Team Liquid Map Contest 11 - Page 6

The size of the map: 142x142 : 20164 area

Category: Standard

Description: This is a modern take on Cloud Kingdom and turned into a map with diagonal axis symmetry which makes it completely different from its predecessor. Longer paths still lead to better offensive positions. The fourth base on the highground has a small lowground path behind it that can be used to harass the mineral line and one gas geyser. The gold expansions have been moved closer to each player and they are a bit harder to attack from the middle highground. The positioning of this gold expand is similar to the central expand on Acid Plant which looks like a winner base but it often taken. The gold expand also has one geyser like on Acid Plant. I also changed the map theme to a port which makes more sense for an anchor pattern.

Why the map fits the category you selected: While the map is on the large size of standard maps, the diagonal axis symmetry makes it so the players will always expand closer to the opponent. Both players will never be far away from each other.

List and describe any distinctive features of the map: The anchor pattern that takes the entire map

Main to Main distance: 43s
Top of main ramp to top of main ramp distance: 36s
Natural to Natural distance: 33s


Details:
Third base A interactions: https://i.imgur.com/9yAI9o4.jpg
Third base B interactions: https://i.imgur.com/gcKLOWq.jpg
Lategame interactions: https://i.imgur.com/3gbMsDz.jpg

Feedback response:
- First feedback point: The judges remarked on the interesting design of the map, but had concerns about unused space in the corner expansions. They also remarked that late game on the map would be difficult.
The amount of unused space in the corners is very low but i still moved the top left expand closer to the corner.
The map is intentionally made to be difficult in the late game. After each player has taken his five bases on his side of the map, it will create a very dynamic late game where both players have to fight to take the two middle expands and the corner expands. This makes the map very different from most ladder maps where players still have plenty remaining bases on their side of the map and this makes the late game more passive. There is also a large amount of paths between the two halves of the map which will make passive late game split map scenario impossible.

- Second feedback point: One judge felt that high ground can be easily abused, and that whichever player ends up holding the high ground will probably end up winning the game.
There are many paths that go around the central highground area. The central highground area will be crucial mostly during very late game where the central lowground expand will be the one remaining.

- Third feedback point: One judge felt that the gold bases felt like win-more bases rather than accessible bases.
Moved the gold expands toward each player and they are a bit harder to attack from the central highground. These bases are similar to the central expands on Acid Plant.

- Fourth feedback point: One judge felt that the third-fourth are too safe, as they are hard to attack in to these bases aside from a head on attack.
Moved the highground fourth base farther away from the third base. Added a small lowground terrain behind the fourth base that can be used to harass it.

- Fifth feedback point: One judge felt that the XelNaga Watchtowers could be used better.
The two central xelnaga towers (xnt) let players to have a forward staging point as well as to be able to see the highground area. Seeing that much of the highground area decreases its power.
The xnt near the bottom right corner also helps to reduce the power of the central highground.
Keeping the xnt as they currently are helps with the second feedback point.

The size of the map: 144x140: 20160 area

Category: Standard

Description: This is a medium sized map that has a simple expansion pattern on the sides. The twist of the map happens in the middle with the combination of xelnaga towers (xnt and double layered rocks which make the map split ambiguous.


Why the map fits the category you selected: Medium sized map. Simple expansion pattern on the sides. Has a unique feature with the xnt/single rocks combo.

List and describe any distinctive features of the map: The combination of xelnaga towers and double layered rocks in the middle which make the furthest xelnaga tower by air actually the cloest by ground until the rocks are taken down.

Main to Main distance: 39s
Top of main ramp to top of main ramp distance: 32s
Natural to Natural distance: 30s

Details:
Xelnaga towers specificities: https://i.imgur.com/vUnpHC2.jpg

Response to the feedback:
- Second feedback point: One judge felt that the center bases felt like 'win more' bases rather than viable expansion options. Two judges commented on how the design of the center may impede movement throughout the map. One suggestion was to make the high ground pods take up less space or be slightly more open. I decided to keep the base on the middle highground. I may not be useful in most games but i think it will still be taken in the late game and its central positioning can shake the flow of the game.
The wide ramps of the middle highground pods have been made wider. The small ramp of the highground pod has not been modified because i want to make the closest xnt not too easy to access after the rocks have been taken down.

