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Lovableland
♥ 1v1
♥ 8 blue expansions
♥ 1 gold expansion
♥ 3 Xel' Naga Watch Towers
♥ 148 x 148 playable size
Update: 01.02.2012
I'm finally able to work on this map again, so I'm bumping the thread to see if anyone has new insight into the layout. It's fun, right?
Update: 06.01.2011
I posted pictures of the textures I made! They're pretty neat. Plus there are analyzer pictures of the new layout.
Update: 05.18.2011
I added a new picture to the "details" portion of the images. What could it be of? Trees!
Update: 05.13.2011
I did some slightly extensive editing.
I chopped off a good portion of terrain at the bottom left of the map. Now there is small ocean where the terrain used to be, but I blocked air units from occupying most of that space. You can tell where the blockage is by looking at the overview image. The rocks in the bottom left and top right corners of the overview show where air units get blocked from flying.
There is still some open air space at the bottom left of the map, despite the restricted air space, but that space can be monitored by the two watch towers in that area.
The overview image looks a little weird, like the lighting on the terrain has blocks cut out of it or something. It's like that because I made custom textures! Hot dog! I made them from scratch with alpha channels and everything! I'm still figuring out the details of how to make them but I have four pretty sweet textures already made for this map and I'm going to make another four to create an original tileset. Hurray for me!
Update: 05.08.2011
I wanted to do a diagonal symmetry map. I don't know about the big land arch in the top right corner. I might do something different with it but for now I think it's alright.
Visit lovablemikey's Map Thread for more maps!
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The gold expansions look awkward... especially the one in the far corner.
Also, why are both of them next to each other?
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Looks pretty nice. A couple things I don't like though:
The main ramp is a bit awkward. I'd suggest to put them a bit further down and facing the natural. That's actually how main ramps optimally should be, towards the expo^^
3 HY expos are a bit much imo. Maybe switch one to regular but add a 3rd gas or something?
The bottom left bases look reeeally close. Might be hard to split the map in late game and defend it vs. harass when the chokes are so close to each other and there's even a second entry.
Ps. please stop messing with peoples maps in here mr. Browder!!
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On May 07 2011 01:30 IronManSC wrote:
The gold expansions look awkward... especially the one in the far corner.
Also, why are both of them next to each other?
Per your comment, the gold expansion in the top right has been removed. Happy now!?
On May 08 2011 01:42 FlopTurnReaver wrote:
Looks pretty nice. A couple things I don't like though:
The main ramp is a bit awkward. I'd suggest to put them a bit further down and facing the natural. That's actually how main ramps optimally should be, towards the expo^^
3 HY expos are a bit much imo. Maybe switch one to regular but add a 3rd gas or something?
The bottom left bases look reeeally close. Might be hard to split the map in late game and defend it vs. harass when the chokes are so close to each other and there's even a second entry.
Ps. please stop messing with peoples maps in here mr. Browder!!
I moved the ramp closer to the natural. Plus, I got rid of those expansions that were too close to each other along with the terrain around them. Simpler is better, no?
Thanks for the comments! I'm trying to get this map to be balanced in time for a tournament I'm running. lovablecup #1 is going to be happening soon, if anyone wants to join. It's only for fun but there are some very good players that have joined; master league players and so on. You might like it!
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On May 14 2011 06:44 lovablemikey wrote:Thanks for the comments! I'm trying to get this map to be balanced in time for a tournament I'm running. lovablecup #1 is going to be happening soon, if anyone wants to join. It's only for fun but there are some very good players that have joined; master league players and so on. You might like it!
Very cool initiative. If you can, post the replays of the tourney in your map thread!
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On May 14 2011 06:55 dimfish wrote:
Very cool initiative. If you can, post the replays of the tourney in your map thread!
I will!
I have a neat update for Lovableland. I figured out how to change the trees! Check out this picture:
Just kidding! I deleted the picture. The theme is very different now.
See those trees? They're like Cherry Blossoms now. Plus, the Vespene Gyser has a unique color too. Double plus, if you didn't read the update in the original post, those are custom textures for the terrain! How cool is that!?
The overall look of the map might change now that I have a pretty good idea of what I'm doing. I hope the map is fun to play since I'm putting all of this time into the visuals.
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wow, that is great work! I wonder if you can ultimately package your custom stuff as a mod so its like a new tileset for mappers. I'm not an editor wizard, I don't know what the best way to do that is.
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I have a good feeling about this map. I have had some weird dreams about a Scrap Stationesque map with a nice ocean between mains. Now it´s materializing into this cool map with all sorts of customization. I like!
I can change tree colors too, and I can change geysers appearance by setting them to a different tileset. Custom textures however is still beyond my capability. I´d like to see a guide at some point.
Instead of that central rocked up ridge, could you do some sweet central high ground pods like on Crossfire? There is plenty o space to toy with.
Otherwise, explain what your vision is strategically and then some of our experts here could throw in some ideas about how to achieve it.
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On May 19 2011 03:23 dimfish wrote:
wow, that is great work! I wonder if you can ultimately package your custom stuff as a mod so its like a new tileset for mappers. I'm not an editor wizard, I don't know what the best way to do that is.
