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Western Odyssey FR Version 1.0 Uploaded To: NA, (soon to be) EU By: Odysseus (aka PRometheus/SigmaFiE)
The Change: FR stands for "Fewer Resources" -- I did this in accordance with Barrin's thread on fewer resources per base. Please test this so that this concept gets playtime in a variance of situations.
Western Odyssey Version: 1.0 Uploaded To: NA, EU By: Odysseus (aka Prometheus/SigmaFiE)
Eastern Odyssey Version: 1.0 Uploaded To: NA, EU By: Odysseus (aka Prometheus/SigmaFiE)
Things of Note: - FFE Capable - Natural mineral line is siege-able from backside third - Main to backside third can be blinked - Rocks nearest natural block off a 1 unit pathway (non-massive only)
Western Odyssey
Pictures + Show Spoiler +
Eastern Odyssey
Pictures + Show Spoiler +
Change Log + Show Spoiler +1.0+ Show Spoiler +- Finalized some Pathing issues and placed pathing doodads for easy reading - Finalized aesthetics - Finalized some doodad placements to prevent abusive strategies Release of Eastern Odyssey Version 0.2+ Show Spoiler +Issues that I addressed: - Stalkers blinking. - Single Unit Path -----> This was particularly troublesome. Due to the pathing and the unit sizes in SC2 -- I did not succeed in making the path accessible to only zerglings, marines, and zealots. Because of this, and because of the short distance due to the existence of those paths, I decided to simply block them with destructible rocks. I want to lower the health of the rocks so that it is accessible in the early game, but I need an appropriate rock health. So play it and test it and PM me your thoughts. I don't know how I feel about this yet as it might ruin the purpose of the map entirely. But I just don't know how else to address it. - Siege tanks ------> I partially addressed this and partially did not. Prior to the change, it was accessible to siege tanks so long as a flying unit had vision of the natural, and the siege tank could hit ALL of the resource line and even the natural town hall. Currently -- it is accesible only with a flying unit, and the tanks can only hit 2/3 of the resource line, with the mineral patches and assimilator nearest the mains being protected. I think this is reasonable. - Aesthetics -------> Aesthetics expanded on the northern border. Texturing needs testing on low resolutions to make sure the map is not all screwy at that setting. Removal of unnecessary protoss decals on ramps (the ones from the middle) as well as the decals that were on the small 1 unit paths (Since the rocks would cover that up, and while performance wise they may not add much, but they do add). Once again, this version is released under the name Eastern Odyssey by Oddyseus 0.4+ Show Spoiler +- Mains moved 1 terrain level higher, ramp now exists leading from main to nat - Main space reduced in size (Helps with proxy pylons into main, blink stalker access, and marine/marauder drops) - Ramps at 3rds to highground doubled in width to 4x - Removed 3x3 path next to 3rds - North/South path at 3rds on lowground tightened with choke for 3rd - More doodads added to provide easier visual representation of terrain height change (ramps) - Doodads added to base locations (blood splats)
Number of Bases: 12 Number of Doodads ~900 Bounds: Playable 124x132 Bounds: Full: 144x160
Comments and Criticisms are welcome
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I don't like the Bel'Shir dirt light texture, it is so damn smooth that it pretty much doesn't fit to anything else. I'd use another texture or at least take a lot of time and effort transitioning from the grass to the dirt. The parts where you used the yellow grass texture on greater plains don't look good. I'd use a dirt texture in the middle. The meadows in general need more work. Decrease the increment on the texture brush and create a more vivid, less partitioned landscape. As long as you can tell which texture you used on a particular part, grasslands aren't finished.
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just put a ramp at the main plz
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I actually like the texturing in that it feels a bit like broodwar, but still looks a bit more new and natural in this version. the natural expansions are very pretty with the doodads on the cliffs. To me, that is the best looking part. I guess the dirt and light grass could be blended in a bit better, but I like the grassy knoll look - its "naturalish" Not gonna comment on balance since there are many out there with more knowledge
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That's just like blue storm. I like it
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this is pretty awesome. only thing i can say is that i would probably like the map just a bit wider to space out the expos and overall rush distance.
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Layout is interesting. I think the cliffs behind the mains need to be reworked so that you can't drop onto them. I think balance wise this would be a interesting TvP map. ZvP it seems like it'd be pretty susceptible to muta harass with the distance and openness of taking a third.
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Where porting BW maps to SC2 may be fun, it becomes quickly apparent that most BW maps don't work in SC2. This isn't one of those few exceptions. Needless to say, it is interesting. Maybe you could rework it to be more SC2 friendly and it'd be the best map ever. At how young SC2 mapping is, you never know what could be the next metalopolis or daybreak.
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Koagel - I can see what you're saying. I am working over the textures with a new texture set to see if I can't get closer to my color pallete choice as I don't think I quite hit it on the mark yet.
