Habitation Station A 2 player map created using the Daelaam Ark tileset as well as a few from the Zerus tileset. After many failed attempts and countless amounts of feedback I was fortunate enough to become a finalist in TLMC3.
Map Info: Bounds: 158x128 XWT: 1 Main2Main: ~52seconds Nat2Nat: ~42sec Ten 8m2g bases Two 6hm2g bases TLMC3 Finalist
Habitation Station is a 2 player map created using the Daelaam Ark tileset as well as a few from the Zerus tileset. It took me a lot of attempts to finally find a mirrored 2p map layout that I enjoyed enough to actually sit down and texture/doodad it up. I hope you guys enjoy it!
@Flash True, although I'm hoping with HotS bringing more harass oriented units as well as making air play stronger, that with the 3rd and 4th both having huge vulnerabilities to air harass making it not so turtley. I also think by saying there's only 2 chokes is a little far fetched, because those 2 chokes spread out across the entire map. :D
@a176 It's 150x126, so it's not thaaat small. To be honest, I'm just kind of tired of all the huge maps out there that usually always result in 4,5 or 6 base play.
@Entirety Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...........debatable! lol (I do like that name as well though heh)
Reminds me of Blitz from brood war, but great map overall; the only thing I'd do is remove the top XWT and make the natural easier for protoss to wall off.
It's 150x126, so it's not thaaat small. To be honest, I'm just kind of tired of all the huge maps out there that usually always result in 4,5 or 6 base play.
Yeah 150x126 is actually slightly on the large side for a 2 player map. Considering that Daybreak is considered a "large" macro map weighing in at 148x120 and CK is 124x132 lol.
@Whiplash I actually never played much Melee Brood War, I was much more of a UMS player back then. So I actually never knew of Blitz, but definitely looking at it you can see it has a similarity. Pretty neat. Here's how protoss can wall off their FE, two 3x3 buildings can block off to the nexus. I'm hoping with that, as well as MSC & Photon Overcharge they should (hopefully) be alright.
Also about the XWT, I do kind of like it without one at the top, but I'm unsure if I should take it out since it can be used as an early 1 or 2 base all-in path since it's the shortest distance, so I figured having the XWT would allow you to be prepared for it better.
@KingCorwin Time! Gotta spend time on those aesthetics. Even if the map itself sucks, as long as it looks good people might like it! haha. In my case I hope the layout/balance doesn't suck though
@gronnelg Agreed, one of my concerns was that it might be a little too hard for zerg. I'm hoping with ling/bling/muta becoming popular again and with all the tight chokes + air harass options it won't be too bad though. Plus baneling landmines on the single wide ramps could prove to be extremely deadly.
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OP has been updated with Protoss FE and some more pretty pics...since it appears a you guys love it. :D
Want similar version but with Zergs and Terrans, aka space platform with greeny elements. As terrans it can be something like Scrapstation and Daybreak, as Zerg... can you create new tileset with infested platform?
It looks really really good. But I dont like that you have to FFE with nexus. Its extremely hard to hold any early roach pressure, and the nestea spine crawler pressure is almost impossible. I belive thats why Dual Site had to be removed from the gsl ladder pool?
On April 03 2013 06:08 sunshinefag wrote: It looks really really good. But I dont like that you have to FFE with nexus. Its extremely hard to hold any early roach pressure, and the nestea spine crawler pressure is almost impossible. I belive thats why Dual Site had to be removed from the gsl ladder pool?
The nestea spine crawler thing shouldn't ever be a problem now with the photon nexus and roach pressure is probably the same I'd say. I wouldn't change the map drastically to fix something that we have no clue whether it's broken in HoTS yet :p
On April 03 2013 06:08 sunshinefag wrote: It looks really really good. But I dont like that you have to FFE with nexus. Its extremely hard to hold any early roach pressure, and the nestea spine crawler pressure is almost impossible. I belive thats why Dual Site had to be removed from the gsl ladder pool?
