1/ i draw a layout with the levels from the ground up
(this maximizes the extra heights available all through the refinement of your leveling for different reasons: water levels .. mist levels .. gameplay issue 'down vision' most noticeably)
the heights of the different textures used (water, lava..) must be set in synch with decisions of gameplay heights (which side is up or down)
2/ i refine by placing doodads and ramps .. ("refine" accesses and bases' areas and move doodads around for gameplay and effect to be at maximum efficiency)
3/ get in <3 with texturing and lighting (both changing parameters of the "chosen default ambiance" and placing specific light emitters or changing the gamma coloring on the map)
4/ refine both 2/ and 3 add rocks (normal, collapsible, low hit points barrages/walls, other)
5/ have fun with specific features
features
these may be either acceptable to blizzard' (and get the melee tag) or outrageously blizzard melee forbidden .. they are all awesome melee worthy features nonetheless:
.
elevator effect (for air or ground/air units)
elevator effect corollary: "lost" map areas
swamp (optical) : water limits and terrain height are not well defined and units' vision can be "blurred" (underneath) by animated layers (water, lava..)
swamp (slow effect) : areas slowing down the movement of units (attack speed included)
weapon free zones : areas where all weapons are disabled
spell free zones : areas where all spells are disabled
mana / energy rejuvenation zones : areas where all units energy count is maxed out at very quick rate
bridges: an area on two levels yet separated.. (both giving access (see tunnels)) (if the bridge is destroyed both areas wound/kill units in either levels but differently (one on top of the other, under: massive effect / over the bridge: less ); all units are pushed from the point of destruction to closest 'safe zone' if surviving)
change of scene: (like a destroyed bridge) change layout until the end of the game (bridge in this case is just the example, a volcano erupting changing the layout until the end of the game is a different visual, but it remains the same thing: a change to the layout until end of game)
moving neutral units such as trains (acting as destructible moving walls (slows movement and attack speed of close nearby units (slightly))) or convoys (ground or air) timed into "build order timings" (trendy or classical)
lava rising : areas that periodically become unusable for a defined period of time, killing units in said areas, changing layouts and gameplay imperatives deriving from layouts, the visual reverts in synch with the effects
storm rising : areas that periodically become unusable for a defined period of time, pushing units away from said areas, yet the zones remain visually the same (for instance locust would attack and not prevent unit movement, the layout is still the same))
more rocks: production of destructible units that gradually change the layout (for instance: low hit point rocks appearing to form a wall or in a preset (or random) pattern that slowly fills the screen)
teleporter zones allowing for tunnels
teleporter zones forming a "spherical" map (8 ins and outs around the edges of the map
melee mapmaking cannot be defined by the "community" if one abides by blizzard's editor!, that said, who cares about this tag ?.. well, too many people do = me being a sad panda
i have been making melee maps that are shunned into custom from the start of wol. if tl is any indication, they are sneered at.. if mapster is any indication, they are played and appreciated for the actual fun between players they (sometimes) foster
...
practical example:
^ this map has retained the melee tag from galaxy, while half of the pathways are "blurred" by the "water" being placed higher than the ground units
.. while on the other hand, a melee map with a destructible rock with 10% of its "melee" hp will get "custom" tag
...
blizz's melee tag is just an arbitrary line in the sand .. it shouldn't have been treated like "holy scripture" like it has been
(mostly on tl .. agreed, but that it has been the case because of them, doesn't make it any less relevant)
...
producing melee maps should be as glorious to attempt than producing custom maps
i love both: playing sc2 on void temple or playing tron on pc = just as much fun
sorry for the rant :)
...
melee maps should:
make all strategies shine, make all match up shine, be over the top, be over conservative
while/where a custom map is arguably a "specialized/specific/narrowed for specific gameplay" map, melee maps should cover ALL that is possible in galaxy (of course not all in the same map, but everything over the huge amount of maps produced in an effort to "try out everything" while keeping what is good/fun/interesting/exiting and practical for competitive maps)
the melee "stamp" is meant to organize and "help" (it allows full use of inbuilt ai s for instance), not to withhold or reduce the gameplay palette
the big mistake is to think that maps must "follow" the pro use of the units, an equally big mistake would be to make maps that would dictate the use of the units
the massive number of different (properly showcased) melee maps should allow for great diversity in the map pool (once concepts are "safely" introduced in later maps)
1/ practice experimentation that seems to go too far
2/ test / refine
3/ then work :/ : processing / incorporating said new stuff for competitive play
practical exemple:
when "deforming" terrain excessively, one can create the "elevator effect" for flying (and ground) units .. granting a special (typically non melee) vision (much larger, and difficult to play (because you "lose sight" of units in these areas))
1/ did several maps to see how it worked (as in: experiencing what the mount(s) created would interfere with other aspects of gameplay, like for instance how it coincides with a second ("out there") feature : places where units are hidden)
2/ it didn't stur nor gain any attention, so not enough players taking an interest made it impossible to go further (sad panda = me)
3/ i don't give a fig about pro players nor do i agree that their opinion is anything but self serving (totally legit on their part) and bad for everything that goes with "melee entertainment value"
practical example of how to fix ladder map pool: "map of the week" in bw
sorry for wall of text (at least, i didn't link all my squirmishes on tl about "how melee stuff will die if you keep this tl attitude up, you will see" ; maybe now that all melee only mapmaking teams have quit, perhaps it will change
tips and practices
1/ i draw a layout with the levels from the ground up
(this maximizes the extra heights available all through the refinement of your leveling for different reasons: water levels .. mist levels .. gameplay issue 'down vision' most noticeably)
the heights of the different textures used (water, lava..) must be set in synch with decisions of gameplay heights (which side is up or down)
2/ i refine by placing doodads and ramps .. ("refine" accesses and bases' areas and move doodads around for gameplay and effect to be at maximum efficiency)
3/ get in <3 with texturing and lighting (both changing parameters of the "chosen default ambiance" and placing specific light emitters or changing the gamma coloring on the map)
4/ refine both 2/ and 3 add rocks (normal, collapsible, low hit points barrages/walls, other)
5/ have fun with specific features
features
these may be either acceptable to blizzard' (and get the melee tag) or outrageously blizzard melee forbidden .. they are all awesome melee worthy features nonetheless:
.
