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Hello TLers! Inspired by the SC2 Map Redesign contest, I have revised Kulas Ravine.
When Blizzard's map designers made Kulas Ravine, I believe they set out to create a map that had it all. The result? A map with TWELVE destructible rocks, TEN watchtowers, and HUNDREDS of doodads on top of a complex terrain that, theoretically, would provide players with a versatile and extremely fun map.
I don't believe that Blizzard achieved this. Less is often more, and players reacted to Kulas Ravine (largely) negatively before balance issues were considered.
The redesign process began with the following beliefs:
1) The natural expansions are very difficult to defend. Located far from mains, exposed, and vulnerable to aggressive cliffing, it was common to see one base play in beta.
2) The middle area of the map is cramped and tricky. Players often feel safer to remain in their bases than to move into the middle. The middle should be easier and more rewarding to navigate.
3) Performance issues are more frequent on Kulas Ravine than other 1v1 maps, since it is large and full-action busy with animated doodads and lots of them. Removing significant numbers to increase performance without undermining the beauty of the map is necessary to alleviate these issues.
Neo Kulas Ravine 2.0
+ Show Spoiler +
Old version (with original changes marked):
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Major Changes:
+ Show Spoiler +1) Destructible rocks into high ground expansion have been removed. Ramps on the inside 3 and 9 to the high ground expansions have also been removed. Players now have an in-base natural expansion. The mineral line has been repositioned so that it is more vulnerable to harass from the low-ground. Neo Kulas Ravine supports games that proceed into mid- and late-game, but still rewards well-executed early game aggression.
2) The 12 and 6 high-grounds are now smaller and have been pushed out of the middle of the map. The terrain around the central watchtowers has been revised. The middle portion of the map is significantly larger, able to accomodate large armies. The accessibility of the two watchtowers makes it look and feel like a proper battlefield.
Minor Changes:
+ Show Spoiler +
1) Hundreds of doodads and 90% of animated doodads have been removed. I bet you didn't notice.
2) The little patches of water outside of the inside 3rd expansions have shrunk. The cliffs beside the high yield expansions have also slightly reduced in size. These changes further increase the size of the middle.
3) The cliffs beside the high yield expansions no longer support units.
4) The 3rd inside mineral line has been repositioned so that it is less exposed to cliffing, but is still exposed.
5) Removed two watchtowers at 12 and six and centered the remaining. The remaining watchtowers now have vision of two expansions.
Version 2.0 changes:
+ Show Spoiler +1) Got rid of pesky tree at top right choke.
2) Shifted the central watchtowers and 12 and 16 cliffs further from the middle to open it up more yet.
3) Pocket behind 3rd expansion now has a doodad and building blockers to prevent proxies in that location. Players have other options for cheese if they insist, but this one was far too out of the way.
In conclusion, I believe that Neo Kulas Ravine allows for funner and more balanced games than the original. I will listen to your comments and modify the map accordingly.
Response to feedback:
+ Show Spoiler +- There have been mixed responses to the in-base expansion, but the feedback is generally good. I stand behind the decision, since there is currently no map in the ladder pool with one and Kulas Ravine is a very suitable map for it. Additionally, as the metagame develops and players learn to counter aggressive builds with economic ones, this sort of change will be desired in the same way it was in BW on maps like Colisseum 2.
- I wholly disagree that the new design poses more of a problem for zerg than the original.
- Thanks to all! I will have a playable download soon so you can feel the changes! For now, let me know if you agree with these changes and feel that Blizzard should revise Kulas Ravine along these lines.
Poll: Blizzard should revise Kulas Ravine along these linesNo (28) 80% Yes (7) 20% 35 total votes Your vote: Blizzard should revise Kulas Ravine along these lines (Vote): Yes
(Vote): No
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i like it alot, when beta comes back up i believe ill give it a try
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hate in base expansions, I say put the ramp back but other then that I like it. Really like what you did with the middle, I might make it even more it open by moving the side towers closer to the gold expansions. And remove the damn tree at the top right starting postion choke, that thing is so anoying
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i like it, the easy 3 bases obviously resembles colloseum2 in a way
any map that doesnt encourage 1 base play is good
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I like how you got rid of the destructible rocks to your high-ground natural. Not sure how I feel about the change to the mineral patches' location, though. Could open up a just-as-annoying door of abuse. Much better overall, though.
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not sure about that inbase expo either, despite that it really looks like 10 times better than the original 
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Maybe make the in base expo mineral only? Seems really easy to get 6 gas in this, and so gas heavy builds like mass muta might become overpowered.
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Nice. Liking it. E-mail it to blue
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I liked the original kulas ravine, it was probably the most avant garde and new out of all the blizzard maps even if there was room for abuse. All it did was promote a much later expansion unless one could really defend an expo properly.
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map looks great studying it anyways just to get used to making pre game plans of areas to hold for my best interest
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Like:
High ground changes
More open battlefield
Destructible rocks gone
Large choke outside of nat
Dislikes:
May be too zerg friendly (consider roating and scooting back the expo a bit to allow easier assault)
Area behind nat is just cheese alley
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Someone needs to show this to blizzard, on the remotest chance they decide to use this instead of kulas ravine.
