Curse of Tartarus v1.0 Made by Coppermantis Published on [NA]
A former Terran Colony, the Tartarus settlement was considered a high-risk working environment back in the day. Now it is a battlefield as opposing factions vie for control of the rich Jorium mines.
General information: -Playable area: 172x168 (SO BIG)
-Lighting: New Folsom
Textures: Braxis Alpha Dark Plate New Folsom Grating Port Zion Grating Ulnar Hull 2 New Folsom Rock New Folsom Concrete New Folsom Tiles New Folsom Cracked Dirt
-Fog: Red-orange fog
-No destructible rocks as of right now
-A whopping fourteen non-main bases
Additional notes:
-My second entry for the ProAm MotM contest
-I got the idea for the extended cliffs from the Map Art thread ( ESV Muspelheim )
-Inspired by Desert Oasis, one of my favorite maps
-XWTs watch over the central bridge to provide vision of sneak attacks by air
Interesting take on Desert Oasis... I'm gonna guess the rush distance is quite long, I feel like this could be great if you could condense it into smaller bounds
Yeah, the rush distance is about a minute and a half. I fix this by:
-Eliminate the current third and natural -Move the Main down to where the Natural is now -Move the Natural to the opposite side of the ramp. I worry that that would make it too much like Desert Oasis, but maybe I'm wrong.
This would decrease it by a little, but not much. Maybe ~10 seconds. Desert Oasis had a rush distance of One minute, so it's not too much longer, but then again DO had one of the longest rush distances of the original maps. I'll wait for ProAm and see if it gets picked.
On June 28 2012 13:37 Coppermantis wrote: Yeah, the rush distance is about a minute and a half. I fix this by:
-Eliminate the current third and natural -Move the Main down to where the Natural is now -Move the Natural to the opposite side of the ramp. I worry that that would make it too much like Desert Oasis, but maybe I'm wrong.
This would decrease it by a little, but not much. Maybe ~10 seconds. Desert Oasis had a rush distance of One minute, so it's not too much longer, but then again DO had one of the longest rush distances of the original maps. I'll wait for ProAm and see if it gets picked.
Ah. True. I forgot about FFE. Hmm. This is a bit of a conundrum. I'll just wait for ProAm and if it gets selected then we'll see what my pro partner says about it.
Regarding Map Analyzer: Is just says "Warning! Unexpected format for MapInfo. Warning! Could not read required map files, skipping"
This looks like you were heavily inspired by ESV Muspelheim, as far as the lava, cliffs, and rock usage goes.
The top left/bottom right bases are insanely, insanely, insanely wide open. I would consider putting those bases one level lower, or one level higher to create choke points. Also, the space outside of it needs to be worked with. It's simply too wide open. Create some chokes, high grounds, barriers etc... Nothing wrong with experimenting as that's what map-making is all about
The 10 o'clock and 4 o'clock blue bases (on high ground) are okay, but I would reduce the ramp size. When it comes to bases like these, you have to consider two things.... 1) How far away is this base from the main? and 2) If it's far away, the entrance into this base needs to be smaller so it's easier to defend. In other words, narrow that ramp to 2 or 3 wide.
The 3rds are very wide open... I would highly consider making it more chokey.
Here is a general criteria for map-making that some of us tend to follow: It is okay to have a map that's very wide open (think shattered temple) as long as you have chokes into the bases.
This looks like you were heavily inspired by ESV Muspelheim, as far as the lava, cliffs, and rock usage goes.
The top left/bottom right bases are insanely, insanely, insanely wide open. I would consider putting those bases one level lower, or one level higher to create choke points. Also, the space outside of it needs to be worked with. It's simply too wide open. Create some chokes, high grounds, barriers etc... Nothing wrong with experimenting as that's what map-making is all about
The 10 o'clock and 4 o'clock blue bases (on high ground) are okay, but I would reduce the ramp size. When it comes to bases like these, you have to consider two things.... 1) How far away is this base from the main? and 2) If it's far away, the entrance into this base needs to be smaller so it's easier to defend. In other words, narrow that ramp to 2 or 3 wide.
The 3rds are very wide open... I would highly consider making it more chokey.