The nestea spine crawler thing shouldn't ever be a problem now with the photon nexus and roach pressure is probably the same I'd say. I wouldn't change the map drastically to fix something that we have no clue whether it's broken in HoTS yet :p
@Existor I'm sure if nobody does an infested space station maybe I'll try to do one myself. No guarantees though.
@KJSharp, Callynn, Caviar Thanks, appreciate the kind words.
@sunshinefag Basically what Qikz said. I'm hoping with the mothership core and the photon overcharge it "should" be okay. Although yeah, with HotS being new no one really knows. If it does prove to be a problem though I will easily change up the natural to make it safer for a protoss to FE at.
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Habitation Station has been uploaded to EU due to request.
I don't think that taking a natural would be too hard, but making a few adjustments might be good, although they might not be. If you choose to remain with the current format of the natural but want to make it slightly easier to hold you can do it so that you are able to wall off using a 2x2 building and a 3x3 building, you can do that by simply making the nat 1 square closer to the ramp. Another thing would be to close the tiny area between the gas and the wall behind it so that the only way to get behind the nat mineral line would be through it, this and the fact that 1 FF is able to close the gap between the gas and the nexus and you get that 1gate expo just became a bit safer while also making the nat more defendable in other matchups.
Overall I don't think that having to nexus wall is too bad, while as you see many people whine, its not that bad that a map requires you to play differently. and I think it will create more interesting games than the ones where no one makes a unit till 8 minutes.
Other than the nat the major thing noticeable is that there aren't many very open areas, this makes Zerg's life a bit hard, although it does favor the old BL infestor style, which has pretty much died, so its good. The bad thing is that it made Tempest High Templar stronger, which imo is really overpowered atm, but maybe with good abuse of this terrain and the size of the map it will be possible to outmaneuver the Protoss, we will have to see
Besides the design of the map which I really like, the aesthetics are fabulous, the concept of the map is unique and I really hope that this map get picked by a tourny since it really looks good, great job!!
This map has that, a beautiful environment, correct use of mixed tilesets and correct base positioning in an original way. The lighting needs some attention (my units had a strange white glow in the natural on the north-west side of the map).
However, there is one problem with this map: It's all too choked. The routes are all narrow and there are plenty of counterattack paths, but each and every one of them can be easily shut down by tanks. It's a shame to see that the whole map is actually perfect if the environment was slightly more spacious. Especially as Zerg getting surrounds are going to be impossible - air play will be very dominant as a result.
The north attack path is extremely narrow, only idiots would attack there (and I did, but againt a no-brain AI). This is an urgent matter that needs fixing.
I have dropped the replay here, a test match against an AI because no one was online at the time.
Whisplash, you can with a nexus with only 2 buildings so its OK, also with a pylon behind the gas you should be able to block the entrance remaining with only 1 FF and that means 1 gate expands are more than viable, especially with the msc added defense. As I have said before, I would love to see the area behind the gas blocked and the area between the expo and the ramp also shortened a bit, but even without these it is still not that hard to keep the expo alive versus attacks.
Basically FFE is possible but is not encouraged because pools that would normally simply make you wall off before the expo will now be able to do a lot of damage if you wanted to go Nexus 1st. I don't mind that FFE is less powerful and neither should you, as Protoss is strong enough versus Zerg that are not Life and even if they weren't FFE is a boring build and is one of the reasons for the bad metagame that was the end of WoL. Having maps that favor certain builds make for more mind games and interesting dynamics between players who know each other, which is pretty fun to watch imo.
@Moskonia You're last paragraph makes me happy! I'm actually looking at the map in the editor right now and I could easily slide the naturals up 1 hex to you can wall with a pylon + gateway. I'm debating about doing it, in one way it's great, but another way would most protoss even want to wall with a pylon since it's so easily bustable? /shrug It is definitely a possibility though.
