Neither; which is why I asked. Traysent had asked me to play it and give him my impressions on how good the tutorial was and how intuitive the interface is; and sent him an email with my feedback. He never said if he was going to forward it to you or not, which is why I asked.
I'm presuming not; I didn't have much to say but here's what it was:
Few notes on the tutorial: I got stuck the first time I had to dig a 3x3 room because I didn't notice the highlighted area and thought you could dig any 3x3 room.
Sometimes I would achieve a tutorial objective before I finished reading the tip at the top right; and wished I could open it again. (As they appeared to permanently disappear after you accomplished them) The only time I can remember this being an issue is I accidentally slapped my queen just as the tip came up, and I never was able to read or figure out what slapping did. Otherwise, tutorial seemed fine.
The game worked smoothly, no troubles figuring out how to play it. I won my first game fine.
Few things I noticed; the key for slapping a unit is the same one you'll use if you're dropping units from your keeper's hand. So often times if I picked up 6 Zerglings and started dropping them, I'd also accidentally slap a few of them once I dropped them all.
Secondly, I got alerts for units being hungry and sleepy which confused me - I had available nests and plenty of food, and dropping the units nearby didn't fix it either. Maybe the alerts just don't go away even after you get them food and rest?
That's all, otherwise I found it pretty easy to learn and play.
Congrats. I tried it once before a long time ago; but I tried it again just prior to it being featured - it's much improved now, I found it easier to figure out and play.
On that note, did the feedback I sent ever get to you? It crashed my first game playing it and I had a little bit of feedback about the interface and tutorial.
@TheSkunk2: Go Sounds pretty interesting. Hope that "protecting the center of the map" doesn't mean "camp in a specific spot there and Roaches will never/barely be able to access it", doubt it will though, considering the fast-paced/chase-y nature of the game. Would like to try it out once it's finished.
This was a big hurdle to overcome in the design; but I think I've finally made it work.
Roaches and Predators are in a 3-2 ratio; max being 6vs4. There are four separate resource dispensers spaced a fair amount apart in the center of the map.
The Predators can't really cover all of them, and if they try too then they wont be able to go hunt down the Roaches and kill the bases they make, and the Roaches can just get their mineral count from harvesting off the map instead of the resource bonuses at the middle. Both teams have to strike a balance between the two.
I've almost got it at a place I'm happy with it, but it's a relatively simple map. My main problem right now is just that the only victory conditions for Predators is to last 15 minutes without the Roaches getting enough minerals which seems a little lackluster - but gameplay wise, it works.
Working on a tag-style map focusing on constant action - you're always being chased (or chasing) and having really close calls.
As the Roach being chased by Predators, you leave a scent trail behind you that can be visibly followed. The predators have a sniff ability that points them towards the closest scent trail. This ensures Predators are never far off from finding you, so you have to constantly be moving.
You have to use teamwork with your fellow Roaches to distract the predators while the other Roaches harvest enough minerals to achieve victory. Similarly, as a Predator you have to use teamwork and split tasks - one predator should try to chase and kill Roaches (doing so gives you money for traps and wards as well as reduces their current mineral count towards victory) while another should hunt for nests that are gathering minerals, and another should be protecting the center of the map where bonus minerals can be found.
For the actual chasing, each side has a number of abilities and map elements to help them get away from or catch each other. You have to control your character very carefully and intensely.
declaring that you don't want adds on it is weird.. add revenues is normal (for your work).. one can pay 5 bucks a year to not have them or enjoy free with adds ... do as you like, but do eat more you seem famished (joke, but only the famish part, not the put adds on (tasteful is better than distasteful but that s detail))
My partner is the one who said he planned it to be ad-free, and he's the one paying for server hosting at the moment; so his choice.
"my personal pet peeve is the hosting part of it all .. i would therefore suggest you not omit a hoster part to it, whatever the way you do it"
"(not to say that they are always perfect or even nice for some, however some players are on as much as they can and try to get beginners to have fun and better understand a particular mod/map, or make great community (that particular map's community) "mover" .. they will / can have insight on good lobby practices, game mechanics from player pov rather than mapmaker.. etc) ... this is the missing link between mapmakers and players and it has not really been done properly anywhere (here, tl etc) .. so at least on that you have your work cut out for you"
I'm sorry, I don't entire understand what you mean here.
