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[Map] (2) Rising Tides - Final

Forum Index > SC2 Maps & Custom Games
Post a Reply
Gaius Baltar
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
United States449 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-10-07 21:25:11
October 04 2010 07:03 GMT
#1
[image loading]


Map is live on NA as well as EU thanks to [image loading]Ventez.

Gametype: 1v1
Tileset: Xil (Wasteland)
Map size: 168x124

Map images
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Overview[image loading]
Full size

Close-ups
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Northeast beach
[image loading]


Side paths
[image loading]


Center
[image loading]


Xel'Naga Tower path
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Main/natural
[image loading]

Map analyzer images
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Summary
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Rush distance
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Summary

Rising Tides was born from my first memorable RTS experience, the level Riders of the Storm in the WarCraft III demo. Shipwrecked by a deadly storm, the orc army is stranded at the end of a mysterious island, and soon you discover that your oppressors, the humans, have an outpost nearby. Under siege by the humans and with no way off the island, you are forced to fight for dominance. Even though I was just fighting the computer, I've remembered this level over the years as my first epic 1v1 experience because it introduced me to the kill or be killed RTS mentality.

Thus I sat down with the galaxy editor and attempted to make a map in the shape of a long island with starting locations at either end. Examining the final version, my primary technical goal was to make the map large to promote long macro-style games. While much larger than the average Blizzard SC2 map, it is a little smaller than many of the Brood War maps I looked at for inspiration. As a benchmark, it is significantly longer than Lost Temple while slightly shorter in height.

My secondary technical goal was to make a variety of interesting attack paths, forging an equilibrium between width and directness. The safest (widest) attack path for large armies follows an S from your natural, down around your gold expansion, up through the center, down around your opponent's gold expansion, and finally up the ramp to your opponent's natural. Direct pushes from natural to natural are possible, but tactically more difficult. Somebody who controls the center high ground trying to attack his opponent's natural directly would have to risk funneling his army down a thin ramp. Conversely, some of the thinner attack paths would be very effective for smaller strike forces, like several groups of speedlings being sent to harass multiple expansions. See my expansions pattern analysis for more implications of the attack paths.

Those of you who remember my beta post know that I've been working on this map since early May. The endless changes I've made since then are not unlike the evolution of the zerg race with my friend Ventez playing the roll of the Overmind, ever striking down weak features of the map and helping me forge the final metamorphosis, which I present now. I would ask that you limit your feedback to replays, general praise, and intense flaming, while withholding changes you would make to the map.

Expansion patterns analysis

Assuming macro games centered around the wide S-shaped attack path described above, the standard expansion pattern would be to divide the island between the north and the south. This would allow players to comfortably defend their 3rd, 4th, and 5th expansions with a large army presence at a location near the Xel'Naga towers. I marked the following picture with the attack paths most relevant to this model and circled key defensive locations.

Standard north-south division
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[image loading]

Full size

Yet a feature central to many strong maps is the option of a variety of expansion patterns, especially the choice of a 3rd base. In order to make this choice less obvious, I attempted to build in a weakness to what I referred to as the standard expansion pattern, namely a weakened flank of the main base. Examining the east main, for example, one might be worried about the vulnerability of the main's west edge to things like reapers, colossus, drops, and, especially considering the long cliff off the tail end of the main, nonsense like this. In the following picture, the yellow terran has increased his army presence along the flank of his main by taking a different 3rd.

An alternate expansion pattern, west-south division
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[image loading]

Full size

Note the changes in the main attack paths as well as shifts in key defensive locations. It is my hope that the layout of the map forces the necessity of different strategies like this, in order to promote a variety of dynamic matches.

Conclusion

Over time Blizzard will shift focus to newer games and will likely spend less time releasing new maps. It may well fall to us, the community, to continue refreshing the map pool. If you don't think my map is good enough to be a part of that, please at least support the iCCup map pool. These guys do some really great work with maps and are helping to build the infrastructure for long-lasting e-Sports in a big way.

Apologies for the extended presentation, I worked a long time on this map and I had a lot to say about it. I'll close by reminding you to please post your replays or email them to me at harryspanner@hotmail.com. And please, any tournament organizers interested in using my map, go right ahead.
freakout396
Profile Joined October 2010
United States2 Posts
October 21 2010 23:29 GMT
#2
Just spectated on this map. Very pretty to stare at :D. Also it allows for some nice zerg surrounds with the wide ramps near the gold expos...but doesn't give too much of any kind of advantage to any one race...even has some great proxy places for some cheese too :D
I Don't roll on sabbat.
Samro225am
Profile Joined August 2010
Germany982 Posts
October 22 2010 12:30 GMT
#3
layout looks big but interesting. will definatley check it ou later!

ramps can be a deciding factor in big battles in the centre. outer pathes look a bit too complex ( 3 parallel pathes at watchtower and fourth) but interesting and seems to fit themewise.
FlopTurnReaver
Profile Blog Joined January 2010
Switzerland1980 Posts
October 22 2010 12:37 GMT
#4
Wow Terran Paradise right here. Whole map exists of cliffs and narrow passages. Btw. what exactly is that high ground outside the main for except to make it even easier for terran to defend the natural?
Check out @MapOfTheMonth on Twitter and under http://bit.ly/motmorg
Gaius Baltar
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
United States449 Posts
October 22 2010 22:34 GMT
#5
Thanks for the feedback guys. FlopTurnReaver, there are several purposes for the high ground platform by the natural. You can use it to hide tech, you can use it to proxy, and yes you can definitely use it to defend. Although it's not exactly the same, I borrowed the idea from Scrap Station.

