EPT![[image loading]](http://imgur.com/SIRV9.png)
Check out the MotM Wikipage! Huge thanks to pyrestrike for this!
Also, follow us on Twitter to stay updated on MotM news!
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News!
Its that time again - time to announce the official winning map of Map of the Month #7! This month we had several very good maps, but one map proved to be absolutely spectacular. Please congratulate TPW Odyssey by lefix!
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![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/8l903.jpg)
Now, some MotM #8 news: MotM #8 will officially begin taking submissions August 1 (there will be a thread). As always, there will be a couple changes, but nothing too drastic, and there are no map restrictions. The judges panel next month will be FlopTurnReaver, monitor, LSPrime, Barrin, and of course lefix (make sure to congratulate him!).
+ Show Spoiler [Past News] +
MotM 7 pool:
Green Harvest by Johanaz
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![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/VjoK7.jpg)
TPW Antiga Prime by IronManSC
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![[image loading]](http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/6532/tpwantigaprime.jpg)
TPW Core Delta by Meltage
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![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/QBGeU.png)
TPW Monsoon Valley by NullCurrent
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![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/s0M4Xl.jpg)
TPW Odyssey by lefix
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View all the replays from Map of the Month #6 here!
Congratulations to funcmode's Sanctuarium and Antares777's Hysteria! These maps both win Season 1 of Map of the Month!
+ Show Spoiler [Sanctuarium] +![[image loading]](http://imgur.com/hKTry.jpg)
+ Show Spoiler [Hysteria] +![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/29cHl.jpg)
+ Show Spoiler [Sanctuarium] +
+ Show Spoiler [Hysteria] +
Map of the Month #6 - the Season 1 Finals is coming up soon! June 26th and 27th! Click here for more info!
Tune in to Map of the Month #5 today at 5:00pm EST! Cast by imba.tv!
Hey guys, I'm here to announce this month's winner of Map of the Month! This month, we put forth a challenge, and forced you to create 3 player maps. The competition was fierce, attracting top mapmakers from the US, Europe, and Korea. But after all the games played in the tournament, we felt that one map stood out from the others.
I'm happy to announce the winner of this month's Map of the Month competition:
(3) The Eighteenth, by Silence-!
We saw some awesome games on this map; from huge macro battles to fast cheese games. I'm proud to add The Eighteenth to the MotM Official Map Pool.
The final pool for MotM #4 is set. Thanks to everyone for mapping - I know this month was extra hard due to the restriction, but by and large TL responded with good maps.
This month we had funcmode guest judge. dimfish decided that he wanted to submit one of his own maps, and stepped down for the month. So, funcmode, prodiG, FlopTurnReaver, BoomStevo and myself were left to judge all the 3p maps.
The finalist maps are: *drumroll*
- (3) The Eighteenth - Silence-
- (3) Triangle Love Moon - dimfish
- (3) Masada - winpark
- (3) Cloudburst - SmashHammer
- (3) Recycling Station - lefix
Click on the names to see the winning maps!
These finalists will be the map pool for the MotM Tournament #4, which will be cast on iCCupTV by our very own prodiG!
But we know why you're really here. It's awards time.
- The Sixth Man Award - Strip Mine, Grebliv. Strip Mine was a good map. The forward 3rd golds were very interesting.
- Most Attractive Map - The Eighteenth, Silence-; The Machine, Archivan. Both of these maps were really well done aesthetically, and in ways that complemented the map architecture. The Eighteenth was an awesome unique idea and executed perfectly, and The Machine is done with Archi's trademark mystical style with a dash of steampunk that works nicely.
- Most Original - Triangle Love Moon, dimfish. Really cool symmetry, bringing back island bases, and the debris piles in the naturals... this map is full of original ideas.
- The Guest Judge Award - Masada, winpark. funcmode wanted to specially recognize Masada as one of his favorites this month
prodiG's special awards will be up soon!
I'll be sending out scorecards to anyone who pm's me for them. You do not have to share these with anyone, they are for your information only - if you've got any questions about your score please do it privately.
Averages went down this month, but thats to be expected with a difficult restriction like this.