EcstatiC - I'm thinking about whether that is necessary or not right now. I know that an early proxy pylon can be very powerful on this map -- but with how the game is played currently (least from what I see) is that terrans almost always walloff, zerg expand too quickly for a warpgate proxy pylon to really matter for the main, and protoss need to be ready for that anyway. So right now I'm not sure I am ready to admit defeat to that particular aspect. I want to try and make a flat choke work, and I think with my edit to the other possible warpin positions against main that this might just cut it.
ClysmiC - thank you thank you!
a176 - If you figure out who the original mapper of Bluestorm is, thank them. All I did was re-create it (no, this was not a "direct" port -- I rebuilt it from the ground up) and spruce up the look of it. As for the spacing -- I think it's pretty good (except for 2 bases that I'm not quite happy with -- they're pretty dang close and holding one secures the other). I'll look into it, I just am not sure I want to cut into the layout again so quickly (this took me a while to get correct on Sunday)
Brosy - The cliffs behind the main are not droppable. Furthermore, there are other cliff areas that are not droppable (none of the corners can be dropped on the highground cliffs). I tried to make that apparent with doodads placed up there that it is a no-go zone. If you look at the analyzer, you'll see the pathable areas. I definitely limited certain movement capabilities in appropriate areas. For instance, at the highground 3rds/4ths where you might originally be able to warp into the main from or establish a siege tank line, I made it so that the pylons cannot actually warp into the lowground areas (you'll need a warp prism) -- but also that a siege tank will have a difficult time getting into position to siege from there and even then its not going to be direct fire.
Timetwister22 - I know it is not originally made for SC2, and that most do not work for SC2. I am hopeful though that my light changes make it SC2 playable though. I have played a couple games on it thus far with some friends and it is certainly a fun map I think.
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Will be posting overview of new textures tonight (old file remains and is the published version -- so OP is still up to date) Just want opinions on the new texture job
Staring at the original map, here are the changes I made from Blue Storm ver. 1.2:
- All bases converted to SC2 Normal of 8 minerals, 2 gas - 3rd Bases (mineral only) moved towards outer wall, protecting wall completely removed - 2 Ramps to highest ground changed to be 2 double wides (not one huge and the other little) - Just below centermost ramps on highest ground, added 3x3 grid space for additional army movement -- armies not required to use highground now - Unnatural 3rd/4th (sits just off the main) resource line hugs the main (prevents siege tanks from getting behind mineral line easily) - Unnatural 3rd/4th has line of sight blockers to protect the natural and the main from siege -- forces players to drop, do multi-pronged attacks involving the 1 unit access, or a full frontal assault - Base added to highest ground - Highest ground ramp on backside shifted to be closer to center - Added destructible rocks to the center
I cannot tell looking at the picture (I made this map from just looking at the photo) -- but on the brood war version could a siege tank cover all of the ground surrounding the middle by sitting on the highest ground? If so, I did make it so that armies should be able to move around that with maybe a little indirect fire depending on whether you conga line it or not (but let me double check that as the LOS blockers/Tree doodads might interfere with that).
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Just showing a possible new texture look. Tell me what you think. I know the sand is still very prevalent -- I'm not sure if I want to make it less prevalent or not though.
Also, I verified my previous idea of making it so that siege tanks on the highest ground do not gain absolute control of the area (you can get to the unnatural 3rd/4ths without being hit).
Possible Change to the Main: Adding A Ramp + Show Spoiler +
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The OP overview is hidden in spoilers!!! My only pet peeve is to make it accessible.
Definitely make the main highground. Having a flat main choke (and natural especially) just ruins PvP and makes TvZ difficult.
I'm concerned the nat-nat distance might be too short. It could prove to be okay, but lings/zealots/marines could be killer.
I think you could open up the ramp into the third. The idea of the map is to force large armies to go around the long way. Right now though, they have to kind of go to the corner of the map if they want to go through. I'd open the ramp to 3x or 4x, and then make a slightly seperate choke for the third. Something like this.
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Wow so glad to finally see a good remake of this map, I literally look once a month(for like the past 8 months) for a playable version of this.
There are a few things that would make this a bit more balanced, Monitor basically hit the nail on the head with it. I feel like the nat-nat could be okay though considering its only pathable by 1 unit at a time. One thing I would consider is maybe bringing the third a little bit closer to the nat (very small distance) and most importantly widening that ramp^
And is the nat siege-able from behind that 1x1 "crawlspace"?
All in all; sick remake love the texture work!
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i really really like this map. Hope this map will be playable on GSL.
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The sand version is nice but I personally like the first version. First 1 just looks so much better to me.
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On February 23 2012 11:26 monitor wrote:The OP overview is hidden in spoilers!!! My only pet peeve is to make it accessible. Definitely make the main highground. Having a flat main choke (and natural especially) just ruins PvP and makes TvZ difficult. I'm concerned the nat-nat distance might be too short. It could prove to be okay, but lings/zealots/marines could be killer. I think you could open up the ramp into the third. The idea of the map is to force large armies to go around the long way. Right now though, they have to kind of go to the corner of the map if they want to go through. I'd open the ramp to 3x or 4x, and then make a slightly seperate choke for the third. Something like this.