- Third feedback point: One judge felt that the center ramp rocks should be reduced to one.
Deleted one layer of rocks. My intent with these rocks is to make the closest xnt by air the furthest by ground during the early and mid game. I wanted to make this map flow shift to happen as late as possible but I wasn’t sure if one layer of rock is enough.. This made me tip the balance toward deleting one layer of rocks.

The size of the map: 136x156 : 21216 area

Category: Macro

Description: This map uses the bridge choke feature to its fullest. All the bridges are unbuildable and can be blocked like a regular ramp. The double bridges encourage players to micro more their armies to go through both bridges at the same time. As usual, longer paths give better attack angles. Expanding horizontally and vertically are both viable depending on how aggressive your game plan is.

Why the map fits the category you selected: The long distance between the two naturals and the defensive power of bridges make the map more macro oriented.

List and describe any distinctive features of the map: Widespread use of bridges and doubles bridges which makes optimal attacking through these chokes more micro intensive.

Main to Main distance: 48s
Top of main ramp to top of main ramp distance: 39s
Natural to Natural distance: 37s

Details:
Third base A interactions: https://i.imgur.com/096u4XK.jpg
Third base B interactions: https://i.imgur.com/4nHoHFY.jpg
Lategame A interactions: https://i.imgur.com/Qs0Rd5m.jpg
Lategame B interactions: https://i.imgur.com/EIPc2wP.jpg
Lategame C interactions: https://i.imgur.com/glLlThz.jpg

Response to the feedback:
- First feedback point: All of the judges felt that this map was misplaced in the macro category. In particular, the third bases were too inaccessible for it to be included in the category.
I am extremely surprised by the fact that all the judges think this map has been misplaced in the macro category. Here is my thought process as of why it is a macro map.

It has a longer natural to natural distance than the macro map Blackpink which on top of it, it has a double bridge in front of the natural which is a huge defensive point. Imagine these are two ramps next to each other that have the same width as the ramp to the main without the vision disadvantage. If the defender has some army behind the bridge, he can make two small concaves that will destroy armies that are even a bit superior in size.

Then there is the third base next to the natural where there are two ways of getting into for the attacker, through the double bridges or a tight path that require the attacker’s army to pass through the corner of the map. At this point of the game, the defender can make a sim city that will make this entire area very tight and hard to attack for the attacker.
The total width of all the chokes when a player has the third base next to the natural (natural’s double bridge + third base double bridge + third base back path) is smaller than on macro maps like Blackpink and Ascension to Aiur. The third base on Hephaistos is also closer than on these two ladder macro maps.

While i do not agree with your feedback of the third base being too hard to take, i made the following changes:
The map dimension have been changed to 136x156 from 136x148. This makes the natural to natural distance similar to Ascension to Aiur.
The third base is closer by ground and it can now be linked with only one creep tumor from the natural.
The natural’s double bridge have been moved closer to the natural because of the shorter path from the natural to the third.
Added 6x6 destructible rocks on the third base’s back path. This reduces the width of the back path choke by a half while letting the player to take the corner expand as his 4th base. This makes the total width of the chokes leading to the natural and the third similar to other ladder macro maps (with the rocks taken down) but split into 3 parts

With these changes, the natural + third base setup is more defensive than most ladder macro maps while having a main to main and natural to natural distance on par with ladder macro maps. In the midgame, once the defender has a decent army, it will be very difficult for the attack to pass the bridges. This will force the attacker to find a better attack route which will give time for the defender. https://i.imgur.com/096u4XK.jpg and https://i.imgur.com/4nHoHFY.jpg
The general layout of Hephaistos promotes macro games thanks to the large number of bridges where armies couldn’t cross without heavy losses with the opponent is on the other side. This causes the players to look for alternative paths where they can cross safely.
This makes the map very different from all the current ones while still being totally playable. And for the lategame, there are multiple very defensive points that both players can use. Here are three lategame scenarios picture depending on how the players expanded: https://i.imgur.com/Qs0Rd5m.jpg / https://i.imgur.com/EIPc2wP.jpg / https://i.imgur.com/glLlThz.jpg
Legend: Square = base / Circle = army / Arrow = army movement / Dotted arrow = air/drop paths / Curved lines = conflict lines

- Second feedback point: One judge suggested that the bridges connecting to the third should be replaced with regular terrain.
This contradicts the first feedback point. Changing the double bridge to open terrain would make the third a lot harder to defend.

