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I don't like how there is a ledge at the natural that can simply be walked up, I think it's a cool idea but maybe add destructible rocks at the back entrance so that it has to be a drop and people can't simply put cannons or bunkers up there early on or else this map will be a nightmare for zerg.
Other than that I like the layout, reasonably well placed 3rd and additional expansions all over the map. I can see this map becoming epic in the late game but because of that ramp to the cliff over looking the natural we might see games end early.
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I agree with emc, you're going to have to put rocks there. If you are familiar with iCCup Starchild by prodiG, the natural on that map had a similar feature, which was tested, and deemed that destructible rocks were necessary. Then again, that backdoor led to the third expansion, which clearly justifies the use of destructible rocks. The path behind your natural is very narrow and seems very similar in distance from approaching the natural at the front, or the back, giving the player an equidistant choice of attack routes to the natural. As Zerg, I'd be terrified of a Terran mid game MM push up that narrow path, because there would be very little that I could do about it. Before you make any major decision on what to do, test a few TvZ games on it and at least make it unbuildable, if it hasn't been done already.
I must say, this is a really nice map, both for gameplay and aesthetics. I like the expansion layout, how the thirds and fourths are positioned away from your opponent, and how the extra expansion is so open to make up for the fact that it would be extremely late game. I think that it fits well in the map, even though it is technically an extra base. Are those purple lights that you used, or doodads that you colored?
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I like most of this map, I even like the ledge at the natural, it makes one be weary, and I can see some fights happening on the lip of that ledge. But I do wonder if siege tanks on their wouldnt just cover the back way and the route to the expo too well.
Though there is only really 2 things I'm not a fan of. 1. The ramps on the attackers side to the gold, is that space choked or is it bigger than it seems in the image? (not a fan if it is choked)
2. The gold infront of the third. It looks like it might be too close to the third where siege tanks could hit beyond the fortress and too far for the attaker comming up the third large ramp. I did alot of testing with that on another map I made, and if the range ends about 1/2 way through (or just over half way) where a fortress would go then that worked out quite nice and kept the gold vulnerable - defensive against melee but not so much against any range. If it went too far past the fortress it made turtling much easier. If that is the goal then cool - it looks like it is, but I'm just wondering if it might be just a little too defensive. It feels like you should be able to hit gold from the large ramp/platform at third.
I wrote a whole bunch of 1st impression problems, then I went through them 1 by 1 and crossed them off as I went over this map. This map is awesome.
I'm loving the map, textures, layout, everything.
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I don't feel like the natural-back-door-cliff is as dangerous as you imagine, but I'd like to get a lot more testing on it before making any decisions.
Those are Monlyth Crystals with Light Omni Purple.
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The Ascetics are very nice but what concerns me is that there are not that many open areas for zerg to surround. The one that is nearest to the natural seems to far away to have creep there in an early push. The area in the main opposite the natural looks great for hiding overlords though. I like the center area, it seems kind of like caverns with an open area surrounded by choke points which makes for good fights to watch. A planetary at the gold is going to be even better then it is on caverns but on this map the space it controls is less important since it isn't on the main attack path
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@Boom:
7/6/8/8
And I'm a tough grader 
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Aesthetics and Bases
This map looks fantastic (in both the contemporary and classical sense of the word) and I love that. I like the expansion and attack pathing equally as much and it looks like it will promote aggressive play (which I like).
Natural Cliff
I don't really have an issue with the natural's cliff. While it is true that I'm just going to end up blocking the opposing entrance with a factory, I don't see an imbalancing disadvantage to the defender even without that. Given that an attacker wishing to take that path will have to take such a circuitous route to do so. You could draw parallels to the side attack path on Xel'Naga Caverns and rationalize that the high-ground advantage (which I think is rather small in this case) is paid for by the increased distance. That being said, I also wouldn't be opposed to seeing destructible rocks. I just don't think they are necessary.
Openness
I can't really comment on this (being a Terran and (slightly) Protoss focused player), except to say that I can see the issues with Zerg finding large areas to engage in. However, I think these are limited to those ancillary attack paths and hopefully won't be the site of large army battles. I think more play-testing is needed before changes should be made to those paths.
Will be playing this map over the next couple of days and comment accordingly. Good work. 
