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Dating all the way back to Brood War things like a permanent disruption web, a neutral command center, and the original concept of destructible debris were innovations of the map making community. Blizzard realized the impact those innovations had and included some of the past ideas and as well as their own unique map features into Starcraft 2, even going so far as to include more for the HOTS expansion.
![[image loading]](http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft/images/a/ab/204_Holy_World.jpg)
If you peak at the middle you can see the neutral command center. If you peak into Liquipedia you can find the VOD of infested Terrans being used in a Zerg vs Protoss between Kal and ZerO!
I was simply wondering if any other strategic map features have been imagined or even tested for use in melee maps, features similar to the much discussed concept of collapsible bridges. Map changes can have huge impacts on the way we view the game as is shown by map making trends and the unique features Starcraft 2 maps bring.
![[image loading]](http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft/images2/a/ab/Destructible_rocks.png)
^ This actually used to look like these v
![[image loading]](http://images.wikia.com/starcraft/images/6/6f/ProtossTemple_SC1_Game1.png)
![[image loading]](http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080505053329/starcraft/images/9/9e/XelNagaTemple_SC1_Game1.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://images.wikia.com/starcraft/images/e/e7/PsiDisrupter_SC1_Game1.jpg)
So you actually can't blame Dustin Browder, the man's just a fan.
Personally I was thinking of a few niche modifiers such as a force field dispersing doodad (Acting much like a massive unit would), air unit only LOS blockers, or even something as niche as cliffs which can be dropped onto but not climbed onto. Granted I am not a map maker or a pro player, so my own ideas are of course limited, but if even one revolution can match that of something like stacked minerals to block pathways then it would be well worth the discussion.
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There have been some uses of mineral blocks in maps lately. Damage Inc uses them and is used in NASL, and one of the MotM finalists - Discord - has them.
They are a great tool to give the defender the advantage to decide when to open up a path. And to not fuck up Zerg when blocking the close entrance to the third (like on Xelnaga Caverns or Entombed Valley)
Other than that .. hmm.. prodiG once had a map with destructible towers that was also used in the Korean Weekly, but it's now changed 
I wish we would see some neutral eggs in action. They are great to create semi islands. You need to use many of them cos they are quite small and they have very high armour, so early tech armies can't rly do much to destroy them, but later high damage/splash units are good. Also obviously flying units are still good. So it requires tech to attack these bases.
At the same time it doesn't require any tech to take them cos eggs are units so workers can mineral work through them.
Something like this in Triathlon would be pretty cool:
![[image loading]](http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft/images/6/6a/271_Triathlon.jpg)
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On January 22 2012 23:18 Ragoo wrote:Other than that .. hmm.. prodiG once had a map with destructible towers that was also used in the Korean Weekly, but it's now changed
There was another 4P symmetrical map that Prodig made that didn't really make it out of testing that used it.
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SC2 is still young so I think it will be a while before we see these kind of experiments, but there have already been some unique innovations with SC2 maps..
- Crevasse had a ramp you could widen by killing destructible rocks
- Crevasse had a 'rich vespene geyser' that mined 6 gas per scv instead of 4
- Crevasse, Tal'Darim, Terminus and more had half-bases with 6 mineral patches
- Xel'Naga Fortress had a timed watchtower that would disappear after something like 3 minutes
- Testbug had rocks on watchtowers that you had to kill to use the watchtowers
- Testbug had rocks on top of mineral patches instead of near them to allow a base to be built pre-emptively
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I agree with the use of mineral blocks but egg blocks might need more work seeing as how marauders and such can take them out very quickly (Even spine crawlers just repositioned could do it). I also really liked the rock block that Testbug used as it seemed more fair for Zerg and Protoss.
Some of the things that have already have been done are excellent. Does anyone else have any ideas that they've been playing with?
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I've been working with the idea of placing a nydus worm behind an expansion's mineral line, generating creep that will block it for terran and protoss, but not zerg.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/zPTPA.jpg)
And as it dies quickly to attack it's not much of an obstacle once you have some units out. I tried this originally with islands, being its most obvious application, as zergs tend not to use drops or nyduses.
Also, and idea I've just had: blocking a single width ramp, using huge destructible rocks going lengthways across the ramp. Like so:
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/igvzX.jpg)
This will allow zealots and zerglings to get better surrounds to take them out quicker, as well as other possibilities... like maybe blocking an expansion.
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I really like those ideas and the creep block on islands seems like a really solid concept. The super size destructible rocks seem like a pretty fair idea as well seeing as how the limited surface area for units like zerglings often makes it worse for zerg.
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your Country52798 Posts
Dang it misfortunes ghost, I just finished a map with the descructible rock feature today.
OT, I was toying with ramps leading from the nat to higher ground... Didn't work as well as I would have hoped.
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Nuetral forcefields that last until broken are another interesting concept ive seen. I first saw it on one of TehTemplar's maps
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Neutral force fields have to be used cautiously.
You can also make custom objects in SC2, so we can see all sorts of things. You could have barriers which could not be passed by specific units, like something which doesn't allow burrowed units to pass, or maybe arches which tall units couldn't walk under.
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I'd like to see more done with los blockers and watchtowers. Is it possible to make a watchtower give vision of different areas of the map? for example a tower on the left would give vision of somewhere on the right.
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EPT
