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![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/CCxOs.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/JCiiL.png)
New TPW Maps available! - August, 6th 2011
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Map of the Month & Replays - July, 28th 2011
+ Show Spoiler +Map of the Month #7 is finally over. We would like to congratulate sixjaxDDE on winning the tournament yet again! It was a well deserved win after showing a great performance during the tournament. As for the maps, TPW Odyssey has secured the title of the 'Map of the Month' and will go into the MotM alltime map pool! All replays from the tournament can be found at http://theplanetaryworkshop.com/replays/! We highly recommend watching the VTWhiplash vs MaestroSAGA series. Those games have been pretty epic on every level. We have also added replays of our first weekly play-session and will do so in the future, too. The list is growing fast 
Greetings Team Liquid community! - July, 20th 2011
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Today we are very proud to announce our newly formed map making team:
‘The Planetary Workshop’
We are a small non-profit organization formed by members of the TL custom map forums driven by our passion for SC2 and melee mapping. In an attempt to further our map creation cause, we decided to join forces and not only help each other make better maps, but also to collaborate with players, casters, tournament organizers, the community, and you! Our aim is to channel our ideas, develop new mapping projects and ultimately bring more quality custom maps to the scene!
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/2ne4B.jpg)
+ Show Spoiler +With tournaments and live streams growing rapidly, there comes a higher demand for new maps in StarCraft 2. Many viewers grow tiresome of repetitive tournament map pools that contain commonly-used maps like Metalopolis and Xel'Naga Caverns (although we love them). GSL and MLG slowly integrate new community-made maps in their map pools, and it has brought a lot of excitement for the viewers. This is something we would like to get involved in with our maps. We want to show the community that there are more maps to be desired, and our mission is to bring these maps into the light. By establishing our 'TPW' tag on selected maps, we want to assure the community that it is a seal of quality that everybody can trust.
As a team, we believe that as long as we help each other through ideas, criticism, and play-testing, we will continue to produce a higher quality of playable maps for everybody. We want every viewer to know that we desire to go beyond simple map-making. We seek to actively get involved in tournament organizations as well as creating our own events, and to help others with their maps. Although we are starting small and simple, we are open to many ideas for the near future, and we hope to create a great gaming experience for everyone in StarCraft 2.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/U6CEh.jpg)
Current Map Pool:
+ Show Spoiler +
Additional Maps:
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Information on the Maps:
+ Show Spoiler +Out of the pool of maps we created, we've selected 9 maps to form our official map pool. These maps will be used regularly for tournaments and future events held by TPW.
TPW maps are chosen based on balance, aesthetics and game-play features. We also try to have a nice variety in visual themes and we try to feature every team member if possible. As time goes on, we will constantly update the map pool to keep things interesting by adding newly-made maps or possibly re-introducing older ones, so we encourage you to definitely take a look at all available maps!
If you plan on using one or more TPW maps in one of your events, or if you hear about our maps being used, please drop us a note so we can watch and feature all events on our upcoming events section!
Fake Maps Information!
The following maps are not made by us:
TPW Exo Tarvine - by Dudemeister
TPW Xel Re - by Dudemeister
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/WItrQ.jpg)
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![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/qBAFB.jpg)
+ Show Spoiler +NullCurrent+ Show Spoiler +The only experience of RTS games NullCurrent had before joining the StarCraft II beta was C&C. Surprisingly it went quite well, but due to starting university, the time he was able to invest in the game diminished. Because of this he took up mapping, as it enables him to exercise creativity under restrictions, something which he also loves doing with his hobby; programming. Meltage is a qualified Game Designer and Front End Developer who spends 40+ hrs on every map he makes. His principles are "Quality over quantity" and "Make solid layout and main features, but do not forget innovation". Dezi started mapping with C&C:RA1 (the editor where you had several pre-made terrain pieces instead of eg. a terrain pencil). He also made some BW maps but never dove deep into BW mapping.
Because of extensive work with triggers in WC3, he lost interest in custom maps and now focuses his time on making melee maps. IronMan has been a fan of StarCraft since the original release. He was a melee map-maker since BroodWar and continues to pursue that creativity by extending it to StarCraft 2. Mereel has been making maps since WarCraft 3. He made ambient movies as well as melee maps, and when WarCraft 3 was dying off, he carried on to StarCraft II.
Due to the increased complexity of the editor, he started to create melee maps instead. His goal as a map-maker is to achieve a gaming experience in StarCraft II similar to that of our beloved StarCraft: BroodWar. Samro's interest in map making for competitive gaming may trace back to his broader interest in game design for Quake and UT. A map is the space that helps to define a specific gameplay, but also brings forward the atmosphere and stylistic background of each game. Hence map making is nothing less than building worlds and defining all parameters that generate the playground for competitive and high-skill as well as fun to watch matches. Johanaz has made maps since Warcraft II, but mostly for Total Annihilation and Supreme Commander. He has an irresistible urge to create melee maps to the point of hurting his career in industrial design and music. Despite working as an artist in the gaming industry, Lefix still enjoys working on various projects in his spare time. He likes map-making because it is not only simple, but it lets him express himself more with the freedom of being totally creative; far more than his job would ever allow him to. As an avid follower of the SC2 pro-gaming scene, Lefix feels it is rewarding to see good and well-known players battling on one of his maps.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/TKlgU.jpg)
+ Show Spoiler +If you are interested in playing a few games or if you just want to observe, join our in-game channel: TPW -- on Sunday afternoons starting at 3PM CET on EU-Servers.
