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![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/rwNvW.jpg)
Galápagos v 0.4
Hello TeamLiquid
I present to you here, for your comments and criticisms, the result of my third foray into the Galaxy Editor. I'm still learning but I think I'm getting better at this. This particular map was inspired by a concept that a friend and I came up with in which mankind builds a future on an equatorial island. Incidentally, I'm busy with the Kurt Vonnegut novel Galápagos and I really like the ring of it.
As with my previous map, the design philosophy behind this map was to encourage aggressive and counter-attack orientated midgames and lategames as players find it harder to defend multiple expansions. Naturals, however, remain easy to defend and all races should be able to open with fast expand builds in the relevant matchups.
Map Information:
Published: EU, NA
Playable Bounds: 132 x 140
Full Bounds: 152 x 162
Spawns: 2 (1 o'clock and 7 o'clock)
Overview:
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/bk040.jpg)
Large Overview
Textures:
+ Show Spoiler +
Analyzer Images:
+ Show Spoiler +
Bases:
+ Show Spoiler +
Aesthetics:
+ Show Spoiler +
Change Log:
+ Show Spoiler +v0.2
*Fixed the lighting - the map now looks like it does in this thread
*Fixed an issue where the minimap appears black. I'm not entirely sure how I did it though.
v 0.3:
* Added ramps from the center to the high ground pods
* Deleted center rocks, moved debris from wide ramps to new ramps
* Increased the size of the mains
* Fixed resource layout at naturals
* modified textures, cleaned up texture work
* Added overlord bluff top left, now symmetrical
* Moved mammoth remains away from the center.
* Altered lighting to be less bright, equally colourful
* removed the flags
* minor optimization.
v 0.4:
* Fixed a dependency issue caused by patch 1.5 (so far EU only)
Version 0.3 has been uploaded! See the change log for specific changes but in short I followed WniO and monitor's adivce and added ramps from the centre to the highground pods and opened up the pathway. The rush distances are a lot more reasonable now, and hopefully it's not as base-racey. Players are still very much encouraged to use the highground, I hope.
Also, the map has at long last been published to the NA server, at least temporarily - though there seems to be issues with the dependencies which we hope to resolve soon.
Any comments and criticisms would be greatly appreciated. I would also really appreciate anyone sending me replays of games on this map, if would anyone be so inclined. I don't have enough time to properly play test this map, and I fear there may be a lot of problems - it's only my third map and I'm still learning everything. Replays would be really helpful!
Thanks for reading!
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United States10151 Posts
rush distances are too long imo.
third seems good. i just feel like that the base on high ground with the base on low ground huggin the cliff line seems a bit too close.
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On July 01 2012 02:59 FlaShFTW wrote:
rush distances are too long imo.
third seems good. i just feel like that the base on high ground with the base on low ground huggin the cliff line seems a bit too close.
That makes harassing them easier, but the ground distance is still decently long, so I don't think there's an issue there.
The rush distance is really long though, what's it like if you just remove the rocks? It looks fine, but I dunno. Also, I see what makes for a very small choke between the rocks, I don't think it's necessary.
Those colors in the rush distance shot are terrible, they're distracting and the rush lines blend with them.
For the most part, the aesthetics are great, I'm worried the lighting is too strong though, it looks potentially distracting. And while there might be some issues with regard to game flow, I can tell you're getting better at this. I like it.
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Did FlashFTW just say the third was good?
O.o
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Lovely aesthetics. Only your Meinhoff Sand Dunes look a bit weird. Why didn´t you use falloff or low intensity?
Btw you really should rather use some screens as LOSBs. They might not fit the island theme but are still better than the Toss/Xel´Naga ones in my opinion. Or what even about making an overgrown look and use natural LOSBs?
The layout is cool as far as I can tell. I do expect, however, the map to be extremely splitty due to the highground ramp layouts, watchtowers and blocked center choke. Because the ramps to the highgrounds are so close to the center chocke they are rather 1.5 chockes, not 2 chokes.