- Third feedback point: Another judge commented that the lack of non-bridge paths may make this map frustrating to play on.
I would like to point out something about 99% of all ladder maps. In all these maps, 200/200 armies can pass through all the chokes unhindered. In a scenario where there is no opponent army nearby, there is no downside for a maxed army to move through a choke. Currently, a choke is a tight path of 6 to 8 squares wide where the only danger is when the opponent takes a great concave and the attacker can retreat his entire army entirely.

What i want to do in Hephaistos is to make players think about their army movements. I want them to ask themselves if it is safe to pass the bridges on the shortest route or if they should pass their army further away without danger. In the case of a retreat of a large army, it will not be able to pass the choke instantly and the fleeing army will suffer losses. This rewards the players that pay more attention to their army movements and tactics. To reduce any potential frustration, all the wide paths are very wide. An other upside of the large use of bridges on this map is that it prevents split map scenarios because the defender cannot reinforce quickly all the attacked part of his turtle. Otherwise he would have to sacrifice a large part of the map that contain expands.

The size of the map: 160x140: 22400 area

Category: Macro

Description: This map features a tight but very long rift that goes all around the map. While being tight, armies in the rift are prone to ambushes from the high ground. There are multiple ramps on the rift that make it temporarily wider. To compensate the tightness of the rift, there are two very wide paths that spiral on the map. Expanding vertically and horizontally are both viable and give different strengths and weaknesses. Players cannot build in the rift. This prevents tactics where a terran player could place multiple tanks on the lowground and seal the path with 4 depots.
The gold bases are not easy to take and not easy to hold either. As usual, longer paths lead to better attack angles.

Why the map fits the category you selected: Long main to main distance. Reasonable natural to natural distance Easy to expand away from the opponent. Multiple small chokes on the shortest paths. High amount of bases.

List and describe any distinctive features of the map: The rift that goes all around the map. For a travelling army, it offers defense from straightforward attacks but quite vulnerable from ambushes from the high ground.


Main to Main distance: 46s
Top of main ramp to top of main ramp distance: 39s
Natural to Natural distance: 33s

Details:
Third base A interactions: https://i.imgur.com/Ul62FMy.png
Third base B interactions: https://i.imgur.com/7bfGm4L.png
Third base lowground details: https://i.imgur.com/GciL5So.jpg
Lategame A interactions: https://i.imgur.com/JnoGmZQ.jpg
Lategame B interactions: https://i.imgur.com/98H8l74.jpg

Response to the feedback:
- First feedback point: One judge remarked that the graphics choices and some of the layout decisions make the map look like an amateur map, although they noticed that that is clearly not the case. But wondered if this may impact perceptions of the map.

Decoration: Changed the brown dirt textures to an other texture that have a higher contrast.
- Second feedback point: Concerns were raised about how the many chokes would impact army movement. One judge thought that in conjunction with the four base layout that gaemplay may be boring in practice.
The width of the ramp chokes is about the same as on all current ladder maps.As written in the description, the tightness of the rift is compensated by the very wide highground paths.
The fourth base on the left and right sides has been moved further away toward the corner. This has been done to make the player choose between a further away fourth base that is also far away from the opponent or take the base hugging the main base that is closer to the opponent. One base has been deleted on the top and bottom parts because there would have been bases too closer from each other.

- Third feedback point: Judges thought that the low ground could permit Tank abuse.
The lowground paths may seem very good for tank pushes but it also restricts the movements of that army. It is very vulnerable to pincer attacks because the army in the rift cannot dodge the pincer at all as you can see here: https://i.imgur.com/yDADvQT.jpg . And since the lowground rift is unbuildable, the attacker cannot make a sim city there to restrict the defender’s army movements.
The third base is placed further away from the rift to let more units between the third base’s town hall and the maximum tank range placed in the lowground rift.