I thought about doing something like that once I had enough content to make it worth downloading. If I ever do, I'll be sure to announce it. Thanks for the compliment!
On May 19 2011 03:39 Johanaz wrote:
I have a good feeling about this map. I have had some weird dreams about a Scrap Stationesque map with a nice ocean between mains. Now it´s materializing into this cool map with all sorts of customization. I like!
I can change tree colors too, and I can change geysers appearance by setting them to a different tileset. Custom textures however is still beyond my capability. I´d like to see a guide at some point.
Instead of that central rocked up ridge, could you do some sweet central high ground pods like on Crossfire? There is plenty o space to toy with.
Otherwise, explain what your vision is strategically and then some of our experts here could throw in some ideas about how to achieve it.
Isn't being able to change tree colors and geyser colors fun!? I was giddy once I figured it out. As far as a guide goes, once I'm confident that I know enough to give an in-depth explanation, I will.
The center area, where the big ramp is, will almost certainly change. I don't know how yet but your suggestion is something I'll play around with. Who knows? It might be what this map needs.
My vision? I don't know if this is considered a vision, but here is the gist of what I wanted:
- Diagonal symmetry
- An easily defended natural
- Encouragement to expand toward the center
- Enough space in the center to walk around and to fight easily
Suggestions anyone?
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Mikey, what are the XWTs for? Apart from seeing the incomming army soon to take your XWT?
Feels like they are more like them beach viewing things that you pop a quarter in just to see just as much as you would if you saved that quarter 
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On May 20 2011 03:01 ihasaKAROT wrote:Mikey, what are the XWTs for? Apart from seeing the incomming army soon to take your XWT? Feels like they are more like them beach viewing things that you pop a quarter in just to see just as much as you would if you saved that quarter
Ha! I wish I could add those. 5 minerals for a pretty view is reasonable, right?
Those are there to give vision of the air space between the mains. There is enough space back there to hide a small fleet of any air unit, so I put those there to make it easier to spot incoming drops and void ray rushes and so on.
If you're talking about the other set of towers, those are there to spot the paths that their vision covers. No good?
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Why did you throw away one half of the map? Diagonal symetry is useless in your case because you could do a vertical mirror symetry with exactly the same layout and less effort.
If you want to make a good diagonal symetry map, make use of the space in the bottom left corner.
And because of this the map lockdown is extremely easy with one XNT.
What is your justification of the double sized ramp in the main?
I don't see any reason for rocks in the third, it's so far away from the natural.
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On May 28 2011 18:14 Superouman wrote:
Why did you throw away one half of the map? Diagonal symetry is useless in your case because you could do a vertical mirror symetry with exactly the same layout and less effort.
If you want to make a good diagonal symetry map, make use of the space in the bottom left corner.
And because of this the map lockdown is extremely easy with one XNT.
What is your justification of the double sized ramp in the main?
I don't see any reason for rocks in the third, it's so far away from the natural.
I cut off half of the map because I wanted to simplify things. The bottom left area was not planned out well enough. You'll be pleased to know that I'm still working on it and after your comment, I've added terrain to that area again. It's better now!
I don't understand why lock-down would be easy with one of the towers. In all of the games I've seen so far, players don't use them often and when they do, they are good for vision but not locking down an area.
I'm narrowing the ramps to the mains. I thought the rush distance was pretty far and to keep walling off from being super easy, I widened the ramp. After seeing the map played, the wider ramp provided more problems than solutions.
The rocks at the thirds are gone. So are the big rocks at the middle. Also, the big middle ramp is now two medium sized ramps. I'll have an update soon. There is a lot of stuff to show!
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I updated the analyzer photos and posted pictures of the textures I made. The last texture is from the Monlyth tileset; it's the brick texture. So, I didn't make that one. They're in the "details" section of the images.
I'm still decorating the map so I'll save the overview and angled overview pictures for when I'm done.
I chopped off some air space in the bottom left and top right corners of the map. You can't fly all the way to the corners, but pretty close.
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Hey! (: Looking pretty good. I have a few suggestions/ideas that may help it to improve. Some more refinement might be needed, but this is what I've got.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/Wezso.jpg)
I thought it would help to increase traffic into the far corners, and make them somewhat more useful. A path leading from the natural area down into the lower section, something of a shortcut, might help. It would probably have to be on middle-ground, lower than the main but higher then the base below it. It seems reasonable. It will make that base more vulnerable, that is something to take into account.
I also drew it to open up the area where the paths lead to. The upper section of the map has a lot of tighter paths, maybe having a wide one would be good and use that space more effectively. You may instead want to alter things in other ways, I don't know. I wasn't drawing in exact detail how I thought it should be, but I think something like that to open things up a bit and make a bit more flow would be good.
I also added two bases towards the corners in order to make more interest in those areas. I mean, imagine scrap station without the gold base. No one would even go down to that corner of the map. Bases are the main reason to go anywhere on a map. I think in the current version no one would even use those far corner areas (the little path in the lower left and the wider path in the upper right.)