Now I recognize that my platform is directly across from the high ground of the main, so you can set up a two-edged defense covering the same entrance area to the natural. While this would provide stronger defense than the set up on Scrap Station, I intended it that way. I want it to be relatively easy to defend the natural to promote macro games (think the opposite of the natural at Xel'Naga Caverns). At the same time, just look at the number of expansions and the size of the map. If a terran decided to turtle up on just 2 bases, he would probably lose to an opponent who could easily take upwards of 4 or more bases.

And yes, narrow passages and cliffs are part of the map. That suits certain types of units. There are also lots of huge open spaces that suit units that destroy terran mech.
FlaShFTW
Profile Blog Joined February 2010
United States10143 Posts
October 22 2010 23:27 GMT
#6
i love this. terrans cant just camp out, cause then zerg can get a mass surround on these areas. however, i love it how the 3rd is a bit difficult to defend, that way, we will see more aggresive play off 2 bases. islands will b key
Writer#1 KT and FlaSh Fanboy || Woo Jung Ho Never Forget || Teamliquid Political Decision Desk
TL+ Member
Ventez
Profile Joined April 2010
Norway107 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-10-24 17:28:49
October 23 2010 13:24 GMT
#7
Its good to finally see the finished version. The amount of time Gaius has put into this map is amazing, and its gone through countless iterations before getting to this state. I love this map, mostly because of the many attack patterns but also because of how many ways a game can play out. You got some possibilites for proxies, you got islands and you got more rewarding, but more risky expos(see the gold). Sometimes I've even been tricked by the enemy while I was pushing and he just took another route and suddenly I had a huge enemy army in my base. Gaius is defienetly one of the better map makers out there and I hope he will continue with making maps!
Zaphid
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
Czech Republic1860 Posts
October 23 2010 13:46 GMT
#8
It looks very nice and clean, decorations are very often just a noise on MP maps, the lack of them makes it very easy to understand and follow.
I will never ever play Mech against Protoss. - MVP
Valo
Profile Joined August 2009
Norway5 Posts
October 26 2010 15:11 GMT
#9
Looks like a rather well-balanced map, but I'll have to test it out before I can say more about it. I really liked the cliff next to the natural, making defense easy, at the same time as it has a ramp so that you dont have the imbalance of tank/thor drops there to completely shut down the natural.
WniO
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
United States2706 Posts
October 26 2010 15:35 GMT
#10
while i have yet to try out the map i think the ramps are much too large. not only does it make the map look mechanical from the overview, but there's little advantage to having the high-ground when there's 100 ft of surface area. its a great looking map theres no question, but imo make some of the ramps smaller.
Gaius Baltar
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
United States449 Posts
October 30 2010 00:00 GMT
#11
Zealot, I decided not to subscribe to the assumption that ramps must or should be chokes (of course ramps like the entrance to the main will be thin enough to be a choke). Since the map is so large with so many expansions, I designed the main attack paths (which traverse up and down ramps) to be wide, accommodating large armies. High ground advantage still comes into play when armies engage on top of a wide ramp, although it's less black and white.

For the most part I designed the chokes to be thin paths, not ramps. If you look carefully you'll see the intended effects of the ramp widths I chose. For example at the 12 and 6 o'clock expansions the highest ground ramps are slightly thinner than the middle ground ramps, creating a funnel benefiting the defender. The center high ground grassy platforms have thinner ramps pointing at the naturals, giving the defender a strong defensive concave at the bottom of the ramp against an opponent making a straight push from high ground to natural.
Begtse
Profile Joined October 2010
France135 Posts
October 31 2010 15:55 GMT
#12
Just tried it very nice map.
SiCkO_
Profile Joined September 2010
United States481 Posts
October 31 2010 17:24 GMT
#13
i Love it
SKT Toss line Fighting! | Bisu, BeSt, By.Sun! |
Gaius Baltar
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
United States449 Posts
November 08 2010 21:03 GMT
#14
Thanks guys. If it's not too much trouble, could you send me some replays? I haven't really had the chance to see many people play on the map yet. You can link a replay here or email it to me at harryspanner@hotmail.com
Faze.
Profile Joined November 2010
Canada285 Posts
November 08 2010 21:31 GMT
#15
I think this may very well be the sexiest looking map... in the world.
That or I just have a thing or exotic places, really awesome work there, I'm definitely going to play on it tonight.
D:
Gaius Baltar
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
United States449 Posts
December 27 2010 06:58 GMT
#16
Thanks for compliment, I know it's old now. Has anybody played this map recently? Replays perhaps??
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