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| There are currently 2798 maps in the database. There were 41217 comments posted and 3034 replays uploaded. The average rating for all maps is 15,767.9 . | |
5 newest maps: (2)Captured silence (2)Brightwood  (3) Lorencia (0)Custom Jungle Ramps (4)Balanced Bloodbath | 5 newest replays: Active.oOjeff vs dLG)Murmel on (2)Sigma 0.31neobowman vs Toolbox on (2)Yeleneobowman vs Toolbox on (2)YeleHurricane[AoV] vs Wile.E[AoV] on (2)Rhine 1.1G_oUSt[aK] vs nMn on (2)SpiderMonkey |
| MOTM 8-10 | 03/07/2010 08:08 AM |
Posted by:Nightmarjoo  For August 2009's MOTM our winner is Tktkvroom, who I guess by now is an old mapper! Tk has won a couple MOTM/MOTWs in the past, including co-making the previous MOTM (July), but is largely unrepresented in bwm competitions. Well, he apparently got sick of that, and decided to win four MOTMs in a row, here's the second: (2)Sun Shower This two player map is relatively standard, so I'll start with the most unstandard feature. Behind your otherwise normal nat in front of a normal main lies a backdoor closed by a mineral block (I don't know the mineral values). The theme of the map begins here. From your nat you have two paths, one leading over a nastyridge into the center of the map. The center is unremarkable, linear but fairly open. There are no expansions or strategic features in the middle. Following the backdoor path leads you to a fork, with an enlarged ramp leading to the 3rd gas expansion plateau, the other leading along the edge of the map, around the plateau. This path and a default-sized ramp from the plateau lead to a mineral-only expansion. Continuing along this path takes you to a second plateau with the 4th gas expansion. There are large ramps leading into the center from both plateaus. As far as the map itself goes, that's it. Strategically the key to this map is controlling the plateaus. The middle itself has absolutely no value to it at all, a lot of the action is going to revolve around the plateaus and the side paths. The center links the two sides to eachother, and of course represents the main pathing from player to player. The other gameplay feature here lies in some relative flexibility as far as expansions go. Players do not necessarily need to take any expansion in any order. A player taking what I labeled the 3rd gas expo covers the backdoor to his nat, and puts himself in a pretty safe defensive position. From here the player is probably going to attack down the middle, particularly if his opponent also took the 3rd gas expansion. If his opponent took the 4th as his 3rd, the player could push along the side path from his 3rd, taking the min only as he goes. If his opponent took his 3rd gas, the player could push along the side anyway into his opponent's 4th. A player could take the 4th as his 4th, perhaps taking the min only by his own 3rd to defend his 3rd/backdoor from that side. The player could opt instead to wall-off his backdoor and take the 4th as his 3rd, and pressure his opponent along that side. Expoing on this map leaves you fairly vulnerable, which partially is responsible for the flexibility in expoing. There simply is no expansion you naturally take in any order, aside from the natural itself, hence its name. Map Thread Map Download Obs Download In second place was (4)Orchidees Noi by Freakling. Just look at my post about the map when it won 2nd place for July's motm here. And I don't reward 3rd place out of 4 maps, which if you're curious was sty_lezerg-ex's (6)Twin Headed Snake, with 10 points.  For September of 2009, our winner is Tk's third appearance in a row, co-authoring with sty_lezerg-ex to make (4)Broken Wings. This rotationally symmetrical four player map throws the mains in almost the corners of the map. The main itself, aside from being perhaps a little tight/small is standard. The nat deviates from the norm with another backdoor path. This backdoor is more prominent than last month's map. It leads into a cliff that oversees and circumvents the main, leading to a neutral blocking off the ramp to the 3rd gas expansion. The third gas expansion has a nastyridge on its other side leading into the center. The 3rd gas expansion by your own main is not necessarily the expansion you will actually take yourself, and in fact I find that to be unlikely. The 3rd gas expansion near your nat, but by another player's main is probably a safer pick. If your opponent is there, taking that expansion as your 3rd allows you to pressure your opponent. Securing the backdoor is critical for protecting both your nat and your main. In the wasteland of a middle lies a 6-block mineral-only expansion. I don't know when a player would ever take it, probably never unless the game lasts a very long time. This expansion is fairly far from your other bases, doesn't lead into any other expansion and thus has very little if any strategic worth, it has virtually no economic worth, every other expansion both has more minerals and gas. The base is very vulnerable, being in the middle of the map with no choke to defend. I imagine the only reason it's there at all is so you can pretend the middle has something in it. It still in my eyes, does not. A big mass of clutter in the very center linearizes the map needlessly. Gameplay should be pretty basic once you decide which gas expansion to take as your 3rd (your 3rd, another base's 3rd, or another base's main/nat, all of those being viable and/or preferable in some scenario or another). Map Thread Map Download Obs Download In second place we have p4ver's tileset change/bugfix for the former promap (3)Demon's Forest, now titled (3)Demons Shiver. Promaps don't win bwm competitions, nor do tileset changes. In third place we have Excalibur and sWaGu's (4)World Tree, but my understanding is that it is incomplete, and whether it is or isn't, I see no reason to reward a map that lost to a tile-set change.  