wrl Profile Joined April 2011 United States 209 Posts Last Edited: 2012-01-21 23:01:32 #1



TPW Alder Terrace v1.2

by wrl



Overview (click for big):





Analyzer:

+ Show Spoiler + Note that the highground pathing is buggy on the analyzer but is fine in game. Also the range on the towers is not accurate to the true in game range.







Changelog v1.2:

- Entrance to vertical third adjusted, now slightly harder to choke.

- Additional texturing and aesthetic updates.



Introduction:

This map is the summation of about 10 failed layouts. The original concept was the two bridges in mid that make the center very narrow with two paths along the outside that are very wide. I went through quite a few different applications of this idea that all had fatal flaws and finally ended up here. The way the towers work now they only provide vision of the closest bridge and vision can be avoided by using the outside paths.



The next goal was to provide legit options for your third depending on the matchup and your strategy. The vertical third can be walled easily in combination with the rocks and units will be forced to get vision past the LOS to bust it. The horizontal third is slightly farther from your opponent, but has a split entrance and can be warped into from above.



The end result is a map that requires a lot of map awareness and benefits the player who can gain map control which will hopefully be earned by aggression and air play.



Information:

Uploaded to: NA, EU (I believe, if not now it will be soon)

Players: 2

Playable size: 115x154

Bases: 10m2g and two 6m1RichGeyser

Xel'Naga Towers: 2

Rush distance: 144 Nat 2 Nat (Keep in mind thats not too high compared to some 4p cross-positions or Daybreak)

Tileset: Haven, Xil, Monlyth, Tyrador, Custom



Detail Shots:

+ Show Spoiler +











Tower range:



Tower range: TPW Alder Terrace v1.2by wrlOverview (click for big):Analyzer:Changelog v1.2:- Entrance to vertical third adjusted, now slightly harder to choke.- Additional texturing and aesthetic updates.Introduction:This map is the summation of about 10 failed layouts. The original concept was the two bridges in mid that make the center very narrow with two paths along the outside that are very wide. I went through quite a few different applications of this idea that all had fatal flaws and finally ended up here. The way the towers work now they only provide vision of the closest bridge and vision can be avoided by using the outside paths.The next goal was to provide legit options for your third depending on the matchup and your strategy. The vertical third can be walled easily in combination with the rocks and units will be forced to get vision past the LOS to bust it. The horizontal third is slightly farther from your opponent, but has a split entrance and can be warped into from above.The end result is a map that requires a lot of map awareness and benefits the player who can gain map control which will hopefully be earned by aggression and air play.Information:Uploaded to: NA, EU (I believe, if not now it will be soon)Players: 2Playable size: 115x154Bases: 10m2g and two 6m1RichGeyserXel'Naga Towers: 2Rush distance: 144 Nat 2 Nat (Keep in mind thats not too high compared to some 4p cross-positions or Daybreak)Tileset: Haven, Xil, Monlyth, Tyrador, CustomDetail Shots: It's funny; I dream a lot, but I'm not a very good sleeper.

WniO Profile Blog Joined April 2010 United States 2704 Posts #2 i want detail shots! but... isnt this like the 7th destinationesque map thats come out recently?

dezi Profile Blog Joined April 2010 Germany 1477 Posts #3 Bridges alone don't turn a map into Destination. I don't see much similarities. Whole nat etc. setup is way different and the mid looks quite interesting TPW Member | My Maps @ TL: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=171486 | Search 'dezi' at EU

wrl Profile Joined April 2011 United States 209 Posts #4 On January 18 2012 05:04 WniO wrote:

i want detail shots! but... isnt this like the 7th destinationesque map thats come out recently?



I'll try and post more, the editor doesn't give the right lighting so I have to grab them from in game which can be a little bit awkward.



As far as being like destination, the only thing in common is the bridges, right? The concept started off looking like this:





They just evolved into being shorter bridges in later layouts. I'll try and post more, the editor doesn't give the right lighting so I have to grab them from in game which can be a little bit awkward.As far as being like destination, the only thing in common is the bridges, right? The concept started off looking like this:They just evolved into being shorter bridges in later layouts. It's funny; I dream a lot, but I'm not a very good sleeper.

