd like to go ahead and begin writing my next one. Circle syndrome, the hottest topic in Starcraft 2 mapmaking, has recently come up as one of the biggest issues facing all of our maps. I am going to go over a few examples of maps with circle syndrome, maps with expansion ambiguity, and maps with defined expansion layouts. But first, I need to define a few things.
Noun: Circle Expansion Pattern [sərkəl ikˈspanSHən patərn] - a two player map expansion layout where each player can expand clockwise or counterclockwise around the map which results in the last base being in close proximity to the opponent
Noun: Expansion Ambiguity [ikˈspanSHənˌambiˈgyo͞o-itē] - a layout where each expansion has its own unique benefits and drawbacks to expanding there, requiring a choice from the player
Noun: Defined Layout [diˈfīnd lāˌout] - a layout where there is a clear progression to expanding, players are meant to expand in an obvious order without any ambiguity
Adjective: Sesquipedalian [seskwəpəˈdālyən] - Characterized by long words
Maps with Circle Expansion PatternsBel'Shir Beach Winter by LSPrime Map Size: 120x128 Number of expansions: 12 ![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/kUtqx.jpg)
The most defining giveaway that this map has a circular expansion pattern is the option between two thirds. Each base is on the same level and the same distance from the natural; they differ slightly in their openness and how close they are to the opponent. Once you take one of these thirds, players can either continue expanding around that side of the map or they can double back and take the third they didn't before (the fourth).
Either way you begin circling around the outside of the map to take the fourth, fifth, and onward. After each player has taken their sixth base, even though it rarely happens, you are under three seconds away from the opponents base (or are below their main).
Dual Sight by LSPrime Map Size: 150x120 Number of expansions: 10 ![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/xYUQr.jpg)
As usual, the most defining feature that points to a circular expansion pattern on this map is that players can choose between two thirds. And again, each leads to a circular expansion pattern around the edge of the map. Often a Zerg will take the third against the main and Protoss/Terran will take the lowground third, which means players will be very close once each player takes their third (in non-mirrors).
The expansions on this map have a little bit more variety in their distance from the natural, their terrain level, and their openness. However they are still in a circle pattern around the map that arrive just seconds from the opponent on 5 base vs 5 base. Overall this results in game rarely getting past 3 or 4 bases, especially considering many of the expansions are unusually open.
Same map as Dual Sight?
Two third options, circular expansion pattern around the map, yeah yeah you've heard it before. I won't bother extending details to this because what I said about the other two maps applies pretty perfectly. This map does feature a small 'blue storm-esque' choke which seperates the map from other circular expansion maps, but the open expansions and small map size sent it to the grave.
Maps with Expansion Ambiguity Cloud Kingdom by Superouman Map Size: 126x132 Number of expansions: 12 ![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/8l7eB.jpg)
Cloud Kingdom does not have a circular expansion layout. But it does have expansion ambiguity, which is a nice way to incorporate choices into expanding without ruining the map (see what I did there?). Players can choose between taking a third against the main or a third against the natural, which is less vulnerable to forcefield attacks and runbys and also serves for a more aggressive playstyle.
After the third choice, the fourth, fifth, and sixth expansions are in a very clear order. And once players are on their 6 bases, you aren't seconds from the opponent- infact the only expansions that are close are the corner and the third against the natural. This means many games can easily get past 3 bases unlike most maps with circle syndrome.
Ohana Re by IronMan Map Size: 128x135 Number of expansions: 10 ![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/gLzS1.jpg)
Ohana Re has a pretty obvious third. The lowground expansion is close to the natural and can be even closer, safe by ground, farther from the opponent, and not very open. So the third expansion isn't very ambiguous (almost the opposite of Cloud Kingdom).
After the third base though, there are two options for a fourth expansion. One is slightly farther on lowground (next to the main) and the other is closer on highground, though it is closer to the opponent too. Either way though, you don't end up going around the map in a circle because you "double back" to expand. Additionally, you never end up getting too close to the opponent.
Sanshorn Mist by Superouman Map Size: Unkown Number of expansions: 12 ![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/Erb5B.jpg)
There are actually three options for a third on this map (the island, expansion against the main, or the expo near the natural). Each has positives and negatives, but only one leads to a fourth. So you will go in a definite direction after doubling back to expand to your fourth.