2009's October is graced again by the dynamic duo that is Tk and sty_lezerg-ex (what a lame name, let's vote on new names for him!), finishing off tk's 4-win motm streak. Apparently these guys became bored with all the standard maps we've had in MOTM lately, and made this map: (2)Flash. The bizarrities begin right off the bat, with two entrances to the main. One is blocked with a stack of 6 neutrals (700 hp each neutral, so 700 splash damage kills the whole stack). Down the middle of the map is a wall which cuts the map into two sections, and the rest of the map is based on this division. In the center of this division is a troygate, which of course can be closed off. Once you close it, there are two neutral-blocked chokes which connect the two areas. And of course, the two areas are connected through your main. On the nat side of the map is a gas expansion on a tiny hill (so tiny that 3 cannot make comsat, and I will never edit this out, shame on you stylezerg/tk!), and past that is a large plateau with another gas expansion. This plateau leads through a backdoor into another gas expansion which lies behind your opponent's main. This expansion is pretty out-of-the-way except for by air/drops, but is easy to defend. Being hard to attack, hard to reinforce, and out of the way, this expansion is likely to play as a semi-island in many situations. A second choke, a bluestorm choke (lets only small units through) leads from that expo into a path which leads along-side the plateau ramp into the middle. Right outside this path is yet another gas expo, this being what you could call the "2nd nat" for your opponent. This expansion is right outside your opponent's 2nd main entrance. Then, in the very middle, on either side of the troy-gate are mineral only expansions you'll never take. These things are actually worse than the ones in Broken Wings, if you can believe that. Think about the expansions I said no one in their right mind would ever take outside of desperation in a very long game, make them shootable from behind, and take away a mineral. They atleast are fairly near other expansions unlike the broken wing min onlys, but there are gas expos with more minerals that are safer to take at the same distance or closer to another gas expo everywhere on the map. I don't understand why these min onlys are in what is already a money-rich map. At anyrate, if you hadn't figured it out already, this map has very complex gameplay. There is a constant dynamic between the two sides. Players can always find a gas expo near another gas expo they already own on either side of the map, so there's a lot of flexibility in where and when players expo. Every expansion has an alternative choice that's just as viable or more viable in any given scenario. Mostly, the gameplay will be determined by how the players choose to use the neutrals. Aggressive players will seek to open up the neutrals quickly, allowing them to pour units all over the map, attacking their opponents on both sides of the division. Defensive, more passive players will seek to protect the walls (terrans can repair all the neutrals aside from the troygate, an interesting mechanic). This map is fairly experimental, and as such is a little messy. The gameplay should be both interesting and fairly solid. It should be fairly difficult to play passively vs an aggressive player, so it could be difficult for players more used to passive play as such. I think the rewards to being aggressive too far outweigh the rewards for being passive, so I can't see it playing out any other way. The messiness is somewhat due to the experimental features, but more due to the odd expo layout. The concept itself would probably benefit a lot from a remake with a different expo layout. The authors apparently did not find it necessary to look into this however, and I decided to make fun of LML instead of giving them an essay on how to improve the map, so this is what we're left with. Either way, this map is interesting, relatively well-made, and is worth playing a few times if only to see how the divided-sections concept plays out. Map Thread Map Download Obs Download  In a very close second place is JungleTerrain's Map Thread Map Download Obs Download As I said earlier, I don't reward 3rd place out of 4th, which is sWaGu's (3)Hope if you're curious. And there we'll stop for now, as I don't know if bwm is ready for a lastcurse motm quite yet. There are three outstanding MOTMs remaining, and then the current MOTM. If you haven't taken the opportunity to vote for 2010's January/February combined motm, please do so now! That motm has quite a few great maps, it would be a shame to spoil what ought to be such a tough competition with too small a number of votes. Be sure to look for great maps to submit for this current MOTM, as there's hope it might be posted this year! | |
