Blizzard parle des cartes de la Saison 2 sur StarCraft II
Notre David préféré est de retour avec un nouveau et long message destiné à partager les pensées des développeurs au sujet de l'équilibrage de StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void. Cela parle beaucoup des cartes et de la Saison 2, ce qui plaira à ceux qui arpentent le ladder régulièrement.
Map Archetypes Post
We wanted to give a shoutout this week to the post that came up describing a potential way to describe different map archetypes, due to how well thought out it was. Describing a map this way seems to be a great start in order to make sure we have good map diversity in terms of how rush/econ heavy a map is.
After discussing this post internally, we wondered if we can expand on this concept further so that we can make sure each map stands out in a cool way compared to other maps out there. We think the 3x3 grid serves as a great way to define the alignment of a map’s economic/aggressive characteristics. We wonder though if this alignment’ concept should work alongside another attributea unique map class’ (archetype) aspectto give a more complete picture of a map. For instance, maps like Prion Terraces might represent the class of maps which have easy-to-access high yield bases. We could have many maps of this class over the seasons, varied in alignment from aggressive to economic. We also believe there is room for more of these archetype concepts that really make a map stand out from what we’ve seen in the past, and we’d love to hear your ideas on other creative concepts which we can seek to use in maps of all types within this A.C.R.E. model.
Map Cuts for Season 2
We’ll be looking to cut a total of four maps for Season 2. The obvious three map cuts would be the oldest three maps in the pool: Ruins of Seras, Lerilak Crest, and Orbital Shipyard. Of the remaining four maps, (granted we want your feedback before we finalize) we were thinking the weakest map remaining is Central Protocol. We received a map submission called (4)Invader that is a similar idea to Central Protocol, but initially looks to be executed better. So we’re currently thinking if we cut Central Protocol, Invader could be a good new map to try in that slot. To be clear however, we are waiting to review all map submissions before any decisions are finalized.
Other Season 2 Maps
We’ve also been reading up on and discussing various ideas throughout the past month or so, and we feel that we may have located a couple cool ideas so far.
Island-like Map
The community has been discussing the idea of having a map that is not pathable by ground at certain stages of the game, and we’ve been looking closely into figuring out the exact points to attempt while having the map still be competitive. Here are the main points we’re considering on a map like this:
Map with Varying Attack Route Considerations
Another idea that we thought was interesting is playing around with the idea of having the main attack path to the opponent be easy to defend, and the alternate attack paths being extremely long by ground. This way, more mobility-based units and/or air unit-based strategies could be more powerful. Here are some detailed points that we’d be trying to hit:
Reaper Strength
There looks to be an interesting split regarding feedback here. On the KR community side, we’re hearing a lot of feedback that Zerg has no chance vs. Reapers in the early game, and on the non-KR side, we’re seeing a lot of Reaper strength issues in TvT. Let’s keep a close eye on Reaper strength going forward, and perhaps test a change on the next Balance Test Map if it is needed.
PvZ Ravager Timing Strength
We’re seeing a lot of feedback about the strength of early Ravagers, and we’ve noticed the strength of Ravager pushes in PvZ. While we aren’t sure that a change is definitely needed at this time, we agree that it would be good to be ready with a change by getting a Balance Test Map going. This way, if the strategy does indeed turn out to be problematic, we can patch right away.
If we are to test a nerf to Ravagers, we believe it might be good to test nerfing their ability against immobile units and/or structures. For example, if each shot damage was reduced or if the cooldown of the ability was increased a lot, or something along those lines. This way, if we were to lean towards doing the Siege Tank Medivac pick up removal in the future, TvZ will definitely also be less affected as well, which would be a plus. If we go with a different solution for TvT mech viability, we would most likely want to look for a different change here as well.
We wanted to give a shoutout this week to the post that came up describing a potential way to describe different map archetypes, due to how well thought out it was. Describing a map this way seems to be a great start in order to make sure we have good map diversity in terms of how rush/econ heavy a map is.
