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Black Market

Hello Hiveguys,

do we really need another 1v1 map from meerel you might ask yourself. The answer is absolutly! And this time its a visual treat :)

''Peaceful Farmers live in fear as Bandits took over most of their barns and fields. Soon thereafter strange creatures follow and if you listen carefully voices talking about shady trades taking place right in their midsts.
Investigate those strange claims and put a rest to does pesky bandits or participate and soon take control in this tempting Black Market.''

Gameplay-wise i i think i hit all the important things, it has a nice creep flow with several ways to get lvl 3 and creep the second hero effectively. The expo distance is good, not really far but not as close as i had it on other maps. It has open space areas and small choke points, some tunnely parts.

Thinks to consider are the village merc camp and the unguarded market in the middle. But honestly, why not. its new and exciting.

Have Fun and send me some replays if possible :)


General Info:

Playable Size: 92x96
Players: 1v1
Neutral Buildings: 2 GoblinLabs, 2 Shops, 2 Mercs, 1 Tavern, 1 Market
Goldmine: 6 with 12500
Creepcamps: 6 green, 12 orange, 2 red

Creepinfo:
Green:
  1. LvL7: LvL1 perma
  2. LvL9: LvL1 perma, LvL1 power
  3. LvL9: LvL2 charged no LS
Orange:
  1. LvL11: LvL2 perma
  2. LvL13: LvL2 perma, LvL1 power
  3. LvL13: LvL3 charged, LvL1 power
  4. LvL16: LvL3 perma, LvL2 power
  5. LvL18: LvL4 charged, LvL1 power
  6. LvL19: LvL4 perma, LvL2 power
Red:
  1. LvL23: LvL5 perma, LvL2 power

Update 17.6.20:
- changed shop creepcamp composition
- changed merc creepcamp composition from 15 to 13 without lightning shield
- changed natural expansion creep composition from 12 to 14 with bash


Update 21.10.2020

- removed and replaced all unnecessary pathing blockers
- smoothed out the map to allow clear unit movement
- replaced kobold lvl3 with bandit lvl3 at the expansion
- added lvl 1 kobold to one of the green spots


Update 11.03.2021
-made the map alot smaller
-changed all creepspots
Contents

Black Market v1.1 (Map)

Reviews
mafe
Well, you love this tileset, don't you? But since it works again, nothing wrong with it. Overall a good map. Regarding gameplay: -No complaints about creeps and items. -Regarding AoW-creeping, I'm not too happy. As a rule of thumb, any creep that can...
Level 21
Joined
Oct 1, 2019
Messages
83
Feels a little likke TS u have to LS creep the merc camp or u lose heavy xp and cuz its on the high grounds its not rly punishable.
The natural is very close and easy to take. It should be more open or a shorter way to the enemy or harder in my opinion. (only one side to attack from)
Also u got the tavern almost in your base. Humans have insane fast lvl 3 with expo.

Lab is to easy for the reward. lvl is high but the creeps are week and can be abused with defend (again human) wich u will have often if u expo. shoudl drop lvl 3 charged with tomb or so.
Second expo is also a really high item, lvl 16 is to low for the 2nd best item drop u can get. lvl 4 items are like 17-21 on pretty nasty spots.

UD and Orc could struggle on this map cuz they dont by mercs so often and dont LS creeps
 
Level 12
Joined
Mar 10, 2019
Messages
85
i dont really think the merc camp is really any problem at all. if you want to ls creep it you can, if not then not. you can reach lvl 3 without it and leave it for your second hero. and for orc it doesnt matter if the if you buy mercs. i want the exp and thats it.

the lab camp drops exactly what you wrote. i changed the second expo to lvl 18.
i think everything else is the map characteristic and wont change, if i reposition the natural expo i would rather do a new map :p
 
Level 12
Joined
Mar 10, 2019
Messages
85
Update 17.6.20:
- changed shop creepcamp composition
- changed merc creepcamp composition from 15 to 13 without lightning shield
- changed natural expansion creep composition from 12 to 14 with bash
 
Level 24
Joined
Nov 9, 2006
Messages
2,558
Looks good visually.
There's plenty of landmarks.

I don't remember what merc. camp that is.
Seems like the place to go creep first.

The map has too much unbuildable terrain, which is a problem for NE and (UD).
More grass would be nice.
Green is always good.

Taverns this close to main base and expanions will be a balance issue in battle since you can revive quickly.

The lab seems like a strong option since its close to main base, it's on a high ground and doesn't have creeps that punish anti-air.
So if a fight goes down you can easily get away in a zeppelin.
The main base seems easy to harass with zeppelin.


HU can plant cheeky towers in enemy base.
Or even better, chop trees with a few peasants and run in with 3 sappers.

NE needs lots of spaces to build, so they can do fun things.
With NE i believe the best strategy is to pick BM, spam archers and glaive and control the choke from center to base.

Lots of obstructive terrain enable flying units here.
I think it could be annoying to play against.

The river near the base reminds me of Tirisfal Glades.
 

mafe

Map Reviewer
Level 24
Joined
Nov 2, 2013
Messages
869
Well, you love this tileset, don't you? But since it works again, nothing wrong with it. Overall a good map.

Regarding gameplay:
-No complaints about creeps and items.
-Regarding AoW-creeping, I'm not too happy. As a rule of thumb, any creep that can be taken with militia-creeping are normally also possible for AoW-creeping. But here, humans can take the lab and the merc camp (though both are not too close to the main base), but nightelves have a much tougher time these creepspots, due to lack of buildable space/trees. The alternatives (the lvl 6 spots near the main base) don't look too rewarding.
-I almost missed the unguard market place, just assuming it was a tavern xD Not sure what to make of it. I like the idea, but I'm afraid some players might be too irritated by it.
-There are several "pockets" on the edges of the map which look like creep spots could have been there in earlier version....? Or am I being deceived here?
-New merc camp, finally! It seems balanced, and actually one of those that is still somewhat unique, mostly due to the kobold with the aura. I really hope it works, but I'm not confident enough yet to guarantee it :)
-Another map where the expansion options are not set in stone. Imho that's a plus.

So no real "objective" mistakes. Map approved.
 
Level 12
Joined
May 12, 2012
Messages
104
Map size is massive: 104x104. I do realize that the corners are empty but the creep camps stretch to the very edges. This map is 70% bigger than Amazonia, the smallest one in the pool. I can't say for sure but players will probably feel the emptiness. My suggestion would be to seal off this side path (on both sides, of course) and cram the creep camps closer together.
side.jpg

The distances between starting positions are okay though. The gold mines look fine, too.

Nice use of TS-style bridges. I was also planning on implementing that in some map but didn't get around to do it yet.
ts-bridge.jpg

I actually like most of the design, even if it's nothing special. The archways feel out of place and it's pretty random overall, but that's alright.

You should leave enough room around taverns for heroes to walk around them:
tavern.jpg

It's not much of an issue on this map because nobody will walk to the gates anyway, but invisible, unexpected pathing blockers can be irritating:
pathing-blockers.jpg

There seems to be no ideal AoW spot. The green lvl 6 and 7 camps are not very rewarding. The lvl 10 trolls are too far away. And the lvl 13 creeps at the Merc Camp are risky, with regard to the distance to your base. Additionally, and as others have pointed out before me, the unbuildable terrain makes it an extra hassle and the trees are partly blocked by doodads (at least near the Merc Camps).

Another issue with the unbuildable terrain is that you cannot properly siege a base with Ancient Protector. Ideally, there should be some areas not too far from the gold mines with regular terrain and edible trees.

Item drops and camp compositions look okay to me.
 
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