Lionhardt's WIP Mapping Thread

[Lionhardt]

Sure but tell me which maps that already attempted this you were speaking of so I can maybe find out what the issue with them is. And hard FFA does not count...

Edit: Btw I just noticed the the fun circumstance, that the working title of this map is "daring pursuit"

[IceDreamer]

HardFFA is one of them I think. All I know is that over the years I have seen this whole spawn close, expand out on everything from 4 to 8 players, 10-40K maps. Can't tell you names because I have a nasty habit of deleting maps which I deem bad after playing them :/ Sorry.

[Lionhardt]

Well as I said, Hardffa does not count because it is a crap map. Of course this concept does not work when poorly executed. But I do not intend to do something poorly execute.^^ Of course I cant guarantee success, but I can assure failure of a obviously flawed map layout. But when a layout is obviously flawed I would not bother with it.

[nine2]

Nothing wrong with hardffa - its just specialized, not for everyone

[Lionhardt]

Thermo isn't for everyone too I guess...

[nine2]

Yeah I guess your right

[Plasma_Wolf]

HardFFA is quite different from any other close encounter map because all players start underwater.

I think that it's possible to make a close encounter map for more than two players (in 1v1, ganging up on someone is obviously impossible), but you'll have to do it a bit differently. You have to make every spawn point easy to defend, i.e. if you're on the defending side, you have to be able to kill twice as much mass as you're losing in the process of defending. This will obviously allow for turtling, but if the reward for expanding to the outer regions is rewarding as well, then turtling alone isn't going to cut it.

Make it so that turtlers can't escape very easily. Then they're not as much a threat to players who did manage to expand, so they may leave turtlers alone because they have to kill each other first.

If a player dies, everyone will want the resources. If it's a turtler that dies, then the best one to respond can build a new turtle base. Expanding players may not be able to get here because they're constantly losing units to each other, while turtlers can try to build up an army or creep to the new empty spot. If an expanding player dies, then the nearest turtler can try to expand in stead. Again: the expanding players are the ones who have to build up the pressure with mobile units and a successful turtle strategy may be able to expand because of the large unit loss.

So the problem you're going to have to solve is to make the spawn locations easy to defend (turtling is possible), but with limited space (turtling is not going to be a winning strategy), while also being easy to break out of in the case of someone's death (Changing your strategy is an option).

Good luck

[Lionhardt]

Yes, that was kind of my idea too. The space in the starting area is very limited. Basically it is impossible for the players to stay there all game, because they just dont have the space to expand their base. The terrain features im the spawn area kind of hug around the spawsn, so they are a little proteced, but not overly well. Also the terrain features make it very difficult to attack a neighbor with PDs or arty, because they act as sight and shot blockers. Turtlers should not gain an edge over aggressive players this way. Lastly there is the "emergency exit" for every player right behind his spawn, so players don't get trapped or closed in too easily.

Here is a picture of the spawn area so far. It wil be rotated every 120°. There will be a 3-fold point symmetry for these terrain featrus then. I am planning overall to alternate between 3-fold and 6-fold symmetry across the map.

[Lionhardt]

The rough version of the heightmap is now there. These are the most dominant terrain features, you see there. I also added the first version of the mex cluster layout. So there are no single mexes yet. But they are to come. I also changed the lighting.

[Nombringer]

Looking good!

Also the main reason hardffa is shit is because they could not even be bothered to balance the reclaim.