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Forum Index > SC2 Maps & Custom Games
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MarcusRife
Profile Joined March 2011
343 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-06-24 18:22:08
June 23 2012 21:22 GMT
#1
[image loading]
Version 0.2
Published on NA
Map bounds: 124 x 124

This is my attempt at an "island" map for SC2. If you look at the screenshots hopefully you can tell how it got its name.

Changelog
Increased size of fourth/fifth bases


Version 0.1
+ Show Spoiler +
[image loading]


Analyzer
+ Show Spoiler +

[image loading]


Screenshots (Out of Date)
+ Show Spoiler +

[image loading]

[image loading]

[image loading]

[image loading]


Feedback welcome!

Other maps by me:
Aiur Refuge - http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=333094
Beelzebub - http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=339694+ Show Spoiler +
Gfire
Profile Joined March 2011
United States1699 Posts
June 23 2012 21:32 GMT
#2
I think the concept is pretty cool. The rocks into the third is a pretty cool setup, so long as that isn't too abusable by some sort of timing push against 2-base.

I think it might be a bit too hard to take the fourth bases because of the rocks. Because of their position, you'll only be able to attack them from one side, which means something like lings will take a ridiculous amount of time to take them down. You can also float a CC to them which seems a bit on the strong side (maybe with the full islands as well, but Terran is struggling lately so it might be okay,) so maybe moving the rocks down to block the actual CC location so you can surround them more easily with lings and so CCs can't land there behind them would be a good idea.
all's fair in love and melodies
FlaShFTW
Profile Blog Joined February 2010
United States10483 Posts
June 23 2012 21:46 GMT
#3
overall not a bad map. with every island map, ur gonna have to make ir with like a creep tumor or something.

i suggest the 4th be more open. i think you should take out the pods that they are in and make a concave where the rocks are and make the 4th in that concave. chokes and stuff as necessary.
Writer#1 KT and FlaSh Fanboy || Woo Jung Ho Never Forget || Teamliquid Political Decision Desk
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WniO
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
United States2706 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-06-23 23:40:19
June 23 2012 22:08 GMT
#4
you should make christmas trees, by making smaller lights from those and altering the height so they attach to the tree... i mean theres gotta be christmas trees. EDIT: its hard to do that, nvm, the tree moves and the lights stay the same on the christmas tree it looks weird.
TheFish7
Profile Blog Joined February 2012
United States2824 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-06-23 22:32:18
June 23 2012 22:30 GMT
#5
This is an awesome concept. I have always wanted a reason to go for fast overlord drops. My only critique is that the 4 bases attached to the low ground look a little cramped and that one natural looks a lot more open than the other. Nevermind, I didn't realize they are both aligned to the northwest.
~ ~ <°)))><~ ~ ~
Yonnua
Profile Blog Joined October 2011
United Kingdom2331 Posts
June 24 2012 00:03 GMT
#6
Nat choke to main backdoor is faster for the attacker or the defender?
LRSL 2014 Finalist! PartinG | Mvp | Bomber | Creator | NaNiwa | herO
MarcusRife
Profile Joined March 2011
343 Posts
June 24 2012 19:25 GMT
#7
On June 24 2012 06:32 Gfire wrote:
I think it might be a bit too hard to take the fourth bases because of the rocks. Because of their position, you'll only be able to attack them from one side, which means something like lings will take a ridiculous amount of time to take them down. You can also float a CC to them which seems a bit on the strong side (maybe with the full islands as well, but Terran is struggling lately so it might be okay,) so maybe moving the rocks down to block the actual CC location so you can surround them more easily with lings and so CCs can't land there behind them would be a good idea.


It doesn't take as long as you would think it does. In playtesting they go down pretty quickly. These are 4th\5th bases we are talking about not a third.

As far as floating command centers, that is the experiment with this map. My hope is that it is not too strong. This is why there is an another entrance to the main so that one can not float command centers to islands and turtle as easily in you main base. Also if you float to the semi-islands, there is a way to break in there and the true islands are far away.

On June 24 2012 06:46 FlaShFTW wrote:
overall not a bad map. with every island map, ur gonna have to make ir with like a creep tumor or something.


I'm trying to avoid that. It defeats the purpose of an "island" map. Testing is required.

On June 24 2012 07:30 TheFish7 wrote:
This is an awesome concept. I have always wanted a reason to go for fast overlord drops. My only critique is that the 4 bases attached to the low ground look a little cramped and that one natural looks a lot more open than the other. Nevermind, I didn't realize they are both aligned to the northwest.


I increased the space.

On June 24 2012 09:03 Yonnua wrote:
Nat choke to main backdoor is faster for the attacker or the defender?


Isn't that immediately apparent when you look at it. The attacker has to go around to the front of the ramps where the defender only needs to bounce between the top of the ramps.
FlaShFTW
Profile Blog Joined February 2010
United States10483 Posts
June 24 2012 19:34 GMT
#8
Well no. how does that defeat the purpose. the point of it is to make it balanced so that terran cant just make a cc and lift off and not get harassed for like 100000 minutes into the game. metropolis has it too.
Writer#1 KT and FlaSh Fanboy || Woo Jung Ho Never Forget || Teamliquid Political Decision Desk
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Monochromatic
Profile Blog Joined March 2012
United States998 Posts
June 24 2012 20:14 GMT
#9
Creep tumors to block islands give zerg an advantage. Creep takes a long time to recede.

