• 🏆 Texturing Contest #33 is OPEN! Contestants must re-texture a SD unit model found in-game (Warcraft 3 Classic), recreating the unit into a peaceful NPC version. 🔗Click here to enter!
  • It's time for the first HD Modeling Contest of 2024. Join the theme discussion for Hive's HD Modeling Contest #6! Click here to post your idea!

Ekrezem's Maze

Ekrezem's Maze
v1.04

Story & general info


216502-97722c5afa2bb51684209a635c69c150.png
Lord Ekrezem's gardens offer no escape. His prisoners' damnation delights him, whether they live on their knees or die fighting.

A 4v4 map with many cross-roads where players may be surprised in different ways.

Playable area is 100% symmetrical for both sides, no matter of spawns (top/bottom or left/right). That means teams have exactly the same distance to every object on the map, same free space near mainbase, same amount of trees, same placing of critters and pathing blockers etc.

Different spawn options.

Map specification


208431-68b922c0059b74b0d640282fca7d1f80.jpg
Players
8 (4v4, eventually 3v3)

208430-a0bf11462cec6338b8e882705c9309cd.jpg
Creep Camps
16 green, 33(41) orange, 12 red

208427-67ced567f320d96ce63cdb2eb304a5d4.jpg
Taverns
4

208427-67ced567f320d96ce63cdb2eb304a5d4.jpg
Goblin Merchant
4

208427-67ced567f320d96ce63cdb2eb304a5d4.jpg
Goblin Laboratory
4

208427-67ced567f320d96ce63cdb2eb304a5d4.jpg
Mercenary Camp
4

208427-67ced567f320d96ce63cdb2eb304a5d4.jpg
Fountain of Health
4

208427-67ced567f320d96ce63cdb2eb304a5d4.jpg
Fountain of Mana
1

208423-626cd1b769e6dcd3ae555e8d52671d6c.jpg
Gold Mines
20 (8 x 15000, 8 x 17500, 4 x 20000)


216503-5fc3a573639bdbbb8d67b2928a963cd5.png
[2021-10-12]
- Uploaded

[2021-11-25]
- Camps rework (removed treants and most of the dragons)
- Removed most of the flooded areas, now they are mostly near fountains and deep water
- Visual polishment (flooded "oase-like" land around fountains, fall "scorched" land at dragon goldmine etc.)
- Increased camera bounds

[2021-12-18]
- Camps power adjusting
- Trees modification
- Visual polishment

[2022-03-24]
- Camps rework
- Removed unnecessary doodads
- Visual polishment
Previews
Contents

Ekrezem's Maze (Map)

mafe

Map Reviewer
Level 24
Joined
Nov 2, 2013
Messages
869
So, overall this is a very good map. In fact, it is one of the few maps where I after playing a test game against some AIs, I immediately wanted to play it again :)

Generally I think this map has very good quality in most aspects. However, I feel that there are a few things that could/should be improved and than we could even talk about suggesting this map for the w3c 4v4 ladder. As of now, these are:
1. Lvl 5 treant with disease cloud: This creep is probably in the bottom 5 of all creeps. An absolute no-go, as it can completely devastate a footman-based army, while undeads are completely immune to it.
2. Too many dragons: Now this is somethign where undeads suffer, as they have no way of killing them before t2. So compared to other races, they much more restricted creeping options. Even though they can still do fine given the other spots available, it just feels needless to restrictions to a single race.
3. The general theme of the map being maze is well done...... It's just that I dont think it makes the map feel quite confusing, since 90% looks interchangeable. There should be something in the visual design of the map that helps players get a sense of where they are on the map. Yes this kinda clashes with the maze idea, but I still think it is important. Typically, some tilesets could be more prominent in certain areas of the map, or for example you could (only) use shallow water in the general vicinity of the fountains.
4. For 4v4, imho there could be some more areas for big team clashes (ofc that wouldnt be very maze-like). But dont blindly trust me on this, since for my maps I tend to get the feedback that they are too open.

Regarding visuals, in addition to the stuff mentioned above:
5. I found those small shallow water areas everywhere kinda out of place.
6. In the north, the map boundaries could be extended slightly so that the edge of the map is a little further away from the playable area.

However, overall the map does everything else very right imho. For example, the creeps are a good mix between standard and unusual creeps. There is also variety in terms of starting positions for each player on each time, which is nice. And while at first glance the map look like "just another Lordaeron Summer map", there is a lot of attention in the details in many locations.

Map approved. If you happen to make updates, feel free to ask other people in discord about their opinions, if you havent already.
 
Level 12
Joined
Sep 6, 2008
Messages
50
Thanks for fast (as for actual Hive standards xD) review :) I will introduce changes and update map soon.

***

EDIT: I did some updates. Treants and all lesser dragons are replaced by more neutral creeps. I removed most of the flooded areas, and left it only at reasonable places like near fountains and deep water areas. Also I worked with a terrain in certain places to make it more thematicaly: "oasis-like" terrain near fountain, fall "scorched-like" terrain at big dragon goldmine camp etc. Also stretched camera bounds a bit.
 
Last edited:
Top