Maps with Defined Layouts
On Korhal Compound, the order which you take your bases is very clear. The lowground third is by far the easiest to hold by ground and it is the closest. Then you take the middle ground fourth, going across the map. Then the highground fifth is obvious because it is close to the fourth and the farthest from the opponent.
Every one of these layouts can work in competitive play (and already have). It is important to be aware of the different styles you are using and decide why you want to use them to make your map special. Keep in mind that many maps currently use circular expansion layotus- this design highly limits what you can do and is discouraged to allow macro games and unique gameplay.
Enjoy!
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I highly disagree with your interpretations of Bel'Shir Beach Winter and Korhal Compound - they both belong in the middle category IMO. I also disagree with where you place Sanshorn Mist - it has a fairly high degree of circle syndrome.
Basically, it seems that you (understandably) do not understand this section of my CS thread
LOCAL RESOURCE DENSITY I first wrote about Resource Saturation here: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=273780In there I talked about map-wide, overall, "Global" Resource Saturation. But here I want to talk about Local Resource Saturation. First a brief science lesson: "Gravitation, or gravity, is a natural phenomenon by which physical bodies attract with a force proportional to their mass." - wikipedia Think of each base like a "physical body", and consider how there is a sort of gravity between them. The gravity represents how easily one base flows into the next one. If you have one of these bases, how easy is it to take the other one? It should be clear that bases that are on completely different sides of the map don't flow very well into each other. It should also be clear then, by contrast, that bases that are only 15 spaces away from each other (instead of say 150 spaces) flow much more easily into each other. There is a much stronger connection between bases that are closer together. Now realize that every base on a map flows, or has a gravity, towards every other base on the map. Again, the strength between each connection largely depends on how close or how far the two bases in question are. The terrain of the path between them is also a large factor. Not all bases are created equal. Some are "heavier" than others. Indeed, the place in which you originate (your main) is the heaviest. The base right next to it (natural) is almost as heavy. Somewhat lighter than that is the (potential) third(s). Etc. Furthermore, some bases have less resources and are thus lighter. Some bases are high-yield bases and are generally heavier. Some bases (think tertiary bases) are very easy to hold - heavier - because they have only a single fairly small choke. Some bases are extremely wide open making them much lighter.
In Bel'shir Beach's case, there is a high saturation of bases at the top right and bottom left corners of the map. Not including those two bases in the center (btw those bases aren't just a little closer to the enemy, they're a lot closer especially when you consider the heavy gravity of the top right and bottom left - granted there is a pretty big hole between them), a plenty small central map width, and a plenty long central map length.
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For Korhal Compound, the center bases are highly ambiguous.
Consider being on the bottom part of the map and taking all 4 bottom bases. The 'central map width' at this area, or the longest ground distance between the entrances to these bases is plenty short (btw if it wasn't so short then this map would have circle syndrome). Conversely if the enemy is doing the same, the central map length is quite long compared to the relatively short ground distance between the entrances to the bases.
There is a high amount of gravity on the top and bottom of the map, and these 4 bases will pretty much always belong to their respective player. That makes the last two bases in the center highly ambiguous. Don't forget how far apart they are btw.
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For Sanshorn Mist... well, the central map width is wider than the length is long. Furthermore, on the outskirts of the central map width there is a fairly high gravity of bases. A certain degree of controlled center map flow somewhat counteracts these, but not quite.
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Also Cloud Kingdom's natural being pretty much right next to the shortest central map width is practically begging for circle syndrome. But that shortest central map width is pretty short, and there is a high amount of gravity on the top and bottom parts of the map. The high ground structure in the center gives extra strength to map control potential.
Indeed these layouts can and do work in competitive play. If I am not mistaken, you have said yourself that there is a phenomenon where pretty much any decently constructive map is going to play okay. But "okay" can certainly be suboptimal or even directly inferior.
BTW these maps are much better than 'decently' constructed (especially for the time that each was created), just sayin.
That said, I totally agree that circle syndrome is not necessarily a bad thing and it's more a flavor thing (not completely). Some maps should have it (especially aggressive maps, but even some other kinds can use it).
Ignoring aggressive maps, there should be the occasional map without any circle syndrome at all. Even rarer should be a map with a lot of it, 90%+. A significant amount of maps should aim for like 50-70% circle syndrome. But the large majority of maps (perhaps 3 out of 5) should aim for 10-40% circle syndrome.
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Hello there, Detective Flop here.