"do you play arcade maps yourself?"
Of course - I both make and play Arcades. If you've noticed, I have 150 posts here and I've been a member since 2010. I'm a mod for a recently created Arcade subreddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/SCArcade/ and I try to participate in and host the Battle.net forums Arcade Nights: http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/forum/topic/9552275137 as often as I can. (Which isn't always possible, as the current schedule for Arcade Nights conflicts with my schedule)
By the way, any of you have name suggestions? We haven't got much yet, except for something like the ArcadeRoom or something similar.
So far we've only got one loose suggestion as to what we should name it:
"I'd try to think of the arcade as a place that anyone can come and play at, even if you have no interest in StarCraft or even Blizzard. Just like a real arcade.
(moment of silence for arcades)"
Sounds like a good idea. I agree that mapster doesn't look inviting for the players who never touched the editor, this is definitely a site for map makers, not arcade players. As previous posters said, you should focus on things the arcade system doesn't provide. Allow the author and the player base to go on a deeper discussion about the map. Separate pages for patch notes, bug report, suggestions would be awesome.
But I only see such a site being successful if it can maintain a large community, both of map makers and players, and I'm not sure it is still possible considering how many people already left.
The both of us agree that the site will probably only be successful if it can get a large community; and we know that won't be an easy thing to do. That's part of the reason I've been asking around about it - we wanted to see how much interest there is for this kind of a website from map makers. The current mapping communities will have to like the idea for it to have even a chance of getting off the ground.
Thanks for the feedback, OutsiderXE and Stealthytoast.
The Blizzposts site is excellent, I use it all the time! If the Arcade Site has the same quality and gets some advertisement I could see a bright future for it! :)
The only challenge I personally see is making it different from the default, ingame Arcade. Dont try to clone the already existing mechanisms ingame, but try to find missing features and get them into the website. Concentrate on feedback/discussion about maps and showing less known games. Try to bring modding closer to the SC2-Community, maybe include more information about the mods creators as well. Also make sure to include "Play" buttons which allow you to join maps directly from the website, to create a closer connection to the game.
Glad to hear you like Blizzposts!
As to your remark about the "play" buttons, we're planning to make use of the linking feature to have links to the maps like starcraft://map/2/155767 on the map's page. If you click these links, they should open up the map page in SC2. Some websites don't treat them as links, but if you paste it into your browsers address bar you should see what I mean. I think that's about as close to your suggestion as we can get.
Me and my friend have been considering making an Arcade-focused website. What would you like to see out of such a website?
I just want to say first off that we're not trying to replace SC2mapster. We think SC2mapster is great for mapping tutorials and resources, so we were thinking of focusing this site on discussing, sharing, and finding Arcade maps. To put it simply, SC2mapster is for the map makers and our site would be more for map players.
We have some ideas, but we were wondering what the community would like to see out of an Arcade website.
The kind of website we have in mind would be like an extension of the in-game map info page with more utility and the convenience of allowing people to look at all of that information without firing up the game. The primary purpose of the website would be sharing and reviewing maps easily - it would let the map maker have a very clean and visual way to share his map to anyone on the internet in one central location and get in-depth reviews and feedback, but it would also be (more significantly) a way for players to find new maps they might like to play - something we feel is a weakness of the in-game Arcade.
In some ways, it would be similar to the Arcade's interface - screenshots, ratings, reviews, description, how-to-play, and so on - but the overlap would not make it useless or redundant since it has the added convenience of being a web page.
Some ways it would have more functionality as well. Unlike the in-game review system, there would be no character limit and you could give star-reviews for different categories like bugs, graphics, gameplay and so on instead of just 1-5 star rating. It would also allow the map maker and other commentators to reply to reviews, unlike the in-game system. It would also focus keeping the first few reviews from being the only ones that are seen.