We plan on running a weekly KOTH event (King of the Hill) where we will be playing and testing old and new maps. This is a great time to have a nice chat with the team and offer any ideas, suggestions, and feedback. Currently there are no initial plans to enable a KOTH version for the US, but it will happen in the near future.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/tFlK8.jpg)
If you would like to get in touch with us, please send us an e-mail (info@theplanetaryworkshop.com) or send a PM to any TPW member right here on TL.
You can also find more detailed information about us and our maps on our website:
www.theplanetaryworkshop.com
Don’t forget to visit our IRC channel
#theplanetaryworkshop on quakenet
and our in-game channel “TPW” if you are looking for games!
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Wow these maps look really slick. Can't wait to see what else you guys come up with. Are these maps going to be released on NA? I'd definitely love to check them out.
Keep up the great work!
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Looks cool guys. I wish you the best of luck in the future!!
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Oh yeah, you really got many excellent and active mapmakers in TPW Hopefully all your plans work out so I see more of your maps being played in tournaments!
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Wow! I can see this becoming pretty big as time goes on. These maps already look pretty slick. Keep it up, I wish you guys luck.
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Our official map pool (9 maps) will be up on NA 
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On July 21 2011 07:49 TheAlchemist89 wrote:
Wow these maps look really slick. Can't wait to see what else you guys come up with. Are these maps going to be released on NA? I'd definitely love to check them out.
Keep up the great work!
sure they are all on US
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Wow these are very nice maps, EverZtelecoM . 523 if u ever want like some... map testers for your viewing ) ... amazing maps !
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I am the only American on Team TPW, so I will be hosting the top 9 maps on NA ^^ Not all of them are on NA just yet, but I will give an update here when they are.
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Glad to hear they will be up on NA, the maps look very fun to play..... but they also look quite artistically done. :D:D
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Wow, those maps look awesome. You guys should run events on the NA server too, I'm sure I'm not the only one here who'd love to try them out.
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ohh the name i voted for :D
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Woah! These maps look absolutely fantastic. Great job.
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Great maps If only blizz map designers were as good as you guys lol.
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I have plans to host TPW stuff for NA, considering i'm the only NA member on the team lol
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I just wanted to post to let you guys know that you can get MLG to evaluate your maps here:
http://forums.majorleaguegaming.com/forum/362-community-map-discussion/
While I realize they're capable of of finding popular maps themselves, it might be helpful to post the maps there to get your maps some exposure and show them the amazing custom map community.
By the way the maps look amazing. My personal favorite is Core Delta, but I also really like Antiga Prime too. Congrats on forming and good luck with promoting your great maps
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On July 21 2011 08:04 lolnoodles wrote:I just wanted to post to let you guys know that you can get MLG to evaluate your maps here: http://forums.majorleaguegaming.com/forum/362-community-map-discussion/While I realize they're capable of of finding popular maps themselves, it might be helpful to post the maps there to get your maps some exposure and show them the amazing custom map community. By the way the maps look amazing. My personal favorite is Core Delta, but I also really like Antiga Prime too. Congrats on forming and good luck with promoting your great maps
woah, thanks for the heads up!
mlg is turning out pretty awesome
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These maps look beatutiful, I want to play them so much more than those crap maps Blizzard keeps putting out
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That's a sick project you've started! Good luck, I hope you get the exposure that you deserve
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These maps look pretty impressive. Would definitely like to try them out a few times. I would like to see a few more 4 player maps though. At first glance even the 2 player maps look like they will be pretty good for mid/endgame focussed builds, but if you exchange 1 or 2 of those for some really big macro maps you'll probably see even more diversity in builds used on your maps.
All in all the lineup looks very promising. It would be a great boon for the mapping community to get more of their maps used in tournaments, low profile and high profile ones ^^
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On July 21 2011 08:04 lolnoodles wrote:I just wanted to post to let you guys know that you can get MLG to evaluate your maps here: http://forums.majorleaguegaming.com/forum/362-community-map-discussion/While I realize they're capable of of finding popular maps themselves, it might be helpful to post the maps there to get your maps some exposure and show them the amazing custom map community. By the way the maps look amazing. My personal favorite is Core Delta, but I also really like Antiga Prime too. Congrats on forming and good luck with promoting your great maps
It would also help your cause to contact MLG's official game tester on Twitter (@Killa_KC) or AIM (MLG Killa KC). He's a very busy guy, especially around tournament time, but he's usually open to at least having a conversation about maps and settings. All of my experience dealing with him is regarding Halo Reach (I built one of the maps they use on the Halo circuit) so I am unsure what their policy is regarding new Starcraft maps compared to their constant active search for new Halo maps, but like I said, he's a reasonable guy and open to having a conversation at least.
