Hive Cup 2020: Melee Mapping Contest #6

[Vinz]

Create a brand new 1v1 melee map, or nominate an existing one of yours. Any entry must not have been used for any previous Hive contest.

The top 5 submissions will be featured in the qualifier rounds and the final cup, as with last year. Let your creativity reign while ensuring the map is balanced for competitive play.

The tournament will be played on Legacy/Classic/SD graphics, so you should aim for best performance in SD. Previews and screenshots in Reforged are not encouraged.

Helpful Links: Melee mapping - The reasons behind common aspects of competitive 1v1 maps

Competitive Melee Map

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• Your submission must follow the site rules and map submission rules.
• All submissions must follow the current theme.
• The submission must be posted in the map resource section and linked in the contest thread before the contest ends.
• You need to have proof that the map is yours. If the judges are unsure about ownership, they may ask you for to provide a link to an approved map on this site, a post containing a WIP, a WIP file, or screenshots of one.
• Your final submission must be bug free.
• The map must satisfy the "Melee Map: Yes" condition as determined by Warcraft 3.
  • No custom imports are allowed.
  • Triggers are not allowed.
• Only one entry per contestant.
• Judges may not participate.
• Teamwork is not allowed.
  • Finding testers to help you with your submission is not considered teamwork.
  • You may not base your submission off any map by Blizzard or anyone else.

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• 1st place: 50 reputation points
• 2nd place: 40 reputation points
• 3rd place: 30 reputation points
• 4th place: 20 reputation points
• 5th place: 10 reputation points
  
• Judge: 15 reputation points per entry

The five winners will receive an award icon representing the winning entry.

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• @Knecht
• Neytpoh
• @SayuriTenshi

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Layout	Do creeps have proper aggro? Are neutral buildings and expansions placed properly? Is there adequate spacing?	/35
Creeps	Is the creeping fair for all races? How is the creeping flow? Are the item drops balanced?	/35
Terrain	Is the map visually pleasing in terms of terrain, doodad placement, and overall theme? Is the map repetitive? Is the aesthetic well designed but not overly obstructive?	/20
Creativity & Uniqueness	Does the map bring something new or creative to the table?	/10
Technical	Bugs and other technical issues will negatively impact the score of a map.	--
Total	/100

Results calculation

• Judgement: 80%
• Poll: 20%

FinalScore = (20*Reached_Votes/POSSIBLE_VOTES) + (80*Average_Judge_Score/POSSIBLE_SCORE)

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The contest shall conclude on 13th September 2020 GMT (day is included).

Previous Contest | Poll | Results

 

[Vinz]

Contestant	Progess	Entries
SaveHighKing	1 | 2	Gatekeepers
Zucth	1 | 2 | 3	Waste Factory
Chucky	1 | 2	Dragon Valley
Mr.Henci	1 | 2 | 3	Zul'Alor
mafe	1 | 2	Shattered Exile
JaleVeliki	1 | 2	Frostfire Ridge
Kaer#2460	1 | 2	Tortoise Haven
Meerel	1 | 2	Shallow Grave
Archian	1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6	Battlefield of Eternity
Deserted	1 | 2	Advancing Glaciers
HUmanJDog	1 | 2	Mountain Valley
Nudl9	1 | 2	Upstream
SWAGSCALIBUR	1 | 2	Chernobyl Remains
Ossavi	1 | 2	Last Snow
WolfFarkas	1 | 2 | 3 | 4	Twelve Temples
KoD.ZOmbIE	1 | 2	Lost Wasteland
ometotchtli	1 | 2	Ponds
INSEKT	1 | 2	Night Stream
Mythic	1 | 2	Marienburg
Cigaro	1 | 2	Talonrift Coast
adamcg	1 | 2	A Land Divided
Name	1 | 2	Name
Name	1 | 2	Name
Name	1 | 2	Name

List will be updated as people join.

 

[Folderz]

Joining in. Not the hive cup but the mapping contest. Little spoiler here.

