Map Review Thread

[B.A.Baracus]

Ok, there’s not a whole lot to explain. Just post a map, finished or not, and I’ll (or anyone who wants to) will review it and give you any suggestions/tips/help you may need on how to improve it.
And lets try to keep flaming to a minimum.

So get posting!

[Hotshot]

It is very unlike me to need feedback with maps, but for this I will make an exception.
This map is just something I whipped up in a couple of hours for fun. I'm happy with the style of gameplay, but not entirely happy with the way I set the layout of the map or its features. Perhaps someone could suggest a better map layout I could use instead. Maybe even a different (more suitable) terrain. If your concept dosen't include areas of water, magma, tar, space, etc. then I may add the Dropship unit as accessable.

Note: Best with 3 Players (for the full experience).

[B.A.Baracus]

O you have to play that with other people, Ill get back to you when I try it.

[LostXT]

what do you guys think?

[LostXT]

woops, forgot to put the replays :P

[Hotshot]

Their pretty good in design and setup. I like 'em. :)

[Aqo]

Both are very good maps, good job.

[EvilEmpire]

O you have to play that with other people, Ill get back to you when I try it.
Why not arrange teams that test maps and report to the map maker (if he's not testing with the team)?
It'll be easy to organise and im shure many ppl would like to sign up!

[Hotshot]

Why not arrange teams that test maps and report to the map maker (if he's not testing with the team)?
It'll be easy to organise and im shure many ppl would like to sign up!
That is a good idea, but it already is pretty much a part of what the guru system is for. Gurus not only solve problems but can also provide suggestions and improvements that might be made.
Moving along, I still need comments on the map I posted.

[GrassDragon]

Merged some threads into here... I like this thread! :P

[U-238]

Hmmm... Thinking must've changed around here since I last tried this idea. :| Anyways my maps are here (http://www.warboards.org/showpost.php?p=310185&postcount=6)

[B.A.Baracus]

woops, forgot to put the replays :P

First whats up Lost and welcome to WarBoards.
Ok CodeBlue: I like it, but I say give the naturals(closest expo to your main) a little more space, they look kinda cramped. Other than that its a great map.
I already reviewed the second one on shakuras, so Ill just say its good.

Hmmm... Thinking must've changed around here since I last tried this idea. :| Anyways my maps are here (http://www.warboards.org/showpost.php?p=310185&postcount=6)
The medow one is cool, but it wont let me open "grand river cayon" is it zipped or something?

[thegr8anand]

i tried all the maps in the thread and they were fun . and not in multiplayer, i tried with comps :P.
also grand canyon worked fine for me.

[B.A.Baracus]

i tried all the maps in the thread and they were fun . and not in multiplayer, i tried with comps :P.
also grand canyon worked fine for me.
Its probebly just zipped then.

Ow and heres a map I made, tell me what Y'all think.

[U-238]

Yea it's protected and will stay that way. GRC was the one that I tried to put on SC.org but it came out corrupt :(. Medowlands is in stage .953 Beta 2 and I'll protect it and post it up on SC.org too someday. (Provided that it doesn't come out corrupt also)

also it's spelt probably

[Hotshot]

i tried all the maps in the thread and they were fun . and not in multiplayer, i tried with comps :P.
Then you wouldn't have tried my map as it is UMS and has no computer opponents, only playable with human opponents.
... unless you were talking about the maps in U-238's thread, lol. My bad... :concern:

Well I've decide that I may as well share every map that I have made so far for Starcraft (excluding my Campaigns) just for the heck of it. So here they all are. Have fun!
Not expecting comments, just feedback on the layout of the '(3)Infantry Assault.scx' map that I posted earlier (which can also be found below).

EDIT: Moved my list of maps here.
http://www.warboards.org/showthread.php?t=17290

And to save time, if you want to try most/all of them, you can get the whole lot >>> HERE (http://www.geocities.com/hotshots_supply_depo/All_Maps.zip) <<<

[viper_Z]

the map is for B. A. Baracus:) and the picture is for anyone.:o

anyone can have the map but i just wanted to make a crazy map with everything in it. but it doesn,t work.

[viper_Z]

the map is for B. A. Baracus:) and the picture is for anyone.:o

anyone can have the map but i just wanted to make a crazy map with everything in it. but it doesn,t work.
here is more maps.