The size of the map: 152 x 132: 20064 area

Category: Challenge #1

Description: This map uses the newly invented Accordion Choke™©®. This new choke is probably the most extreme choke ever created and has multiple properties. It creates a distortion of ground distances while keeping air distances untouched. This makes air units more powerful on maps using this choke. To balance this out, safe air space and visibility blockers are limited as much as possible. An other property of the Accordion Choke™©® is that ranged units can stay inside the choke and be protected very well from melee attacks at the cost of limited movement and attacking surface area against other ranged units. To compensate that, there are wide open areas on each side of every choke. The players can block the path with one building.

Why the map fits the category you selected: The naturals are close by air (15s with an Oracle) while not being too far away by ground to allow aggression but very easily defended on the shortest path. The Accordion Chokes™©® are distorting ground distances and thus make air distances closer in comparison.

List and describe any distinctive features of the map: The use of the Accordion Choke™©®

Main to Main distance: 39s
Top of main ramp to top of main ramp distance: 34s
Natural to Natural ground distance: 28s

Additional info:
Natural to Natural air distance (With an Oracle): 14s
Natural to Natural ground distance with blocked natural’s Accordion Chokes™©®: 33s
Natural to Natural ground distance if there weren’t the Accordion Chokes™©®: 19s

Details:
Pathing map: https://i.imgur.com/YSdaeNX.jpg
Lategame interactions: https://i.imgur.com/7oNiohb.jpg


Response to the feedback:
- First feedback point: Judges thought that the map could use a graphics revision for improved clarity.
The hedges that show the limits of the pathable terrain have been changed to a brighter color. The grass texture below has also been modified to make a clearer contrast between the pathable gradd and the grass behind the hedges. These texture changes have also been made to make the minimap more readable.

- Second feedback point: Judges were unsure about the small paths. One was concerned about how unit pathing would interact with them. Another thought that they were overused, and perhaps were unnecessary at the 6 o'clock base or the center. The judges noted that this feature was essential to the map in order for it to be successful.
Deleted the accordion choke around the 6 o’clock base. I wasn’t sure about it and the negative feedback about it made it tip the balance toward its deletion.

The size of the map: 136x140: 19040 area

Category: Category #2

Description: This map has a different use of Renegade Missile Turrets (RMT) compared to most maps. They are used in combination with large areas of line of sight blockers (LoS).
The LoS are intentionally placed in a checker pattern to drastically reduce the vision of ground units which don’t have air support. But since there are many RMT inside the LoS forest, it is hard to keep the vision over those areas. The players can make a decision to keep or destroy RMT defensively or offensively. Destroying the RMT with ground units requires the vision of air units but they need to keep distance with the RMT. This process takes some attention and micro from that player. The RMT can delay attacks that contain air units The defender can see from his side if the RMT are being attacked and then can decide to ambush the attacker army while it is occupied.
Air units can only see half of the LoS forest while the RMT are up. This gives a big defensive advantage if the attacker chooses to attack without air support while the defender has air units seeing inside the LoS forest. Also, the highground pods with the RMT are buildable and droppable once the RMT are destroyed. Destroying the opponent’s air units inside the LoS forest can severely hinder the fighting capabilities of the opponent’s army in that area.

Why the map fits the category you selected:Use of RMT

List and describe any distinctive features of the map: RMT used in combination with large areas of LoS.

Changes since the first submission:
Bugfix of the LoS forest. Los blockers were placed diagonally in a 1x1 pattern which let units see through it in the fog of war. Changed the los blocker pattern to 2x1.
Added 2 RMT for each highground pod
Added one highground pod at the top right and bottom left corners of the map. This closes one safe air path and lowers the total of safe air path from 5 to 3. One through the middle of the map and one between the two LoS forests on each side of the map.


Main to Main distance: 40s
Top of main ramp to top of main ramp distance: 37s
Natural to Natural distance: 33s

Details:
Safe air routes: https://i.imgur.com/My2ZFkd.jpg
Close up of the LoS blocker forest: https://i.imgur.com/mPnnkhn.jpg