Spoiler: wip

edit: map posted
Gatekeepers

 

[SayuriTenshi]

there is the first man

 

[Zucth]

I do join too.
Edit: "Change the map"

Map Link: (2)Waste Factory

WIP+WIP2+WIP3:

 

[Nightmare2077]

Very cool!
Big thanks to Mythic for helping with banners and announcements

I'm again the one sponsoring the event, so let's hope it all runs smooth this time

Good luck to all contenders!

 

[Chucky]

I'm in too

 

[Mr.Henci]

Count me in!

 

[mafe]

I'm also participating. Probably will overhaul one of my existing maps for this occasion.

 

[JaleVeliki]

What a wonderful new contest to join!

See you guys on the contestant's list!

 

[Chucky]

WIP, Dragon Valley:

 

[Kaer#2460]

Count me in. I'd like to try finishing an old draft of mine.

WIP:

Spoiler

 

[Meerel]

lets go boys, im in

 

[Archian]

You know what. I think I might join this.

 

[SayuriTenshi]

I just wanna say that slaming boats on a map or some unorthodox random stuff is not Creativity & Uniqueness in my eyes. Try to make a Balanced and nice flowing map for 1vs1 i want to see it in the ladder at some point

 

[Knecht]

just to follow up on Tenshi a bit:

I agree, just slamming boats or other exotic stuff without thinking it through will only hurt the map. However, I don't want to discourage the usage of such stuff. Remember, if there wasn't the iniciative from mapmakers to promote boats, we wouldn't have the boat patch. You just have to know how to use that stuff and that's a harder task than making a regular map imo. Maps play an important role in balance and in warcraft 3 in general and a mapmaker can influence the balance greatly.

Another thing I'd like to address since there's some new faces in melee-mapmaking, read those guides that are below mafe's posts. Don't rush the map (sounds hypocritical from me ), don't get discouraged by criticism, even consult the maps, whatever, there's no prize money in this contest and I just want good ladder-viable maps to come from the contest.

Last thing I'd like to ask you is if you could please add like a sentence or a small paragraph describing the map or the general idea behind the map (be it here or in the map description). I'm in no place to demand such stuff but I'd like to prevent confusion in judging like that time where someone used custom groups and one of the judges didn't know about that stuff. Plus it would help me understand why some things were done in such way etc. Of course you're not obliged to post anything if you don't want to.

 

[SayuriTenshi]

Good what Knecht says. I goes like this: know the Rules befor u try to break them.

So its also good if u say whats the identety of ur map. Often u have somthing in mind and dont want to change that one at all.

 

[Deserted]

Count me in!

 

[HUmanJDog]

WIP, Mountain Valley:
Mountain valley

 

[Nudl9]

Upstream

 

[SWAGSCALIBUR]

I would like to join the contest and try my luck as well.

WIP:

 

[Ossavi]

I'm in!

WIP:

 

[Nudl9]

@Ossavi
Looks playable.
There's some visual stuff you can improve on, i doodled over the image in paint.
When it comes to gameplay i'd remove the alleyway to the creep camp.
Because if you get creepjacked you need to have a TP or it's game over.
Maybe add some rolling hills or even cliffs for the sake of height variation.
Overall i feel it could use a more visually distinct shape as a whole, right now it's a squared island which makes it look artificial.

 

[WolfFarkas]

I would like to participate if there still room. I planning a sunken ruins map

wip1

 

[Archian]

Early WIP.

Melee Map Title: Battlefield Of Eternity

 

[WolfFarkas]

wip2

 

[Meerel]

im not sure what to pick: Black Market or Shallow Grave

 

[KoD.ZOmbIE]

I want to join!

Map: Lost wasteland

 

[WolfFarkas]

im not sure what to pick: Black Market or Shallow Grave

if you are asking others opinions about yours maps, Is hard to tell, both are good.
I can think 3 reasons why I like Shallow Grave more, but If you want to know those reasons, I better write by vm, I dont desire risk being offtopic here or put very subjetive statements that may biass other participants.

