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![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/XLmtM.jpg)
Ilio Volta v1.2
Hello, TeamLiquid.
I would love to present to you, for your criticisms, assessments and verdicts, the result of my second foray into the Galaxy Map Editor. I was initially inspired by the excellent ESV Cloud Kingdom and then by Brood War's famed Blue Storm to create an alien island floating through the dark of deep space.
My design philosophy with this map (believe me, I have tried!) was to encourage aggressive mid-game styles, slews of counter-attacking and an emphasis on army movement and positioning. I hope that all of the races will be encouraged to open with 2-base plays barring some matchups (PvP, ZvP), and hopefully once each player takes their third, their fourth will be both easy and tempting. My hope is that the aggressive mid-game will progress into an equally entertaining late-game scenarios.
Map Information:
Published: EU, NA servers
Playable Bounds: 148 x 156
Full Bounds: 168 x 184
Spawns: 2 (7 o'clock and 1 o'clock)
Overview:
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Large Overview
Angled Overview:
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Hypothetical Dynamics:
+ Show Spoiler +This is how, in my mind's eye, I sort of see the this map playing out in a very generalized fashion. I'm adding this section in not to tell people how the map should be played, but rather to help me improve it. This is simply theory crafting, and your criticisms are appreciated! I've tried to design the main and naturals so that it would be easy to do 2 base plays: there is a smallish choke to the natural (see Wall-Offs section) and a ledge overlooking it. This should help a little with defending baneling busts, early rax pressure and early offensive gateway timings. Furthermore, there are destructible rocks that should aid the defender with getting a good concave once he steps outside his natural. I see the player who is willing to split his army and multitask as the favourite on this map; I've created (for now) three illustrations in which I humbly attempt to demonstrate how the player who tries to go for the death push is at a disadvantage against the player who abuses good positions and lots of counter attacking. Legend: Blue: A player whose strategy rests on doing a focused death-push, for instance a Colossus Death-ball player or a Terran Mech Player. Red: A player whose strategy revolved around a lot of harassment, counter-attacking, small engagements and probably a fairly mobile force Yellow: Non-committal aggression from the Red player. Filled Ciricles: Bases taken Empty Circled: Army positions Barbed Concaves: Advantageous positions taken by the defending army or parts of it. I am not a pro-player, and with good reason: I kinda suck at this game. So I'd love to hear peoples thoughts: perhaps I'm right about these, perhaps I'm wrong, perhaps I'm right but for the wrong reasons. So as I mentioned I see two-base play sort of straight forward, with the defender typically at an advantage. But with 3 base play, the player who even in defense splits up his forces can carve out a victory: ![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/O6wV8.jpg) 4 base play starts to really divide the map up, but there are so many counter-attack paths that a very aggressive player can force a base race or an ill-timed desperation push. If he prepares for it by assuming good positions and splitting his army correctly (very tough to do) he may almost immediately secure the win: ![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/rmQZb.jpg) When each player arrrives at 5 bases and the map is completely split, even a very well-entrenched, defensive player will find it difficult to cover all of his bases and manage his opponent's expansions at the same time: ![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/j0Fkm.jpg) Maps like Tal'Darim have massive open expanses in which smaller armies may be quickly surrounded, which I feel often results in timidness. Here, the terrain is not necessarily disadvantageous, but good decision making is critical in the positioning of your army. Along which avenue should you attack, and which avenues make your expansions vulnerable? I hope this makes sense, let me know what you guys think!
Wall-offs:
+ Show Spoiler +![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/ZMtC0.jpg) ![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/VGycf.jpg) (I play Zerg ... I hope these wall-offs make sense! In any case, the choke is 8 tiles long.