What about putting minerals there instead, like 26, so terran just cannot load up the CC with scvs to mine it?
MC: "Guys I need your support! iam poor make me nerd baller" __________________________________________RIP Violet
MarcusRife
Profile Joined March 2011
343 Posts
June 24 2012 21:52 GMT
#10
On June 25 2012 04:34 FlaShFTW wrote:
Well no. how does that defeat the purpose. the point of it is to make it balanced so that terran cant just make a cc and lift off and not get harassed for like 100000 minutes into the game. metropolis has it too.


My intention is to give Terran that option. Can you explain in specific terms what you mean by 100000 minutes into the game? That is, why it is not viable to let Terran do that?
The_Templar
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
your Country52798 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-06-24 21:54:25
June 24 2012 21:53 GMT
#11
On June 25 2012 06:52 MarcusRife wrote:
Show nested quote +
On June 25 2012 04:34 FlaShFTW wrote:
Well no. how does that defeat the purpose. the point of it is to make it balanced so that terran cant just make a cc and lift off and not get harassed for like 100000 minutes into the game. metropolis has it too.


My intention is to give Terran that option. Can you explain in specific terms what you mean by 100000 minutes into the game? That is, why it is not viable to let Terran do that?

Terran can 3CC and float to two different islands while only having to defend their main base.
ModeratorI am still alive, somehow
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MarcusRife
Profile Joined March 2011
343 Posts
June 24 2012 22:35 GMT
#12
On June 25 2012 06:53 TehTemplar wrote:
Terran can 3CC and float to two different islands while only having to defend their main base.


If they do that does it automatically win them the game?
moskonia
Profile Joined January 2011
Israel1448 Posts
June 25 2012 01:37 GMT
#13
Islands and Semin islands without something blocking them is game breaking IMO, I have just had a game where a Terran took the semi island in Shakuras (we were cross), and even though I guessed he was there I couldn't do anything since he constantly pushed me and I had to defend and not send units to break the rocks. I can't even think about a full island where you can't even break the rocks.

Having islands force you into certain techs (air or drops), or you will have an auto disadvantage, if that is what you want the its cool, but anyways without creep it is to imbalanced IMO.
MarcusRife
Profile Joined March 2011
343 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-06-25 02:13:37
June 25 2012 02:07 GMT
#14
On June 25 2012 10:37 moskonia wrote:
Having islands force you into certain techs (air or drops), or you will have an auto disadvantage, if that is what you want the its cool, but anyways without creep it is to imbalanced IMO.


I respect your opinion that it is imbalanced but I am not convinced. The question in my mind is do the islands favor one race over another? People tend to focus on Terran so here are my thoughts on this. Citing that Terran going to the island "forces" you to get air or drops as an example that demonstrates imbalance doesn't make a lot of since to me. If you are playing Terran and you queue up a Protoss does that not "force" you to go bio? Does that mean TvP is imbalanced? There is almost always going to be a generally accepted "best way" to play a match-up on a given map. What is wrong with saying the "best way" to play against Terran on this map is to get air or drops. It is certainly not conventional but is it not a goal to create variety in gameplay.

I maintain that this requires testing unless someone can just lay it out for me and say specifically how Terran can roll anyone they want on this map.

As far as I am concerned at this moment anything is possible. Perhaps Terran will try to 3 cc and float to the islands against Zerg, the Zerg goes Mutas and the Terran just dies. Then Terran will say gee, that doesn't work and never do it again. In the long run no one will ever try to float cc's to the islands early on if this was the case.

If I see evidence to the contrary I will change my mind.
moskonia
Profile Joined January 2011
Israel1448 Posts
June 25 2012 03:10 GMT
#15
I disagree, in TvP you don't have to go bio, air terran was proved to work, and some people can play mech also, so even though bio is the most popular, I wouldn;t call it the only playstyle.

About islands, there is no way to stop a Terran from taking an early island base if it is not blocked, since until even the fastest muta play comes the Terran is sure to have defenses up. I think it is just to easy to take in the early game, while later in the game it should be very very hard, since muta's can come and stop the CC flying or kill the turrets while they build.

That is why unless you got something blocking the island it gives Terran an advantage. If there is something blocking the island then while Terran has the easiest ways to get an expansion there, it is not a free expo, so it is OK.
FlaShFTW
Profile Blog Joined February 2010
United States10483 Posts
June 25 2012 03:13 GMT
#16
Terran's don't have to get dropship tech to get the islands, while the other races do. nuff said. The fact that Terran can super duper early expo to those islands and not get punished for it because they can just hug their main is huge. Other races would have to rush lair as zerg (something you never want to do), and forces Protoss to get warp-prism. It forces those two races to make a build that combines a build with drop research. While Terran just has to "research" lift-off-buildings tech.