 

[Archian]

More WIP's. Is 4 Doom Guards too much to guard a Fountain of Health or Fountain of Mana?

 

[Linaze]

I think in general fountain of mana is a big no for melee, regardless of the creeps.

 

[Archian]

Yeah, I arrived at the same conclusion. I might end of with a Fountain of Health.

 

[Zucth]

Yeah, I arrived at the same conclusion. I might end of with a Fountain of Health.

isn't that unbalance than mana fountain?

 

[SayuriTenshi]

no its not but heal foutain needs to be placed carefull

 

[Linaze]

isn't that unbalance than mana fountain?

Health fountains work well in current ladder pool maps. Mana fountains I don't remember when they last made an appearance however.

 

[WolfFarkas]

wip3

edit:

Map name: Savage Coast

Map link:

Savage Coast

map 100% playable, pending more enviroment work + betatesting. Still working on the map

 

[Nudl9]

Fountains dumb down the game.
When you retreat from a fight it should cost gold to restore your health and mana.
Imo they have no place in 1v1.

 

[Linaze]

Fountains dumb down the game.
When you retreat from a fight it should cost gold to restore your health and mana.
Imo they have no place in 1v1.

Generally agreed. However if placed properly it can work, there just needs be a lot of risk involved in going there and can't just be conveniently along your path as you retreat.

 

[JaleVeliki]

Fountains can be okay, just need to be placed carefully in order to be utilized in a balanced way.

 

[Nudl9]

They aren't even balanced.
The regen rate needs to be changed to hybrid flat/percent.
It can be allieviated by putting them on the sides, but then they're not getting used so what's the point.

 

[Archian]

Well, currently there are two Fountain of Health placed on both sides of the map relatively close to the bridge that connects the two sides. The idea is to promote battles close to this location, with the defending player having the advantage, but players can also retreat back to his side and heal (provided the Creep Camp is cleared).

 

[SayuriTenshi]

they are totaly fine on ch dude

 

[Nudl9]

They work because of said "allieviated" reason, but that doesn't mean they add to the game in terms of fun or balance.
WC3 is a game that is at it's most fun when you fight around bases, shops or in the open.
If you fight beside a fountain you need to back the off because whoever holds it first wins.
Which is why you can never have only 1 fountain, unless it's 4v4 where anything goes.
I can only see them being detrimental in 1v1.

 

[SayuriTenshi]

they add some more agressive play on ch in some matchups cuz u can heal after (if the enemy lets u)

 

[Ossavi]

Uploaded the current version of my map Last Snow; I hope I'll be able to improve the uglier areas visually in the near future.

 

[JaleVeliki]

They aren't even balanced.
The regen rate needs to be changed to hybrid flat/percent.
It can be allieviated by putting them on the sides, but then they're not getting used so what's the point.

As we've seen from Blizzard recently: crazy things, from tech trees and huge racial balance changes - to boats and merc camps, can be changed or updated. IMO - just a matter of time before Fountains get their turn as well. I wouldn't completely ignore their existence yet. Finding smart ways for them to work is the goal. Numbers can always be tweaked.

 

[ometotchtli]

Takin part.

NOT with my SV overhaul but instead with a new creation.

Ponds

Work of progess attached to this comment.

 

[Nudl9]

Changed and updated, but not always for the better.
They buffed Crypt Lord, now what?
You get boring UD vs UD games.
Just because you can "balance" something doesn't mean you should.

 

[Archian]

Another way to enter the other side, besides the Eternal Brigde, is to take this Way Gate across time and space, to another dimension.

There are Way Gates on both sides of the map, which takes the player to a third "island". From here players can walk across and enter the other Way Gate to the opponents land.

The question is, this third island should be worth fightning for and control. So my question is. What is worth fightning for? Gold Mine, Hero Tavern or a Fountain of Mana. Or Creeps that drop unique loot.

 

[Nudl9]

Updated Upstream to resolve some clogging issues and smooth out creeproutes.