On July 01 2012 03:16 iGrok wrote:
Did FlashFTW just say the third was good?
O.o
Why not? Protoss players are learning to hold Stephano style.
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Really pretty map. I thought the circles were the mains, in which case the map would be so interesting hahaha, you should see if you could possibly make that work!!
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Great aesthetics. Layout is nearly the same as my own WIP, which you probably will see in a couple of days 
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i think maybe the middle more like this, so you dont get any strange encounters and inevitable base trades with that middle blocked off. ![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/ekwIO.jpg) i mean you might have to alter some things, or even connect the highgrounds, but i think this simple fix might be ok. actually this might make a sweet 2v2 map, with some alterations.
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Map is just awesome! I don't see anything wrong! Congrats!!!
Any plan to upload it on NA? I would like to test this out! 
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really nice, i'ld make the mains and nats abit bigger personally, but i've yet to see it ingame, but it looks really really nice.
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Wow, this map looks way cool! :D
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As the name is Galapagos, there should be islands
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this map is pretty cool IMO, It would be interesting to see this for 4 players...
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good map but why everyone maker put in 4 xelnagas better two or less 4 is to much map free control...
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First off, just from the overview, this map is drop-dead gorgeous. Seriously man, you make me want to live there.
On the gameplay side of things, if you simply moved the rocks from one side of the ramp to the other, that would decrease the rush distance without really affecting the rest of the gameplay. Also, having 2 sets of rocks in the middle seems unnecessarily cumbersome. you might not even need any at all in the center, though I don't know what that would do to your rush distance.
The sixth base looks almost impossible to take for either player; it has high ground on one side and a big open path on the other. I don't really have any suggestions, mostly because I'm not sure which player you want to take that base. Maybe make it a gold?
I haven't looked at it in game, but just from the previews it looks amazing.
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Hello
Thank you all so much for the great feedback - I intend to respond to everything soon. For now, I just want to warn anyone trying to play the map: there is a bug which makes the minimap appear black, and the lighting is broken. So it looks awful, but I'm investigating the causes and will upload a fixed version ASAP. Any help fixing the bug would also be rewarded with intense, if admittedly brief, gratitude from yours truly!
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On July 01 2012 08:09 Mullet_Ben wrote:
First off, just from the overview, this map is drop-dead gorgeous. Seriously man, you make me want to live there.
I haven't looked at it in game, but just from the previews it looks amazing.
I have to agree with this, that's one of the most beautiful maps I've seen. However, I'm not knowledgable enough to give valuable gameplay feedback, sorry.
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Hey Sein!
Just wanted to say that this is a great looking map. As previously mentioned, definitely try and see if the map works without the rocks.
As to your lighting/minimap issue. It is a pretty common problem due to custom texture sets and lighting sets. I'm not sure what your exact setup is -- but if you have lighting that is not based on any of the textures you are using, this could be the problem. Try using a base light that is part of your existing textures, and set it to the settings that you want. Save the light, update your lighting map, save the map, and then publish with the "lighting" window open. No guarantees, but definitely worth a shot as a fix (works for me).
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Holy shit this is the most beautiful map I've seen.
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Mech is going to love this map.
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I wanted to make a map that looked like this.... but you made it far more beautiful than I could have. GREAT JOB ON AESTHETICS
As for the balance I don't really care much (it looks pretty good overall to me), I hope a map this beautiful gets on ladder... only downside is that I might forget that I'm at WAR.
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From just looking at the preview, this looks like a fantastically made map. Tons of attack paths, plenty of room to maneuver, well positioned bases that are not to safe but not to open to aggression. However, I really like the idea that WniO had to change the middle by removing the rocks and putting ramps in their place. This would allow for more options when attacking/harassing and would also prevent armies from simply bypassing each other in the middle on opposites sides, essentially forcing unnecessary base races.
Off the preview I would give this a 9/10
Its also fucking gorgeous :D
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I don't know about the balance, but 10 on aestetics!
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I think this map might have a pretty good future ahead of it if you can tweak it a little bit in the right direction.