Look at any island map. Lost temple was removed for this reason. Metropolis has tumors for this reason. Please understand. We aren't criticizing or bashing this map. We are simply asking for a small thing to be added.
Writer#1 KT and FlaSh Fanboy || Woo Jung Ho Never Forget || Teamliquid Political Decision Desk
TL+ Member
MarcusRife
Profile Joined March 2011
343 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-06-25 06:32:12
June 25 2012 06:30 GMT
#17
On June 25 2012 12:13 FlaShFTW wrote:
Terran's don't have to get dropship tech to get the islands, while the other races do. nuff said. The fact that Terran can super duper early expo to those islands and not get punished for it because they can just hug their main is huge. Other races would have to rush lair as zerg (something you never want to do), and forces Protoss to get warp-prism. It forces those two races to make a build that combines a build with drop research. While Terran just has to "research" lift-off-buildings tech.

Look at any island map. Lost temple was removed for this reason. Metropolis has tumors for this reason. Please understand. We aren't criticizing or bashing this map. We are simply asking for a small thing to be added.


I assure you nothing is being taken personally. I just happen to disagree and I am trying to explain why point-for-point that you bring up. The reasons you are giving are not convincing me that there is a problem yet. I fully admit that there could be a reason why it won't work, I just have not seen something that jumps out at me yet.

When you say terrans don't need dropship tech to get to the islands, therefore it is a problem, end of discussion. I don't see it that way. There are drawbacks to floating to the island.

1. Longer travel time means lost mining time.
2. Can't transfer workers as easily so they reach saturation later.
3. They are more spread out.

Also what they are doing is scoutable, so if they are doing super duper expanding as you put it they will be doing so with the cost of a smaller army. Thus why do you say it is not punishable? Zerg still has three bases available to them to expand to quickly. They don't NEED to go to the islands to expand. They can still out expand the Terran.

I thought Lost Temple was removed mainly because of the high ground above the natural. Maybe I was mistaken. I can't speak to the reasons regarding Metropolis. I don't know to what extent it was tested. I can say that my map is different from Metropolis though so I don't know if all the same things apply.

I know what you are asking and it my opinion it compromises the concept I had in mind for this map. I am not willing to make that compromise at this time. I appreciate the time you have taken to respond.
Stackz
Profile Joined November 2011
Portugal43 Posts
June 25 2012 11:41 GMT
#18
On June 25 2012 15:30 MarcusRife wrote:
Show nested quote +
On June 25 2012 12:13 FlaShFTW wrote:+ Show Spoiler +

Terran's don't have to get dropship tech to get the islands, while the other races do. nuff said. The fact that Terran can super duper early expo to those islands and not get punished for it because they can just hug their main is huge. Other races would have to rush lair as zerg (something you never want to do), and forces Protoss to get warp-prism. It forces those two races to make a build that combines a build with drop research. While Terran just has to "research" lift-off-buildings tech.

Look at any island map. Lost temple was removed for this reason. Metropolis has tumors for this reason. Please understand. We aren't criticizing or bashing this map. We are simply asking for a small thing to be added.


I assure you nothing is being taken personally. I just happen to disagree and I am trying to explain why point-for-point that you bring up. The reasons you are giving are not convincing me that there is a problem yet. I fully admit that there could be a reason why it won't work, I just have not seen something that jumps out at me yet.

When you say terrans don't need dropship tech to get to the islands, therefore it is a problem, end of discussion. I don't see it that way. There are drawbacks to floating to the island.

1. Longer travel time means lost mining time.
2. Can't transfer workers as easily so they reach saturation later.
3. They are more spread out.

Also what they are doing is scoutable, so if they are doing super duper expanding as you put it they will be doing so with the cost of a smaller army. Thus why do you say it is not punishable? Zerg still has three bases available to them to expand to quickly. They don't NEED to go to the islands to expand. They can still out expand the Terran.

I thought Lost Temple was removed mainly because of the high ground above the natural. Maybe I was mistaken. I can't speak to the reasons regarding Metropolis. I don't know to what extent it was tested. I can say that my map is different from Metropolis though so I don't know if all the same things apply.

I know what you are asking and it my opinion it compromises the concept I had in mind for this map. I am not willing to make that compromise at this time. I appreciate the time you have taken to respond.


The Problem IMO is that in PvT you might lose mining time etc etc.... but its a completely secure expansion... You can only scout it in robo tech, you have to stop colossi production to get there..... Almost no tactics involve stargate tech in early/mid game besides a couple of all ins
Grubby fighting!!!
Guardian85
Profile Joined May 2012
162 Posts
June 25 2012 13:41 GMT
#19
It should be possible to make christmas tree, using landing lights, just gotta variate the height of them.
MarcusRife
Profile Joined March 2011
343 Posts
June 25 2012 14:43 GMT
#20
On June 25 2012 20:41 Stackz wrote:
The Problem IMO is that in PvT you might lose mining time etc etc.... but its a completely secure expansion... You can only scout it in robo tech, you have to stop colossi production to get there..... Almost no tactics involve stargate tech in early/mid game besides a couple of all ins


That sounds like a fair concern to me. That is certainly something I would like to explore with this map.
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