The in-game UI and alert sounds don't always match up to your race. Your race is dynamically assigned to you within the game. The default UI and alert sounds are tied to your lobby race and cannot be dynamically altered. Getting around this limitation would take a titanic amount of effort for very little payoff.
Teams are now warned about their time remaining to pick/ban. Textual warnings are given at 60, 45, 30, and 15 seconds remaining. Verbal warnings are given at 60, 45, 30, 15, 10, and 5 seconds remaining.
Reserve time has been added. Currently, both teams are allotted 45 seconds of reserve time for picks/bans. The timers will show reserve time and current decision time added together (so 0:45 reserve and 0:45 current pick time together would show as 1:30). When the timer begins to dip into reserve time, both textual and verbal warnings are given to the team.
The captain's selected unit is no longer cleared when switching between race menus. If the captain selects a protoss unit and switches to the zerg menu, he may still click the pick/ban button to pick/ban the selected protoss unit.
The captain may click an already selected unit to deselect that unit.
When a pick/ban timer runs out the game will check to see if the captain has a unit selected. If a unit is selected, that unit will be picked/ban. If no unit is selected, one will be picked/banned at random.
New textual notifications have been added to inform the team whether they are picking or banning on their turn. This information is still visible within the draft dialog itself (near the top).
Bug Fixes
The debug dialog will be disabled on all maps during update.
Resetting banked statistics in an attempt to track down the bug causing negative losses. Sorry, but expect another reset soon if it persists. Any additional info or replays about this bug appreciated.
Fixed a bug that caused the "No valid captain remaining, game ending" situation to happen when the last player on a team left after drafting had already happened.
3/27/2013 Gameplay
While drafting, the game will attempt to assign captainship to a player with experience instead of seemingly at random.
While drafting, players who are not the captain of their team can vote to repick the captain. If all 3 team members vote, the game will calculate the next best captain.
New default game mode for Map of the Week and Sand Canyon Redux: Vote Mode. Players are prompted to choose to play Blind Random, Blind Pick or Tier Draft.
Bug Fixes
The Skinned Teeth achievement should no longer be granted erroneously (already live on EU).
Player stats should be correctly loaded while playing draft mode. Any stat overwriting from playing a draft before this update is permanent, sorry.
12/29/2012 Achievements
Added more achievements
12/28/2012 Gameplay
Players can now use the stats command supplied with a unit name before they have picked a unit
Players who have picked Medivac or Warp Prism can now load allied units.
Players who do not pick either of these units can still build their own but may not pick up allies or use their abilities
Achievements
Achievements have been implemented
There are currently 58 unlockable achievements (more can and will be added)
Each player's obtained achievements and total points are only visible to that player for now
The achievement window for viewing all achievements is accessible via the achievement button in the upper left-hand corner of the screen (which conveniently fades when not in focus)
Achievements the player has obtained are floated to the top of the list
When a player obtains an achievement, all players will see a chat message. The player who obtained the achievement may see an optional toast which can be toggled on/off via the achievement window
Invalid games, games with a detected leaver and games that have ended will not award achievements. You can stick around after a game is over or join a game privately on your own to view your achievements without harming your record
Achievements have absolutely zero impact on gameplay. There are no rewards for accruing X points. There may be rewards in the future, but they'd be personal rewards that only you could notice and not use as a benefit in terms of gameplay
12/22/2012 Interface
The unit display dialog now lists the average win ratio of all other players in the current game while using your current unit
The stats used to obtain the ratio average are anonymous
The average does not consider your wins and losses
If no other player in the current game has played with your unit the average will be undefined
The stats command has been improved
Typing stats will give you information on your current unit as shown in the unit display
Typing stats unitName will give you information on the specified unit
12/17/2012 Gameplay
While drafting, the random button can no longer choose Warp Prism, Medivac, Mothership or Overseer while Picking. It can still choose to ban these units.
New draft mode: Random Draft
All units are banned except for 9 selected at random. Warp Prism, Medivac, Mothership and Overseer are always banned. The remaining units can only be picked once.
The Captain's Hat of Choosing is automatically passed to each player on each team so that each is offered a chance to pick. Players may still opt to give the captain's hat to another player during their turn.
Players still select the unit that they will play after the drafting process is finished.
Future Updates Affect Only Heart of the Swarm 12/10/2012 Player Settings
Random Options now default to "Off" for all optional units.
Your bank file will be altered once to reflect this
The observer "racial" button has been removed
Choosing players and observers (if referee mode is active) now occurs before unit selection instead of simultaneously
08/22/2012 General
Melee unit generation will now occur during map load and no longer causes "game start stuttering"
Zergs now start with the appropriate amount of creep and non-popping larva
05/4/2012 Players
Fixed a bug where Ghosts counted against the Terran building flight limit instead of Ghost Academies.
04/27/2012 UI Changes
Racial icons have been moved to their own box on the lefthand side of the selection UI. Additionally, the selected racial icon now glows.
Team logos that only made sense during the Pro Team Random Monobattles tourney launch event have been removed. The Bluefrex mascot has replaced them. His name is Dasa.
Explicit descriptions for each mode (Random Any, Protoss, Terran, Zerg, Custom Referee) have been added.
Referee button has been removed. Instead, if Custom Referees are allowed, a racial button corresponding to the mode will appear on the left. Selecting it and hitting GO will accomplish what hitting the REF button did. Hopefully this prevents players from accidentally hitting REF.
04/16/2012 Observer Changes
Larva are now removed from the Units Owned tab when used instead of when construction completes/cancels
04/15/2012 Observer Changes
Warp Prisms now show their progress in the production tab
Observer tab hotkeys have been added to mimic the standard spectator hotkeys. For example, pressing D will bring up the Production tab. Pressing D again will hide it.
04/7/2012 Observer Changes
Fixed a bug that caused production progress on the Mothership to not show
Observers will now have their resources/supply icons show the resources/supply of the owner of whatever units they've currently selected, as seen in replays
Camera following has been made smoother
Fixed a bug that prevented the recently added exit prompt from showing to referees after a game completed
Player Changes
Preparation timer shortened to 45 seconds from 2 minutes in non-referee games
04/5/2012 Observer Changes
The Production tab for custom refs now displays progress bars. WHOA.
Nydus Worms added to the production tab.
Precision for the income tab values improved.
Implemented player camera following as custom ref.
Spectator notifications added. When enabled, these will give a message to the spectator when a significant event occurs (nuke, nydus, etc) and creates a white ping on their minimap for the duration of the event. This should make finding the more interesting events in a 8 player game easier. Additional significant events will be registered to the notifications in the future.
The Weilhart bot no longer spouts a message during observed games. This is because he now spouts more than just his one line and it might seem out of place during a cast.
Player Changes
Bank verification is now performed when clicking the "GO" or "REF" buttons instead of during map init. Hopefully this prevents the scenario where a disconnected player has their bank file wiped.
04/1/2012
The Queen has made a (possibly temporary) comeback. She requires 2 food and has access to all of her functionalities. However, she's limited to 1 per base and cannot use Transfusion on a non-Queen, non-structure target.
Leavers appearing on their own team should finally be fixed
03/29/2012
Adding another possible solution to the issue of leavers appearing as their own team in the unit UI, as the last one failed
Win/loss statististics tracking should now be much smarter. Previous stats were wiped as a result. You should be notified in-game if your bank file is "corrected" (usually wiped) if your file has been tampered with or is out of date. There are several new rules to when stats can be recorded, but generally if you have 8 players, no computers, and everyone stays in the game it's a recorded game. Leaving after you hit Go usually counts as a loss.
When players are choosing their units, the choices are now displayed visually in the upper left for teammates. A faded unit indicates the player is considering that unit.
03/26/2012
Applied a possible solution to the issue of leavers appearing as their own team in the unit UI
Win/loss statistics are now available in-game. Hovering over your own unit information will display it to you. Alternatively, you may type "stats" after hitting the "Go" button to have the same information displayed to you. Hitting the "Go" button will lock you into the game stat-wise. Leaving before being granted victory will count as a loss.
03/24/2012
Leavers should no longer stall the ready process. Seriously this time. Scout's honor.
When all players are ready, the timer will switch to 5 seconds left instead of instantly starting
At 5 seconds remaining during the prep time, a game message and sound alert warn the players of game start
Zerg players can no longer build Queens unless the Queen unit is picked
Zerg players who do not pick Queen have access to a new unit: the Princess. Princesses are identical to Queens in every way except for the following:
Cannot have more Princesses than in progress/complete Hatch/Lair/Hives
Cannot have more than 5 Princesses max
Princesses cannot attack
Princesses cannot transfuse
Princesses do not consume supply
03/20/2012
Melee initialization and instant creep generation are very intense processes. Having them both occur at the same time (when everyone is ready) caused significant lag on many computers. Instead, natural creep generation will be greatly accelerated for the first 20 game seconds. This should have no effect on gameplay, but looks pretty sweet yo.
03/18/2012
Reverted an unintended change that rendered Referee Mode useless
Random any/race is now enforced by default (only on featured map for now), use Allow Picking to change this
03/16/2012
Constructing/finished nukes now appear in the production/units tab for custom referees
Fixed a bug where custom referees could cause a game not to end correctly
Fixed a bug where custom referees could cause the ready dialog to display incorrectly
Players who disconnect while map is loading no longer cause the ready dialog to stall
Reduced creep generation lag at map start
Fixed a bug that caused custom referees to see all announcements for players as though that player were on Team 0
Fixed an issue that prevented Marauder players from researching Stimpack
Made the racial icons for picking units larger
Terran situational flight limit reduced to 30 seconds from 3 minutes
03/9/2012
Fixed a bug wherein the Go button incorrectly and prematurely greyed
Fixed a bug introduced with custom ref system causing infestors and their research upgrades to be unobtainable
The mission timer now pauses until gameplay commences
Resource trading now commences its 5 minute cooldown when gameplay commences instead of when the map starts
Random Any rerolling now vetoes the unit that was original selected
Updated all tooltips in the Settings/Reroll dialogs to look nicer and be more helpful
Updated race icons to higher res versions and made them bigger so as to be more noticeable (some were unaware that you could even race pick)
03/8/2012
Fixed a custom ref bug that caused unit stacks in the Production/Unit tabs to sometimes show incorrect numbers
Fixed a bug that caused custom ref player vision to not include the vision of the player's allies
Fixed a bug where morphing an Overseer didn't show up in the Production/Units observer tabs
03/5/2012
Player preparation time limit changed to 2 minutes, up from 1 minute
Fixed a bug that caused the Archon to be usable as a DT/HT player
Minor tweak to make the new phoenix upgrade match the behavior of other upgades when selecting Phoenix or not
Terran building flight limit now only activates if the player controls no other grounded buildings. This is to allow the acceptable practice of using a floating building for vision on unpathable high ground for more than 5 minutes without micro.
Maximum continuous unpathable flight duration shortened to 3 minutes from 5 minutes since the application is now more lenient.
Players who choose Random Any now have the option to re-Random Any a single time before they confirm readiness. The fact that they repicked will display in their unit icon.
Initial stage of custom referees is implemented. To activate custom referees, create a private game and set the "Allow Referees" to "On", then set game mode to "Custom" and place referees on their own team. This unfortunately complicates the implementation of the mod on a map, but should still be easily achieved in under 2 minutes to those mildly familiar with the player and trigger editors. The guide to implementing the mod will be updated accordingly on release. Custom refs can see:
In-game dialogs
Player vision
Resources
Income
Units
Units Lost
Production
Army
02/19/2012
Improved spectator aesthetics
Fixed a bug where spectators would count against the ready check
Added player selection text announcements and final team announcements for spectators only
If you find yourself playing on a Bx Monobattle map and find yourself experiencing an issue that you feel is probably a bug or an unintended issue that can be exploited, feel free to PM me a link to a copy of the replay and describe the issue in as much detail as you can. Thanks!
There are already over a dozen Monobattle mods, why make another?
You know, my group of friends only recently got into Team Monobattle games and they are hilariously fun already. We often play Klishu's version for several hours just laughing and having a good time by consequence of the ruleset, as told by Day[9].
However, we've been slightly underwhelmed by the features and quality of the current Monobattle mods. Some people wish they could see whether another player randomed those marines or if he picked it on purpose. Another group might like to have a completely even chance at rolling any unit (i.e., zerg units individually have a higher chance of being rolled than the other races because there's fewer of them). A lot of people wish they could exclude Warp Prism from the random group. I'd agree with all of these critiques and more. You can squeeze more enjoyment out of any game if you try hard enough.
What's are the differences between this mod and the others?
- For one, it aims to be easier on the eyes. Some of the mods are very minimalistic and show an obvious lack of effort beyond the barest necessities. Not everyone will like the design, I'm sure, but we tried to make it a crowd pleaser.
- Useless or nearly useless units are dealt with. They're not thrown away or forbidden, just handled differently. Since the Zerg are always allowed to use Overlords, it made sense to us that Medivacs and Warp Prisms should be fair game as transports. However, in Bx Monobattles you cannot use Medivacs' Heal or Warp Prisms' Phase Mode unless you pick those units specifically. If running a probe around inside a Warp Prism setting cannons up everywhere isn't your thing, that's ok. The following units can be toggled out of the random unit selector individually:
Protoss
Warp Prism (picking allows use of abilities, always available as transport)
Mothership
Terran
Medivac (picking allows use of abilities, always available as transport)
Zerg
Overseer (picking allows use of abilities, always available as detector)
Corruptor
- Random means random. There's no 33% chance of each race, then unequal chances at each unit on an individual level. Race selection is done in-game instead of the lobby, making this possible. It is still possible to select a race but not a unit.
- Modularity. Some of the available mods are not versatile enough to be useful on any given melee map (XvX, XvY, FFA). The Bx Monobattle mod can be plugged into any melee map within minutes.
- Terran stalemates. Terrans lifting off into a corner of the map can be pretty irritating on a monobattle map when you can't build any air to air units. To solve this, our mod limits continuous building flight over unpathable terrain/space while controlling no other grounded buildings to 30 seconds, shown to the player and his allies as a countdown on the building. After 30 seconds, the building is destroyed.
- For clarity, the following must all be true for a Terran building to be destroyed:
Building must be flying
Building must be located over a point where a ground unit would not be able to stand under any circumstances
Owning player must control 0 non-flying Terran buildings
All of the above conditions must persist for 30 contiguous seconds (game time). If any of the conditions stop being true, the countdown is cancelled or reset
- No starting stallers. Players are given up to a minute (tracked by a timer) at the start of the map to lock in their settings. Number of players ready out of total active players is displayed prominently, as well as the players holding the game up.
- Settings memory. With greater options comes greater responsibility. The settings from your previous Bx Monobattle game are remembered via bank file and restored at the beginning of a new game, saving you and your fellow players time before the fun begins. All you have to do is press Go!
- Bug fixes. Some popular Monobattle mods have important bugs that are hard to detect or even notice (mind you, Klishu's mod specifically has taken care of these and deserves kudos). Bugs such as excess Nexus energy and lack of creep/larva at starting Hatcheries have been solved.
- Selection transparency. Team member selections are messaged to allies immediately and automatically. Player choices are prominently displayed during the game, marked by player color, and can show detailed information on the player's settings and choices by hovering over them. Additionally, the player details can be toggled to be shown or hidden if you don't like having each players' units displayed for the entire game.
What are the special unit rules?
They are as follows:
High Templar - Archon Warp removed.
Dark Templar - Archon Warp removed.
Archon - High Templars and Dark Templars are unlocked when Archon is chosen, but their weapons and abilities are removed.
Warp Prism - Cannot use Phasing Mode. Picking Warp Prism removes this limitation.
Medivac - Cannot use Heal. Picking Medivac removes this limitation.
Raven - Cannot use Auto-Turret, Point Defense Drone, or Seeker Missile. Picking Raven removes this limitation.
Queen - One per completed Hatchery/Lair/Hive. Picking Queen removes this limitation.
Overseer - Cannot use Changeling or Contamination. Picking Overseer removes this limitation.
Baneling - Zerglings are unlocked when Baneling is chosen, but its weapons are removed.
Brood Lord - Corruptors are unlocked when Brood Lord is chosen, but its weapons and abilities are removed.
Yes. The following maps are up on North America. If you're interested in hosting our mod on a different server, send me a PM.
Megaton (4v4)
Toxic Slums (4v4)
Outpost (4v4)
Extinction (4v4)
District 10 (4v4)
Sand Canyon (4v4)
Sand Canyon Redux (4v4) (Blizzard Spotlight)
Zenith (4v4)
High Ground (4v4)
Fossil Quarry (4v4)
Celestial Bastion
Fallout Zone
Sky Harvester
The following maps are available on EU.
Megaton (4v4)
Toxic Slums (4v4)
Outpost (4v4)
Extinction (4v4)
District 10 (4v4)
Sand Canyon (4v4)
Sand Canyon Redux (4v4)
Zenith (4v4)
High Ground (4v4)
Fossil Quarry (4v4)
Celestial Bastion
Fallout Zone
Sky Harvester
The following maps are available on SEA.
Outpost (4v4)
Extinction (4v4)
Megaton (4v4)
District 10 (4v4)
High Ground (4v4)
Fossil Quarry (4v4)
How do I add this mod to my map?
Request it to be uploaded by the correct uploader for each server. No guarantees. I can no longer allow the mod to be public or it'd overwrite bank file data every time someone switched authors.
If you're organizing an event and need a specific map, you may PM me and I'll contact an uploader.
What's to come?
- Improved spectator support.
- User feedback. As the mod sees more play, we'd like to improve it based on what you think.
On February 19 2012 12:01 TehTemplar wrote: Can you publish it on other 4v4 maps? I've played megaton a zillion and a thousand times and wouldn't mind more variety in my monobattles.
Anyone can publish it on any map, but sure. I can put up a few more maps. Got any preferences?
Quite awesome, really hoping this'll end up replacing the current Monobattles map
The only question I have that wasn't mentioned in the OP was, has the neural-parasited-worker -> full toss (or terran) tech tree issue been considered/addressed? I suppose you could argue that if you actually manage to pull it off in-game (especially the terran tech tree), you probably deserve to have it, but might be something to consider. Or perhaps just limit it to the buildings/non-combat units on the NP'd worker to stay in line with the spirit of the map?
On February 19 2012 14:25 Dullahan wrote: Quite awesome, really hoping this'll end up replacing the current Monobattles map
The only question I have that wasn't mentioned in the OP was, has the neural-parasited-worker -> full toss (or terran) tech tree issue been considered/addressed? I suppose you could argue that if you actually manage to pull it off in-game (especially the terran tech tree), you probably deserve to have it, but might be something to consider. Or perhaps just limit it to the buildings/non-combat units on the NP'd worker to stay in line with the spirit of the map?
All tech is disabled for everyone, so NPing someone else's probe/SCV wouldn't be useful.
If you've got a EU Starcraft 2 account, you can help.
An upcoming Monobattle tournament has expressed interest in using the mod for their matches. If you're able to upload about 5 maps to the EU server and willing to do so, please shoot me a PM.
On February 20 2012 08:24 urashimakt wrote: If you've got a EU Starcraft 2 account, you can help.
An upcoming Monobattle tournament has expressed interest in using the mod for their matches. If you're able to upload about 5 maps to the EU server and willing to do so, please shoot me a PM.
Can we get this published to NA? I'm not sure how it works, but I've a NA account, if I can publish them I'd be happy to. (You'll have to tell me how x))
Really looks like a lot more fun than the traditional monobattles, mostly because you fixed the problems it had. Gj
On February 29 2012 19:28 Killcycle wrote: Can we get this published to NA? I'm not sure how it works, but I've a NA account, if I can publish them I'd be happy to. (You'll have to tell me how x))
Really looks like a lot more fun than the traditional monobattles, mostly because you fixed the problems it had. Gj
Er, yes. Actually, it's natively available on NA (since I'm on NA). These should all be available in the custom game list by searching "Bx Monobattle" in Create or Join Custom Game. If you actually want to play them, I suggest bringing a couple friends together to try it out or you'll be fighting the lobby system (just make sure you press Open to Public before you start!).
I personally checked just to make sure that they're on there for everyone and not just those of us who made it. Cheers.
Bx Monobattle - Test is not a real map and is not public. Several of the maps are hosted on EU as well as the mod itself. You can add the mod to any map via the instructions in the OP so you can play your Monobattle any way you'd like.