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Best of luck guys
make it happen!
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On July 21 2011 08:21 dotEXE wrote:
These maps look pretty impressive. Would definitely like to try them out a few times. I would like to see a few more 4 player maps though. At first glance even the 2 player maps look like they will be pretty good for mid/endgame focussed builds, but if you exchange 1 or 2 of those for some really big macro maps you'll probably see even more diversity in builds used on your maps.
All in all the lineup looks very promising. It would be a great boon for the mapping community to get more of their maps used in tournaments, low profile and high profile ones ^^
I agree we are a bit heavy on the 2p maps atm. but we are aware of that and working on a few more 4p maps atm. we do try to have a nice mix of all kinds of maps, it is just that 2p maps are so much more fun to make because you have alot more creative freedom on the map layout :D
i have also added a few more maps to the additional maps list. green harvest is another 4 player map that was just recently made and is being tested currently. expect it to replace a 2p map soon.
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Those maps are amazing. I hope people will start using them.
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Aotearoa39261 Posts
Looking at these maps makes me sad.
They make me sad because in comparison to the maps we're looking at for season 3, these are absolutely amazing yet they will never get the same level of play time.
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On July 21 2011 11:17 Plexa wrote:
Looking at these maps makes me sad.
They make me sad because in comparison to the maps we're looking at for season 3, these are absolutely amazing yet they will never get the same level of play time.
quoted for truth.
I've been reading the sc2 map section at TL for quite some time now, and there's plenty of really great maps to be found. Most of them make Blizzard's maps look quite bad.
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Honestly, if there was a good, organized way to regularly play custom made melee maps with people of my own skill level I'd probably never touch the Ladder again.
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On July 21 2011 11:17 Plexa wrote:
Looking at these maps makes me sad.
They make me sad because in comparison to the maps we're looking at for season 3, these are absolutely amazing yet they will never get the same level of play time.
Agreed. The best way to push custom maps is to have a lot of tournaments adapt them, but even then its so hard to. Blizzard should just leave the maps to the community.
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We look forward to getting started ^^
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The maps look very polished! I'll have to try out some of these with my friends.
Thanks for your work, Team TPW!
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Just a note worth mentioning: In the near future we want to consider a possible KR player and another NA player who will continue to publish TPW maps. I am the only NA player and I will only be able to publish so many, so a lifting hand for NA would be make us (me specifically) grateful, but we want to expand to KR soon. Keep your heads up!
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On July 21 2011 08:33 Ladnil wrote:Show nested quote +On July 21 2011 08:04 lolnoodles wrote:I just wanted to post to let you guys know that you can get MLG to evaluate your maps here: http://forums.majorleaguegaming.com/forum/362-community-map-discussion/While I realize they're capable of of finding popular maps themselves, it might be helpful to post the maps there to get your maps some exposure and show them the amazing custom map community. By the way the maps look amazing. My personal favorite is Core Delta, but I also really like Antiga Prime too. Congrats on forming and good luck with promoting your great maps It would also help your cause to contact MLG's official game tester on Twitter (@Killa_KC) or AIM (MLG Killa KC). He's a very busy guy, especially around tournament time, but he's usually open to at least having a conversation about maps and settings. All of my experience dealing with him is regarding Halo Reach (I built one of the maps they use on the Halo circuit) so I am unsure what their policy is regarding new Starcraft maps compared to their constant active search for new Halo maps, but like I said, he's a reasonable guy and open to having a conversation at least.
Thanks for the tip!
We need testers that are not only good players, but are able to communicate what they like/dislike and have suggestions and a bit of a perspective. As a map maker, you always have to filter the inputs you get from testers, since ppl are always subjective to some degree (but it's so much better to get those inputs compared to not getting any, as long as you know how to filter).
That said, you can still learn a lot about a map from just watching good players play it. However, you need to have the same players play many times over to see how they learn the map and adapt their style of play, making gameplans based on the map and execute them, exploit features, etc. The more solid your map is, the more you need to test to see flaws ^^
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On July 21 2011 12:27 Whiplash wrote:Show nested quote +On July 21 2011 11:17 Plexa wrote:
Looking at these maps makes me sad.
They make me sad because in comparison to the maps we're looking at for season 3, these are absolutely amazing yet they will never get the same level of play time. Agreed. The best way to push custom maps is to have a lot of tournaments adapt them, but even then its so hard to. Blizzard should just leave the maps to the community.
i felt the same when i first saw the season 3 maps.
the thing is, there are plenty of good maps out there. people just need to play them/use them in tournaments more. but unfortunately, they are somewhat scared of unknown maps and need a big tournament like the gsl to make them popular.
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Maps look really really good.
Il have to test em out when i get the chance.
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dezi
Germany1536 Posts
On July 21 2011 11:17 Plexa wrote:
Looking at these maps makes me sad.