After discussing this post internally, we wondered if we can expand on this concept further so that we can make sure each map stands out in a cool way compared to other maps out there. We think the 3x3 grid serves as a great way to define the alignment of a map’s economic/aggressive characteristics. We wonder though if this alignment’ concept should work alongside another attributea unique map class’ (archetype) aspectto give a more complete picture of a map. For instance, maps like Prion Terraces might represent the class of maps which have easy-to-access high yield bases. We could have many maps of this class over the seasons, varied in alignment from aggressive to economic. We also believe there is room for more of these archetype concepts that really make a map stand out from what we’ve seen in the past, and we’d love to hear your ideas on other creative concepts which we can seek to use in maps of all types within this A.C.R.E. model.
Map Cuts for Season 2
We’ll be looking to cut a total of four maps for Season 2. The obvious three map cuts would be the oldest three maps in the pool: Ruins of Seras, Lerilak Crest, and Orbital Shipyard. Of the remaining four maps, (granted we want your feedback before we finalize) we were thinking the weakest map remaining is Central Protocol. We received a map submission called (4)Invader that is a similar idea to Central Protocol, but initially looks to be executed better. So we’re currently thinking if we cut Central Protocol, Invader could be a good new map to try in that slot. To be clear however, we are waiting to review all map submissions before any decisions are finalized.
Other Season 2 Maps
We’ve also been reading up on and discussing various ideas throughout the past month or so, and we feel that we may have located a couple cool ideas so far.
Island-like Map
The community has been discussing the idea of having a map that is not pathable by ground at certain stages of the game, and we’ve been looking closely into figuring out the exact points to attempt while having the map still be competitive. Here are the main points we’re considering on a map like this:
- Can scout early on to reduce the build order coin flip nature of island maps.
- Early/mid game players choose to get into a more of a “island” position by breaking down Rock Towers.
- We would need to have enough bases for players to grab (we’re thinking around 3-4 at least that can’t be attacked by ground unless rocks are broken).
- Late stage, the map would revert to more of a ground-based setup as rocks are broken down, opening up paths to the various bases.
Map with Varying Attack Route Considerations
Another idea that we thought was interesting is playing around with the idea of having the main attack path to the opponent be easy to defend, and the alternate attack paths being extremely long by ground. This way, more mobility-based units and/or air unit-based strategies could be more powerful. Here are some detailed points that we’d be trying to hit:
- This type of map would not be a rush map.
- The main attack path would be a low ground path that leads up to a small ramp. The defending player would have a big defender’s advantage if they are able to set up at the ramp outside of their base. This area could also be blocked off with buildings and smaller numbers of defensive units.
- The alternate paths take a much longer travel along by ground, so mobile units would make a heavier usage of these paths.
- Perhaps different paths could open up in the late game, so that the games on this map don’t drag on too much due to the main attack path being too easy to defend.
Reaper Strength
There looks to be an interesting split regarding feedback here. On the KR community side, we’re hearing a lot of feedback that Zerg has no chance vs. Reapers in the early game, and on the non-KR side, we’re seeing a lot of Reaper strength issues in TvT. Let’s keep a close eye on Reaper strength going forward, and perhaps test a change on the next Balance Test Map if it is needed.
PvZ Ravager Timing Strength
We’re seeing a lot of feedback about the strength of early Ravagers, and we’ve noticed the strength of Ravager pushes in PvZ. While we aren’t sure that a change is definitely needed at this time, we agree that it would be good to be ready with a change by getting a Balance Test Map going. This way, if the strategy does indeed turn out to be problematic, we can patch right away.
If we are to test a nerf to Ravagers, we believe it might be good to test nerfing their ability against immobile units and/or structures. For example, if each shot damage was reduced or if the cooldown of the ability was increased a lot, or something along those lines. This way, if we were to lean towards doing the Siege Tank Medivac pick up removal in the future, TvZ will definitely also be less affected as well, which would be a plus. If we go with a different solution for TvT mech viability, we would most likely want to look for a different change here as well.
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