One critical feature that some monobattles map should implement is the ability to allow different selection rules. For example, what if we want to play where each player can select 3 different units? This should be fairly straightforward to implement, but would probably require a voting system, or a host system. I mean, picking warp prisms is great and all, but what's the point if you can't build gateway units to capitalize on phasing mode?
there is one thing that have always bugged me about morphing units in monobattles, it has to my knowledge never happened butthe fact that it is still there annoys me, that is that if you pick a unit which is morphed from another unit (say, archon) then the first unit can be used.
yes, I know you have disabled all attacks on such units, but think about the following scenario:
a giant ultralisk army is marching towards the base of an archoning player, the ultralisks will definitelly win in a direct confrontation with the archons (imagine 15 ultras vs 2 archons) but, in the last second the archoning player warps in 2 dark templars, places them on the ramp and putsthem in hold position. what does the ultras do? they cant get past, because there is an invisible wall there.
now, the problem I am thinking about is not this exact situation, afterall, if the ultralisk player gets an overseer that will end the game in his favor. my point is that there exist areas in the game where you can effectively use units that should not be available to you according to the rules.
zerglings and corruptors can be used for scouting, they shouldn't but they can.
dt can be used for scouting and blocking chokes.
ht... meatshield? no, ht are silly when they cant use spells, but my point stands.
there exists areas of use for prohibited units. personally I would fix this by: 1. make all units which can morph into something have a sightrange of 0. 2. remove the hold-position commands of such units.
edit: unless that unit was the chosen unit obviously
On March 01 2012 10:05 Roblin wrote: there is one thing that have always bugged me about morphing units in monobattles, it has to my knowledge never happened butthe fact that it is still there annoys me, that is that if you pick a unit which is morphed from another unit (say, archon) then the first unit can be used.
yes, I know you have disabled all attacks on such units, but think about the following scenario:
a giant ultralisk army is marching towards the base of an archoning player, the ultralisks will definitelly win in a direct confrontation with the archons (imagine 15 ultras vs 2 archons) but, in the last second the archoning player warps in 2 dark templars, places them on the ramp and putsthem in hold position. what does the ultras do? they cant get past, because there is an invisible wall there.
now, the problem I am thinking about is not this exact situation, afterall, if the ultralisk player gets an overseer that will end the game in his favor. my point is that there exist areas in the game where you can effectively use units that should not be available to you according to the rules.
zerglings and corruptors can be used for scouting, they shouldn't but they can.
dt can be used for scouting and blocking chokes.
ht... meatshield? no, ht are silly when they cant use spells, but my point stands.
there exists areas of use for prohibited units. personally I would fix this by: 1. make all units which can morph into something have a sightrange of 0. 2. remove the hold-position commands of such units.
edit: unless that unit was the chosen unit obviously
There are more elegant ways to achieve what you're looking for, such as making an Archon ball trainable/warpable directly from the Gateway/Warpgate and skipping the middle man. But they make the game less interesting.
When a player gets Banelings they can do way more interesting things if they're allowed to use the fact that a Baneling is born a Zergling first. We even enable the Zergling Speed upgrade if you roll Baneling so that you can sneak or run by and morph in a base, or whatever you decide you want to do.
In a game where his opponents might roll Marine, Zergling, Zergling, Zealot against his team's Archon, Ultralisk, Battlecruiser, Carrier I would be cheering on clever uses of disabled DTs against opponents who forget detection.
On March 01 2012 13:25 ClysmiC wrote: This mod needs to replace the current one. The current one is SO outdated, it really needs this new stuff.
I do thank you for the interest. The best ways to get a mod up in the charts are to play it "open to the public" with friends and to get it streamed by popular folks. I'm attempting one of these, feel free to attempt the other!
The following updates will be rolling out today to make the Bx Monobattle mod even better, including a fully operational custom referee system that allows spectators to see both important spectator information provided by the default UI and information pertinent to the monobattle portion of the game.
Player preparation time limit changed to 2 minutes, up from 1 minute
Fixed a bug that caused the Archon to be usable as a DT/HT player
Minor tweak to make the new phoenix upgrade match the behavior of other upgades when selecting Phoenix or not
Terran building flight limit now only activates if the player controls no other grounded buildings. This is to allow the acceptable practice of using a floating building for vision on unpathable high ground for more than 5 minutes without micro.
Maximum continuous unpathable flight duration shortened to 3 minutes from 5 minutes since the application is now more lenient.
Players who choose Random Any now have the option to re-Random Any a single time before they confirm readiness. The fact that they repicked will display in their unit icon.
Initial stage of custom referees is implemented. To activate custom referees, create a private game and set the "Allow Referees" to "On", then set game mode to "Custom" and place referees on their own team. This unfortunately complicates the implementation of the mod on a map, but should still be easily achieved in under 2 minutes to those mildly familiar with the player and trigger editors. The guide to implementing the mod will be updated accordingly on release.
On March 01 2012 09:57 ledarsi wrote: One critical feature that some monobattles map should implement is the ability to allow different selection rules. For example, what if we want to play where each player can select 3 different units? This should be fairly straightforward to implement, but would probably require a voting system, or a host system. I mean, picking warp prisms is great and all, but what's the point if you can't build gateway units to capitalize on phasing mode?
Sorry, I never actually noticed this post for some reason. I'd agree that it sounds like a neat idea and it would be fairly simple to implement, but there's a line somewhere that divides monobattles from non-monobattles (polybattles?). It's not something I see us choosing for the Bx mod.
Specifically regarding the Warp Prism, we feel that the way to deal with its limited usefulness is to allow the player to opt out of using it. It definitely does have some uses, though. When I play on Klishu's mod and roll Warp Prism I sometimes tech to it and use it to build backdoor cannons.
Bx Monobattle - Sand Canyon is now listed on the Featured page under Join Custom games on US servers! If you're a bit tired of playing Megaton, this is your opportunity to play a different map and see our defining features.
This same mod will also be used tomorrow during TotalBiscuit's Pro Random Monobattles, so get a chance to see and play it before you tune in.
Edit: It appears they uploaded a deleted version of the map which causes an error when trying to join. I'm sure it'll be fixed soon!
The feature listing has been fixed, you can now join others playing Bx Monobattle - Sand Canyon on Battle.net US by clicking on Featured.
Be sure to tune in tomorrow for TotalBiscuit's Pro Random Monobattles (March 10 @ 10 AM Pacific / 1 PM Eastern / 7 PM CET) to see four of your favorite teams duke it out on the same maps.
i wonder if its just me or anyone else also notice that the voice and side notification UI is mismatched, especially when you re-random? i got protoss with terran voice, or zerg with protoss voice and reminder to build additional pylon instead of overlord? actually its not that important though, just look funny
anw, thanks for such a nice map. really help with those prism, medivac issue
On March 11 2012 02:13 bluegarfield wrote: i wonder if its just me or anyone else also notice that the voice and side notification UI is mismatched, especially when you re-random? i got protoss with terran voice, or zerg with protoss voice and reminder to build additional pylon instead of overlord? actually its not that important though, just look funny
anw, thanks for such a nice map. really help with those prism, medivac issue
Yap, your UI race and the vocal notifications are tied to your "lobby race" and your in-game race isn't.
On March 13 2012 05:37 tritonice wrote: UI does not necessarily align with unit pick, for example, I get hydralisk, but I get protoss UI and sounds. Haven't noticed a specific pattern yet.
As previously mentioned, your UI is chosen by whatever race the lobby decided for you and your in-game race is decided by the mod.
On March 13 2012 18:05 Tntnnbltn wrote: Did anyone else get extremely confused today when going to wall off?
Yes, sorry about that. The biggest complaint I got just playing games with people was how terrible a map Sand Canyon was. So I tried uniting the bases with 2 large ramps, then made the ramps smaller because lings were pretty good with that. I also removed Referee Mode from Sand Canyon specifically since it prevented the map from auto-starting.
We'll see how it goes. I will definitely be making the Terrain prettier than it looks right now when I have the spare time.
On March 13 2012 18:05 Tntnnbltn wrote: Did anyone else get extremely confused today when going to wall off?
Yes, sorry about that. The biggest complaint I got just playing games with people was how terrible a map Sand Canyon was. So I tried uniting the bases with 2 large ramps, then made the ramps smaller because lings were pretty good with that. I also removed Referee Mode from Sand Canyon specifically since it prevented the map from auto-starting.
We'll see how it goes. I will definitely be making the Terrain prettier than it looks right now when I have the spare time.
Let me know whenever you need something done on EU. I'm still available even though the event is over. All my upload spaces are belong to you, if necessary.
On March 16 2012 00:04 pyrobb wrote: How come this map is not popular again on NA server? I think it should be categorized as melee map since its hard to be on top as the custom category
Think of how often you go to the custom games section and just play whatever's on the front page. Think of that like a threshhold. As long as the old Monobattles is on that page and Bx is on the second page there will be a lot of inertia.
In the mean time I will be doing what I can just to make the mod better. Most of my efforts are currently focused on improving the referee system, but player feedback on something that would improve the mod for people playing is wanted. I still feel like many people don't even know you can select your race/unit explicitly and that's something I'd like to address.
I think you should make it all 'random' with a second chance 'random repick' option. No picking specific units. The picking only makes for lousy games and tends to infuriate people. Games that would otherwise be interesting are immediately ended when the team who all randomed, ends up playing against pickers who all got tryhard units.
The community itself is also beginning to hate this. In many games I have played, a person will 'pick' a unit, and other players on their own team will then attack them for it or try to lose the game on purpose as a means of stating their objection to the practice. I think most people who play monobattles are comfortable with the random nature of it all. And with the 'random repick' option, and the options to take out objectively less useful units (like overseers) (both really cool devices IMO) I think it still offers a solid chance that both teams will end up with an interesting composition.
You want the games to be 45 minutes of crazy base-trading and wild carnage. You don't want them to end in 5 minutes from a marine rush.
You might consider just making a second version with no option to pick specific units. I think more people would play it and it would make for far more interesting games.
On March 17 2012 02:41 Ungoliant wrote: I think you should make it all 'random' with a second chance 'random repick' option. No picking specific units. The picking only makes for lousy games and tends to infuriate people. Games that would otherwise be interesting are immediately ended when the team who all randomed, ends up playing against pickers who all got tryhard units.
The community itself is also beginning to hate this. In many games I have played, a person will 'pick' a unit, and other players on their own team will then attack them for it or try to lose the game on purpose as a means of stating their objection to the practice. I think most people who play monobattles are comfortable with the random nature of it all. And with the 'random repick' option, and the options to take out objectively less useful units (like overseers) (both really cool devices IMO) I think it still offers a solid chance that both teams will end up with an interesting composition.
You want the games to be 45 minutes of crazy base-trading and wild carnage. You don't want them to end in 5 minutes from a marine rush.
You might consider just making a second version with no option to pick specific units. I think more people would play it and it would make for far more interesting games.
We have discussed at length whether or not random any, or random any/random race, should be the only option(s) in the public mode of the game. It's a pretty big step in the opposite direction of our original goal for the mod and we're not sure which way to go with it yet. In playing with the public, we've noticed almost everyone using the random any feature and that's fine.
It's also intentional that pickers, or "try-hards" (always hated that phrase) be able to be distinguished from non-pickers. That's why we lovingly labelled the pick setting "Bravery" and color coded (Picked) with yellow.
I would prefer having random any/random race as the only options enabled by default, with picked units being allowed as an option in Create Game. The current options to disable 'bad' units and the ability to re-pick random are enough so that you can have fun games without someone needing to pick a specific unit. When people do pick it's almost always a rush unit. It's no fun waiting 10 minutes for a game then finding out your against picked marines and stalkers and it being over in 5 minutes.
Also, is it possible to get the waiting for player bug fixed for when someone leaves the game before choosing a unit? Currently you have to wait the full 2 minutes.
On March 18 2012 00:03 Tntnnbltn wrote: Also, is it possible to get the waiting for player bug fixed for when someone leaves the game before choosing a unit? Currently you have to wait the full 2 minutes.
I've been looking into this. I thought I had caught the issue but if it's still happening then I'll continue to do so. When someone disconnects during map load it seems to catch that the player slot is active but not that the player left.
Bx Monobattle - Sand Canyon (Fix) will soon have specific unit picking disabled in public games. In a private game, you may set Allow Picking to On to change this.
On March 19 2012 00:07 urashimakt wrote: Bx Monobattle - Sand Canyon (Fix) will soon have specific unit picking disabled in public games. In a private game, you may set Allow Picking to On to change this.
On March 19 2012 00:07 urashimakt wrote: Bx Monobattle - Sand Canyon (Fix) will soon have specific unit picking disabled in public games. In a private game, you may set Allow Picking to On to change this.
Wicked!! :D
Sorry about the delay. The header generation for the mod has secretly been corrupted for a while (so all of my backups are also corrupt) and I'm slowly learning how to salvage the pieces to put it back together. Should be finished today and the change will be in effect.
Why the 2 and 8 o clock position on Sand Canyon need to be changed.
Before i go into that, i want to make sure we're on the same page as the the necessity of the PF to hold
If the other team has t1/1.5 units and the terran does not, game theory dictates that the terran MUST open with a PF unless his teammate cannons the ramp for him or has a teammate that is not on the cross side of the map who can defend him. If the t1.5 unit is reapers, he must open with a PF 100% of the time in all situations.
Protoss can hold not only 1, but 2 cannon rushes if scouted without killing the proxying probe. Zerg can do this as well. It takes a bit of skill to hold 2, but it can be done. The protoss uses cannons. The Zerg uses spines.
The Terran, unless they have t1/1.5 units, absolutely must open 10 supply, 11 refinery, XX(# is loose) ebay->PF to stop a cannon rush. Not only does the terran have to open PF, he must get the range upgrade, which takes time. It's not a problem as it's a normal build order to get it immediately on the next 100 gas protect simcitied buildings. Not only does the terran have to PF, but he has to simcity all of his buildings inside his mineral line/adjacent to the PF to protect them from t1/1.5/cannon rush.
What happens in the 2 and 8 positions is that the PF, even with range upgrade, cannot reach the cannon/pylon/probe on the high ground behind the mineral line. In the 10 and 5 positions it can. If the map was change to match the 10 and 5 positions it would be perfect. It's a negligible change only cannon rushers would hate.
At this point in the game, if you were up against 4 random terrans, it would be mandated GTO(game theory optimal) to cannon the 2 and 8 positions, and they do.
What i have said about cannons is also true about reapers. The thing is that most people have not figured this out yet. All you have to do is have you reapers behind the mineral line on hold position and the terran cannot mine. It's a gross map imbalance
Before you say "scout noob". Yes this is true, but you must scout it _immediately_, where as in the 10 and 5 positions you can scout it at a reasonable time and, with the right build order, hard counter it. Even scouted, you cannot hold reapers on hold position behind the mineral line. Terran is forced to have 1 scv patrolling that area until they or another teammate gets units out to stop a cannon rush. Even then, all protoss has to do is adapt and send 2 probes to deal with your 1 scouting SCV and you won't be able to deal with as effectively as you should be. This is not reasonable for 1 race to have to divert an SCV full time over a slight map change. Once they get the pylon down. it's essentially GG and you have to lift unless you have a competent t1 unit to help you.
I've reached Diamond in 1v1 with T/Z, Platinum as P, and Masters in all 3 races in 2s as Zerg, 3s as Protoss, and 4s as Terran. All of this with absolutely horrible unit control.
I'm open to strategy discussion about this, but please make sure you have a competent grasp on monobattles metagame and understand game theory.
how come whenever i play, i never see the unit screens like the ones in the screenshots? i only see Go, no choices, and i cant reconsider my units, so i only have a 1 time random pick
On March 21 2012 07:28 Childplay wrote: how come whenever i play, i never see the unit screens like the ones in the screenshots? i only see Go, no choices, and i cant reconsider my units, so i only have a 1 time random pick
If you're not getting a reroll, you've clicked one of the racial icons at the top and you didn't realize it. To get the reroll you must Random Any (click the icon that looks like all 3 racial icons clumped together), then hit Go. Reading the tooltips will fully explain these options.
Your settings are remembered between each game, so if you've set yourself to Random Terran you will always be shown the Random Terran screen first, so hitting Go each time will only Random Terran (no reroll).
The screenshots are slightly outdated. The background is no longer blue, for example. The racial buttons at the top are now bigger and more detailed. Also, in public games Allow Picking is set to Off, so you won't be able to see any of the specific unit icons.
On March 21 2012 07:28 Childplay wrote: how come whenever i play, i never see the unit screens like the ones in the screenshots? i only see Go, no choices, and i cant reconsider my units, so i only have a 1 time random pick
If you're not getting a reroll, you've clicked one of the racial icons at the top and you didn't realize it. To get the reroll you must Random Any (click the icon that looks like all 3 racial icons clumped together), then hit Go. Reading the tooltips will fully explain these options.
Your settings are remembered between each game, so if you've set yourself to Random Terran you will always be shown the Random Terran screen first, so hitting Go each time will only Random Terran (no reroll).
The screenshots are slightly outdated. The background is no longer blue, for example. The racial buttons at the top are now bigger and more detailed. Also, in public games Allow Picking is set to Off, so you won't be able to see any of the specific unit icons.
ah thank you very much. I totally did not even think of the f12. Guess im going random random every game xD
Just played a few games (man I suck at monobattles).
One question though. At the lobby I had terran chosen in my first couple games and at the unit selection I ended up with Corruptor (Zerg). Is that a bug? Can the host force random race? Or did I somehow click something off?
On March 22 2012 10:49 mikiao wrote: Just played a few games (man I suck at monobattles).
One question though. At the lobby I had terran chosen in my first couple games and at the unit selection I ended up with Corruptor (Zerg). Is that a bug? Can the host force random race? Or did I somehow click something off?
Otherwise, I'm enjoying it a bunch.
The race you pick in the lobby is independent of the race you can end up with in game. If you choose the "Random All" option, you'll be open to getting units from any of the races, but you'll have the option of repicking if you don't like the first selection. You can also choose a specific race to random from, but you don't get the option of repicking in this case.
On March 22 2012 10:49 mikiao wrote: Just played a few games (man I suck at monobattles).
One question though. At the lobby I had terran chosen in my first couple games and at the unit selection I ended up with Corruptor (Zerg). Is that a bug? Can the host force random race? Or did I somehow click something off?
Otherwise, I'm enjoying it a bunch.
The race you pick in the lobby is independent of the race you can end up with in game. If you choose the "Random All" option, you'll be open to getting units from any of the races, but you'll have the option of repicking if you don't like the first selection. You can also choose a specific race to random from, but you don't get the option of repicking in this case.
Oh. then I lucked out the first few games by getting terran then. I'll pay more attention then.. Thanks
On February 19 2012 11:51 urashimakt wrote: - We're considering completely disabling queens for non-queen Zerg players in favor of granting the Creep Tumor and Spawn Larva abilities to the Hatchery/Lair/Hive instead. Feel free to give input on the idea.
On March 22 2012 19:54 RainFall wrote: For some reason tonight i couldn't get my infestors to load into overlords for drops. Bug?
I'm not currently in town right now so I can't test it myself, but besides a few requirement changes and adding some Terran building behaviors there are no changes to the default game data. Especially none involving the Overlord and/or Infestor. Make sure you've researched the drop upgrade and if anyone else can confirm there is/isn't an issue with it that would be great.
On February 19 2012 11:51 urashimakt wrote: - We're considering completely disabling queens for non-queen Zerg players in favor of granting the Creep Tumor and Spawn Larva abilities to the Hatchery/Lair/Hive instead. Feel free to give input on the idea.
Great idea! Then they won't be eating up supply.
We're not really worried about the supply. In fact, the solutions we're considering will continue to make sure that 2 supply is eaten up in return for the important macro mechanics. We just don't like that the Queen is wandering around as a unit with any sort of combat advantage. We may:
1) Disable her attacks and limit # of Queens = # Hatch/Lair/Hive under construction/completed. May also disable Transfusion.
2) Give Hatch/Lair/Hive an ability that requires Spawning Pool and takes as long as a Queen's construction time to enable 200 energy + Creep Tumor/Spawn Larva, where Spawn Larva would be cast-on-self and Creep Tumor would require a player owned unit in range of the target area. Using the ability makes the Hatch/Lair/Hive take up 2 supply. Would be disabled if Queen's are picked.
3) Create an upgrade at Spawning Pool that does what the above mentions, except it would be universal to all Hatch/Lair/Hive and wouldn't need to be done at each.
#1 maintains most of the limitations behind those mechanics by keeping the abilities tied to a slow, killable unit. That's our favorite so far.
Is there any chance of writing custom build orders for the AI or is it too much work? At the moment, unless they have a tier 1 unit they just build all the structures, get upgrades for units they cant make and then never attack.
On March 23 2012 20:39 HejaBVB wrote: its impossible to get people into this custom on EU -_-
While this mod may include features others lack, I can recommend the original mod by Klishu for you EU folk. I make this mod available over there for its tourney friendliness.
On March 23 2012 21:46 iHirO wrote: Is there any chance of writing custom build orders for the AI or is it too much work? At the moment, unless they have a tier 1 unit they just build all the structures, get upgrades for units they cant make and then never attack.
Computer slots are pretty much only available so that I can easily test algorithms automatically. Unless you can convince me that playing team monobattles vs comps is fun/useful I have no plans to write new AIs.