They make me sad because in comparison to the maps we're looking at for season 3, these are absolutely amazing yet they will never get the same level of play time.
i don't know why Blizz just doesn't look at the community. I mean: there are so much tourneys out there and you only see XNC and Shakuras in the mappool. All other Blizz maps don't get in - why? Because they're just plain crap. At least Blizz took Taldarim - but still - there're more good maps that could easily replace the rest of the dumb official mappool. Still hope for a little bit more MotM support from TL :p
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It is not like that a few people organized in teams can change things alone.
I hope for tournament organizers to look more for custom maps, whoever made them, as long as players get a chance to play new and maybe also more interesting maps.
Blizzard looking at GSL and taking Taldarim shows that it is a slow process, but in the long run Blizzard should be interested in an active mapping community and smaller tournaments, too.
Against this background it makes sense to form mapping teams and collaborate with tournament makers, players, casters.
Regarding the still small, but likely growing number of such teams, one might ask what is the position of less experienced map makers and how the subforums here is going to be used. I already noted a decline of activity of the experienced users and mappers over the last weeks. Which is a pitty really.
For the process of getting custom maps be accepted by Blizzard, you need continuity and energy over a long period. That is why you need a constant interest in map making of people of all different levels of experience, players contributing by giving feedback, KotH like tournaments and last but not least MotM.
Probably more experienced map makers should also try to give something back to the community and help newbie map makers.
You can have many professional players, dedicated casters and map makers, but in the end it depends on the community of players who share a common interest: SC2 and intersting matches on fresh maps!
This possibly got a bit long and off topic, but I feel it might be important to use the little TPW buzz we already have to gain more attention of people: We need more love for the custom maps subforum, MotM, map making teams and all independant mappers!
Thanks for your interest in TPW and custom maps in general! gl hf!
I also copied this post to iGrok's very interesting Blog post On TL, TPW and Maps hoping to get more attention to our shared interest to get more people on TL look into the map making subforum.
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Hopefully you can get your maps evaluated by MLG in a serious way. I don't know what they will do with the submissions but if they could get some pros to look at the maps that would be so awesome.
I'm also looking forward to Green Harvest making it into the map pool, that's a really nice big 4 player macro map : )
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On July 21 2011 18:43 Samro225am wrote:
I hope for tournament organizers to look more for custom maps, whoever made them, as long as players get a chance to play new and maybe also more interesting maps.
Blizzard looking at GSL and taking Taldarim shows that it is a slow process, but in the long run Blizzard should be interested in an active mapping community and smaller tournaments, too. I feel like this is the real sticking point. Most tournaments don't just host Xel'Naga Caverns and Shakuras. They basically take the blizzard map pool, remove the worst maps (Delta Quadrant, Slag Pits, Backwater, ...), replace others with versions without certain balance issues (Metalopolis, Shattered) and complement it with some GSL maps. But in the end the vast majority of tournaments takes Blizzard's map pool into account. And personally i think this a mistake, because it doesn't encourage them to change anything. The only major tournament that strays away from it is gsl, and therefore it is the tournament that defines those "complementary maps".
On the one hand, there's a lot of complaints about blizzard's maps, but on the other hand most tourneys stick to them. I'm not sure if it's due to tourneys not knowing any real alternatives, trying to stick to the maps the pros already know or just plain laziness. It reminds me of a smoker trying to quit. He knows it's bad, but on the other hand he just can't stay off it.
I'm pretty sure that Blizzard won't change their attitude in terms of maps unless a lot of (major!) tournaments ignore their map pool altogether. The less Blizzard maps we see on the big screen, the more likely Blizzard will have to change. Sure GSL does it, but most western ones just don't and miss on a great opportunity to stick out. They just carry over some by GSL instead of try to establish their own by picking themselves which ones are good. Personally, my favourite tournament at the moment is map of the month. Not due to superior play, but because i'm guaranteed to see something new every month as a viewer.
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Welcome! The maps look good, still a little rough around the edges though. I am excited to try these out when I get a chance.
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These are amazing! Can't wait to try them.
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i am not quite that negative about the topic. i do think that blizzards listens, they just have a much larger audience, other than just the esports community, which they need to statisfy.
however, they have given us all the tools neccesary to make all the maps we want. so i think the responsibility lies within our community to use them properly
and i think tournaments should learn from the gstl/gsl. look at how excited everyone was when they started introducing new maps. i, for one, was buying hq passes because of it.
and i think any other tournament like mlg, nasl, dreamhack, etc. could be taking advantage of this, too.
they need to make the tournaments not only attractive for the players, but even more so for the viewers. which again will make them more interesting for sponsors, too.
with the large amount of tournaments using the same map pools over and over again, this is a great opportunity to stand out. and looking at all the whining about map pools i think there is still a big demand for new maps.
anyway, i think i am repeating myself, but you get the point
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On July 21 2011 20:11 TheAmazombie wrote:
Welcome! The maps look good, still a little rough around the edges though. I am excited to try these out when I get a chance.