[EvilEmpire]

heres a map I made, tell me what Y'all think.
Great map, B.A.' How about testing it with a humble noob* like me some time in the future at USWest??? (my acc is PX_B-Real already played with me)

*I would rather say newbie but im not new to the game, i just suck

[B.A.Baracus]

Great map, B.A.' How about testing it with a humble noob* like me some time in the future at USWest??? (my acc is PX_B-Real already played with me)

*I would rather say newbie but im not new to the game, i just suck

You beat me!:P Anyway I hear everyones comeing to the org network channel on east today, just meet me there.

[GrassDragon]

I made this map to practice micro with defilers. It's basically an open top and bottom area with a choke between them and a section in the top left for spawning units. I'm sure you'll get the idea just from looking at the map, and if you try to play it you'll immediately realize my issue. I'm trying to make all the units in the top left neutral, but they attack me anyway. Help?

[B.A.Baracus]

I dont quite understand the problemo, let me play this first..
Ok, do you want them to just sit there and do nothing, or are they supposed to move and react to triggers?

[U-238]

Here's something I threw together a few days ago. Took me about an hour and it's not done yet so tell me what to fix. (It is locked)

[GrassDragon]

I dont quite understand the problemo, let me play this first..
Ok, do you want them to just sit there and do nothing, or are they supposed to move and react to triggers?
The units in the top left are supposed to sit there and do nothing. They just serve to show where I should move my unit to spawn that specific kind of unit. But even if I give them to a player that is "neutral" he attacks my unit there.

[MidnightGladius]

If you create a unit for a player without a start location, they will be unaffected by triggers and hostile to everyone - zombie units.

Be warned :P

[B.A.Baracus]

Just set the players who you dont want to attack as your allies. And I know that choseing thing your trying to do, I have a few maps where they did that. Ill look up the trigger combo for ya.

[Basan]

If you create a unit for a player without a start location, they will be unaffected by triggers and hostile to everyone - zombie units.

Drats! Foiled again (as in, posted sooner than I). :)

Just set the players who you dont want to attack as your allies. And I know that choseing thing your trying to do, I have a few maps where they did that. Ill look up the trigger combo for ya.

Although this would work, it also needs to have the human player being allied to those neutral units' players, just in case he attacks'em by mistake. As you can see it would be far easier to simply add the start location thingy. ;)

[B.A.Baracus]

Ok neighbor-eenos here is a beta, and I do mean BETA of a map I started working on yesterday. it’s a 2 man ice tile set and this is the first map I’ve ever attempted with such customized terrain.
The bottom left of the map where all the messy mins are is just to give you guys an idea of where the bases will be, and what the opposite side will look like. Now for the fun part, you’ll notice on the bottom left of the map I’ve made 2 modified ramps, and I think they look damn good for someone who’s new at this.
Also check out the middle of the map, I’m planning on making a temple formation with ramps on all sides, similar to “Ride of the Valkiers“.
Now before all you Sisal and Eberts out there jump all over me just remember everything in/on/around the map is in its betas stage. I’m really not looking forward to the hours of work I know the middle of the map will take me, but hey, it will look killer in the end.
So tell me whatever you think about it, anything will help. Tell me if you guys like the ramps:)
Be on the look-out for updates!

EDIT
Ignore the CC's, they are just there for scale.

[U-238]

1st. How does one get ramps like that? I've seen them in maps like gia but have never figured it out and have been too lazy to ask.

2nd Yes the ramp is nice but is too big for any kind of wall. Unless that's the way it's intended to be I'd suggest to make it a litte smaller.

3rd One base has 2 ramps the other has 1.

4th The edges are too smooth. The idea of meele mapmaking is to make everything look natural. Take the No.1 iso and modify the edges between the ice and the snow to make it look better.

Other than that it looks pretty nice.

[Harbinger]

Well, I've never seen anything like it. It looks awesome, so finish it! I wanna play it! :cookie:

[B.A.Baracus]

1st. How does one get ramps like that? I've seen them in maps like gia but have never figured it out and have been too lazy to ask.

2nd Yes the ramp is nice but is too big for any kind of wall. Unless that's the way it's intended to be I'd suggest to make it a litte smaller.

3rd One base has 2 ramps the other has 1.

4th The edges are too smooth. The idea of meele mapmaking is to make everything look natural. Take the No.1 iso and modify the edges between the ice and the snow to make it look better.

Other than that it looks pretty nice.

1: I use starforge and SCdraft, and you gotta do it tile by tile. Its a bitch to make those ramps and stuff look good.

