Just wondering what everyone thinks about the current state of the quality of maps being released. Its probably just me.. but I feel many of the maps currently published in US fail to appeal to me (Judging by description). The few I've tried so far have potential but lack polish, put aside a few.
Maybe I've outlived the age at which custom maps are enjoyable.. :( Back in WC3 I used to play TD, Hero Siege, Party maps and the such, but these days it just feels boring. To date, Mafia is so far the only one that can truly entertain me, but lately I just can't settle in the mood to play it.
I'm particularly looking for mindless fun after a hectic day, without the necessity to get build orders right, speed or buying the right items. Something light that doesn't drag out. Surely there has to be a map out there that allows this? or am I wrong?
I guess.. what I'd really like to see is a map that is simple to learn but hard to master. Therefore it is fun, and at the same time competitive for the more serious gamer.
You're entirely right- the majority of published (NA Maps, anyway), are garbage. In my estimation there's about 20 ongoing projects that look promising, but as for currently released maps, there ain't much. A lot of attempts to make unique mods are quashed by latency
Here's the strange thing, as of late I suddenly feel very minimal latency with keyboard/mouse inputs, I'm talking practically instantaneous reponse with wasd and the such. Did they finally fix it? Its a mystery. Its possible this might be because I was playing on a map with only 2 players, thus minimizing the amount of event data transfer across the data streams.
I forgot to mention, I loved your map Facility 17 as well. It was one of the better maps I've played.
The current most popular map is Hero Attack, Which I tried and got bored within 5 minutes. Its close to impossible to time last hits and there's no way to cheap hit towers because the creeps die so fast. Get caught in tower range and you die within seconds.
I actually just got Baldurs gate 2 off a friend of mine, will probably play that instead.
STILL WAITING MY SKYRIM!!!! (gheez almost 2 weeks now...Im doubting if they send it to wrong adress :E)
If you haven't heard anything for 2 weeks, I'd contact your supplier if I were you. I know Finland is a deserted country, but I don't think game deliveries take 2+ weeks anywhere in Europe if you've got a decent brand of store. Probably could've done so after one week. Good chance they'll just say "oh something went wrong in the delivery and your copy went back to the magazine, meaning it's never gonna show up without us taking any action - I'll redirect it for you and you'll have it tomorrow".
On-topic: I kind of feel the same as you FuzzY. I don't want to be that old guy waving his walking stick, but I do kind of feel that 'gaming' in general has become so much more mainstream it's less enjoyable for me. It really feels like in Warcraft 3 you could have crazy fun with 'Escape from gay heaven' maps and really just random custom maps with any random subject, whereas in Starcraft 2 there's this huge talk about polish, making stuff accessible, hip, etc, without anything really having improved. It's odd to describe the phenomenon; there's just people out there everywhere that know games and talk about them, and it's harder to just grab a game and enjoy it because of it - everybody needs to have an opinion on the graphics, story and gameplay and everybody needs to participate on forums discussing 'their game', and it drags down the "just buy it and play" aspect.
Edit: Let me note that specifically for SC2 it isn't all bad though, the E-sports community surrounding the game is a phenomenom I'll probably love for a long time. Being able to talk with palls about SC2 like EVERYBODY in the goddamn European world CONSTANTLY talks about effing football is a bliss.
I too have been feeling like this for a while. I haven't actually played a Starcraft 2 game in months. I bought Starcraft 2 for the editor and custom maps and ended up extremely disappointed. I mean, I like the editor with all the improvements, but it still doesn't compare to the Warcraft 3 era of maps.
I have some idea why, in my mind, Starcraft 2 custom maps are 'worse' than the Warcraft 3 counterparts.
SC2 (and the SC2 editor) is laggier.
Linked (co-op) custom campaigns are not possible yet. You have to test it directly from the editor.
WC3 maps are easier and faster to produce and require less technical skills and knowledge of the editor.
There are very few hero oriented maps by comparison because of how much extra time, effort and knowledge required.
There is a large proportion of maps on the server that just take up space and make it harder to search for a new decent map. You'll end up playing what you usually do instead because it is easier and then get bored enough of it having no alternatives.
WC3 had more art assets and allowed for a bigger variety in maps because of the fantasy theme. Starcraft has 3 playable races and a handful of critters.
However, WC3 custom maps only really took off after the expansion. Maybe we just have to wait for HotS?
PS. I really hate logging in every time I launch the game. Especially when I need the authenticator EVERY TIME. Damn it!
I think I managed to put my finger on it a little bit better. Competition ruins novelty. These days a game is announced, highly anticipated, discussed and praised for its revolution or shot down for its lack of change. Back during the Warcraft 3 era games weren't as mainstream; every now and then a game would just 'be released' somewhat out of nowhere and discovering everything and just playing it through for the first time was amazing. You can shield yourself from the information overflow we have these days, but it's just not the same; you get new releases by the month and you're expected to 'keep up' with all of them instead of just being able to check them out. On the other hand, you *need* to 'keep up' with all of them because for all the 'revolution' that the competitive gaming industry has inspired, none of the games seem as long-lasting, original, revolutionary and interesting as the old stuff (safe for some exceptions, but most of these lack longevity).
To connect that to this thread specifically: I think the same thing goes for custom maps, as the custom map scene is basically a baby-version of the game scene.
Just wondering what everyone thinks about the current state of the quality of maps being released. Its probably just me.. but I feel many of the maps currently published in US fail to appeal to me (Judging by description). The few I've tried so far have potential but lack polish, put aside a few.