| 11 comments | |
| Drive-By-Admin | 27 2009f December 2009 07:44 PM |
Posted by:panschk[FP]  Hello People, I dread the boredom of new year's eve for a nerd with no social life like me (I'm exagerating a bit here, but still), so I need something to do while everyone else is getting hammered.  If you have some issues that bother you about the site and can be adressed without much effort by coding, please let me know in the comments. I will try to fix that stuff between now and january 4th. Then I'll be gone doing something else again:D By the way, I just got rid of a lot of domains I did not use for a long time. I also cancelled mapcraft.net, because I realised I would not have the determination and motivation to make it work anyway. I will make a backup of the code and the database. I'm sorry for the time some of you "wasted" in a project that never got finished. If you like the domainname mapcraft.net, it should be up for grabs a few weeks from now. Just so you know:D A happy and healthy 2010 to all of you, Panschk (edit: I confused the two domain names. broodwarmaps.net will still exist. Sorry for the confusion) | |
| 33 comments | |
| MOTM 6 and 7 | 28 2009f November 2009 07:04 PM |
| Posted by:Nightmarjoo I know it's early, but I've decided to post MOTM 6 and 7 anyway!  For June, Freakling takes his fourth MOTM in a row! Will his winning streak ever end? In typical Freakling fashion, we've got a 4 player map with rotational symmetry and some weird twisted ramps in the center, with a sprinkling of dwebs and swarms here and there to add some strategic value to what would otherwise be normal, boring terrain. (4)Schizophrenia is this map's name, and those weird center ramps sure make me and that guy no one else can hear feel schizophrenic. Big ramps seem to be this map's theme, every "choke" on the map is formed by a large ramp. The main choke is tightened with a neutral and mineral block to make 1base builds as inviable as normal (as opposed to being worse than normal). The nat defends an in-base of sorts mineral only expansion which is overseen by a dweb'd off cliff (good luck getting to the cliff though, it's tucked away pretty well). Aside from the position of the min only, the expo layout is pretty standard, with gas expos on plateaus of sorts in the middle. So all of this is pretty good, and the map is aesthetically really good, so why all this delay on posting it as MOTM? Well, the problem lies in the nat. The natural is very open and has a very tight choke, a lethal combination of traits. An open nat with a tight choke (python, destination), or a tight nat with an open choke (zodiac? medusa? longinus?) are the better choices. The natural is so open that it's basically impossible to fast expo as protoss vs zerg safely (have to rely on zerg not abusing this, which isn't likely if zerg is trying to win). Terran will have a hard time defending his natural because mines and tanks won't be as effective as normal vs aggressive dragoons, and has no cliff (usually the main) to place tanks on to give protoss a harder time doing damage. Zerg may have trouble preventing runbys by vultures or marines and medics (and bats, oh my!). However, if you can get by that snag somehow, the map will assuredly play very well and yield exciting games, especially centering on those spells. Map Thread Map Download Observer Map  In a not-really-all-that-close-but-not-all-that-far-off second place, we have a face new to MOTMs, sTY_leZerG-eX, whose name is coincidentally the hardest I have ever had to type in a motm post before, including p4ver's map names. Our second place map is (2)Kings of the Hall! This map sure is weird, resembling Monty Hall with its trilinearity. The map uses a variety of modernly used "tricks", such as the Troy gate, a min wall block, and a neutral block. The map differs most from Monty Hall in that the three battlegrounds are indirectly or directly connected to eachother, albeit blocked by some block or another. This map is sure to provide entertaining (and long) games, with its variety and multitude of expansions (some are cliffed, some have gas, some are far from ramps making them semi-island of sorts). Games on this map are likely to play in phases, with players focusing on one particular aspect of the map, be it locationally (perhaps a single battlefield) or some kind of play (perhaps drop-based or land-based), in a similar manner to how (2)Hitchhiker played. I however can't see it playing "normally" at all, with how safe the expansions are initially. The map should for the most-part play well, and for the most-part looks good, so be sure to check it out. Map Thread Map Download And STy_leZerG-eX has not deemed our website worthy of an observer version, you'll have to bug him about that. 3.jpg) And third place, by a single point, with an insignificant amount of points (7), is (3)3 by Nightmarjoo. Not much to be said about this map, it's a blood-bath-esque micro-oriented map featuring a center cliff players can open up by mining out stacked blocks of 0-value minerals to either open up new paths or to provide a method in which to support and cover their units. The map has fewer minerals per player than