Aridity

This bundle is marked as useful / simple. Simplicity is bliss, low effort and/or may contain minor bugs.
abirhand-one-regular-png.305567

aridity-overview-2-png.305569

__________________________________________________________________

Aridity
A dried out oasis in the middle of nowhere, surrounded with mysterious
cliff formations, shielding it from the unforgiving, ravaging wind of the desert.

____________________________________________________________________


Screenshots
aridity-1-png.305561

aridity-3-png.305563

aridity-5-png.305565

aridity-4-png.305564

aridity-2-png.305562

Notes
  • Despite its messy look, the map is almost perfectly mirrored in balance.
  • The large strips of desert was created as a thematic feature, but also as a strategic one.
  • The terrain is pretty open, which allows large army clashes.
  • The creep camps are modest in strength.



Changes
-Flattened the desert a bit, to remove the sharp shadows from the dunes.
-Adjusted the treeline by the red base a bit, since it had a slightly smaller base area than the blue.
-Removed the dragon roost and buffed the item drops from the dragon camp to 1 charged level 6 item and two +2 tomes.
-Also replaced the bronze dragons with red ones.
-Added a few critters and other terrain details.
-Added a few easter eggs.
Contents

Aridity (Map)

Reviews
Daffa
Part of Melee Mapping Contest #2.
WolfFarkas
(1) Agree at 60%, terrain is fine, it could be better, terrain always can be better, but this is not a terrain template, is a melee map, terrain is secondary in melee play, you won´t even pay atention to the enviroment when you are playing really...
W3Sour
Hi, thanks for entering the contest. A few suggestions: - Make the merc camp easier.. Remove the level 7 and replace with another level 4 , make level 5 with bloodlust drop a level 3 charged or permanent item. - Make the merchant shop easier, I'd...
deepstrasz
:( Substandard. (previous review: Aridity)
  • Terrain: I can be pretty picky about this sometimes. I'm pretty sure the idea making a lot of the map just sand is apart of the "aesthetic", but, I do think you could have done it a little better. I don't think I'm a fan of it all that much, but it's not outright ugly... I think you could make the boarders have something there, so your NPC does not just walk into sudden darkness due to the boarder of the map.
  • Destructibles: It's odd that you held shift and decided to clamp a bunch of trees together the way you did. I think you shouldn't do that for a melee map unless it's altered-melee. It's a bit nit picky for sure, but I stay true to that.
  • Hero Tavern: Another thing that could be considered odd to point out. But I feel as though the red dragon camp is too far from the tavern. If you would make it closer, that would be nice. What would be nicer is if you replaced it with a dragon tavern and have the red dragon positioned in-front of the tavern.
  • Four vs. Four: Not sure if it's a design choice... I did play this with 4 other players and we all agreed it would be great to have goldmines elsewhere and not just where player starting zones are. Maybe use the desert area? Or where the centaurs are, and get rid of the tavern they're guarding.
The design of the map itself is fairly nice. I just think a lot of the aspects of it that I mentioned above are really bringing it down. As a melee map it would be cool to have the best of both worlds good game-play and terrain. I'd give it a 2.5 if I could, but I'll be giving it a 2/5. Keep on mapping though, I think you're talented enough already to make something great, you just need to put more time and thought into what you're making.

Score: [2/5]
 
Level 26
Joined
Oct 2, 2011
Messages
2,484
Thanks for your thoughts! :)
Here are some answers/questions:
  • I don't want to add something by the borders, since that would remove the feeling of being in the middle of nowhere, but I see what you mean. Apart from that, what did you think about the terrain that was not desert? :D
  • Yeah, I was unsure of the destructibles too, but I think it was better to make them compact in order to make the map a bit more loosened up, and make it more aestheticallay pleasing in the process. I'm considering changing this.
  • The dragons are not supposed to guard the tavern. Taverns should (in my opinion) always be free of creeps to allow hero hiring. The dragons are a creep camp separated from the tavern. I also had a dragon roost there before, but I decided to remove it since I think it is weird to have in a melee map.
  • How could you have played this map with 4 other players (5 in total?) when there are only two player slots open? I don't think the starting positions are weird if there are two players.
 