As already mentioned, I can't really see a big difference between the expansion layout of Dual Sight and Sanshorn Mist. Yes, Sanshorn has 2 islands that will never be used (especially not as 3rd).
"But I've seen someone using it in one game!!"
Well he had probably already either won the game or lost it later. Or it was a Terran. But let's not discuss balance here. The gold expo, which apparently isn't one anymore, is about 3x as far away as the ccw 3rd, so you won't take that one either. I mean it's not that much towards the enemy to call it an offensive expansion imo. It will be offensive as soon as you take all the expansions until you are at the 3rd near your opponents natural, which makes it very very proxy (CIRCLE SYNDROME ALERT!!).
On to exhibit B: Korhal Compound. I know how much you like drawings on mappictures, so I did the same:
![[image loading]](http://i.picasion.com/pic48/f4c032ef419e22215b447204d53583e2.gif)
As we can see in this piece of evidence, the base layout is almost exactly identical, even the routes between the bases show an awfully lot of similarity. Allowedly, I had to stretch the picture of Dual Sight a bit vertically to be able to compare it properly. Now you might say something stupid like "But mister officer detective, those lines aren't exactly on top of each other!". Indeed. We all know that people in the mapmaking community don't like to resort to plagiarism and generally steal neither layouts nor terrain features. And that's why the terrain is not exactly the same, which makes those lines vary. You can see that the path from natural to cw third is even longer on Korhal Compound.
So I have to come to the conclusion that I don't fully agree with all the examples you listed in this thread. On the other hand I welcome your effort to enlighten other, lesser knowable people about our new biggest concern in mapmaking, which without a doubt, clearly is called sərkəl ˈsinˌdrōm.
Thank you for the attention, I rest my case.
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On January 20 2012 13:06 FlopTurnReaver wrote:Hello there, Detective Flop here. As already mentioned, I can't really see a big difference between the expansion layout of Dual Sight and Sanshorn Mist. Yes, Sanshorn has 2 islands that will never be used (especially not as 3rd). "But I've seen someone using it in one game!!" Well he had probably already either won the game or lost it later. Or it was a Terran. But let's not discuss balance here. The gold expo, which apparently isn't one anymore, is about 3x as far away as the ccw 3rd, so you won't take that one either. I mean it's not that much towards the enemy to call it an offensive expansion imo. It will be offensive as soon as you take all the expansions until you are at the 3rd near your opponents natural, which makes it very very proxy (CIRCLE SYNDROME ALERT!!). On to exhibit B: Korhal Compound. I know how much you like drawings on mappictures, so I did the same: As we can see in this piece of evidence, the base layout is almost exactly identical, even the routes between the bases show an awfully lot of similarity. Allowedly, I had to stretch the picture of Dual Sight a bit vertically to be able to compare it properly. Now you might say something stupid like "But mister officer detective, those lines aren't exactly on top of each other!". Indeed. We all know that people in the mapmaking community don't like to resort to plagiarism and generally steal neither layouts nor terrain features. And that's why the terrain is not exactly the same, which makes those lines vary. You can see that the path from natural to cw third is even longer on Korhal Compound. So I have to come to the conclusion that I don't fully agree with all the examples you listed in this thread. On the other hand I welcome your effort to enlighten other, lesser knowable people about our new biggest concern in mapmaking, which without a doubt, clearly is called sərkəl ˈsinˌdrōm. Thank you for the attention, I rest my case.
Okay, yes Sanshorn Mist doesn't exactly have three viable third choices. But I think it illustrates my point that you can have many different kinds of expansion ambiguity without having circle syndrome.
Yes Korhal Compound and Dual Sight have similar expo layouts, but the third on Korhal is much more optimal to take than the highground fifth, unlike Dual Sight's layout. And also you aren't allowed to shrink the map image horizontally to prove a point :p
I'll take the time to revise the OP so my examples are bulletproof.
[edit]
Updated OP and completely removed anything relating to circle syndrome. Now it's just a circular expansion pattern because I don't think circle syndrome really makes sense the way BARRIN USES IT. <3
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The thing with Korhal Compount vs. Dual sight is that the rest of the map layout and some slight size differences make it very clear whose expansions are whose in Korhal compound. Also, since the gold draws both players, dual sight encourages multiply possible expansion patterns, while Korhal is very, very clear about your expansion pattern. Particularly the way the third is set up in Korhal Compound makes for much less circle syndrome.