blood bath, with an 8-block main and 1 4-block expo, as opposed to an 8-block main and 2 3-block expos, however for main + 1 in-base expo you get more minerals, and you get a geyser as well. The extra gas should help the games be more tech-based and thus longer than traditional blood-bath games. A 1v1 on the map is probably centered around securing the third main. Map Thread Map Download Observer Map  For July, our first place map is (2)Cloud of Souls by TKTKVROOM and Nightmarjoo. This map shares the symmetry of and has many similarities in layout to RoV and BlitzX. This map focuses on an evolving layout, as the map progresses different paths are opened and closed. In the corner of the mains is a "Cloud gate", a construct of a hallucinated mineral block along with a normal Plasma egg/mineral concept. Players can use this faster and harder to block route of scouting if they can get their scout worker to the gate before the mineral disappears (which occurs slightly before most players normally scout), or if they get vision of one of the minerals in the semi-island expansion in the center of this route. This gate can be further abused by running your scout worker to the inside of the gates (out of your opponent's main) by using one of your main minerals (which you should have vision of), allowing a dying scout to escape pursuit, and to reenter the main when pursuit leaves provided the opponent does not remove the small stack of 0-value minerals (though vision of a main or nat mineral block will suffice), enabling players more ways to scout eachother throughout the game. This path can be used to attack the opponent's main while bypassing their nat as well if the eggs are destroyed. Proxy robotics facilities, proxy factories-lifted, a proxy gate with dts (who destroy eggs quickly) etc could all be placed in the intermediate area as well, giving players more ways to harass and cheese eachother (oh joy!). Behind the naturals is a stacked 0-value mineral blocked path that leads to a corner gas expo (and can be exploited to harass/scout your opponent as well). In the center of the map, on the path that leads between the players is a troy-gate. Closing this gates permamently closes this path, making the mineral only expansions safer, decreasing the linearity of pathing slightly, and slightly increasing the distances between the players. Closing the gate shifts the gameplay to the upward half of the map, though not entirely as the bottom-most path still exists and could be opened up during this time as well. From here the map is pretty standard, with a multitude of expansions to take depending on what you think you can defend, with all expansions besides the natural being cliffable in some way or another. Strategically diverse and innovative whilst not hurting standard play, this map is certainly worth checking out. Map Thread Map Download Observer Map Alas, Freakling's winning streak has been put to a stay, but he's not far behind victory, taking second place with a mere 4 points between it and Cloud of Souls.  In second place we have Freakling's (2)Orchsomething. Look out p4ver, we've got another map-maker making good but unintelligibly named maps! The map of course is rotationally symmetrical, with weird twisty ramps in the center. The map features a standard expansion layout, with the choice to players as to which gas expansion to take first. They have the slightly closer to-their-nat-but-cliffable center gas expo which players could conceivably rally to, or the farther but perhaps safer gas expo more off to the sides and edges of the map. There actually isn't much else to the map. The map focuses more on executing really well a simple layout than on experimenting with complex and potentially confusing concepts and features. The map's significant aspects are in its extreme mobility, with a variety of paths for players to take, and in its harass-potential, with cliffable nats and central expansions; the other gas expansions being ripe for drops. In typical Freakling fashion, the map is interesting, good looking, and largely standard, and thus is definitely work checking out. Map Thread Some .zip, maybe is the map and obs, didn't check, could be a virus too  In third place we have STy_leZerG-eX again, with the weirdest map ever: (4)Gleisomething. The mains have two ramps, an 815 ramp and a normal sized neutral blocked ramp, optimized by placement for most possible pathing issues. The nat is pretty spacious with a too-large choke, combined with the 815 ramp encourages 1base play. The third expansions are optimized for not being used by being both mineral only and having a dark swarm over them. Atleast your workers are safe from hydralisks, workers, dragoons, all air units, and all terran units besides firebats. The 3rd gas expansions are semi-island with 815 ramps. In the center of the map is an island expansion with two geysers and 12 mineral blocks, quite the prize for whoever secures it. And lastly, around the center are some inconsequential neutral swarms. Map Thread Map Download Someone tell sty that his obs map link is to the map picture. Coming soon, Map of the Month for August, September, and October (and maybe November)! | |
| 3 comments | |
| Nightmarjoo Random Map Competition #3 | 18 2009f July 2009 04:34 AM |