HATE THAT MAP
Neo Incineration zone next?
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these changes look very well informed and address many of the common exploits of this map, good job sir.
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not sure about that inbase expo either, despite that it really looks like 10 times better than the original
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Looks great! Kulas Ravine is one of my favourite maps, these changes improve it vastly. Without the rocks, I think people will just take the inbase expo, so that may change the way this map is played..
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The one thing I don't like is the removal of the rocks on the other side of your in-base base (really dont know how to say it). I do like how you can take that expo easy now because there's no rocks in your base to slow you down but I don't like it how its invincible. Just my thoughts.
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Excellent!!!! I can really tell that you always had the flaws of the original kulas in mind when redesigning the map. Very focused and well-informed changes.
The middle looks so much better, and it will be so fun to experiment with this new in-base natural. I really like it.
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I like this a lot more than the original, nice work
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This is worse than before for Z, without the rocks providing a ground path to the other expansions Z has no way to safely get a 3rd vs terran or defend their own 3rd due to cliff drops.
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On June 10 2010 12:13 Wr3k wrote:
This is worse than before for Z, without the rocks providing a ground path to the other expansions Z has no way to safely get a 3rd vs terran or defend their own 3rd due to cliff drops.
I don't see how the cliff is more of a problem now than it was before. Taking the gold mineral as third that's farther away from T is always another option, and creep can be safely spread to there.
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don't understand how the rocks connecting the bases work, they are behind the mineral lines? not a big fan of a lot of these changes, seems to limit strategies and doesn't really add much to the map.
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On June 10 2010 12:24 SirNeb wrote:
don't understand how the rocks connecting the bases work, they are behind the mineral lines?
Your input is appreciated but could you clarify what you are talking about? Thanks!
Map updated with several recommended changes. Thanks a lot for the input everyone!
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On June 10 2010 12:52 VelRa_G wrote:Show nested quote +On June 10 2010 12:24 SirNeb wrote:
don't understand how the rocks connecting the bases work, they are behind the mineral lines? Your input is appreciated but could you clarify what you are talking about? Thanks! Map updated with several recommended changes. Thanks a lot for the input everyone!
I see you're using pathing blocker doodads~
In the editor, if you press the H key it will bring you to the pathing layer. From there, you can block ground units and buildings with 1x1 box precision. I have absolutely no idea how the pathing blocker doodads work, and thus I don't trust them when i have the pathing layer option 
Also, data > export map image spits out much prettier and clear images than a screenshot can, as long as you have the patience to convert .tga to .jpeg with photoshop or something (just save the file as jpeg)
As the middle area is really the only way to get around the map other than the tiny choke rocks, I recommend using the pathing layer to make the area unbuildable, making a checkerboard of buildable and non-buildable squares so that zerg can still spread creep properly, but terrans can't cover the area in turrets and set up an unbreakable wall in the most important area of the map
The only big issue I've found with this is that you can't deploy an auto turret there either...
Here's a screenshot from my port of Fighting Spirit to show you what I mean
![[image loading]](http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/2107/sc2editor20100609220632.jpg)
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Really like removed rocks and added ramps to watchtowers, i always felt like the rocks to your backdoor were really unnecessary.
But yeah, love the changes, would LOVE blizzard to implement this next patch
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Bumped for OP addition & poll.
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I like how the 3rd expo is in-base and how there is more room in the center of the map. Removing the ramps from the 3rd base makes it harder to hold on to the gold expansion, which I like, because I have seen pro players go and expand at the gold before their natural.
I would make the 3rd base's ramp to the main much wider and rethink the watchtower placement. On the high ground there should be two towers not one - put the second one back - and in the center of the map you should rethink those entirely. Maybe put them on flat ground with some foliage all around them. I like how the naturals chokes are much wider - this balances making the 3rd expo in-base. Another thing about the 3rd expo, I'd remove the watchtowers there because in-base watchtowers really prevent drops and nydus worms which would be like the only way to harass that base.
Good job though, I like this map better than Blizzard's Kulas Ravine.
Vote YES people!
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Dislike the changes.
I dont like an inbase expo, just silly. I also liked the harder to secure fast expo vs the easier to secure slower expo due to rocks, it gave the map some character that was differnt from the other maps.
I think you took a challenging unique map and turned it into a safe boaring map. But thats just my opinion.
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On June 29 2010 04:00 IceLom wrote:
I think you took a challenging unique map and turned it into a safe boaring map. But thats just my opinion.
I do not think that this map is "safe and boring".
The natural is much harder to defend now, and the in-base 3rd expo will influence harassment options such as Thorship, doom-drops, nydus worms, etc.
I still believe that the ramp between the main and 3rd expo should be wider, just in the off chance that a player can break their enemy's choke.
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This stuff makes the map that much more dynamic.
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EPT![[image loading]](http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y205/Schmyesh/Neo-Kulas20.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y205/Schmyesh/Neo-Kulas-notes.jpg)