Zerg players can no longer build Queens unless the Queen unit is picked
Zerg players who do not pick Queen have access to a new unit: the Princess. Princesses are identical to Queens in every way except for the following:
Cannot have more Princesses than in progress/complete Hatch/Lair/Hives
Cannot have more than 5 Princesses max
Princesses cannot attack
Princesses cannot transfuse
Princesses do not consume supply
Players who leave before the game starts should also no longer stall the ready process. Let me know if there's a situation where this still isn't true.
Win/loss statistics are now available to those who want to see them. Leaving a game after hitting the "Go" button and before seeing the victory dialog will count as a loss.
You can hover over your unit information or type "stats" after being shown a unit to view unit-specific and total wins/losses.
Since editing bank files is pretty easy, the mod code is publicly available, and we want to maintain the melee feel of gameplay for tournament usage we will not be adding in any achievements or rewards for reaching any given statistic. It is possible in the future that we will obfuscate the bank files and add in simple rewards (a title or something) that is only effective in non-referee mode. If that happens, bank statistics will be wiped.
Useful note: Only you can ever see your stats.
UPDATE: Actually, we've decided that obfuscating/securing the bank file and adding in cosmetic rewards would be a fun thing to do and a method of dissuading "I don't like my unit" leavers. If we can't find a way to do this without making the mod code private, we may also remove it from easy public access. Additionally, we would prevent methods of "farming" a ratio by joining/leaving a game with a friend or a computer. A game would have to meet certain criteria before it would affect user stats.
Some examples of what we might implement if we feel sufficiently confident in bank security:
Everyone can see everyone else's rank title
Doing well with a specific unit gives the option of using a different skin when using the unit
Doing well overall gives the option to make your units look ghostly, gold-plated, etc
Nice mod, I really want to try it out. Is there some active channel for that on EU? Don't want to waste my hours waiting for other players in an open lobby... (record was like 15min and we were two players by then, or when the second player who joined after me left the lobby, to be precise).
On March 26 2012 18:47 JustPassingBy wrote: Nice mod, I really want to try it out. Is there some active channel for that on EU? Don't want to waste my hours waiting for other players in an open lobby... (record was like 15min and we were two players by then, or when the second player who joined after me left the lobby, to be precise).
The mod is spotlighted on NA and has been cast on by TotalBiscuit, Day[9], and Blizzard with professional players participating. It still struggles against the power of the front page system. I could add in a message to join a channel for EU, but I doubt that'd help you out much if no one joins to see the message.
Hopefully if the mod sees more use in tournament play it'll get you guys the popularity bump you're looking for. Until then, I'll keep sending my updates to my EU guy.
It's a great mod, but please stop the farmville type junk with ghostly looks, gold plated, etc. This is Starcraft, Not a web game or The Sims.
The stats feature is absolutely pointless. 30-40% of games someone gets dropped. I leave every single game that someone else gets dropped. I assume most non-noobs do as well. It makes this feature useless.
On March 27 2012 19:42 RainFall wrote: It's a great mod, but please stop the farmville type junk with ghostly looks, gold plated, etc. This is Starcraft, Not a web game or The Sims.
The stats feature is absolutely pointless. 30-40% of games someone gets dropped. I leave every single game that someone else gets dropped. I assume most non-noobs do as well. It makes this feature useless.
You already don't lose points if you get dropped before picking and after the changes we've got planned you won't lose points for leaving after someone else has dropped before game start or under several other conditions.
Statistics are a highly requested feature (I hop in games several times per day to get feedback and do some bug checking). I'll be the first to admit that as it stands right now it is pretty shit. That's why only you can see your stats and "rank". But now that the backbone of the system is in, making it better will be easier on me. The feature is certainly not pointless because many people like being "rewarded" for doing something and the more people who feel rewarded the more people will be filling up the game so you can play more often or more on demand. That's how we feel at least.
The system will never reward you with 10% more damage or 10% faster mining or invisible units. We will not break the rules of Starcraft 2 beyond the addition of Monobattle rules. The system will also never be obtrusive towards you, we will never add HoN features like taunting.
And when referees are allowed, all of the rewards and statistics will be disabled. I (as the coder) put a lot of work into this mod coding tournament friendly stuff that doesn't get used much outside of special events. Since the mod is also played by the public, I'd like to take a little time to work on something the public can enjoy. If you've got suggestions to better the statistics idea or to work on something else, I would absolutely love to hear them. Calling a work in progress that currently has no real effect on anyone shit won't make me stop working to improve it though.
Again, no one can see your stats except you (and my Weilhart account so that I can see what others see when they describe bugs to me). When we improve the stat recording system, we will wipe all stats clean again. Any rewards we implement will not change the gameplay or be obtrusive to you.
Update
The following rules will be going live for stats:
A game must have exactly the max number of players to validate stats
Referee Off must be set to validate stats
Picking Off must be set to validate stats
All players must not be computers to validate stats
A player who leaves during a valid stat game before the mission timer reaches 2 minutes will flag the game as a "leaver" game
No loss is recorded for a player who leaves before pressing Go
No losses are recorded in a leaver game except for the initial leaver (if he pressed Go)
No wins are recorded in games that ends before the mission timer reaches 2 minutes
The only benefit we will be rewarding at this time is rank display. If others hover over your unit, they may check your rank (NOT your stats).
On March 26 2012 18:47 JustPassingBy wrote: Nice mod, I really want to try it out. Is there some active channel for that on EU? Don't want to waste my hours waiting for other players in an open lobby... (record was like 15min and we were two players by then, or when the second player who joined after me left the lobby, to be precise).
The mod is spotlighted on NA and has been cast on by TotalBiscuit, Day[9], and Blizzard with professional players participating. It still struggles against the power of the front page system. I could add in a message to join a channel for EU, but I doubt that'd help you out much if no one joins to see the message.
Hopefully if the mod sees more use in tournament play it'll get you guys the popularity bump you're looking for. Until then, I'll keep sending my updates to my EU guy.
You never let me know if the latest update file was safe to publish. D:
On March 26 2012 18:47 JustPassingBy wrote: Nice mod, I really want to try it out. Is there some active channel for that on EU? Don't want to waste my hours waiting for other players in an open lobby... (record was like 15min and we were two players by then, or when the second player who joined after me left the lobby, to be precise).
The mod is spotlighted on NA and has been cast on by TotalBiscuit, Day[9], and Blizzard with professional players participating. It still struggles against the power of the front page system. I could add in a message to join a channel for EU, but I doubt that'd help you out much if no one joins to see the message.
Hopefully if the mod sees more use in tournament play it'll get you guys the popularity bump you're looking for. Until then, I'll keep sending my updates to my EU guy.
You never let me know if the latest update file was safe to publish. D:
I said publish it anyways! Don't bother now, I don't care about that anymore. I'll give you something fresh soon.
On March 26 2012 18:47 JustPassingBy wrote: Nice mod, I really want to try it out. Is there some active channel for that on EU? Don't want to waste my hours waiting for other players in an open lobby... (record was like 15min and we were two players by then, or when the second player who joined after me left the lobby, to be precise).
The mod is spotlighted on NA and has been cast on by TotalBiscuit, Day[9], and Blizzard with professional players participating. It still struggles against the power of the front page system. I could add in a message to join a channel for EU, but I doubt that'd help you out much if no one joins to see the message.
Hopefully if the mod sees more use in tournament play it'll get you guys the popularity bump you're looking for. Until then, I'll keep sending my updates to my EU guy.
You never let me know if the latest update file was safe to publish. D:
I said publish it anyways! Don't bother now, I don't care about that anymore. I'll give you something fresh soon.
On March 28 2012 10:49 moskonia wrote: about the prism, phase mode is useless, since u cant make any unit, since you chose the prism, other then that gj ^^
It's more about the denying any "extra" usage of the Warp Prism beyond its transportation capability, just like how the Medivac can't heal unless picked. There's a reason you're allowed to toggle it out as a random pick. And personally I've used it to lay down insta-cannons without a pylon!
i do like this mod a lot better, but i had some issues before concerning "balance" when playing 4v4 all random. so first of all, obviously monobattle maps are not supposed to be perfectly balanced, but i feel that some level of balance isn't a bad idea, for example making some setting in the code that says if everyone randoms, both teams have a fighting chance at least. my example of the game i played earlier
banelings, reapers, void rays, phoenix (their team) vs battlecruiser, brood lord, zergling, dt (my team )
just my thoughts. if this is an easy thing to change, that would be cool, either way, i will see all you guys on BX monobattles!
On March 28 2012 14:03 Mr.F. wrote: i do like this mod a lot better, but i had some issues before concerning "balance" when playing 4v4 all random. so first of all, obviously monobattle maps are not supposed to be perfectly balanced, but i feel that some level of balance isn't a bad idea, for example making some setting in the code that says if everyone randoms, both teams have a fighting chance at least. my example of the game i played earlier
banelings, reapers, void rays, phoenix (their team) vs battlecruiser, brood lord, zergling, dt (my team )
just my thoughts. if this is an easy thing to change, that would be cool, either way, i will see all you guys on BX monobattles!
The reroll system is in place to hedge your bets against compositions you don't like. Unless your team is full of people who don't look at what others have rolled before they make their own decisions, you should usually end up with a comp with a few strategies.
As for your specific comp: Zergling rush the reaper guy and try to DT the rest. Against competent opponents you might have a very tough time, but none of their units are siege units. Turrets, cannons, spores can counter VR and hard-counter Phoenix, defensively. Getting to BC without letting reaper guy get his feet on the ground seems like a legit way to play. One of the biggest issues with "balance" on Monobattles maps is that the public generally plays them like NR20. Sometimes you just have to proxy hatch and spine rush to cripple the deadliest opponent.
I don't currently have anything ready to make the randomizer "smarter", but maybe in the future. One of our immediate wishlist items is to make it easier to see what your teammates have rolled so making your own reroll decisions becomes easier. Before that we still have to fix all the issues with stats.
On March 28 2012 14:34 urashimakt wrote: One of our immediate wishlist items is to make it easier to see what your teammates have rolled so making your own reroll decisions becomes easier. Before that we still have to fix all the issues with stats.
These things have been added in. We'll be returning to the planning board for a while, so expect not having to constantly download new versions for a while. Bug fixes exempted.
a couple of times tonight I've been dropped at the start of the game with the message 'your bank file has been corrupted or could not be read', or something like that. doesn't always happen, but still annoying. any way to fix this?
The Zerg princess change makes Z much more vulnerable to 1 base air as a late evo=GG now. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, but the build time on the evo chamber may or may not want to be changed to compensate as zerg is balanced in ladder based around the ability of the queen to attack.
On March 30 2012 11:29 renlynn wrote: a couple of times tonight I've been dropped at the start of the game with the message 'your bank file has been corrupted or could not be read', or something like that. doesn't always happen, but still annoying. any way to fix this?
The drop isn't related to that message. That's just a message that appears at map init if your bank file is wrong, then it generates a new one for you.
The drops happen on all maps, it's just bnet being bnet. What I'd like to know is if you get that message in one game, successfully play that game, and then get it in another game. That shouldn't happen.
Edit: I've double checked by trashing, deleting, double trashing my own bank file and joining online games. No problem with clean/generating/updating the file without dropping. You might be incorrectly getting that message during map init because bnet is dropping you, though. I'd have to get dropped to know for sure.
On March 30 2012 20:28 RainFall wrote: The Zerg princess change makes Z much more vulnerable to 1 base air as a late evo=GG now. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, but the build time on the evo chamber may or may not want to be changed to compensate as zerg is balanced in ladder based around the ability of the queen to attack.
I think all the races are balanced around the ability to build most of their units. I won't make the Evo Chamber build faster, just as I won't make turrets shoot ground. Getting a fast evo chamber/planetary is just something that has to be done sometimes to be successful in a given monobattle scenario.
I'm on Extinction on EU, with a map open to public, just me and the remnants of a few AI bases, mining with one scv at a time on 22 bases, upping the total time played on the map.
Fuck the system.
Watching iNcontroL stream during this... I can probably get like 4 hours added to the play time. ~45 hours is on page 5 or so, but anything helps I suppose.
On March 31 2012 04:49 Chargelot wrote: I'm on Extinction on EU, with a map open to public, just me and the remnants of a few AI bases, mining with one scv at a time on 22 bases, upping the total time played on the map.
Fuck the system.
Watching iNcontroL stream during this... I can probably get like 4 hours added to the play time. ~45 hours is on page 5 or so, but anything helps I suppose.
lol. People are going to think that was at my request. I just want to say that you are mental.
On March 31 2012 04:49 Chargelot wrote: I'm on Extinction on EU, with a map open to public, just me and the remnants of a few AI bases, mining with one scv at a time on 22 bases, upping the total time played on the map.
Fuck the system.
Watching iNcontroL stream during this... I can probably get like 4 hours added to the play time. ~45 hours is on page 5 or so, but anything helps I suppose.
lol. People are going to think that was at my request. I just want to say that you are mental.
To avoid that, this was all my idea. I just hate this current system. HoTS better fix everything. And I wasn't doing anything else. May as well accomplish something while I lay around and do nothing for all of spring break.
Send it when you wish, I'm ready. (fuck yeah page 23)
All maps are currently version 2.2. They are all hosted by myself (created by Urashimakt!) under my name: Jesse Spillane. The menu UI has been simplified! You only need to change 2 options:
4v4 vs. Referee Mode In 4v4 mode, it's just a straight up 4v4 Monobattles. No Refs, No Obs. In Referee Mode, you can have a 4v4 Monobattle with up to 6 referees. Refs get their own unique interface. Anyone who wishes to be a referee should be put onto team 3.
Picking on vs Picking off: If picking is enabled, players can pick specific units. if picking is disabled, players are forced to use random units.
The game will use standard settings (faster, team locked) for everything else.
Thanks urashimakt for creating this wonderful mod. Seriously guys, try it out.
The mod should now be available to the Oceanic community so that all servers can enjoy their monobattle tournaments.
Make sure any Bx map you join on any server was uploaded by the uploader designated in the OP. Joining a different person's upload will invalidate your bank file since it's signed.
On March 31 2012 18:37 Tntnnbltn wrote: I made a post on Reddit encouraging people to play Bx Monobattles this weekend. Hoping we could eventually get Bx onto Page 1 of custom games.
I was actually impressed with the writing. You're a very solid wordsmith.
In other news, it appears that I've accidentally uploaded a much better map into Sand Canyon's slot. I will fix this AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. The original Sand Canyon will continue to be available as it has been (as Bx Monobattle - Sand Canyon (Original)).
Not sure if we have the latest version on EU but the Princess isn't currently assigned a hotkey. Also you might want to display on the map loading screen or somewhere that they can't attack as it leads to confusion.
While playing as random, I noticed that the idle worker icon and sounds effects were Zerg but my race was Terran.
On April 01 2012 05:19 iHirO wrote: Not sure if we have the latest version on EU but the Princess isn't currently assigned a a hotkey. Also you might want to display on the map loading screen or somewhere that they can't attack as it leads to confusion.
While playing as random, I noticed that the idle worker icon and sounds effects were Zerg but my race was Terran.
All units you haven't chosen can't attack, so it kinda falls in line with the theme (Zerglings can't attack if you get Banelings, DTs can't attack if you get Archons, etc). She's assigned to the Q hotkey (same as queen) on US, but that may have been lost in localization? Or it may be lost if you use a non-standard hotkey setup, I'm not sure. More feedback on that appreciated.
The sound notifications/worker icon idle isn't a bug as mentioned before.
On April 01 2012 05:19 iHirO wrote: Not sure if we have the latest version on EU but the Princess isn't currently assigned a a hotkey. Also you might want to display on the map loading screen or somewhere that they can't attack as it leads to confusion.
While playing as random, I noticed that the idle worker icon and sounds effects were Zerg but my race was Terran.
All units you haven't chosen can't attack, so it kinda falls in line with the theme (Zerglings can't attack if you get Banelings, DTs can't attack if you get Archons, etc). She's assigned to the Q hotkey (same as queen) on US, but that may have been lost in localization? Or it may be lost if you use a non-standard hotkey setup, I'm not sure. More feedback on that appreciated.
The sound notifications/worker icon idle isn't a bug as mentioned before.
The button to create a Princess is not bound to a hotkey in Standard, Standard for lefties, or Classic. Grid and Grid for lefties still works as intended.
On April 01 2012 05:19 iHirO wrote: Not sure if we have the latest version on EU but the Princess isn't currently assigned a a hotkey. Also you might want to display on the map loading screen or somewhere that they can't attack as it leads to confusion.
While playing as random, I noticed that the idle worker icon and sounds effects were Zerg but my race was Terran.
All units you haven't chosen can't attack, so it kinda falls in line with the theme (Zerglings can't attack if you get Banelings, DTs can't attack if you get Archons, etc). She's assigned to the Q hotkey (same as queen) on US, but that may have been lost in localization? Or it may be lost if you use a non-standard hotkey setup, I'm not sure. More feedback on that appreciated.
The sound notifications/worker icon idle isn't a bug as mentioned before.
The button to create a Princess is not bound to a hotkey in Standard, Standard for lefties, or Classic. Grid and Grid for lefties still works as intended.
On US, she's bound to Q on every non-Grid hotkey setup, which is something I probably can't address because "custom hotkey setups" beyond Grid are based on a personal player file stored on bnet. It still shouldn't be a big deal, since Q doesn't conflict with any other hotkeys. Her Larva/Creep Tumor abilities act like the originals across all localizations.
So it's specifically a localization issue with the Birth Princess button. I'll fix it.
Edit: It's been fixed. Some random bug that fixed itself after resetting the hotkey.
A reminder about custom hotkeys: If you use your own custom hotkey profile that you've defined yourself, you'll need to change the Princess' abilities in the same way you changed the Queen's. If you load up the map with a computer, the Princess will be listed.
People also apparently prefer the crappy fixes to Sand Canyon over Blizzard maps. Weird, but I guess I'll put the Sand Canyon fix back up.
I plan to move the button for the Princess one square to the right on the Hatchery command card so that players may bind it with a custom hotkey if they wish. Currently, the Queen hotkey visually blocks it from being rebound.
However, several people have complained (nay whined!) about not being able to attack with their Queens. I asked the Bluefrex crew about it and we've agreed that it's Monobattle and it doesn't matter enough to try to balance around it. So, we'll put a poll up here with a few options with what to do with the Queen and let the community decide this one.
Poll: How should the Queen be dealt with?
One Queen per Hatch, can attack and transfuse (18)
60%
Keep the Princess (no food cost, can't attack/tranfuse) as is (5)
17%
One Queen per Hatch, can't attack or transfuse (4)
13%
Keep the Princess but remove the maximum limit (2)
7%
Don't limit the Queen at all, allow it to be built at a whim (1)
3%
30 total votes
Your vote: How should the Queen be dealt with?
(Vote): Don't limit the Queen at all, allow it to be built at a whim (Vote): One Queen per Hatch, can attack and transfuse (Vote): One Queen per Hatch, can't attack or transfuse (Vote): Keep the Princess (no food cost, can't attack/tranfuse) as is (Vote): Keep the Princess but remove the maximum limit
The queen change seems terribly arbitrary. It was almost as if someone said "Well there's a random queen, why don't we remove queens".
When you look at it from a meta perspective. as Destiny, Idra, and others said aroudn s1-s2, Zerg has too much to scout for. The queen is a nice slightly mobile static defense that lets the zerg prepare for things two things at once. As it is now, the zerg can not prepare for reaper and banshee at the same time, realistically. Terran can(PF+turret=is easy) and Protoss as well(cannon super easy). Right now you must make SEVERAL spores/spines in a circular formation to accomplish this. Additionally, if you are spining up to stop a cannon rush, you're toast to 1 base banshee.
I understand monobattles is not supposed to be incredibly balanced, but since this change i've seen zerg autolose games in the first 7-8 minutes at at least double the rate. Is this really want you want? There wasn't a problem before. No one was complaining.
If you want to keep the princess, make it cost 0 minerals. This way zerg would have more early game cash to defend. Either that or make the hatcheries have energy and have them cast spawn larva and spread creep once you've completed your spawning pool. This might be slightly OP to zergling rushes. it would have to be tested.
On April 01 2012 18:37 RainFall wrote:As it is now, the zerg can not prepare for reaper and banshee at the same time, realistically. Terran can(PF+turret=is easy)
It's easier for zerg to throw up evo chamber, spore crawlers and spine crawlers than it is for terran to get engineering bay + turrents + PF, especially once you take into consideration the 150 gas for PF + lack of mules.
On April 01 2012 18:37 RainFall wrote: I understand monobattles is not supposed to be incredibly balanced, but since this change i've seen zerg autolose games in the first 7-8 minutes at at least double the rate.
And that will probably continue until zerg players adapt to not having Queens.