Aside from allowing users to easily share their map in a central location online and gather feedback in an easier way, this would be focused on exposing new maps for you to try that you might not be able to find in the in-game interface. We would create blog posts featuring various maps and reviews and perhaps video reviews of maps to try. In addition to this, the reviews system would allow you to get a good idea for what a map is like before you try it. And if you find a reviewer with similar tastes to you, you can check their review history and see what other maps they reviewed highly that you might like.
But this is our ideas and speculation. We really want to know what YOU like to see out of a website dedicated to the Arcade.
I have to agree, the quality of voice acting seemed to be behind the rest of the production quality - a complement to the quality of the cinematic (or trailer, I should say) of course!
Does not bode well. So much would be lost if this site died.
At the same time; the site has its flaws and I wouldn't feel terrible about moving on to a new, better site if only all of the content and info weren't lost forever.
Interesting data. In general I've found that people say a review is helpful if they agree with it, and not if its actually a good review. As a result of this, most "helpful" reviews are just positive reviews if the map is played a lot. Thats why I don't think the data, while differing from straight-up ratings, is really any better.
While I think what you did is cool, I'm not sure what the point is. (Besides the fact that its fun to mess around with data) I don't think anyone thought that the review\rating system would cause "good" maps to have a better rating then "bad" maps - these maps were popular for a reason. People like them, even if they suck, and people review maps they like highly, even if they suck. I don't think you'll be able to manipulate the data to better reflect the quality no matter what you do, sadly.
Do you generally work by sending the map file itself back in forth? Is there any way for two people to work on different parts of the map, and then merge them together? Or is it possible; but just too much bother to be worth it?
I've always been interested about how teams work on maps together as well; but I always got the impression they usually didn't just send the entire map file back and forth in emails. I suppose everybody does it a different way.
"This map rivals train simulator 2012 in greatness.
Be sure to pick a good name"
Truth. I don't mean this in a bad way, but choosing your name can be one of the funnest parts of mafia. (Not just for me - I know some other people who really get a kick out of it too)
To be honest, I don't expect them to answer a bunch of good questions at once. All this means is that they can post on the forums on their off-time, if they want to - so just expect them to post about as much as the other blues do. (Only in this case, there is 6 of them for only 1 part of the forum)
Same goes for the quality of the posts. The majority of them may be things people here know, but over time we might be able to eek valuable bits of information out of them bit by bit.
Since it isn't an official Q&A or anything (just introducing them to the forums) I didn't really expect them to spam posts instantly. That thread wasn't even meant for posting questions really; it was just the welcome thread.
0
Neither; which is why I asked. Traysent had asked me to play it and give him my impressions on how good the tutorial was and how intuitive the interface is; and sent him an email with my feedback. He never said if he was going to forward it to you or not, which is why I asked.
I'm presuming not; I didn't have much to say but here's what it was:
Few notes on the tutorial: I got stuck the first time I had to dig a 3x3 room because I didn't notice the highlighted area and thought you could dig any 3x3 room.
Sometimes I would achieve a tutorial objective before I finished reading the tip at the top right; and wished I could open it again. (As they appeared to permanently disappear after you accomplished them) The only time I can remember this being an issue is I accidentally slapped my queen just as the tip came up, and I never was able to read or figure out what slapping did. Otherwise, tutorial seemed fine.
The game worked smoothly, no troubles figuring out how to play it. I won my first game fine.
Few things I noticed; the key for slapping a unit is the same one you'll use if you're dropping units from your keeper's hand. So often times if I picked up 6 Zerglings and started dropping them, I'd also accidentally slap a few of them once I dropped them all.
Secondly, I got alerts for units being hungry and sleepy which confused me - I had available nests and plenty of food, and dropping the units nearby didn't fix it either. Maybe the alerts just don't go away even after you get them food and rest?
That's all, otherwise I found it pretty easy to learn and play.
0
Congrats. I tried it once before a long time ago; but I tried it again just prior to it being featured - it's much improved now, I found it easier to figure out and play.
