Description Guide - Melee Maps

[Rufus]

General map description guide

Melee Map Description
The Map Submission Rules states that you need to have a "good detailed description on the Hive".
This thread will help you do just that.

First of all there are a few things you need to understand about making a description:
-No one wanna see a wall of text when checking out a map. Keep your description short, structurized and to the point.
-Everybody likes to see what they are downloading. Screenshots is a must.
-Making a good description is good for you. This encourages more people to try your map.

Example Description
You can create a simple and efficent melee map description by editing this template.
Red text are just notes, and are not included in the bb code.

Story (Optional) Pirates once anchored their ships in these quiet coves. Now the area is overrun with more brutal tenants. Establish your own kingdom on these islands before your opponent does. Tactics In this small and narrow map you need to gain control of crucial points in order to dominate the map. A fountain of health may be important to hold the line against your enemy, and the goblin laboratory above it can grant you acess to the gold mine islands. Map Specifics Players 2 Creep Camps 4 6 4 Neutral Buildings 2 Gold Mines 6 Screenshots NOTE! The screenshots should be taken in-editor, not in game. Change Log [2016-08-22]-Uploaded -Fixed description [2016-08-23]-Added a few more trees to both bases -Added an extra creep camp in the middle Authors Notes Hi! This is my first upload to the Hive. I hope you like my map, and if you enjoy playing it, don't forget to give it a rating! You may alter this map in any way you desire, just don't forget to give me credits if you do!

Below you can read about why each field of a description can be useful:

Story can be important to give your map a little more atmosphere, and perhaps make more people donwload it this way.
However, since it is a melee map, the story is far from th most important part, so there are no worries if you leave this part out.

Tactics is good to write down so that the potential downloader can see what is unique about this specific melee map, and what the author thought of when he was creating it.
Keep it as short as you can, while still making your point clear. I would recommend that you keep it under 100 words, or two lines.

Map Specifics is very useful to display, and quite easy to do. It also adds a little extra structure to your description, which is nice.

Screenshots are always important in all projects to offer the potential donwloader some eye-candy.
For melee maps: Do not take pictures in-game. Everybody already know what a melee game looks like. Focus on taking good screenshots in the editor instead.

Change log is useful to keep track of what you have changed so far, and allows players to see what changes you have made since the last version, perhaps making them download it and try it again.

Authors notes is a place for your general thoughts about the map, asking for feedback or giving permissions. Everything that you want to write down, but that didn't fit in another field, should be written here.​

In the hidden tag below, you can find the bb code of the example description. You can copy and paste it to your map description, and then edit the fields to fit your specific map.

BB Code

[Center][table][SIZE=4]Story[/SIZE] [COLOR=#ff0000](Optinal)[/COLOR]
Pirates once anchored their ships in these quiet coves.
Now the area is overrun with more brutal tenants.
Establish your own kingdom on these islands before your opponent does.

[SIZE=4]Tactics[/SIZE]
In this small and narrow map you need to gain control of crucial points in order to dominate the map.
A fountain of health may be important to hold the line against your enemy, and the goblin laboratory above it can grant you acess to the gold mine islands.

[SIZE=4]Map Specifics[/SIZE][table]
[IMG]http://www.hiveworkshop.com/data/attachments/208/208431-68b922c0059b74b0d640282fca7d1f80.jpg[/IMG] Players [C]2[R]
[IMG]http://www.hiveworkshop.com/data/attachments/208/208430-a0bf11462cec6338b8e882705c9309cd.jpg[/IMG] Creep Camps[C] [COLOR=#80ff00]4[/COLOR] [COLOR=#ffa64d]6[/COLOR] [COLOR=#ff4d4d]4[/COLOR][R]
[IMG]http://www.hiveworkshop.com/data/attachments/208/208427-67ced567f320d96ce63cdb2eb304a5d4.jpg[/IMG] Neutral Buildings[C]2[R]
[IMG]http://www.hiveworkshop.com/data/attachments/208/208423-626cd1b769e6dcd3ae555e8d52671d6c.jpg[/IMG] Gold Mines[C]6[/table]
[Hidden="Screenshots"]
[COLOR=#ff0000]NOTE! The screenshots should be taken in-editor, not in game.[/COLOR]
[IMG]http://www.hiveworkshop.com/attachments/booty-bay-0-png.246274/[/IMG] [IMG]http://www.hiveworkshop.com/attachments/booty-bay-1-png.246275/[/IMG]
[IMG]http://www.hiveworkshop.com/attachments/booty-bay-2-png.246276/[/IMG]
[IMG]http://www.hiveworkshop.com/attachments/booty-bay-3-png.246277/[/IMG] [/hidden]
[Hidden="Change Log"][2016-08-22]-Uploaded
-Fixed description
[2016-08-23]-Added a few more trees to both bases
-Added an extra creep camp in the middle[/hidden]

[SIZE=4]Authors Notes[/SIZE]
Hi!
This is my first upload to the Hive.
I hope you like my map, and if you enjoy playing it, don't forget to give it a rating!
You may alter this map in any way you desire, just don't forget to give me credits if you do!
[/table][/Center]

Example: Booty Bay

 

[IcemanBo]

I basicly see nothing wrong in it. It looks good, and especially the "Map Specifics" are characteristic for a melee map and important to know.

Maybe also some melee players wanna know, next to plain PlayerAmount, how much the map size is. Maybe there can be an extra default field for it For example 192x192. (?)

