To this discussion I'd like to add some of my own melee map making philosophy.
When you make a map try to balance it out when it comes to open areas versus cliffs.
If you put a lot of cliffs then the map can be abused a lot by certain strategies or races, terrans most notably with siege tanks, it can also force excessive air responses.
If the map is too open then other strategies can be abused, Zerg become super strong because of the lack of chokes and their potential to swarm their enemies to death.
Balance the map, if you make a certain area too open compensate by making other areas closed. I'm a big fan of having different types of areas on a map so that all races can be equally viable.
I think the bases will be better of to the sides because people would be more encouraged to go trough the center and even if they decide to go trough the sides the rush distance will still be quite long.
The problem with the new updated map is that, if you have close spawn positions, which has an 80% probability to happen, then you can probably just ignore the center of the map and try to do a 1 base or 2 base all in since it will be very close by ground. If the main is on top of the cliffs in the corners and the natural is at the base of the cliff then you'll have a very, very wide open natural.
It would be way better if you place the starting positions at the North, South and West, East positions, that way even if the natural is open the rush distance is still long enough that you can react.
Well, as you look at the map, I think the best place to put the the mains and expansions should be the North and South positions, that will make the rush distance by ground kind of long but it will favor more air play and drops which isn't always bad.
I was kind of thinking that muta harass on a map like that would be brutal, however it would help counter a terran that tries to turtle up in the center.
Concept wise it looks very interesting, I'm really not sure what else it would need.
I'm not going to say add textures or doodads because I know what you showed is just a basic blueprint.
The borders of the map are usually the lowest elevation level, if its space you leave it like that, if its a jungle tile set you add some trees and/or ruins/rocks or a mix of those, maybe water if you want. And if its a urban tile set you can place some buildings like the Korhal buildings.
To upload go to File>Publish, log on to your Bnet account and publish the map under the Locked option.
Try to finish the map up more and show it with the main bases as well, maybe it will give us some more ideas.
Moved the Xel'naga towers, they are now out of the park but provide a lot more overall vision and almost none wasted on the water.
Widened the bottom ramp leading to the main, it kind of ruins the look of it but its the best way to fix the problem, top ramp is still narrow which helps walling.
Ok, I'll re-work the bot left and top right corners.
Edit: I added some small parks to the top right and bot left corners, widened the ramps leading to the natural and removed a bridge doodad that was causing a small bug.
Still reluctant to change the main ramp since then it will be way wider then usual ramps leading into mains.
I positioned the mineral lines in the mains to fit snugly right besides the roads, though in retrospect they would be better in the corners, right on the roads.
I'll probably correct this in a later version of the map, I'll still want more feedback before I widen the ramps leading to the main.
Well, my line of thinking was that, with the ramp of the main being so skinny and long the ramp at the natural should be very wide. The ramps from the main to the exterior are as wide as the ones on Metalopolis, I just didn't take into account the extra level of elevation.
I'll wait for some more feedback before I change the ramps, if needed I'll make the ramp connecting the main to the natural wider as well as widening the ramp leading to the exit.
I'd also like to know your opinion on the layout of the bases, the chokes, as well as the overall looks of the map, is it beautiful, is it ugly etc.
This is one of my first maps, I drew inspiration for it from a number of different sources and also applied my own idea of balancing and fair trade to it.
Description
A medium size 1 vs 1 map, players start in opposing corners of the map, the main is on the highest field and has two ramps, the exist ramp and the ramp leading to the natural. The natural is connected to the main by a small ramp and also has a wide exit ramp blocked by destructible rocks. The 3rd is close to the natural. The middle of the map presents the shortest attack path and has two gold bases blocked by rocks and contains the two Xel'naga towers.
Comments/Inspiration
The theme of the map was inspired by New York's Grand Central Park and so the map was build as such, with the park in the middle and the urban landscape surrounding that. Functionally the map was inspired by Xel'naga cavers, however I wanted the natural and 3rd to be a bit easier to secure, the rush distance to be a bit longer and to inspire more macro play.
The idea is that the center of the map should present the shortest attack path however it should feel like it has many chokes while the sides of the map should be a bit more open to encourage fast flanks.
So far I've uploaded the map on the EU server and you can find it by the name Imperial Park.
0
To this discussion I'd like to add some of my own melee map making philosophy.
When you make a map try to balance it out when it comes to open areas versus cliffs. If you put a lot of cliffs then the map can be abused a lot by certain strategies or races, terrans most notably with siege tanks, it can also force excessive air responses. If the map is too open then other strategies can be abused, Zerg become super strong because of the lack of chokes and their potential to swarm their enemies to death.
