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![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/ejBSe.jpg)
Introduction/Inspiration:
I made a Niflheim map! I felt after quite a few experiments that I'd done as much snow texturing as you can do without Niflheim, so I decided to finally give it a shot, and since it's my first time actually touching a legitimate snow tileset I wanted to make sure I got it right. The name is a nod to Devil May Cry 3, perhaps my favorite hack-n-slash game.
As for the layout, I wanted the first 3 bases to be something standard, that players of all styles can appreciate and use normally. The options for a 4th however are a bit more polarized. You from there expand either into a corner or into the center, and from there you can expand pretty much anywhere, so this is very much so a map that gets more dynamic as a game progresses. The Xel'Naga tower placement seems simple, but it works. It's simple, yet powerful, but there is also a clear path to take if you want to avoid it.
Recent changes mostly concern the two expansions in either corner, which now have only one entrance each. The intent here is to make air-based harassment more appealing in the late-game. The side entrance to the 3rd also has a more defined choke than before, so flanks and unit splitting in general should fare better than a single clump of units. Also, the center base has had a bit of a haircut. 
Aesthetics and Close-Ups:
+ Show Spoiler +
The original version of this map really only made use of 7 textures, so with this revision I've changed things a bit. Now there's an extra, recolored, version of Niflheim cracked ice, so this tileset has a unique cracked snow texture now.
Also, yes, the overview looks very bright, but this is a problem with the editor rendering fog. As the close-up pictures show, it's nothing that would strain the eyes.
Textures - Niflheim/Zhakul'Das/Custom
Lighting: Custom
Data (Gameplay):
Playable Bounds: 138x142
Nat - Nat Walk Distance ~ 145
Expansion Count: 8 normal, 2 three-quarter
Xel'Naga Towers: 1
There have been a lot of things happening to this map, and during the ProAm MOTM, not all the changes were good. With this, I've tried to keep the good changes, and revert the bad, whilst working to add an even more interesting impression and gameplay to the map.
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Wow, I can't comment on gameplay but it's a gorgeous map.
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Lack of a third circle decal at an Expo is making me think it's a (3) rather than (2).
Just one suggestion or rather an idea I'll throw out there. Would it be possible to add a ramp w/ rocks leading to the natural - say in the dead center of the crystals at the 10/11 nat. and likewise with the other nat?
Something like this would add a clear way for players to force their way into their opponents nat if they had an strong army advantage but couldn't break the nat's choke due to colossi/siege tanks. This could also lead to various run-bye opportunities and even give players more direct army reinforcements in some cases.
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I won't pretend to be an expert on game play, but the aesthetics are beautiful.
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such as others cant say anything about the game play but i agree with Fishriot the aesthetics are great, i love the windswept look of it.
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pretty nice. Looks quite balanced and reminds me of Cloud Kingdom.
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Possible aesthetic update/bump!
I'm considering doing something like:
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/LwHZf.jpg)
to the entire map, thanks to Namrufus's thread here - http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=351944
I have 2 concerns though - 1, the entire low ground aesthetic was done without any form of water/lava, and so I'd have to redo quite a bit of it, which is no biggie and certainly doesn't affect you guys. 2, I feel the aesthetic will be too much like porn at that stage. You guys let me know what you think. Oh, and I'm considering lopping off the "plateau" from the name, just leaving Cerberus. Lemme know how that rings too.
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I LOVE the watch towers just outside the thirds. That's genius. You're basically giving each player a point to defend which they will need to use because of the multiple entrances the tower covers - especially since one of those ramps leads to the fourth. I'm not an expert at gameplay either, so I may be just being dumb, but I love that idea.
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I think it would be a nightmare playing against a blinkobs player in PvP on this map, such a long distance from the nat ramp to the far left of your main. The map is gorgeous though, I'll have to check it out on bnet!
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On July 11 2012 15:07 hoby2000 wrote:
I LOVE the watch towers just outside the thirds. That's genius. You're basically giving each player a point to defend which they will need to use because of the multiple entrances the tower covers - especially since one of those ramps leads to the fourth. I'm not an expert at gameplay either, so I may be just being dumb, but I love that idea.
Those aren't watch towers, the only watch tower is dead center in the map.
On July 11 2012 14:16 NewSunshine wrote:Possible aesthetic update/bump! I'm considering doing something like: to the entire map, thanks to Namrufus's thread here - http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=351944I have 2 concerns though - 1, the entire low ground aesthetic was done without any form of water/lava, and so I'd have to redo quite a bit of it, which is no biggie and certainly doesn't affect you guys. 2, I feel the aesthetic will be too much like porn at that stage. You guys let me know what you think. Oh, and I'm considering lopping off the "plateau" from the name, just leaving Cerberus. Lemme know how that rings too.