2: I made ramps by the mains wide like that on purpose. The main has a pretty nice choke, but I wanted the natural a little a bit more exposed so terran cant turtle thier expo so easyily.
As for the middle Im planning on making it a gaint 2 story ramp, so its just gonna be like a big hill in the middle of the level. When its totaly done, units will be able to walk right over it like its not even there, but it will be a added bit of strategy because units fighting on top will get the height advantage.

3: Its still a beta:)

4: I did the basic land scape with the standard editor, so thats what ice next to snow normaly looks like. Dont worry though, the doodads will make it look better, but as you probebly already noticed, Im not really going for the natural landscape look in this map. If you like natural looking maps just check out all my other maps, thier all like that:D

Thoz: Thanks! Im going as fast as I can!

[NeoKamui]

I am currently working on a new campaign called ''Dawn Of Chaos'' being some kind of prequel to Silent Warfare (A campaign I released for StarCraft.Org) I've just completed the first map. Mission objectives are simple, move Mayhaus (Kerrigan) To the yellow beacon, but she must go alone, any other unit and the game's over. You only have 20 minutes to complete It. You don't have to play Silent Warfare to understand this campaign.
Give It a try and tell me which way I can make It better.

http://rapidshare.de/files/23097289/_1_01_Conspiracy.scx.html

(I'm new to this forum and I don't know how to attach files to posts or replies)

[Neu(t)ral Damage]

BA I got the (2)Red Ledges update for ya! And there's also the first installment of my new Consider Phlebas Campaign. I want to use tranmissions with .wav sounds eventually, but the dialogue is just plain old text for now.

I also have a question: If the mission briefing that I want is too long for one trigger, can I use another that waits for the first to finish and continues the briefing?

EDIT: I just deleted the second one cuz it was buggy as hell

[MidnightGladius]

They execute in order - that is, the second will only start after the first one completely finishes. No need to put some ridiculous wait in the second one.

[Neu(t)ral Damage]

Ok I revised the Temple of Light, and it's a helluvalot better, but the breifing has me stumped. If anyone feels like it please check it out in StarEdit or something. I laid the triggers out right (I've gone over it like 5 times and I can't figure out what's wrong) but it always skips to the last trigger.

Also, I made attack routes for the allied computer players, but sometimes they will just stop and not attack-move like they were ordered. Can someone figure out why? (B.A.)

Well, at least I got it to the point that it works......it's a little shorter than I expected, but.............it works.

EDIT---This comp won't let me attach it so I'll get it up here soon as I get my mac back.

[CD6405]

Well here is my map it's called 31 Squares Defense and I made it quite a long time ago but never really tested it much (this was due to people not understanding it completely). In the map there are 31 squares, and 30 can be taken control of by taking a room key (civ) and taking over the units inside. It is a unique defense that you would have to see for yourself, any feedback is welcome.

[Neu(t)ral Damage]

woo hoo here it is! BA come quick!

again with the disobedient mission briefing... ...and the disobedient victory triggers... ...and the camping computer... ...please help!

[Hotshot]

Hey BA, you tried out my map yet? It's been ages and still no feedback. :(
It's in the 2nd post.

[bomber7]

(It is locked)
!!!
What protection did you use i want it!

[B.A.Baracus]

Hey BA, you tried out my map yet? It's been ages and still no feedback. :(
It's in the 2nd post.
Wow Im sorry, Ill check it out:)

[Skullflower]

Dont know about mine. it only took me like 30 min. so yeah... its kind of a test map.... ill make a better one cause i'll have nothing to do all summer but this

[Neu(t)ral Damage]

New map out! It's a 2v2 TvB melee on an Ashworld tile. Two players on opposing teams are connected by an S-shape on high dirt and shale, while their teammates each reside below, seperated by the land connection, their only entrance a ramp to the higher ground.. All players start with 9 minerals and one gas and have their own expansions similar to the main. Fairly symmetrical, as I didn't feel like going through that painstakingly tedious process. Works with all versions of SC. Enjoy!

[Neu(t)ral Damage]

And another 2v2 TvB on the Desert. Tricky CC/N/H placement in the center, and 4 resource nodes on the sides, with a couple raised diamonds separating teammates. Only for BW.

You haven't posted here for 10 days. You're slippin', BA :P

[B.A.Baracus]

I would suggest adding more detail, and taking some of those damn mins out the middle, they just get in the way. If its possible try to give the mains more room.
I like it though.

[Garrec]

A long post of map reviews! Some maps are kind of old, so my comments on them won't be as in-depth.

