Too lazy to make proper maps, so if anyone wants to make these maps or similar maps from these ideas, please go ahead.
2 Player Semi-Island
4 Player Semi-Island A
4 Player Semi-Island B
Semi-Island maps are, in my opinion, awesome. The new island map they were testing for so long, but I never saw it turn up in an actual league, was amazing. I so enjoyed every game I watched on that map, and I never even got to see a single ZvZ! The new map, Third World, had me hesitating when I first saw the picture. Seemed just too weird. But it's actually pretty neat from the ASL group stage games I recently saw, from Larva's group. Really interesting stuff with gameplay shifting from one side of the split map to the other, a lot like Monty Hall only better.
I think Island maps are great, since the strategy is so radically different there. You get to see devourer vs. battlecruiser fights. How great is that? And everything else. I want to see more of that stuff, but it seems to me that these recent maps are unlocking the secret to balanced island maps for the first time, and that secret relies on semi-islandness.
Since Zerg has a particularly hard time in early game without being able to natural expand across ground, one style of island map is to put multiple bases on the starting island. That seems to work well. However I'm even more interested in the other way, which is to allow Zerg a normal land map start in the early game, and have multiple fighting lanes open up for later stages of the game. I don't have that much to say about the game theory justifying this I guess. So here's just some maps I thought up.
The third map is my favourite. It's not that much like LT. It has backdoor natural expansions that face each other across a diagonal symmetry, and 6 island expansions, and really weird ramps from the main base to the center of the map, and the mains get so close together at the points that you could 2-inch drop right across, making the mains function a lot like extra islands in case you have a hard time accessing the center in the late game.
[Edit] Thanks mods for fixing the images. I don't know what I'm doin', ar!
The 4 player maps seem alright. The last one looks very, very terran favoured because the can actually take the middle expansion (which is a double even) while pushing vs both zerg and protoss.
On April 20 2018 03:11 Miragee wrote: The 4 player maps seem alright. The last one looks very, very terran favoured because the can actually take the middle expansion (which is a double even) while pushing vs both zerg and protoss.
Really? Pathing looks really bad for that last map I think the two player map is the most viable
I should explain that one recurring idea in these maps is that maybe it's OK for the land-based center of the map to be treacherous, tight terrain which favours Terran, if there is a relatively high emphasis on the importance of controlling the islands as well, as Terran seems to struggle the most on island maps once the mid game is reached, and Zerg can use those narrow corridors to his advantage against Terran with lurkers, defilers or guardians.
Doesn't third world have a relatively cramped path between the mains? And an islandish rest of the base? It seems to work there, although we don't see many Ts on that map...
On April 20 2018 14:35 Navane wrote: Doesn't third world have a relatively cramped path between the mains? And an islandish rest of the base? It seems to work there, although we don't see many Ts on that map...
The big difference is that zerg can slide a drone through the mineral patch to get a third on Third World. That's not possible on the map here.
Here's an idea to help balance the maps vs. Terran more. Protoss has no problem anyway because P is favoured by the islands. They can go reaver corsair vs. Z or carriers vs. T. The problem is the strength of a Terran midgame timing push of some kind vs. Zerg, since Terran has a free natural and Zerg's land connected third base opportunities all have to run through that cramped center at that stage of the game. Of course it's also true that Zerg benefits from the close air distances and the back door naturals because his mutas will be stronger vs. T that way. But to make it even more Zerg friendly, you could reduce the mineral count in the natural to 6 or 7 patches. That way, when Z does take a third, it will give him a bigger economic advantage over T than usual. As I said, hopefully this is OK for P because they benefit from having a backdoor nat as well (makes 1 gate nexus stronger, and helps against 3 hatch hydra), and they have the islands. The importance of controlling air vs. Zerg just gives Protoss an extra excuse to make lots of corsairs the way I see it. Corsair reaver should be effective, even if there are less minerals.
Are you referring to the maps posted? Because the naturals already have 6 patches. And doesn't the cramped center also act as a "get killed by mutas zone", making any early TvZ push less threatening? Even past that, you have to move your stuff up a ramp to do any real damage. There might be some other problems but I think the zergs will be fine with those easy corner gas bases. What I had in mind is that making it hard to move deathballs around would favor air and drop play after early game, which should force or at least allow interesting builds to take place.
We can take this layout the other way, give everyone regular naturals, and connect the isolated expansions to mains via high ground with mineral gates. And then I realized that's basically Gold Rush.