Maps have been a hot topic in our community lately, so it seems like now's the perfect time to announce that the Teamliquid Map Contest will be returning today! The TLMC has traditionally allowed mapmakers to showcase their creations at the highest level with the end goal to have their maps featured on both ladder and the WCS circuit. In the past TLMC has produced maps such as Cloud Kingdom, Frost, Ohana, Habitation Station, Echo, Coda, and Cactus Valley, just to name a few. If the maps that are selected this season are any indication of what's to come, then we're in for a treat.
Before we begin, Blizzard have once again upped their support of TLMC by providing cash prizes for the top five selections. We thank Blizzard for their continued support of the mapping community as well as working with us to make some improvements to the TLMC. Without further ado, we'd like to present the new and improved TLMC.
Submission Phase
April 28 - May 12
One issue with previous TLMCs was mappers were unclear about what Blizzard wanted from the mapmaking community. In order to remedy this situation, we have been provided with 4 distinct categories of maps Blizzard is specifically requesting.
Macro maps where it's very straight forward to play and take expansions on Examples:
Newkirk Precinct: A heavy macro map that featured one of the best TvTs of all time: Taeja vs Innovation.
Dusk Towers: The most recent example of a typical macro map.
Rush map that promotes heavy early game play Examples:
Scrap Station: Lots of potential for early-game aggression with close air distance and destructible rocks in the middle as well as a relatively hard-to-defend natural.
Daedalus Point: The large natural ramp allows for very easy early aggression.
A new map type! A "hasn’t been seen before" type of map Examples: Any of the maps that were considered new, different when they first came in.
Crevasse Introduced rocks at the main ramp and one of the first maps to have a backdoor expansion.
Korhal Floating Island: Provides completely different games depending on the spawn positions.
Ulrena: Short rush distance but that distance is able to be closed off via a depot or pylon-sized blocker as the game goes on.
A map that has cool high yield resource usage Example:
Habitation Station: There were many interesting decisions based around when to take the gold on this map. For example, Terrans would float to the gold, Protoss and Zerg would take it as their natural, and sometimes players would ignore it altogether, instead opting to take the more safe expansions.
Mappers who submit maps MUST submit in one of these four categories. Also, instead of picking seven finalists as we normally do, we will take fifteen finalists, four from each of the first three categories and three from the gold base category. Maps will be judged not only on the quality of the map, but also on how well the map is within the context of the category. For example, how well does the map in the last category utilize its high-yield resources? Are the high-yield resources used strategically or are they just there for the sake of having some gold bases?
TL Judging Phase
May 12 - May 19
Once the maps have been submitted they will be checked for quality and the remaining maps will be passed to representatives from the Team Liquid Strategy team and selected professional players/community figures for judging. If you are a professional player and would be interested in helping out, PM us. Judges from the community so far include Iaguz, TLO, and Pig. Together, the judges will trim down all submissions to a final 15 that will be used in the next stages of the contest.
BTTV Tournament Phase
May 23 - May 29th
Previously, TLMC Opens were used to show off the new maps. This time, the competition part of the contest has been revved up quite a bit. BasetradeTV, with support from Blizzard, will be hosting an invitational tournament designed to showcase the maps. All the maps will be played extensively and as the prize pool will be quite substantial, we hope the invited players will be able to prepare specific strategies for these maps. In addition, all replays will be made available for the mappers to review. The details of this tournament will be announced later today.
Iteration Phase
May 29 - June 5th
One piece of feedback we received both from the mapping community and the general community is that mappers weren't given enough time to iterate on their maps. Slight issues were discovered during the testing phase after maps were submitted and mappers just didn't have the time to fix these issues before final submission to Blizzard. Thus, this time we've built in an Iteration Phase into the process, allowing mappers to really fine-tune their maps. After reviewing the BTTV tournament games as well as receiving feedback from all over the community, we hope that mappers will be able to submit clean final versions of their maps.