Nothing really bad, but is there a special reason why "auhtors note" is on very top? Intuitivly I'm used it to be at somewhere at bottom, like explained in your other Maps tutorial.

edit:

Is a normal melee map meant to include custom models or so? If so, there might be also a default "credits" part mentioned. But it's an honest question.

 

[Rufus]

I'd say it is pretty rare that a melee map has imports, and in that case it should be called altered melee anyway. In the rare cases an import appears in a map, the reviewers can just point out that he should add a credits list. Having one be default seems unneccesary.

I had a good reason for authors notes on top, but I can't seem to remember that now...
I will restructuriza later today If I can't think of it.

About displaing the size, I think most mini-maps can give a pretty good idea about that already, and I don't really think it is that important. However, I'm not a pro melee player, so perhaps it should be there. Your call!

 

[IcemanBo]

About displaing the size, I think most mini-maps can give a pretty good idea about that already

One could actually count "Gold Mines", "Players", "Neutral Buildings" from a minimap. But not see the actualy size.
But I looked at some minimaps now, and actually saw this (see attachment). So writing size is probably really not so important.

'd say it is pretty rare that a melee map has imports

Okay.

I had a good reason for authors notes on top, but I can't seem to remember that now...

Okay. ^^ Maybe you find out again.

I will restructuriza later today If I can't think of it.

Sure, take your time.

What maybe would be good is a very short introduction where you explain what is generaly expected by the user.
Some general info, similar like you did in the other tutorial. Maybe like:

"For a melee map you are not supposed to do <bla bla> (maybe no long story/texts), ...
but sharing some technical information like <bla bla> ... can make your map more attractive."

And then you show your example. Just a suggestion.

 

[Rufus]

True.
I'll see what I can do!

 

[Rufus]

Alright, check it out now.
It feels a bit long, but now it is very clear what is important and such.

 

[IcemanBo]

Seems good! I like it.

Submission: Description - Melee Map Template Date: 21 November 2016 Status: Approved Note: A useful reference for descriptions specialized for melee maps. Approved

Can we change the name from "Description - Melee Map Template" -> "Description Template - Melee Maps" ?^^

 

[Rufus]

Indeed we can.
Changed it to "Description Guide - Melee Maps", as it is more than a template.

 

[Chaosy]

(Optinal) > (Optional)


I also enourage using indent.

My title

Bla bla bla​

 

[Rufus]

Fixed "optional". Thanks!
I tried indent, but thought it looked better without. You can create a template with the BB code you prefer, so we can offer an alternative though!

 

[Chaosy]

[Center][table]
[center][h1]Super Awesome Map[/h1]
[h2]By Badass1337[/h2][/center]

[SIZE=4]Story[/SIZE] [COLOR=#ff0000](Optional)[/COLOR]
[INDENT]Pirates once anchored their ships in these quiet coves.
Now the area is overrun with more brutal tenants.
Establish your own kingdom on these islands before your opponent does.[/INDENT]

[SIZE=4]Tactics[/SIZE]
[INDENT]In this small and narrow map you need to gain control of crucial points in order to dominate the map.
A fountain of health may be important to hold the line against your enemy, and the goblin laboratory above it can grant you access to the gold mine islands.[/INDENT]

[SIZE=4]Map Specifics[/SIZE][table]
[IMG]http://www.hiveworkshop.com/data/attachments/208/208431-68b922c0059b74b0d640282fca7d1f80.jpg[/IMG] Players [C]2[R]
[IMG]http://www.hiveworkshop.com/data/attachments/208/208430-a0bf11462cec6338b8e882705c9309cd.jpg[/IMG] Creep Camps[C] [COLOR=#80ff00]4[/COLOR] [COLOR=#ffa64d]6[/COLOR] [COLOR=#ff4d4d]4[/COLOR][R]
[IMG]http://www.hiveworkshop.com/data/attachments/208/208427-67ced567f320d96ce63cdb2eb304a5d4.jpg[/IMG] Neutral Buildings[C]2[R]
[IMG]http://www.hiveworkshop.com/data/attachments/208/208423-626cd1b769e6dcd3ae555e8d52671d6c.jpg[/IMG] Gold Mines[C]6[/table]
[Hidden="Screenshots"]
[COLOR=#ff0000]NOTE! The screenshots should be taken in-editor, not in game.[/COLOR]
[IMG]http://www.hiveworkshop.com/attachments/booty-bay-0-png.246274/[/IMG] [IMG]http://www.hiveworkshop.com/attachments/booty-bay-1-png.246275/[/IMG]
[IMG]http://www.hiveworkshop.com/attachments/booty-bay-2-png.246276/[/IMG]
[IMG]http://www.hiveworkshop.com/attachments/booty-bay-3-png.246277/[/IMG][/hidden]
[Hidden="Change Log"][2016-08-22]-Uploaded
[table]Verision[c]Notes[r]
1.0[c]Uploaded[r]
1.1[c]
[LIST]
[*]x
[*]y
[*]z
[/LIST]
[/table][/hidden]

[SIZE=4]Authors Notes[/SIZE]
[INDENT]Hi!
This is my first upload to the Hive.
I hope you like my map, and if you enjoy playing it, don't forget to give it a rating!
You may alter this map in any way you desire, just don't forget to give me credits if you do![/INDENT]
[/table][/Center]