Textures:
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Analyzer Images:
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Bases and Aesthetics:
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Change Log:
+ Show Spoiler +v1.0 -> v1.1: * Broke up straight lines along sides of map. * Moved destructible rocks to help defend third, not block it off * Widened passage going from third toward Xel'Naga towers * Tweaked the ledge overlooking the choke into the natural, less abusable now. * Widened ramps flanking the Xel'Naga Towers * Widened passage from 4th to 5th bases * Removed Columns outside of the naturals * Cleaned up topology in the Naturals * Try to improve the awkward shape of the main bases * Optimized and improved lights * Added supply depot to bottom of ramps to prevent wall-ins. * General polish and aesthetic improvements v1.1 Large Overviewv1.1 - v1.2 (Current) * Gold bases have been changed to normal bases, eliminating some circle syndrome and solving balance better. * All bases now have 8 mineral patches and 2 geysers. This may be changed in the future depending on balance. * The natural is no longer siegable from the cw third bases (used to be the gold) * Slightly improved the symmetry of the map * Widened entrances to nat to 9 tiles so that 3 3x3 structures are required to block it off completely. * Natural mineral lines are no longer within siege range from the ramp/ledges at cw third (formerly gold bases) * Lighting: Saturation decreased from 0.1 to 0.05 * Geysers no longer emit that hissing sound, making the map feel more space-like * The Global and Ambient Audio Reverbs have been set to "Dizzy" to contribute to the atmosphere * All sound emitters have been deleted * A good deal of additional aesthetic improvements, including more refined texture painting and extra doodads * Ilio Volta has acquired its own loading screen, engineered by yours truly. To Do: Update the Wall-off screenshots to reflect change in natural choke.
Credits & Acknowledgements:
+ Show Spoiler +Special Thank You to:
Polygon for hosting this map on the NA server
So I'm finally done with v1.2 and I feel very happy with it - especially since it's only my second map. I've sorted out the golds I think, which will now slightly benefit slow and grinding styles such as Mech as alternatives to the existing thirds. I plan to release a 6m1hyg version of this map as well, with I think will result in encouraging more technical styles but I think it will need some altering. It might look slightly different rather than be a straight port. I am also still looking for replays on the map - any replays will be greatly appreciated and any contributers will be acknowledged!
I think I'll be back fairly soon with a new map. I think.
Of course any and all criticisms would be greatly appreciated. This is only my second map and I have a great deal yet to learn. Thank you for reading!
SeinGalton
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i dont care about the balance but i like the feel of it(seems balanced too  )
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From these pictures I love the aesthetics and general philosophy behind this map, it looks great. Thanks for posting it on Europe, I'll give it a few goes at a more reasonable hour tomorrow, and get back with more feedback.
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Holy crap this is one of the most beautiful maps I have seen. Still working on my skills, I am so jealous.
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United States10151 Posts
sexy map. only problem is the one choke guarding both bases at top left and bot right bases. otherwise, very nice map.
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Looks like an Alien nightclub in space. 
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Impressive work for a second map!
I would tend to agree that the 5th should be more open or have a backdoor. I WANT TO PLAY IT
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Hello!
niladorus: Thank you!
Rockbeard: Thank you, I highly appreciate it. Apologies in advance for any bugs/sloppiness you might encounter, it still needs a good deal of work. Thanks again!
ISasquatchI: Haha, thank you; Just trying to learn from Superouman and those guys!
HeavenS: Thank you!
FlashFTW: Thank you, sir! The are two ramps leading onto those islands, one between the third and the fourth and one between the fifth and the gold. Do you think it should it be more open?
Infested Hydralisk: Haha, I think it might seem less colourful in game. I'm a fan of lots of colour .
TheFish7: Thank you, sir. As I mentioned to FlashFTW, there are two ramps leading into each of those plateaus - should it be more open? Perhaps widen up the ramp leading from the gold into the fifith? Also, I don't have a US account but I wouldn't have a problem mailing it to a regular on here so that they may publish it. Not sure how that might work with the authoring and all. Thanks for taking the time to comment, sir!