Could you elaborate a bit? Feedback is very important to us, and if you think something is wrong, start a dialogue with us and we will try to fix it
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These maps look pretty cool! Just an idea, but you should try to host a clan league with a small prize pool (I would donate some money and I am sure others would) using these maps, that would be cool! I really love clan leagues opposed to individual leagues, as a spectator anyways!
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Great maps, can't wait to see future projects. Good luck.
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On July 21 2011 23:30 BionicSC wrote:
These maps look pretty cool! Just an idea, but you should try to host a clan league with a small prize pool (I would donate some money and I am sure others would) using these maps, that would be cool! I really love clan leagues opposed to individual leagues, as a spectator anyways!
I am going to try and get Clan RH (diamonds/masters) to do this on NA soon
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coming back from playing on monsoon valley, one must fall and void rift, Im absolutely astonished, I really really enjoy these maps. Amazing =D
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share some replays 
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took you guys long enough :D go big!
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For anyone interested in using TPW maps in their tournaments and/or events, or if anyone would like to feature us on a website, we are proud to present to you our small TPW banner/affiliation...
![[image loading]](http://img840.imageshack.us/img840/3489/tpwbanner234x60.jpg)
Just drop us a note if you plan on using it ^^
<3 you prodig
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It would be nice to see a few creative, unique maps, bel beach style, solid looking maps but also pretty standard looking.
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On July 22 2011 04:48 Kgst wrote:
It would be nice to see a few creative, unique maps, bel beach style, solid looking maps but also pretty standard looking.
Just take a look inside the nested spoilers under "TPW Map Pool"
Or visit www.theplanetaryworkshop.com for detailed shots of the maps
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Because I love it
![[image loading]](http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/8392/tpwshirt.jpg)
Wearing it to work tonight!!
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actually Monsoon Valley looks pretty awesome
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 - Huge Thumbs of Approval.
The maps look amazing. I'd like to wish you guys the absolutely very best of luck with the team, with future map making AND getting your maps approved by bigger organisations. You can do it!
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I'm really excited to hear about this, and I really like the maps. Especially Void Rift appeals to me, I can't wait to see how games play out on there. I'll see if I can arrange to be online during one of your meetup times!
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We are doing everything we can to get involved! We highly appreciate and are grateful for your support - it only encourages to keep going!
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Awesome! I saw some of IronMan's map's via the blizzard forums, definetly will be checking all these out and joining the channel.
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There are some really good maps in here! I was surprised when I opened them to see not only how fun they looked, but how aesthetically pleasing they looked as well.
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now remember to keep those games public and upvote ^^
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I wish these plus a GSL map or two would be the season 3 map pool.
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Nice! I hope you guys get you maps pretty popular!
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Nice maps, and I'd definitely prefer them over Blizzard maps. However, something needs to be said against rotational symmetry. Sure it makes the maps pretty, but it's not good for anything. It causes positional imbalances, which, to be honest, shouldn't exist. I don't want to head into a game thinking "If he spawns in 1 of 3 positions I'm fighting a losing battle from the beginning". Please please PLEASE don't use rotational symmetry. It ruins great maps.
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Wow those maps are beautiful....
We need these in the ladder pool!
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Awesome. Judicator caste looks incredibly beautiful
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On July 21 2011 11:17 Plexa wrote:
Looking at these maps makes me sad.
They make me sad because in comparison to the maps we're looking at for season 3, these are absolutely amazing yet they will never get the same level of play time.
True. I wonder why Blizzard always does such a terrible job at making good new maps.
Anyway, great maps, although I doubt I will play them a lot (as everything is centered around the ladder :/).
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On July 24 2011 10:02 Farkinator wrote:
Nice maps, and I'd definitely prefer them over Blizzard maps. However, something needs to be said against rotational symmetry. Sure it makes the maps pretty, but it's not good for anything. It causes positional imbalances, which, to be honest, shouldn't exist. I don't want to head into a game thinking "If he spawns in 1 of 3 positions I'm fighting a losing battle from the beginning". Please please PLEASE don't use rotational symmetry. It ruins great maps.
i understand your concerns, but i don't really agree with that. while it does add a certain degree of randomness, it doesn't ruin the map, if balanced properly. if you have the option to expand both cw and ccw with having about the same distances between bases and the same openess, then it shouldn't have much effect on the outcome of the game.
on the other hand, on a mirrored 4 player map it may make a huge difference in tvz for example, if your opponent spawns close positions or cross positions. basically, what rotational maps do is add the same kind of randomness to the mirror matchups, too. but at the same time you have alot more possibilities for map layouts.
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On July 24 2011 10:02 Farkinator wrote:
Nice maps, and I'd definitely prefer them over Blizzard maps. However, something needs to be said against rotational symmetry. Sure it makes the maps pretty, but it's not good for anything. It causes positional imbalances, which, to be honest, shouldn't exist. I don't want to head into a game thinking "If he spawns in 1 of 3 positions I'm fighting a losing battle from the beginning". Please please PLEASE don't use rotational symmetry. It ruins great maps.
