Map submission

[Ponty]

Hi,

I would like to submit my creation to the fml staff

http://www.filedropper.com/cavethe

Maybe we could play it one day in fml ?

I'm open to critics/modifications


Plan of the map
http://imgur.com/m7JZCB9

PS : thanks to Normalice for helping me on few things

[Pinballmap]

Nice. Good job. ill try to evaluate it asap.

[FML|WorpeX]

Okay, i'm extremely picky when it comes to map making and evaluating maps. Don't get discouraged with this post, map making is very difficult and time consuming. You made a really great and unique map here! However, I plan to go through the map with a fine tooth comb and evaluate it for league use. Please take this evaluation as a guide to improve your map!!

First impressions

When looking at the map for the first time, my first impression is that it is small with a lot of choke points. It's also very cluttered. Creeps are everywhere and generally in poorly placed areas. The minimap doesn't help, as its very difficult to look at and determine the natural flow of the map since some terrain features look like walls. Creep camps aren't placed in any particular order for creeping routes. Last thing I notice is it that its not a pretty map to look at and its using an unpopular tileset.

Game Balance

From first load of the game, I can tell you haven't done a whole lot of game testing or balance on this. It needs a lot of work in this department.

Shipyard is a cool addition to this map which feels unique and adds another layer of strategy that I like. I have no idea how they affect game balance though since almost no maps use them.

Creeps need work and i'll get into them more later. First off, it is impossible to scout on this map without waiting for night time as your peasants will run straight into creep camps and die. You have to manually set a path for them in order to successfully navigate and make it to your opponents bases. Many creeps are right in the middle of walkways.

Wood harvesting in this game looks like it'll be a colossal pain as there isn't much at your main and what is there isn't close to your town hall once the initial 20 trees are cleared. The Natural has a similar problem. Late game, it looks like wood will be scarce. Further, there are a lot of holes in the tree-lines. This lets wisps hide among the trees and become almost impossible to find.

Some start locations seem to have more wood than others. Top right by my count has 35 less tree than top left!

The unbuildable terrain down by the natural is a nice touch and will help the choke points be less defensible. However, it also impedes base-building and forces players to build out in an awkward angle.

Terrain

Sadly, there isn't much done in this department. The map is mostly featureless and the bare-minimum was done in terraining. There is no height mapping done at all and for the most part only 2 textures are used - Dirt and Rock. The whole map looks flat and drab. This is why the minimap looks ugly and should be a big focus for improvement.

I highly recommend loading up some Blizzard created maps in this tileset and looking at the terrain on those maps (Savage Storm, Ice Force, Upper Kingdom, etc). Take note of the way they use textures to show pathways throughout the map and give the map a more natural look. Zoom in and out to see the height mapping. Lastly, check out the use of doodads around the map but especially near creep camps.

Creeps/Items

Many creeps are placed straight in the middle of pathways. Consider making little nooks for them to be placed in so that they aren't impeding player movement. The Kobalds in this map in particular are all right in the middle of pathways.

Middle creeps aren't set to Camp mode making it difficult to walk past them. It's also FAR too hard. Creep value of 42 is more than any Blizzard made map. I don't think very many of them even get up to 30. 

As for item drops, use this guide and don't deviate from it unless you're adding in a unique item (which you aren't): http://classic.battle.net/mod/dev/melee.shtml

Lastly, dont use Banshee's. No one likes creeping them as they can cast possession and steal your units. If a banshee has an item drop and possess one of your units you wont get the items. Just dont use them, they're annoying and aren't fun to fight.

Improvement

Overall, this is a good start for what can really be a great map! Terrain needs a big upgrade and some tweeks need to be made to the creeps and wood. I think the layout will be unique and refreshing for the FFA community and I really like the addition of the shipyards (so much so that I wish they had more utility on this map).

Another big thing is to get players together to really test the map. I barely played a noticed some bugs (there is a hole in the rocks near the top left sludges, peasants walk right through it). Play testing is where you'll find out what issues the map has with balance and what you can do to make the map more fun for players. It's not ready for league play yet, but with some hard work and dedication it can be there!

Good luck!!