So, I added a gold where the watchtower was in the lower left (a somewhat useless watchtower) and now the high ground behind it might be more useful, as well as the lower left section of the map in general.
I also added a regular base in the upper right, I think that will of course make for a good late-game base, so that area will be used at least some of the time. I think it's pretty far from the beaten path so it seems likely one player would be able to hold it even though it is centered between the players.
That makes a total of 13 bases, as you previously had 11. 11 is a little on the small side, I think 13 is quite nice. Although as few as 10 can easily be enough.
At any rate, those are just some ideas. There are probably some even better ones that could make this map quite good.
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On June 02 2011 06:28 Gfire wrote:Hey! (: Looking pretty good. I have a few suggestions/ideas that may help it to improve. Some more refinement might be needed, but this is what I've got. I thought it would help to increase traffic into the far corners, and make them somewhat more useful. A path leading from the natural area down into the lower section, something of a shortcut, might help. It would probably have to be on middle-ground, lower than the main but higher then the base below it. It seems reasonable. It will make that base more vulnerable, that is something to take into account.
I purposefully left that space there because I wanted to control how Stalkers could get into the main. With a path there, they would have too much access into the main. The defending player would have to walk out of their base, around the corner, and then down the path to where the Stalkers would be when they Blink out of the main. It seemed too exploitable, so I don't think I'll be adding any terrain there. The same goes for Reapers as well.
On June 02 2011 06:28 Gfire wrote:
I also drew it to open up the area where the paths lead to. The upper section of the map has a lot of tighter paths, maybe having a wide one would be good and use that space more effectively. You may instead want to alter things in other ways, I don't know. I wasn't drawing in exact detail how I thought it should be, but I think something like that to open things up a bit and make a bit more flow would be good.
There used to be more space in the area right below the ramps in the middle. I put that bit of water there to force players to either use the ramps, which I think could make for some interesting battles, or go around, because having options is pretty handy. I suppose it would be similar to Metalopolis in that you have to choose between two directions and once you choose you have to commit to that direction; although there is a small bit of wiggle room to change your mind. I'm not against opening that area up, but I want to test it as it is now to see how it plays out. Good suggestion!
On June 02 2011 06:28 Gfire wrote:
I also added two bases towards the corners in order to make more interest in those areas. I mean, imagine scrap station without the gold base. No one would even go down to that corner of the map. Bases are the main reason to go anywhere on a map. I think in the current version no one would even use those far corner areas (the little path in the lower left and the wider path in the upper right.)
So, I added a gold where the watchtower was in the lower left (a somewhat useless watchtower) and now the high ground behind it might be more useful, as well as the lower left section of the map in general.
I also added a regular base in the upper right, I think that will of course make for a good late-game base, so that area will be used at least some of the time. I think it's pretty far from the beaten path so it seems likely one player would be able to hold it even though it is centered between the players.
Ha! In the first version of this map, the set up was basically what you're describing. I had gold bases in the top right and bottom left but removed them later. I keep going back and forth about whether or not to put an expansion in the top right. I can't decide! After I test it more, I'll have a better idea on that. However, I am starting to lean in that direction. Another good one!
As for adding a base in the bottom left, I think that would make that area too busy. Like I said before though, I'll put anything on the chopping block if it's better off another way.
On June 02 2011 06:28 Gfire wrote:
That makes a total of 13 bases, as you previously had 11. 11 is a little on the small side, I think 13 is quite nice. Although as few as 10 can easily be enough.
At any rate, those are just some ideas. There are probably some even better ones that could make this map quite good.
I like your ideas. For the most part, I think what you're envisioning is similar to what I had in the first version. There were some issues with that set up which I think I've begun to address, but I'm not the genius I pretend to be. So, keep the suggestions coming! All of my maps that are worth any attention at all are that way because of suggestions I get from this forum. It's a solid gold rainbow!
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I don't see players really even going downwards to the lower sections until they need 5ths. I think most the time the armies would go up to the ramp sections instead of down through there. Maybe, though, testing would be needed. It's good to have choices, but it's not really great if one of the paths is really out of the way.
Haha, yes, I do think I saw the first version. Perhaps that is why I had the idea for those bases.
You have good counterarguments... I really don't know about the lower left area. I just don't see it getting used often, it is too far a walk from the main/nat/third area.
Maybe if you had back doors to the mains over there? I know that concept wasn't used very well in Blilzzard maps, like blistering sands which was too hard to defend. It might work here, I don't know.
The expansion pattern and attack paths just don't quite flow the way it is.
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OH MY GOD IT'S AN ELEPHANT!!
Looks nice, but I need an overview to judge a map.
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I know nothing about maps but I love your textures! The third one is great :D
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On June 02 2011 10:24 FlopTurnReaver wrote:
OH MY GOD IT'S AN ELEPHANT!!
Looks nice, but I need an overview to judge a map.
Haha!
On June 02 2011 10:31 redFF wrote:
I know nothing about maps but I love your textures! The third one is great :D
Thank you! I think I'll be making custom textures for all of my maps from now on. I want to see the Heart of the Swarm textures. Those will be fun! They do eventually get old though, just like Wings of Liberty's did.
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