On April 01 2012 18:37 RainFall wrote: The queen change seems terribly arbitrary. It was almost as if someone said "Well there's a random queen, why don't we remove queens".
One day on the Bluefrex estate...
"If a terran has to sacrifice his macro mechanic to survive, why does the Queen still get to attack?"
"Because you never know what you need to defend against."
"Yes you do. It's right there."
"Oh, fair enough."
(Zerg's second unit nixed)
The word "arbitrary" is ill-fitting because, as you can see, it was done deliberately. In a normal game of SC2 the argument against removing the queen's attacks is obvious to anyone. Why not continue the same train of thought into a Monobattle, ignoring the other races?
Think about what you just said, though. Planetary fortress=easy. The Terran just had to tech down the wrong tree, grab an early gas, and forfeit his macro mechanic on top of the whole mineral chugging portion of static defense all 3 races share. Zerg on the other hand tech to spines automatically and can pick up AA/detection by building an evo chamber. Suggesting you need to create a complete ring around your base to deter aggression is a bit of a gross exaggeration. 3 spines and 1-2 spores at your main gets you pretty far into the game. Expecting to be able to defend any possible incoming as 1 player in a 4v4 Monobattle situation is just playing selfishly on your team's part, which does happen.
It's so comforting to think of the Queen as a mobile cannon, and we're all so used to it. It was just simply obvious to us that Zerg being guaranteed an early defensive unit was a bit of unfairness that could be remedied while keeping with the spirit of Monobattles.
On April 01 2012 18:37 RainFall wrote:As it is now, the zerg can not prepare for reaper and banshee at the same time, realistically. Terran can(PF+turret=is easy)
It's easier for zerg to throw up evo chamber, spore crawlers and spine crawlers than it is for terran to get engineering bay + turrents + PF, especially once you take into consideration the 150 gas for PF + lack of mules.
On April 01 2012 18:37 RainFall wrote: I understand monobattles is not supposed to be incredibly balanced, but since this change i've seen zerg autolose games in the first 7-8 minutes at at least double the rate.
And that will probably continue until zerg players adapt to not having Queens.
This is the problem when people comment when they don't understand monobattles. Terran opens PF ~75% of the time anyways if played correctly. This is not an issue. Weilhart as well ignores this issue. Most terrans are playing wrong. When You can't say Terrans are teching down the wrong tree when they tech down that tree every single time they don't 1) have meta info that says otherwise 2) aren't protected by a protoss at the gate. 3) have a low tier unit or one defending them/putting pressure on.
It is the most expensive for zerg to defend at the moment. I agree that zergs haven't adjusted to it, but you'll find after X amount of play that the zerg is the largest disadvantage
On April 01 2012 18:37 RainFall wrote:As it is now, the zerg can not prepare for reaper and banshee at the same time, realistically. Terran can(PF+turret=is easy)
It's easier for zerg to throw up evo chamber, spore crawlers and spine crawlers than it is for terran to get engineering bay + turrents + PF, especially once you take into consideration the 150 gas for PF + lack of mules.
On April 01 2012 18:37 RainFall wrote: I understand monobattles is not supposed to be incredibly balanced, but since this change i've seen zerg autolose games in the first 7-8 minutes at at least double the rate.
And that will probably continue until zerg players adapt to not having Queens.
This is the problem when people comment when they don't understand monobattles. Terran opens PF ~75% of the time anyways if played correctly. This is not an issue. Weilhart as well ignores this issue. Most terrans are playing wrong. When You can't say Terrans are teching down the wrong tree when they tech down that tree every single time they don't 1) have meta info that says otherwise 2) aren't protected by a protoss at the gate. 3) have a low tier unit or one defending them/putting pressure on.
It is the most expensive for zerg to defend at the moment. I agree that zergs haven't adjusted to it, but you'll find after X amount of play that the zerg is the largest disadvantage
You are clearly stating that Terrans are usually forced to go PF and this somehow means it's not a disadvantage. It is. And we're ok with that disadvantage as long as other races are more or less disadvantaged equally. Terran, in a normal game, can defend early aggression easily with marines and bunkers or a wall and marines. Key word there is "marines". Without them, they are forced to PF and give up their macro mechanic. How you can overlook this as any meaningful disadvantage is almost offensive.
I understand your concerns and attempts to analyze Monobattle play are welcomed. We attempt to look at the fairness from all the angles, not just the Zerg's. It can be frustrating if you lose a couple times due to a trained reliance on the Queen performing a specific role and I can sympathize with that.
However, saying that sometimes being required to tech to PF is not an "issue" but having to build Spine Crawlers is an issue is clearly biased feedback. Try to look at the bigger picture before jumping to cry foul on the smaller one.
While we wait for the community poll to get some results, we're going to try something different. We're going to reintroduce the Queen to non-Queen Zergs with the typical 1 per base limit. We're also going to prevent Tranfusion from being used on anything other than a building or another Queen unless the Queen is your unit. Hopefully this gives some Zerg players the slight defensive edge they feel entitled to without giving them the late-game accompaniment to their chosen unit.
One main difference is that for ebay+pf +1 turret on the mineral line side, terrans defense stops nearly EVERYTHING.
I understand your point, but personally it's annoying seeing every zerg from bronze to masters instalose to early pressure.
Terran spends 150m/150g+150ebay+100 turret and they have a virtually invisible defense to zergling, hellion, banshee, marine, marauder, phoenix, roach, cannon(to completely stop cannon you need +1 range to ebay) I'd be more in favor of making this an autoupgrade at the moment than taking away the queen. As it stands now, if you do not go depot->gas->gas->ebay->pf you will automatically lose to a skilled cannon rusher.
In theory, if we argue the ebay is a cost, we'd also have to argue the cost of the spawning pool, but i' could let that slide. Each spine is 150(including drone), evo chamber is 150, and each spore is 125. To defend like a PF, you need a MINIMUM of 4 spines. I'd argue that 4 spines is significantly worse than a PF as well. The largest issue is placement. It's hard to have all 4 spines hitting someone at once. This is a factor MILDLY negated by the queens. It's small, and i understand your point about macro mechanic, but 4 spines cost 600 minerals. For 550 minerals the terran can have an orbital adjacent to the PF nearly fully defended from melee units that is his macro mechanic the entire game.
Lastly and this is a tangent, Day 9s monobattles are absolutely garbage. It's the equivalent of watching gold level players play. He's picking total noobs and playing it in a "for TV" type of way. If you watch his feed, his viewers purposely let him win. Watch his monobattle from yesterday. The guy cancels a completing cannon with 5-6 scvs on it. This is a huge mistake as the scvs the cannon will kill before dieing are way better than the price of the cannon. This guy simply purposely let Day9 win.
The biggest problem with this.. and i understand your thoughts on the zerg issue, is that it's made everyone absolutely horrible at monobattles. THey copy Day9 thinking naked-blind-orbital expanding constantly is a good strat. It's not it will be absolutely crushed by any gold+ level cannon rusher and any proxy/rush build.
If you find yourself joining a weird "slow" version of Bx Monobattles, go ahead and report it. Be clear in the reason why you're reporting it. I have no idea how it created itself as the speed setting is not an option you can set.
You can always be sure you're joining the correct, "faster" version by joining off the featured list.
Also, I know that there are probably situations that cause bank files to reset (I've had it happen myself a couple times) and I'm sorry for it. Just remember your "rank" is just for fun and I mainly want you be able to see how well you do with each unit compared to your overall win rank. I will hopefully be able to nudge the whole thing into a stable and secure position so that the resets never happen unintentionally, but I'm fighting unforeseen Bnet issues on this one and not my own design (i.e., when battle.net drops you during the map load, the script fails to load your bank file but still attempts to verify it, causing a false detection and reset). It is not something I'm going to be patching by itself. As I make other changes (read: bug fixes or quality improvement), fixes to the stats memory will roll out along with them.
Queens will retain their right to attack and transfuse, but the block on "offensive" transfusions without picking Queen stays for now, too. We kicked around the idea of pacifying the Queen if she wandered too something like 20 "meters" from a Hatchery/Lair/Hive (a hatch spreads creep with an 11 "meter" radius), but at some point the special rules would just get too complicated to intuit. We'll return to it if people consistently witness Queens playing a significant offensive role when it's not their unit.
Next poll: Should Planetary Fortresses lift off? + Show Spoiler +
I just want to say thanks to all the people enjoying Bx Monobattles. It was created primarily as a tool for monobattle observers, but it's much nicer to see everyone having fun with your work.
On April 02 2012 19:32 urashimakt wrote: Next poll: Should Planetary Fortresses lift off? + Show Spoiler +
Not really.
They should lift off, shoot air, and build nukes that can be launched via SCVs. Only then will we have a chance against the enemy! :D
Get out of here, Browder.
Sorry about the wipe to stats, completely unintentional. Stats should again start recording correctly on Sand Canyon, the other maps will get the fix soon.
On April 06 2012 23:55 HungShark wrote: Awesome work done to this map.
Small suggestion, though:
If someone doesn't pick their unit within the allotted time, make them stuck with overseers. That'll learn them.
You should see the observer side of the map. Makes the regular part of the map look like it was thrown together in an hour...er, ahem.
When I apply the new observer changes this morning I will be shortening the pick time in non-observed matches to 45 seconds as opposed to the current 2 minute duration. Thanks for the good humoured feedback.
The change seems for the better early game, but it definitely sacrifices air defense late game. I heard a few people in game complete about that. Perhaps the solution is to walk it back but put very small destructible rocks between the edge and the refinery on both sides(mains only). This would stop the cannon problem and hellions/marines/marauders/etc camping your mineral line from behind when you can't do anything about it.
On April 14 2012 01:17 RainFall wrote: The change seems for the better early game, but it definitely sacrifices air defense late game. I heard a few people in game complete about that. Perhaps the solution is to walk it back but put very small destructible rocks between the edge and the refinery on both sides(mains only). This would stop the cannon problem and hellions/marines/marauders/etc camping your mineral line from behind when you can't do anything about it.
Not gonna worry about that. Having a weak defense against air in the mid game on your main mineral line is preferable to having a weak defense against marines and reapers early game on your only mineral line.
PSA: If you like watching Monobattles, it appears that Grubby streams matches on Bx Monobattle maps with his EU subscribers after each of his sessions.
On April 27 2012 02:11 usernamegl wrote: I love this map and hope it surpasses the old, obsolete monobattles soon. Thanks for making and maintaining the map.
Appreciate the appreciation. It's pretty slow right now, most of the features we set out to implement (mostly observer stuff) is in.
The UI slaps me in the face every time the map starts though, so eventually that will be updated with something simpler and yet more self-explanatory. Players should know instantly that they can choose their race and that they can reroll, and that those checkboxes mean they can remove those units.
Was the building liftoff countdown removed in the latest version of the map? I'm currently in a game where none of us can build air units, and the Terran has floated off a CC and Barracks into the top left corner. We're sprawled out across the entire map so we are sure he doesn't have another building on the ground, but he's been floating for about 10 minutes now and we can't reach him. It's pretty frustrating.
To clarify, another of his teammates has a Medivac with a single Ghost it in in another corner of the map which we also can't reach.
On May 04 2012 14:36 Teence wrote: Was the building liftoff countdown removed in the latest version of the map? I'm currently in a game where none of us can build air units, and the Terran has floated off a CC and Barracks into the top left corner. We're sprawled out across the entire map so we are sure he doesn't have another building on the ground, but he's been floating for about 10 minutes now and we can't reach him. It's pretty frustrating.
To clarify, another of his teammates has a Medivac with a single Ghost it in in another corner of the map which we also can't reach.
Replay would be helpful. If he's moving the buildings back and forth over any bit of pathable land it'll continually reset the countdown. The countdown is entirely data based (which is a portion of the mod I haven't changed since the start, except to add/remove the Princess), so I'm inclined to say you guys probably missed something.
The pertinent part starts around 10 minutes. The purple Terran's buildings get destroyed as per the map settings, which is fine. As of ~17:30, however the violet Terran no longer has any buildings on the ground, but he has a Medivac with a Ghost in it that I assume was preventing his floating buildings from being destroyed. We definitely didn't miss anything on the ground, and he wasn't moving them over land. so I was stumped.
Sorry for not attaching it in my original post, I was still in the game in question when I submitted it.
Thanks for that. Turns out there was a typo and one of the requirements was owning a Ghost instead of a Ghost Academy. Should be fixed on Sand Canyon.
The Terran flight thing is a real pet peeve of mine. If anyone experiences someone trying to do it to them first make sure that they've got no ground buildings. If you believe they don't, just leave the game. Don't sit in there, it's a waste of your time. Bring me a copy of the replay.
If it's something I can change to include the countdown, I'll change it.
Thanks so much for this map. I hope it can climb higher up the ranks again in custom games so I can find games in it, as I don't enjoy the megaton one that is on page 1.
it's so sad that this map (Sand Canyon) isn't played anymore as much as it was before D3 came out... it's on page 7 now and it doesn't get filled with people anymore
can we do something to publicize it ? I am willing to publicize it to peole in chat channels, if that is something that'll work
On May 20 2012 06:11 ggofthejungle wrote: it's so sad that this map (Sand Canyon) isn't played anymore as much as it was before D3 came out... it's on page 7 now and it doesn't get filled with people anymore
can we do something to publicize it ? I am willing to publicize it to peole in chat channels, if that is something that'll work
Two things are coming that have a shot at shaking up the popularity system: Patch 1.5 and HotS beta. If monobattles are still in demand at that point, Bx will be the first one updated for the changes and will retain all of its existing spectator/player features.
Until then, try not to lose too much sleep over it. I appreciate that you like the features the mod provides, though.
urashimakt, can you make a version of this map where the teams have mirror units - same as the opposite team? For example, if team 1 chooses banshee, team 2 also gets banshees by default. If team 1 chooses corruptors, one player in team 2 also is assigned corruptors. This way the balance is perfect, no more one team gets T1 units and destroys everyone while the other team gets T3 units or no Anti-Air and gets destroyed...
On June 26 2012 06:55 ggofthejungle wrote: urashimakt, can you make a version of this map where the teams have mirror units - same as the opposite team? For example, if team 1 chooses banshee, team 2 also gets banshees by default. If team 1 chooses corruptors, one player in team 2 also is assigned corruptors. This way the balance is perfect, no more one team gets T1 units and destroys everyone while the other team gets T3 units or no Anti-Air and gets destroyed...
I'm going to be redesigning how players/refs are picked so that more interesting unit selections can be accomplished. Player/ref distinctions will occur before the current unit selection occurs instead of simultaneously.
I had in mind a "ticket draft" selection mode randomly assigning both teams identical sets of "tier tickets" (with the tiers being 1, 1.5, 2, and 3) and allowing them to use each "ticket" to pick one unit from that tier. So a ticket for a 4v4 map might be {1, 1, 2, 3}. Both teams would be allowed to pick two tier 1 units, one tier 2 unit, and one tier 3 unit.
I'd be glad to add a mirror draft as a lobby option.
These new draft options, in addition to an "open draft" (teams see picks of the other team/s and take turn picking during their clock) option, will be implemented before HotS. I'd like to say sooner than that but BxM is maintained during my free time.
A draft mode involving bans may be available after HotS if/when there are enough selectable units to encourage it.
I am of the opinion that mirror matches will be the most fun because they'll be balanced. t1,t2,t3 is an.. OK idea, but that still means one team can end up with brood lords and the other with ultras and no anti-air, and that's no fun.
I'll help you publicize it; I'm so tired of Megaton where you can get random useless medivacs and mothership
On June 26 2012 12:16 ggofthejungle wrote: I am of the opinion that mirror matches will be the most fun because they'll be balanced. t1,t2,t3 is an.. OK idea, but that still means one team can end up with brood lords and the other with ultras and no anti-air, and that's no fun.
I'll help you publicize it; I'm so tired of Megaton where you can get random useless medivacs and mothership
The draft modes won't be random only. If you get a T3 ticket, you pick a T3 or random a T3. Since it is a draft mode, you'll also see what your opponent picks between each of your team's picks. "Random only" and "allow picking" are two lobby options that will share the same slot with draft modes. Existing/altered options will be given new, appropriate names (i.e. "Blind Random", "Blind Pick").
Since "blind" selections can be executed much faster than draft selections and enforced randoming seems far more popular than picking, the default game mode will remain the same. If you have friends, are organizing an event, or Arcade magically fixes the custom games system, the draft modes should provide an extra layer of team planning if desired.
Edit: I figured it was also worth mentioning that at the end of any draft phase, there will be a short period of time where players on a team can trade their units around.
bx sand canyon is the best monobattles map, and everyone has left it to go play that shitty megaton map where terran can just float buildings forever. i'm trying to get a game but i doubt it'll happen seeing as how i've been in the lobby for almost an hour now
i made the thread yesterday and it seemed to be working, there were a tons of games being played during the wcs china time period. i've only managed to get one match so far today but if you wanna try i'll have a lobby open pretty much all night tonight
Makers of this Mod, PLEASE, PLEASE, make it so that the maps cycle around like the Peepmode mod! It will absolutely get more players and sand canyon gets very boring after a while.
On July 15 2012 04:09 LiveForTheSwarm wrote: Makers of this Mod, PLEASE, PLEASE, make it so that the maps cycle around like the Peepmode mod! It will absolutely get more players and sand canyon gets very boring after a while.
Maker of this mod.
If you guys who are doing this want me to put up a map of the week version, I can do that. Name me some good 4v4 maps.
Also, an update on the drafting modes I mentioned before: got sidetracked by a web design project so, as mentioned, it's still being worked on during my free time.
if the amount of people that tries to join a bx was was about 10% bigger it's be easy to get a match. i'll open a lobby, and within 5 minutes enough people join and immediately leave to have filled multiple lobbies. u guys just gotta stay for more than 10 seconds
for anyone that really wants to play but cant find a match, just join a lobby and then alt tab to do something else. sc2 will automatically switch back when the game starts loading
I have another idea, what do people think of this: Let's get the Megaton Monobattle (the one on the first page) removed (I don't know how that would work, perhaps by reporting it, by contacting Blizzard, by getting the author to remove it?), then people will naturally look for a monobattle map and BX will surface to the front.
On July 17 2012 06:00 ggofthejungle wrote: I have another idea, what do people think of this: Let's get the Megaton Monobattle (the one on the first page) removed (I don't know how that would work, perhaps by reporting it, by contacting Blizzard, by getting the author to remove it?), then people will naturally look for a monobattle map and BX will surface to the front.
That doesn't sound good, getting someone else's work removed in order to help someone else rise to the top is wrong. The problem is with Blizzard's custom map system being flawed.
On July 17 2012 06:00 ggofthejungle wrote: I have another idea, what do people think of this: Let's get the Megaton Monobattle (the one on the first page) removed (I don't know how that would work, perhaps by reporting it, by contacting Blizzard, by getting the author to remove it?), then people will naturally look for a monobattle map and BX will surface to the front.
I've been approached by this kind of thinking before and all I can say (as the Bx Mono guy) is please do not campaign against other peoples' work. Even though that map is no longer under the control of the original creator people are still enjoying it.
I full-heartedly support efforts to invite others enjoy the Bx mod, though. Just don't be a dick about it.
Just a notice: all custom maps are experiencing bugs if you play them while "streaming" patch content. Fully download patch 1.5 before playing a custom game.
To be explicit: Custom games that rely on your Wings of Liberty (Melee) mod are pulling unreliable content that can be in various stages of update, from the beta til the latest balance patch. Monobattles fit that bill.
BUG REPORT: Players who quit or have dropped do not share their resources with their remaining teammates. I have noticed this only in the last month or so, and don't remember this being the way it was back in march.
On August 06 2012 13:53 bxPlayer wrote: BUG REPORT: Players who quit or have dropped do not share their resources with their remaining teammates. I have noticed this only in the last month or so, and don't remember this being the way it was back in march.
Patch 1.5 changed the way resource splitting works. instead of visibly splitting all resources among remaining teammates, you can overdraw beyond what resources you have and the game will try to gather the excess from absent teammates. When the draft update is applied, I will force the old style.
On August 07 2012 04:32 Sebast1aan wrote: For some reason, there's a lot of lagg at the start of every game
I can only apologize for this one. Melee initialization and creep generation are very intense and usually happen during "map load", where the progress bar is filling up for everyone.
Waiting to generate the starting melee units allows for in-game race/random selection and fixes most bugs involved with that wait, including erroneous larva count and Nexus energy. Unfortunately it also causes a "map load" amount of lag on some computers.
I'm always looking to retain the advantages and ditch the lag. One method I'm considering, for example, is to spawn all three possible sets of melee units during map load for every player and just removing the ones that aren't useful. If I find an efficient alternative before the draft update goes out, it'll be included.
The lag problem seems to be universal across pretty much all mods I've played since 1.5. It would be badass if that could be fixed by the modmakers though, since Blizzard apparently can't be arsed to do so.
