I thought I mentioned this somewhere already, but anyway it's worth mentioning that this is why a map marketplace is good. Look at the quality and effort people will go for money...
The phrase "money talks" certainly applies to map making. People might be adverse to the idea of paying for maps, but by atleast having an option for paid maps (of quality, ensured by Blizz's approval process), there will be some very well developed maps/mods! People pay $1 for a piece of crap iphone app that they'll stop using in a day, so $1 for a map in sc2 that's a complete experience doesn't sound bad!
Of course everything I say is assumptions...
Aside, the maps here look awesome and the ones I've played have been super fun :D
I don't remember it stating in the rules whether or not you could work as a team, but it was my impression that the contest was designed for solo map makers. I would feel kinda shafted if the three winners were team projects, and the solo guys shouldn't have even bothered.
Facility 17, Shape Wars and Cosmic Eclipse all look absolutely stunning. I didn't watch every demo vid, so don't feel like I'm snubbing you if I didn't mention your map, but if there are many more submissions as impressive as these 3, then I can't *wait* for all of 'em to get uploaded and popular on b.net. Pretty much every submission video I watched on this thread seems at least on par with the most sophisticated customs that are currently popular. I like a good tug of war map as much as the next guy, but I'm really looking forward to some polished, well-designed maps like this catching on to add some more variety to the customs scene. I hope they're hard at work on a new custom game system to solve some of the remaining problems with the popularity and lobby systems, because there are a lot of really amazing maps hitting b.net now. Keep up the good work, everyone! Us non-mapmakers appreciate your hard work :)
holy framerate killer. I guess your computer is decent enough but still has to tone down the setting to play. It should have been better with a custom UI for upgrades or anything else.
Hope this is the right place for this, but I am curious to ask everyone what lesson(s) did everyone learn from creating their map? For me, some things that I learned, and hopefully will keep in mind are:
1. Don't overwhelm the players: Things like dialog, tips, upgrades, neat but overly attentive gameplay mechanics, text msg longer than 2 lines on screen. I need to remember this especially at the beginning of the game. First impression are important and too much 'stuff going on' turn players off. More times than not players are too busy visually exploring the new map to be bother with reading a mountain of text. If players need a manual to play, I am telling them they need to "sacrificing some fun" in order to have fun. I've missed an opportunity to make something intuitive.
2. Try to not miss an opportunity to be visually and audio-ably appealing: Rewards achievements and milestones, not only through gas, minerals, or text. But acknowledge the accomplishment with chimes, bells, and flashes. I need to make sure to not over do it and be annoying. But if I do it right, I can make the experience in itself its own reward. Slot machines don't lie.
3. Be more organized and be flexible. I need to work on simple stuff like using the data editor's prefix and suffix to label items. I need to stop 'cheating' and label things after the fact. This will save me time from looking for things later and allow me to work on more important things. This is especially important with a deadline :P When I am making something from scratch, I should try to make it on a new map, so to keep my map organize and less bug prone. Plus, lessen the need to keep a 'bad' feature in because I just spent X hours or Y days on it. If its good, I am going to have to relearn what I did and recreate it.
Hope this is the right place for this, but I am curious to ask everyone what lesson(s) did everyone learn from creating their map? For me, some things that I learned, and hopefully will keep in mind are:
Before starting a project plan your work and evaluate the required time to complete it. I do that in real work but I missed to do that for my map and I didn't finish in time :|
Overall, I got most of the things I wanted in my map. But there are also quite a few things I had to skip, because as you mention, it's important not to overwhelm the player. If they're presented with ten different dialogs and have to know what to do on the spot, there is going to be some frustration. What I probably should have done is made the first part of my level more of a tutorial, so that there is gradually more complex tasks to do...in that way I might have been able to implement more features. However I did virtually finish my map about a week and a half before schedule ( the deadline), so implementing those additional features might have not let me do the finishing polishes on my map that I was able to do...such as add a few optional pretty visual effects for the people who have good computers.
One thing I seemed to really be lacking in was the audio department. The stock music that comes with Starcraft 2 isn't exactly expansive in its variety...I also wasn't able to think of any music from their previous games that would really be fitting for my map. So being better prepared in that aspect ( Or actually having a team that can do different things ) would've been a great help. Reading text also seems so old, even some games on the Playstation 1 had voice acting...so having some voice acting would've been nice too. ( Although that would definitely bump up the file size. I was well off in that department though, the final version only being 1.8 megs. )
Overall just being able to plan this thing probably would've increased its quality by a good margin. But it was just a sudden "Oh look a Blizzard map contest... with a $5000 reward", and with my extreme lack of money and my above-average experience in dabbling with the SC2 Editor, it was a chance I just couldn't pass up.
