Monitor: To make a decent map, I don’t think you have to be great at the game. : Do you think it's important for a serious mapmaker to be very good at the game itself and have a good knowledge of the three races? This generally equals out to a map with one easy expansion, another a bit harder but still attainable and then an open-ish middle. Then making sure that there is enough space to maneuver at least somewhere on the map for some flanking action not too much, but still adequate. Grebliv: Maintaining a “standard-ish” image for bases, a certain layout between main, natural, and third, which can be differed from somewhat, but one should not stray too far away from them. This is done by perfecting distances, allowing harass options if flank routes/surrounds are harder to pull off, and putting in key Xel’Naga Watch Towers or high yield expansions. Monitor: I want to ensure that all builds/strategies are valid regardless of the map by balancing aggressive armies with turtling armies. : When starting a map from scratch, what is the first thing that comes to mind when you’re balancing a map for three races? But yes, sure there will be more ports in the future, when is the question. Grebliv: One never knows, there may or may not be something in the works. If a community member/group suggests a map they would like ported, we are likely to take it into consideration. Monitor: Currently we are focused on original Starcraft 2 maps, but we have been working on porting popular Brood War competitive maps. : Any plans in the works to do other popular maps from Starcraft or Brood War? Looking at all the recent Brood War pro-maps one can not find a single map with a non-standard naturals choke that allows walling off different game, but people seeking more of the Brood War experience (less one base play) might want to look a little towards this element.Most of the maps, aside from 1-2, have this problem, but said maps usually suffer from either of the other “faults”. Natural chokes not being very wall-off-able, naturals too open.Too gimmicky: Blistering sands, with the attacker favoring backdoor (in my opinion somewhat ruining a good map), close air distances on so many maps, cliff-able naturals, and so forth.Short rush distances: Steppes of War, Lost Temple, Metalopolis, etc.Grebliv: There are a few problems that I find with the ladder map pool in general and it seems that few (if any) maps are entirely rid of those “features”. To name just a few examples, natural chokes are too big, naturals have droppable high ground, and rush distances are too short. Monitor: To me, all of the current ladder maps promote one-basing too heavily. : What is the biggest problem with current ladder maps in your opinion? Map geometry comes first though, and it's generally not until I'm relatively okay with the results that the aesthetics start to kick in. Grebliv: I generally start out with a concept mostly focused on producing a balanced map, sometimes something that would/could also be aesthetically pleasing. For example, porting a popular BW map will take less time on terrain/balance than on aesthetics. Monitor: In my experience, and well balanced map spends about 85% of time on terrain and 15% on textures/doo-dads. : How is your time divided between balance and aesthetics? had a chance to talk with a couple members of Team Six, monitor and Grebliv, about their map-making efforts. For now, it will be fun to see custom maps start to make their way into tournaments and competition and what talented mapmakers will come up with for custom melee maps. With two expansions in the future, some entirely new map mechanics may be born. It's also fun to theorize about what expansions will bring to maps. It's also pretty safe to assume that improvements will be made to the Galaxy Editor over time, just like the game itself. When this begins to happen, custom maps will surely start to spice up the competitive Starcraft 2 e-sports scene as well. When players feel that custom maps are being made with balance and competition in mind, it is more likely we'll start to see a rise in custom map popularity. If a player runs across Heartbreak Ridge without actually looking for it, they may have an interest in giving it a shot. At this early stage in the game, it may be important for mapmakers like Team Six to include some popular maps into their map-making efforts. Undoubtedly, any Brood War veteran will recognize the layout of a few of the Team Six maps, if not the names. The Team Six map pool-Python, Grandline, Asarin, Sukhima, Roadrunner, Cobra, Shuriken, Avalanche, and Heartbreak Ridge-can be found by searching TSI in game
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