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For maps with defined layouts, i'd rather use metalopolis
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On January 20 2012 20:13 Superouman wrote:
For maps with defined layouts, i'd rather use metalopolis
The third, fourth and fifth can be ambiguous because you can expand to the center at any of these moments, usually depending on how aggressive you want to be, and that affects the timing of when you ultimately take the opposite spawn bases as fourth, fifth or sixth bases; shakuras is the same except it has two forward expansions instead of one.
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On January 20 2012 22:37 XenoX101 wrote:Show nested quote +On January 20 2012 20:13 Superouman wrote:
For maps with defined layouts, i'd rather use metalopolis The third, fourth and fifth can be ambiguous because you can expand to the center at any of these moments, usually depending on how aggressive you want to be, and that affects the timing of when you ultimately take the opposite spawn bases as fourth, fifth or sixth bases; shakuras is the same except it has two forward expansions instead of one.
Indeed as Xeno says, I didn't use Metalopolis for the defined layout because sometimes players will take the gold as a third, fourth, fifth, or even sixth base. I am looking to get a few more examples or the defined layouts though (right now I'm thinking Odyssey by Lefix).
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On January 21 2012 02:35 monitor wrote:Show nested quote +On January 20 2012 22:37 XenoX101 wrote:On January 20 2012 20:13 Superouman wrote:
For maps with defined layouts, i'd rather use metalopolis The third, fourth and fifth can be ambiguous because you can expand to the center at any of these moments, usually depending on how aggressive you want to be, and that affects the timing of when you ultimately take the opposite spawn bases as fourth, fifth or sixth bases; shakuras is the same except it has two forward expansions instead of one. Indeed as Xeno says, I didn't use Metalopolis for the defined layout because sometimes players will take the gold as a third, fourth, fifth, or even sixth base. I am looking to get a few more examples or the defined layouts though (right now I'm thinking Odyssey by Lefix).
Odyssey, Korhal Compound, and Dual Sight have practically the exact same base layout design - except odyssey is reversed. The only difference between them is obviously the aesthetics and how the bases are designed, but in terms of the base layout, all 3 are the same, so I don't know if you should use all 3 as "good examples" of defined layouts.
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On January 21 2012 02:55 IronManSC wrote:Show nested quote +On January 21 2012 02:35 monitor wrote:On January 20 2012 22:37 XenoX101 wrote:On January 20 2012 20:13 Superouman wrote:
For maps with defined layouts, i'd rather use metalopolis The third, fourth and fifth can be ambiguous because you can expand to the center at any of these moments, usually depending on how aggressive you want to be, and that affects the timing of when you ultimately take the opposite spawn bases as fourth, fifth or sixth bases; shakuras is the same except it has two forward expansions instead of one. Indeed as Xeno says, I didn't use Metalopolis for the defined layout because sometimes players will take the gold as a third, fourth, fifth, or even sixth base. I am looking to get a few more examples or the defined layouts though (right now I'm thinking Odyssey by Lefix). Odyssey, Korhal Compound, and Dual Sight have practically the exact same base layout design - except odyssey is reversed. The only difference between them is obviously the aesthetics and how the bases are designed, but in terms of the base layout, all 3 are the same, so I don't know if you should use all 3 as "good examples" of defined layouts.
Yes but you, Flop, and Barrin are also overlooking different features in a map that decrease the expansion ambiguity. Dual Sight has the most ambiguous third by far.
Korhal Compound the close third has a tiny choke to defend, it's seconds from the natural, and is very far from the opponent. The highground expansion is very far from the natural, close to the opponent, is more open, and leaves your natural more exposes. I don't think there will be any games that somebody takes the highground (fifth) as a third.
Dual Sight has a similar layout, except the third is more ambiguous. This is because it actually the expansion against the main isn't actually any closer to the opponent's natural, it has highground to defend with, and it almost shuts down drops into the main (ZvT it can be useful). What proves my point is that many games Zerg will take the expo against the main as a third - never has there been any question about which third to take on Korhal Compound.
Odyssey really only has one third you can possibly take because the other is just so much farther and is on lowground beneath a ramp. And once you take it, there is an obvious fourth and fifth bases.
It's easy to overlook features and just say "but the bases are in the same spot!", without actually considering how the map works as a whole.
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EPT![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/y0VcM.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/wK8jW.jpg)
