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Khaydarin Mesa
Made by: RFDaemoniac
Published on: [NA]
Version: 1.3
Overview:
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/bdgEs.jpg)
Data (Aesthetics):
Texture Set:
-Shakuras Stone
-Korhal Dirt
-Ulaan Dirt Cracked
-Monolyth Dunes
-Mar Sara Concrete
-Bel'Shir Grass Dark
-Meinhoff Sand Dunes
-Aiur Rock
Cliff Types:
-Shakuras Organic Cliffs
-Xil Organic Cliffs
Playable Bounds: 164 x 134
Hey TL. This is my second attempt at a map, the last one was [M] (2) Rockpath Curl. I've learned some things since then and gave it another go.
This is a large map (14 bases) and I had to cut it down from 18 bases and even more space between everything.
I like the structure of the three bases from Entombed Valley but they're too easy to hold. I wanted to make the third base more out of the way, and so I also put a low ground third that is closer to your natural.
This low ground third seems very favored to me so in order to make the high ground third more favorable I replaced the rocks with two warehouses which have less health (and less armor for zerglings). This makes this path harder to hold than on Entombed Valley.
The two bases in the East and West have high yield vespene geysers and 6 mineral patches. Every other base has the standard 8m2g. I'm a fan of FRB and would definitely be up for switching it to 6m1hyg if people want to see that. I think it would hold as a direct conversion.
I also have two paths that require blink/cliff walking and are shrouded by LOS blockers to enable small groups to surprise the bases in the NW and SE corners. However these were made much less interesting by the Xel'Naga towers there. One Xel'Naga in the middle was way too powerful because it could see all exits from the bases.
Another issue, perhaps: The middle feels a little boring. I had a series of 1x1 holes in the middle area, which was also bigger, to break up armies that were 1a-ing through the middle but removed them after some feedback from friends.
I'm a little worried about the map being choky but the number of paths and the two large engagement areas in the middle might be enough to make up for it.
The map is themed after the merging of a high templar and dark templar, or of their energies in the Khalis and Uraj Khaydarin crystals from Broodwar, if you guys remember that.
Some feedback of any kind would be great  I'd like to refine my map making to a point where I can make tournament-ready maps.
Changelog and old images:
+ Show Spoiler +1.0 - original map Overview: + Show Spoiler +Other images from this version: + Show Spoiler +Center area: ![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/lUXeE.jpg) old ramp from third ![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/HD5sp.jpg) Moved the ramp from the high ground third to the back of the mineral line. Smoothed out the height map of the playable bounds. Overview: + Show Spoiler +Other Images: + Show Spoiler +Middle base: ![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/oxncQ.jpg) Ramp from main and ramp from natural: ![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/kIBal.jpg) Moved mineral fields at 3rd 1.3 - current version Added Foliage and slight retexturing.
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Cool map dude! Love the light/dark aesthetic
Pros:
Love the tiers and chokes, will make for some really interesting battles / positioning
ALL THE BASES! Seriously, really awesome for macro, long games (assuming that that is what you are going for) \
Irregularity of the terrain is really cool and will make gameplay quite interesting, especially for breaking up clumped units.
Cons:
The center seems a bit cramped, it might be hard to maneuver late game armies effectively. (This might be what you're going for but I think more open space would help with 200/200 army clashes)
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On April 22 2012 12:54 BeLsHirCraB wrote:Cool map dude! Love the light/dark aesthetic Pros: Love the tiers and chokes, will make for some really interesting battles / positioning ALL THE BASES! Seriously, really awesome for macro, long games (assuming that that is what you are going for) \ Irregularity of the terrain is really cool and will make gameplay quite interesting, especially for breaking up clumped units. Cons: The center seems a bit cramped, it might be hard to maneuver late game armies effectively. (This might be what you're going for but I think more open space would help with 200/200 army clashes)
So i'm happy to try something else out with the center. The thought here was that the 200/200 clashes can maneuver around the center lane, because there is a ton of space on either side, but the fastest route still rewards small groups of units (to encourage counterattacking with a small force or something), do you think that comes across? I wanted to avoid having 3 equally sized paths through the middle, perhaps just putting a hole in the middle?
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I really like the outlay of this map, with one big problem
the highground third-third distance is terribly small. The centre is having issues because the foreward bases will never be taken.
The map right now is a big narrow, making it skinnier and longer would go a long way to making it playable.
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So pretty. So... pretty. The black sand especially, the shadows and hills really do wonders for the looks of it.
How's airspace?
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DYEAlabaster: Perhaps a hole in the middle would fix this? I could also move the ramp around but that would make it even farther from your natural ramp. I had a version that was taller but it felt way to big, so I actively squished the two sides together.
Another theoretical solution (harder to implement, but w/e) is to rotate the two bases, pivoting around the natural ramp to maintain that distance while increasing the distance between high ground thirds.
Killcycle: Thanks I'm pretty happy with my first time experimenting with a mixed tileset. One combination that I think looks really good is the Shakuras rock (black) with the bel'shir dark grass (green). All of the cliffs used to be black but I changed that to enforce the duality of it.
For airspace there is fair amount of area around the outside of the map, but not very much in the middle. One of my attempts to make air more viable was to have cliffs that you can't build on next to the natural (one of the pictures) and behind the high ground third, to let air escape more easily.
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Idea- Why don't you tuck the ramp of the third against the back of the map, ie, straight beside the mineral patches (leading to the corner base). That would fix ALOT of problems.
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Looks really really cool. You might want to flatten out some of the areas. I don´t think that many hills are good for the players.
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DYEAlabaster: I've done that now I actually really like how it encourages play on the outside paths, which felt not very useful before.
Aunvilgod: Thanks, I also noticed that it was too hilly. I sort of just took the noise brush to the whole map :/ the sharp stuff in the background I'm going to leave because I think it's more interesting and you can hardly see it through the water, but throughout the playable map I just smoothed it out a fair amount for the newest version.
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On April 23 2012 03:27 RFDaemoniac wrote:DYEAlabaster: I've done that now I actually really like how it encourages play on the outside paths, which felt not very useful before. Aunvilgod: Thanks, I also noticed that it was too hilly. I sort of just took the noise brush to the whole map :/ the sharp stuff in the background I'm going to leave because I think it's more interesting and you can hardly see it through the water, but throughout the playable map I just smoothed it out a fair amount for the newest version.
Awesome- however, you need to enlarge the base slightly because you don't want armies moving around mineral fields- that's just sloppy and bad design  So just tuck the base away more.
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Thanks for that, I checked for whether there was enough space to wall but wasn't thinking too critically about it.
I do have a space where armies move through high yield vespene geysers, but this is intentional because I want them to be more vulnerable and you can easily move around them via the high ground. Thoughts?
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On April 23 2012 05:36 RFDaemoniac wrote:
Thanks for that, I checked for whether there was enough space to wall but wasn't thinking too critically about it.
I do have a space where armies move through high yield vespene geysers, but this is intentional because I want them to be more vulnerable and you can easily move around them via the high ground. Thoughts?
yeah that's obviously intentional and those bases wouldn't be taken anyway until lategame. BUt here, you were dealing with a base that should be taken relatively early, and you NEVER want armies to be walking through mineral fields in bases that important.
This change makes things much much better
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EPT![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/Q8Em7.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/m9jxh.jpg)
