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Frozen Coast

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Name: Isle of Spears
Players: 2
Playable size: 88 x 88
Tileset: Lordaeron Winter
You have to walk around the bay to get to the expo. I was worried that it might be too close to the enemy and therefore placed some trees in his path so he can't disrupt the expansion all too quickly. Don't know if it works out. Cut a path through the trees.

Open for map name suggestions. Isle of Spears is a WoW place in Northrend that looks like this island, but it's still just a working title. Anything with "Northrend", coastal-related, might work well.

Enjoy!


=== changelog ===

v02
- added a few trees
- added pathing blockers near murloc camps

v03
- ??? (I forgot)

v04
- renamed the map from Failed Exploration to Final Exploration
- moved Merc Camp closer to the center and switched positions of neutral buildings
- created a red creep camp
- weakened the creep camp at the secondary expo to make it more accessible
- remixed all creep compositions
- widened the entrance to the tavern area

v05
- generally shrunk the map a little, pulling creep camps closer towards the center and cutting off the edges
- remixed all creep camps to improve creeping routes
- pulled the starting position a little closer to the center
- renamed map from Final Exploration to Isle of Spears, a (WoW) place located on the southeast coast of Northrend
- re-wrote the Map Description
- replaced Lordaeron Summer Merc Camp with Lordaeron Winter Merc Camp

v06
- significantly shrunk the size of the map again
- removed a red creep camp from each side
- removed one orange creep camp from each side (actually removed a green camp and changed the murlocs from orange to green)

v07
- buffed Goblin Lab creep camp from lvl 13 to lvl 15 and item drop from lvl 2 charged to lvl 3 charged

v08
- moved green tuskarr camp near base a little further away

v09
- redesigned the terrain in the map center, creating a new path and thus making it more open

v10
- moved the starting positions a little further away from the center to re-establish the standard distance
- turned the Tuskarr Warrior camp around nerd nerfed it slightly
- also moved the other green camps arund and remixed them
- nerfed Goblin Lab creep camp / item drop: lvl 3 charged -> lvl 2 charged
- remixed natural expo creep composition for it to be sufficient to reach lvl 2 / item drop: lvl 2 permanent -> lvl 2 charged
- wolf camp in the center changed item drop: lvl 3 permanent -> lvl 3 charged
- secondary gold mine creep camp: replaced one Tuskarr Warrior with Tuskarr Trapper
- moved Goblin Shop to the edge of the map
- nerfed Goblin Shop creep camp (included a Giant Polar Bear because they are awesome) / item drop: lvl 4 charged -> lvl 3 permanent

v11
- moved the starting positions even further away
- slightly mammoth green camp a little closer to starting position
- changed the item drops of the Dire Frost Wolf camps in the center from 2x lvl 3 charged to 1x lvl 3 charged and 1x lvl 3 permanent. If one camp drops one type, the other camp drops the other type. The drops cannot be predicted

v12
- renamed the map from Isle of Spears to Off the Frozen Coast, a reference to the South-Eastern coast of Northrend, where the Isle of Spears is located
- re-distributed critters
- fixed a case of creep aggro

v13
- relocated creep camps in the center

v14
- modified area around the starting positions

v15
- beta version for nwc3l

v16
- renamed from Off the Frozen Coast to Frozen Coast
- removed fog
- enlarged the upper and lower side of the map to add some trees to the starting location
- remixed many creep camps and repositioned neutral building
- changed the middle to one orange lvl 15 and one red lvl 23 creep camp. it is randomly decided at the beginning of the game which camp is where

v17
- minor terrain improvements

v18
- relocated merc camp
- swapped two creep camps to allow for better AoW creeping near base

v19
- reduced gold in secondary expo
Contents

Frozen Coast v19 (Map)

Reviews
WolfFarkas
1) maybe the gob lab wall of trees is a bit thin in that spot IMO. 2) IMO: with your layout, you have to creep and then turn back, because is somehow a dead end, the flow would be better if you could go there and then walk with shallow water, the...
deepstrasz
Nothing to comment on, really. Approved. If you want more reviews, you should participate in the The Grand Review Exchange! R U L E S Site Rules Map Submission Rules M A P - D E S C R I P T I O N BB CODES BB Codes | HIVE MELEE MAPS...
Level 29
Joined
May 21, 2013
Messages
1,635


1) maybe the gob lab wall of trees is a bit thin in that spot IMO.
upload_2019-5-12_23-31-26.png


2) IMO: with your layout, you have to creep and then turn back, because is somehow a dead end, the flow would be better if you could go there and then walk with shallow water, the walking flow would be better. (dead ends are very penaliced in ladder, I did that in the second contest, It wasnt good for me)
upload_2019-5-12_23-36-2.png


3) doodads: total: 2668: 549 winter tree, 1706 snowy tree, 2255 trees, 413 doodads for enviroment. Enviroment is ok, but since the balance is very good it would be nice to have more doodads as enviroment, skulls, braziers, pile of junk whatever.