On that note, did the feedback I sent ever get to you? It crashed my first game playing it and I had a little bit of feedback about the interface and tutorial.
0
This was a big hurdle to overcome in the design; but I think I've finally made it work.
Roaches and Predators are in a 3-2 ratio; max being 6vs4. There are four separate resource dispensers spaced a fair amount apart in the center of the map.
The Predators can't really cover all of them, and if they try too then they wont be able to go hunt down the Roaches and kill the bases they make, and the Roaches can just get their mineral count from harvesting off the map instead of the resource bonuses at the middle. Both teams have to strike a balance between the two.
I've almost got it at a place I'm happy with it, but it's a relatively simple map. My main problem right now is just that the only victory conditions for Predators is to last 15 minutes without the Roaches getting enough minerals which seems a little lackluster - but gameplay wise, it works.
0
Working on a tag-style map focusing on constant action - you're always being chased (or chasing) and having really close calls.
As the Roach being chased by Predators, you leave a scent trail behind you that can be visibly followed. The predators have a sniff ability that points them towards the closest scent trail. This ensures Predators are never far off from finding you, so you have to constantly be moving.
You have to use teamwork with your fellow Roaches to distract the predators while the other Roaches harvest enough minerals to achieve victory. Similarly, as a Predator you have to use teamwork and split tasks - one predator should try to chase and kill Roaches (doing so gives you money for traps and wards as well as reduces their current mineral count towards victory) while another should hunt for nests that are gathering minerals, and another should be protecting the center of the map where bonus minerals can be found.
For the actual chasing, each side has a number of abilities and map elements to help them get away from or catch each other. You have to control your character very carefully and intensely.
0
My partner is the one who said he planned it to be ad-free, and he's the one paying for server hosting at the moment; so his choice.
"my personal pet peeve is the hosting part of it all .. i would therefore suggest you not omit a hoster part to it, whatever the way you do it"
"(not to say that they are always perfect or even nice for some, however some players are on as much as they can and try to get beginners to have fun and better understand a particular mod/map, or make great community (that particular map's community) "mover" .. they will / can have insight on good lobby practices, game mechanics from player pov rather than mapmaker.. etc) ... this is the missing link between mapmakers and players and it has not really been done properly anywhere (here, tl etc) .. so at least on that you have your work cut out for you"
I'm sorry, I don't entire understand what you mean here.
"do you play arcade maps yourself?"
Of course - I both make and play Arcades. If you've noticed, I have 150 posts here and I've been a member since 2010. I'm a mod for a recently created Arcade subreddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/SCArcade/ and I try to participate in and host the Battle.net forums Arcade Nights: http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/forum/topic/9552275137 as often as I can. (Which isn't always possible, as the current schedule for Arcade Nights conflicts with my schedule)
Thanks for your thoughts, houndofbaskerville!
0
By the way, any of you have name suggestions? We haven't got much yet, except for something like the ArcadeRoom or something similar.
So far we've only got one loose suggestion as to what we should name it:
"I'd try to think of the arcade as a place that anyone can come and play at, even if you have no interest in StarCraft or even Blizzard. Just like a real arcade. (moment of silence for arcades)"
Which I think is an interesting take.
The both of us agree that the site will probably only be successful if it can get a large community; and we know that won't be an easy thing to do. That's part of the reason I've been asking around about it - we wanted to see how much interest there is for this kind of a website from map makers. The current mapping communities will have to like the idea for it to have even a chance of getting off the ground.
Thanks for the feedback, OutsiderXE and Stealthytoast.
0
Glad to hear you like Blizzposts!
As to your remark about the "play" buttons, we're planning to make use of the linking feature to have links to the maps like starcraft://map/2/155767 on the map's page. If you click these links, they should open up the map page in SC2. Some websites don't treat them as links, but if you paste it into your browsers address bar you should see what I mean. I think that's about as close to your suggestion as we can get.
0
I talked to my partner about it and it sounds like we plan to keep the website ad-free.
For the curious, here is a website we made previously: http://www.blizzposts.com/tracker/all/en but hopefully we've improved since. :)
Thanks for the feedback so far!