Take a look at MotM Sanctuarium for an example of a rotational map with minimal Positional imbalances. Rotational maps aren't always imba ^^
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On July 24 2011 10:02 Farkinator wrote:
Nice maps, and I'd definitely prefer them over Blizzard maps. However, something needs to be said against rotational symmetry. Sure it makes the maps pretty, but it's not good for anything. It causes positional imbalances, which, to be honest, shouldn't exist. I don't want to head into a game thinking "If he spawns in 1 of 3 positions I'm fighting a losing battle from the beginning". Please please PLEASE don't use rotational symmetry. It ruins great maps.
Delta Quadrant is a prime example of how bad rotational can be, but keep in mind that those are all very close spawns. On maps like Tal'darim, Sanctuarium, and Core Delta, they're much farther apart from each other. I think core delta is a wonderful rotational map
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well, i think the problem on dq isn't the rotated layout :D
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you guys work for blizzard soon?
hope isn't always a good thing  ((
make more map!
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Blizzard should make map making contests for ladder seasons with categories so they can fill their "quota" with what kind of maps they want.... I played some of these maps yesterday and I found a lot of them to be very interesting. It's obvious that the creators have put a LOT of thought into actual gameplay and MU dynamics when making these maps.
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because of MotM #7 happening later tonight, we will be starting our weekly playsession earlier today, at 3pm CET on EU (about 1 hour from now).
everyone is welcome to play, obs and chat with us. just join our ingame chanel 'TPW'
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These maps look really really amazing.
As soon as I fully wake up I'm going to see if I can find some people to try them out with.
Hope you keep doing this, we need some good map makers.
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Congratulations to TPW member, lefix, for winning the MotM#7 contest with his map TPW Odyssey. It's a wonderful map!
@community: We have several more maps on the way soon!
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News was updated in the OP by lefix concerning TPW Odyssey winning the MotM#7 and the replays involved for each of our maps!
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Our weekly play-session is starting right now (3pm CET)! There are already quite a few people in the channel
if anyone else is interested in a KotH to play, obs or just chat a bit, join the ingame channel 'TPW' on EU server.
There is also a few new maps that we plan to play today
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i played a game on odyssey against a friend and he beat me, so it's an awful awful map
+ Show Spoiler +just kidding, it's really really good
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Some replays from this sunday's king of the hill:
Aturion (T) vs Quotidian (T) on TPW Cascade Redux
+ Show Spoiler +Don't fear the reaper. Quite some balderdash. Watch Aturion use this map's features to deliver some really punishing and painful strikes to the economic of his opponent, leaving him with nothing but 4 scvs left and unable to deal with the huge push Aturion delivers once he transitions out of reapers.
Prog (P) vs Aturion (T) onTPW Judicator Caste
+ Show Spoiler +Kind of a weird game. Prog scouts 1 Rax and a Bunker and prepares for banshees. His opponent is going for a blue flame hellion drop, followed by cloaked banshees. Due to Dark Templar we also happend to see some ravens, just until a huge army of MMM stomps the protoss after each player had to deal with his fair share of harassment.
Bakuri (Z) vs Schmidi (T) on TPW Odyssey
+ Show Spoiler +Schmidi gave Bakuri a pretty uncomfortable start into this game. His 2rax works brilliantly, killing the zerg's fast expo and forces him to make a lot of lings. Unfortunately he didn't expand and build enough workers to solidify his lead, which gives Bakuri the chance to take the lead from him - even though he has to fend of quite a lot of harassment to do so. This game really shows the importance of constantly building SCVs if you don't want to get stomped by a load of banelings.
Bakuri (Z) vs Schmidi (P) on TPW Void Rift
+ Show Spoiler +A regame! Schmidi's playing as random again and gets Protoss this time. He goes 1-base colossi into an expo, while Bakuri gets pretty paranoid he doesn't get any intel on what the protoss is doing in his base. Certainly not a standard expo at around at the 6.00 - 7.00 minute mark. He fends off the Protoss aggression of Colossi, Stalkers, Sentries and some Zealots with nothing but zerglings and banelings, sealing this game pretty convincingly. Protoss just expanded way too late without putting on any good pressure and gets punished very hard for it. All rounded up with some nice +2 upgraded baneling drops into the economy of the Protoss.
Download the replay pack here.
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some neat maps in there. sure as hell beats typhon craps and searing bullshit.
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Holy crap, these are all amazing. I really hope you guys make it big, getting maps in some big tournaments (MLG, NASL) or even the ladder =)
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I dig crimsonite and lost city ^^
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Russian Federation4295 Posts
Sadly thing, that those maps will NEVER be released in official map pool. Just never...
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Several of these maps (perhaps Lost City most of all) looks 10x as good ingame. Don't forget to check out the map threads with detailed images, or just join the TPW channel on bnet to get some game up. This month, I havn't been as productive as my fellow mappers but I'm wokring on a map or two. Funcmode and Johannaz were racing last night to get TPW Artifice and TPW Crimsonite finilazed before MotM deadline and it was great to follow that process.