Last edited:

Deleted member 247165

D

Deleted member 247165

I wouldn't say I'm back, since I never left. I've only been dormant. :D
Buuut this was just a quick submission for the contest, and school is starting next week so I'll be gone soon. :O
Do your best as you always do :D
 
Level 29
Joined
May 21, 2013
Messages
1,637
  • Terrain: I can be pretty picky about this sometimes. I'm pretty sure the idea making a lot of the map just sand is apart of the "aesthetic", but, I do think you could have done it a little better (1). I don't think I'm a fan of it all that much, but it's not outright ugly... I think you could make the boarders have something there, so your NPC does not just walk into sudden darkness due to the boarder of the map.
  • Destructibles: It's odd that you held shift and decided to clamp a bunch of trees together (2) the way you did. I think you shouldn't do that for a melee map unless it's altered-melee. It's a bit nit picky for sure, but I stay true to that.
  • Hero Tavern: Another thing that could be considered odd to point out. But I feel as though the red dragon camp is too far from the tavern (3). If you would make it closer, that would be nice. What would be nicer is if you replaced it with a dragon tavern and have the red dragon positioned in-front of the tavern.
  • Four vs. Four (4): Not sure if it's a design choice... I did play this with 4 other players and we all agreed it would be great to have goldmines elsewhere and not just where player starting zones are. Maybe use the desert area? (5) Or where the centaurs are, and get rid of the tavern they're guarding.
The design of the map itself is fairly nice. I just think a lot of the aspects of it that I mentioned above are really bringing it down. As a melee map it would be cool to have the best of both worlds good game-play and terrain. I'd give it a 2.5 if I could, but I'll be giving it a 2/5. Keep on mapping though, I think you're talented enough already to make something great, you just need to put more time and thought into what you're making.

Score: [2/5]

(1) Agree at 60%, terrain is fine, it could be better, terrain always can be better, but this is not a terrain template, is a melee map, terrain is secondary in melee play, you won´t even pay atention to the enviroment when you are playing really hard.

(2) Agree at 50%. Still is much better than having gaps between trees where wisps can hide.

3) Not agree, the red camp should not be more close to the tavern area. Tavern area is an empty place to resurrect the hero and even maybe build some towers to avoid the other player to reach it.

4) Not agree, the user need this map for a 1vs1 competitive melee play contest.

5) Not agree, those areas will make the players more far away, the idea is that players get close each other, not go to the corners, corners are no-playable area that will got you far away from the enemy and out of a good strategic position,.


By reading Filmting tutorial of the competitive melee play, many points would be visible, I am not going to review or copy paste competitive melee theory here, but yes to link it and say: that the major aspects of the game are: creeps (types,level, camp mode), items tables, creeping routes, walking distances, neutral buildings positions, trees positions, even critters for Undead creeping routes.

Terrain is a secondary aspect, balance is much more important.
The Hive is overwhelmed of beauty and umbalanced maps (including my maps).


Competitive Melee Map

see ya
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Level 5
Joined
Mar 1, 2018
Messages
47
Hi, thanks for entering the contest. A few suggestions:

- Make the merc camp easier.. Remove the level 7 and replace with another level 4 , make level 5 with bloodlust drop a level 3 charged or permanent item.
- Make the merchant shop easier, I'd suggest level 5 ogre mauler, with 2 troll beserkers either side. Drops level 2 chared + tome.
- Remove the lizard camp sititng int he middle of the terrain.
-Make a creep camp directly in the middle of the main bases and the merc camps in that empty space, make it green to orange level 8 to level 10 and make it drop a level 2 permanent.
- Make the small entrance between the trees in main bases wider
- Borders are needed, because Blizzard won't accept maps where players can see outside the border area's.


these are just some quick balance suggestions
 
Last edited:
Top