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Map Reviewer
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- Feb 19, 2011
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Review - Cinderlodge
(Version December 10th 2023)
Synopsis: Cinderlodge is a melee map for up to six players, equally suitable for smaller teams as the radially mirrored layout supports this. The CP version has bases located in high- and low-grounds, while the standard version n has changed all bases into high-ground type.
Map Aesthetics: The terrain looks good, and man that's one pretty-looking mini-map. Often Fellwood is hard to look at, but the mixture of tiles you have chosen to use works and it's visually clear. The terrain work is also visually clear and decorative doodads and props are not obstructive, though I feel that in some areas there could be more of them - especially the immediate cliffs around bases and then the central area, where trees are extremely dominant. Nevertheless, the map is pleasing to look at and the terrain, looks rather well-crafted and natural, which is hard to achieve in such radial mirroring.
Map Layout: The map layout looks pretty perfectly mirrored. The only flaw I can see (a minor one) is that the tree walls in bases are not equally placed and some players have more vision outside of their bases than others - The most prevalent example if Orange's spawn, where the trees do not block vision directly below to the expansion site. Strategically the layout looks functional too, with many passageways around the map and expansions seemingly close to each player, but still located in a rather exposed way. The central expansions offer additional objectives to compete for - and like I said the only thing about layout I find unfair is how some players can have direct vision on those spots from their bases - this issue of course only exists on the standard version, where said bases are high-grounds.
Neutral Objectives: As always with your maps, the creep camp placement and fitting are great. The creeps nicely fit the theme - albeit I was surprised to see a flying sheep. The randomized central objectives keep things fair between players, while the late-game objectives offer an additional layer of strategic play. The CP version changes the positioning of objectives quite a lot for the change in number of Gold Mines as well as Mercenary Camps.
Map Gameplay: Map plays fairly between players/teams, as the radial mirroring is perfect. The game-flow differs between the two versions, with CP-version featuring more Mercenary Camps and less randomized objectives, allowing guaranteed risk and investment around the central objectives (which are also more important for the lack of gold mines in the outer edge). The player Ally / Enemy Priorities are also set nicely, so even in 1v1 play, the players get similar spawns and thus fair fight persists.
Recommendations:
Possibly you could adjust the distance of the reach of vision from player's bases. Orange's base has 200~ more range towards the expansion of gold mines, basically guaranteeing them the vision of units/buildings there, which does not happen as heavily on other similar bases.
(Version December 10th 2023)
Synopsis: Cinderlodge is a melee map for up to six players, equally suitable for smaller teams as the radially mirrored layout supports this. The CP version has bases located in high- and low-grounds, while the standard version n has changed all bases into high-ground type.
Map Aesthetics: The terrain looks good, and man that's one pretty-looking mini-map. Often Fellwood is hard to look at, but the mixture of tiles you have chosen to use works and it's visually clear. The terrain work is also visually clear and decorative doodads and props are not obstructive, though I feel that in some areas there could be more of them - especially the immediate cliffs around bases and then the central area, where trees are extremely dominant. Nevertheless, the map is pleasing to look at and the terrain, looks rather well-crafted and natural, which is hard to achieve in such radial mirroring.
Map Layout: The map layout looks pretty perfectly mirrored. The only flaw I can see (a minor one) is that the tree walls in bases are not equally placed and some players have more vision outside of their bases than others - The most prevalent example if Orange's spawn, where the trees do not block vision directly below to the expansion site. Strategically the layout looks functional too, with many passageways around the map and expansions seemingly close to each player, but still located in a rather exposed way. The central expansions offer additional objectives to compete for - and like I said the only thing about layout I find unfair is how some players can have direct vision on those spots from their bases - this issue of course only exists on the standard version, where said bases are high-grounds.
Neutral Objectives: As always with your maps, the creep camp placement and fitting are great. The creeps nicely fit the theme - albeit I was surprised to see a flying sheep. The randomized central objectives keep things fair between players, while the late-game objectives offer an additional layer of strategic play. The CP version changes the positioning of objectives quite a lot for the change in number of Gold Mines as well as Mercenary Camps.
Map Gameplay: Map plays fairly between players/teams, as the radial mirroring is perfect. The game-flow differs between the two versions, with CP-version featuring more Mercenary Camps and less randomized objectives, allowing guaranteed risk and investment around the central objectives (which are also more important for the lack of gold mines in the outer edge). The player Ally / Enemy Priorities are also set nicely, so even in 1v1 play, the players get similar spawns and thus fair fight persists.
Recommendations:
Possibly you could adjust the distance of the reach of vision from player's bases. Orange's base has 200~ more range towards the expansion of gold mines, basically guaranteeing them the vision of units/buildings there, which does not happen as heavily on other similar bases.