@Whiplash As I just said above, I can move the minerals back a little bit, but I'm still unsure if it's really needed. With the mothership core as well as Photon Overcharge do you still think it's too difficult to hold? Also, with proper building placement you can wall off the entire natural with 3 3x3 buildings and 1 2x2 building. It actually would make sense with what Moskonia was saying about blocking off the area behind the gas, because then you wouldn't need the extra 2x2 building.
@Callynn As I said in the PM, thank you. I didn't notice the lighting at all when playing, although I play protoss so it probably wasn't as bad, but watching your replay I noticed it instantly. I was stumped at first, but immediately found the doodad that was causing the problem. (The starship wing wasn't lowered enough and therefore generating light on the surface lol)
I've got a few ideas of how I could try to widen the area out. Possibly making some of the upper ramps 3x instead of 2x wide. Possibly removing the d-rocks from the middle ramps to allow more attack paths and finally reworking some of the high ground above the 3rd to make it a little less choked. Although, these are just ideas floating in my head atm, we'll see if I like it after I get some time to mess around with it in the editor.
That isn't a wall off lol... a walloff max should be a gate, pylon, core, and potentially another pylon if it is a wide ramp. What you are suggesting here is a bit obscene, a change really does need to happen...
On April 04 2013 14:50 Whiplash wrote: That isn't a wall off ...
I can't really see anything wrong with the wall off style shown in this picture. + Show Spoiler +
Reminds me of the wall off that protoss did near the start of WoL on maps like Xel Naga Caverns or Shattered Temple.
Toss would either forge expand with building placement that looked similar, or sentry expo placing their second two gates to finish off their wall to their nexus. Sure it is not what we are used to currently on most maps, I don't see how it is non-viable however.
Map looks really cool, love the aesthetics! The layout looks really cool, all those ramps could make for some interesting gameplay!
On April 04 2013 14:50 Whiplash wrote: That isn't a wall off lol... a walloff max should be a gate, pylon, core, and potentially another pylon if it is a wide ramp. What you are suggesting here is a bit obscene, a change really does need to happen...
Have you honestly played the map enough to judge that it's to hard for protoss to early expand?
Edit: Not sure about the 12 o clock base, perhaps it would be better if it had ramps leading down to it?
On April 04 2013 14:50 Whiplash wrote: That isn't a wall off ...
I can't really see anything wrong with the wall off style shown in this picture. + Show Spoiler +
Reminds me of the wall off that protoss did near the start of WoL on maps like Xel Naga Caverns or Shattered Temple.
Toss would either forge expand with building placement that looked similar, or sentry expo placing their second two gates to finish off their wall to their nexus. Sure it is not what we are used to currently on most maps, I don't see how it is non-viable however.
That's fine, it's like antiga sort of. Gate with MSC would be better than forge probably, in terms of allowing you to be greedy. But plays out differently obv. The forge-nexus style of walloff leaves you vulnerable to speedling stuff that's actually less dangerous with msc + sentries quicker. Either way roaches are much better than usual but it's kind of a long walk so it's fine I think.
[edit] Also why not just wall at the forward choke like this? The distance for the 2nd route is enormous, giving you plenty of time to put up the second walloff if needed against lings. Against roaches it's way too long for that to be an effective 2prong or rush route, and with photon overcharge and FF it wouldn't matter anyway. + Show Spoiler +
having checked, photon overcharge doesn't quite cover that 2nd walloff
[edit2] Okay I checked things out in game and I'm sure a forward wall is fine with proper scouting. The map is a lot smaller than I thought so the rush distance is actually pretty close. All the pathways are either skinny or have nasty chokepoints. Overall the map is just very chokey / not open. Compared to the current ladder maps it's like playing in an air duct. This map would be instant veto for zergs. It's horrible to conceive, but if you added 8-12 squares horizontal dimension and maybe 4 vertical (enlarging various pathways here and there) this map would instantly be a lot better -- it would have no faults afaik. Right now it's a major flaw though.