For your information, here are the averages this month (last month's in green):
Balance/Originality/Fun /Aesthetics/Total
5.37 / 6.66 / 5.07 / 5.89 / 22.98
5.91 / 6.54 / 5.71 / 5.68 / 23.84
Again, thanks to everyone who contributed. MotM 4 is looking great! Just remember that this is only the beginning, that we strongly encourage you to play these top five maps and see what makes them so good! Hang out in channel MotM, I'll set up games on all of these maps when I can on NA, and keep an eye out for events on EU as well!
Next month is back to normal - any map can be submitted. Looking forward to some great maps!
Thanks to everybody who made this possible, FlopTurnReaver, prodiG, funcmode, as well as every one of you mapmakers and players! Looking forward to a great Tournament.
If you have feedback, please give it here.
All replays from MotM #3 available for your viewing pleasure! Download here!
MotM #4 is now open!
Please congratulate (4) Sanctuarium - funcmode for winning MotM #3!
The finals for the MotM Tournament #3 have finished! Thanks to everyone for watching. Congratulations to Eleven Gaming's xiExO for his victories over Topin, OnixPKM, coL.Antimage, and ROOTDdoRo! The VODs can all be found at iCCupTV. There are some excellent games in there, including a Mothership!
The finalist maps are: *drumroll*
- (2) Leviathan - BoomStevo
- (2) Memorial - Meltage
- (2) Aldaris Betrayal - Mereel
- (3) The Edge - MadSquare
- (4) Sanctuarium - funcmode
Click on the names to see the winning maps. Please leave your comments on the maps; all will be taken into account to decide the winning map this month.
These finalists will be the map pool for the MotM Tournament #3, which will be cast on iCCupTV by Raelcun and our very own prodiG!
But we know why you're really here. It's awards time.
- The Sixth Man Award - Fault Lines, EatThePath. Fault lines was a good map that used textures really well to zone the map. Definitely check it out!
- Most Attractive Map - Sanctuarium, funcmode. There are so many awesome details. The tiling, the color scheme - everything just works. A terrific work of art (and it plays well too)
- Judge's Choice - Leviathan, BoomStevo. Don't accuse us of favoring our own! Every judge, including the guest judges, gave Leviathan top points. Gameplay is amazing, aesthetically its great... its just a great map.
- Most Original - Fault Lines, EatThePath. He used texture combinations no one would even think of using and made it work, and the middle is a really different idea from anything that's been done so far.
- The Guest Judge Award - Sanctuarium, funcmode. dezi and NullCurrent wanted to specially recognize Sanctuarium as one of their favorites.
For your information, here are the averages this month (last month's in green):
Balance/Originality/Fun /Aesthetics/Total
5.91 / 6.54 / 5.71 / 5.68 / 23.84
6.26 / 6.41 / 5.73 / 5.94 / 24.34
Again, thanks to everyone who contributed. MotM 3 is looking great! Just remember that this is only the beginning, that we strongly encourage you to play these top five maps and see what makes them so good! Hang out in channel MotM, I'll set up games on all of these maps when I can (on NA or EU)
Next month is 3p map month! Remember that you are not allowed to use more than 3 Bel'shir textures (increased from 2). We want to encourage new styles, and Bel'Shir is getting boring :/. Looking forward to some awesome 3p designs next month!
Notes from the Judges
Work on proportions! Monitor put together a great Proportions Guide. While you shouldn't follow it to the letter in every map you make, there are a lot of maps that needed a bit of work proportions-wise.
Also, shoutout to Bitter Jungle. A really cool map, Bloodbath 2.0.
Also, I'll post a little article written by dezi about judging soon
Thanks to everybody who made this possible, dimfish, FlopTurnReaver, prodiG, dezi, NullCurrent, as well as every one of you mapmakers and players! Looking forward to a great Tournament.
Month #3 of MotM is now open! There are a couple changes this month to the way we're running things.
1) We will no longer pay a cash prize to the map winner each month. Winning MotM nets you playtime in front of thousands of viewers - last month, more than 14,000 unique viewers watched the MotM tournament. In addition, your map is added to the all-time MotM map pool. Thats something that I've mentioned before, but haven't really explained. Every 6 months, the previous 5 winners will compete against each other. The winner of that competition will recieve a cash prize, as recognition that the map is the best we have.