Posted by:Nightmarjoo  Inspired by Starparty's competitions years ago, I present the third Random Map Competition hosted by Nightmarjoo! It's been a while since we've had one of these, but I think we're more than overdue. This competition's theme and focus will be on asymmetry. That is to say, maps which are purposefully not symmetrical. This does not mean the maps should be massively positionally imbalanced, but positional variety is key here. Ideally you're trying to make it as positionally balanced as possible while at the same time trying to make the different starting locations and other aspects of the map as different from eachother as possible. Rules: Normally maps with these player numbers are hard to make when attempting to have some degree of symmetry and positional equality. Since we're throwing that out, these maps should be more fun to make. Space tileset is ugly. I would exclude Ash too, but lava and magma are both so pretty. Tile editing, copy/pasting etc is vital to using the terrain to suit your needs best. Your map should be limited by your abilities and effort, not by the constrains of your editor. Old fashioned mineral blocks are simply not as useful as stacked 0-value blocks except in rare instances. The only exception to this rule is if you are using an expo's mineral formation to block a path, then I highly reccomend using minerals with more than 0 value ;) This goes with using neutrals as needed, sparingly, subtly. Even if these maps are not required to maintain nearly the same standards as conventional competetive melee maps, you do want to make sure the map is not too annoying to play on. For the last part, mostly I'm saying don't make too crazy of a map. If the map is completely unplayable in 1v1, it's likely to be annoying to play on in an ffa or a team match. I don't want to discourage mappers from experimenting with different ideas here, so if you're not sure exactly which idea you think is your best, upload both! Judging could take anywhere from a day to weeks depending on how many maps are submitted Judging: I will be the sole judge, and the judging will be entirely subjective. At the same time, there are things I'll definitely be looking for in a map: If the first thing I notice when I look at your map is "wasted space", you probably aren't going to win. As silly as this sounds for a competition like this, the degree of positional balance is important. By this I mean, you shouldn't have any one position clearly superior to another inherently. You also should consider the advantages and disadvantages of each position against all the other positions. Some degree of positional imbalance is not only acceptable, but expected. Even (4)rotationally symmetrical pro maps have scenarios where it's easier on one position in a particular positional situation. This shouldn't be a problem for most people. A well-decorated map is better than the same map if it's undecorated. Attention to detail is important here. Just pay attention to avoiding straight lines, not having bland or blank areas of terrain, and use doodads intelligently. Just look at modern pro-maps for tips here if you need any. You do not need to use any custom doodads or tile editing, but you are allowed to use them. Avoid bad looking tile editing though. For example, in Longinus there are jungle terrain tiles which appear "cut off" by the ramp tiles by them and it looks bad/out of place. Avoid this. This means don't make the mains too small, or the distance from main2nat too long, etc. How fun is your map to play? That is, how strategically diverse and varied is your map's gameplay? Does one build rule them all (and in the darkness bind them) or is it obvious anything would work here? (the latter is the ideal). Examples: http://www.panschk.de/mappage/7sins.jpg (7)Seven Sins by Testbug. This fits the competition absolutely perfectly. http://www.panschk.de/mappage/Spring.jpg (4)Spring by Lancet. Aside from having only 4 players, this map would be perfect for the competition. http://www.teamliquid.net/tlpd/images/maps/161_Un%27Goro%20Crater.jpg Un'Goro Crater by [Ragnarok]Valkyrie. The center of this map is asymetrical. Prize: Um, you get a nice long news post talking about your map :D I will try to host a tournament using these maps depending on the interest level in playing on them. The tournament could possibly be a ffa tourney, or maybe a 2v2 tourney, we'll see. I can't make any promises now, because I can't guarantee anyone would show up to play. This competition is about making fun maps for fun games, not meant to be the next iccup MOTW. Don't get too stressed out when making your map. At the same time, make the map with the best of your ability. Feel free to try ideas and concepts you could never use in a normal 1v1 map. Happy mapping, and good luck. | |
| 30 comments | |
| MOTMs galore! | 29 2009f May 2009 07:59 AM |