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Just another +1 on the look of this map.
It may turn out that it plays too funny to be viable. I have no idea. I think people should give it a lot of time before dismissing it. Either way, great job.
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Hello TeamLiquid
I'm relieved to say that I have been able to sort out the bug with the map - I'm not sure entirely how I did it but I loosely followed SigmaFiE's advice whilst applying The Law of the Computaur liberally: perhaps if we restart and try the exact same thing again, then it will work.
More importantly - thanks to everyone for the amazing feedback, I did not expect this many replies. Now to respond to as much of the feedback as possible:
NewSunshine: I think that's a really interesting suggestion - removing the rocks. The reason they're there is of course to encourage army movement through the other two pathways. But now I'm wondering whether opening up the middle might not encourage players to take the highground bases and spread out more - which is what I want. I'm going to play around with a version that has no rocks whatsover and see how that works out.
Aunvilgod: Thank you sir! Yeah the texturing isn't up to par yet - I'll definitely tend to that and get the sand to look really good. Those LOSB seemed like a good idea at the time but I agree, I think they'll be better as smoke screens or something else. I really like the overgrown idea - thanks for that - I wonder if I can pull that off. As for the map being so splitty - I'm looking into ways to remedy that, including removing rocks from the center and rearranging the ones on the ramps. Thank you for your considered feedback!
Superiorwolf: Suppy! Thank you for the compliments good sir, and also congratulations on your recent MLG success. I might do a circle-as-main version for HoTS, since then people might be tempted into 1-basing again
WniO: I'm worried about base-trades as well, and you suggestion would certainly eliminate that but I wonder whether it's overkill? I specifically want players to make deliberate decisions about where the choose to attack and how they set their rally points. It seems to that adding those ramps will also make it much easier for, say, a Terran army to siege and hold the highground and the middle, along with both towers. That would allow the Terran an inordinate amount of influence over those middle bases. I think it's a valid suggestion, and may very well make for a good map, but it feels like it's not entirely in line with what I want. I'll definitely keep it mind though, as I investigate alternative solutions. Thank you very much regardless - I think more people should give feedback in such a visual way and I really do appreciate your post!
TibblesEvilCat: Well noted - now that you mention it I'm also a little concerned. I'll toy around with the proportions a little, see if I can steal some space here and there. I think a little too big is better than a little too small.
Camopillbox: Then I'm sure you'll like this map - it only has two Xel'Naga Towers
IronmanSC: I'll go out on a limb and assume that you're the only person to have tried it out in game and saw that the lighting was broken? For which I'm very thankful - it's been fixed now I think. If I'm mistaken and it's something you saw in the screenshots, please let me know! Thanks for stopping by too!
Mullet_Ben: Thank you sir, I appreciate that. Yes, I definitely plan to change all of the rocks on the map - either removing them or just moving them. There are certainly better solutions than the current one, and I intend to find them. As for sixth bases - you're right, there aren't really any takeable sixth bases and I don't really view it as a six-basing map. My thought process with those sixth bases was more geared toward allowing for different configurations for getting up to four and five bases. Which I hope I've achieved. I like the idea of turning it into a gold, I'll see if that can work.
SigmaFiE: You, sir, are my hero. Those instructions were so good I didn't even have to follow them to the letter to get it working again. I kinda got the gist of what you were saying, clicked a few buttons and then it was all roses again. And thank you for the kind words, I'm looking into those rocks and intend to have them fixed soon.
Antimatterz: Thank you for the kind words. As I mentioned to WniO, I think that suggestion, whilst probably entirely valid, undermines the goals of this map a little. It's still on the cards, but I'd like to see if I can up with a solution that better supports the goals I have. I very specifically want different attack paths and I want players to be very deliberate with their army movement.
As for all the rest of you: thank you all so much for all the comments, critiques and compliments. I really do appreciate all of it. You guys kick ass.
In the meantime I'll be playing with those rocks and the center pathway - I already have an idea for one solution. I'll be testing the map a little more this time, before just publishing it. I also intend to enter this map into the MoTM competition so hopefully at some point someone who knows what they're doing will work on this map
Cheers to all of you.