On August 08 2012 04:09 Conti wrote: The lag problem seems to be universal across pretty much all mods I've played since 1.5. It would be badass if that could be fixed by the modmakers though, since Blizzard apparently can't be arsed to do so.
I think the lag mentioned is specific to "game start". Any decreased performance from 1.5 might exacerbate the problem, though.
Remember to reconfigure your video settings if you haven't since Patch 1.5 hit.
On August 08 2012 04:09 Conti wrote: The lag problem seems to be universal across pretty much all mods I've played since 1.5. It would be badass if that could be fixed by the modmakers though, since Blizzard apparently can't be arsed to do so.
I think the lag mentioned is specific to "game start". Any decreased performance from 1.5 might exacerbate the problem, though.
Remember to reconfigure your video settings if you haven't since Patch 1.5 hit.
Yeah, that's what I meant, too. Ever since 1.5 there's lots of lag at the start of every custom game, and almost always someone drops. At times I could play for 10 seconds before I get to read "You were dropped!". So annoying.
is it possible to add somekind of auto-start when the teams are full? sometimes the hosts dont know it or are idle while waiting, so its quite a delay until the game would start. because it has to be done by the host.
and thx for this great mod :D its so wonderful to play this ...
Is there a way to unlock the picking option for the host? I tried unlocking the game variants -> game attributes -> allow picking -> access: unlocked, which doesn't work. If you make a private game you can enable picking in 4v4 and referee in ref mode, but the arcade doesn't seem to allow you to turn private games public.
On August 10 2012 12:30 Azera wrote: The only thing that bothers me about this mod is that the race UI doesn't fit the race you're playing 90% of the time
There's an option to disable race picking in the menu, but I don't know if that will fix it.
edit: this was a note for Urashimakt, not something that can be done by players.
On August 10 2012 12:30 Azera wrote: The only thing that bothers me about this mod is that the race UI doesn't fit the race you're playing 90% of the time
This is listed under the known non-issues and won't be fixed until Blizzard provides a simple way to fix it beyond me attempting to recreate the three racial UIs with custom dialogs and sounds, probably leading to more serious issues.
On August 12 2012 23:06 Zeon0 wrote: nice map, best monobattle there is imo
what ranks are there? and what are the requirements for them?
Spoils the fun knowing what they are. There's ranks that come from your win/loss ratio and ranks that come from your total wins.
I think the highest total wins rank comes at 500 wins.
On August 10 2012 12:29 Chargelot wrote: Is there a way to unlock the picking option for the host? I tried unlocking the game variants -> game attributes -> allow picking -> access: unlocked, which doesn't work. If you make a private game you can enable picking in 4v4 and referee in ref mode, but the arcade doesn't seem to allow you to turn private games public.
It's a noted 1.5 bug that you can't host a game with non-default options. Whenever Blizzard fixes that, you should be able to host a 'picking enabled' game again. Sorry for the inconvenience.
On August 09 2012 19:50 Rodberd wrote: is it possible to add somekind of auto-start when the teams are full? sometimes the hosts dont know it or are idle while waiting, so its quite a delay until the game would start. because it has to be done by the host.
and thx for this great mod :D its so wonderful to play this ...
There's a sad source to this issue. Most people don't even notice it, but any custom map that doesn't use the default melee game variants cannot convert players to Spectators or Referees in the lobby. The origin of Bx Mono was to create a custom spectator system so that this is the only Monobattles mod capable of being spectated live. Having the hidden option of spectators causes the lobby to not automatically start on the maps where I've got those extra player slots open for spectating, even if it's not an option with the current lobby settings. Sand Canyon (Fix) has these options disabled to avoid the issue and I may do the same to Map of the Week.
no, it sucks if you dont know what the ranks are. its like MMR, everybody wants to know it, but suckers like Blizzard and you deny us the information^^
On August 13 2012 04:34 Zeon0 wrote: no, it sucks if you dont know what the ranks are. its like MMR, everybody wants to know it, but suckers like Blizzard and you deny us the information^^
It's monobattles, it's not competitive, the ranks aren't guaranteed. They're only there to give you something to work at if that's your thing.
Thanks for comparing me to Blizzard though, that's pretty sweet. Probably don't deserve it.
Edit: With the temp ban, it looks like you've been having a rough day. I'll PM you the ranks.
Today's v1.49 patch totally borked the map (on Sand Canyon, at least).
It no longer saves user preferences, players that drop at the start no longer spawn (i.e. aren't randomly assigned units as they used to be and don't generate resources for remaining players), and the fog of war is randomly disabled for some players (but not consistently, so some will be running with map view hacks against players who aren't).
On August 23 2012 02:56 Tezkat wrote: Today's v1.49 patch totally borked the map (on Sand Canyon, at least).
It no longer saves user preferences, players that drop at the start no longer spawn (i.e. aren't randomly assigned units as they used to be and don't generate resources for remaining players), and the fog of war is randomly disabled for some players (but not consistently, so some will be running with map view hacks against players who aren't).
Replays please.
Edit: So, debug mode is now turned off on the live Sand Canyon map. The settings memory should also be turned on again. I still need to witness a dropped player or get a replay with one in it to attempt to fix whatever that is.
Hmm... every single game I played earlier today had some or all of those issues. Several of them presented the dropped player problem. I'll PM the replays.
If you are an individual who prefers playing "unit pick" games, you can now set the game mode to "Blind Pick" instead of the default "Blind Random" before clicking "Play" in the arcade.
You cannot change this setting from inside the lobby anymore.
On August 28 2012 13:07 dreamseller wrote: just played a game where everything the last player had was on fire, like huge flames engulfing all his units and buildings ... is this normal?
is this real life? is this just fanta sea?
am i taking crazy pills?
It was always burning since the world's been turning.
This is a great map but that problem of dropped players has to be fixed. Sometimes days it's happening 30%-50% of games it seems. I have over 300 games played on this map and a goood chunk of those were 3v4 or just non-existant because after the initial player was dropped everyone else left.
I have been dropped myself a few times. It pretty much just disconects you as soon as the game begins (before it loads). You just get kicked back to bnet with a message saying you were disconected. You can also tell when there will be a dropped player because on the loading screen their bar stays empty and doesn't move. That is the only real issue from preventing this being one of the best maps out there. Please please please fix it.
All custom games already have an issue with people leaving at the very start, this DC bug just contributes to this. Maps aren't fun when they don't start or are 3v4.
On September 04 2012 06:27 Phaz wrote: This is a great map but that problem of dropped players has to be fixed. Sometimes days it's happening 30%-50% of games it seems. I have over 300 games played on this map and a goood chunk of those were 3v4 or just non-existant because after the initial player was dropped everyone else left.
I have been dropped myself a few times. It pretty much just disconects you as soon as the game begins (before it loads). You just get kicked back to bnet with a message saying you were disconected. You can also tell when there will be a dropped player because on the loading screen their bar stays empty and doesn't move. That is the only real issue from preventing this being one of the best maps out there. Please please please fix it.
All custom games already have an issue with people leaving at the very start, this DC bug just contributes to this. Maps aren't fun when they don't start or are 3v4.
The issue of dropping isn't related to an individual custom map. If you haven't noticed it on any of the other maps on the Arcade it's probably because you've been playing a lot of Bx Monobattles. It can happen to a player before the game has even begun its countdown and when it does it's because the connection established between Battle.net and the user's computer dropped vital information. The more players allowed in a game, the more likely you are to witness a loading drop or a lobby disconnect, it's purely probability. BxM allows 8 players, games like Mafia (which I enjoy immensely) allow 14 and experience a drop about 80% of the time.
I know it sucks but it's an issue between the player and Blizzard's servers. Mappers everywhere would love to fix it if they could.
On October 25 2012 06:32 mishimaBeef wrote: i wish bland random mode would let you choose from like 2 units and a reroll option for 1 new unit... leavers galore with this 1 and 1 or.. 1 per race
Eventually you cross a line discerning forgiving randomness and just picking. The random option definitely won't be changing before Heart of the Swarm.
On November 11 2012 01:48 Tntnnbltn wrote: I installed SC2 on a computer and my unit selections (e.g. deselecting Overseer/Mothership/WP) keep resetting every game. Any idea?
Can you check to see if you've got a bank file for the mod? It should be in your documents directory, which on Win7 looks like this:
Is there any chance of switching the default map mode from Blind Random to Blind Pick?
I think there are more people than just me who are tired of games where you get no decent anti-air units and nothing you can hit early with, etc. Nobody seems to know that you can click that button to change the modes >_>
Yeah, this is the best monobattle out there, but one thing NEEDS to be changed. The overseer/mothership/etc. needs to be UNSELECTED by default. Probably 90% of people uncheck them, first thing. 8% of the time, people are dumb or forget and end up getting overseer and rage-quitting. 2% of the time, people leave them for the challenge.
But since 90% of the people want them unchecked, might as well have that the default.
On November 17 2012 19:32 Ooshmagoosh wrote: Is there any chance of switching the default map mode from Blind Random to Blind Pick?
I think there are more people than just me who are tired of games where you get no decent anti-air units and nothing you can hit early with, etc. Nobody seems to know that you can click that button to change the modes >_>
The short answer is that the default mode will stay as Blind Random.
The long answer is that the default mode basically dictates how a given map gets played. It's a fault of the Battle.net system and a willingness of the average user to get into a game ASAP. Part of the reason BX Monobattles gained any popularity at all is that it was switched to Blind Random default early on. All the other Monobattles allowed picking by default or as the only mode. Blind Random is also the fastest mode for the selection phase, minimizing wait time before play time.
On November 24 2012 05:59 WhatsInAName wrote: Yeah, this is the best monobattle out there, but one thing NEEDS to be changed. The overseer/mothership/etc. needs to be UNSELECTED by default. Probably 90% of people uncheck them, first thing. 8% of the time, people are dumb or forget and end up getting overseer and rage-quitting. 2% of the time, people leave them for the challenge.
But since 90% of the people want them unchecked, might as well have that the default.
It's a good suggestion. In the near future I will change the default selection status to "unselected" for all of the optional units.
On November 11 2012 01:48 Tntnnbltn wrote: I installed SC2 on a computer and my unit selections (e.g. deselecting Overseer/Mothership/WP) keep resetting every game. Any idea?
If anyone else is experiencing this and able to give me the feedback requested above (about bank files), it'd be appreciated.
I'm not sure if this has been asked, and I apologize for not sifting through all the posts, but my spores/cannons/turrets are complaining about the lack of real estate behind the main mineral lines. They claim that Banshees and other airborne craft can hit a sweet spot(or more like a sweet area). I only ask because my lings/zealots/rauders are furious.
It's so nice to have an active modder and I'm very happy that 1.5 killed that other mod. Cheers!
On December 01 2012 00:03 MyrM wrote: I love this map/mod! Thank you so much!
I'm not sure if this has been asked, and I apologize for not sifting through all the posts, but my spores/cannons/turrets are complaining about the lack of real estate behind the main mineral lines. They claim that Banshees and other airborne craft can hit a sweet spot(or more like a sweet area). I only ask because my lings/zealots/rauders are furious.
It's so nice to have an active modder and I'm very happy that 1.5 killed that other mod. Cheers!
On the modified Sand Canyon map (the one people play on) the area behind the starting mineral lines was removed to prevent marine rushes from being a guaranteed kill on another Terran player (PFs can't reach back there). It does make mutalisks and banshees slightly better.
Here's a preview of the new unit rules for Heart of the Swarm:
Terran
Widow Mine - Players must choose/random the Widow Mine to use it. Whether it is Random Optional is TBD.
Hellbat - Like the Viking, rolling Hellion will allow you to use both modes. It will not count as a separate unit.
Protoss
Mothership Core - All Mothership Core options are TBD.
Oracle - Players must choose/random the Oracle to use it. As long as it retains its attack capacity, it will not be Random Optional.
Tempest - Players must choose/random the Tempest to use it. It will not be Random Optional.
Zerg
Viper - Players must choose/random the Viper to use it. It will be Random Optional.
Swarm Host - Players must choose/random the Swarm Host to use it. It will not be Random Optional.
Poll: Should the Widow Mine be Random Optional?
No, it should always be in the random pool (20)
74%
Yes, players should be able to remove it from the random pool (7)
26%
27 total votes
Your vote: Should the Widow Mine be Random Optional?
(Vote): Yes, players should be able to remove it from the random pool (Vote): No, it should always be in the random pool
Poll: How should the Mothership Core be treated?
It should be lumped with the Mothership (22)
58%
Always allowed: it is a necessary tool like the Queen (15)
39%
It should be its own unit, not Random Optional (1)
3%
It should be its own unit, Random Optional (0)
0%
38 total votes
Your vote: How should the Mothership Core be treated?
(Vote): Always allowed: it is a necessary tool like the Queen (Vote): It should be lumped with the Mothership (Vote): It should be its own unit, Random Optional (Vote): It should be its own unit, not Random Optional
I have an idea for an Bx Monobattle map. In the arcade there is a map called 1v1 Obs - Map of the Day, where you can play the PeepMode mod (a mod where you play 1v1s with additional spectator options) on a different map each day. Is it possible to have a Bx Monobattle map where the map changes every day? Nowadays everyone gathers at the same map for a monobattle match, and playing the same map for months gets stale after a while. Creating a map where the map changes every day could solve that problem (if we get some traffic on that map).
A way to determine which map will be played on a certain day is to have a map rotation, for example Deadlock Ridge -> District 10 -> Extinction -> Fossil Quarry -> Megaton -> Outpost -> Sand Canyon -> Deadlock Ridge again. An added bonus is that you can add custom 4v4 maps of map makers to promote the map and to test the map. Another option is to be able to vote each day on the map of the next day, like PeepMode currently does. A disadvantage is is that you need people to vote and that it's possible you'll see the same maps again and again.
On December 07 2012 06:22 Yokuyin wrote: I have an idea for an Bx Monobattle map. In the arcade there is a map called 1v1 Obs - Map of the Day, where you can play the PeepMode mod (a mod where you play 1v1s with additional spectator options) on a different map each day. Is it possible to have a Bx Monobattle map where the map changes every day? Nowadays everyone gathers at the same map for a monobattle match, and playing the same map for months gets stale after a while. Creating a map where the map changes every day could solve that problem (if we get some traffic on that map).
A way to determine which map will be played on a certain day is to have a map rotation, for example Deadlock Ridge -> District 10 -> Extinction -> Fossil Quarry -> Megaton -> Outpost -> Sand Canyon -> Deadlock Ridge again. An added bonus is that you can add custom 4v4 maps of map makers to promote the map and to test the map. Another option is to be able to vote each day on the map of the next day, like PeepMode currently does. A disadvantage is is that you need people to vote and that it's possible you'll see the same maps again and again.
That's my 2 cents.
I did a Map of the Week (changing the map daily seemed like too much of a chore) on NA for a few weeks. When there was no interest for it and people continued to play exclusively the modified Sand Canyon, I stopped doing it. Compared to how many people play BxM, very few people visit this thread and I don't like injecting messages straight into the mod anymore.
Maybe (MAYBE) when HotS hits I'll try to squeeze a Map of the Week in there again.
On December 07 2012 12:49 PopcornColonel wrote: -.- I hate the fact that it's all random. I'd like to see a drafting captain's mode like with Defense of the Ancients with bans and picks.
It sucks when you lose as BC raven ultralisk sentry because they had phoenix siege tank archon viking
When the draft modes hit after HotS releases, they will still not be the default mode. Anything other than Blind Random would cause drama in public games.
On December 07 2012 12:49 PopcornColonel wrote: -.- I hate the fact that it's all random. I'd like to see a drafting captain's mode like with Defense of the Ancients with bans and picks.
It sucks when you lose as BC raven ultralisk sentry because they had phoenix siege tank archon viking
When the draft modes hit after HotS releases, they will still not be the default mode. Anything other than Blind Random would cause drama in public games.
IMO the best was the gamemode "Megaton (Team Monobattles)" where you could choose your hero. There was rarely anything wrong with that.
On December 07 2012 12:49 PopcornColonel wrote: -.- I hate the fact that it's all random. I'd like to see a drafting captain's mode like with Defense of the Ancients with bans and picks.
It sucks when you lose as BC raven ultralisk sentry because they had phoenix siege tank archon viking
When the draft modes hit after HotS releases, they will still not be the default mode. Anything other than Blind Random would cause drama in public games.
IMO the best was the gamemode "Megaton (Team Monobattles)" where you could choose your hero. There was rarely anything wrong with that.
Bx already has a game mode for that. Again, it's not the default because anything other than Blind Random in public games causes drama.
On December 07 2012 12:49 PopcornColonel wrote: -.- I hate the fact that it's all random. I'd like to see a drafting captain's mode like with Defense of the Ancients with bans and picks.
It sucks when you lose as BC raven ultralisk sentry because they had phoenix siege tank archon viking
When the draft modes hit after HotS releases, they will still not be the default mode. Anything other than Blind Random would cause drama in public games.
IMO the best was the gamemode "Megaton (Team Monobattles)" where you could choose your hero. There was rarely anything wrong with that.
Bx already has a game mode for that. Again, it's not the default because anything other than Blind Random in public games causes drama.
I realize that there is a game mode for that but actually nobody plays anything else. Over my 150+ games of all-pick of monobattle units, I've never had a problem with "drama" as you so call it; in fact, most people random anyway.
I always try to play MotW or anything other than Sand Canyon. This results in me sitting in an empty lobby for 20 minutes where no one joins save for a straggler every 8 minutes or so who immediately leaves. Would you be able to re-upload the Sand version so that that popularity resets and we can start picking a new one? I ask people in almost every game I join and they all agree that they'd rather play something different but because Sand is the only one people join, they keep playing it.
On December 07 2012 12:49 PopcornColonel wrote: -.- I hate the fact that it's all random. I'd like to see a drafting captain's mode like with Defense of the Ancients with bans and picks.
It sucks when you lose as BC raven ultralisk sentry because they had phoenix siege tank archon viking
When the draft modes hit after HotS releases, they will still not be the default mode. Anything other than Blind Random would cause drama in public games.
IMO the best was the gamemode "Megaton (Team Monobattles)" where you could choose your hero. There was rarely anything wrong with that.
Bx already has a game mode for that. Again, it's not the default because anything other than Blind Random in public games causes drama.
I realize that there is a game mode for that but actually nobody plays anything else. Over my 150+ games of all-pick of monobattle units, I've never had a problem with "drama" as you so call it; in fact, most people random anyway.
"r medivac" "r bane" "r corruptor" "r immortal"
I agree that it's frustrating to not be able to get the game mode that you want. I offer the option, but the popularity system is rigged against multiple options. Blind Random Bx Monobattles trumped Megaton Team Monobattles (on NA) in the end because of exactly what you've mentioned: people played mostly just to random. Other people picking their units to "try-hard" and the improved randoming options of Bx are what drove players to make the switch. Changing it so that picking is the default would obviously be less popular.
I'm not trying to crush your spirit or dangle candy just out of reach and I always appreciate feedback. I'm just trying to explain why I will not change the default mode to anything other than Blind Random at this point in time.
On December 09 2012 04:47 Kmatt wrote: I always try to play MotW or anything other than Sand Canyon. This results in me sitting in an empty lobby for 20 minutes where no one joins save for a straggler every 8 minutes or so who immediately leaves. Would you be able to re-upload the Sand version so that that popularity resets and we can start picking a new one? I ask people in almost every game I join and they all agree that they'd rather play something different but because Sand is the only one people join, they keep playing it.
When HotS hits (in March) I will be pushing for a Map of the Week to be the new standard. If HotS doesn't automatically reset every map's popularity, I will strongly consider doing it manually.
Random Options now default to "Off" for all optional units.
Your bank file will be altered once to reflect this
The observer "racial" button has been removed
Choosing players and observers (if referee mode is active) now occurs before unit selection instead of simultaneously
No new changes will be coming to the Wings of Liberty version of the mod as I start development on the Heart of the Swarm version, which will become available for testing on the beta server shortly.
Bx Monobattle - HotS is now available on the beta server. The current map is the altered Sand Canyon but will change periodically. The default mode will also be Blind Pick in order to facilitate testing for the duration of the beta.
Bx Monobattle - HotS is now available on the beta server. The current map is the altered Sand Canyon but will change periodically. The default mode will also be Blind Pick in order to facilitate testing for the duration of the beta.
As promised, Bx Monobattle will include team draft modes as it incorporates Heart of the Swarm gameplay changes. The new game modes will be included in this weekend's updates along with a couple HotS bug fixes, style updates and a different 4v4 map. The draft modes strictly require a 4v4 setup. Any deviation will cause the game to abort.
New Modes
Open Draft: Two teams take turns picking their units with no extra restrictions. As will all draft modes, a unit can only be picked once per team.
Ban Draft: Two teams take turns banning two units each, picking two units each, banning two units each, and picking two units each. In this mode, units that are picked by one team cannot be picked by the other.