2) We are removing the poll to determine the winner. When we first came up with our system, we wanted to involve the community as much as possible. However, we knew that polls would be easily broken, and it could simply turn into a contest to see who has the most friends. We (and we assume the entire community) would much rather the best map win. Please don't take this as disrespect to NullCurrent, we fully support Marshlands. However, several vulnerabilities were exposed this past month, and we are moving to address them. We do still want community feedback and input. We will ask for community feedback on all the finalist maps, and we will take it in to account when we decide a winner.
Thanks!
Congratulations to NullCurrent for Marshlands! He is this month's MotM winner.
It's time to vote for your favorite!
Which map do you think is the best this month? Be sure to play some games on them - you can find all maps by searching "MotM" on Battle.net. The poll will not close until February 28th! Also, check out this awesome interview with NrGdde, this month's winner!
The finalist maps are: *drumroll*
- (2) Flower - WniO
- (2) Mud Rock - Johanaz
- (4) Marshlands - NullCurrent
- (4) Ptolemy - Grebliv
- (2) Neonights - funcmode
Click on the names to see the winning maps!
Hey guys, there's a new article about us! Check out the SC2 Weekly thread. ^^
Also, as always I'm running a somewhat-constant KotH in channel MotM. I'll see you there!
Official MotM #2 Replay Pack!
These finalists will be the map pool for the MotM Tournament #2, and after that, you the public will vote for your favorite!
And now for the awesome awards!
- The Sixth Man Award - Zel'Kalith, NastyMarine. The choice for the fifth map was incredibly difficult. Zel'Kalith is a fine map that deserves recognition.
- Most Attractive Map - Disaster Park, lovablemikey. There are so many awesome details. Disaster Park blew away every one of us. Look at it in-game. Absolutely gorgeous.
- Judge's Choice - Ptolemy, Grebliv. It looks good, it plays well, and it makes rotational symmetry work. Ptolemy recieved our highest total score, and was an easy choice for top 5.
- Most Original - Mazy Hill, Ragoo. The spiral LOS Blockers combined with the changes in slope were a really interesting and innovative idea.
- Cleanest Map Award - Spaced, funcmode. Its sharp, clean, and you'd take it home to meet your parents. Its a nice break from the clutter of most maps.
- The BroodWar Map Award - Aztec. It IS a BW map lol.
- The Guest Judge Award - Zel'Kalith. monitor wanted to specially recognize Zel'Kalith as one of his favorites.
******
Also, News for next month and beyond
Next month's category will be the same, 1v1 maps (any number of spawns). However, I'm going to announce April's restriction now. The restriction is that your map must have 3 spawns. I realize that this is difficult, which is why you're getting an extra month's notice! Good luck
******
I'm pleased to announce that iCCupTV will be streaming and casting this month's MotM! Give it up for prodiG :D.
What is Map of the Month?
Map of the Month (MotM for short) is an organization devoted to encouraging well-made maps and giving great maps the publicity they deserve. Let’s face it, one of the things that made BW so popular and so successful long-term were the huge number of maps created by the community. In SC2, due to Battlenet 2.0, it is much harder for new maps to gain any support or become popular. MotM was created with this in mind.
In some ways, MotM is similar to the iCCup map-making team. We too will have a monthly map pool, and will have tournaments that use our map pool. However, we are different in that we are an open organization. Anyone - even members of other organizations - can create a map and submit it to be part of the map pool.
Rewarding mappers is also a big part of the competition. We want to encourage mappers to put as much effort as they can into mapping. For this reason, we'll be awarding cash prizes to the best map every month. To my knowledge, this hasn't happened before, at least not in the SC2 scene. For the moment, the prize is $25 each month, coming straight out of our pockets
.Of course, creating new maps is great, but often getting them played is the hardest part. So, we will have an MotM Tournament complementing the map competition each month. High-level players will compete in a live-cast tourney for another prize. The maps will also be hosted with an "MotM-" tag attached, so that finding them online will be easier.
