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![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/P8VyM.jpg)
The grid, a digital frontier
I try to picture clusters of units as they move through the map
What did they look like. Marines, zerglings?
Were the circuits like freeways?
I kept dreaming of a map I thought I'd never make
And then, one day, I was done.
MOTM February winner!
8 months, several layouts and 150+ hours in the editor later I am finally done with the map I wanted to create after getting inspired by a movie. I have gone through a dozen layouts and at one point I was 90% done with a map when I decided to start over on a better layout. Needless to say I am relieved that I am finally done.
New 6m2g version available on EU and NA. All bases have 6 mineral patches with 2k minerals each and 1 or 2 vespene geysers with 3k gas each. The original map is still up under the name TPW The Grid while the 6m version is called The Grid 6m.
Author: Archvile
Map bounds: 136x148
Nat-nat rush distance: 152.6
Available: EU, NA
Angled Overview
Analyzer
Distances
Close ups
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Immediately reminds me of Odyssey.
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The rocks in the borders kinda ruin the theme :[.
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On February 05 2012 00:12 IronManSC wrote:
Immediately reminds me of Odyssey.
Yes that was a big concern to us as well. We did talk quite a bit about it and decided not to do any changes to The Grid. Despite the similairities the proportions and the center is different enough that the maps plays out differently.
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On February 05 2012 00:12 IronManSC wrote:
Immediately reminds me of Odyssey.
very true. but i like the additional middle bases here; with the pathing layout, adds a dynamic to this common layout.
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On February 05 2012 00:15 ArcticRaven wrote:
The rocks in the borders kinda ruin the theme :[.
Not if you have seen the movie that inspired me to make this map 
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What was this movie, by the way ?
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SoCal, USA3955 Posts
On February 05 2012 00:24 ArcticRaven wrote:
What was this movie, by the way ?
Tron 
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I love the base layout. The expansion flow seems very natural, although not completely intuitive past 2-3 bases. Nice work
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Aotearoa39261 Posts
No doubt this map is well made, but I feel like I've seen it before - if you know what I mean.
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On February 05 2012 01:03 Plexa wrote:
No doubt this map is well made, but I feel like I've seen it before - if you know what I mean.
I am absolutely aware of its similarities with Odyssey. I have seen playtests and we were talking a lot about it in TPW before I decided to finalize the map and I can guarantee you that the maps are very different in the way they play.
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Strangely, I don't think it is that similar to odyssey at all. With the center bases and only 1 tower, it has a very unique dynamic to it. Needless to say, I like it alot.
But maybe you really should have just flipped/rotated the whole map to avoid this discussion 
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Yeah - at first I thought it was like Odyssey mixed with Cloud Kingdom, but I'm seeing a lot of subtle but very major differences.
Just compare how the low ground and middle play out.
Archvil3 always makes maps that look amazing, he certainly gets credit here. :D
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Looks fantastic! Great use of open space and chokes. I also like the basic expo layout! Honestly I can't find anything I would change right now. The only thing I'd keep an eye on is the two close corner expansions, because they might be a little bit too close and promote turtling or hidden expansions.
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On February 05 2012 00:12 IronManSC wrote:
Immediately reminds me of Odyssey.
I saw the pic and was like "Oh, it's a lefix map"
Then I saw Arch made it and was like "w0t"
Cool map either way~
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Aotearoa39261 Posts
On February 05 2012 01:07 Archvil3 wrote:Show nested quote +On February 05 2012 01:03 Plexa wrote:
No doubt this map is well made, but I feel like I've seen it before - if you know what I mean. I am absolutely aware of its similarities with Odyssey. I have seen playtests and we were talking a lot about it in TPW before I decided to finalize the map and I can guarantee you that the maps are very different in the way they play.
Not even just odyssey, there are a lot of maps with this layout
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China6329 Posts
Looks so amazing, and it wouldn't be better to use space debris as background?
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What is it with all these new maps being so damn chokey? Zergs will lose against protoss every game on this map.
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On February 05 2012 01:31 LunaSaint wrote:
Yeah - at first I thought it was like Odyssey mixed with Cloud Kingdom, but I'm seeing a lot of subtle but very major differences.
Just compare how the low ground and middle play out.
