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HIGHEST AUTHORITY (Update: Now published on European servers as well as South East Asia! Has also been requested to feature in a small tournament!)
Here are some samples from my second Starcraft 2 map, Highest Authority. Rather than continue to iterate on Tournament Desert (TD), I decided to start a new level from scratch for several reasons based on my learning so far. TD was far too open, square, and basically not interesting. My main inspirations for Highest Authority came from a combination of two of Blizzard's Starcraft 2 maps - Scrap Station and Metalopolis. I always liked the 'U' shape of scrap station, as it made for interesting playstyle choices (short air distance, expansion direction away from yourself and opponents). As for Metalopolis, easily one of the most popular official maps, the urban grid layout is just extremely identifiable and I think players like the structured nature of it, as you can basically direct game flow with the road system. And also, the Korhal tileset looks amazing (Although I didnt realise how much more time it took to detail an urban map as opposed to a nature/terrain map! Totally worth the time though).
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To the left is an influence map designed to show the congestion/openness of the map, which is useful to visualise the distribution of chokepoints, large areas, and the general flow of the level.
To the right is a map designed to show the shortest route between the two bases for various travel methods. By air (direct line, such as for aircraft or overloads), by cliff (reapers or colossus), and the main ground route. The ground distance is actually quite far to due the positioning of each base's ramp, while the short air distance is likely to effect player's tech choices very often (not necessarily to rush air themselves, but to at least be aware of the potential threat, and to encourage scouting as well). |
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