Map Size History & Analysis

Tal’darim Altar is 192*192 map tiles. Ohana is 160*184 map tiles. Therefore, Ohana is smaller. Although this statement is true, it is very boring and not so meaningful to simply compare map sizes this way. Another way that is more relevant to actual SC2 play needs to be used for comparison.

In this thread, Map Size is defined with the distance between a ramp at one main base and a ramp at another main base. Rush distance = Map size in this definition. Picture 1rax2depot wall at both Terran bases in TvT. The distance from one barracks to another barracks is the map size definition here. To be precise, middle of the ramp is used for starting and ending point, so it is slightly shorter than the rax to rax distance.

I am fully aware that other factors like how close 3rd base is, how many total bases a map has, or simply distance by air can influence how you feel about map size. However, there is no way to take everything into account at the same time and come up with organized results, so I ignored all those factors here and used only ramp-to-ramp distance for this map size discussion.

“Seoul, Korea is about 9500 kilometers (or 5900 miles) away from Los Angels, USA.”
“It takes 12 hours by flight from Los Angels, USA to Seoul, Korea”
Both of these sentences basically talk about the same thing, but the latter is so much more useful to know as a passenger.

“Opponent’s base is 100 map tiles away from my base.”
“It takes 30 seconds by SCV from my base to opponent’s base.”
By the same token, the latter must be the information we want to know as players.

Therefore, all distances are measured by a worker (2.81 movement speed). When a worker takes 30 seconds to travel a particular distance, the distance is defined as 30 [worker-seconds]. [worker-second] is a unit similar to [light-year] in that it is NOT the unit for time but for distance. Numbers in images are in [worker-second].
Also, allow for margin of error by 1 second as I used no program and manually sent a SCV to obtain all these numbers while looking at the timer.

Close, close air, and cross position on a map each has different distance. Game play experience is also different despite the fact you are playing the same map. Therefore, each position is counted as a “separate” map. As a result, many 4-player maps count as 3 different maps while 2-player maps count as 1.

Rotationally symmetrical maps like Antiga Shipyard have 2 different game play experiences for close position: when your opponent is on your right or on your left. However, since the topic here is the map size alone, this factor is not considered. Therefore, these 4-player maps count as 2 different maps: close and cross.

Odd number ladder seasons are cut due to my time constraint and laziness.

ALL maps in same order as images
+ Show Spoiler +
ALL maps from Longest to Shortest distance
+ Show Spoiler +

Individual Season
+ Show Spoiler +

Graph

Not only do we now know that map size on average is getting bigger for sure, it is now possible to see how big or small a map is relative to other maps, and how fast average size is increasing from the graph and tables. I included both mean and median in graph so that some math major nerds can brag about his/her knowledge on statistics in posts below, but let me just use mean for discussion here and call it average.

Back in season 2 when dinosaurs were still alive and not much order was established, the average map size was 37.9[worker-seconds]. It was the time when, on some maps, an army could travel to opponent’s base as fast as Goku’s instant transmission. Many tears, especially Zerg ones, were shed on The Shattered Temple & Slag Pits close positions. Even before this, there was a notorious map called Steppes of War, where tanks could shoot from one natural to another, or so it looked at least. Blizzard was aware of the problems that small maps had, so however slow it looked to some players, Blizzard did work on it and introduced bigger maps each season and disabled some close positions.

As a result, today in season 8, it averages at 47.9 [worker-seconds], exactly 10[worker-seconds] bigger. (Remember [worker-second] is a unit for distance, NOT time.) What does it mean? It means that 2nd biggest map in season 2 = Shakuras Plateau cross position =46 is even smaller than the average we have today. It took about 1 year for maps to grow by 10. If this tendency continued, we would have 57.9 on average by season 14. Then again, today’s 2nd biggest map = Antiga Shipyard cross position =56 would be smaller than the average a year from now, just like 2nd biggest a year ago is smaller than the average today. If I simply interpret the graph, I would have to conclude this is the future because nothing indicates even slowing of the size growth.

Now, do we actually see the future with maps bigger by 10 [worker-seconds]? I am no prophet, but I seriously doubt it. Just as global population growth should stop and decline at some point, map size should shrink before it gets out of hand. I personally think now is the time. There is no imba Metalopolis close position nor shared 3rd Abbysal Caverns today. On the contrary, cross positions on Whirlwind in GSL or Condemned Ridge are already so huge that any cheese/timing push takes forever to arrive. Some might say adding 10[worker-seconds] is not much, but it actually means 12.5 more seconds for marine/sentry to travel the distance, and 15.0 more seconds for thor/HT. Even slower Broodlord or Mothership based army engagement would have to be almost all-in as there is no turning back vs any counter attack with that kind of map size.

This is just my hunch, but average would probably never go above 50, and around 44-45 would be the minimum if it turns back. The time for good old the bigger the bigger American style is over. What do you think? Should it still go bigger? Is it fine as it is? Or is it too big now? Please discuss.

1. Well, I lied a bit about Tal’darim Altar in introduction to get your attention. Map tiles*map tiles-wise, it is one of the biggest for sure. What I meant was ramp-to-ramp distance-wise as I used it for all measurements in this thread. (Choke-to-choke for this particular map) While Tal’darim Altar cross position is definitely big=54, close position is relatively small in modern standard =44. Considering there is 66% chance you get close position, vetoing or not vetoing this map because of “long” rush distance is probably not right. When this map came out in season 2, even close position distance was way above average at the time. So, many of us still hold this big map image.

2. Contrary to popular belief, Metropolis is not particularly big, either. In fact, its cross position distance=44 is the shortest among all modern maps. It feels big because of vast air space, defensive choke points, easier 4th+ base map layout, or simply having smaller predecessor Metalopolis. Therefore, casters who say 2 base all-in is not recommended because of map size is simply wrong and unaware of the fact that the rush distance is relatively short. Pressuring 3rd base is far, but going straight to natural base takes much less time than other maps. This is a so-called macro map and games tend to be long, but it is not because of the distance between bases.

3. How many of you knew that smallest map today was Entombed Valley. I didn’t until I did the research. Not only is it easy to defend 3rd base as Terran/Prososs vs Zerg, distance to Zerg base is very short for non-cross positions. Explains why many Zergs veto this map.

4. Players complain why we cannot play maps used in GSL or other tournaments. This voice was bigger when tournament maps were so much bigger and looked better seasons ago. Today, ignoring all other features of the maps, 47.9[worker-seconds] on ladder is even larger than 47.6[worker-seconds] for GSL Season 3. I didn’t do thorough research on past GSL maps, but this could well be the first season where ladder maps are relatively bigger than those used in GSL at the time. Era of “we want bigger maps like GSL” is certainly over.

5. We still talk about how small Steppes of War was. It is still the smallest 2-player map to date =30[worker-seconds]. However, nothing beats close position on The Shattered Temple =23[worker-seconds]. Guess what? The Shattered Temple close position stayed on ladder for 15 months if you include The Lost Temple days. As of July 2012, this game is only 24 months old for reference. Unlike Blizzard second, Blizzard itself doesn’t work as fast T_T.

6. In the first table where all map distances are listed, it is interesting to see almost all modern maps have 2nd ramp/choke while no old map had 2nd ramp/choke. It seems Daybreak style tucked in natural used to be standard as opposed to modern Ohana style natural with ramp.

7. This is not directly related to map size discussion, but the starting point at each base in images is always southern side of CC/Hatchery/Nexus location. This is because this research was originally done for my Zerg scout timings on another thread that I linked below. Please don’t flood with posts on asymmetry of the maps. Larvae always spawn on the southern side. That’s why.