0
Me and my friend have been considering making an Arcade-focused website. What would you like to see out of such a website?
I just want to say first off that we're not trying to replace SC2mapster. We think SC2mapster is great for mapping tutorials and resources, so we were thinking of focusing this site on discussing, sharing, and finding Arcade maps. To put it simply, SC2mapster is for the map makers and our site would be more for map players.
We have some ideas, but we were wondering what the community would like to see out of an Arcade website.
The kind of website we have in mind would be like an extension of the in-game map info page with more utility and the convenience of allowing people to look at all of that information without firing up the game. The primary purpose of the website would be sharing and reviewing maps easily - it would let the map maker have a very clean and visual way to share his map to anyone on the internet in one central location and get in-depth reviews and feedback, but it would also be (more significantly) a way for players to find new maps they might like to play - something we feel is a weakness of the in-game Arcade.
In some ways, it would be similar to the Arcade's interface - screenshots, ratings, reviews, description, how-to-play, and so on - but the overlap would not make it useless or redundant since it has the added convenience of being a web page.
Some ways it would have more functionality as well. Unlike the in-game review system, there would be no character limit and you could give star-reviews for different categories like bugs, graphics, gameplay and so on instead of just 1-5 star rating. It would also allow the map maker and other commentators to reply to reviews, unlike the in-game system. It would also focus keeping the first few reviews from being the only ones that are seen.
Aside from allowing users to easily share their map in a central location online and gather feedback in an easier way, this would be focused on exposing new maps for you to try that you might not be able to find in the in-game interface. We would create blog posts featuring various maps and reviews and perhaps video reviews of maps to try. In addition to this, the reviews system would allow you to get a good idea for what a map is like before you try it. And if you find a reviewer with similar tastes to you, you can check their review history and see what other maps they reviewed highly that you might like.
But this is our ideas and speculation. We really want to know what YOU like to see out of a website dedicated to the Arcade.
0
Well done!
I have to agree, the quality of voice acting seemed to be behind the rest of the production quality - a complement to the quality of the cinematic (or trailer, I should say) of course!
0
Sad news.. =(
Does not bode well. So much would be lost if this site died.
At the same time; the site has its flaws and I wouldn't feel terrible about moving on to a new, better site if only all of the content and info weren't lost forever.
0
Interesting data. In general I've found that people say a review is helpful if they agree with it, and not if its actually a good review. As a result of this, most "helpful" reviews are just positive reviews if the map is played a lot. Thats why I don't think the data, while differing from straight-up ratings, is really any better.
While I think what you did is cool, I'm not sure what the point is. (Besides the fact that its fun to mess around with data) I don't think anyone thought that the review\rating system would cause "good" maps to have a better rating then "bad" maps - these maps were popular for a reason. People like them, even if they suck, and people review maps they like highly, even if they suck. I don't think you'll be able to manipulate the data to better reflect the quality no matter what you do, sadly.
0
Do you generally work by sending the map file itself back in forth? Is there any way for two people to work on different parts of the map, and then merge them together? Or is it possible; but just too much bother to be worth it?
I've always been interested about how teams work on maps together as well; but I always got the impression they usually didn't just send the entire map file back and forth in emails. I suppose everybody does it a different way.
0
"This map rivals train simulator 2012 in greatness.
Be sure to pick a good name"
Truth. I don't mean this in a bad way, but choosing your name can be one of the funnest parts of mafia. (Not just for me - I know some other people who really get a kick out of it too)
0
To be honest, I don't expect them to answer a bunch of good questions at once. All this means is that they can post on the forums on their off-time, if they want to - so just expect them to post about as much as the other blues do. (Only in this case, there is 6 of them for only 1 part of the forum)
Same goes for the quality of the posts. The majority of them may be things people here know, but over time we might be able to eek valuable bits of information out of them bit by bit.
Since it isn't an official Q&A or anything (just introducing them to the forums) I didn't really expect them to spam posts instantly. That thread wasn't even meant for posting questions really; it was just the welcome thread.