Big update to most of the center of this map. Have added new stuff to the OP.
Changes: Many ramps around the map have been changed to not be so choked. Top Middle section changed to make it not be so choked. Top XWT Removed. Middle XWT Added.
I've decided not to mess with the base layouts yet but after plenty of games and feedback the overall map was waaaay to choked off, hence why I opened it up quite a bit.
Hey Sidian, atm i'm working on re-texturing my Vol II maps, more specifically Past Glories to look more jungle like/alive, and because you nailed the theme so well i don't think i'll be able to escape completely from the shadow of Habitation Station, but hell i'll try!
Also any tips for the grass and ground? you used the best textures u.u
Oh lord, now I'm going to have to update the OP when I get home. Dammit Uvantak! haha.
Pretty sure it's just the zerus dirt and zerus slime for the textures I used on the lower level. Then just use a lot of cliff vines, ground vines, zerus plants, zerus plantlife (small/medium/large). I'll get back to you about the ground rocks and the geyser doodads, I don't recall which ones they are but I just lowered them by quite a bit so only the top is sticking out. (Also, gotta make sure to remove their footprint or else you couldn't build on them) Speaking of lowering the doodad, you can do a lot of unique stuff by lowering them or now using pitch/roll on them. For instance, take the zerus large tree, put it ontop of your minerals, turn the footprint off and then lower it so only the top is sticking out, no clue how it'd look but it might be a better type of "leaf" doodad rather then just using the grass textures. Zerus LoSB look very sweet as well on cliff walls and lowered a bit.
Actually instead of using zerus stuff I'm pretty certain Bel'shir or even Aiur grass/dirt textures would work just as well.
I'll bump this again in an hour or so with a re-updated OP as well as letting you know. If you'd like I can just send you a link to DL the map, I'm fine with that as well.
Nah, don't worry much about it, the pics you posted in the OP are enough, also these Zerus plants are soooo nice to work with, the map will have a lot of bel'shir/aiur/zerus stuff mixed in and i'm trying/forcing myself to use more the pitch and roll tools but i just can't find a practical use for them atm, for me it's one of these tools that you know that have a bazillion possibilities like 3D printing for example but you just can't think a useful one other than printing some weird looking shower curtain rings.
Gimme a Working HDR Multiplier and a height tool and i'll be happy :D
kk, OP has been updated to what was submitted during TLMC3. As always, any feedback is appreciated! :D
On November 12 2013 04:32 EatThePath wrote: I have not once thought of 3D printing shower curtain rings, but now it will be the only thing I think of when that subject is brought up.
I was really skeptical about this map getting the place it got on TLMC, but it turns out I was dead wrong, really nice job. This map shows that gold bases give a really interesting dynamic, as well as really hard chokes like the one at the end, I as well would love to see this on the ladder.
To have such an epic game play out on Habitation Station makes me ecstatic. Appreciate all the kind words guys and I hope it continues to produce amazing games.
Also, any feedback / concerns that you've noticed, feel free to share them with me here or in a PM.
Literally only wonderful games being played on this map. The amount of attacks and counterattacks are insane. The multiple lanes for army movement are excellent. Hope to see you make more maps in the future and hopefully Blizz will look at putting this on ladder!
Great games on this map. However, I do feel the gold bases favour Terran quite a bit. Just look at the bomber games. Even vs. Scarlet, he almost had it after a failed double proxy rax and it was only Scarlett brilliance that saved her the game.
neobowman, while the gold did help Bomber, it still was easy to harass, and both sides did so against the opponent's gold, since before Bomber got his gold, Scarlett has already nearly depleted hers. I find the gold a point of interest, something that forces conflict, which is good.
Also to further discuss the game, the reason Bomber managed to get back to the game was Scarlett late expansions compared to the fast in-base 3rd Bomber took.
