This map takes some inspiration from Scrap Station. The main things it takes from it is the diagonal symmetry (This one is actually symmetric), the shorter path between the naturals blocked by two rocks, the island at the 1:30 position, and the gold base at the 7:30 position. The air distance is short on these types of maps so it is contrasted with a longer ground distance than is typical, again in the style of Scrap Station. But when the rocks to the naturals are taken down the distance is typical.

Stats:
Spawns: 2
Playable Map Bounds: 140 x 140

Distances
Natural to Natural: 54 seconds (Rocks Up).
Natural to Natural: 46 seconds (Rocks Down).

11 Normal Bases
2 Gold Bases
2 XNT

Angled Overview
+ Show Spoiler +

Analyzer Images
+ Show Spoiler +

Screenshots
+ Show Spoiler +

I would love to hear your comments and feedback!

opisska

Poland8852 Posts

April 16 2015 17:15 GMT

How far do the flying locusts fly? Can you secure the two islands just using them from your main? This is a feature that may now be quite important for air-gaps in maps.

SwedenTheKid

567 Posts

April 16 2015 17:19 GMT

Liked the older version and this seems to be an improvement. like the way the 3rd/4th is set up.

[PkF] Wire

France24238 Posts

April 16 2015 18:05 GMT

Can flying locusts siege main from main ? (same question as opisska)

MarcusRife

343 Posts

April 16 2015 18:33 GMT

On April 17 2015 02:15 opisska wrote:
How far do the flying locusts fly? Can you secure the two islands just using them from your main? This is a feature that may now be quite important for air-gaps in maps.

On April 17 2015 03:05 [PkF] Wire wrote:
Can flying locusts siege main from main ? (same question as opisska)

I tested it. They die before they can reach the other main. They could assault the semi-island gold. Given the distance of the island relative to the mains they won't be very effective at assaulting the island either.

Mutas are more deadly here imo.

Fatam

1986 Posts

April 16 2015 20:02 GMT

Early air looks pretty strong, I think maybe if the gold island inbetween the mains was ground accessible it would make that XNT a little more interesting, i.e. if you're worried about air stuff early you will absolutely want that tower and your opponent would probably want to deny it. Could make for some nice early game skirmishes. (at the very least, it makes them spend a little extra time flying around the XNT vision, which can make a difference in getting a turret up or w/e)

FlaShFTW

United States10325 Posts

April 16 2015 23:33 GMT

ewwww islands ><

protoss always gonna go phoenix openers here or just air in general.

Plexa

Aotearoa39261 Posts

April 17 2015 00:39 GMT

Definitely an improvement from last season. Here's my remaining comments
[image loading]

Inside the red box in the bottom left and inside the red ring in the top right are the two areas that could be improved. I'm not sure what the rationale is for having two islands located in the same area like you have in the top right. Decide which one you like better (probably the gold) and remove the other. (Although I suppose you can leave it there, it isn't going to see any use after all).

The red box in the bottom left could be improved by opening it up way more. The point of this kind of map should be to encourage players to use the other half of the map ("half" in this map is the diagonal connecting the dirt ramps at 6 and 9, and so by other half I mean the area under this invisible line.)

To do this you should make it easier for players to move through this area, so if they have a large army the best way to move it through the map is to use this half of the map rather than go through the very chokey areas.

Probably the easiest way to achieve this (but not necessarily the best, just the first I came up with) would be to do something like this
[image loading]

Red = merge the highground
Blue = connect as either high or low ground (probably high ground?)
You could also look at pushing the two blue bases pictured further back to make them a little safer as well.

Fatam

1986 Posts

April 17 2015 00:42 GMT

I was thinking, the cooling towers might be overkill since you're already taking a risk taking an island expo, so the rocks just make there even less incentive to expand there. (not to mention it's a lot easier and more beneficial for terran to expo to a gold there than the other races, so the balance of it starts coming into question.)

The layout is really cool if people can survive the early air plays, though. I think it could produce some awesome games. Map has tons of potential if you can balance the air aspect.

opisska

Poland8852 Posts

April 17 2015 07:30 GMT

#10

On April 17 2015 03:33 MarcusRife wrote:

Show nested quote +

Thanks for the reply. One thing to keep in mind is that the amount of anti-air you need to really defend against flying locusts is unholy, a couple of missile turrets that would be enough to scare away a medium flock of mutas with repair just don't cut it, the locusts just swoop and kill the turrets.

edit: for the record, I have been raging about how shit the new SHs are, but maps with large unpathable gaps are really the place where they can possible shine.