Public Voting Phase
June 6 - June 9th
The public will then vote on the final versions of these maps. Note that public voting only determines the final placing of these maps, that is how much $ each mapper wins. It does not directly affect which maps Blizzard will chose to appear in the next season of ladder. However, this is your chance to make your voice heard about which maps YOU want to be on the ladder.
Prize Distribution
Provided by Blizzard
First - $1,000 Second - $500 Third - $250 Fourth - $150 Fifth - $100
After the winners are announced, Blizzard will take into consideration all fifteen maps for the next season of ladder and WCS. After a rigorous QA session, Blizzard will announce which maps will be available for you to play on at home closer to the start of the next ladder season.
This season, Teamliquid and Blizzard have worked together along with the mapping community in order to improve on the TLMC process. While it's certainly not perfect yet, we hope it's a significant step up from previous seasons. And like the iterative phase of this contest, we will be working to take feedback from this TLMC to improve future ones to come.
How to Submit
Mappers will be limited to four map submissions each with a limit on two maps per category. For example, you may submit one map to each category or submit two macro maps and two rush maps. For each map you submit, you must provide a primary category you wish the map to be considered in. However, you may provide additional categories should they fit.
Please PM your map file(s) to TLMC7 with the following format before Thursday, May 12 3:59am GMT (GMT+00:00). Please title your PMs with the name of the map and keep all submissions to 1 map per PM.
Map Name
A picture of your map-Note: Please mark start locations and describe any starting location constraints
The size (dimensions) of the map
The map category you wish to enter with this map.
Any secondary categories you think this map might fit.
A description of the map.
Why the map fits the primary category you selected.
Why the map fits any secondary categories you selected.
Main to Main distance: (in-game seconds using a worker from town hall to town hall)
Natural to Natural distance: (in-game seconds using a worker from town hall to town hall)
Any relevant analyzer images (optional)
A download link to your map
Entries not in this format may be excluded from consideration. Please do not send questions to the 'TLMC7' account; contact TLMC organizer monk instead.
Q: Do I need to send my map file, or will an image or a link to my map on Battle.net be enough?
We want the map file for this contest, so a link to Battle.net is not sufficient. There will be a huge number of maps to choose from, so we will need to open many of them up in order to check for details that we can't find otherwise. To send your maps, upload them to a file hosting service such as Mediafire or Dropbox and include the link in your entry.
Q: How do I attached a map file or image to a PM?
The TeamLiquid PM system does not support attachments. Instead, use an external image/file hoster such as Mediafire, Dropbox or Google drive for map files or Imgur for image files. Please sent those links along with your submission.
Q: I want to enter a team map/FFA map into the contest.
The Team Liquid Map Contest has traditionally allowed team play maps to be entered and evaluated separately from 1v1 maps, and some of these submissions did eventually reach the ladder map pool. Unfortunately, this season we will not be considering team play maps submitted to the contest. If you're really passionate about making high quality team play maps then we strongly encourage you to post your work in our Maps and Custom Games forum.
Q: Will the winning map automatically be included in WCS?
No. A list of the top maps will be submitted to Blizzard for consideration for use in WCS/ladder.
Q: How crazy can my maps be?
Maps need to be ladder appropriate. This means that features requiring specialist knowledge (rising lava, geysers used to block ramps, etc.) will not be accepted. If your map passes that test and complies with the guidelines above then your map is acceptable! Of course, if you are concerned that your map may not be suitable for ladder then please PM monk and we will tell you whether or not it is appropriate.
Q: I’m interested in the contest, but I’m horrible at map making. What can I do to support the mappers?
Post in their map threads and give them support, encouragement and replays on their maps! Giving your favorite mapper support will be much appreciated by the mapper. Replays are especially valuable as it helps the mapper align their design goals with the map with the reality of how people play their map.
If you have any unanswered questions please do not hesitate to ask them below or PM monk who will be happy to answer them. Best of luck in the competition.
Already have one new map that is almost finished up that I've been working on, but with 4 submissions I'll really have to create 1 or 2 more maps most likely. Unless I just submit another HOTS one but update the textures...Hmmmm!