Review of (4)_Cold_Blue_.scx
The top right starting base is missing a mineral field, it only has 7, while all other starting positions have 8. Other than that, the bases look reasonably balanced. Decent terrain work, plenty of space.

Review of Neve.scx
The top left island expansion has an extra mineral field (8) over the opposing player (7).
The high ground expansions don't seem to match up very well between both players as far as symmetry is concerned.

Review of (4)Sonoran_Sands.scx
Good terrain work, sort of reminds me of Lycosidae (maybe just because it's the same tileset, I don't know). The base at the top right of the map has an extra mineral field (with 10), all other bases have 9. There's a section of land that bypasses the expansion choke point to enter directly into the main base. I assume this is intentional, however these passages for the top two bases are narrower than for the bases at the bottom. The base on the top right has the narrowest space out of all of them, but a unit the size of a dragoon can still fit through.

Review of (2)Drifts of Malice.scx
The player on the bottom has 3 gasses, the top only has 2. The bottom base's expansion is also pretty close, so it's gas is almost in reach of the starting command center.

In the middle area, the minerals on the left side has all 3 ramps in close range of the minerals, the other side is a bit more defendable since 2 ramps converge into 1 entrance.

There's a lot of space around the starting bases, looks like harassment and scouting would be a little too easy.

Review of (2)Red_Ledges.scx
Good work on the layout and general terraining, but there's a lot of space between expansions, and the nearest expansions look like they'd be hard to defend against attacks. It's just that the bases look too close for comfort, lacking a choke point to defend from inevitable rushes. I might at least put the starting bases on high ground, since I think a ramp would be much better than a small chokepoint over the same terrain level.

If both players became well established throughout the map, it could provide some interesting battles.

I do like the terrain work, some good detail, but because of the bases, I can't say I like the map.

Review of (2) Ascension.scm
Obviously, this needs a lot of work to finish. I wasn't going to comment since it wasn't completed, but I'll leave tips for how to properly make the mineral fields. The starting points are VERY far away from the minerals. Both bases also need the same amount of minerals. The bottom base has an extra mineral field with 9 while the top base has 8. Other expansions also have issues with imbalanced amounts of minerals.

Also, I'd avoid having mineral fields blocked away behind other mineral fields. An example of this would be the minerals along the rightmost cliff on the bottom of the map. The bottom base also has minerals behind other minerals. While they can be mined, it isn't very efficient for the workers to spend the extra time to get there. This would be acceptable only if the other player had the same issue in his own resource line. The player on the top has minerals in a nice line, but the player on the bottom has 2 mineral fields sticking out the back of the mineral line.

The random clump of minerals along the middle left edge doesn't look very good either. Not only is it a lot of minerals in a small space, but less than half of them can be mined effectively.

Review of (4)Opposing Seats.scm
Looks interesting, I'd fix the minerals on high ground at the top right corner, as they are much more spaced out than the equivalent mineral field on the opposing team's side. This might put the player at a slight mining disadvantage.

I might move the low ground start points closer to their ally's start point. The top one (purple in editor), looks like it's mineral field could be harrassed by an opposing siege tank on the high cliff dividing the map. The other low ground start could suffer from this as well, but probably not as much.

I like the general layout, nice choice of terrain for the middle stretch to prevent too much walling. A little narrow for my taste, but perfectly acceptable.

So in conclusion, looks like a good map, just needs a few little tweaks on mineral positions.

Review of (4)Mosaic.scx
Decent layout... as B.A. said, it could use some detail. I'd suggest maybe a few doodads in the out of the way places. I don't mind the minerals in the center, I'd have to play a few games to decide if they are in the way. Looks like a unique situation with expansions on islands, but a siege drop along the cliff would be very devastating. The choke points into each base look a bit large, but it's up to you as the mapmaker if you want to change them. Seems to me like this map was designed for some very quick games.

An average map, doesn't look as interesting as Opposing Seats.


I'll put up some of my maps later, since this was kind of a long post to make.

[Neu(t)ral Damage]

Yea Mosaic was a very quick thing; extras come later. I think I may retry the idea on a square map.

I fixed the minerals you mentioned and the position of that start location on Opposing Seats. I'll post it in a bit.

I'm working on a natural for Red Ledges. I put the mains on high ground, and made them a lot larger, but I'm not coming uo to any good ideas for the natural. Any suggestions?

[CD6405]

Eh, any feedback on my map from page 4? Anyone? No one? eh.