I'll be working on it tonight again once I get off from work, and try to follow up with some of those to-dos I posted.
Thanks everyone for the comments and criticisms so far!
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Netherlands4730 Posts
The middle corridors leading to the 3rd from the middle are too small. Either make them wider or make the alternative routes slightly closer. Nice map sir.
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A lot of these bases are simply too close to the opponent's bases. This is a 3, mabye 4-base play map, which isn't bad, but if you're aiming for a macro-oriented map, you're going to need to spread the bases out more in the top left and bottom right.
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I don't like the gold bases (not because they are gold, but the way they are positioned they only seem viable for a Planetary Fortress in TvZ)
otherwise: Very creative, great map. Exactly what I love to see from new maps.
Also it is beautiful
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This map looks really great, I especially like the colors.
Constructive criticism:
-I am not a big fan off "holes" in a map (those between the 3rd/4th/5th and the outer watchtowers). Whenever I see those, it looks to me as if the mapmaker was to lazy to fill the holes, even though this is certainly wrong in your case. But maybe it is just me.
-Are the rocks on the ramp towards the 3rd supposed to make the 3rd more difficult to defend? Or what are they supposed to do?
-the ledge overlooking the choke: A tank on this ledge could shoot almost the whole nat-area and the area in front of the choke. If you wall this off with a rax from behind, marines on the ledge would be safer than in a bunker (for free) while defending the choke. Stalkers/cannons up there would also be nightmare for an attacker. None of the current maps seem to have a compareable featured (and potentially powerful) position. I suppose you are gonna explain this ledge anyway when you're gonna say how you expect this map to be played. I'm curious.
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Those Ulnar textures aren't exactly nice D:
Also it's very big with a lot of air space behind mains, you should remove all of it.
Cool banner though :D
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Hello.
Apologies for the delay in updates here - I'm swamped with work but hopefully I'll get some time to follow up soon. In the meantime, replies:
ihasaKAROT: Thank you, sir. I assume you mean the path leading from the 3rd to the Xel'Naga Towers? I'll definitely have a look at it. I think I want that area to be slightly more chokey since the centre and the areas around 4th and 5th expansions are slightly more open.
IronManSC: Thank you for dropping by sir, I appreciate the insight. I guess I'd like to see macro games on here, but not so much turtle games. So my reasoning behind making your expansion sequence so rapidly approach your opponents main is to encourage more attacking, and more dropping from your opponent. There are several chokes which, if controlled properly by a decent player, would discourage frontal assualts but encourage harass and counterattacking. My hope is that players might eventually get up to 5 bases in certain scenarios, but they won't do it without constantly engaging their opponent. Also, I hope that the 4th and 5th bases might from time to time be taken as hidden expansions, which should encourage constant scouting of those areas. Not sure - I'd love to hear your thoughts. I also hear Ohana is on its way to the ladder - congratulations, I can't wait to play more games on it!
Big J: Thank you very much. I'm also a little worried about the PFs at the gold bases and the chokes around them in the TvZ matchup, and I'll have to try and get some testing done on this. I will say this: not only are the golds scoutable via the towers, but they also only have 1 gas each so the Terran will immediately become a little bit more predictable. I think it will be a nightmare to try and defend those gold against Broods and any further expanding is going to leave Terran very spread out and not horribly mobile. So in my mind, it seems okay, but will need to test it for sure!
Mafe: Danke schön! (Is that right?) All three point you make are completely valid. I think I could eliminate some of the negative space and still keep everything optimal. The rocks on the ramp are a remnant from a slightly earlier version, they need to be moved: it's suppose to make it a bit harder for the attacking army to wedge itself in between the natural and third, and they can be destroyed by a Zerg who prefers to have more surface area for his defense. As for the ledge: I think that it might be too abusable for now, but I do want a ledge up there to make 2 base plays a little safer. I'll definitely cover it more in depth when I find time to do the explanation of how I see/I'd like to see the map play out. Thank you so much for your thoughtful feedback, I really appreciate it sir.