On April 30 2016 04:58 OtherWorld wrote: Rofl, 2016 and Blizzard still thinks "rush maps" must be a thing
While I agree the examples they take (dedalus and scrap station) were terrible maps, I think this category can bring some good maps with a bit of imagination.
For instance, Habitation Station was a rush map with a lot of early game pressure and 2 base play, Cloud KIngdom had a lot of early game action too. Belshi'r Vestige could fall in this category too.
Now the hard part is to transfer it in LotV and meta.
I know I am a bit weird too, I m the kind of guy that loved to have shakura's plateau in dream pool, so I'd totally understand if you disagree with me...
On April 30 2016 04:58 OtherWorld wrote: Rofl, 2016 and Blizzard still thinks "rush maps" must be a thing
While I agree the examples they take (dedalus and scrap station) were terrible maps, I think this category can bring some good maps with a bit of imagination.
For instance, Habitation Station was a rush map with a lot of early game pressure and 2 base play, Cloud KIngdom had a lot of early game action too. Belshi'r Vestige could fall in this category too.
Now the hard part is to transfer it in LotV and meta.
I know I am a bit weird too, I m the kind of guy that loved to have shakura's plateau in dream pool, so I'd totally understand if you disagree with me...
SP is one of the better maps of the early days. I don't blame you for liking it ^^
The submission period is really horrible as it collides with finals week and there isn't a lot of time to prepare and not only that the editor is severely bugged as melee map can't be updated and it may not be fixed by the next update. What is the meaning of the contest if all mac users can't test and gather feedbacks from players I thought the community is looking for well balanced and visually stunning maps that is good for the growth of the game from all map makers.
With Blizzard included in the process, this time we might get enough Blizzard-pleasing map material to enjoy these maps in a whole bunch of ladder seasons.
On April 30 2016 17:55 Azhrak wrote: With Blizzard included in the process, this time we might get enough Blizzard-pleasing map material to enjoy these maps in a whole bunch of ladder seasons.
I've always thought running these map contests is one of the coolest part of this community. Good luck to everyone participating - really excited to see the new maps!
On April 30 2016 10:03 Kinshini wrote: The submission period is really horrible as it collides with finals week and there isn't a lot of time to prepare and not only that the editor is severely bugged as melee map can't be updated and it may not be fixed by the next update. What is the meaning of the contest if all mac users can't test and gather feedbacks from players I thought the community is looking for well balanced and visually stunning maps that is good for the growth of the game from all map makers.
If you wish to get help.. you should ask for it in a way that is more conducive to achieve anything, mac users get little to no help. You describe a happenstance that probably can be fixed, there are a lot of things you can try (that you did not mention having done) : (for instance) Wiping sc2 memory cache via the console Removing objects/other signaled in your map status/info window/module Re authorizing sc2 access to your folders Reinstalling etc
I'll make my formal submission eventually, but there's nothing new from me. The most I have is this: + Show Spoiler +
I updated Lightning Eater slightly, adding a new path blocked by rocks leading to the middle golds. I'll be using the same maps I used for Blizzard's event some months back, which they had no interest in. Hopefully TL will get them to reconsider
On May 02 2016 02:31 NewSunshine wrote: I used for Blizzard's event some months back, which they had no interest in. Hopefully TL will get them to reconsider
Yeah, it is a very tricky situation atm, because we have those maps which are very interesting but because we don't know the reasons of why they were disliked by the Devs we can't make changes to them to comply with their feedback, but at the same time it would be a pity to simply ditch them because they are really nice maps.
Exactly. I felt I had a couple ok-ish submissions but I'm not sure how many to scrap / which ones to keep / which ones to try to iterate on.
Not only that, but I feel like Blizz didn't really look that closely at all the maps (1 of the 2 maps chosen was pseudo-announced within a few days (!) of the submissions, the other we heard word about not too long after. With the incredible # of good maps submitted I don't see how they could have really looked and playtested too much to eliminate all the others and choose those in such a short time.) soo if the TL map contest's judges choose some maps and say good things about them then Blizz might actually look at a map they didn't give a fair shake before.