| Posted by:Nightmarjoo Alright, here's the MOTMs since I've decided it's more disapointing to have no MOTM than to have a disapointing MOTM. For January, we have an almost good map by Jamssi. Now, this is actually quite extraorinary, he actually used more than 30% of the map space this time! So let's give Jamssi a big congratulations for that accomplishment. He's proving that you can't make be a horrible mapper forever as long as you keep making maps!  The map in question is (4)Destiny, an almost well-made Byzantium clone. The map features a fair amount of altitudal variety using good shifts in high/low terrain. The mains being lowground and the nats being highground is fairly unusual, and somewhat increases the ability for players to harass one another early on in the game. The map uses the standard expo layout of 4base, 3gas per player. Directly between the players if you travel horizontally or vertically are a highground min only and a lowground gas expansion. The expansions are both close to you and to your opponent, and easily function as neutral expansions: making them ripe for fighting over. The map has an open middle which gives the players a lot of room to fight and maneuver, and the expo layout makes the sides of the map very useful without switching from the standard central orientation. The map boasts solid decoration, and good use of rotational symmetry. One neat thing Jamssi uses in the map is he stacks minerals in horizontal mineral formations. Normally it's hard to get horizontal mineral formations to mine well since they have the potential to stick out so far since they're 2 tiles wide, but by stacking them halfway over eachother he can have a narrower mineral formation which should mine very well. A neat trick also seen used to a different effect in (4)Hannibal. Definitely something mappers want to keep in mind should they use horizontal formations in the future. Now, everything I've said so far makes the map sound pretty darn good, what is it that I have against the map, aside from its author being a douche? Well, the naturals are pretty awfully made despite appearing "ok" at a glance at the picture. It's pretty clear Jamssi either didn't bother opening the map in sc to test them, or simply doesn't play sc at all. Aside from that flaw, which can be quite detrimental to gameplay depending on the situation, the map is quite well-made, even if it lacks anything "special". Overall the map is definite good, and I would say worth playing, except the natural expansions are terrible, go play Byzantium instead. Map Thread Map Download No obs version at this time. Not that anyone would want to observe you flailing about in a map with shitty nats, so oh well. As I don't reward being the 2nd place of 3 maps, I won't post on the other maps in this competition. You can see them here if you so desire. For February we have another face new to MOTM. Please congratulate JungleTerrain (I kid you not, that's his ID!) for his map Amonsterdildo, er Amonta... Amontsomething! (With a name like this, IceTerrain is probably Protoss4ever on a smurf name!).  Amontillado is a fairly standard but fairly well-made 4 player map. With standard mains and nats, the map starts to deviate from the "norm" in its expo layout. While the layout itself is standard, 4 base/3gas per player, the position of these expansions is fairly unique. The gas expo is on the other side of the main from the nat, with a large bridge choke. The distance of these expansions almost make them neutral expansions, at the very least making them easy to fight over. The mineral only expansions are not much closer, in fact they're about the same distance away from the nats. However, by being on highground plateaus they are arguably safer, or easier to defend. This expansion layout is interesting as no expansion aside from the nat is "free", and makes the gameplay more in-your-face as you must expo towards the enemy. DesertTerrain must have played Othello, and decided the free expos + too-many-cliff-harass-potentials was a boring way to make a map more fun. Since TwilightTerrain is lazy and won't update the map it is awkward in places, lacks some of the finer execution touches, but is still quite well-made, particularly in its use of rotational symmetry, and fun to play on. If you're going to play on any of these MOTMs, make this map the one you play on as it is well-enough-made and has a potentially more "fun", more aggresively oriented feel to it. And be sure to upload replays, because I'm sure BadlandsTerrain, would appreciate them! Map Thread Map Download Observer Version I might normally reward the 2nd place of 5 maps, except that it seems fairly obvious Protoss4ever's Chickensomething was just the map people picked as their 2nd place because you have to select atleast 2 maps while voting (only LastCurse voted the map 1st place, and no one likes him anyway). You can see the other maps in the competition here if March's MOTM is a great improvement atleast in the amount of maps present and division of the votes (not all to one map zomg!). However it does not deviate from the theme of having some guy you've never heard of win MOTM! Congratulations to Freakling (not Crackling, though he was probably on crack when he made this map!) on his map (4)Everflow!  