I'm okay with this =). Since you're considering re-naming the map how about "Chrysalis Pass". Just a random name I came up with.
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Or cerberus Pass, that would be sick ^^
the aesthetics are AMAZING. Also, I really love the middle of the map, the openness and counter attack paths are awesome, I love the different attack paths to expoes, it reminds me of a few old amazing Brood war maps. PLEASE get this used in tourneys 
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Looks really nice, only issue is that I think you should narrow the path to the 3rd from which the enemy can attack so that it could be walled in PvZ or TvZ for example to prevent runbys since it could be a bit hard to defend the 3rd from zerg like that.
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On July 11 2012 15:07 hoby2000 wrote:
I LOVE the watch towers just outside the thirds. That's genius. You're basically giving each player a point to defend which they will need to use because of the multiple entrances the tower covers - especially since one of those ramps leads to the fourth. I'm not an expert at gameplay either, so I may be just being dumb, but I love that idea.
Sorry to disappoint you 
Those aren't watchtowers. Oddly enough though, you're not the first to make that mistake. One of them is a statue, the other is an ice crystal coming up through the ground. I figured it looked better than a simple cliff.
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On July 12 2012 01:12 NewSunshine wrote:Show nested quote +On July 11 2012 15:07 hoby2000 wrote:
I LOVE the watch towers just outside the thirds. That's genius. You're basically giving each player a point to defend which they will need to use because of the multiple entrances the tower covers - especially since one of those ramps leads to the fourth. I'm not an expert at gameplay either, so I may be just being dumb, but I love that idea. Sorry to disappoint you Those aren't watchtowers. Oddly enough though, you're not the first to make that mistake. One of them is a statue, the other is an ice crystal coming up through the ground. I figured it looked better than a simple cliff.
NOOOOOOOOOOOO. I really think you should make them watch towers. I'm not usually an advocate of such a thing, but I think they would be perfect. Hell, take out the middle watch tower, and replace those statue things with watch towers.
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United States10154 Posts
low ground expos near the middle, imo should be half bases. maybe HY gas. but since they are so close to your third and natural, half bases would be appropriate here or else terran just PF there and it cant be touched.
overall this map is amazing. absolutely gorgeous. and amazing base layout. real winner.
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On July 12 2012 01:18 FlaShFTW wrote:
low ground expos near the middle, imo should be half bases. maybe HY gas. but since they are so close to your third and natural, half bases would be appropriate here or else terran just PF there and it cant be touched.
overall this map is amazing. absolutely gorgeous. and amazing base layout. real winner.
tyty
As for the middle though, I find it'll be like the 4th on Cloud Kingdom, where even if it's a PF the opponent can just swing up to the high ground and shoot down workers from there. The Terran's position, in order to hold the 3rd and 4th like that, will have to be on top of the high ground, near the 3rd base, so I don't think it being in the center is actually all that dangerous.
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Russian Federation4295 Posts
Cerberus reminds me about Cerberus from Mass Effect. Isn't it really better to rename it to something, like "Chrysalis Pass", like someone said above, or "Braxis Plateau"
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On July 12 2012 03:01 Existor wrote:
Cerberus reminds me about Cerberus from Mass Effect. Isn't it really better to rename it to something, like "Chrysalis Pass", like someone said above, or "Braxis Plateau"
No. :p
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This map is absolutely beautiful. Well done, I do love me a good snow map:D
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uhhh... post got lost in space... :/
And also, if there's any mod out there kind enough to do so, might this thread be renamed to "[M] (2) Cerberus"?
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The recent changes all seem great. I like that the expansion in front of the 3rd got reduced to a 6m1hyg, really needed it. Also glad that the huge object obstructing the attack path into the 4th got greatly reduced. And of course still liking dat sexy texturing.
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One interesting thing about this that I like is how even though the map has mirror symmetry, the texturing is different on both sides. Preserves the balance but you have a different-looking base depending on where you spawn. Reminds me a bit of Testbug, too bad you pretty much never see this on any newer maps.
Layout-wise I think it's quite solid, abeit the middle is a bit too open. Perhaps the chokyness of the outer regions compensates for it (and I know there are many other competitive maps that have open areas, like TDA) but I still feel that there is something that you can do too make the middle a little more interesting, if not necessarity more closed off but just somehow slightly different, rather than just a single open plain.
