i wanted to make a 4spawn macro map like meta/lt/shakuras. also, i love space platforms, they are what makes starcraft stand out from other rts games to me. i have no idea why i haven't done one before, tbh.
the tileset consists of 5 custom textures mixed with some castanar, monlyth and aiur grass. i have also changed the textures of the braxis alpha cliffs a little bit (made them a bit shinier/silverish and changed orange parts to white. the idea for the visual style was to create a space tileset that isn't all rusty and broken but rather shiny and clean for a change. kind of like a luxury cruiser..
I have no critiques/changes i would suggest immediately. And i really really like the aesthetics. Its very modern-minimalist which is a style i love both irl and in-game. So i think its pretty amazing looking. Everything goes/blends together nicely but not soo much that you cant distinguish things. Great work. I'll look at it a bit more later to see if i have any better critique or change suggestions but atm im <3'in it.
for 1v1 tho close positions would be ridiculous... similar to metalopolis/shattered/even slag pits but id need to see analyzer be4 i say as imba as slag pits Close positions. taking a 3rd wouldnt be bad but the close rush distances = Zerg will hate this map in close spawns.
im pretty sure this map wont have close spawns...we know better then blizzard lol i just let the computer play a game so i can take a look on the texture. its so amazing. and those light texture adds so much style, way better then blizzard texture. the maplayout is also very good
Really nicely done layout, reminds me of Metalopolis.
Close ground postions look really close, I think they're too close. Are they enabled?[edit]Okay just saw they're disabled, that's good.
Close air postions look good, I like the crescent expansion line for Zerg, and the aggressive expo line for Protoss/Terran. The chokes and open spaces are nicely balanced too.
Cross positions looks excellent, especially the options for taking a 3rd base. The open middle works since there are more closed paths off to the side.
Basically the only thing I'm seeing right now is that the natural is a bit too open I think- forge FE's look very difficult. You could adjust the main and natural setup so that the natural choke could be smaller and more defined maybe?
The grass patches in the center look really great, they contrast well with the space tileset. Is it possible to add more grass/tree areas on the sides? It looks so good in the center, it would be nice to have on the sides (bottom left, top right expos).
Putting an island between each of the mains like on Python could be nice to allow Terran an easier base when playing Zerg, and it would fill in some of the useless space. Not really necessary, but I would suggest it for this map.
Aesthetically, I think you should try to spread some more green patches throughout the level. Right now they are all in the center, but there is plenty of room to add them to both the main bases and elsewhere in the level. This would tie the level together more visually and add contrast to the otherwise grey-on-grey palette.
You should make the trees a little bigger in those holes in the ground so the leaves kinda pop out more.
I love this map but part of me is a little discouraged because this map encourages "my side vs your side," much like metalopolis and shakuras, where you don't dare take a base on his side of the map. I personally prefer maps where bases are laid out in such a way that there are no "sides" but that's just me. I still love this map!
I think the texturing on the main bases could use a little work though to set them apart from everything else.. cuz everything is just one texture.
op updated, now with less texture repetition, more green, and a few fixes
@barrin: yes, i've been thinking about making the middle highground, too. but i feel like it isn't really necessary. you can easily swing around and enter the highground at another point and the defender will have to swing around the long path or come down to engange
@ironman: i kind of share your philosophy of forced map splits. ideally, a map should be able to be played in various different ways with different possible split scenarios. thats why i tried to do with curfew. but at the same time i think that is one of the reasons why maps like metalopolis are producing so many good macro games, so i wanted to try that, too.
How far does the XWT reach? Are you able to sneak around the sides of it with an army without being noticed or will that 1 XWT pretty much control everything going through the middle?
Make sure all those random pure white squares aren't too bright in game. It's why a lot of people dislike snow maps because they are too bright and are kind of sore on the eyes.
I kind of wonder how the 2 and 8 o clock bases would look like if they were on low ground and those little grassy areas by those bases if they were on high ground so zerg could park overlords there to make scouting a little easier for them.
sorry for being lazy. i've finally added some analyzer pics. the XWT reaches just across the middle area. the range ends where the side path ramps begin
and heres a before-after pic of the grass area changes
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