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we've started our little koth on EU again, join the 'TPW' to play/obs/chat with us for some sunday afternoon fun 
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We're now having our weekly playsession (KOTH) on EU Battlenet, join us in the channel TPW for a few games!
It is also streamed here: http://www.justin.tv/exediamond
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I would like to make a personal comment,
+ Show Spoiler +we decided to join forces and not only help each other make better maps, but also to collaborate with players, casters, tournament organizers, the community, and you You guys say this, but I hardly see any of you post in threads from other members of this community anymore. For a group of advanced map makers, your criticisms could help alot of people out on their maps. It comes off a bit elitist on the fact you went off and made your own group and seem to have forgotten the rest of us. please consider these words, thanks for reading
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Damn these maps look incredible. I'm def going to get some games on them.
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On August 07 2011 23:41 a176 wrote:I would like to make a personal comment, + Show Spoiler +we decided to join forces and not only help each other make better maps, but also to collaborate with players, casters, tournament organizers, the community, and you You guys say this, but I hardly see any of you post in threads from other members of this community anymore. For a group of advanced map makers, your criticisms could help alot of people out on their maps. It comes off a bit elitist on the fact you went off and made your own group and seem to have forgotten the rest of us. please consider these words, thanks for reading
I can't speak for the other members of the team, but I myself has some IRL things which require lots of time (university + job, among others) and therefore I cannot give as much feedback as I did a bit more than half a year ago.
There are also a few other reasons for it, some of them iGrok has already mentioned in his blog, but I'll do a quick recap:
- It is a lot easier to give feedback "face-to-face" through skype chat (even though we never use skype's video-call feature) as you can easily have a good in-depth discussion about the features
- It feels like much of our feedback, when we give it, is ignored (a few mappers — both well known and new — are exceptions to this)
- Also, many new maps seem to just have been made without any regard to what is referred to as best-practices (there are LOT of good links "[Reference] Mapmaking Links Compilation"), which makes it tedious as we have to reiterate a lot of what already has been said about mapmaking.
Finally a lot of time has gone into the team itself, and we trigger each other to make better and better maps, which also means that a lot of time is spent mapping and discussing it on skype instead of doing stuff here on TL. We will, however, try to improve our contact with the community in the future.
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On August 07 2011 23:41 a176 wrote:I would like to make a personal comment, + Show Spoiler +we decided to join forces and not only help each other make better maps, but also to collaborate with players, casters, tournament organizers, the community, and you You guys say this, but I hardly see any of you post in threads from other members of this community anymore. For a group of advanced map makers, your criticisms could help alot of people out on their maps. It comes off a bit elitist on the fact you went off and made your own group and seem to have forgotten the rest of us. please consider these words, thanks for reading
i'm sorry to hear this. i had personally not even noticed a decrease of forum activity from my part as my overall activity in the map-making community has increased by alot since we started TPW, plus being a judge in MotM right now. i will try to get more involved again, but no promises
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On August 07 2011 23:41 a176 wrote:I would like to make a personal comment, + Show Spoiler +we decided to join forces and not only help each other make better maps, but also to collaborate with players, casters, tournament organizers, the community, and you You guys say this, but I hardly see any of you post in threads from other members of this community anymore. For a group of advanced map makers, your criticisms could help alot of people out on their maps. It comes off a bit elitist on the fact you went off and made your own group and seem to have forgotten the rest of us. please consider these words, thanks for reading
I don't know how the rest of the team may feel, but I respond accordingly. I could comment on all the maps being posted, but when I look at a map and notice something that I know I can absolutely give immediate feedback on, I will do so. Right now, a lot of feedback involves staring at a map for several minutes and then coming to basic conclusions from an overview and that's just not how I operate. I apologize if you feel this way toward me even, but we're all different when it comes to feedback and perspectives on how to criticize a map.
You also have to understand that we've been pretty busy lately with our latest map releases. We've all been running KOTHs and balance/play-testing our latest maps because we want to polish them up. Please understand this and that we did not forget the community!
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Just read that NASL will use TPW-Maps in their open tournament and will include 3-4 in their 3rd season (Source). Absolutely love that finally one of the big foreign tournaments supports the map-making community!
congratulations, TPW! You did it!
+ Show Spoiler +
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That Ohana Map looks gorgeous... not the most practical, but pretty nonetheless.
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We are very excited for the NASL tournaments and season 3 map pool additions, though we do not expect a ton of people to be up to the challenge of playing an entirely new qualifying tournament map pool of all new maps. We do however hope things go well for season 3.
Our discussion of which maps to send to NASL was a serious one, and took each map with serious consideration and discussed all the pros and cons (we didn't just pick out 9 random maps, we hand-selected and discussed each one). We want to assure players, casters, and viewers alike that they are top quality and have been thoroughly tested.
We appreciate all feedback, and we highly appreciate the continued support from players and viewers like yourselves!
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Have you guys created or have any plans to make any 2v2 maps?
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Just a quick update:
Maps from the author 'CrEatOr' on EU are Fake.
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On September 29 2011 22:46 TheAssclown wrote:
Have you guys created or have any plans to make any 2v2 maps?