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The aesthetic asymmetry was very much an intended thing - the concept was touched upon here on TL, and a select few maps have already done so, including Testbug, Dual Sight, and Metropolis(that might be all actually). This not only adds to the artistic aspect of a map, but also makes it quickly and easily possible to identify exactly which portion of a map you're looking at - something spectators and players alike should be able to appreciate.
Anyway doods, I'm considering, depending on how things go for me, using this map for MotM. Please keep them comments coming and let me know what you think.
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somehow it reminds me a bit of steppes of war :D
anyways, great work
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Beautiful Map!!
(I love snow maps)
Good job!
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Just played around on this map it's wonderful.
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4th base might be a little to easy to defend
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9/10
Expo layout needs work,but I love the tactical strategies posible.
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Wish this was published in custom. Would love to include it as part of my map pool for weekly customs.
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On October 03 2012 13:26 MorningLtMtn wrote:
Wish this was published in custom. Would love to include it as part of my map pool for weekly customs.
It's up on the arcade, just not normal melee. I have been thinking about going back to standard melee recently, since it takes quite a bit of work to prep a map for the arcade, and for melee maps the reward just isn't coming in my case. Sorry for the confusion
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I was playing this map with friends just today and we noticed that the neutral supply depot is on the wrong side of the ramp. This makes walling in with the ramp impossible and makes many defenses more difficult. It is a fairly important detail with i would be much obliged if you fixed. Otherwise I really like the look of this map.
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On October 05 2012 16:00 Insomni7 wrote:
I was playing this map with friends just today and we noticed that the neutral supply depot is on the wrong side of the ramp. This makes walling in with the ramp impossible and makes many defenses more difficult. It is a fairly important detail with i would be much obliged if you fixed. Otherwise I really like the look of this map.
Why would you ever try to wall from the ramp on this map anyway, the ramp doesn't even face the townhall location so it seems to actually require more buildings than walling at the choke.
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On October 05 2012 16:12 -NegativeZero- wrote:Show nested quote +On October 05 2012 16:00 Insomni7 wrote:
I was playing this map with friends just today and we noticed that the neutral supply depot is on the wrong side of the ramp. This makes walling in with the ramp impossible and makes many defenses more difficult. It is a fairly important detail with i would be much obliged if you fixed. Otherwise I really like the look of this map. Why would you ever try to wall from the ramp on this map anyway, the ramp doesn't even face the townhall location so it seems to actually require more buildings than walling at the choke.
It is called a secondary wall, it is used to help defend when you are getting baneling busted / roach ling'ed / some other all in. It is important that you are allowed, unless you want to make Zerg all ins stronger then normal on this map, and then it is OK to leave it in the existing form. Of course not all maps allow for a secondary wall, but I think those that do are better
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This is an amazing map, I had a blast on it. Besides being really pretty, the multiple attack paths make for fun play. I'm not too good playing mech TvT, but I like the many paths hellions can take to harass. Here is a replay of me vs a masters terran on the most recent version of the map: http://drop.sc/261524
EDIT: I wish this was in the ladder pool
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I like the layout. I think that the fourths could be shrunk a little (they have a lot of space). The fifths are set up quite nicely in the way that they cover air paths to the fourths, have a small choke, and are still close to the enemy base. It strikes me as a very functional way to set up an expansion layout.
I would narrow the middle somewhat, it seems incredibly open there. You could pinch in form those pits in the middle towards each other.
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minor update:
-relocated to melee section - 1.0/NA/unlocked
-supply depot moved to other side of ramp
-updated pathing
On October 05 2012 18:23 Jermman wrote:This is an amazing map, I had a blast on it. Besides being really pretty, the multiple attack paths make for fun play. I'm not too good playing mech TvT, but I like the many paths hellions can take to harass. Here is a replay of me vs a masters terran on the most recent version of the map: http://drop.sc/261524EDIT: I wish this was in the ladder pool
Thanks, will check out replay
also, to re-request:
And also, if there's any mod out there kind enough to do so, might this thread be renamed to "[M] (2) Cerberus"?
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Can you specify the changes please?
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On December 18 2012 05:37 moskonia wrote:
Can you specify the changes please?
oh, sorry, haha
The only change is to the center, which is no longer a wide open area, but two areas connected by a small central path.
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Can you put it up on EU and SEA? I really want to play it, It looks amazing
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EPT![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/Dn6px.jpg)
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