This map is actually pretty neat in how similar it is to the other two MOTMs in this post. If you took the lowmain/highnat and side oriented expo layout of (4)Destiny, merged it with the expo layout of (4)Amontsomething, and added a big fucking spiral in the middle, you'd pretty much get this map. The expo layout is pretty similar to amontsomething's in how the gas expo has a large bridge choke and lies along a seperate path from the min only, but the expos are much closer to you in this map. The min only is arguably less defensible and the gas expo considerably more defensible. The map is pretty basic, there's not a lot going on here, but what there is lies in the center. That's right, as I said before, there's a big fucking spiral in the middle of the map. Personally, I wish he would've remade every single map in our database, as it would've been more productive and probably have taken less time than required to make this spiral, but whatever. This spiral is for more than decoration though (it's pretty ugly anyway, let's hope it's not made only for decoration!), as it puts a sharp cliff/altitude transition in the middle of the map. This is definitely something players will keep in mind, as they'll want to maneuver their forces so they're on the highground of the spiral rather than the lowground cannon-fodder zone. Broodwarmaps.net mappers must have learned something I didn't, as this map also features good use of rotational symmetry. It also features author-didn't-open-map-in-sc-to-test-the-nats syndrome, but maybe that's just a gosu trend I won't understand for years to come. Map Thread Map Download Observer Version March's MOTM saw fit to give us a decent 2nd place map too! This time by a familiar face, we have (4)Enarey 1.3 by Morrow! Enarey1.3.jpg) Same expo layout, different map! This map's expo layout is nearly identical to that of AshTerrain's map, with some differences. The gas expo is in its own little niche rather than having a nice bridge to camp on, and while the min only is closer to the player's nat, the ramp chokes leading up to it face away from the player, making it easier to attack and harder to reinforce. It's hard to fully see the implications of these differences, but I think it's a safe bet to say exactly how they'll work will change depending on the matchup. This map has a wider center than the last two maps, and has a little more going on conceptually. Enarey uses the egg wall + min blocks featured in (3)Plasma to block the area behind the nat minerals, and to block a secondary entrance to the main. This creates a temporary "cliff" of sorts "overseeing" the nat, but one whose minerals can still be defended with static defense, as you can use the mineral block to easily send a worker to the other side of your minerals until the egg wall is destroyed. The secondary entrance is not too insidious as you might expect, as the main ramp choke largely defends it. Mostly its existance's implications are that it's easier to scout your opponent should he block the ramp before you are able to scout, somewhat removing the luck factor in many situations. There definitely is something I missed, because yet again we have a map doing a good job at implementing rotational symmetry. Another important thing about his map is that it made it into iCCup's Mappack! So if you really want to show off your broodwarmaps pride and fandom, play ladder games on this map! Map Thread Map Download Observer Version Zomg a third place map too! Made by a mapper you definitely ought to recognize, one of our older mappers who's won countless MOTWs and gotten maps into blizzcon, wgt, and pgt, trcc! Adrenaline%20Rushnew2.jpg) This map has a lot going on! (4)Adrenaline Rush is very different from the other maps above. I don't even know what to call the "nat". Within your main you have a min only, which is a gas expo on the other side, on a highground path leading backwards from the lowground expo in front of your main. If it sounds complicated already, it's because it is. On the lowground of the main we have a fairly normal gas expo, but one that does not cover the main ramp, nor the ramp leading to the middle of the map. This ramp also leads backwards to the gas expo whose minerals can be mined from your main I mentioned earlier. A neutral sits in the way of this path, but I have no idea if it fully blocks the path or not to be honest. If we keep following this ramp we quickly run into a ramp leading downwards into the wide lowground battlefield that is this map's central area. Leading from the center in the compas directions are fairly defensible gas expos directly between the players. Defensible and neutral? Definitely expansions you'll see being fought over. Basically, this map takes a bunch of standard features and concepts, and throws them together in absolutely the most complicated way possible without actually using anything bizzare in and of itself. Only a mapper as experiened as trcc could possibly pull this off. And, like Morrow's Enarey, this map also has found its way into the iCCup mappack! Congratulations trcc, we hope to see more maps by you in the near future! Map Thread Map Download Apparently the mappers took a leaf from the January MOTM book and failed utterly, but atleast Freakling took a leaf from trcc's book and made a crazy map to win MOTM. FMyst.jpg) Freakling makes another appearance with his map (4)Mystique! This map takes another leap to the past, with what is ostensibly a more micro oriented map. The natural expansions are mineral only, and very vulnerable from the island the formation's presence creates behind it. If this and the presence of a very close-to-the-mains gas island expo doesn't encourage 1base play and more aggressive, micro oriented play, then I dunno what does. Then in the compass directions is your standard 3rd