ArcticRaven: Thanks. I didn't like the Ulnar Cracks texture, which I replaced with the tonally unique Valhalla Sand. The rubble texture also has some parallax issues which annoy me, but it just means using it intelligently and sparingly. The other textures are absolutely fine. The air space behind the main in that overview is misleading, the analyzer gives a better idea. I still need to test how viable drops would be. Thanks for the input.
Apologies for the constant bumps; I hope to have more substantial updates tonight! Thank you everyone for your feedback!
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This looks absolutely amazing. The contrasting textured areas don't feel odd at all and there's lots of pretty lights. I'm loving the recent influx of talented mappers =D
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This map looks really nice. I really want to play it and see if it's as good as it looks. I think the gold bases are balanced because it will be really hard to hold against any type of siege because of the wall on the highground that protects attackers.
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See how you have a lot of straight lines at the edge of the map? They look terrible. Make them more natural looking.
Nat to nat looks really short. What's the rush time?
Mains are really awkwardly shaped. It'll be hard to get production buildings so they don't get in the way of each other, though in SC2, this is a bit less of an issue.
Third bases are extremely easy to hold. Two forcefields on that tiny choke and you can pretty much block it off completely. The other path forces the Zerg to basically go around the whole map and the ramp is still not that big.
Golds are actually really f*cking easy to defend. Makes it hard for Zerg against Terran and Protoss against Zerg.
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Hmm... I tried looking for this map on EU where you said that you published it but I can't find it...
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I like this map, no big critism :-)
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It looks really cool. I like the idea of games that can develop into one side of the map controlled by one player, the other by the other player, with a lot of map control necessary, e.g. shakuras. This map really provides some good opportunites for that. Taking those multiple bases on the side is very risky and will promote smart careful play.
I do think that gold might be a bit easy to take, especially for a terran late game with PFs and tanks. Also, if you can control that Xel Naga tower, you can basically guarantee your posession of the gold, since you should be able to spot any attacks. Perhaps simply moving the tower could make it more dangerous to defend, not to mention opening new tactical potential with using the tower to head off various attacks.
So far, really good, really want to play it
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Hello.
I want to thank everyone who's taken the time to comment: I will get to individual responses in the morning. For now I just want to say that I have successfully uploaded v1.1 to the EU server, thanks in part to not being a moron a ticking the "private release" radio button. I hope that those of you kind enough to play on Ilio Volta will do me the honour of forwarding you replays. I'd very much like to analyze them!
I've also updated the OP with all the relevant changes (except for the analyzer stuff) and a small explanation of how I see certain late game scenarios playing out. Thanks to Superouman, I based the explanation on his.
Thank you for reading!
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Hello TL,
Just responding individually to comments:
Akinokaze: Thank you! I think I still have some way to go though. I'm enjoying it, so I think you will see more maps from me.
redoxx: Thank you: it's published publicly on the EU server, and I'd love to get it published on NA should anyone be willing to assist me - I don't have a NA account. As for the gold: I think, as newbowman said, it will become a problem in ZvP and TvZ. Especially in TvZ it would take the gold and just keep rallying units to Zerg's third and denying his fourth. I don't know what the correct solution is though, so I'm leaving it like that until I have enough information. I think one possibility is making it blue mineral expansion but with one rich vespene geyser.
neobowman: Thank you for your critiques, sir, I highly appreciate them. I've fixed up some of those really straight lines and will also add more polish to those out-of-play areas at a later stage. Natural to natural has, according to the analyzer, a rush distance of 128.8 (I don't quite recall how this translates into game seconds though. The mains are awkwardly shape and I think its largely due to the starting locations being so close to the ramps as well: I've tried to fix this a little in the latest version, I hope it feels better (if it doesn't Ill make some plan with the layout of the mains. I've widened the areas around the third somewhat, and whilst they're still relatively easy to forcefield, I'm hoping that the multiple avenue of attack will allow a good, Stephano-esque Zerg to wear down an inferior Protoss opponent. I do want those thirds to be defensible by a good player, and I do want attacking players to be encouraged to split off parts of their main army to hit multiple locations at once. Again, I really appreciate your comments, and I'm the process of etsting out the map whilst keeping all your comments in mind. Thanks!
looknohands119: My apologies, the latest joke in my comedy of technically inept errors was to release them privately and to tell everyone to go play it. There's a public release now!