Facility 17, Shape Wars and Cosmic Eclipse all look absolutely stunning. I didn't watch every demo vid, so don't feel like I'm snubbing you if I didn't mention your map, but if there are many more submissions as impressive as these 3, then I can't *wait* for all of 'em to get uploaded and popular on b.net. Pretty much every submission video I watched on this thread seems at least on par with the most sophisticated customs that are currently popular. I like a good tug of war map as much as the next guy, but I'm really looking forward to some polished, well-designed maps like this catching on to add some more variety to the customs scene. I hope they're hard at work on a new custom game system to solve some of the remaining problems with the popularity and lobby systems, because there are a lot of really amazing maps hitting b.net now. Keep up the good work, everyone! Us non-mapmakers appreciate your hard work :)
The second version of the map I entered into the contest, will be for battle.net consumption and should be quite popular. I polished the shit out of my entry, but it's lacking specific things pertinent to battle.nets capabilities. Such as stat saving, and the like. I'll be posting a demo of my map whenever I find out who wins/loses. If I win however, that will be left to blizzcon.
The isle of mercury is the battleground for professional custom map players. Obelisk Hellfire is an 8 player tournament where only the last man standing can win.
The more you fight the stronger you become. Each player is given special units and opportunities to overcome a stronger player when used right. As players fight and gain kills, stronger units will begin spawning from their Obelisk. Use Obelisk Hellfire to rain down hell on strong opponents.
Micro-management and quick thinking is the only way to be a true champion. Step up and join in on this ruthless battlefield!
Always remember to read the tips!
Obelisk Hellfire is available to play now.
Obelisk Hellfire will be regularly updated with new features and gameplay balance tweaks.
I listen to all feedback and will consider anything that can add to the competitive nature of this map.
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Here is a video of the map I submitted. The video is more of a demonstration video than a video of actual game play.
My contest entry was Shape Wars, an artistic unit-war style map. More info here:
http:forums.sc2mapster.com/resources/project-workplace/11278-release-shape-wars-blizz-con-contest-map/#p5
I thought I mentioned this somewhere already, but anyway it's worth mentioning that this is why a map marketplace is good. Look at the quality and effort people will go for money...
The phrase "money talks" certainly applies to map making. People might be adverse to the idea of paying for maps, but by atleast having an option for paid maps (of quality, ensured by Blizz's approval process), there will be some very well developed maps/mods! People pay $1 for a piece of crap iphone app that they'll stop using in a day, so $1 for a map in sc2 that's a complete experience doesn't sound bad!
Of course everything I say is assumptions...
Aside, the maps here look awesome and the ones I've played have been super fun :D
I loved Z. Really hope you get this into a playable state!
@Bibendus: Go
Are teams even allowed ? What did they write in rules ? I think that is "not" allowed.
I entered my project on behalf of the team I was working with. Blizzard does not know that, but I plan to split the money with them should I win.
Y, I know that. But I am asking about the rules. What are they saying about that ? Allowed or not ?
Just curious.
I don't remember it stating in the rules whether or not you could work as a team, but it was my impression that the contest was designed for solo map makers. I would feel kinda shafted if the three winners were team projects, and the solo guys shouldn't have even bothered.
Teams are allowed. In the event of a dispute, the prizes go to the owner of the e-mail.
Turn based RPG a la starcraft
Release post here
@PirateArcade | I make games | Ask me things on Discord
Facility 17, Shape Wars and Cosmic Eclipse all look absolutely stunning. I didn't watch every demo vid, so don't feel like I'm snubbing you if I didn't mention your map, but if there are many more submissions as impressive as these 3, then I can't *wait* for all of 'em to get uploaded and popular on b.net. Pretty much every submission video I watched on this thread seems at least on par with the most sophisticated customs that are currently popular. I like a good tug of war map as much as the next guy, but I'm really looking forward to some polished, well-designed maps like this catching on to add some more variety to the customs scene. I hope they're hard at work on a new custom game system to solve some of the remaining problems with the popularity and lobby systems, because there are a lot of really amazing maps hitting b.net now. Keep up the good work, everyone! Us non-mapmakers appreciate your hard work :)
Here's mine.
