[M] (8) Electric Funeral

TheFish7

United States2824 Posts

February 20 2012 07:10 GMT

<Electric Funeral>
Made by: <TheFish>
Published on: <[NA]>

<Overview Image>

<In-Game Description:>
8 Player 4v4 map. Players are provided with a shared base and natural expansion. Bases get harder to take towards the middle, but rich minerals can be found on the island in the center.

<Introduction/Inspiration:>
+ Show Spoiler +

My second map was a way to challenge myself; I wanted to create a large map that could be used in 4v4 games, I wanted to use circular symmetry, and a custom texture pallet.

I play alot of 4v4 and have gotten bored of the same maps, the pool of which has not changed much over the seasons. I wanted to create a map where all the players had an equal chance at grabbing a natural expansion, but also was open enough to give rushing opportunities. The end result is quite large; its Epic at 256X256, playable 240X240. I also believe that its 25 expansions are 1 more than any current ladder map.

I'm currently deciding if I want to keep Top v Bottom only spawns or include Left v Right spawns as well, then ill publish on NA

Feedback is appreciated

Pictures (Aesthetics):

+ Show Spoiler +

Map Analyzer

+ Show Spoiler +

10 - 8 attack path

10- 5

10-4

EatThePath

United States3943 Posts

February 20 2012 07:19 GMT

I think you need a little more open spaces between the two sides. The towers are incredibly choky for a 4v4 map, look at the ladder 4v4 maps and every tower has open space on 3 sides at least. Remember that you could very well have a 1600 supply engagement going on. The chokes at the natural and at the nearby routes leading thereto really can't handle more than 2 maxed armies leaving every other teammate on both sides kind of useless in larger fights.

I'm also not fond of 4v4 maps that have such a wide distance for defense. I know the main bases are pretty secure especially with a friend right near by, but you're closer to your enemies vertical from you than your own allies, which favours cheesy aggression which is what 4v4 does not need, since ganging up early is already incentivized by the team format.

If the map is supposed to be for 4v4, and it's oriented Top vs Bottom, I would recommend chopping out the center 20%, which would removed the center obstacle, towers, and bases along the 12/6 oclock line, instead having open space. This would make "joining up" in the middle more natural but the early game would still involve 2 separate 2v2s vertically.

TheFish7

United States2824 Posts

February 21 2012 02:30 GMT

On February 20 2012 16:19 EatThePath wrote:
I think you need a little more open spaces between the two sides. The towers are incredibly choky for a 4v4 map, look at the ladder 4v4 maps and every tower has open space on 3 sides at least. Remember that you could very well have a 1600 supply engagement going on. The chokes at the natural and at the nearby routes leading thereto really can't handle more than 2 maxed armies leaving every other teammate on both sides kind of useless in larger fights.

I'm also not fond of 4v4 maps that have such a wide distance for defense. I know the main bases are pretty secure especially with a friend right near by, but you're closer to your enemies vertical from you than your own allies, which favours cheesy aggression which is what 4v4 does not need, since ganging up early is already incentivized by the team format.

If the map is supposed to be for 4v4, and it's oriented Top vs Bottom, I would recommend chopping out the center 20%, which would removed the center obstacle, towers, and bases along the 12/6 oclock line, instead having open space. This would make "joining up" in the middle more natural but the early game would still involve 2 separate 2v2s vertically.

Thanks for the feedback

As of now the map is Top v Bottom only...
I think you're right about the towers - I am going to change that simply by lowering them to ground level and have a bit of lava on the side towards the middle.

I made the chokes at the natural the right size to allow a forge fast expand, and the chokes leading from the main are standard small sized ramps so one could wall off with a couple supply depots and a rax. The shared main means that you would have at least one teammate nearby to help defend early aggression, so the two players spawning close to the other team wouldn't be completely alone. On the other hand, I have been wondering how the long distances from east to west spawns might play out, and I think you're right to say that it would become two 2v2s.

I didn't want to make early aggression impossible with this map, but as it stands now I do think its a bit too easy, but only because of the locations of the exits from the naturals. The map is really pretty wide open - its 240X240, and can't get any bigger. Once I make the area around the watchtowers open, it will be super open.

I'm not willing to cut out all the stuff in the center of the map (I'd rather just make a new map with a new format) But I can think of some easier ways to change the rush distance.

One option would be to make the naturals in question (2, 4, 8, and 10 oclock) in base expansions by raising them up to that level, which would leave one entrance to each of now 4 bases, which I would widen.

Another option might be to simply block off those naturals with destructible rocks,

Or, the option I have been toying with in my head the most, is to remove the choke at the natural by extending the lava a bit, and then including a larger ramp into the main and a large ramp down into that natural, and the large ramp into the main would be blocked off with rocks. I'm a bit weary as I don;t want a rock-filled map, and I'm worried a big ramp and a small one might be a bit much to wall-off (although other 4v4 maps have big ramps without much issue)

If anyone has suggestions, I;d be delighted to hear