Mirror Draft: Each team picks two units that both teams use.
Tier Draft: An open draft with the restriction that each team must consist of one tier 1, two tier 2 and one tier 3 units. Unit tiers listed below.
Ticket Draft: Similar to the Tier Draft except the tier requirements are randomized. Both teams have the same restrictions. Unit tiers listed below
Now that the drafting selection mode is fully functional, adding additional draft modes with alternate rules is incredibly simple. If anyone suggests any interesting or useful drafting rules they will be inserted as a mode.
Any chance anything can be done about canon rushing? I know that canons are a core component to the game but its a little ridiculous how many matches end up with canon rushing. It sours the game completely, especially when this is a custom game where it doesn't matter who wins.
On December 17 2012 18:14 echonn123 wrote: Any chance anything can be done about canon rushing? I know that canons are a core component to the game but its a little ridiculous how many matches end up with canon rushing. It sours the game completely, especially when this is a custom game where it doesn't matter who wins.
I've considered preventing the construction of cannons within range of enemy structures but frankly people have come to see cannon/spine crawler rushing as legitimate tactics. Ever since I tried to neuter the Queen I've stopped trying to introduce special rules to make it more competitive.
On December 17 2012 18:14 echonn123 wrote: Any chance anything can be done about canon rushing? I know that canons are a core component to the game but its a little ridiculous how many matches end up with canon rushing. It sours the game completely, especially when this is a custom game where it doesn't matter who wins.
I've considered preventing the construction of cannons within range of enemy structures but frankly people have come to see cannon/spine crawler rushing as legitimate tactics. Ever since I tried to neuter the Queen I've stopped trying to introduce special rules to make it more competitive.
I just feel like, so what? The game mode is about 4 players being able to build one unit each and having epic battles. If people wanna use cannons and spine crawler rushing as a strategy then they can go to regular fours. This is a custom game mode developed for a very specific purpose. Cannon rushing just spoils the whole experience for me and it allows trolls to just have endless hours of entertainment at the expense of others. It would be really awesome if a range limitation was built in to the cannons even for just the first five minutes of a game. Anyway thanks for responding.
Great map. urashimakt, I really appreciate the time and effort you put into this project. I have played hundreds of games and seen many unit compositions, strategies, cheeses, trolls etc. I just wanted to give my thoughts on this monobattle map.
-Blind Random Some people might disagree, but blind random is what makes a monobattle enjoyable in my opinion. It was so lame to see some people pick useful units like marine, stalker etc. during Megaton days. Monobattle shouldn't be about everyone picking a useful unit and win. Yeah, it sucks to have relatively worse unit composition, but trying to overcome the disadvantage is a part of monobattle play. At the end of the day, monobattle is naturally "imbalanced" anyways. As long as veto options remain decent like it is now, blind random as the default mode makes a lot of sense. With vetos, I never reroll these days even when I get a "bad" unit. Figuring out the way to win a seemingly auto-loss game is so much more fun than outright destroying opponents with superior units.
-Veto(random optional) As much as I enjoy playing "bad" units, some units are just too terrible to play. Veto is a must for blind random. Personally, I play corruptor no matter what my teammates have and medivac if at least one of my teammates' units is biological. Some people might also enjoy cannon/spine rushing, feeding, trolling etc. with overseer/warpprism/mothership, so veto is a nice way to give players choices. As pointed out before, the only downside right now is that all those units are enabled by default. I'm glad to hear that you fixed this for HotS. New players don't have to leave any more as soon as they get overseer ^^
-Map Current modified Sand Canyon is a good map. I like it for several reasons. 1. shared base with shared ramp Original Sand Canyon has a seperate starting base with seperate ramp for each player. Helping teammates who are vulnerable early on is so much more important in monobattle than normal 4v4. Modified version allows teammates work together in survival vs rush strategies. I feel 2 shared ramps should be the standard for any monobattle because having Zerg players who can't help wall the front doesn't automatically result in zerglings running into everyone's base which can happen on 4v4 map Extinction style 4 seperate ramps. Current ramp size that can be walled with two 2x2 and two 3x3 buildings also helps. 2. rush distance 6pool zergling or reaper doesn't auto win because rush distance is long enough. At the same time, tier 1 units can still punish tier 2~3 units with current rush distance. It is ok to be slightly longer or shorter, but I find current distance almost ideal. Also, I like how one of six initial workers sent immediately can sneak into enemy base without being scouted if opponents are not careful at checking ramp at 9pylon/10depot/sending initial ovie timings. (0:50 or so) 3. number/layout of bases Two bases per player is guaranteed, but 3rd base isn't available for everyone. Establishing 3rd is often the focal point of the game. Tier 1 units are generally weak in late game, but they provide map control that allows your team to establish 3rd way earlier than opponents. Safe natural + risky 3rd map design is the way to go.
-Cannon Rush It should be viable. From time to time, that's the only way to win for a team. It might be frustrating to deal with, but it is always preventable, especially on modified Sand Canyon. (maybe 4 player cannon rush all-in is not) Monobattle is still a melee type game. Removing all stress to dumb down is boring.
-No Anti Air Games Challenging, but fun. "We gotta kill that muta guy fast with our marauder banshee immortal ultralisk" often ends up in chaos, but monobattle is not just about no-rush-15-min 200/200.
-Incentive It would be nice if there is an additional incentive to play monobattle than just win/loss. The most frustrating thing in monobattle is not cannon rush or no AA game but rather teammates leaving. Some people leave the moment they smell even the slightest unit composition disadvantage at 10 sec into game or so. "wtf, I got queen. gg" or "#$%&, we have no AA. gg." is not so uncommon. This really ruins the game for the rest of players. Maybe introducing some kind of achievement system like "Win a game with queen etc. 10/20/50/100 times" or "Win a game without AA vs single/multiple air to ground attacking units" might motivate players to stay. Giving more incentive to play bad situations would provide better monobattle experience for all.
-Blizzard's problem(?) I want to see 1. teammate's supply count once he/she leaves so that I can macro better or even completely transition into using that unit if mine is worse. 2. hotkeys for "share resource" and "share control" so that I don't need to click those small icons at top right. 3. terran interface/voice when I play terran units. Same for Zerg/Protoss.
-Draft I don't have HotS beta or expert map editor knowledge, so forgive me for some of my ignorance. The most interesting draft at least for me would be blind random into drafting. First, people blind random like we do today. For example, let's say 8 people get void ray, baneling, sentry, mutalisk, immortal, marauder, hydralisk, thor, respectively. Then 2 random guys are chosen as team leaders for Team A and B. For the sake of discussion, Team A leader is marauder, and Team B leader is void ray. Team A leader picks one of the six players left for drafting. Knowing AA is necessary vs void ray, marauder guy picks thor. Then, Team B leader picks one of the remaining five. Immortal is good vs both marauder and thor, so void ray picks immortal. To be fairer, Team B sub-leader immortal picks another unit for Team B beofore Team A. Immortal picks hydralisk. Now, Team A sub-leader thor picks baneling to counter hydralisk. Finally, hydralisk player picks last unit zealot for Team A. Poor corruptor guy goes to Team B. Now the rosters are Team A: [marauder - thor - baneling - zealot] Team B: [void ray - immortal - hydralisk - corruptor]
General flow in this case is Blind random Random team leader selection A: marauder picks thor B: void ray picks immortal B: immortal picks hydralisk A: thor picks baneling A: baneling picks zealot B: corruptor is automatically added Play
This drafting method prevents useful units always picked or banned while naturally balancing the game by players' choices. With those 8 units, not many people find [void ray - hydralisk - thor - corruptor] vs [marauder - immortal - baneling - zealot] no AA game fun in current WoL version, but this drafting system would give players opportunity to choose a better unit composition for both sides.
1 obstacle might be coding all those triggers for unset alliance at the start of the game. Unlike other drafting, team members themselves are not predetermined. It's not simple 4v4 but rather 1v1v1v1v1v1v1v1 turning into 1+1+1+1 v 1+1+1+1 with drafting. I'm pretty sure it's possible, but I don't exactly know how to T_T
-Unit Strength It would be interesting to know the overall winrates for all units. Queen players must have lower winrate than marine players over the course of thousands of games played on battlenet. Doesn't mafia custom map collect data for role strength based on win/loss? It would be more satisfying to win with queen knowing the winrate is 42% or something. Conbined with incentive idea, giving achievements for all bad units with low winrates would be nice.
...easier said than done. I'm like one of those bosses who say things without actually knowing how hard it is to make it happen. As a player who have played I don't know maybe 500(?) games, and enjoyed every single one of them, this is my feedback for you. Thank you again for this great custom map.
That is a quite a read. I appreciate the praise stuff but I'll just directly address what wasn't praise:
Incentive Incentive has been on my agenda for a long time. The one rule I have is that the incentive must be worthwhile yet maintain absolutely zero net effect on gameplay. Achievements might be the way to go about it, but I'd have to make sure it's implemented in a way that's satisfying and I won't be promising that by Heart of the Swarm.
Blizzard's problems? The only one of those that I have any interest in addressing is the racial UI/sound mismatch. The racial assets loaded are dictated by your lobby-chosen race. I could attempt to hide the built-in UI and recreate a false UI to mimic the correct race, but that'd entail a large amount of effort for a small (probably buggy) payoff. I'm always on the look out for any new tools from Blizzard to correct that issue.
Draft The draft system I've implemented refers to drafting units and not players. Drafting players is certainly possible. I'm hesitant to approach drafting that way because drafting is most suited for predetermined team play. As you've noted, Blind Random is the natural order for public play. Everyone is forced to honor the rule yet every player gets the satisfaction of pressing their own button. The suggestion did make me think, however, of a draft that reduces the unit pool to just 8 units at random and each player on each team gets a turn picking a unit exclusively for their team. It would accomplish the same balancing effect you're shooting for without the team jumbling (although I can understand why team jumbling could be fun under specific circumstances).
Unit Strength Comparing yourself to the universal, or even rough, average would be fun. Tracking correct averages over hundreds of games with thousands of players might be impossible, though. Bank files do have limits and tracking correct averages is a very different beast to tracking top statistics (which is easy). I'd love to consider allowing you to see how you stack against the average of the other players in your specific game.
While drafting, the random button can no longer choose Warp Prism, Medivac, Mothership or Overseer while Picking. It can still choose to ban these units.
New draft mode: Random Draft
All units are banned except for 9 selected at random. Warp Prism, Medivac, Mothership and Overseer are always banned. The remaining units can only be picked once.
The Captain's Hat of Choosing is automatically passed to each player on each team so that each is offered a chance to pick. Players may still opt to give the captain's hat to another player during their turn.
Players still select the unit that they will play after the drafting process is finished.
The following change will be applied to the HotS beta version shortly.
12/22/2012 Interface
The unit display dialog now lists the average win ratio of all other players in the current game while using your current unit
The stats used to obtain the ratio average are anonymous
The average does not consider your wins and losses
If no other player in the current game has played with your unit the average will be undefined
The stats command has been improved
Typing stats will give you information on your current unit as shown in the unit display
Typing stats unitName will give you information on the specified unit
I'm also looking to improve the aesthetics of Bx Monobattle. None of the Bluefrex group are particularly talented graphic designers, so I'd thought I'd see if there's any interested talent out there. I'm most interested in a background screen to replace the pitch blackness during unit selection, but custom dialog frames would also be neat. Feel free to PM me if you're interested.
And here are some rough notes on possible achievements. Feedback appreciated.
Achievements are in (Heart of the Swarm version only). If you think they're a stupid idea and an annoyance, you can toggle them off with the checkbox in the achievement window and forget they ever existed. Good monobattling.
12/28/2012 Gameplay
Players can now use the stats command supplied with a unit name before they have picked a unit
Players who have picked Medivac or Warp Prism can now load allied units.
Players who do not pick either of these units can still build their own but may not pick up allies or use their abilities
Achievements
Achievements have been implemented
There are currently 58 unlockable achievements (more can and will be added)
Each player's obtained achievements and total points are only visible to that player for now
The achievement window for viewing all achievements is accessible via the achievement button in the upper left-hand corner of the screen (which conveniently fades when not in focus)
Achievements the player has obtained are floated to the top of the list
When a player obtains an achievement, all players will see a chat message. The player who obtained the achievement may see an optional toast which can be toggled on/off via the achievement window
Invalid games, games with a detected leaver and games that have ended will not award achievements. You can stick around after a game is over or join a game privately on your own to view your achievements without harming your record
Achievements have absolutely zero impact on gameplay. There are no rewards for accruing X points. There may be rewards in the future, but they'd be personal rewards that only you could notice and not use as a benefit in terms of gameplay
maybe its me as I'm a greedy bastard in SC (3+ bases are necessary), but I'm not terribly enamored of Sand Canyon as a map, but moreso bc especially as it's the only map. You should look at the original mod for pointers on this. People started to hate playing on Megaton so no one plays that mod anymore (well, very few). Idk as I don't have HotS, but I think a must have feature is do what 1v1 obs maps do, have a featured map a week to change the lineup. Sure it's not going to be as varied, but it allows you to implement a multi-map pool initiative that I'm sure everyone would appreciate.
On December 29 2012 07:54 wo1fwood wrote: maybe its me as I'm a greedy bastard in SC (3+ bases are necessary), but I'm not terribly enamored of Sand Canyon as a map, but moreso bc especially as it's the only map. You should look at the original mod for pointers on this. People started to hate playing on Megaton so no one plays that mod anymore (well, very few). Idk as I don't have HotS, but I think a must have feature is do what 1v1 obs maps do, have a featured map a week to change the lineup. Sure it's not going to be as varied, but it allows you to implement a multi-map pool initiative that I'm sure everyone would appreciate.
When Heart of the Swarm launches there will be a map of the week.
Hey for Heart of the Swarm can you make your workers auto split? Would be great.
Also I want to say that I ported a monobattle map to HoTS before you did (it was called "[HoTS Monobattles]"), so I could play monobattles until a proper port was made. After I have learnt that you have published a monobattles map to HoTS I unpublished the map so people can play yours. Your map should be the most popular monobattle map now, as the only other monobattle map is buggy and has a lot of issues. I hope you continue updating!
On February 20 2013 00:50 Giacom wrote: Hey for Heart of the Swarm can you make your workers auto split? Would be great.
Also I want to say that I ported a monobattle map to HoTS before you did (it was called "[HoTS Monobattles]"), so I could play monobattles until a proper port was made. After I have learnt that you have published a monobattles map to HoTS I unpublished the map so people can play yours. Your map should be the most popular monobattle map now, as the only other monobattle map is buggy and has a lot of issues. I hope you continue updating!
That's very sweet of you. I never stop updating, though, I just wait for feedback. If I can determine a player's autosplit setting from the map editor tools, I will attempt to force an autosplit when appropriate.
On Bx Monobattles Sand Canyon (fix) on WoL Arcade:
If you pause, and then leave the game, then when the remaining players unpause, the UI is frozen. The AI still goes on mining or whatnot, but you can no longer click on any units or even scroll the screen.
Tonight, one player (Cubed) repeatedly did this just to annoy everyone else and prevent people from playing the game. :\
No worries. The majority of bug reports received are either problems with the SC2 client in general or user error. The mod actually changes very little of the engine under the hood. Glad you enjoy it.
As an update, I've not forgotten the Queen rally and auto-split suggestions. I will be looking into those as soon as I install the official, finalized HotS client (launch day).
The following maps are available on NA with HotS changes enabled:
Bx Monobattle - Sand Canyon (Fix)
Bx Monobattle - Map of the Week
The map of the week is currently set to Extinction. All Bx Monobattle maps announce that the map of the week version is available once they've been updated to HotS. Both of the aforementioned maps have Referee Mode disabled. The rest of the Bx Monobattles library will be updated to HotS very soon (with Referee Mode enabled).
As a reminder, the following changes are included in the HotS update:
Heart of the Swarm units added
Achievements added (button can be found in the upper left of screen, it hides until hovered over)
Several draft modes added (set the mode before creating the game, or create a referee game and set it through the lobby)
Wings of Liberty owners will no longer be able to access Bx Monobattle maps once they've been updated. I fully expect to have introduced some bugs and look forward to your reports (please remember to include a replay if it's not incredibly obvious).
Update
The following maps are now HotS-friendly on NA:
District 10
Extinction
Fossil Quarry
High Ground
Map of the Week
Megaton
Outpost
Sand Canyon (Fix)
Sand Canyon (Original)
Toxic Slums
Zenith
The following Heart of the Swarm maps have also joined the map pool:
i'm continually finding that it would be awesome if we could un-ally people in case are idiots, but also in the hilarity of backstabbing potential from changing alliances that BGH had so much of.
On March 18 2013 00:58 wo1fwood wrote: i'm continually finding that it would be awesome if we could un-ally people in case are idiots, but also in the hilarity of backstabbing potential from changing alliances that BGH had so much of.
Backstabbing is fun sometimes, but I don't think it'd be a good idea to make BxM the game to do it in. Already plenty of grief to go around with leavers.
I was very excited about the new draft modes in HOTS, but I haven't been able to get a game in because everyone just plays blind random.
I was thinking that one way around it might be to allow us to pick which mode to play AFTER we enter the game. Many other arcade games use this method, where players will vote on which mode to play once they've entered the game. To do this well, you might need to reduce the number of choices (having like 8 different modes makes it likely that nothing will get at least 4 votes, so most people wont get what they want).
The one problem I could forsee with this is if people dont get the mode that they wanted they might leave. But given that everyone plays blind random right now, I don't see how doing a draft when you intended to play random would really bother you much.
On March 22 2013 04:43 SlayerS_BoxxY wrote: I was very excited about the new draft modes in HOTS, but I haven't been able to get a game in because everyone just plays blind random.
I was thinking that one way around it might be to allow us to pick which mode to play AFTER we enter the game. Many other arcade games use this method, where players will vote on which mode to play once they've entered the game. To do this well, you might need to reduce the number of choices (having like 8 different modes makes it likely that nothing will get at least 4 votes, so most people wont get what they want).
The one problem I could forsee with this is if people dont get the mode that they wanted they might leave. But given that everyone plays blind random right now, I don't see how doing a draft when you intended to play random would really bother you much.
Blind random is the default because it's puts "the power" of picking unit in the hands of the individual while maintaining some semblance of fairness, so it's hard to get mad at your teammates or opponents for choices made. I agree with you, though, I'm excited about the draft modes. You want to play them, I want to play them and I made them. They're actually a lot more balanced than blind random as you get some kind of cohesiveness and strategy out of a draft selection.
If I were to change the default mode from blind random it would be to a new mode that quickly forces players to vote on one of the existing modes to use. The existing modes will always exist as part of the pre-lobby dropdown menu, though. I'll spend time seriously thinking on it.
On March 22 2013 04:05 Jack Project wrote: is there a hots monobattle map for the EU, if so, whats its name exactly, thx.
I'm not sure whether or not my EU uploader has gotten around to making the update since release. Eventually, though, I'll upload them myself to EU. I've been a bit lazy about it since it's not popular over there as far as I know.
Man, its popular, everyone is still playing the wol version and are very sad and we are waiting for the hots one. Please, please please update it for hots, there are even a few threads on EU asking where is the hots monobattle maps
Definitely upload your Bx monobattle to EU. There's currently NO HOTS monobattle on EU so yours would obviously be the most popular. It was a pain playing monos on EU because Blizz arcade causes people to play only 1 map. So I had the choice between playing bad monobattle maps or waiting forever in queue.
On March 23 2013 02:40 urashimakt wrote: I will begin the upload to EU now. Since it already exists on there under Chargelot's account, the name will have to differ. Sorry for the delay.
Bx Monobattle EU - Map of the Week is now available on EU. It's currently set to Celestial Bastion.
Updating map dependencies is a huge pain right now (not sure what Blizzard did, but making a change to the mod requires reapplying the mod to each map from scratch). Add to that converting the dependencies from a NA source to a EU source and it takes a while to put each map up there, for which I apologize. All NA available maps will eventually be available on EU with the tag Bx Monobattle EU, I promise.
The maps tagged with simply Bx Monobattle will be removed from EU as soon as I can contact Chargelot. Also, if there are any problems with the locales, let me know.
The full roster is now available on EU under the tag Bx Monobattle EU.
Please send more Doctor Who and anything with David Mitchell.
On March 22 2013 04:43 SlayerS_BoxxY wrote: I was very excited about the new draft modes in HOTS, but I haven't been able to get a game in because everyone just plays blind random.
I was thinking that one way around it might be to allow us to pick which mode to play AFTER we enter the game. Many other arcade games use this method, where players will vote on which mode to play once they've entered the game. To do this well, you might need to reduce the number of choices (having like 8 different modes makes it likely that nothing will get at least 4 votes, so most people wont get what they want).
The one problem I could forsee with this is if people dont get the mode that they wanted they might leave. But given that everyone plays blind random right now, I don't see how doing a draft when you intended to play random would really bother you much.