Timetwister22 Profile Joined March 2011 United States 538 Posts #5 As a protoss player I'll gladly take the nearly free third, but I'm sure zerg players won't be too happy about that... Former ESV Mapmaker | @Timetwister22

wrl Profile Joined April 2011 United States 209 Posts #6 On January 18 2012 05:15 Timetwister22 wrote:

As a protoss player I'll gladly take the nearly free third, but I'm sure zerg players won't be too happy about that...

Ya, it will require some testing. Only requires two gateways to block off atm, but one thing Zerg can do is put an overlord on that high ground and attack over hte LOS with Roaches safely away from the toss.



Given the shape of the high ground I can adjust the width of that choke fairly easily after we get some good playtesting in. Ya, it will require some testing. Only requires two gateways to block off atm, but one thing Zerg can do is put an overlord on that high ground and attack over hte LOS with Roaches safely away from the toss.Given the shape of the high ground I can adjust the width of that choke fairly easily after we get some good playtesting in. It's funny; I dream a lot, but I'm not a very good sleeper.

AdrianHealey Profile Joined January 2011 Belgium 480 Posts #7 I would wall the choke at the 'free third' with 3 set of rocks, thereby causing that initially it is the narrow choke it is now, but later in the game (if the rocks are taken down) the gap becomes bigger and bigger. Should cause some interesting play, no? I love.

EatThePath Profile Blog Joined September 2009 United States 3939 Posts #8 Excellent, excellent center bases and terrain. ;D



You might even make that single geyser high yield to reward holding it and make it more than a consolation/staging ground base, but w/e.



Imo the placement of the 3rd is fine, but it's too easy to wall. The choke itself looks like you could close it with 3 forcefields against roaches (on top of the LosB). I would take out the dRocks and rearrange the LosB. To me, this looks like a perfect opportunity to use a LosB jungle as opposed to clean line. Scatter them around to prevent building a wall in the narrowest part of the choke, so that it requires at least 4 3x3 to wall off completely. And have the clump extend a few squares into the middle. This would make air vision really important over the LosB thicket for both attack and defense of the 3rd, a dynamic we haven't seen yet in a successful competitive map.



Also note that colossus/stalker/sentry in PvZ is so much stronger when you can move across the map through ramps and chokes and hit a zerg 3rd that is easily FF'd. But I suppose zerg would probably take the clockwise 3rd anyway.



This map has really excellent route options. Nice work. Comprehensive strategic intention: DNE

InsidiA Profile Blog Joined August 2011 Canada 1167 Posts #9 I feel the 3rd is way too easy to take and will make it imbalanced for anything vs Zerg. I guess the argument is that a possible 4th is pretty easy but the choke leading into the 3rd should be much better cause right now it can simply be walled off with relative ease and any race can take quite a quick 3rd safely. And as EatThePath said i'm guessing that Zerg players will take the "4th" instead of the 3rd because of how chokey it is (easy FFs).



However i like the pathing in the middle of the map, and it looks really interesting tbh. Graphics InsidiA | StarCraft 2 Manager for Team eLevate | Graphic Designer for Red Bull eSports & HTC | @iamjasonpun

wrl Profile Joined April 2011 United States 209 Posts #10 One thing to note about the choice of thirds. If you go horizontal (which zerg will do most of the time) there is less ground to cover when you take a fourth which could be an issue if you are concerned about a high mobility zerg army doing two-pronged attacks.



Again, balancing out those thirds will clearly be a to-do. I'm going to roll with it the way it is for now. We haven't had a ZvP tested on it yet.



Also, EatThePath, the single gas base IS a HY! In-game it is a lot more obvious, I will take a ss soon. It's funny; I dream a lot, but I'm not a very good sleeper.

RumbleBadger Profile Joined July 2011 322 Posts #11 Something bothers me a little about the high ground 2 gas bases in the 4/10 o'clock positions... I can't quite pinpoint it, it just seems that the base interacts very weirdly with it's surroundings. Maybe the pathing up to the central bases is too tight for my tastes or something... Sorry I'm not being really clear, I just can't even figure out what is actually bothering me, so it's hard for me to be specific.



Otherwise, great map! It's fairly standard and sometimes seems a bit formulaic, but overall quite nice. Well done indeed. And also the aesthetics seem to have a very nice feel. Definitely good work on those. I'll admit there are probably some issues with the third and such, but you seem to be aware of those and working to make it better, so good luck! And great work! Games before dames.