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This looks really good! Be great if you could upload it on NA
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On July 02 2012 00:36 beamingrobot wrote:This looks really good! Be great if you could upload it on NA
Hey beamingrobot, thanks for the compliments.
Unfortunately, I don't have an NA account and since this is still a WIP I'm going to hold off publishing it on other servers just yet. I do plan on entering into the MotM contest, then perhaps a pro mapper with multiple accounts might pick it up. If not, I'll find someone else to publish it.
For the foreseeable future, however, it won't be available anywhere except EU until MoTM is full swing or at least until I have a good version of the map (v 1.0 release).
Sorry about that, I'll be sure to let everyone know when the NA version goes up.
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This map really looks so beautiful.. Good job on aethestics
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This looks like a great map. I'd love to play on it once the bug gets fixed.
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On July 02 2012 02:15 SeinGalton wrote:Show nested quote +On July 02 2012 00:36 beamingrobot wrote:This looks really good! Be great if you could upload it on NA Hey beamingrobot, thanks for the compliments. Unfortunately, I don't have an NA account and since this is still a WIP I'm going to hold off publishing it on other servers just yet. I do plan on entering into the MotM contest, then perhaps a pro mapper with multiple accounts might pick it up. If not, I'll find someone else to publish it. For the foreseeable future, however, it won't be available anywhere except EU until MoTM is full swing or at least until I have a good version of the map (v 1.0 release). Sorry about that, I'll be sure to let everyone know when the NA version goes up.
Gotcha, it'll be great to see this map in the MotM contest
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This map is gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous.
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You made the right choice about which water to use, you've managed to create a very natural looking vegetation, and your layout is not bad.
But your map ingame is like looking through Elton John's glasses on LSD.
Your water still looks good, but it hurts my eyes, how much your boosted saturations.
And im not gonna jump on this gorgeous train.
But its a generally good map.
PS: Its nothing personal, but it makes me furious how easily others are affected by someone elses posts.
And the oposite, how it only takes one rotten apple in the basket, to make them all bad.
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On July 01 2012 10:51 Dexington wrote:
Holy shit this is the most beautiful map I've seen.
exactly my reaction
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Okay, now I´m actually really interested myself. I´ll try to apply an overgrown look, lets see if I can do it.
Result:
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/72PdN.jpg)
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Haven't really read through anyone else's posts but from what I can see your over-encouraging base trade situations with the expansion path and locations of the watch towers.
Late game it seems to be quicker and easier to take out the enemy's base than save your own what with there being a shorter distance to attack than defend. Also once you take the high-ground base the watchtower seems to become useless unless rocks are broken.
I'd add a ramp from the high ground pods to the centre and remove the rocks, assuming they do not become necessary to fix rush distances.
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Put the lighting on Mar Sara. Way too bright right now.
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This map looks SO COOL. What's with the double rocks in the middle though?
Also, would you want me to publish it on NA for you? Because I definitely want to play some games on it
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I love those beach/summer themes, they are too rare.
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Hello TL,
Just wanted to let you ya'll know I'm busy with a few changes after which this map will also be published on NA (thanks to iGrok for offering!). I'm currently toying around with two different alternatives to the current layout: one with the middle rocks still in the middle but further apart and with gaps (meh) and I'm also taking WniO's suggestion and playing around with that. Hopefully I'll be able to get something that doesn't feel so base-racey.
Guardian85: That makes looking through Elton John's sunglasses on LSD sound very boring. The lighting is currently being tweaked but I suspect the saturation will stay where it is. I love strong colours and I love working with them and pushing them to the limit. It makes me happy.
Aunvilgod: Hey, that's really cool, pretty convincing result. I really like the idea and I'm going to try it out - it might be contained to that general area though, I want to keep the total doodads <1000. Thanks for posting that, sir!
eTcetRa: Thanks for the feedback - I'm currently re-working that center and trying different things out, ramps to the middel being one of them. A few people have suggested it and whilst I'm still not fond of the idea, I'm going to try and make it work before discarding it. Thanks for the input sir.
