EPTThus I shall present each of the new maps, and instead of flat bashing them in classic Blizzard-hate fashion, I shall render an honest opinion - as a mapmaker myself. By the way, here's my twitter page. Yes I make maps. I promise you this is mine. Not that you really care.
1v1 maps:
+ Show Spoiler +
Prion Terraces
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/eFbPXPY.jpg)
So there's a lot not to like about this map. I make no odds about this. Both your third and fourth bases are golds, and the map is packed to the gills with expansions to begin with. The main is surrounded by completely pathable terrain, so have fun with Stalkers I guess. If Blizzard is willing to rebalance the game around these anomolous elements, though, it could be good to have maps like this in the game.
Central Protocol
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/Y6EV1YS.jpg)
Alright, so they could have given us Bel'Shir Beach, but we got this. 4 spawns, none of which appear to be disabled. A flat main choke, and a back door into the main at that. Unlike the other maps I'm showing you, however, it's actually relatively short on total base count at 14. The third base options are wide open, but again, if Blizzard really wants to balance around having maps like these, I'm not complaining.
Ulrena
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/sKJY9xB.jpg)
Imagine taking the short rush pathing of Klontas Mire, the island betwixt close air spawns from Scrap Station, and made it worse, you basically have this. The island is a gold for TBD reasons, the rush distance is even shorter than Klontas, and there are about 1000% too many expansions, in places where expansions don't belong in any way. Seriously, check out the third base.
Dusk Towers
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/MNP7DLb.jpg)
Similar in design to Alterzim Stronghold, but with a rush distance that makes a bit more sense, Dusk Flares is an in-base map with some slightly unusual terrain features. It recycles the overall center idea from Eternal Scar, in a way that encourages you to move forawrd, so not a bad idea from Blizzard on this one. On the other hand, it doesn't come into play until you have 4 bases, which is one too many.
2v2 maps:
Distant Plane
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/t7ZeS0T.jpg)
Distant Plane is a nice demonstration of the new tileset from The Void, but the map closely resembles the HotS beta map Fractured Glacier. It's been scaled up a bit to better fit 2v2, complete with 300% more gold bases. It's a straightforward map, what do you want.
Fields of Death
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/CjfDu2t.jpg)
To be honest, I'm not sure what's going on here. I think it's a 2v2 map.
3v3 maps:
Doraelus Hills
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/48qdjKx.jpg)
The layout here is reminiscent of the old 3v3 map Vault of Secrets. You have a short rush distance between teams, and a large number of expansions stowed behind backdoors with a series of rocks protecting them. There are a lot of gold bases though, so you know it's a LotV map.
Avalon Labs
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/Z0JlrJz.jpg)
This map... has 6 Xel'Naga towers. And an easy 6 collective bases per team. With a total of 6 players. No triangles here.
4v4 maps:
Asper Mountain
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/QtQBYTl.jpg)
So this is where Blizzard starts shamelessly stealing my ideas. Like this one. And this one.This is a 4v4 map with a split-team concept and short rush distances. Overall it actually looks decent, however. Also, gold bases guys. There's even a double-gold, which new players will have a hard time understanding, but it's Legacy of the Void. Are you still reading this shit?
Hidden Caves
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/WKtNEYT.jpg)
Once again, leave it to Blizzard to perform unabashed plagiarism on the community. Of what you might ask? Leave it to me to show Blizzard how it's done. They've taken the solid layout I created and reimagined it for LotV - although weirdly it has no gold bases. Less than mine, even. You guys figure it out.
+ Show Spoiler +
All the lens flares you are about to see are real, and not faked in any way. Seriously, look at Blizzard, not me.
Prion Terraces
So there's a lot not to like about this map. I make no odds about this. Both your third and fourth bases are golds, and the map is packed to the gills with expansions to begin with. The main is surrounded by completely pathable terrain, so have fun with Stalkers I guess. If Blizzard is willing to rebalance the game around these anomolous elements, though, it could be good to have maps like this in the game.
Central Protocol
Alright, so they could have given us Bel'Shir Beach, but we got this. 4 spawns, none of which appear to be disabled. A flat main choke, and a back door into the main at that. Unlike the other maps I'm showing you, however, it's actually relatively short on total base count at 14. The third base options are wide open, but again, if Blizzard really wants to balance around having maps like these, I'm not complaining.
Ulrena
Imagine taking the short rush pathing of Klontas Mire, the island betwixt close air spawns from Scrap Station, and made it worse, you basically have this. The island is a gold for TBD reasons, the rush distance is even shorter than Klontas, and there are about 1000% too many expansions, in places where expansions don't belong in any way. Seriously, check out the third base.
Dusk Towers
Similar in design to Alterzim Stronghold, but with a rush distance that makes a bit more sense, Dusk Flares is an in-base map with some slightly unusual terrain features. It recycles the overall center idea from Eternal Scar, in a way that encourages you to move forawrd, so not a bad idea from Blizzard on this one. On the other hand, it doesn't come into play until you have 4 bases, which is one too many.
2v2 maps:
Distant Plane
Distant Plane is a nice demonstration of the new tileset from The Void, but the map closely resembles the HotS beta map Fractured Glacier. It's been scaled up a bit to better fit 2v2, complete with 300% more gold bases. It's a straightforward map, what do you want.
Fields of Death
To be honest, I'm not sure what's going on here. I think it's a 2v2 map.
3v3 maps:
Doraelus Hills
The layout here is reminiscent of the old 3v3 map Vault of Secrets. You have a short rush distance between teams, and a large number of expansions stowed behind backdoors with a series of rocks protecting them. There are a lot of gold bases though, so you know it's a LotV map.
Avalon Labs
This map... has 6 Xel'Naga towers. And an easy 6 collective bases per team. With a total of 6 players. No triangles here.
4v4 maps:
Asper Mountain
So this is where Blizzard starts shamelessly stealing my ideas. Like this one. And this one.This is a 4v4 map with a split-team concept and short rush distances. Overall it actually looks decent, however. Also, gold bases guys. There's even a double-gold, which new players will have a hard time understanding, but it's Legacy of the Void. Are you still reading this shit?
Hidden Caves
Once again, leave it to Blizzard to perform unabashed plagiarism on the community. Of what you might ask? Leave it to me to show Blizzard how it's done. They've taken the solid layout I created and reimagined it for LotV - although weirdly it has no gold bases. Less than mine, even. You guys figure it out.