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On December 15 2010 10:32 BoomStevo wrote:
I don't feel like the natural-back-door-cliff is as dangerous as you imagine, but I'd like to get a lot more testing on it before making any decisions.
Those are Monlyth Crystals with Light Omni Purple.
Ah, cool.
WAIT.
Just thought of this: make it Christmas colors. Alternating red and blue. That would be so awesome!
EDIT: Red and GREEN.
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On December 15 2010 11:01 iGrok wrote:@Boom: 7/6/8/8 And I'm a tough grader
6? Explain yourself.
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Blizzard wouldn't allow me to publish the map as "Leviathan" so I decided to publish it as "Stevo Leviathan". This prompted me to republish a few of my other maps similarly. So you can find it and other maps on NA by searching for "Stevo".
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For some reason its really reminding me of XC - like it got stirred.
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On December 15 2010 16:52 iGrok wrote:
For some reason its really reminding me of XC - like it got stirred.
That's probably because XC is great and since my map is so good, you associated that feeling with XC. Seriously though, I understand the comparison. It has a long back path to the natural and uses the same texture set. I tried to make the aesthetics different from XC and I think it plays quite differently than XC.
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I like this map, but it reminds me a lot of Xel'naga Caverns, but with more cliffs. That actually might be why I like it a lot. I will try it out when I get a chance!
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What's the order of categories on that rubric? 
That title picture is SO MONEY.
I still really dig this map. I'm interested to hear what changed that you added the unpathable clump in the center. I'm a little sad to see it go that way, even though it works really well. I felt like this map was a great opportunity to have a huge wide space that still had a lot of character. There are other options too for what sort of thing you use to break up the space if you insist, any would work, it's just a design call.
As it stands, the zerg midwest syndrome is adequately provided for. There are comparable spaces to Xel'Naga Caverns, which has nothing much wider than what's offered here.
I love the dynamic at 4 bases on this map. I think that's the sweet spot for aggression/long game dynamics. The layout is just awesome for this.
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The cliffs at the nats scare me, but otherwise this looks like a fun map.
I don't think "Leviathan" is that great a name for a Shakuras-themed map though :/
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On December 15 2010 17:40 EatThePath wrote:+ Show Spoiler +What's the order of categories on that rubric? That title picture is SO MONEY. I still really dig this map. I'm interested to hear what changed that you added the unpathable clump in the center. I'm a little sad to see it go that way, even though it works really well. I felt like this map was a great opportunity to have a huge wide space that still had a lot of character. There are other options too for what sort of thing you use to break up the space if you insist, any would work, it's just a design call. As it stands, the zerg midwest syndrome is adequately provided for. There are comparable spaces to Xel'Naga Caverns, which has nothing much wider than what's offered here. I love the dynamic at 4 bases on this map. I think that's the sweet spot for aggression/long game dynamics. The layout is just awesome for this.
Balance/Originality/Fun/Aesthetics.
I felt like there needed to be something between the two watch towers so controlling the entire center meant dividing your forces. I'm still on the fence about it. I'd like a big open space there too.
On December 15 2010 18:07 .Aar wrote:+ Show Spoiler +The cliffs at the nats scare me, but otherwise this looks like a fun map.
I don't think "Leviathan" is that great a name for a Shakuras-themed map though :/
When I think of Leviathan, I imagine a sea monster. It's actually Ulaan which is generally a "cave" texture set, but I like the set and the colors reminded me of water. I also wanted it to be dark and stormy. It's hard to tell from the images but if you play it, you should notice there's rain, thunder and lighting.
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I think the texture set fits really well, made me think of Atlantis a bit, just more somber
p.s. i replied xD
EDIT btw its 7/7/8/8 now, changed my mind.
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dezi
Germany1536 Posts
Wow, this is easily your best map so fair. Really like the look. Can you upload it to EU somehow?
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I stared at this map for a looooong time before snapping my fingers and realizing what my problem with it is. Before my criticism though, it's a really good map and I really like that, I dig the ledge at the natural.
My problem with it though is that there doesn't appear at first sight to be any wide open areas for a large flanking. As a zerg player I like to get massive surrounds and a lot of the corridors in this map look like they might just be funnels into tank fire.
Edit: After looking at it a little more I think I might have been overreacting, but it does still seem fairly focused on chokes with not much maneuverability.
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