Review - Veiled Ruins
(Version October 9th 2022)
Description: Veiled Ruines is a Black Citadel-themed map with a unique twist of water as a significant gameplay element. The water placement is uncommon and gives the map a very unnatural and abnormal look giving the map a very strong thematic aspect.
Terrain: The terrain carries out a very coherent and strong thematic look. The tile usage is satisfying and does justice to the Black Citadel set. The sand tile also mixes in very well. The way to use the water may not be visually most clear or pleasant in Warcraft 3, but it gives a unique look and an interesting opportunity for unique water placement for strategic play - if only naval units were more compelling in default Warcraft 3.
Layout: The map is quite large for a 1v1 melee, and indeed the layout looks like it could support four-player games since there are enough Gold Mines and bases for that many players. Nevertheless, in order to encourage players to use ships or the naval elements of a map, a slightly large size is good. While this way of water pathways and usage is very interesting, I wish you would have pushed it even further, making it a colossal element in gameplay - for example using more deep water around the central area of the map to give areas that can be utilized with boats or open the expansions on the main island for ship sieges. The layout itself is pretty simple, featuring the classical ring-structure layout. The map seems equally mirrored and only the central camp is the only contestable objective.
Creeps: Creep placement is appropriate and the camps follow quite decent thematic and difficulty levels. There could be more green creep camps, especially closer / more accessible for the players. The Goblin Merchant camps have quite strong item drops of Permanent Level 4. There's also an interesting play with Tomes of Experience on the expansion islands (and center of the map), even to a point where both players have essentially access to 2 + 1 tomes can be very strong, then again, accessing the islands takes quite a lot of investment, though flying units can be very strong taking the expansion sites as one Voidwalker is the only unit that has reliable skills against air. It's interesting to see the Goblin Shipyards so heavily guarded - it could be an interesting twist to see them less guarded or even completely unguarded to give earlier access to the naval elements of the map. The central camp could drop a stronger item instead of Level 2 Charged and Permanent, but it's tough to balance as the structure already drops a reveal and experience - considering the strength of the creeps though it's likely the actual creeps themselves do not contribute that heavily to giving out experience.
Gameplay: The map is huge with five expansion gold mines per player, offering the opportunity to play out a long match of melee. Slow games are the treat this map offers since the Tomes of Experiences can provide a swing in the hero power levels. The ships could be a stronger part of the gameplay, but ultimately most players agree that it's good when they are not a very integral part of the gameplay. I would however encourage adding more anti-air creeps on the separated islands, as they can be 'too easy' to clear out with air units. Aside from the water elements the map supports nice gameplay in a visually pleasing environment. Great job with that. The sharp (unnatural and buggy) water placement can be a little disturbing, but I can see that it is intentional here - unfortunately, Warcraft 3 water behavior is not the most pleasant.
Recommendations:
Overall great job. The map's name should be without the (2) in front of it, that's something you could change. Some waterfalls could improve the visual level of the clunky water, especially in the southern part of the map, but it would come at the cost of visual clarity. Overall nice job. The play on the water is nice and would be nice to see you do something even more special with it.
Approved