I really like the design and balance.
 
Level 12
Joined
May 12, 2012
Messages
104
Thank you for your feedback!

@Nudl9 - I'm completely open to map names. Most of them are merely working titles, I'd rather spend time thinking abut a new project rather than finding a clever name for an existing map.

@Ragnaros17 - You're right about the trees, I've added a few there and as well as in other spots.

Altering that creep camp is tricky cause adding a path there would screw up the creep aggro. I was hoping that the "detour" didn't matter much since it's only a small one. I'm considering to switch the lvl 4 and lvl 10 murloc camps though, so there would only be a small camp in that corner.

Regarding the doodads, summer tilesets usually allow for more stuff than winter doodads (I think) and the lordaeron winter tileset itself already makes it look very diversified. For example, there's not a single doodad in the screenshot, but I've highlighted some terrain details that makes it seem so:

terrain.jpg

For the rest I like to use mushrooms.
 

deepstrasz

Map Reviewer
Level 68
Joined
Jun 4, 2009
Messages
18,706
Nothing to comment on, really.

Approved.


If you want more reviews, you should participate in the The Grand Review Exchange!

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ADDITIONAL NECESSARY INFORMATION
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If you're not satisfied with the review and wish another opinion, contact the other reviewers or use the staff contact:
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Level 12
Joined
May 12, 2012
Messages
104
Renamed it to Final Exploration – which is still not great, but less horrid to pronounce.

Also completely remixed the creep camps.

I also wonder if the map is too big. 104x104 right now, minus some water in the edges. It would actually be relatively simple to cut off like 10 %.

PS: Edited a lot more, shrinking the map quite a bit and improving creep routes. Also renamed it to Isle of Spears.
 
Last edited:
Level 24
Joined
Nov 9, 2006
Messages
2,558
I think center area is lacking structure in the inland area.
Removing trees is not an option here as it would be bad for gameplay.
Here's some of my ideas:
-Introduce Lordearon Winter short grass tile. As this map has a lot of "dirty" areas.
-Have a small quarry of ice claws around a difficult camp. I feel it fits with the raw theme of the map.
-Or maybe a pile of white skulls placed around a pillar. As a landmark of sorts.
-With the new name of the map "Isle of Spears" you could use the barrens centaur totem?, which has a model with spears crossed.

From an NE perspective i feel like this map is lacking interesting things to do, my go-to strategies would be something like this:
NE*UD/NE: Hide and an AoW, chop through trees with AOW and harass. KoTG entangle workers that repair.
NE*HU: There's a lack of things to do in this MU. Pit Lord, Zeppelin, RoF harass. Maybe KOTG can Force of Nature the two center ogre camps for a quick 2.5? I feel like mercenary camp needs to be closer on the main path
NE*ORC: Lack of NE things to do. Orc can level up BM,SH safely with camps this close.
HU*NE: Milita lab, harass and tech. BM shenaninganz are easy here. Critters seem easy to hide.

Overall:
I think the main problem is that it's a wide style map. From my own experience, the wide maps are the worst ones i've made since they don't create confrontational gameplay which is what you want. Maybe the map would be better if you got rid of the hard expansion area?
 
Level 12
Joined
May 12, 2012
Messages
104
Thanks for your input!

I'll probably add some spears when I'm certain of the layout. Would be cool to have them mark the entrance to the base. Totally forgot that Barrens tileset has them.
The claws are cool but I don't like gates that potentially obstruct the view. Perhaps they can be placed on the side though.

Regarding race balance: The recent change of the map shape probably makes a difference so I'll see which of your concerns will uphold. I'm the most concerned about the Blademaster fast leveling. The new creep camps form good routes.
 
Level 24
Joined
Nov 9, 2006
Messages
2,558
When i look at the map i feel like it has too much dirt.
It seems like every path is downtrodden at the moment, as if past people have moved there.
Leaving some areas untrodden will make it seem more natural.
More snow and grass would be pretty i think.
So i doodled over the areas i would like to see more grass or snow.
I tried to stay faithful to your vision of 70/30 mix with the grass/snow.
 

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Level 12
Joined
May 12, 2012
Messages
104
I'm very cautious when it comes to snow because some people dislike bright white areas.

I understand that you're weary of the dirt terrain but the only alternative here would be grass. Perhaps it can be accentuated with unbuildable brick terrain, by building a road or something.
 
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