It is time again to decide on the winners for July 2014! The members of the Map Cave (skype group with 50+ mapmakers from this community) have picked their favorites. The following 5 maps have gotten the most support and will be voted on! Here they are (in no particular order!)
Hmmm. Oasis is perfect, Isomer is less solid and standard than people seem to think but still very good, Mockingbird is incredibly standard, Samarra Mines is an Uvantak map so it obviously places in the top 3 at least, and we need more maps like Parrot Cay.
Oasis is a tiny bit too choky+turtle for my liking. Makes it really hard to have a good lategame balance imo. Isomer is great, apart from the supertiny chokes at the front of the natural. Makes it a little too much of a tunnel map. I think the Mockingbird natural setup simply hasn't provided any interesting games yet. Icarus, Jungle Basin come to mind. Roach and Protoss timings are incredibly strong against these kinds of bases. Smarra Mines is very beautiful and I'd vote for it, if we wouldn't have a bunch of those really open third base maps already. I like Parrot Cay the most from the first glance comparisons. It's very standard, very Daybreakesque - and we didn't have this kind of map for quite some time. Biggest problem of the map is probably how easy it could be to protect the third and 4th simultanously.
On July 29 2014 18:34 The_Templar wrote: Hmmm. Oasis is perfect, Isomer is less solid and standard than people seem to think but still very good, Mockingbird is incredibly standard, Samarra Mines is an Uvantak map so it obviously places in the top 3 at least, and we need more maps like Parrot Cay.
Voted for Oasis.
How is Mockingbird standard? While that format was used before, it is certainly not the standard, and it certainly will produce at least some non-standard games.
On July 29 2014 18:34 The_Templar wrote: Hmmm. Oasis is perfect, Isomer is less solid and standard than people seem to think but still very good, Mockingbird is incredibly standard, Samarra Mines is an Uvantak map so it obviously places in the top 3 at least, and we need more maps like Parrot Cay.
Voted for Oasis.
How is Mockingbird standard? While that format was used before, it is certainly not the standard, and it certainly will produce at least some non-standard games.
4 player rotational 16p map, with an easy 3 bases and an equal choice of fourth bases to reduce rotational imbalance. All of the bases are on high ground. There are multiple paths which lead into the center coming from the area in front of the natural and the low ground next to the third/fourth. In fact, I just almost exactly described whirlwind. Just about every map occasionally leads to weird games. See whirlwind, cloud kingdom, and overgrowth.
Well, since most matches take place entirely around the main/nat and third base, my main goal was todo something different from the single ramp down to 3 building choke thing. The rest of the map wasn't supposed to be too crazy, since than main/nat setup already makes a big difference. But there's also a center xnt that cannot be reached by ground
I'm so thorn, idk which mapo to choose this month, Mockingbird and his lowgrounds in the middle is just far too interesting to pass by but parrot cay and Isomer are pretty fucking nice too.
Oasis was not typical fare for me, my usual style is somehow absent from it, so I just am not feeling it this time. However, I'm back on form and making stuff that I feel more strongly about, you'll see it in the coming weeks.
I surprised myself by voting for samarra mines over oasis, because oasis has so much stuff that I like, but samarra mines is the map with the best long game lategame play by far, which is what I think we should be designing for, and it is also innovating (by executing?) at the same time, so godspeed fair open center child. glhf to all the maps though
On July 30 2014 14:20 EatThePath wrote: I surprised myself by voting for samarra mines over oasis, because oasis has so much stuff that I like, but samarra mines is the map with the best long game lategame play by far, which is what I think we should be designing for, and it is also innovating (by executing?) at the same time, so godspeed fair open center child. glhf to all the maps though
None of the maps have an open center. Samarra just hides that the best
On July 30 2014 14:20 EatThePath wrote: I surprised myself by voting for samarra mines over oasis, because oasis has so much stuff that I like, but samarra mines is the map with the best long game lategame play by far, which is what I think we should be designing for, and it is also innovating (by executing?) at the same time, so godspeed fair open center child. glhf to all the maps though
None of the maps have an open center. Samarra just hides that the best
Well, I did say child because it's more of a spiritual successor to the BW idea of a true open center, though it's true the center itself isn't that open. It has the most openness out of these 5 maps, though, and the most openness of any successful designs in a long while.
On July 30 2014 15:45 EatThePath wrote: Well, I did say child because it's more of a spiritual successor to the BW idea of a true open center, though it's true the center itself isn't that open. It has the most openness out of these 5 maps, though, and the most openness of any successful designs in a long while.
I like really open maps. They play very differently in PvZ, while not being broken. Usually force long games, but prevent the total Swarm Host armaggeddon, while really making Ultralisk and longer roach/hydra play viable. And most of our mappools only have 1 or none of them.
On July 30 2014 14:20 EatThePath wrote: I surprised myself by voting for samarra mines over oasis, because oasis has so much stuff that I like, but samarra mines is the map with the best long game lategame play by far, which is what I think we should be designing for, and it is also innovating (by executing?) at the same time, so godspeed fair open center child. glhf to all the maps though
None of the maps have an open center. Samarra just hides that the best
Sadly.
But i don't like maps with open centers as much as i like maps with a split center, i find split center maps to be more dynamic :b
On July 30 2014 14:20 EatThePath wrote: I surprised myself by voting for samarra mines over oasis, because oasis has so much stuff that I like, but samarra mines is the map with the best long game lategame play by far, which is what I think we should be designing for, and it is also innovating (by executing?) at the same time, so godspeed fair open center child. glhf to all the maps though
None of the maps have an open center. Samarra just hides that the best
Sadly.
But i don't like maps with open centers as much as i like maps with a split center, i find split center maps to be more dynamic :b
if forcefields weren't in the game I might agree. Like it is, the moment a center is "dynamic", it is in reality just a forcefield paradise and always plays the same.
To me it was a really difficult toss-up between Mockingbird and Samarra Mines... in general, I like 4p maps better, but I had to go with the Mines. To me it felt just slightly more BW, and by that I mean willing to try just a little more "different".
I do really like the 4/10 areas of Oasis though...
On August 01 2014 01:52 HypertonicHydroponic wrote: To me it was a really difficult toss-up between Mockingbird and Samarra Mines... in general, I like 4p maps better, but I had to go with the Mines. To me it felt just slightly more BW, and by that I mean willing to try just a little more "different".
I do really like the 4/10 areas of Oasis though...
Where have you been recently? >.> Both maps are very similar but I agree, Samarra is much more refreshing to me than mockingbird.
Not to veer off topic... but I've been heavily involved in the arcade map Kobold Tribes. Continually helping to beta test, work on balance/design suggestions, and trying to help grow the KT community takes a lot of my creative energy -- I only check back here every so often... usually after one of my IRL friends pulls me into some 2v2 ladder for funzies.
Also, Hearthstone. So GG SC2 map making for me, generally speaking. =/
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