After giving it some thought, I've decided that I'll be adding a new default mode to Map of the Week and Sand Canyon (Fix) (aka Sand Canyon Redux). This default mode will grant a 20 second window for voting between the Blind Random, Blind Pick and Tier Draft modes before then enforcing the rules of the winning mode (tier draft being the most conducive to allowing players the freedom to choose something they enjoy while still maintaining a semblance of balance).
I won't be implementing such a mode until first adding a way to force a repick of the team captain and granting initial captainship to someone who has played many games instead of randomly to someone who may have no idea what to do with it. My ETA on this is about a week.
Can you please upload the current hots version wich is currently only on the us server - tagged as "(fix)" - to the EU server please ?
Ive been eager to play hots monobattle in draf mode for some while now Also thanks for introducing those features and bringing monobattle to hots but EU needs some more love
On March 23 2013 19:11 Thyriaen wrote: Can you please upload the current hots version wich is currently only on the us server - tagged as "(fix)" - to the EU server please ?
Ive been eager to play hots monobattle in draf mode for some while now Also thanks for introducing those features and bringing monobattle to hots but EU needs some more love
Thanks
EU already has a more current version of the mod than US. All maps tagged Bx Monobattle EU are HotS enabled. If you're looking specifically for the modified Sand Canyon map that gets played on US, it's titled Bx Monobattle EU - Sand Canyon Redux on EU.
On March 23 2013 17:52 Ghanburighan wrote: It would really benefit the maps to have HOTS in the title. There are so many people coming in and asking whether it's HOTS or not...
After joining the EU server to see for myself, I'm renaming Bx Monobattle EU - Map of the Week to Bx Monobattle EU - HotS Map of the Week. They just refused to understand that there was a HotS mono available.
Hi there, i just checked out the EU version of the game and i enjoyed it alot. But i think it would be nice to have a public-friendly darft mode ( where everyone can pick their own units - in a draft manner ). Because darfting with a captain isnt always the best option when you are playing with random ppl. Darft mode is still a very nice addition the the monobattles and shoud be further supported.
Thats why i recommend adding a draft mode ( or editing one of them ) in the following manner ( equally to random draft in dota2 ): The order of picks is preset bind to players - players are picking one by one in a draft manner.
Thanks for this cool mod and i hope you are continuing to support ur mod
On March 24 2013 05:21 Thyriaen wrote: Hi there, i just checked out the EU version of the game and i enjoyed it alot. But i think it would be nice to have a public-friendly darft mode ( where everyone can pick their own units - in a draft manner ). Because darfting with a captain isnt always the best option when you are playing with random ppl. Darft mode is still a very nice addition the the monobattles and shoud be further supported.
Thats why i recommend adding a draft mode ( or editing one of them ) in the following manner ( equally to random draft in dota2 ): The order of picks is preset bind to players - players are picking one by one in a draft manner.
Thanks for this cool mod and i hope you are continuing to support ur mod
Thanks a lot Thyriaen
Random draft was designed to be used as a public game mode in just that manner. Each person on each team gets a shot at being captain.
The other draft modes almost require good team coordination so they follow the traditional captain style.
One quick question: Would it be possible to "disable" building photon cannons on the enemy side of the map? Or at least, on the spawn plateaus?
Cannon rushing is getting REALLY tiring when it happens almost every single time any protoss is in the game. IE: Almost every single game. I can't be the only one.
On March 25 2013 06:48 ChromeBallz wrote: One quick question: Would it be possible to "disable" building photon cannons on the enemy side of the map? Or at least, on the spawn plateaus?
Cannon rushing is getting REALLY tiring when it happens almost every single time any protoss is in the game. IE: Almost every single game. I can't be the only one.
I could disable a lot of things until the only way to win is literally to get the Winning Unit, but I probably shouldn't. Cannon rushes aren't unstoppable (unless the map makes it so, in which case I'll do something about the map).
On March 25 2013 06:48 ChromeBallz wrote: One quick question: Would it be possible to "disable" building photon cannons on the enemy side of the map? Or at least, on the spawn plateaus?
Cannon rushing is getting REALLY tiring when it happens almost every single time any protoss is in the game. IE: Almost every single game. I can't be the only one.
I could disable a lot of things until the only way to win is literally to get the Winning Unit, but I probably shouldn't. Cannon rushes aren't unstoppable (unless the map makes it so, in which case I'll do something about the map).
It's not just masters players who play monobattles... Not everyone can deal with cannon rushes. People play monobattles to not have to deal with that kind of stuff in the first place.
You cannon rush if you want to win fast. What's the point in playing monobattles when people just cannon rush all the time?
Fact is, people cannon rush to grief the other team, there's no other reason for it.
On March 25 2013 06:48 ChromeBallz wrote: One quick question: Would it be possible to "disable" building photon cannons on the enemy side of the map? Or at least, on the spawn plateaus?
Cannon rushing is getting REALLY tiring when it happens almost every single time any protoss is in the game. IE: Almost every single game. I can't be the only one.
I could disable a lot of things until the only way to win is literally to get the Winning Unit, but I probably shouldn't. Cannon rushes aren't unstoppable (unless the map makes it so, in which case I'll do something about the map).
It's not just masters players who play monobattles... Not everyone can deal with cannon rushes. People play monobattles to not have to deal with that kind of stuff in the first place.
You cannon rush if you want to win fast. What's the point in playing monobattles when people just cannon rush all the time?
Fact is, people cannon rush to grief the other team, there's no other reason for it.
I disagree, cannot rushes are a part of the game that make it fun. With certain unit compositions cannons play an integral role in viable strategies, for example, when combined with proxy-hatch spines and floating planetaries to get those crucial air units out. Furthermore, warp-prism cannon drops are some of the more awesome strategies developed in monobattles. At the same time, having 4 players on a team considerably reduces the effectiveness of cannon rush strategies.
The following update will hit both NA and EU either later tonight or sometime tomorrow.
3/27/2013 Gameplay
While drafting, the game will attempt to assign captainship to a player with experience instead of seemingly at random.
While drafting, players who are not the captain of their team can vote to repick the captain. If all 3 team members vote, the game will calculate the next best captain.
New default game mode for Map of the Week and Sand Canyon Redux: Vote Mode. Players are prompted to choose to play Blind Random, Blind Pick or Tier Draft.
Bug Fixes
The Skinned Teeth achievement should no longer be granted erroneously (already live on EU).
Player stats should be correctly loaded while playing draft mode. Any stat overwriting from playing a draft before this update is permanent, sorry.
When I find Bx Monobattles through Arcade there are too many modes to choose from. It takes long enough to find people to play as it is, I think it should all be reduced to one mode (Vote Mode is probably best) as to reduce waiting time. That's really the biggest hindrance, for me, in enjoying Monobattles more often. I choose Blind Random even though I particularly don't like that mode because I figure that has the most players joining (since it is the default mode to be selected).
On March 28 2013 17:21 Vortastic wrote: When I find Bx Monobattles through Arcade there are too many modes to choose from. It takes long enough to find people to play as it is, I think it should all be reduced to one mode (Vote Mode is probably best) as to reduce waiting time. That's really the biggest hindrance, for me, in enjoying Monobattles more often. I choose Blind Random even though I particularly don't like that mode because I figure that has the most players joining (since it is the default mode to be selected).
It is expected that all public games use the default setting. Most players don't even realize that some maps have modes you can set pre-lobby. If you just join Blind Random (or soon Vote Mode) you'll get a game going.
I am working to get Vote Mode out there ASAP, though. I know Blind Random only pleases like 70% of monobattle fans and that sucks for the other 30%.
Hi, I just played a game, which was a bit awkward, because nobody on our team actually had a unit that could hit buildings (playing 3v3, we got like 2x widow mine and 1x high templar). The game was fun nonetheless and we had honorable opponents who decided to leave the game after we killed like all their workers and all their units (instead of floating buildings),
But it seems you have already more than enough work with this mod, so I'm not suggesting anything like adding a test to makre sure that each team has at least one unit that can hit buildings. ^.^"
On March 29 2013 08:56 JustPassingBy wrote: Hi, I just played a game, which was a bit awkward, because nobody on our team actually had a unit that could hit buildings (playing 3v3, we got like 2x widow mine and 1x high templar). The game was fun nonetheless and we had honorable opponents who decided to leave the game after we killed like all their workers and all their units (instead of floating buildings),
But it seems you have already more than enough work with this mod, so I'm not suggesting anything like adding a test to makre sure that each team has at least one unit that can hit buildings. ^.^"
That could be annoying, nice of them to concede. I am loath to alter the randomness of the random options. As long as you have workers, income, and production there should be no way for them to stop you from destroying all of their buildings. Terrans who fly their structures off to unpathable/empty terrain without owning anything else on the ground will find their stuff explodes after 30 in-game seconds.
On March 29 2013 21:49 coma wrote: vote mode is currently broken on eu: + Show Spoiler +
Not quite, just had a game where some people saw this error and others, such as I, saw it normally. It seems to be machine specific.
On another note, I don't think blind random should be random race as well. There just aren't enough people out there willing or good enough with all three races.
On March 29 2013 21:49 coma wrote: vote mode is currently broken on eu: + Show Spoiler +
Not quite, just had a game where some people saw this error and others, such as I, saw it normally. It seems to be machine specific.
On another note, I don't think blind random should be random race as well. There just aren't enough people out there willing or good enough with all three races.
Any time you see a PARAM, it's a locale error. One of the locales certain individuals are using did not get populated and it's a pain to deal with. I'll try re-populating the locales and re-uploading.
As coma notes, you can click the racial icons on the left to specify your race.
Edit: Re-upload complete. Please let me know ASAP if the deDE (German) or any other localization still throws PARAMs at you. Also, if you find yourself playing tier draft as a result of vote mode I would love a copy of the replay. I'd like to see how tier draft works out as a public game mode.
On March 29 2013 21:49 coma wrote: vote mode is currently broken on eu: + Show Spoiler +
Not quite, just had a game where some people saw this error and others, such as I, saw it normally. It seems to be machine specific.
On another note, I don't think blind random should be random race as well. There just aren't enough people out there willing or good enough with all three races.
Any time you see a PARAM, it's a locale error. One of the locales certain individuals are using did not get populated and it's a pain to deal with. I'll try re-populating the locales and re-uploading.
As coma notes, you can click the racial icons on the left to specify your race. + Show Spoiler +
Edit: Re-upload complete. Please let me know ASAP if the deDE (German) or any other localization still throws PARAMs at you. Also, if you find yourself playing tier draft as a result of vote mode I would love a copy of the replay. I'd like to see how tier draft works out as a public game mode.
Thanks! I'll see if I or my friends hit any PARAMs.
On April 03 2013 19:06 monk wrote: We played a few ban drafts with almost all GMs the other day. Was pretty fun, much better than pub blind randoms.
That's awesome, thanks for letting me know. Did the drafting take very long? I hesitated picking ban draft for vote mode for fear it would take so long to draft that no one would choose it.
Edit: This part isn't directed at you specifically, but anyone who plays any of the draft modes and can take the time to post the replays would be a gentleman amongst gentlemen. I'd like to make improvements where possible so that drafting can become at least as popular as the blind modes, if not more so.
On April 03 2013 19:06 monk wrote: We played a few ban drafts with almost all GMs the other day. Was pretty fun, much better than pub blind randoms.
That's awesome, thanks for letting me know. Did the drafting take very long? I hesitated picking ban draft for vote mode for fear it would take so long to draft that no one would choose it.
I think it's fine for private games. Drafting took about 5 mins per match. We ran into a few problems with captains forgetting about the timer and having it default to bad units though like brood lord =(.
On April 03 2013 19:06 monk wrote: We played a few ban drafts with almost all GMs the other day. Was pretty fun, much better than pub blind randoms.
That's awesome, thanks for letting me know. Did the drafting take very long? I hesitated picking ban draft for vote mode for fear it would take so long to draft that no one would choose it.
I think it's fine for private games. Drafting took about 5 mins per match. We ran into a few problems with captains forgetting about the timer and having it default to bad units though like brood lord =(.
Yeah. I don't think I'm ever going to get ban draft to be a quickie. I'll see about adopting bonus time as seen in most draft games so if you go over the allotted time it warns you and goes into extra time. Should help captains keep track of it. Also, if a captain has a unit selected when time runs out I'm going to have the draft just confirm that unit instead of doing the random pick (so captains can pre-pick just in case they're not sure).
Thanks to some terrific feedback on draft modes, the following updates will roll out tonight on the popular NA/EU maps (then later on the less popular maps).
4/5/2013 Draft Mode
Teams are now warned about their time remaining to pick/ban. Textual warnings are given at 60, 45, 30, and 15 seconds remaining. Verbal warnings are given at 60, 45, 30, 15, 10, and 5 seconds remaining.
Reserve time has been added. Currently, both teams are allotted 45 seconds of reserve time for picks/bans. The timers will show reserve time and current decision time added together (so 0:45 reserve and 0:45 current pick time together would show as 1:30). When the timer begins to dip into reserve time, both textual and verbal warnings are given to the team.
The captain's selected unit is no longer cleared when switching between race menus. If the captain selects a protoss unit and switches to the zerg menu, he may still click the pick/ban button to pick/ban the selected protoss unit.
The captain may click an already selected unit to deselect that unit.
When a pick/ban timer runs out the game will check to see if the captain has a unit selected. If a unit is selected, that unit will be picked/ban. If no unit is selected, one will be picked/banned at random.
New textual notifications have been added to inform the team whether they are picking or banning on their turn. This information is still visible within the draft dialog itself (near the top).
Bug Fixes
The debug dialog will be disabled on all maps during update.
Resetting banked statistics in an attempt to track down the bug causing negative losses. Sorry, but expect another reset soon if it persists. Any additional info or replays about this bug appreciated.
Fixed a bug that caused the "No valid captain remaining, game ending" situation to happen when the last player on a team left after drafting had already happened.
On April 19 2013 20:32 d07.RiV wrote: Perhaps terran bunkers need to be changed so they actually have a way to defend themselves?
I've played a ton of terran in monobattles. They are fine. Walling off is a great asset, planetaries are great too. Not every composition gives a fair chance, but that's the point of monobattles. But you'll find that main-base planetaries and ramp-blocking planetaries can be surprisingly helpful in some situations. For example when turtling until you have some late game units against their tier 1.
I've played a ton of terran in monobattles. They are fine. Walling off is a great asset, planetaries are great too. Not every composition gives a fair chance, but that's the point of monobattles. But you'll find that main-base planetaries and ramp-blocking planetaries can be surprisingly helpful in some situations. For example when turtling until you have some late game units against their tier 1.
Yeah kinda forgot about planetary, but when playing vs reapers you're pretty much forced to forgo the advantage of orbital, and even then they can harass your workers from out of range.
That could be annoying, nice of them to concede. I am loath to alter the randomness of the random options. As long as you have workers, income, and production there should be no way for them to stop you from destroying all of their buildings. Terrans who fly their structures off to unpathable/empty terrain without owning anything else on the ground will find their stuff explodes after 30 in-game seconds.
It has been brought to my attention that Map of the Week on EU hasn't been rotating. I apologize for that, I haven't been checking that the script has been working lately. When I get a chance I will manually change it.
Everyone one EU wonder when you will change the map, we have been playing this one now for a month... You changed map once a week 3 times, then you stopped.
On April 24 2013 19:25 redbean87 wrote: - EU is tired of megaton -
Everyone one EU wonder when you will change the map, we have been playing this one now for a month... You changed map once a week 3 times, then you stopped.
Check the post above you
Also, one of the benefits of a slower rotation of the map is that people learn specific tricks per map. This improves game quality as more compositions become viable.
On April 24 2013 19:25 redbean87 wrote: - EU is tired of megaton -
Everyone one EU wonder when you will change the map, we have been playing this one now for a month... You changed map once a week 3 times, then you stopped.
Check the post above you
Also, one of the benefits of a slower rotation of the map is that people learn specific tricks per map. This improves game quality as more compositions become viable.
Except that "specific tricks" = Random units = Random tricks = Doesn't matter which map
Megaton tho is harder to cheese at, its good, but overall its not a very fun map, if one defense fail it all fails.
On April 24 2013 22:25 Tuczniak wrote: What are the ranks? Is there a list? I would like to know.
No ranking, no list, nothing, its just regular monobattle, that's it
Blizzard didn't make monobattle, private persons made it.
Besides, no use to add a ranking in monobattle, it's 75% luck, so wouldn't make sense.
Level on the other hand, well, sure but how and why?
I am manually changing the map for EU now. I'm going to check and see why my upload script started failing, but I'm going to chalk it up to not a good enough connection between myself and EU. I'll set myself a reminder to double check every weekend. It'll be high ground this week.
The ranks are based on only two non-competitive measures: how many games you've won and how many games you've lost. No ladder system. If you want to spoil it for yourself, here's a list in order from least to most illustrious. Warning: they are silly and for amusement. + Show Spoiler [Ranks] +
Prefixed rank adjectives (based on win/loss ratio):
Decorated
Ace
Heroic
Legendary
Undefeated
Rank (based on total wins) <and, for fun, their Star Trek/misc pop culture paragons>:
Ensign <Any Red Shirt (Star Trek)>
Lieutenant <Worf (Star Trek: TNG)>
Lieutenant Commander <Data (Star Trek: TNG)>
Commander <Spock (Star Trek: TOS)>
Captain <Jean-Luc Picard (Star Trek: TNG)>
Rear Admiral <James Tiberius Kirk (Star Trek: TOS)>
Space Captain <Gordon (Disgaea: Hour of Darkness)>
Intergalactic Admiral <Edward J. Olmos (Stand and Deliver)>
Scruffy Nerf Herder <Han Solo (Star Wars)>
Unstoppable Force <Teumessian Fox (Greek Mythology)>
Immovable Object <Laelaps (Greek Mythology)>
The comparative average is based on the success with your unit of everyone else in the game you are currently in.
Achievements can be viewed by clicking the button in the upper left. They can also be turned off in the same way. The button fades out when not in focus.
On April 25 2013 06:01 redbean87 wrote: Same map as the one before megaton, but oh well finally a map change!
Is it? I'll change it again. Sorry for being a terrible person with a bad memory.
Let me know if Sky Harvester is unplayable. I believe Grubby referred to it as challenging, but it will certainly be different from the usual monobattle maps in the name of variety.
I'm just going to declare a predetermined order so I don't make the same mistake again (subject to change):
On April 25 2013 07:49 Tuczniak wrote: What about putting Fossil Quarry later? It was the number 1 monobattle on EU for quite a long time and still is pretty high there.
On April 25 2013 06:01 redbean87 wrote: Same map as the one before megaton, but oh well finally a map change!
Is it? I'll change it again. Sorry for being a terrible person with a bad memory.
Let me know if Sky Harvester is unplayable. I believe Grubby referred to it as challenging, but it will certainly be different from the usual monobattle maps in the name of variety.
I'm just going to declare a predetermined order so I don't make the same mistake again (subject to change):
Celestial Bastion
High Ground
Megaton
Sky Harvester < Current
Fallout Zone
Sand Canyon Redux
Outpost
Extinction
Toxic Slums
District 10
Atlas Station
Sand Canyon
Fossil Quarry
Heh it's ok, I wouldn't mind playing it a week more, as I said Also you are not a terrible person, you are awesome that gave eu Hots monobattle when nobody else did.
Cheers and thanks for giving eu some love! ~ Motherbrain
On April 24 2013 03:15 urashimakt wrote: It has been brought to my attention that Map of the Week on EU hasn't been rotating. I apologize for that, I haven't been checking that the script has been working lately. When I get a chance I will manually change it.
AM also has this problem. Maps haven't changed since hots launch, even though the map says it's gonna change weekly.
On April 24 2013 03:15 urashimakt wrote: It has been brought to my attention that Map of the Week on EU hasn't been rotating. I apologize for that, I haven't been checking that the script has been working lately. When I get a chance I will manually change it.
AM also has this problem. Maps haven't changed since hots launch, even though the map says it's gonna change weekly.
Hm. I'll start changing that manually at the same time.
Has there been any thought into balancing the game's rolls? So that one player is assigned tier one at the start, two players get tier two, one gets tier three. Losing a game because you don't want to cannon rush and you can't fight tempests or broodlords is frustrating beyond words.
On June 16 2013 08:21 CrackelJacker wrote: Has there been any thought into balancing the game's rolls? So that one player is assigned tier one at the start, two players get tier two, one gets tier three. Losing a game because you don't want to cannon rush and you can't fight tempests or broodlords is frustrating beyond words.
It's been requested before and the answers have been to add alternative modes that preclude random strokes of bad luck. The main issue is that people love to play random, but dislike random bad luck when it happens to them. These folks don't truly (in their heart of hearts) want to play random mode. They want to play something we'll call puzzle solver mode; a mode in which the game puts throws a couple of dice initially, but then starts to solve the rest of the puzzle so that the end result is a picture of fairness (at least on their end).