On May 02 2016 02:31 NewSunshine wrote: I used for Blizzard's event some months back, which they had no interest in. Hopefully TL will get them to reconsider
Yeah, it is a very tricky situation atm, because we have those maps which are very interesting but because we don't know the reasons of why they were disliked by the Devs we can't make changes to them to comply with their feedback, but at the same time it would be a pity to simply ditch them because they are really nice maps.
I think what it was, was that Blizzard had 2 maps of their own already that they wanted to push, and that left them with only 2 choices. From there they probably wanted to pick the two maps that stood out the most to them. So I don't think the fact my(or your) maps weren't chosen means they won't be open to the idea of using them later, if they make it to the finalists anyway, because I think they were already set for maps last season, however good or bad those maps were.
I am always interested in these contests, but the time to design, test, and aesthetically refine a quality map is larger than 2 weeks. I could only ever imagine being able to participate in such contests if I had a map almost finished already, or somehow the contest period directly aligned with my vacation.
edit: didn't notice the iteration period, that is a nice contest feature
On May 02 2016 07:24 WhalesFromSpace wrote: I am always interested in these contests, but the time to design, test, and aesthetically refine a quality map is larger than 2 weeks. I could only ever imagine being able to participate in such contests if I had a map almost finished already, or somehow the contest period directly aligned with my vacation.
Well once upon a time, people just made maps for the fun of it, and were coming up with new stuff every week, before TLMC was even a thing. This was a better time.
The categories a little meh, as they reinforce the kind of 1-dimensional map thinking that Blizzard has been showing for many years. On the other hand, Blizzard giving out substantial cash to this is great news, they do still really care!
It is a bunch of exercises people have done over at sC2Mapster. Still ongoing. You can get feedback and look at everyone's amazing skills! Some of the top arcade maps are made by people who participate in that thread.
Hopefully map makers make something more protoss friendly than the current map pool. Something like Dusk Towers or Orbital Shipyard will be really nice.
On May 03 2016 07:09 Shield wrote: Hopefully map makers make something more protoss friendly than the current map pool. Something like Dusk Towers or Orbital Shipyard will be really nice.
pls no turtle maps D:
i remember seeing somewhere (in the map cave probably) that blizz didn't even consider maps submitted close to the deadline for the previous contest, that they had already made their selections in advance. so hopefully that means most people whose maps didn't get selected last time still have a completely fair shot at this one.
On May 03 2016 07:09 Shield wrote: Hopefully map makers make something more protoss friendly than the current map pool. Something like Dusk Towers or Orbital Shipyard will be really nice.
pls no turtle maps D:
i remember seeing somewhere (in the map cave probably) that blizz didn't even consider maps submitted close to the deadline for the previous contest, that they had already made their selections in advance. so hopefully that means most people whose maps didn't get selected last time still have a completely fair shot at this one.
I think I said that. I tracked how many views my map images got and every single one of them was from me.
It's a shame that based on the past, Blizzard will just choose the worst maps irrespective of what the public vote for, and then say "but you voted and this is what you get, why complain?"
i didn't have time to make any new maps for this contest, so i just modified an old one. it was already a low economy map by design, i just "enhanced" its core concept, so to speak
That's pretty awesome! I'm guessing the average map submissions per person was ~2, maybe 2.5. If true, that means that 40-50+ mappers partipicated, which is pretty crazy. Map scene not completely dead.
Here were my submissions (made wearily the night before last because I had to work all day yesterday)
Pretty weird that I ended up with 2 in the macro category since I usually make weird shit. I didn't expect that to happen but these felt like the best choices.
On May 13 2016 00:22 Meavis wrote: over 100 as in under 200? thats quite low compared to previous editions afaik.
also, inb4 another trainwreck tlmc
Don't think it's that low. TLMC 6 had "around 100 submissions", and TLMC5 had "a record number of entries, exceeding 150!", so "over 100" sounds about par for the course (though I guess more submissions per person were allowed this time).