Might want to watch in HD and full screen to be able to see what happening.
3rd person shooter...kinda
That looks awesome.
@Scharkee: Go
holy framerate killer. I guess your computer is decent enough but still has to tone down the setting to play. It should have been better with a custom UI for upgrades or anything else.
Actually those 3 will be the winners if nothing better has been sent
Hope this is the right place for this, but I am curious to ask everyone what lesson(s) did everyone learn from creating their map? For me, some things that I learned, and hopefully will keep in mind are:
1. Don't overwhelm the players: Things like dialog, tips, upgrades, neat but overly attentive gameplay mechanics, text msg longer than 2 lines on screen. I need to remember this especially at the beginning of the game. First impression are important and too much 'stuff going on' turn players off. More times than not players are too busy visually exploring the new map to be bother with reading a mountain of text. If players need a manual to play, I am telling them they need to "sacrificing some fun" in order to have fun. I've missed an opportunity to make something intuitive.
2. Try to not miss an opportunity to be visually and audio-ably appealing: Rewards achievements and milestones, not only through gas, minerals, or text. But acknowledge the accomplishment with chimes, bells, and flashes. I need to make sure to not over do it and be annoying. But if I do it right, I can make the experience in itself its own reward. Slot machines don't lie.
3. Be more organized and be flexible. I need to work on simple stuff like using the data editor's prefix and suffix to label items. I need to stop 'cheating' and label things after the fact. This will save me time from looking for things later and allow me to work on more important things. This is especially important with a deadline :P When I am making something from scratch, I should try to make it on a new map, so to keep my map organize and less bug prone. Plus, lessen the need to keep a 'bad' feature in because I just spent X hours or Y days on it. If its good, I am going to have to relearn what I did and recreate it.
What about everyone else?
Before starting a project plan your work and evaluate the required time to complete it. I do that in real work but I missed to do that for my map and I didn't finish in time :|
@oldschool01: Go
Overall, I got most of the things I wanted in my map. But there are also quite a few things I had to skip, because as you mention, it's important not to overwhelm the player. If they're presented with ten different dialogs and have to know what to do on the spot, there is going to be some frustration. What I probably should have done is made the first part of my level more of a tutorial, so that there is gradually more complex tasks to do...in that way I might have been able to implement more features. However I did virtually finish my map about a week and a half before schedule ( the deadline), so implementing those additional features might have not let me do the finishing polishes on my map that I was able to do...such as add a few optional pretty visual effects for the people who have good computers.
One thing I seemed to really be lacking in was the audio department. The stock music that comes with Starcraft 2 isn't exactly expansive in its variety...I also wasn't able to think of any music from their previous games that would really be fitting for my map. So being better prepared in that aspect ( Or actually having a team that can do different things ) would've been a great help. Reading text also seems so old, even some games on the Playstation 1 had voice acting...so having some voice acting would've been nice too. ( Although that would definitely bump up the file size. I was well off in that department though, the final version only being 1.8 megs. )
Overall just being able to plan this thing probably would've increased its quality by a good margin. But it was just a sudden "Oh look a Blizzard map contest... with a $5000 reward", and with my extreme lack of money and my above-average experience in dabbling with the SC2 Editor, it was a chance I just couldn't pass up.
The second version of the map I entered into the contest, will be for battle.net consumption and should be quite popular. I polished the shit out of my entry, but it's lacking specific things pertinent to battle.nets capabilities. Such as stat saving, and the like. I'll be posting a demo of my map whenever I find out who wins/loses. If I win however, that will be left to blizzcon.
Here's my contribution.
→
→
→
The isle of mercury is the battleground for professional custom map players. Obelisk Hellfire is an 8 player tournament where only the last man standing can win.
The more you fight the stronger you become. Each player is given special units and opportunities to overcome a stronger player when used right. As players fight and gain kills, stronger units will begin spawning from their Obelisk. Use Obelisk Hellfire to rain down hell on strong opponents.
Micro-management and quick thinking is the only way to be a true champion. Step up and join in on this ruthless battlefield!
Always remember to read the tips!
Obelisk Hellfire is available to play now.
Obelisk Hellfire will be regularly updated with new features and gameplay balance tweaks.
I listen to all feedback and will consider anything that can add to the competitive nature of this map.