In all the games I watched last night on Habitation Station (group A games, slept durring group B) I dont recall the gold bases having any influence on balance. In the game between Scarlett and Bomber specificaly the gold bases had zero influence on Bombers comeback.
That being said I do think the gold base could be terran favored if you look at it isolated from the rest of the map. However if you look at the map in an entirety and specificaly at the TvZ matchup Zerg have several things in their favor. Most notably it is an excellent muta-map. Roaming the north of the map with mutas allows you to horass both main and gold while defending own gold, shut down drops and quickly reinforce your ground army in a direct engagement. Its give and take and I dont see any race come out too far ahead.
Overall I do not see any glaring balanceissues and the map should longterm fit within 45/55% winrate in all matchups.
And while I do think there is some iffy things with the execution(why the edgy cliffs when they serve no purpose to the layout and looks silly with the starship cliffs?) I find the map to be brilliant, playing much better then I anticipated by looking at the layout. It has a near perfect balance between agression and macro, incentive to move out, to control the map and take up position.
On November 24 2013 23:24 ETisME wrote: I don't want to comment on the balance but the map looks damn good, one of the most amazing looking map out there.
On November 24 2013 21:41 Archvil3 wrote: In all the games I watched last night on Habitation Station (group A games, slept durring group B) I dont recall the gold bases having any influence on balance. In the game between Scarlett and Bomber specificaly the gold bases had zero influence on Bombers comeback.
Golds are actually not as good as Blue ones for Terran in the 4M style atleast later taken ones, while Zerg benefits alot from it. The style is based around flying a base over and mule it to death for a fake 2 base eco. The Gold works like a Blue one in that case and just mines out faster. While Zerg has the possibility to take the Gold in the midgame usually and then the workers there will allow to get out more mineral only tanks. And the fast mineout is no issue since Zerg has to drop bases anyway when 3/3 hits.
Tank leapfrogging on the other hand looks terrifying there.
Either way I don't think I saw better implemented Golds and they shake up the Meta pretty nicely, so I want this map on Ladder for a season .
On November 24 2013 23:24 ETisME wrote: I don't want to comment on the balance but the map looks damn good, one of the most amazing looking map out there.
You mean like easy cannon rush spots?
There are cannon rush spots on every map, as smart player will know them and will prevent them from working, this map doesn't have stronger than normal cannon rush.
@FeyFey, I agree, especially the gold part, it is really well done.
On November 25 2013 11:56 CutTheEnemy wrote: who cares about balance at this point? We need more maps like this. Its important to the scene. If race X doesn't like it they can just veto it.
With that kind of logic, we would still have Steepes of War on the ladder.
On November 25 2013 11:56 CutTheEnemy wrote: who cares about balance at this point? We need more maps like this. Its important to the scene. If race X doesn't like it they can just veto it.
With that kind of logic, we would still have Steepes of War on the ladder.
I want this on ladder. Players can adapt to any seeming initial imbalances. Too many of the same boring maps (i.e. all of them) that do not promote progression.
Here's a few different pictures. I'm sure if you really want me to I could go into all my old saves and take more screenshots, otherwise it's kind of a cool little evolution of Habitation Station.
Mirrored it, added bases at 12 & 6, created middle, added watchtowers.
Removed top rocks, removed 6 oclock base, added more space at bottom to add extra bases.
Basically the last image, but this was my first actually release of the map.
Messed with ramp sizes at middle. Got rid of a lot of the bottom middle section. Moved top watchtower to middle of map. Opened up top middle quite a bit. If I recall correctly this is what I submitted to TLMC2.
Increased the width of the map by ~10. Changed third and area around it up by a lot. Moved middle watchtower back towards top. Island base now has ramps to it to make it easier to take.
Version I submitted to TLMC3 and the version you saw played. Island base removed, golds added, lower watchtower removed, rocks at middle removed, larger ramp at 3rd.