A1m: Thank you sir, you are too kind. Hopefully it will only get better!
vgman20: Thank you very much. I hope to see some split-map scenarios too, but hopefully it won't become stale like Shakuras with everyone attacking down the centre. With all the pathways and attack routes, I hope to see people frequently being caught out of position. I like good maps that are tough to play, where 1A doesn't work and where you have to think really hard about where you want to be attacking and where you want to be expanding. The gold is a problem, but I'm unsure as to how to solve it. So for the time being I'm leaving it there and will try to test it and gather information so I can make a good change and not just any change. I think I want it to be different somehow to a normal base.
Thank you everyone for your comments, they've been most helpful. As mentioned, I'm aware of the issues surrounding the gold bases. I'm not sure how to solve them currently, and I want to gather more information on how they function on this map. So if you happen to play around on this map, please send me the replays. I would love to see your games on it!
Thank you for reading>
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wow wonder where you got volta from. jk wheres the detail shots?
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I've lurked quite a bit in this part of the TL forums, but this is really one of the most awesome maps I've seen in a long time. I really hope this gets more attention and if possible I will jump on and grab a few games on in case you want replays.
The aesthetics are also just awesome, well done overall.
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Nice looking map
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Hello.
WniO: Haha, yes I am a self-confessed Volta's witness, spreading the good word of the Mars wherever I can. Seemed to fit, haven't questioned it yet. Detail shots are now in the OP and at the bottom of this post!
CaptainHaz: You, sir, are too kind. I appreciate the complements, and will continue to work on it! And yes, I am in dire need of some games on this map. I now have a credits and acknowledgements section, and anyone submitting useful replays will definitely be mentioned at the very least.
PiPoGevy: Thank you!
The latest addition to the OP:
Bases and Aesthetics:
+ Show Spoiler +
Also, as mentioned, I am in dire need of some replays on this map (no-shenanigans 1v1s, not Funday Mondays) . So, anyone who sends me useful replays will be credited in the OP. Any exploits, exposition of mistakes, abusive plays are especially welcome - I need to know if anything is broken - but don't let that stop you from sending me all your games on this map!
Thank you for reading>
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I love how... glowy it looks, haha.
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Is this available on NA yet? :S
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oh my god this map is so cool! I am definitely going to retrieve you a 1v1 replay shortly!
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This map is simply amazing! I would love to play it on ladder some day. You really should put hard work into balancing this map to make it happen cause this one is a real beauty. I thought Cloud Kingdoms is a beautiful map but this one is even better.
We all should support this guy and tell everyone about this map. This one has to become more popular!
Edit: There's only one thing i have to criticize and thats the name of the map. Its easier to spread the word about this map with a name that fits the style of it and is kinda simple. iLio Volta sounds kinda akward.
Edit2: Ok so heres one thing. I just played the map and have to say that i generally love it a lot. What i dont like is the entrance to your natural expand. Its too small i guess. It creates strange protoss walloffs, and favors both, zerg and Terran in the way, that u really dont need many spines/evo chamber to make that entrance smaller (against helion openers). On the other hand u are pretty much well defended against any pressure from Protoss/Zerg cause u can really quick Walloff with your first 2 structures and a depot. So its extremely easy to take that 2nd for terran because u can even defend against a 6 pool when u go 2rax expand.
