Tal'Darim Skylands Currently available on NA and EU servers.
This is a map I created for the CSL Map tournament. I actually wasn't completely happy with how everything turned out, but I had to finish it up in time to submit. The layout of the first 4 bases I enjoy the most because depending where people expand will really force certain play styles out of their race
Features: No watchtowers Easy to hold natural Back door 3rd with 2 gold mineral fields (that only have 500 minerals each) Safe, yet still open non-backdoor 3rd Cliff above the natural Plenty of LoSB through out the middle
I'm still not completely convinced about the minerals being used as a wall for the backdoor third. I feel that they can still be heavily harassed by any range unit to anyone but a terran who wants to put a tank to protect it. Sure a protoss and zerg will have cannons or spines there just in case but it allows for terran elevator tactics to hit the third and attack main infrastructure at the same time.
I know you're trying to encourage that sort of play, but it just feels TOO good. Thoughts?
Honestly I don't see a Zerg ever taking the backdoor back just because it will be way too hard for them to defend. Possibly if they are going mutas I could see them doing it (since the gas geysers are safe from harass) but more often then not I see them taking the other 3rd, which is much more open and thus easier for them to defend.
Protoss, I could see them taking the backdoor third just because Nexus cannon can defend anything on the opposite side of the minerals, collosus, blink, templar all work as well.
It's the main reason there are 4 bases on the low ground on the sides of the map, because if you end up taking the backdoor base, you can mine out the gold faster and thus take the base on the lowground as a 4th.
Most likely though, Zerg will probably expand clockwise though, maybe taking the backdoor base as a 4th or 5th (or maybe just throwing a macro hatch there and just use it for gas).
The gold minerals also only have 500 minerals a piece, so they will mine out faster as well, thus making defending/attacking much easier. (I actually forgot to include that in the OP)
I think mineral wall bases are fine only if you have a viable alternate expansion route, which you do here, so it's cool.
Aesthetics are pretty sick for the most part.
In ZvT or ZvP zerg pretty much won't take the backdoor base as a third, but it could be interesting to see what happens in ZvZ, and also how Zerg tries to attack/punish any T or P who takes that base as a third.
Seems like a nice mix of games could happen here, from aggressive to somewhat turtley.