All-time Map Pool
(2) The Crucible - by dezi
(4) Marshlands - by NullCurrent
(4) Sanctuarium - by funcmode
(3) The Eighteenth - by Silence-
(2)Hysteria - by Antares777
(2) The Crucible - by dezi
(4) Marshlands - by NullCurrent
(4) Sanctuarium - by funcmode
(3) The Eighteenth - by Silence-
(2)Hysteria - by Antares777
Map Submission
ANY MELEE MAP can be submitted for any competition. That means if we ask for 1v1 maps, but you really want to make a 12-spawn map, go right ahead – we’ll only judge it on its merits as a 1v1 map. We may think that 12 spawns is a little much, but if you can pull it off as a viable, good map – do it!
ANY PERSON may submit a map, with the exception of judges. You may submit up to 1 map per competition.
Map requirements:
Melee gametype.
Must be submitted on time.
Must be submitted properly.
Must fit the category of the month.
Cannot be a clone.
Judging Regulations:
Judges score all maps on a 40 point score card. 10/10/10/10 for Balance/Originality/Fun/Aesthetics. The top ~10 maps score-wise will be debated, and the 5 maps the judges agree upon will be published with the MotM tag and Author credited. All maps will be given their score cards after the competition, and judges are free (but not required) to attach comments.
Community Involvement
The huge community of SC2 players is really important to us. Even if you are not a mapper or don't play in the tournament, you can still participate!
Once the finalist maps are announced, we'll accept any replays on one of those maps. submit your replay to submit.motm@gmail.com. We'll cast a few replays before/after each tournament.
The community also gets involved in deciding the winning map. By the end of the month, there will be plenty of resources to call on when you decide to vote: playtime (all maps will be uploaded to NA/(possibly others) and tagged with MotM), the tournament, judges scores of the finalists, etc. You get to pick the winner!
Leadership
MotM was orignally brainstormed by Cyber_Cheese. From his idea, myself, BoomStevo, dimfish, FlopTurnReaver, and prodiG worked together to create MotM. Each month's winner earns a guest spot in the judges seat!
Board of Directors: iGrok, BoomStevo, dimfish, prodiG, FlopTurnReaver
Current Judges: iGrok, prodiG, BoomStevo, Dimfish, monitor
Sponsorship
MotM’s main prizes are sponsored by fans of SC2. We have no corporate sponsors, but we have big plans for the future. Anyone who wishes to donate to MotM will only help us to grow! In the future we plan bigger prizes, more side awards, and possibly even have Map of the Week mini challenges.
Sponsors:
iGrok
dimfish
pyrestrike
bkrow
FAQ
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FAQ
- Q: How do you determine the top maps?
A: Judges score all maps on a 40 point score card. 10/10/10/10 for Balance (is the map fair to all races?), Fun (How fun is it to play or spectate on the map?), Originality (We don't want 30 LT clones ^^), and Aesthetics (Eye candy! Let us bask in the artistic beauty!). The top 7 maps score-wise will be debated, and the judges will choose 5 finalists. They will each will be published with the MotM tag for 3 weeks so players and voters can try them out. - Q: Can I find out my score?
A: After the map pool is announced, all mappers will recieve their scores. - Q: I won! ...what now?
A: Congratulations! You just won $25! You may be a guest judge for the next month's MotM, and your map will be added to the MotM All-time map pool. Long-term, it will hopefully be part of a major tournament - perhaps even the GSL one day. - Q: I'm from a different map organization or team... can I still submit a map?
A: ANY mapper may submit a map to MotM, and have an equal chance to win. - Q: Why must I give you my map file? Are you trying to steal it?
A: The reason we ask for the map file is twofold. First, it is helpful for the judges so they can see the map, not just images, and play the map, regardless of region. Second, the top maps will be published using the MotM tag. That way it will be easier for people to search "MotM" on Battle.net to locate the maps, and it guarantees the maps will be published in the correct region(s) for tournaments. When the maps are published the authors will be credited. We're not trying to steal anyone's work, just trying to give these maps the exposure they deserve.
To contact us, please pm or email igrok.motm@gmail.com