Thats one thing i noticed. So what u basically need is to make that entrance wider. Another thing is that coloring. I really like the indirect lights everywhere on the map. From the Green lights in the main base, to the red lights in the natural expand and so on. BUT the colors seem a bit too bright dude. The game looks like a cartoon :-S dunno if there is a way to change the brightness of the colors but it really pisses me off to see my zealots/stalkers or even marines that look like shining pokemons.
Like i said i really like your coloring in general on this map but the use of brightness is really a bit too much. On the screens it doesnt look like it but when u actually play the map its really disturbing.
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Thank you all.
ghostCatalyst: Haha, yes it's pretty bright and colourful and I think I may have pushed the bloom feature to breaking point.
PiPoGevy: No, unfortunately it is not. Is there an easy way or channel through which I could get it published on there? I'd be happy to mail the actual to map to someone if not.
clever_us: Thank you so much, but I see that you're from the US so unless you have an EU account, you won't be able to find this map on B.net just yet. I'll try and get it published on there soon though, just need to find someone to help me!
ULuMuGuLu: Too kind sir! I'm going to try my best to balance it out and make it fun for all three races. Also, whilst I'm rather proud of what I've been able to do on my second map, I feel that even in aesthetics this map is not quite where Cloud Kingdom is yet. Mine is a somewhat more flashy, but I've been studying Cloud Kingdom and it is so ridiculously well polished I'm almost intimidated. Almost  .
I think the points you make are very valid: I've revisited the entrance to the natural and whilst it was 8 tiles before I've extended it to 9 tiles (so that it requires 3 3x3 structures to completely wall off). I play Zerg, so the only thing I know about walloffs is "FML."
I also take your point about the saturation of the colours in-game. I've tweaked the settings somewhat and will continue to do so, but I definitely intend for the map to be colour and bright. This is the one area in which I'm taking a "risk": I really love being bold with colour and trying to throw as much colour at something before it breaks. I will however take a serious look at this and continue to tweak the values to get the optimal resultss
Thank you, ULuMuGuLu, for your input. I really appreciate the compliments, the criticisms and the time you have taken in posting them!
Ok so apart from the replies I only have a very minor update, listing the changes for v1.2 so far:
+ Show Spoiler +
v1.1 - v1.2 currently:
* Widened entrances to nat to 9 tiles so that 3 3x3 structures are required to block it off completely.
* Natural mineral lines are no longer within siege range from the ramp/ledges at the gold bases
* Destructible debris now block the Gold bases, making them more akin to those on Shattered Temple than Meta or Antiga
* Lighting: Saturation decreased from 0.1 to 0.05
* Geysers no longer emit that hissing sound, making the map feel more space-like
* The Global and Ambient Audio Reverbs have been set to "Dizzy" to contribute to the atmosphere
* All sound emitters have been deleted
* General polish and aesthetic improvments
Note that v1.2 has not been published yet! I'm going to try and get the map to a "finished" state before doing so, so please let me know if you feel that anything else that needs change for v1.2!
Thank you for reading>
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Colors do have higher saturation on low settings, where a lot of players play. It's important you don't make it too saturated for those players as well. Personally I find Braxis Alpha lighting to be a perfect example of a more saturated lighting without overdoing it.
As far as the layout goes, I have a few observations. Firstly, it seems to suffer from circle syndrome a bit too much. The fifth base is far away enough from the opposing natural, probably, but it's pretty far away from other bases, and the width of the area you must defend to protect five bases or even four is pretty substantial. It's not too big of a deal, though, and not really unplayable, but maybe a little tough to get into the late game.
It feels like the gold bases are free to the player who already has an advantage from center control. This is pretty bad, because it makes it too hard to come back against someone who has controlled the center area. This is something to keep in mind when placing bases. It's easy to put golds near the middle thinking they will be hard to defend, but that actually can have negative affects.
I'm not sure why the fourth only has six mineral patches. I think eight would be good.