Archvil3 always makes maps that look amazing, he certainly gets credit here. :D
I dunno, looks sorta like Odyssey meets Daybreak, ever so vaguely. Even so, both are great maps and this doesn't look bad by any means either.
I agree about the aesthetics though, absolutely awesome. I love the use of the korhal buildings on the cliffs.
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On February 05 2012 00:43 shiroiusagi wrote:Show nested quote +On February 05 2012 00:24 ArcticRaven wrote:
What was this movie, by the way ? Tron
I guessn I'll just hang myself because of my lack of culture, then
I can't remember any map having the same layout, tweaked or not, as this one.
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This map is brilliant. Very dynamic and fun proportions with a great layout and siiiiiick aesthetics. Couldn't ask for more.
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Yeah this map looks pretty damn fun to play on, I'll give it a few games and post replays next chance I get.
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Really nice map, very unique aesthetics, I also like how you have two directions to expand and there are ton of opportunities to get caught out of position like the wide ramp outside the nat and the very middle choke. Will definitely try some games on this .
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huh ho, another sick map from TPW.
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This map looks great and I'll leave it at that. But I would like to mention something about the comments on this map.
I'd really ignore the people saying this is too similar to other maps. Simply because mapmakers are taking balance to such a fine point where anything that is non-standard - or anything just different - is shot down instantly. And therefore designs get so similar that they all start to look the same, despite different proportions and the little differences that count, Like that little drop location in the main blocked by LOSB's, or high ground near the natural to hide things.
People need to start looking at maps and looking at what's different and why it is good, rather than what is similar and then just dismissing the map, as it is getting frustrating going through every map on this forum sub-section and seeing in the first 3 posts someone just bashing its similarities and then not contributing anything beyond that.
Rant-off.
But I do love the sick visuals on this map I may have stolen some ideas for the map I'm currently working on! (Which is a better version of my last map -.-")
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Wow, this map is absolutely sick, it's quite simple, but that's nice, and the aesthetics are amazing , can't wait to play it
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I dont always fully understand your ways of analyzing stuff Barrin but you might be right. Let me try to argue though.
The 3 unit/3 paths sees all only applies to the early game when center has not been taken. When the opponent got that base up you cant put a unit there. It will die most likely. This means you have to move the scouting back a bit to 2 very open chokes which seems very reasonable to me. It does however give excellent vision in the early game and combined with the huge rush distance(it is identical to Daybreak) it makes timing attacks much less effective. This is intentional of course.
The map split you describe seems to assume a 6 base vs 6 base scenario and somehow goes through the center bases which confuses me a bit. I am not an expert on all that theory but it strikes me as a bit odd.
Now this is how I see the map up to 5 base vs 5 base:
It seems to me as the only sensible way to split the map if you take bases and not just shortest drawable line into account. In this scenario we are looking at a lot broader line with a lot more positional options.
At 6 base vs 6 base the map becomes rather strange however. There are no ideal positions and distances favors the attacker much more then the defender. Again, beleive me or not, this is intentional. I dont beleive avoiding cirkle syndrome and all that is a good thing. Maps with a perfect split tends to be very stale in the lategame so I like to round off a map with an odd expansion that allows a winning player to take that extra base and to create a more dynamic lategame.
Anyways assuming that you are right, and I do agree a bit that the central tower is extremely powerfull, what do you think of these tower positions?
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The Grid is now available on NA
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Those tower positions do make sense for the middle, but imo they make turtling on the corner bases even easier. How about either no towers or towers here?
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/281r4.jpg)
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I don't agree with Barrin regarding the pathing and map control, but the new watchtower positions are good. Further to this, I would highly consider widening the spot where the original watchtower was (just a bit) to give some more room to manoeuvre and minimize aoe when funnelling through this spot.
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@monitor. That was the initial tower position I used before moving to the center. The problem is that they see literaly everything on that side of the map.
@a176. I like to have that choke in the center to create some variation in terrain. The areas next to it is wide open and I like to shift between choke and open ground as much as possible so that all races can find an area which is more suitable for them to fight in.
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I let iGrok play around with the lighting of the map for half an hour and this is what he sent me back o.O
It looks sick but I'm gonna have to test FPS, visibility and possible distraction to the players first but expect an update within 1-2 days!