Balance the map, if you make a certain area too open compensate by making other areas closed. I'm a big fan of having different types of areas on a map so that all races can be equally viable.
0
I think the bases will be better of to the sides because people would be more encouraged to go trough the center and even if they decide to go trough the sides the rush distance will still be quite long.
0
The problem with the new updated map is that, if you have close spawn positions, which has an 80% probability to happen, then you can probably just ignore the center of the map and try to do a 1 base or 2 base all in since it will be very close by ground. If the main is on top of the cliffs in the corners and the natural is at the base of the cliff then you'll have a very, very wide open natural.
It would be way better if you place the starting positions at the North, South and West, East positions, that way even if the natural is open the rush distance is still long enough that you can react.
0
Well, as you look at the map, I think the best place to put the the mains and expansions should be the North and South positions, that will make the rush distance by ground kind of long but it will favor more air play and drops which isn't always bad.
I was kind of thinking that muta harass on a map like that would be brutal, however it would help counter a terran that tries to turtle up in the center.
0
Concept wise it looks very interesting, I'm really not sure what else it would need. I'm not going to say add textures or doodads because I know what you showed is just a basic blueprint.
The borders of the map are usually the lowest elevation level, if its space you leave it like that, if its a jungle tile set you add some trees and/or ruins/rocks or a mix of those, maybe water if you want. And if its a urban tile set you can place some buildings like the Korhal buildings.
To upload go to File>Publish, log on to your Bnet account and publish the map under the Locked option.
Try to finish the map up more and show it with the main bases as well, maybe it will give us some more ideas.
0
Did some small edits to the map.
Moved the Xel'naga towers, they are now out of the park but provide a lot more overall vision and almost none wasted on the water. Widened the bottom ramp leading to the main, it kind of ruins the look of it but its the best way to fix the problem, top ramp is still narrow which helps walling.
The changes now require a new screenshot of the map. http://i745.photobucket.com/albums/xx92/victoralexandru13/Starcraft%202/ImperialPark-summary1-1.png
0
Ok, I'll re-work the bot left and top right corners.
Edit: I added some small parks to the top right and bot left corners, widened the ramps leading to the natural and removed a bridge doodad that was causing a small bug. Still reluctant to change the main ramp since then it will be way wider then usual ramps leading into mains.
0
I positioned the mineral lines in the mains to fit snugly right besides the roads, though in retrospect they would be better in the corners, right on the roads. I'll probably correct this in a later version of the map, I'll still want more feedback before I widen the ramps leading to the main.
0
Thanks for the feedback.
Well, my line of thinking was that, with the ramp of the main being so skinny and long the ramp at the natural should be very wide. The ramps from the main to the exterior are as wide as the ones on Metalopolis, I just didn't take into account the extra level of elevation. I'll wait for some more feedback before I change the ramps, if needed I'll make the ramp connecting the main to the natural wider as well as widening the ramp leading to the exit.
I'd also like to know your opinion on the layout of the bases, the chokes, as well as the overall looks of the map, is it beautiful, is it ugly etc.
0
This is one of my first maps, I drew inspiration for it from a number of different sources and also applied my own idea of balancing and fair trade to it.
Description A medium size 1 vs 1 map, players start in opposing corners of the map, the main is on the highest field and has two ramps, the exist ramp and the ramp leading to the natural. The natural is connected to the main by a small ramp and also has a wide exit ramp blocked by destructible rocks. The 3rd is close to the natural. The middle of the map presents the shortest attack path and has two gold bases blocked by rocks and contains the two Xel'naga towers.
Comments/Inspiration The theme of the map was inspired by New York's Grand Central Park and so the map was build as such, with the park in the middle and the urban landscape surrounding that. Functionally the map was inspired by Xel'naga cavers, however I wanted the natural and 3rd to be a bit easier to secure, the rush distance to be a bit longer and to inspire more macro play.
The idea is that the center of the map should present the shortest attack path however it should feel like it has many chokes while the sides of the map should be a bit more open to encourage fast flanks. So far I've uploaded the map on the EU server and you can find it by the name Imperial Park.
Screenshots
http://i745.photobucket.com/albums/xx92/victoralexandru13/Starcraft%202/ImperialPark.jpg http://i745.photobucket.com/albums/xx92/victoralexandru13/Starcraft%202/ImperialPark-summary.png