The map overall just feels a little tight, with no real fields for big battles. It's nice to have a map with good contrast between the open and tight areas, but this map has a medium level of openness most everywhere. The only open places have bases on them. Removing the golds might turn their areas into suitable battlefields.
I think maybe you should add another base in the corners, between the fourth and fifth, and remove the golds. A base in the corner like that might be a little easy to defend, though, so it could have a cliff over it you can drop on or something, maybe something with a more roundabout way up from by the current fifths, sort of like on Tal Darim Altar where you can have a fourth base overlooked by one of the mains. I don't know, though, these are just ideas.
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@ SeinGalton
No problem. I'll put as much analyses into this map as possible to make this one happen. Just give me a notice when 1.2 is released and i'll take a deeper look at it again. =)
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This. Is. Amazing. Not only does it have a really nice visual style - vibrant colours, detailed asthetics, semi-eerie theme/feel - but you also seem to have put a lot of effort into the map layout and gameplay side of things, and more so, it's my favourite kind of map. I can't wait to try it at some point.
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this is beautiful
LOVE the colors. <3
and it looks good to play too, third is far from free but lategame bases are within reach.
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Hello.
Ulumugulu: Thank you. V1.2 is in the works, I think I'll have it ready soon.
Reeevolt: Thanks you so much sir, I hope you will try it !
Vari: Many thanks, I appreciate the compliments. And Happy Birthday sir!
I just wanted to pop in and say that I'm still busy working on this map despite being ridiculously busy and finding myself with a copy of ME3. In the meantime, Polygon has been so kind as to host the map on the NA server for me, and to boot the one on the NA server is an updated version from the one on EU, and represents the current state of v1.2.
I'm still looking for games on this map, so anyone who has played on here please don't hesitate to send me your replays! I'd love to have a look at them.
Thank you all>
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Hello.
Version 1.2 has finally been published on EU and, to boot, I've updated the overview OP. The map also finally sports a real Loading Screen. Any comments, criticisms and verdicts are still more than welcome - not to mention replays!
Updated Change Log:
+ Show Spoiler +v1.0 -> v1.1: * Broke up straight lines along sides of map. * Moved destructible rocks to help defend third, not block it off * Widened passage going from third toward Xel'Naga towers * Tweaked the ledge overlooking the choke into the natural, less abusable now. * Widened ramps flanking the Xel'Naga Towers * Widened passage from 4th to 5th bases * Removed Columns outside of the naturals * Cleaned up topology in the Naturals * Try to improve the awkward shape of the main bases * Optimized and improved lights * Added supply depot to bottom of ramps to prevent wall-ins. * General polish and aesthetic improvements v1.1 Large Overviewv1.1 - v1.2 (Current) * Gold bases have been changed to normal bases, eliminating some circle syndrome and solving balance better. * All bases now have 8 mineral patches and 2 geysers. This may be changed in the future depending on balance. * The natural is no longer siegable from the cw third bases (used to be the gold) * Slightly improved the symmetry of the map * Widened entrances to nat to 9 tiles so that 3 3x3 structures are required to block it off completely. * Natural mineral lines are no longer within siege range from the ramp/ledges at cw third (formerly gold bases) * Lighting: Saturation decreased from 0.1 to 0.05 * Geysers no longer emit that hissing sound, making the map feel more space-like * The Global and Ambient Audio Reverbs have been set to "Dizzy" to contribute to the atmosphere * All sound emitters have been deleted * A good deal of additional aesthetic improvements, including more refined texture painting and extra doodads * Ilio Volta has acquired its own loading screen, engineered by yours truly. To Do: Update the Wall-off screenshots to reflect change in natural choke.
Thank you for reading>
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On March 06 2012 06:40 Gfire wrote:
Colors do have higher saturation on low settings, where a lot of players play. It's important you don't make it too saturated for those players as well. Personally I find Braxis Alpha lighting to be a perfect example of a more saturated lighting without overdoing it.
