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![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/LVVMS.jpg)
Alpha Y is a 1v1 melee map. My idea behind the map was to create a map where bases were easier to take but the middle was harder to control. I wanted it more open but still in a way where its balanced and none of the races complain. The large ramp leading into the middle makes for some interesting scenarios and proves to work well. Even though there doesn't seem to be a lot of attack paths other than the center and the path that wraps around the fourth, the center ramp is open enough to create multiple angles to nullify the lacking attack paths. Watch towers in the center are defensible making it easier to hold and is usually the area being fought for. Sense if you control either of the towers it gives you certain expansion patterns.
Pictures and what not
(I'll reupload pictures later sense all the terrain changes)
Aesthetics have not been done yet just due to balancing but I plan on doing the best I can to pretty it up and making it look presentable. [ Ignore the obnoxious crystals, just filling space (: ]
Edit: fixed the path to the middle, added another path on 2 and 8 o'clock
Edit: Alright i'm pretty sure this is going to be almost certainly the final layout. After some testing with 1 tower I unfortunetly had to like it. I really wanted to keep two towers but with one it really works out better. I thought that with one tower everything would be focused in that spot too much but it doesn't. I also shifted the ramp leading to the side bases for easier access on the defenders side. The middle ground above the third is unpathable by the way for any confusion. Also the tower in the middle clears up any problems of having to much open ground.
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United States10499 Posts
i think putting in 1 watchtower in the middle is better than the 2. with 2, you cant sneak by the extreme left and right areas.
also, i think there needs to be another ramp coming around the low ground 9/3 positions. with 2 paths to the lowe ground areas, one can just static defense that area while going on 4 bases ez.
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I love the map, but the lack of attack paths is disappointing. The many attack paths is one reason why cloud kingdom was so awesome.
Further, all the doodads in the peripheral could hurt framerates without contributing to the play experience.
Still, a pretty cool map.
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Having one watch tower in center really hurts the map and its possibilities. With one tower you need only one point of control and fights would be over just that one spot. With two there's now two places to secure and also if only one is controlled it gives room for better engagements. I am going to now add an additional ramp to the 2 and 8 o'clock positions where there are minerals and flip the minerals around to the other side so there facing the ramp. This will add that extra path that's needed to give more opportunities to the players. This will help with counter attacks and surrounds and just an extra angle for attacks.
And no those doodads are not going to be there just was fooling around taking up space till I finished the layout of the map. Sorry for the blinding of mono-toned crystals 
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Hmm, I love the aesthetics man great job!
Along with what the above have said I kinda feel like Protoss can't really FFE in an obvious fashion. But I'm not really a Protoss player, I play random though so it would irk me slightly. A picture would be nice
We really need more icy/snowy maps on ladder. I love the look of every one I've seen on here.
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I disagree about the 2 watch towers, they make it so if you have them both, you can't be surprised, there can not be sneak attacks at all. I think that if you want to keep 2 watch towers, you should move them a bit, the right one up, and the left one down, so they keep watching over the side paths, but there is a small space in the middle for units to pass not detected if you control them well.
All in all, this map looks really nice, it has an original concept, which is cool, and it is a snow map, which everyone loves  even though I have to ask, is the high ground near the 3rd going to stay? if so it might be interesting thing to see, but not necessarily balanced. since it has a higher ground above it, it wont be like lost temple high ground, but its still a great place for tank drop that will be hard to destroy. Of course you might be planning to make it unpathable and I am just talking silly
What I do think is that it might get rough in the lategame, where the one with the middle can have 1-3 more expansions, depending on the control of the middle and game situation. But it can make nice games where starvation play is strong late in the game.
Oh and one last thing, if you decide to add another path at the 2 and 8 positions while it might encourage more active play and less turtle in the middle, I think right now turtling in the middle wont happen that much, cause there is so much space to cover, even though I might be mistaken. I think that adding more path will make taking a 4th extremely hard in PvZ since counter attacks and runbys will be easier, thus making turtle on 3base the standard play, which is not that good to watch.
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I like 2 watch towers personally.
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new picture coming up of the fix
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Hmm, after looking at the changed map, I see 2 contested bases, which will be very hard to take. I think that the two middle bases should be golds, for the simple fact that taking them will be very very hard and should reward for that risk.
Another thing you might think of doing is to remove a base from each side, since currently the bases are so cramped together it is crazy. If you remove the natural 4th it would make it you have to choose for a 4th between the corner base and the side base, but I am not sure at all about this anyways you might want to consider it.
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Yes that was the problem when I had the ramp there before, what if I moved the ramp from the side bases (bottom right and top left closer like move it down so its easier to access. Quite the predicament.
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United States10499 Posts
Extra ramp addition is a great change. makes it so there are more possibilities to attack from.
again, i mean there will be lots of speculations on the 2 watch towers. for right now, leave them and see how it plays out.
great map. keep at it.
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Concerning the two watch towers. When played out, if we are speaking almost maxed army's, your army is going to be at one of the towers. Now youll most likely have one unit at the other tower per say you have control of the entire mid. If say Zerg is counter attacking on the side path it could take that one unit at the watch tower out and they could then say send zerglings to attack the base of the other player before a fight ensues at mid.
The other case is one of the towers isn't controlled and a counter attack is easy and will not be spotted. I'll play some games with some friends to check out the new changes and see if I should move the watch towers but if i moved them outwards so it doesn't cover the middle the towers become less valuable because you wouldn't be able to see a army moving through the center.
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On May 15 2012 07:27 PandaZerg wrote:
design is fresh and new!
i second this (: very cool layout, that middle empty highground might need some trimming though.
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i like the old shattered temple style cliff at the third! it's a tactical element , but you don't kill someones second base but third where he should have the units to clean it up, so it's not that imba like on shattered!
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I would argue for a ramp from the higher ground to the lower ground next to the third. I do not mean that the cliff next to the third should have a ramp to the third, but should have a ramp to the even higher level.
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The main and natural layout appears a bit small. How big is the main? Could you make a few closeups?
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On May 15 2012 21:31 Aunvilgod wrote:
The main and natural layout appears a bit small. How big is the main? Could you make a few closeups?
I'm going to reupload the pictures soon. But for the actual size in game its about 1 1/2 screens big maybe even a little bit more. The natural is about 1 screen big. I haven't had any problems with it so far.
And to the idea of having the third connect via 2 ramps to the fourth. I did try that and really disliked the way it played. Makes holding the third awkward and takes away the feel i wanted the map to have.
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EPT