On May 12 2016 15:01 monk wrote: Thanks for participating everyone! Submissions are now closed and we're going to begin the judging process. Over 100 maps submitted this time!
Good haul! Best of luck to all the mappers. There are some exciting entries.
On May 13 2016 00:22 Meavis wrote: over 100 as in under 200? thats quite low compared to previous editions afaik.
also, inb4 another trainwreck tlmc
Don't think it's that low. TLMC 6 had "around 100 submissions", and TLMC5 had "a record number of entries, exceeding 150!", so "over 100" sounds about par for the course (though I guess more submissions per person were allowed this time).
Submissions have been between 70 (TLMC4) to over 150 (TLMC5)
Came closer to my potential than I ever have with my single submission. I think I can do (and want ladder pools to be filled with) better, but like everyone I hope mine is the best
On May 13 2016 12:31 NinjaDuckBob wrote: Noooo, I made a map just for this contest but didn't know that the submission deadline didn't include the 12th.
Oh well, maybe I'll submit it next time. May the best man win for those who submitted!
We could have done a better job of communicating the end date, so if you still want to submit, we'll take a look at it.
On May 13 2016 12:31 NinjaDuckBob wrote: Noooo, I made a map just for this contest but didn't know that the submission deadline didn't include the 12th.
Oh well, maybe I'll submit it next time. May the best man win for those who submitted!
We could have done a better job of communicating the end date, so if you still want to submit, we'll take a look at it.
Oh, well I'll certainly submit now, then! After looking through what's been posted here it looks like I'm up against some stiff competition!
^^^ yep, there are just too many good maps! I'm not feeling that my chances are too hot either! And some really bold and clever designs too (Honorgrounds, Refuge, Ancient Wall, Dasan Station, ...)
Anyway, here are the maps that I submitted. I showed two of these in Plexa's thread (...ow, my ego...) but I might as well post them here too.
Looking at these maps, the "cool high yield usage" category seems pretty under-represented (even considering the fact that it only gets 3 slots and the other categories get 4).
On May 15 2016 13:31 ZigguratOfUr wrote: Looking at these maps, the "cool high yield usage" category seems pretty under-represented (even considering the fact that it only gets 3 slots and the other categories get 4).
this is where my full-retard all gold map comes into play :D
On May 15 2016 13:31 ZigguratOfUr wrote: Looking at these maps, the "cool high yield usage" category seems pretty under-represented (even considering the fact that it only gets 3 slots and the other categories get 4).
this is where my full-retard all gold map comes into play :D
Its success really depends on what they mean by "cool high yield usage".
The fact that they praise Habitation Station for the "many interesting decisions based around when to take the gold on this map" and specifically ask the question "are the high-yield resources used strategically or are they just there for the sake of having some gold bases?" makes me slightly sceptical about Catalyst's chances.
On May 15 2016 13:31 ZigguratOfUr wrote: Looking at these maps, the "cool high yield usage" category seems pretty under-represented (even considering the fact that it only gets 3 slots and the other categories get 4).
this is where my full-retard all gold map comes into play :D
Its success really depends on what they mean by "cool high yield usage".
The fact that they praise Habitation Station for the "many interesting decisions based around when to take the gold on this map" and specifically ask the question "are the high-yield resources used strategically or are they just there for the sake of having some gold bases?" makes me slightly sceptical about Catalyst's chances.
oh i have very little expectation of it actually doing well lol. i did it because nobody else had done it, just in case...
On May 15 2016 13:31 ZigguratOfUr wrote: Looking at these maps, the "cool high yield usage" category seems pretty under-represented (even considering the fact that it only gets 3 slots and the other categories get 4).
this is where my full-retard all gold map comes into play :D
Its success really depends on what they mean by "cool high yield usage".
The fact that they praise Habitation Station for the "many interesting decisions based around when to take the gold on this map" and specifically ask the question "are the high-yield resources used strategically or are they just there for the sake of having some gold bases?" makes me slightly sceptical about Catalyst's chances.
oh i have very little expectation of it actually doing well lol. i did it because nobody else had done it, just in case...