IronManSC: Yeah you're right. Mar Sara turns out to be really red/pink on here, but I'm currently working to get this lighting into the same value range of existing light sets. Thanks!
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The map theme is beautiful!
The brightness can be a bit annoying in the main base, but I got over it, perhaps tune it down a tiny bit. The whole island is just wonderfully built and aesthetically I think you have a real talent. One thing though:
- Please consider removing those Terran Dominon Flags. Their animation is distracting!
Now for the balance:
- The natural is very choky, which makes is extremely easy to take and defend, which is great for macro style plays.
- The main zone is great for me (as zerg) but I can imagine it is a bit small.
- The fourth and third are both equally easy to take and nearly equally difficult to defend, they motivate a beautiful macro play.
- The rush distance is a bit long, but this seems to become the trend and if it's a designer choice there is nothing wrong with it.
- The geyser placement in the natural is unique, don't know how else to say it.
- Important: This map demotivates drop play (overlord, nydus worm, medivac and warp prisms) due to the small air space and the limited places to land forces. Consider increasing the main landing area and perhaps increasing the air space around the whole map.
I really enjoyed playing on this map. Good luck with getting it polished!
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This is by far the most beautiful map I have ever lain eyes upon.
My prediction: future GSL map, winner of MotM.
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Mabye try agria or bel'shir lighting?
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Bro is that a 3 minutes walking distance? Isn't it too much?
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Sweeett map, one of the best I've seen in a while.
My two complaints are that the split paths are awfully annoying and the natural mineral/gas layout is bad. For the latter, I suggest just making the mineral line a normal mineral line that players are used to. If you're concerned about the gas being tanked, just move it so its near the ramp. You might have to increase the size of the main and natural (subsequently the third too) in order to make it fit, but I think it is worth it so there is a comfortable amount of space and the minerals are normal.
On the previous, I tend not to like split paths as they encourage base trades and dumb situations if both players attack. However I do like the split more than Daybreak, because the expansion pattern almost requires it. So my two ideas to solve this are to either add a 1x ramp near the tower leading to the other side (so the split paths aren't as long) or you could do a middle like Asgard from brood war, with 3x ramps and rocks. Like this:
+ Show Spoiler +
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Too many destructible rocks and not enough open spaces IMO. The map obliges you to take out those rocks before attacking, unless you enjoy funnelling your units through those two entrances from the high grounds.
I like the clear water. Reminds me of the beach
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On July 04 2012 03:07 sorrowptoss wrote:Too many destructible rocks and not enough open spaces IMO. The map obliges you to take out those rocks before attacking, unless you enjoy funnelling your units through those two entrances from the high grounds. I like the clear water. Reminds me of the beach
Going to argue that the rocks add a dimension to the game that requires positioning, but in no way do you have to break them to attack. There are lots of open spaces, you just can't engage around the rock chokes.
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Without play-testing it, the only thing I'd really have to say is that there seems to be too much airspace on the sides. I'd take 8 off the left and right.
On July 04 2012 03:08 monitor wrote:Show nested quote +On July 04 2012 03:07 sorrowptoss wrote:Too many destructible rocks and not enough open spaces IMO. The map obliges you to take out those rocks before attacking, unless you enjoy funnelling your units through those two entrances from the high grounds. I like the clear water. Reminds me of the beach Going to argue that the rocks add a dimension to the game that requires positioning, but in no way do you have to break them to attack. There are lots of open spaces, you just can't engage around the rock chokes.
I agree, and also add that the way the rocks are setup in the middle allows you to take down just 1 to funnel small units through.
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Hello TL
Galápagos has been updated! I've used the solution suggested by WniO and monitor, adding ramps to the center but blocking them off with rocks. All other rocks have been removed. There are a lot of small additional changes, including lighting tweaks and increasing the mains. See the changelog for all the changes. I hope the new version is better and that is more fun. Any feeback would be greatly apprecaited!
