Review - Autumn Forests
(Version June 1st 2023)
Description: Autumn Forests is a fall-themed melee map that is functional, but does not quite meet standard melee criteria or quality.
Terrain: The terrain is visibly clear and functions very well for melee gameplay. The use of the Raise / Lower -tool is adequate, though its synergy with tile usage could be improved (more pathed roads are typically lowered), whereas here the height variation looks more randomized, while tile variation itself is decent. The terrain could use a more consistent placement of props and decorative objects as now, despite having some props, there are large areas without any decoration, leaving a very barren look once the trees are cut out.
Layout: The layout is a classic ring layout with an intersecting road through the middle featuring a Tavern. The Tavern and expansion mines act as contestable objects as well. Good job. The pathing of the map consists of long corridors with little points of maneuverability, which could be improved by opening up some pathways and forested areas, but this layout can function for a melee map, though it can end up very streamlined.
Creeps: The second green creep camp is placed a little awkwardly far away from the starting positions, but then again it gives yet another point of contesting, which can be good, however in this map, where the pathing and strategic options are quite limited, it might give unwanted balance impact between races. The other camps are quite strong: there's a big jump in creep strength from the green camps to the orange ones, and especially the expansion sites are heavily guarded for such a linear map. Regarding the item drops I second Zucth's comment - take a look at how the item drops should be balanced around the creep and objective strength and make changes accordingly. The green camps seem to be fine, other camps seem to drop weak items considering their combined strength. The ogre camp drop is okayish. You could add a Power Up drop to the camp.
Gameplay: While the map functions, it is not suitable for quality melee gameplay due to an imbalance of item drops as well as other errors already pointed out by Zucth.
Recommendations:
See Zucth's comment and make changes accordingly. Starting positions, creep-item balance, and also the gaps between the trees. The critters have been added, which is good, though their placement could be better. Read the comments on terrain and layout in case you want to further improve the map.