On May 15 2016 13:31 ZigguratOfUr wrote: Looking at these maps, the "cool high yield usage" category seems pretty under-represented (even considering the fact that it only gets 3 slots and the other categories get 4).
this is where my full-retard all gold map comes into play :D
Its success really depends on what they mean by "cool high yield usage".
The fact that they praise Habitation Station for the "many interesting decisions based around when to take the gold on this map" and specifically ask the question "are the high-yield resources used strategically or are they just there for the sake of having some gold bases?" makes me slightly sceptical about Catalyst's chances.
oh i have very little expectation of it actually doing well lol. i did it because nobody else had done it, just in case...
Spoiler Alert: It did not do well.
damn it, don't ruin my ultra low econ game fantasies... D:
On May 15 2016 13:31 ZigguratOfUr wrote: Looking at these maps, the "cool high yield usage" category seems pretty under-represented (even considering the fact that it only gets 3 slots and the other categories get 4).
this is where my full-retard all gold map comes into play :D
Its success really depends on what they mean by "cool high yield usage".
The fact that they praise Habitation Station for the "many interesting decisions based around when to take the gold on this map" and specifically ask the question "are the high-yield resources used strategically or are they just there for the sake of having some gold bases?" makes me slightly sceptical about Catalyst's chances.
oh i have very little expectation of it actually doing well lol. i did it because nobody else had done it, just in case...
Spoiler Alert: It did not do well.
damn it, don't ruin my ultra low econ game fantasies... D:
On May 15 2016 13:31 ZigguratOfUr wrote: Looking at these maps, the "cool high yield usage" category seems pretty under-represented (even considering the fact that it only gets 3 slots and the other categories get 4).
this is where my full-retard all gold map comes into play :D
Its success really depends on what they mean by "cool high yield usage".
The fact that they praise Habitation Station for the "many interesting decisions based around when to take the gold on this map" and specifically ask the question "are the high-yield resources used strategically or are they just there for the sake of having some gold bases?" makes me slightly sceptical about Catalyst's chances.
oh i have very little expectation of it actually doing well lol. i did it because nobody else had done it, just in case...
Spoiler Alert: It did not do well.
damn it, don't ruin my ultra low econ game fantasies... D:
On May 15 2016 13:31 ZigguratOfUr wrote: Looking at these maps, the "cool high yield usage" category seems pretty under-represented (even considering the fact that it only gets 3 slots and the other categories get 4).
this is where my full-retard all gold map comes into play :D
Its success really depends on what they mean by "cool high yield usage".
The fact that they praise Habitation Station for the "many interesting decisions based around when to take the gold on this map" and specifically ask the question "are the high-yield resources used strategically or are they just there for the sake of having some gold bases?" makes me slightly sceptical about Catalyst's chances.
oh i have very little expectation of it actually doing well lol. i did it because nobody else had done it, just in case...
Spoiler Alert: It did not do well.
damn it, don't ruin my ultra low econ game fantasies... D:
On May 15 2016 13:31 ZigguratOfUr wrote: Looking at these maps, the "cool high yield usage" category seems pretty under-represented (even considering the fact that it only gets 3 slots and the other categories get 4).
this is where my full-retard all gold map comes into play :D
Its success really depends on what they mean by "cool high yield usage".
The fact that they praise Habitation Station for the "many interesting decisions based around when to take the gold on this map" and specifically ask the question "are the high-yield resources used strategically or are they just there for the sake of having some gold bases?" makes me slightly sceptical about Catalyst's chances.
oh i have very little expectation of it actually doing well lol. i did it because nobody else had done it, just in case...
Spoiler Alert: It did not do well.
damn it, don't ruin my ultra low econ game fantasies... D:
Would you even say low econ FanTaSy?
A Starcraft II reimagining of the map Fantasy (http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft/Fantasy_(Map)) would be cool, though the positional imbalances would probably be crippling (kinda like the original ).
I'm not sure what four Starcraft II maps it would be best to draw material from. Maybe Whirlwind, Tal'Darim Altar, Cactus Valley, Frost?