gas expansion. It is however much farther from the players than is normal in this age, and they possibly function as neutral expansions which players can fight over. The map's pathing is pretty direct, though the distances aren't bad. The expo and pathing layout definitely creates in-your-face type gameplay, certainly making this map appeal to a micro-intense favouring crowd. And of course, the map uses rotational symmetry well, per the usual MOTM. If you want to play a neat map using the 1base and possibly semi-island tactics showcased years ago, this is the map for you. If you want to play a standard macro map, go play the last few MOTMs. This map may not appeal to as large an audience as a more standard map, but it definitely is fairly well-made and worth checking out, especially if you do enjoy this style of gameplay. Map Thread Map Download Observer Version I won't reward 2nd place out of 4 maps. The map which did get the 2nd largest amount of votes wasn't very good anyway. You can see the other maps here For May's MOTM we have... wait, May? Isn't today still May? IS THIS MOTM ON TIME? WHAT THE FUCK RAGNAROK APPROACHES! For the 5th MOTM of this year we have a much better competition than the 4th in that we actually had 2 maps competing with eachother for votes! Freakling makes makes his third consecutive MOTM appearance (once could be luck or coincidence, twice could be a fluke, but thrice? In a row!? I'm beginning to think Freakling is the real deal, how about you?) with another weird map: (4)Unreality. With a name like that, I think you should already be prepared for a fairly weird map. FUnreal.jpg) No, that's not a twilight remake of Arkanoid, that's Freakling's Unreality! Freakling reintroduces the neutral-induced macro oriented semi island concept. Players here can opt to try island tactics, or simply macro out normally, taking either/both of the min only and gas expansion each player can find within his "quadrant" of the map while he begins breaking down the neutrals (or massing 3rd tier air). Near your in-base gas expo are lower hp neutrals, with the higher hp neutrals right by your starting location. Breaking down just three neutrals gives you access to the middle of the map, allowing you to fairly quickly pressure your opponent if you both opted for macro builds. Taking down two neutrals gives you access to a 4th base, representing the map's 3rd geyser. The expo layout here is actually fairly normal in its resource distribution, giving it the potential to play almost standard, should both players opt for it. That's the trick in these hybrid island maps, it really is up to the players to decide how they wish to play, and there are plenty of viable options either way. Perhaps it doesn't count as much here, but of course the map features flawless rotational symmetry. And aside from suffering from untested-minerals-syndrome, the map should play quite solidly if this kind of map hits your fancy. Map Thread Map Download Observer Version In a close second place we have Morrow's map 1015, not to be confused with 815. Perhaps 1015 is the time (in AM, no less) he went to sleep after making this map? Or maybe the amount of time in seconds spent on decorating the map?  Ok so at a glance this map is an open, gas impoverished, inverted Katrina. Wait, that makes no sense at all :O The map has lowground mains and a highground central area, but has a gas natural within the main, behind the starting location in the corners of the map homologous to that of Katrina. Climbing the main ramp takes you to what you could call your "natural", a cliffable mineral only expansion which makes the map playable for terran! Then near the corners of the map, almost cliffing the internal gas expansion lies your 3rd gas base on a highground plateau barely build-on-able. This is a very big map, there's a lot of room to manuever and fight. The map takes a fairly standard expo layout and twists it around into something essentially completely different. The map should definitely give players a different gaming experience, without doing anything too radical that players aren't already used to. Naturally, being a 2nd place MOTM, the map has great rotational symmetry. I'd say perhaps the map only recieved 2nd place for being too weird, but then the first place map was actually weirder. Are mappers and gamers starting to head towards more weird maps, the trend come full circle? Map Thread Map Download Observer Version Though I won't write much about it, be sure to check out Swagu's (2)Trial, the map which recieved the 3rd most votes:  This map is fairly standard, but does a good job of incorporating a lot of recent trends and concepts into a fairly normal mold. The map's execution definitely is a little lacking, something the author has room to work on, but certainly isn't awful. Hopefully after fixing a few aspects of his mapping style and understanding sWaGu will be creating MOTM level maps soon! ps sWaGu you overwrote the map picture for (2)digdag with (2)trial's picture :( Map Thread Map Download You can check out the other competition maps here And thus concludes a MOTM Marathon! Now that we're caught up on MOTMs, we should begin having more competitions aside from MOTM, especially with summer coming up soon! | |
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