Some of us have thought about it and have ideas, but we currently are not working on 2v2 map projects at the moment.
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Just a heads up to the community:
We are toning down a bit and some of us are holding off on making new maps for two reasons mostly. The first reason is because HotS is around the corner and we are all anxious to use the new map editing features for it. The other reason is that currently for Wings of Liberty, melee maps are becoming too predictable with layout and texture usage. The only thing that "wow's" people is the aesthetic work.
We want to wait until HotS comes out to begin producing more quality melee maps that will fit everybody's needs as well as the needs of the new units, which will be a big challenge. If we are to work on current projects before HotS, it will mostly be updating older maps. So in the meantime, don't expect much out of TPW! We're here, watching over you.
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On October 29 2011 08:20 IronManSC wrote:
Just a heads up to the community:
We are toning down a bit and some of us are holding off on making new maps for two reasons mostly. The first reason is because HotS is around the corner and we are all anxious to use the new map editing features for it. The other reason is that currently for Wings of Liberty, melee maps are becoming too predictable with layout and texture usage. The only thing that "wow's" people is the aesthetic work.
We want to wait until HotS comes out to begin producing more quality melee maps that will fit everybody's needs as well as the needs of the new units, which will be a big challenge. If we are to work on current projects before HotS, it will mostly be updating older maps. So in the meantime, don't expect much out of TPW! We're here, watching over you.
Understandable. I hope you submitted a lot of maps to the mapmaking contest!
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On October 29 2011 08:20 IronManSC wrote:
Just a heads up to the community:
We are toning down a bit and some of us are holding off on making new maps for two reasons mostly. The first reason is because HotS is around the corner and we are all anxious to use the new map editing features for it. The other reason is that currently for Wings of Liberty, melee maps are becoming too predictable with layout and texture usage. The only thing that "wow's" people is the aesthetic work.
We want to wait until HotS comes out to begin producing more quality melee maps that will fit everybody's needs as well as the needs of the new units, which will be a big challenge. If we are to work on current projects before HotS, it will mostly be updating older maps. So in the meantime, don't expect much out of TPW! We're here, watching over you.
HotS isn't going to be out for at least another year, Browder did say "at next years Blizzcon, we'll have a more refined demo for you guys.." (Not word for word, but yea)
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Yes we're aware of that IrishBear, but like I previously mentioned, maps in WoL are becoming too predictable with the general concepts, layouts, and textures. We know HotS will change that up a bit, so we're "mostly" waiting for that. I also gave a heads up not to expect a lot from TPW - not that we couldn't make more projects, but most of us discussed it and we're holding off for a while.
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The other reason is that currently for Wings of Liberty, melee maps are becoming too predictable with layout
I'm not quite sure I understand what you mean by this
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On October 29 2011 08:39 a176 wrote:Show nested quote +The other reason is that currently for Wings of Liberty, melee maps are becoming too predictable with layout I'm not quite sure I understand what you mean by this
A lot of maps right now will generally have a resemblance with how the expansions are laid out. If you put two maps together that are totally different that's one thing - but more than likely that expansion layout was already created months prior. While us map makers have to stay within the limits of what we can or can't do with expansions (concerning sc2 balance), it becomes gradually more difficult to integrate new expansion setups that make it more unique - something that hasn't been done yet.
In short, if you make a map, or see a map that has a good layout, chances are that layout has been done before. We think HotS will present a different approach (even slightly) that may change how map layouts are created, so we're anticipating on that for the most part.
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On October 29 2011 08:22 Ruscour wrote:
Understandable. I hope you submitted a lot of maps to the mapmaking contest!
U betcha. At least 20 maps from us total
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the map are so pretty :D
good job!
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On October 29 2011 08:45 IronManSC wrote:Show nested quote +On October 29 2011 08:39 a176 wrote:The other reason is that currently for Wings of Liberty, melee maps are becoming too predictable with layout I'm not quite sure I understand what you mean by this A lot of maps right now will generally have a resemblance with how the expansions are laid out. If you put two maps together that are totally different that's one thing - but more than likely that expansion layout was already created months prior. While us map makers have to stay within the limits of what we can or can't do with expansions (concerning sc2 balance), it becomes gradually more difficult to integrate new expansion setups that make it more unique - something that hasn't been done yet. In short, if you make a map, or see a map that has a good layout, chances are that layout has been done before. We think HotS will present a different approach (even slightly) that may change how map layouts are created, so we're anticipating on that for the most part.
Tbh I don't agree with this attitude- a lot of maps are very similar, but that is all the more reason to make more maps that are unique. I know I am frustrated too at how hard it is to make really special maps like popular Brood War maps, but I am certain that it is possible in SC2 despite balance concerns. Especially considering SC2 has a ton more options in aesthetics and features than Brood War. I'll just keep trying until I figure it out.
But good luck in HotS anyway!
+ Show Spoiler +I know one reason you could be wanting to wait until HotS is because it is so hard to get maps into tourments right, and it can be demotivating.
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