Here is what I have done to address that monitor. Please see the photos below for reference. I thought about what you said and agreed. I'm glad you pointed out the flat main choke being bad for TvZ -- I thought they would not be terrible since they only affected (in my opinion at the time) PvP which never bothered me because it was a mirror matchup. So the mains are now 1 level up more with ramps leading to the naturals. If you look at the photos below, you will see I included a regular photo and a pathing photo (and one for the other side). It takes 2 3x3 buildings and 1 2x2 building (so say 2 barracks and 1 supply depot) or it can take 3 3x3 buildings (3 gateways, etc. . .) to wall off that side. This does make it protected. Again the high cliff (with the water towers) are unpathable.
There are a few things that would make this a bit more balanced, Monitor basically hit the nail on the head with it. I feel like the nat-nat could be okay though considering its only pathable by 1 unit at a time. One thing I would consider is maybe bringing the third a little bit closer to the nat (very small distance) and most importantly widening that ramp^
And is the nat siege-able from behind that 1x1 "crawlspace"?
I think monitor hit it on the head as well, and he made me realize my first concept of how the map was originally meant to be played was incorrect. Big thanks for pointing that out! Because I had already moved the 3rd closer to the nat., right now I feel it is unnecessary to bring it even closer. The reason is that with the changes I just implemented, the 3rd becomes more protected (2 avenues of attack amounting to about 90 degrees angle) -- also the third is sitting a distance similar to the other possible 3rd (if you use the single unit route). I wanted that choice to be open if a person did decide to go for that (although it is less likely due to how you would defend). Also, the natural's opening needed to be a distance away from the ramp to the third to prevent an attacker's advantage which would be a bad thing. Which is why that is that way.
This leads me to your question. The area behind the crawlspace, because it is open to unit movement (in the middle, not in the crook between the trees and the ramp -- even then you can advance up to that though), you can siege and hit the natural (building, assimilator, and maybe some minerals). It will require gaining vision though. Because it requires vision, and because I think positioning tanks there makes them susceptible to a counterattack either from a siege unit across the chasm, a flying unit under cover of the natural, or a flank maneuver coming from the high ground, I do not think right now that it will prove to be a problem. I would have to see gameplay to show me otherwise because I'm just not sure I see it happening that way right now (if anyone has other thoughts on this please tell). This issue goes hand in hand with the natural's layout, because affecting one directly affects the other in terms of space allocation and how far out the 3rd would get pushed due to the previous mentioned point of attackers/defenders' advantage with the ramp.
General Note: Please note that these are still unreleased changes. Furthermore, I will be making changes to the original file as well (with the first set of textures). I am thinking right now I release 2 versions of the map, each identical in play, but with the different texture jobs and perhaps a few changed doodads to differentiate them. These would be called "Eastern Odyssey" for the first set due to its green content (reminds me of southeast Asia) and the currently titled "Western Odyssey" in recognition of western films that commonly took place on the range and in the desserts.
This image is not up to date. The ramps have doodads to differentiate that ground from the grass/sand as being a ramp
These ramps are now x4 ramps
Doodads need to be played with on this one. They are not right.
Poll: Should I release 2 aesthetically different versions?1: Eastern Odyssey (grass heavy) (14) 70% 1: Western Odyssey (desert heavy) (4) 20% Yes (1) 5% No (1) 5% 20 total votes Your vote: Should I release 2 aesthetically different versions? (Vote): Yes (Vote): No (Vote): 1: Western Odyssey (desert heavy) (Vote): 1: Eastern Odyssey (grass heavy)
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Blue Storm only worked because it was tight and perfectly spaced. This map is not.
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On February 24 2012 13:58 neobowman wrote: Blue Storm only worked because it was tight and perfectly spaced. This map is not.
Could you elaborate on that?
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The top left and bottom right areas. In Blue Storm it was relatively tight and well-spaced out. No wasted space. Here, there're long corriders which serve no purpose, which unnecessarily make the map bigger and make proportions weird.
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Updated the Map to 0.4 published on NA. Updated the OP. Still using original texture set since the vote so far indicates that is what is wanted.
On February 25 2012 08:26 neobowman wrote: The top left and bottom right areas. In Blue Storm it was relatively tight and well-spaced out. No wasted space. Here, there're long corriders which serve no purpose, which unnecessarily make the map bigger and make proportions weird.
I respectfully disagree that they are serve no purpose. They are the only access routes to the bases that are in those 2 corners. Had I simply moved those bases up to the highground, than yes, I would agree that it is purposeless. But as it stands, the corner bases can be sieged from the highground -- but if a person does not have siege units than they retain access to them. If you look at a photo of the original bluestorm from broodwar + Show Spoiler +, I think you'll see that it is pretty similar in nature. The difference I think that is affecting how you see it though is the placement of the ramps changing on the highground from the original to my version. Also -- why can't "long" corridors work? Sure, protoss has forcefields. And they are heavily reliant on them. But with the way that area is now, a zerg can draw a protoss into the corridor away from there base and send a ling runby or whatever to the actual base they are attacking. It will just take planning, which any good player should be doing anyway.
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