Here is a general criteria for map-making that some of us tend to follow: It is okay to have a map that's very wide open (think shattered temple) as long as you have chokes into the bases.
Quite possibly that's the map I was inspired by, I only saw pictures in the Map Art thread.
EDIT: Yes, that's it. I recognize those pics.
Chokes into the bases make sense, I'll add those. The large open area was to compensate for the relatively chokey area around the natural to allow Zerg to engage a little more favorably against Terrans w/ Tanks but I perhaps overdid it.
The name sounds like a really bad story, about some dude who got a massive mouth disease.
Tartarus was part of the Greek Underworld, which admittedly I don't know much about but I imagine it being firey and hellish, which fits the style.
On June 30 2012 04:30 Coppermantis wrote: Quite the opposite, I'm a complete amateur mapmaker who was sober making it.
>amateur. Implying amateurs know how to do that good of a job on aesthetics. don't sell urself short. I consider all amateurs as those who have never made a map yet and always complain about 3rds. reminds me of someone don't you think?
On June 30 2012 04:30 Coppermantis wrote: Quite the opposite, I'm a complete amateur mapmaker who was sober making it.
>amateur. Implying amateurs know how to do that good of a job on aesthetics. don't sell urself short. I consider all amateurs as those who have never made a map yet and always complain about 3rds. reminds me of someone don't you think?
Maybe amateur player would be a better description. I know how to make maps, but not how to balance them. I always saw myself as more of an artist as game-design goes, my levels tend to be pretty but take quite a few revisions to play well. I do sourcemods as well, but it's the opposite case there as aesthetically pleasing environments are much harder.
Also, top down image. Linked because I'm too lazy to resize it for these forums right now. http://imgur.com/FcZWP
Here's an image for ya of a some possible changes I'd work with on the map. Sorry for the messy work, I'm on my laptop and trying to use paint with a touchpad is awfully hard.
First off the map is just waaaaaaaay too big. You really really really need to cut the size of the map down. By doing that first thing you'll probably notice is that the first 4 bases are more then likely too close to each other. At that point you can probably take out the 3rd base that is up against the main. Once you shrink it your current 4th base should be close enough that it can easily be taken as a third.
The map is just way too square. All those greens lines, change it to a rock terrain and make it less square. You already have all the sweet doodads around the cliffs but it doesn't work well because you are using manmade cliffs and they are straight as a line. Turn it to a rocky ground and make it look like you'd see a cliff in real life, all jagged. The green lines by the main is just more so so more of a "blocky" texture for the manmade sections. Think Korhal Compound mains.
Get rid of the gold bases, them being in the direct middle just doens't work. They don't help gameplay and they will just be complete winner bases. once you make the map smaller you will have to play around with the xel naga watchtowers to find a better place because right now they aren't in a great place.
Add some high ground (The dark green) around the map. Right now that whole northwest/southeast corners are sooooo flat and open. Not good. Choke it up a little more. I moved the corner bases closer so they also could be a viable 3rd if you wanted to take them. Plus the high ground next to them could make it a little easier to defend with.
The yellowish is Line of Sight Blockers. Add some in around the map to "break" it up and create strategic points.
The middle just looks too fake with it being a straight "bridge" that long. I definately think when you make the map smaller it could fix it.
Use the terrain raise & lower tool to add little "islands" around the outside of your map so it isn't just flat lava. Or least add cliff levels and/or doodads out around the edges of the map to give it some more appeal.
Continue working on Doodads. You have tons of spikes and rocks around the cliffs, but what about the middle? What about the edges? What about the open areas? Remember, you can use doodads as pathing block tools as well to create more chokes if you'd like.
Good luck, I know it's a lot to suggest but just put some more time into the map and it can turn out much better. If you are going to do anything I suggest just shrinking the map, that alone could fix a lot of the problems.
Wow. Thanks for the detailed feedback. Again, I'll hold off making changes until It's decided whether or not this will be included in ProAm but I'll take that into consideration.
I played the map a little just for fun by myself. I agree with much of what Sidianthebard said and I would add just a small detail that there is a mineral patch in each natural which workers cannot reach except from the back.
EPT![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/RlNV3.png)
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