elevator effect (for air or ground/air units)
elevator effect corollary: "lost" map areas
swamp (optical) : water limits and terrain height are not well defined and units' vision can be "blurred" (underneath) by animated layers (water, lava..)
swamp (slow effect) : areas slowing down the movement of units (attack speed included)
weapon free zones : areas where all weapons are disabled
spell free zones : areas where all spells are disabled
mana / energy rejuvenation zones : areas where all units energy count is maxed out at very quick rate
bridges: an area on two levels yet separated.. (both giving access (see tunnels)) (if the bridge is destroyed both areas wound/kill units in either levels but differently (one on top of the other, under: massive effect / over the bridge: less ); all units are pushed from the point of destruction to closest 'safe zone' if surviving)
change of scene: (like a destroyed bridge) change layout until the end of the game (bridge in this case is just the example, a volcano erupting changing the layout until the end of the game is a different visual, but it remains the same thing: a change to the layout until end of game)
moving neutral units such as trains (acting as destructible moving walls (slows movement and attack speed of close nearby units (slightly))) or convoys (ground or air) timed into "build order timings" (trendy or classical)
lava rising : areas that periodically become unusable for a defined period of time, killing units in said areas, changing layouts and gameplay imperatives deriving from layouts, the visual reverts in synch with the effects
storm rising : areas that periodically become unusable for a defined period of time, pushing units away from said areas, yet the zones remain visually the same (for instance locust would attack and not prevent unit movement, the layout is still the same))
more rocks: production of destructible units that gradually change the layout (for instance: low hit point rocks appearing to form a wall or in a preset (or random) pattern that slowly fills the screen)
teleporter zones allowing for tunnels
teleporter zones forming a "spherical" map (8 ins and outs around the edges of the map
...
melee mapmaking cannot be defined by the "community" if one abides by blizzard's editor!, that said, who cares about this tag ?.. well, too many people do = me being a sad panda
i have been making melee maps that are shunned into custom from the start of wol. if tl is any indication, they are sneered at.. if mapster is any indication, they are played and appreciated for the actual fun between players they (sometimes) foster
...
practical example:
^ this map has retained the melee tag from galaxy, while half of the pathways are "blurred" by the "water" being placed higher than the ground units
.. while on the other hand, a melee map with a destructible rock with 10% of its "melee" hp will get "custom" tag
...
blizz's melee tag is just an arbitrary line in the sand .. it shouldn't have been treated like "holy scripture" like it has been
(mostly on tl .. agreed, but that it has been the case because of them, doesn't make it any less relevant)
...
producing melee maps should be as glorious to attempt than producing custom maps
i love both: playing sc2 on void temple or playing tron on pc = just as much fun
sorry for the rant :)
...
melee maps should:
make all strategies shine, make all match up shine, be over the top, be over conservative
while/where a custom map is arguably a "specialized/specific/narrowed for specific gameplay" map, melee maps should cover ALL that is possible in galaxy (of course not all in the same map, but everything over the huge amount of maps produced in an effort to "try out everything" while keeping what is good/fun/interesting/exiting and practical for competitive maps)
the melee "stamp" is meant to organize and "help" (it allows full use of inbuilt ai s for instance), not to withhold or reduce the gameplay palette
the big mistake is to think that maps must "follow" the pro use of the units, an equally big mistake would be to make maps that would dictate the use of the units
the massive number of different (properly showcased) melee maps should allow for great diversity in the map pool (once concepts are "safely" introduced in later maps)
1/ practice experimentation that seems to go too far
2/ test / refine
3/ then work :/ : processing / incorporating said new stuff for competitive play
practical exemple:
when "deforming" terrain excessively, one can create the "elevator effect" for flying (and ground) units .. granting a special (typically non melee) vision (much larger, and difficult to play (because you "lose sight" of units in these areas))
1/ did several maps to see how it worked (as in: experiencing what the mount(s) created would interfere with other aspects of gameplay, like for instance how it coincides with a second ("out there") feature : places where units are hidden)
2/ it didn't stur nor gain any attention, so not enough players taking an interest made it impossible to go further (sad panda = me)
3/ i don't give a fig about pro players nor do i agree that their opinion is anything but self serving (totally legit on their part) and bad for everything that goes with "melee entertainment value"
practical example of how to fix ladder map pool: "map of the week" in bw
sorry for wall of text (at least, i didn't link all my squirmishes on tl about "how melee stuff will die if you keep this tl attitude up, you will see" ; maybe now that all melee only mapmaking teams have quit, perhaps it will change
if you love black fog like i do .. i love you