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I like the expansion progression.
If I can comment on one aesthetic part, nice update. The red doodads no longer clash with the other colors in the map. It gave it a rather unappealing, "thrown together" look. You might want to update the OP.
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@Aesthetics (FoxyMayhem): I actually think the blue and red is kind of a cool mix. Imo it's nice, especially with the lights around the main which are only visible in-game. Edit- iGrok's variation on the lights (only 3 red squares) does look better than the original though.
@iGrok's Lighting: Honestly I don't like it. I think the original is less vibrant in a good way and has kind of a "flat black" look to it instead of being this shiny shopping center-esque helicoptor landing pad. Of course it is up to you though
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It was the purple and red in the op I was commenting on, assuming it was up to date. It looks much better now.
You may like the flat black, but what is your average spectator going to want most? I think the glowing lines make it much more memorable.
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In-game it still looks very black, its just more specular so the details in the textures show up better.
The real change is in how units look on the map - they stand out from the terrain, where before they were very hard to see.
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If you're going for a Tron look you need to completely remake this map white with blue lines going through the low ground areas rather then white lines
That being said the texturing you've done does look good, but it doesn't look very Tron-esque.
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Tron doesn't have much white?
Its more alluding to Tron than actually being tron. Artistic expression and whatnot
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Does anyone else feel like we need a vulture racing map that looks like this?
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On February 06 2012 17:48 iGrok wrote:
Tron doesn't have much white?
Its more alluding to Tron than actually being tron. Artistic expression and whatnot
except for her
![[image loading]](http://photos.fansshare.com/celebrity/photos/beau-garrett-tron-legacy-zatanna-1268198930.jpg)
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On February 06 2012 06:26 Archvil3 wrote:I let iGrok play around with the lighting of the map for half an hour and this is what he sent me back o.O It looks sick but I'm gonna have to test FPS, visibility and possible distraction to the players first but expect an update within 1-2 days!
Too much, the cyan lines are very distracting and doesn't blend well with the flat greys. Also the lightong of the purple/blue gives a much nicer midnight metropolitan atmosphere in my opinion. I also think perhaps you should tone down the vibrant purple in the middle tower as it also stands out a bit too much, though it's still within reason.
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I have published the map with iGroks lighting as 1.1 on EU to run some tests tonite.
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Update 1.2
* Expanded map borders from 132x148 to 136x148
* Xel'naga watchtower removed
* Less cliff exposure to the main
* 6th base(corner base) is made easier to defend
* Big visual update! All new overview pics and close ups added in OP
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Though it does have similarities with Odyssey, they will certainly play out differently. I am looking forward for some games on here! 
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New 6m2g version available on EU and NA.
All bases have 6 mineral patches with 2k minerals each and 1 or 2 vespene geysers with 3k gas each. The original map is still up under the name TPW The Grid while the 6m version is called The Grid 6m.
overview of the 6m version:
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/4V2UWl.jpg)
Also since it was not previously mentioned in this thread, here it goes: MOTM February finalist!
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i think in the 6m version u should make 1 expo a gold (but without gas in it), preferably the corner expo.
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MOTM February winner!
I never really got around to thank a few people for helping me on this map so here it goes.
WRL - for making me a custom texture I needed to complete the theme.
iGrok the master of light - for doing the custom lighting on the map.
TPW - for being super awesome and always provide the needed feedback to get everything just right.
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On March 26 2012 00:58 Archvil3 wrote:New 6m2g version available on EU and NA.All bases have 6 mineral patches with 2k minerals each and 1 or 2 vespene geysers with 3k gas each. The original map is still up under the name TPW The Grid while the 6m version is called The Grid 6m. overview of the 6m version: Also since it was not previously mentioned in this thread, here it goes: MOTM February finalist!
The standard is 6m with 1 high gas 2000/5000
2 gas is not really liked
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I found this map today.
I have played 3-4 games on it and now it becomes my one of my favorite map for look!!! Congrats Archvil3!
Your B3 and B4 placement are perfect!
Textures are the best I have ever seen! Looks like TRON!
10/10 with no doubt
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thanks
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Just popped to say zvp on this map is a lot more enjoyable than on many others, and i'll be sure to practice on it with my friends.
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