Mikelius Profile Joined September 2010 Germany 517 Posts #12 Kinda reminds me of BW maps, but I can't quite put my finger on it... Less QQ, more PewPew

Ragoo Profile Joined March 2010 Germany 2423 Posts #13 On January 18 2012 07:55 Mikelius wrote:

Kinda reminds me of BW maps, but I can't quite put my finger on it...



Probably because this - as many other new 2p maps too - doesn't have Circle syndrome and is not a square , both of which we did a lot in the past and which we didn't see in BW. Probably because this - as many other new 2p maps too - doesn't have Circle syndrome and is not a square , both of which we did a lot in the past and which we didn't see in BW. Member of TPW mapmaking team/// twitter.com/Ragoo_ /// "goody represents border between explainable reason and supernatural" Cloud

a176 Profile Blog Joined August 2009 Canada 6685 Posts Last Edited: 2012-01-18 01:01:09 #14 really like it.



question: have you tested the rich geyser? last time i used one (accidentally) it completely fucked up worker pathing. i dont know if blizzard has fixed it.



also have to admit, im not sure about the lighting. seems too bright(?), harsh(?), not sure of the word im looking for. starleague forever

wrl Profile Joined April 2011 United States 209 Posts Last Edited: 2012-01-18 15:44:55 #15 On January 18 2012 09:58 a176 wrote:

really like it.



question: have you tested the rich geyser? last time i used one (accidentally) it completely fucked up worker pathing. i dont know if blizzard has fixed it.



also have to admit, im not sure about the lighting. seems too bright(?), harsh(?), not sure of the word im looking for.



Ill be sure to take a look at the footprint. The lighting was intended to look more realistic than the standard lighting but the result might be too high contrast.



Many changes in the works. Updates later this week I hope.



I think the HY Gas bug you might be thinking of is that people sometimes use doodads to distinguish HY Gas from normal gas and those doodads can sometimes block assimilator placemint or movement around the geyser. I'm currently also looking for a better way to distinguish the HY geyser from the surroundings. Ill be sure to take a look at the footprint. The lighting was intended to look more realistic than the standard lighting but the result might be too high contrast.Many changes in the works. Updates later this week I hope.I think the HY Gas bug you might be thinking of is that people sometimes use doodads to distinguish HY Gas from normal gas and those doodads can sometimes block assimilator placemint or movement around the geyser. I'm currently also looking for a better way to distinguish the HY geyser from the surroundings. It's funny; I dream a lot, but I'm not a very good sleeper.

a176 Profile Blog Joined August 2009 Canada 6685 Posts #16 what happened was, i placed a HY geyser on a map accidentally instead of the normal geyser. when i went to go test the map, my workers would take all kinds of retarded routes to get back and forth between the geyser and base. so you might just want to quickly test that. starleague forever

Dudemeister Profile Joined July 2010 Sweden 305 Posts #17 it's so beautiful i want to cry

Meltage Profile Joined October 2010 Germany 613 Posts Last Edited: 2012-01-18 18:34:24 #18 On January 18 2012 10:24 wrl wrote:

I'm currently also looking for a better way to distinguish the HY geyser from the surroundings.



doodad green omni light height: 1, yo? doodad green omni light height: 1, yo? http://mentalbalans.se/aggedesign

wrl Profile Joined April 2011 United States 209 Posts #19 On January 19 2012 03:34 Meltage wrote:

Show nested quote +

On January 18 2012 10:24 wrl wrote:

I'm currently also looking for a better way to distinguish the HY geyser from the surroundings.



doodad green omni light height: 1, yo? doodad green omni light height: 1, yo?



Thats what is in the published version of the map, but it doesn't look right with the daytime lighting on the map currently. Thats what is in the published version of the map, but it doesn't look right with the daytime lighting on the map currently. It's funny; I dream a lot, but I'm not a very good sleeper.

wrl Profile Joined April 2011 United States 209 Posts #20 v1.2 now available on NA and EU.



Small adjustments across the map including opening up the entrance to the veritcal third expansion. It's funny; I dream a lot, but I'm not a very good sleeper.

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