As far as the layout goes, I have a few observations. Firstly, it seems to suffer from circle syndrome a bit too much. The fifth base is far away enough from the opposing natural, probably, but it's pretty far away from other bases, and the width of the area you must defend to protect five bases or even four is pretty substantial. It's not too big of a deal, though, and not really unplayable, but maybe a little tough to get into the late game.
It feels like the gold bases are free to the player who already has an advantage from center control. This is pretty bad, because it makes it too hard to come back against someone who has controlled the center area. This is something to keep in mind when placing bases. It's easy to put golds near the middle thinking they will be hard to defend, but that actually can have negative affects.
I'm not sure why the fourth only has six mineral patches. I think eight would be good.
The map overall just feels a little tight, with no real fields for big battles. It's nice to have a map with good contrast between the open and tight areas, but this map has a medium level of openness most everywhere. The only open places have bases on them. Removing the golds might turn their areas into suitable battlefields.
I think maybe you should add another base in the corners, between the fourth and fifth, and remove the golds. A base in the corner like that might be a little easy to defend, though, so it could have a cliff over it you can drop on or something, maybe something with a more roundabout way up from by the current fifths, sort of like on Tal Darim Altar where you can have a fourth base overlooked by one of the mains. I don't know, though, these are just ideas.
Thank you sir.
I think the lighting is good now, it reads as "very blue" but the visual mechanics seem to be in tact. I've removed the gold entirely, and helped eliminate the circle syndrome by replacing them with a normal base. I've also fixed the fourth - I think it was a gimmicky decision, as I wanted to encourage taking the fifth as well but it doesn't work.
I agree completely about the space issue - everything is of medium openness. In my testing, I haven't found it to be broken (and I play Zerg) but I have found it a tad annoying to always feel out of position with the more complex flanks this map seems to bring out in me. I think it might make some battles less interesting, like deathball vs deathball games and possible also TvT... I'll keep it mind because I agree with you and would like to see if I can make something work. For now though, I''ve kept it as is because I'm not sure where to start - I'll need more games.
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I agree with IronMansc
The bases seem too close together in general. If the map was larger, it would seem much more balanced and the rush distance would larger.
I suggest stretching everything so that everything is farther away.
Other than that...
The middle bases seem impossible to grab if the player was aggresive. I think, just my opinion, i think you should give it less mineral patches but a rich mineral geyser like Daybreak
But very beautiful map and great work done!
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your Country52797 Posts
I notice your main-nat setup is very similar to the main-nat setup on ESV Cloud Kingdom.
The thing about that main-nat setup is that it makes the map have a more straight main path between the mains. It encourages more positioning and different attack paths. The problem is that you don't really have any good side paths. Every path not going through the middle is very awkward and tight.
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Excellent visually appealing map! Going to try this out with my friend after work and PM you a few replays on the NA server! GL in the MOTM I hope you win and hopefully make it to a future season of the ladder!
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Hello TL,
Just some replies:
iMrising: After having played a couple of games on this map, I kinda agree. Even though the rush distance is on the longer end (I believe), the map feels a tad bit cramped because of its chokeyness. I get the same feeling when I'm playing Cloud Kingdom though, but then Cloud Kingdom just has a better layout than this map. For now though, I'd rather leave this map and start a new one - I feel like I've learned a ton just on this map and am anxious to apply it to a new map.
TehTemplar: Absolutely true - I tried to compensate for this by creating inherent disadvantages when going through the centre - such as LOS blockers and watch-towers on the low ground - but it is fundamentally better to take the direct route because it is highround. I wonder what might happen if I raise the side paths and make the central path a sunken one? I'll have to take a look. Thank you for your thoughtful feedback!
CygNus X-1: Thank you sir, I rally appreciate that! Any replays would be more than welcome, I'd love to see how people approach the map and if it plays out the way I imagined it. I hope you have fun playing on it!
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