Maybe I've outlived the age at which custom maps are enjoyable.. :( Back in WC3 I used to play TD, Hero Siege, Party maps and the such, but these days it just feels boring. To date, Mafia is so far the only one that can truly entertain me, but lately I just can't settle in the mood to play it.
I'm particularly looking for mindless fun after a hectic day, without the necessity to get build orders right, speed or buying the right items. Something light that doesn't drag out. Surely there has to be a map out there that allows this? or am I wrong?
I guess.. what I'd really like to see is a map that is simple to learn but hard to master. Therefore it is fun, and at the same time competitive for the more serious gamer.
Play photon cycles, its fun!
Well those Tug of war maps are pretty mindless too but can get boring quite fast....
Also since many sc2 maps are remakes or wc3 maps it can indeed feel so boring...and most of them are not even close to the wc3 quality of maps :/.
But if custom maps feel boring. its better just to play another game...Its totally pointless to wait new maps appear on pages 1-3...
STILL WAITING MY SKYRIM!!!! (gheez almost 2 weeks now...Im doubting if they send it to wrong adress :E)
The most relaxing map for me with minimum things to do and maximum of fun is Squadron TD.
@FuzzYD: Go
You're entirely right- the majority of published (NA Maps, anyway), are garbage. In my estimation there's about 20 ongoing projects that look promising, but as for currently released maps, there ain't much. A lot of attempts to make unique mods are quashed by latency
@PirateArcade | I make games | Ask me things on Discord
@greythepirate: Go
Here's the strange thing, as of late I suddenly feel very minimal latency with keyboard/mouse inputs, I'm talking practically instantaneous reponse with wasd and the such. Did they finally fix it? Its a mystery. Its possible this might be because I was playing on a map with only 2 players, thus minimizing the amount of event data transfer across the data streams.
I forgot to mention, I loved your map Facility 17 as well. It was one of the better maps I've played.
The current most popular map is Hero Attack, Which I tried and got bored within 5 minutes. Its close to impossible to time last hits and there's no way to cheap hit towers because the creeps die so fast. Get caught in tower range and you die within seconds.
I actually just got Baldurs gate 2 off a friend of mine, will probably play that instead.
If you haven't heard anything for 2 weeks, I'd contact your supplier if I were you. I know Finland is a deserted country, but I don't think game deliveries take 2+ weeks anywhere in Europe if you've got a decent brand of store. Probably could've done so after one week. Good chance they'll just say "oh something went wrong in the delivery and your copy went back to the magazine, meaning it's never gonna show up without us taking any action - I'll redirect it for you and you'll have it tomorrow".
On-topic: I kind of feel the same as you FuzzY. I don't want to be that old guy waving his walking stick, but I do kind of feel that 'gaming' in general has become so much more mainstream it's less enjoyable for me. It really feels like in Warcraft 3 you could have crazy fun with 'Escape from gay heaven' maps and really just random custom maps with any random subject, whereas in Starcraft 2 there's this huge talk about polish, making stuff accessible, hip, etc, without anything really having improved. It's odd to describe the phenomenon; there's just people out there everywhere that know games and talk about them, and it's harder to just grab a game and enjoy it because of it - everybody needs to have an opinion on the graphics, story and gameplay and everybody needs to participate on forums discussing 'their game', and it drags down the "just buy it and play" aspect.
Edit: Let me note that specifically for SC2 it isn't all bad though, the E-sports community surrounding the game is a phenomenom I'll probably love for a long time. Being able to talk with palls about SC2 like EVERYBODY in the goddamn European world CONSTANTLY talks about effing football is a bliss.
@Mozared: Go
Yup...I enjoyed exactly the variety of maps and you could even dl maps from sites if they looked interesting and then host it yourself...
I miss wc3 bnet :( (you brought it up again!)
So my suggestion is: play it through and if possible play the expansion too. That's an awesome game, no SC2 custom could possibly be a match.
I too have been feeling like this for a while. I haven't actually played a Starcraft 2 game in months. I bought Starcraft 2 for the editor and custom maps and ended up extremely disappointed. I mean, I like the editor with all the improvements, but it still doesn't compare to the Warcraft 3 era of maps.
I have some idea why, in my mind, Starcraft 2 custom maps are 'worse' than the Warcraft 3 counterparts.
However, WC3 custom maps only really took off after the expansion. Maybe we just have to wait for HotS?
PS. I really hate logging in every time I launch the game. Especially when I need the authenticator EVERY TIME. Damn it!
I think I managed to put my finger on it a little bit better. Competition ruins novelty. These days a game is announced, highly anticipated, discussed and praised for its revolution or shot down for its lack of change. Back during the Warcraft 3 era games weren't as mainstream; every now and then a game would just 'be released' somewhat out of nowhere and discovering everything and just playing it through for the first time was amazing. You can shield yourself from the information overflow we have these days, but it's just not the same; you get new releases by the month and you're expected to 'keep up' with all of them instead of just being able to check them out. On the other hand, you *need* to 'keep up' with all of them because for all the 'revolution' that the competitive gaming industry has inspired, none of the games seem as long-lasting, original, revolutionary and interesting as the old stuff (safe for some exceptions, but most of these lack longevity).
To connect that to this thread specifically: I think the same thing goes for custom maps, as the custom map scene is basically a baby-version of the game scene.
Pretty much the same as last year. Nothing really changed. Same old genres on the front page. TDs, tugs, dota-maps, arena etc