Callyn: Thank you for the excellent feedback! I've increased the size of the mains and fixed the natural resource layout. I hope it plays out better! Any replays would also be greatly appreciated, I don't get time to play. Thank you again, that's exactly the kind of feedback I need.
Praetorial: haha god forbid. It would be insulting to people who know what they're doing
IronManSC: They're better. I went through them all and the best were actually Tyrador and Tarsonis, but even they made the map look real ugly. I've almost completely redone the lighting, eliminating the brightness and being far more consistent on different graphics settings. I'd love to hear your feedback!
monitor: Thanks for the feedback! I've addressed both o your concerns and hopefully these solutions are better. I liked the Asgard solution best for now, as it incentivizes alternate scouting paths to check watchtowers. I've kept the ramps kinda small and blocked them with rocks, but I think it'll work out fine because the center is now open. I've also changed the mineral layout at the natural, it's definitely better but I'm not sure it's optimal, one gas feels a little far away. Thanks for the feedback and suggestions, I really appreciate them.
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On July 07 2012 07:04 SeinGalton wrote:Hello TL Galápagos has been updated! I've used the solution suggested by WniO and monitor, adding ramps to the center but blocking them off with rocks. All other rocks have been removed. There are a lot of small additional changes, including lighting tweaks and increasing the mains. See the changelog for all the changes. I hope the new version is better and that is more fun. Any feeback would be greatly apprecaited! Callyn: Thank you for the excellent feedback! I've increased the size of the mains and fixed the natural resource layout. I hope it plays out better! Any replays would also be greatly appreciated, I don't get time to play. Thank you again, that's exactly the kind of feedback I need. Praetorial: haha god forbid. It would be insulting to people who know what they're doing IronManSC: They're better. I went through them all and the best were actually Tyrador and Tarsonis, but even they made the map look real ugly. I've almost completely redone the lighting, eliminating the brightness and being far more consistent on different graphics settings. I'd love to hear your feedback! monitor: Thanks for the feedback! I've addressed both o your concerns and hopefully these solutions are better. I liked the Asgard solution best for now, as it incentivizes alternate scouting paths to check watchtowers. I've kept the ramps kinda small and blocked them with rocks, but I think it'll work out fine because the center is now open. I've also changed the mineral layout at the natural, it's definitely better but I'm not sure it's optimal, one gas feels a little far away. Thanks for the feedback and suggestions, I really appreciate them.
Great job on the update, I like it a lot more now (I didn't know that was even possible, tbh). Thanks for listening ^^
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Cheers, monitor.
Just wanted to notify those of you who might be interested that Galápagos has been published on the NA server (at least for the month of August, I believe), with many thanks to Veloh and the Mapper's Monthly Tournament, whom you should all check out.
There are still a few more tweaks to be made, and I'll try to get a version 1.0 up by the end of August.
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Makes me wanna live there rofl
Great map!
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I think you need to publish map again with patch 1.5 because I don't see your map on NA
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On August 01 2012 10:16 PandaZerg wrote:
I think you need to publish map again with patch 1.5 because I don't see your map on NA
Unfortunately I myself have no way to double check the NA server. The guys at Mapper's Monthly are using it in their tournament, so unless they made a mistake during publishing (like publishing it privately) it should definitely be available soon. Also, the á has given some people some trouble, searching for "pagos" works on EU, but I'm pretty sure it's just that Veloh and his team haven't gotten around to publishing it again
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This map should real get a shot to be featured in the ladder or GSL. It shows real estetich beauty in combination to being an excelent map with some unique features. I real hope it will win MotM and get some shine on it.
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On August 05 2012 22:36 MachineGunPanda wrote:
This map should real get a shot to be featured in the ladder or GSL. It shows real estetich beauty in combination to being an excelent map with some unique features. I real hope it will win MotM and get some shine on it.
Unfortunately, without another TLMC, it's impossible for any maps on the forum to get on GSL (Unless it's Prime/Crux)
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EPT![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/cW1HC.jpg)
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