A naval 1v1 map - I need ladder player input!

[biass]

If you've sat in aeolus all day you might have noticed me asking what people want in a navy map, which has been requested by some and missed by many.
Some people either hate the maps like Roanoke and some (like me) disprove of the lack of naval maps in the current pool.
It is a very touchy topic where everyone has a different opinion and thus i wish to create a map that can fill as many player's requirements as possible.

So far however, i have only gotten minimal input, Kalvirox had asked me to create a 20x20km map, and 2 players from the top 50 have said that raiding mexes with frigates is important, that is it.

Using those suggestions, i have done this (so far)


UEF tarmac = mexes
Aeon 'tarmac' = Hydrocarbon
Cybran 'tarmac' = the spawn point

I wanted to make the map have worthwhile expansions but i dont wish to make hover spamming the most viable options, i also want to make transports used a bit more but without encouraging 'hello this is zlo' style comdrops everygame,

(This of course will be mirrored on the top side, giving currently 4 major landmasses.)

I am looking for ladder player's input on what would make this work so we can get some more decent maps into the pool
Also, if you're more of an expert in mapping and see an issue i would love to hear it also.

Spoiler: show

I would put this in the 'mapping thread' but that is a ghost town, hope this is allowed

[TheKoopa]

I think we need more 10x10 water maps, imo we have plenty of 20x20 water maps. I have an old project I've been meaning to revamp (called Tropical Lake) but it's very very hard to make a good naval map actually look good too.

[Turinturambar]

Try to place very few mexes to make it an epic map. i d say the Nr mexes/area on emarald crater area good ratio (maybe a bit more) and some o them in the water since navy is more expansive then land.

[JaggedAppliance]

I would advise you not to have corner spawns. Keep some sea around the edge of the map to avoid offmap stuff and to keep the map a bit less huge like with most 20x20 ladder maps.

If you have just 1 major island expansion it will be difficult to contest anything, especially if it's so close to you. I would suggest having more. If you want to have any land battles on island expansions you need large islands so a slightly later drop from one player can still survive.

Not sure what else to say atm but try to make it different to the other similar maps, maybe using reclaim, different numbers of small+large islands, hydro and mex placement etc. A trans rush is gonna be the way to start on this map no matter what so try to allow for different dropping locations with that first trans.

Edit: water mexes could be a good way to differentiate this map but it's risky because navy will almost certainly be the most important arena of the map anyway.

[KeyBlue]

I'm not yet a good ladder player, but here is an idea.

Most played navy maps seem to have very little that obstructs the fire of t2 and t3 ships, which makes sure that range is king.
For example: Roanoke Abyss, Seraphim Glaciers, Setons, ...

Maybe you could add some mountains in the water to mitigate this a little and make placement of units more important.

- This way you can protect your navy a little from long range fire when you are losing.
- More ways to out manouver you opponent
- Protect water mexes from long range fire of destroyers and battleships, so giving up a little ground doesn't make you loose those mex immediatly.
- Maybe a choke point or 2 so you can win against superior forces if your opponent is dumb enough to go through it.

I don't know what the actual consequences of such a design are, so feel free to explain how that would break the game/meta/fun/...


PS: I just realized Water of Isis has such mountains. But I don't mean to create only chokepoints. I was thinking about something like hilly plateau, but with more open space because of longer range and less choke points. Or something. I don't know.

[keyser]

water mexx are necessary for a new ladder map. It give some use in subs, make frigate less strong.
Don't need to spam them everywhere like in soviet map though.
Maybe some spot with water mexx can be a good idea too, will make torpedo defense more viable there.

[Ithilis_Quo]

It give some use in subs, make frigate less strong.

And what about make subs less ussles in general?

[Kalvirox]

Yeah, if you look at say roanoke and glaciers, the two spawn islands have water all the way around them. So maybe something like that.
Maybe you could have the spawn on an island with 2 neighbouring islands, both players have a seperate island to the right but the island on the left is like 2 islands joined together, Its a bit of a mix of both glaciers and roanoke.

It's just an idea, you are the one making the map.

I dislike underwater mexes, granted it gives use for subs but I think they are silly. Maybe a couple of pockets wouldn't be too bad though.

Also, thank you for taking up this project.

[tatsu]

10 x 10

[keyser]

And what about make subs less ussles in general?

bad map design shouldn't impact balance, or we remove water mexx, and then change subs.