Of course, part of the Map Committee's job is to give people advice on how to edit and improve their maps to help these maps over the hump. Sometimes, though, it's just easier to show than tell. So I'm starting a new feature on the blog today called "Map Makeover", where I'll take a map with a few minor problems, and remake it into what I consider a "fixed" version.
Today, I'll be talking about this map made by tst5384:
Blood Valley
Overview
Blood Valley is a fairly well-made map, and shouldn't be terrible for casual games. It's pretty mountainous and a little choky, but it makes up for it with relatively light terrain (read: lots of roads) and a lone base that can be easily pressured. The map is well balanced; recon-rushing of the neutral base isn't possible, the towers are central but not contested, and the city count is relatively even for each base. It has nice positioning for the preowned bases, which allow tanks to make it to the fronts in a quick amount of time, while not forcing routes for units to take. The corner neutral base is also a nice dynamic, as it provides a bit of a 2 vs. 1 base situation after coming into play a few turns in. Finally, there is a strategic decision to be made about breaking the pipe seam, which takes an arty a couple of turns to break but allows units to more easily support the properties behind the mountain range. All in all, not a bad map.
Where It Went Wrong
First, let's consider the neutral base. The corner positioning is nice because it allows attacks to come from a different direction than the preowned bases, and it opens another front in the corners to help prevent stalemates in the center. Unfortunately, the terrain around the neutral base is waaay too heavy. Mech spam from this base is a natural tactic, since they can get over the mountains and rivers quicker than infantry, and can get to the fronts more quickly and cheaply than tanks (as shown in the below game by Teal Galaxy - played by Abroxas).
Another problem with the heavy terrain in the corner is that it closes off mobility in the area. It's hard to get anything except mechs and infs out from near the base quickly, and it's even harder to reinforce the neutral base area with units from the main bases. This makes it easy to get pinned in the corner.
Second, let's look at the HQs and airports, which both suffer from being positioned further back than necessary. The HQs are way back by the preowned bases, which means that a game ending by HQ capture will only happen once one side has been driven way back from the fronts. Similarly, the airports are stuck in the corners, where it takes 3 days to get into a useful position.
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After the makeover, let's see what the edited version of this map looks like compared to the original:
Blood Valley
VS.
Bleeding Valley
Changes
1. Neutral base moved slightly forward. This allows vehicles to more easily move towards the front.
2. Terrain in the neutral base corners greatly reduced. This reduces the viability of mech spam and allows for more vehicle mobility in the corners.
3. HQ moved into a less protected area. This creates a need to protect the HQ in case of a base trade, and prevents decided games from dragging out.
4. Airport moved forwards a few spaces. This changes it so that air units are only 3-4 spaces behind units built from the bases, which makes air units more viable. This is especially nice because of the relatively high funding and chokiness of the map.
5. Extra path added through mountains to support neutral base/HQ. This gives more mobility and options for switching units from one front to another. Also helps prevent possible surprise HQ capture.
6. Towers moved slightly backwards. This makes the cities the focal point of the central battle instead of the towers, making it harder for one player to gain a 2-tower advantage over the other.
Until next time,
Walker
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