Approved
Map Reviewer
- Joined
- Feb 19, 2011
- Messages
- 2,113
Review - Over the Rainbow
(Version August 29th 2023)
Synopsis: Over the Rainbow is a melee map featuring a horizontally mirrored melee map for a 3v3 setup. The terrain a natural mix of sunken ruins and grassy village tiles, making a beautiful terrain to play on. The map is constrained by the vertical river, crossed over by a few bridges, narrowing the possible offensive angles.
Map Aesthetics: The map tile work is very nice and looks quite natural. The borders of the map could be more immersive, as as of now the map literally falls at the edge of the shadow border. Some doodads are placed quite oddly - barns on the shoreline on top of cliffs, and Goblin Merchants in deep water - I'd argue that the merchants would be more visually clear if there was also a walkable area directly beneath them (so they would not sink into the ground so much). Overall, the map is visually very clear and the placement of objects is spot on from a gameplay-technical perspective. The crates near the central market place is a mystery to me - what is their purpose? It looks just odd, but I imagine there's an idea I do not understand from the spark.
Map Layout: Layout seems even. Bridges are usually not that great an element gameplay-wise, but considering they're not the only option, it's not a restricted element in principle. The bridges you've chosen are visually well... not to my taste, but it's about taste - their texture just looks blurry (not sure if it's the new 2.0 patch though). Overall I like the dual-sided access to merchants, really neat. The restrictiveness of bridges is something I kind of find appealing as an unusual gameplay aspect. The central expansion gold mines could be slightly rotated away from the bridges to make them less exposed, but then again, holding the bridge is probably the easiest defense available. The top and bottom edges of the map could be equal in horizontal mirroring, so neither side has an advantage on offense when done through the top/bottom edges of the map (at the moment the rock spires make a narrow entrance on one side on the mirrored edges).
Neutral Objectives: A lot of different creeps are used (a lot). Very good job of fitting different styles within one map and each camp seems quite comprehensively thought out. Blood Wizard with the Zombies is really nice. The expansion gold mine camps (Level 13) drop quite a strong item (Level 4 Permanent). The Level 0 item is quite unexpected and can give some edge onto the standard melee pattern - not sure if the drops should be less random and thus more predictable if they're that atypical.
Map Gameplay: Solid map. Can give a pleasant 3v3 match. Dual-sided objectives are nice touch, especially when combined with the horizontal mirroring that is quite restrictive in unit movement.
Notes:
The team arrangements are not identical - one side has both ally spots as high priority on each player, while the players 5 and 6 have only low priority for allies (probably doesn't make a difference), but they could be specifically set for low and high priority to ensure also perfect mirroring in case some one wishes to play the map as 2v2 teams.
(Version August 29th 2023)
Synopsis: Over the Rainbow is a melee map featuring a horizontally mirrored melee map for a 3v3 setup. The terrain a natural mix of sunken ruins and grassy village tiles, making a beautiful terrain to play on. The map is constrained by the vertical river, crossed over by a few bridges, narrowing the possible offensive angles.
Map Aesthetics: The map tile work is very nice and looks quite natural. The borders of the map could be more immersive, as as of now the map literally falls at the edge of the shadow border. Some doodads are placed quite oddly - barns on the shoreline on top of cliffs, and Goblin Merchants in deep water - I'd argue that the merchants would be more visually clear if there was also a walkable area directly beneath them (so they would not sink into the ground so much). Overall, the map is visually very clear and the placement of objects is spot on from a gameplay-technical perspective. The crates near the central market place is a mystery to me - what is their purpose? It looks just odd, but I imagine there's an idea I do not understand from the spark.
Map Layout: Layout seems even. Bridges are usually not that great an element gameplay-wise, but considering they're not the only option, it's not a restricted element in principle. The bridges you've chosen are visually well... not to my taste, but it's about taste - their texture just looks blurry (not sure if it's the new 2.0 patch though). Overall I like the dual-sided access to merchants, really neat. The restrictiveness of bridges is something I kind of find appealing as an unusual gameplay aspect. The central expansion gold mines could be slightly rotated away from the bridges to make them less exposed, but then again, holding the bridge is probably the easiest defense available. The top and bottom edges of the map could be equal in horizontal mirroring, so neither side has an advantage on offense when done through the top/bottom edges of the map (at the moment the rock spires make a narrow entrance on one side on the mirrored edges).
Neutral Objectives: A lot of different creeps are used (a lot). Very good job of fitting different styles within one map and each camp seems quite comprehensively thought out. Blood Wizard with the Zombies is really nice. The expansion gold mine camps (Level 13) drop quite a strong item (Level 4 Permanent). The Level 0 item is quite unexpected and can give some edge onto the standard melee pattern - not sure if the drops should be less random and thus more predictable if they're that atypical.
Map Gameplay: Solid map. Can give a pleasant 3v3 match. Dual-sided objectives are nice touch, especially when combined with the horizontal mirroring that is quite restrictive in unit movement.
Notes:
The team arrangements are not identical - one side has both ally spots as high priority on each player, while the players 5 and 6 have only low priority for allies (probably doesn't make a difference), but they could be specifically set for low and high priority to ensure also perfect mirroring in case some one wishes to play the map as 2v2 teams.