Yeah, nice to see where the map started, since it's basically been a story of evolution and reiteration. And I really liked how the games turned out on the map at Red Bull, really cool back and forth aggression, and I don't think that Scarlett/Bomber game will be forgotten anytime soon. Lucky bastard
On November 28 2013 02:07 IeZaeL wrote: Thats very cool , thanks ! ^^ I must say this map really got me , i'll probably make something with some protoss tileset + natural tileset :D
I'm surprised we haven't seen any more protoss + jungle maps. I know Uvantak did one but honestly I think that's the only other one we've seen. I think the texture combination is really fun to use and it looks really good so it weird nobody else is attempting it. I wish you luck on it and I hope it turns out better than Hab Station!
On November 28 2013 05:13 NewSunshine wrote: Yeah, nice to see where the map started, since it's basically been a story of evolution and reiteration. And I really liked how the games turned out on the map at Red Bull, really cool back and forth aggression, and I don't think that Scarlett/Bomber game will be forgotten anytime soon. Lucky bastard
Yeah, just having that one game on it makes it all worth it lol. I don't even care if it never gets played again because of how epic that was. (Scarlett vs sOs was very interesting as well imo) Hopefully though other places pick it up, I mean, I have emailed some other tournaments but /shrug, who knows.
I think there is/was a Crux map with a protoss/jungle theme as well.
I have to say that I really like this map (that Scarlett vs Bomber game = so awesome); I'm really impressed with how you sought out and incorporated a wide range of feedback into a final map. Congrats on the map making it this far, you deserve it
Thanks for making Scarlett's baneling mines possible Kreygasm!!!!
User was warned for this post
Don't know why he got warned, he was probably talking about how the map produced a gritty long macro game where the mines were so viable, which is good.
Thanks for making Scarlett's baneling mines possible Kreygasm!!!!
User was warned for this post
Don't know why he got warned, he was probably talking about how the map produced a gritty long macro game where the mines were so viable, which is good.
On January 16 2014 01:13 TheBloodyDwarf wrote: What if zerg takes gold as his third? What I should do? PvZ
That base is quite vulnerable to colossus attacks. You can also forcefield out the zerg army easily if you get up into the base location after a distraction like a warp prism in the main. Then you can recall out. You could also just take your own gold as your 3rd.
there's a small issue I've been walking into for a while, could this section of the main be dented out? it currently constricts building planning/unit movement with terran mech
On February 12 2014 02:44 19Meavis93 wrote: there's a small issue I've been walking into for a while, could this section of the main be dented out? it currently constricts building planning/unit movement with terran mech
I know what you mean because playing terran it can get kind of annoying to have buildings down towards the main ramp because of that little area. Although the rest of the main has a ton of room so I think it would be okay. To be honest, I could easily change that up in 1 second and have it republished, unfortunately Blizzard can't, so not much I can do about that haha.
On February 15 2014 21:29 -NegativeZero- wrote: Random question, but was the name in any way influenced by this?
Actually it's WIP name was Habitat Zone. When I finished the map and was thinking of a final name I didn't like Habitat Zone. Figured change it to Station because I liked the sound of it and to keep it kind of similiar to Star Station. I still didn't like Habitat Station so I kept thinking of words that would go well with Station. Eventually I was like huh...Habitation...rhymes with Station...sounds cool...yeaaaaa!
Did you guys know that Habitation has 28 n2n rush time? I'm still not sure if the map can create late-games and whether all-ins are too favored but if 28 seconds works that's good news for 4p 12base maps.
Yeah, at most we usually see 4 base vs 4 base, which is still pretty good. Sometimes it can get a whole map mined out but that's usually when it comes down to either Mech vs X or Swarm Host vs X and they just be defensive the whole time. Since there are a lot of chokes on the map it can be quite easy to defend which is probably why those styles allow it to go extremely end game.
Part of it is the gold bases and XNT pulling people up away from the other "lategame" expansion pattern in the south, so that you get seemingly more distance out of the short horizontal. Small ramp also helps with the shorter nat2nat.