My first issue with masquerading puzzle solver mode as random mode is that it would be a lie. The tin says random, the beans should be random. The last few people to click "GO" would be expecting a fair, completely (pseudo)randomly picked unit when in reality their pick was preordained by the computer based on what the first few people picked.
My second issue (and this is the one that has stumped me in terms of creating a new mode for this selection type) is what's fair? 4 Marines vs 4 Hellions. Is that fair? They can both shoot each other. They can both destroy buildings. Perhaps the only truly fair algorithm is to mirror the picks. And that brings me to my third and final issue...
Mirror draft exists. So do random and tier draft. They're not Blind Random, but neither is puzzle solver mode. If completely randomly picked units aren't what you want, you should try these other modes. They are much more fair.
If none of these modes fulfill exactly what you're looking for, the best way to get me to create what you've envisioned within your mind is to explain it to me in detail. It might be a great idea. It might be a greater idea than any of the other modes yet.
On July 15 2013 18:24 alsatia wrote: can anyone upload one onto SEAS please, many thanks to you all.
From what I've been told and seen on YouTube, Aussies have been logging on to NA to play. If that's really not workable for you, let me know. Maintaining the maps on a third server is a good work load increase and I haven't been told that it's necessary yet.
On July 15 2013 18:26 IeZaeL wrote: What about adding new maps , like Crux Breeze ?
Any new maps added will be replacing existing maps. That being said, I think Toxic Slums and/or Sand Canyon (original) could easily go. I've asked Semmo for permission to use Crux Breeze specifically.
On July 15 2013 18:24 alsatia wrote: can anyone upload one onto SEAS please, many thanks to you all.
From what I've been told and seen on YouTube, Aussies have been logging on to NA to play. If that's really not workable for you, let me know. Maintaining the maps on a third server is a good work load increase and I haven't been told that it's necessary yet.
On July 15 2013 18:26 IeZaeL wrote: What about adding new maps , like Crux Breeze ?
Any new maps added will be replacing existing maps. That being said, I think Toxic Slums and/or Sand Canyon (original) could easily go. I've asked Semmo for permission to use Crux Breeze specifically.
Having played Breeze, it seems like a horrible map for Random Monobattles. =O
On July 15 2013 18:24 alsatia wrote: can anyone upload one onto SEAS please, many thanks to you all.
From what I've been told and seen on YouTube, Aussies have been logging on to NA to play. If that's really not workable for you, let me know. Maintaining the maps on a third server is a good work load increase and I haven't been told that it's necessary yet.
On July 15 2013 18:26 IeZaeL wrote: What about adding new maps , like Crux Breeze ?
Any new maps added will be replacing existing maps. That being said, I think Toxic Slums and/or Sand Canyon (original) could easily go. I've asked Semmo for permission to use Crux Breeze specifically.
Having played Breeze, it seems like a horrible map for Random Monobattles. =O
So are Toxic Slums and Sand Canyon. Give me something good, Monk.
I hate Sand Canyon if the enemy gets any harassment/surgical strike air unit like Mutas, Voids or Banshees. There's so little room behind the mineral lines for AA defenses, especially Photon Cannons which require a pylon back there as well.
On July 17 2013 11:02 Coppermantis wrote: I hate Sand Canyon if the enemy gets any harassment/surgical strike air unit like Mutas, Voids or Banshees. There's so little room behind the mineral lines for AA defenses, especially Photon Cannons which require a pylon back there as well.
The reason the Sand Canyon redux main bases are like that is to avoid Terran players being completely unable to defend from a tier 1 ranged unit on the enemy team. Having a harder time defending against later tier tech seemed like the better option.
If you really hate it with all of your heart, you can play the map of the week on EU if your latency's not bad. NA simply refuses to stop playing Sand Canyon.
Going to be uploading the map pool to KR/TW. I've got a TW translator, but if there's someone out there fluent in Korean willing to translate the game's instructions that'd be great.
On July 15 2013 18:24 alsatia wrote: can anyone upload one onto SEAS please, many thanks to you all.
From what I've been told and seen on YouTube, Aussies have been logging on to NA to play. If that's really not workable for you, let me know. Maintaining the maps on a third server is a good work load increase and I haven't been told that it's necessary yet.
On July 15 2013 18:26 IeZaeL wrote: What about adding new maps , like Crux Breeze ?
Any new maps added will be replacing existing maps. That being said, I think Toxic Slums and/or Sand Canyon (original) could easily go. I've asked Semmo for permission to use Crux Breeze specifically.
Having played Breeze, it seems like a horrible map for Random Monobattles. =O
So are Toxic Slums and Sand Canyon. Give me something good, Monk.
On July 17 2013 11:02 Coppermantis wrote: I hate Sand Canyon if the enemy gets any harassment/surgical strike air unit like Mutas, Voids or Banshees. There's so little room behind the mineral lines for AA defenses, especially Photon Cannons which require a pylon back there as well.
The reason the Sand Canyon redux main bases are like that is to avoid Terran players being completely unable to defend from a tier 1 ranged unit on the enemy team. Having a harder time defending against later tier tech seemed like the better option.
If you really hate it with all of your heart, you can play the map of the week on EU if your latency's not bad. NA simply refuses to stop playing Sand Canyon.
True. I might try the EU MotW thing. Annoyances aside, playing on just one map is boring anyway.
On July 15 2013 18:24 alsatia wrote: can anyone upload one onto SEAS please, many thanks to you all.
From what I've been told and seen on YouTube, Aussies have been logging on to NA to play. If that's really not workable for you, let me know. Maintaining the maps on a third server is a good work load increase and I haven't been told that it's necessary yet.
On July 15 2013 18:26 IeZaeL wrote: What about adding new maps , like Crux Breeze ?
Any new maps added will be replacing existing maps. That being said, I think Toxic Slums and/or Sand Canyon (original) could easily go. I've asked Semmo for permission to use Crux Breeze specifically.
Having played Breeze, it seems like a horrible map for Random Monobattles. =O
So are Toxic Slums and Sand Canyon. Give me something good, Monk.
Looks well suited to monobattling to me. I took the suggestion as permission and have adopted the map in place of Toxic Slums. I'll also be shuffling the map of the week roster so that it appears next week.
It'll be available on NA as Bx Monobattle - ESV Retribution and on EU as Bx Monobattle EU - ESV Retribution.
Although the creator of Crux Breeze has generously given me his permission to use his map, I'll be holding off on inserting that one until I take a look at a few more possibilities. I'm especially interested in another 4 player shared team base map.
On July 18 2013 10:32 Coppermantis wrote: Annoyances aside, playing on just one map is boring anyway.
Hey! Big shout-out to you for making HotS version of monobattles - it is much better than the original WoL maps from Day9 in number of ways. Since it is already few days after 27 July, I wanted to ask if you are going to keep supporting it and changing map every week as you had before (btw - I am playing on EU servers). Again, thanks for remaking this fine game mod for HotS!
I would like to bring this to the producer's attention, as it is a problem that has recently exacerbated. The loading time has been slower and slower for many games, in which sometimes all player's bars will appear empty for sometimes 2 whole minutes before loading and dropping one person. Today, I played one game in which 3 consecutive players were dropped. First one at the very beginning, immediately followed by another, and then immediately followed by a third. The next game 2 players were dropped in almost the exact same manner. The following gamed I was dropped. As people have said, if you can see yourself lagging out on the countdown screen instead of the "waiting for server surrender" screen, you know something is wrong. I can guarantee that there was nothing wrong with my connection, as everything i had running in the background was performing perfectly fine and nothing was lagging in the previous games. I am curious if there is a bug in the game that is causing this or if it is battle.net, but I am almost positive that at least 7 individuals were dropped in 3 consecutive games is no coincidence. Thanks to whomever reads this and takes action accordingly.
EDIT: just tried to play again and 3 players were dropped in the loading screen after about 3 minutes of wait time and then it said "you have left the game" when i had done no such thing..
On August 05 2013 06:26 pietrucha24 wrote: Hey! Big shout-out to you for making HotS version of monobattles - it is much better than the original WoL maps from Day9 in number of ways. Since it is already few days after 27 July, I wanted to ask if you are going to keep supporting it and changing map every week as you had before (btw - I am playing on EU servers). Again, thanks for remaking this fine game mod for HotS!
Yes. I've been away from home for about 2 weeks and do not have Starcraft 2 installed on the PC I've brought with me. I will be changing the map of the week as soon as I return. Sorry for the inconvenience and lack of heads up.
Edit: Meh, I'll just let SC2 install and do it from here when it's done.
On August 05 2013 09:17 banjoetheredskin wrote: I would like to bring this to the producer's attention, as it is a problem that has recently exacerbated. The loading time has been slower and slower for many games, in which sometimes all player's bars will appear empty for sometimes 2 whole minutes before loading and dropping one person. Today, I played one game in which 3 consecutive players were dropped. First one at the very beginning, immediately followed by another, and then immediately followed by a third. The next game 2 players were dropped in almost the exact same manner. The following gamed I was dropped. As people have said, if you can see yourself lagging out on the countdown screen instead of the "waiting for server surrender" screen, you know something is wrong. I can guarantee that there was nothing wrong with my connection, as everything i had running in the background was performing perfectly fine and nothing was lagging in the previous games. I am curious if there is a bug in the game that is causing this or if it is battle.net, but I am almost positive that at least 7 individuals were dropped in 3 consecutive games is no coincidence. Thanks to whomever reads this and takes action accordingly.
EDIT: just tried to play again and 3 players were dropped in the loading screen after about 3 minutes of wait time and then it said "you have left the game" when i had done no such thing..
Nothing has changed in the mod for quite a while and I do not have control over Battle.net. The method for loading and initializing the game (which occurs while your bar fills up) has remained untouched for about a year now.
I do know from conversations with Blizzard folk that maps reported through the in-game report feature do get looked at by their QA team. I also know from personal experience that Battle.net will sometimes drop people from any map, sometimes more frequently than other times. The more players involved in a map (for BxM that number is 8) the more likely it is at least 1 person will drop on any given load. This is how it's been since just about the dawn of SC2.
Bottom line is, I can sympathize with the frustration but there's nothing I, or any mapmaker, can do about the drops. P.S. When you see everyone else drop and "you have left the game", that indicates that you've been the victim of a drop that time around.
Thanks for reacting so quickly. Didn't want to force anything upon you (but of course I'm more than happy to see you've changed the map!), so just take your time wherever you are. Have a nice week!
Hey! I have loved the mod since WoL but the new map with the orange tone is so bad, it's just no fun at all to play on. Every game you can see people complain about it and there is no interesting gameplay emerging on it unlike the previous map(s).
On August 06 2013 03:07 Superku wrote: Hey! I have loved the mod since WoL but the new map with the orange tone is so bad, it's just no fun at all to play on. Every game you can see people complain about it and there is no interesting gameplay emerging on it unlike the previous map(s).
What, Sky Harvester?
Edit: Recommending a replacement map is the best way to get rid of a current map.
On August 05 2013 06:26 pietrucha24 wrote: Hey! Big shout-out to you for making HotS version of monobattles - it is much better than the original WoL maps from Day9 in number of ways. Since it is already few days after 27 July, I wanted to ask if you are going to keep supporting it and changing map every week as you had before (btw - I am playing on EU servers). Again, thanks for remaking this fine game mod for HotS!
Yes. I've been away from home for about 2 weeks and do not have Starcraft 2 installed on the PC I've brought with me. I will be changing the map of the week as soon as I return. Sorry for the inconvenience and lack of heads up.
Edit: Meh, I'll just let SC2 install and do it from here when it's done.
On August 05 2013 09:17 banjoetheredskin wrote: I would like to bring this to the producer's attention, as it is a problem that has recently exacerbated. The loading time has been slower and slower for many games, in which sometimes all player's bars will appear empty for sometimes 2 whole minutes before loading and dropping one person. Today, I played one game in which 3 consecutive players were dropped. First one at the very beginning, immediately followed by another, and then immediately followed by a third. The next game 2 players were dropped in almost the exact same manner. The following gamed I was dropped. As people have said, if you can see yourself lagging out on the countdown screen instead of the "waiting for server surrender" screen, you know something is wrong. I can guarantee that there was nothing wrong with my connection, as everything i had running in the background was performing perfectly fine and nothing was lagging in the previous games. I am curious if there is a bug in the game that is causing this or if it is battle.net, but I am almost positive that at least 7 individuals were dropped in 3 consecutive games is no coincidence. Thanks to whomever reads this and takes action accordingly.
EDIT: just tried to play again and 3 players were dropped in the loading screen after about 3 minutes of wait time and then it said "you have left the game" when i had done no such thing..
Nothing has changed in the mod for quite a while and I do not have control over Battle.net. The method for loading and initializing the game (which occurs while your bar fills up) has remained untouched for about a year now.
I do know from conversations with Blizzard folk that maps reported through the in-game report feature do get looked at by their QA team. I also know from personal experience that Battle.net will sometimes drop people from any map, sometimes more frequently than other times. The more players involved in a map (for BxM that number is 8) the more likely it is at least 1 person will drop on any given load. This is how it's been since just about the dawn of SC2.
Bottom line is, I can sympathize with the frustration but there's nothing I, or any mapmaker, can do about the drops. P.S. When you see everyone else drop and "you have left the game", that indicates that you've been the victim of a drop that time around.
Thank you for your quick response :D I guess it's just Battle.net's fault. If I see continued or worsened issues I will go through the in-game feature to report. I appreciate the advice! Still a great game, I just wish it was more popular :D
EDIT: so i just played again and another 3 players were dropped but when i tried to report the only options for reporting were about something inappropriate, which does not apply. I don't know how to tell Blizzard that Bnet keeps dropping players. What do I do?
On August 05 2013 06:26 pietrucha24 wrote: Hey! Big shout-out to you for making HotS version of monobattles - it is much better than the original WoL maps from Day9 in number of ways. Since it is already few days after 27 July, I wanted to ask if you are going to keep supporting it and changing map every week as you had before (btw - I am playing on EU servers). Again, thanks for remaking this fine game mod for HotS!
Yes. I've been away from home for about 2 weeks and do not have Starcraft 2 installed on the PC I've brought with me. I will be changing the map of the week as soon as I return. Sorry for the inconvenience and lack of heads up.
Edit: Meh, I'll just let SC2 install and do it from here when it's done.
On August 05 2013 09:17 banjoetheredskin wrote: I would like to bring this to the producer's attention, as it is a problem that has recently exacerbated. The loading time has been slower and slower for many games, in which sometimes all player's bars will appear empty for sometimes 2 whole minutes before loading and dropping one person. Today, I played one game in which 3 consecutive players were dropped. First one at the very beginning, immediately followed by another, and then immediately followed by a third. The next game 2 players were dropped in almost the exact same manner. The following gamed I was dropped. As people have said, if you can see yourself lagging out on the countdown screen instead of the "waiting for server surrender" screen, you know something is wrong. I can guarantee that there was nothing wrong with my connection, as everything i had running in the background was performing perfectly fine and nothing was lagging in the previous games. I am curious if there is a bug in the game that is causing this or if it is battle.net, but I am almost positive that at least 7 individuals were dropped in 3 consecutive games is no coincidence. Thanks to whomever reads this and takes action accordingly.
EDIT: just tried to play again and 3 players were dropped in the loading screen after about 3 minutes of wait time and then it said "you have left the game" when i had done no such thing..
Nothing has changed in the mod for quite a while and I do not have control over Battle.net. The method for loading and initializing the game (which occurs while your bar fills up) has remained untouched for about a year now.
I do know from conversations with Blizzard folk that maps reported through the in-game report feature do get looked at by their QA team. I also know from personal experience that Battle.net will sometimes drop people from any map, sometimes more frequently than other times. The more players involved in a map (for BxM that number is 8) the more likely it is at least 1 person will drop on any given load. This is how it's been since just about the dawn of SC2.
Bottom line is, I can sympathize with the frustration but there's nothing I, or any mapmaker, can do about the drops. P.S. When you see everyone else drop and "you have left the game", that indicates that you've been the victim of a drop that time around.
Thank you for your quick response :D I guess it's just Battle.net's fault. If I see continued or worsened issues I will go through the in-game feature to report. I appreciate the advice! Still a great game, I just wish it was more popular :D
EDIT: so i just played again and another 3 players were dropped but when i tried to report the only options for reporting were about something inappropriate, which does not apply. I don't know how to tell Blizzard that Bnet keeps dropping players. What do I do?
If you want to file a report about being dropped you can do that on the SC2 bug report forums. Mention what you were doing, when it happened, and what you were playing.
Yes, I mean Sky Harvester. And I'm sorry, I barely know any maps/ esp. not their English names. Any other map should be fine, I think it's cool when the 4 bases are somehow connected. =)
On August 07 2013 00:25 Superku wrote: Yes, I mean Sky Harvester. And I'm sorry, I barely know any maps/ esp. not their English names. Any other map should be fine, I think it's cool when the 4 bases are somehow connected. =)
I meant a map that is not currently in the rotation. Something to replace existing maps. And just to be honest, Sand Canyon would get replaced first.
Hi, I'm a chinese SC2 player. I've noticed many chinese players are interested in Bx Monobattles, just as I am. But there is still no Bx Monobattles in chinese sever. So I want to help you popularize this map in china. If you empower me, I'll do the chinesizing job with no pay.
Reply me and let me know if you are interested.(By Email:rxy***@gmail.com PMed) Thank you
On September 07 2013 15:11 pip_boy wrote: Hi, I'm a chinese SC2 player. I've noticed many chinese players are interested in Bx Monobattles, just as I am. But there is still no Bx Monobattles in chinese sever. So I want to help you popularize this map in china. If you empower me, I'll do the chinesizing job with no pay.
Reply me and let me know if you are interested.(By Email:rxy***@gmail.com PMed) Thank you
Adding localizations is actually a lot of work. I recently started to get one done for Taiwanese players and stopped since I don't currently have a lot of spare time.
If you really want to translate it, you'll be doing it all on your own and within the editor. Let me know if you'd like a copy of the mod so that you can attempt it.
Yes, I'd like to do all the translations, publishing, advertising, feedback collecting jobs. And now there is a little technical problem I need help with. Email me for more details rxy*****@gmail.com (It's in you PM box)
Finished an extremely long game yesterday, I really pity the players who had to play against us. Rolling siege tank, raven, viking, high templar, we never attacked once in the entire game...
Hello there! On an off-chance that the creator really did forgot us - polite and educated EU players, i'd like to remind you to refresh current map. Main reason i request such thing is not the map itself but the annoying minimap bug: it seems that terrain is hidden in minimap, and all we see is colored dots (representing units and buildings of players, resources) in a tar-black oblivion. It may sound not that much, but once u get to play same map for 3 weeks (4th week is rolling as i type) with black minimap it really gets under ones skin (like a dripping tap). And after all, it IS called map of the WEEK for some reason, right? Thank you in advance.
Really? I played at least a dozen games over the last week (EU).
In fact, I never experienced such a fail like the last game, what an utter waste of time waiting for the lobby to fill at 2am... We were facing zerglings and hence walling in. Protoss then proceeds to throw down a gateway, blocking a potential add-on for my factory (it was not necessary for wall, and there was plenty of space elsewhere). Since I rolled tanks, I need to lift off and reposition my rax and fact in the wall and these are exactly the 2s when the zerglings come in... Obviously protoss bitching about me lifting off doesn't make it better.
would u mind changing or reseting whole thing on EU servers? Its been bugged for like a month on the same map and to be even worse its that map with bugged minimap (allblack) so annoying
would u mind changing or reseting whole thing on EU servers? Its been bugged for like a month on the same map and to be even worse its that map with bugged minimap (allblack) so annoying
thanks in advance
threadstarter hasn't been seen in a couple of months, so I wouldn't put my hopes up high.
On the other hand, I managed to win a 1vs4 after all my teammates left, so I got that going for me which is nice. Marine nice unit.
Does anyone has/knows a list of ranks ? I'm Ace Commander and my friend is Heroic Commander and we are interested which one of these is higher lol. And what rank is the highest of all ?
Can someone else make a functional map-changing monobattle map like BX monobattle?
Since BX Monobattle map maker is apparently gone someone else really needs to step forward and keep this shit going, I've had so many fun games in Monobattle I refuse to give up the search for a new map maker to take BX's place! :|
I haven't explored how extension mods work yet, but being able to monobattle on any map using an extension mod seems pretty awesome. It would be great of the next version of Bx (or its successor) uses them.
On July 29 2014 07:23 Xanthyz wrote: I haven't explored how extension mods work yet, but being able to monobattle on any map using an extension mod seems pretty awesome. It would be great of the next version of Bx (or its successor) uses them.
Unfortunately monobattle is completely dead, unless someone else makes a new Monobattle map hopefully in LotV.