[M] (2) Astro Haze

On September 25 2012 09:17 NewSunshine wrote:
As far as I can work out from a cursory look, it strikes me as similar to Ohana, but with another expansion in the opposite direction. Obviously this ends up making the map quite a bit bigger, so it won't be the same, but the layout doesn't strike me as any sort of technical, similar to what I think of Ohana(boring). As for the partial mineral block on the ramp, it should be moved to the top of the ramps instead, so it makes walloffs on that ramp a bit easier, and makes a more noticeable impact in general.

In summary, I'd say it's a very pretty map, and also a solid one at first glance, but I want to see maps which have something that are exciting, mentally stimulating, and cool. I don't see that here. It's got those sorta basics that have been established with recent maps, i.e. choice of expos, use of harass-paths, etc. but it doesn't go any further than that, so I guess it sorta falls flat for me.

On September 25 2012 10:23 Fatam wrote:
Map is really pretty. I can't comment on balance until I play on it b/c it's sort of hard to read the different heights from the overview. Looks like it will probably be good though.

On September 25 2012 11:26 EatThePath wrote:
Honestly the expansion pattern bores me and I worry about CS, but it has a lot of cool things going for it and samro put a lot of work into tweaking it into shape, which shows. And it is very pretty of course. ^^

The best part is the tower + center high grounds, everything else is so many miscellaneous pieces of furniture in a nice enough room. I really wish there was something more interesting along the extremes of the meridian, however the LosB will in fact create cool positioning adjustments if two armies are circling at 12 or 6. If we get some macro games I'm sure we'll see this. Too much mobility there though, imo.

I will take back my "harsh" criticism (which is sent with love) if someone provides enlightenment. (Don't be fooled, this map is an easy 7/ or 8/10 at least, but I wish it had a more apparent "concept". Am I missing something?)

But it is true, many texturing seems to be designed to work in Overview-only because people tend to judge from the overview ion many cases alone.

On September 25 2012 15:58 Samro225am wrote:
Go and play it before trying a comparison with Ohana or I have to take your comparison with Ohana as a cheap shot to discredit the map only because both look good

Actually I do see your point and you are not really wrong with the comparison. This is quite logical because that is the map's starting point. It tries to position itself as a potential replacement. The map has a two-path (four!) layout like Ohana or you could say the four bases are taken from Daybreak:
The map does not try to do something experimental or super-cool ( i could do that, but that was not what I was up to here), it tries to be solid with a new and very wide open middle. Most of the time went into getting the spacing the way it should be, tweaking each ramp and corner to make things flow well. It starts with map concepts like Ohana and Daybreak and goes a step further with the middle that might be the maps main feature.

The mineral block is where it should be. It is not there to help you wall-in, but restrict movement in and out a bit in-front of the area that you can easily observe. If that does not work I will try moving it or eventually take it away.

Your general idea to promote cool conceptual maps is something I support, but it is just wrong to condemn a map for being solid. I am not intersted in giving a base away almost for free for example or just move it a bit further away just for the sake of innovation

On September 25 2012 21:58 Rukis wrote:
Can't find it on NA ):

On September 27 2012 06:54 Icetoad wrote:
I will upload Astro Haze friday in the afternoon. So sorry for the inconvenience on NA.

On September 29 2012 05:22 EatThePath wrote:
Okay, the proportions and base distances are significantly different in-game than the overview picture would lead you to believe. I was convinced they were "good", now everything seems... perfect. ^^

This map should definitely be on ladder. Because of the rush distance and the nice small outside choke bridge at the 3rd base, it's a "macro" map, but it has way more interesting things going on than daybreak, the closest thing for comparison. The low ground 3rd is a lot more viable than I first thought and the north and south edge bases are farther apart than I thought. This should provide enough stability in all stages of the game.

On October 01 2012 13:52 johnmac12 wrote:
Map is really awesome and also looking pretty cool. but its matter of sorrow that i have never played it.