I just made one yesterday :( it wasnt a QQ thread though it was a thinking thread about how to "Fix" Everything... but only 3 people participated... I guess people would rather cry over spilled milk instead of cleaning it up.
I see; thanks for notifying me. I'm unsure how much map makers can actually help it though. I know melee map makers tried establishing a proper contact since forever without luck. You can't make Blizzard (or most other big companies) listen unless they want to.
Don't go to steam games, that's where I came from, Its MUCH worse.... Yes your crap will get played, but Valve breaks it every week... its a huge pain in the ass. I created 2 of the top 10 highest maps for DoD:S, Valve is worse then blizzard trust me on that.
Valve pays each map maker that gets a map into competitive CS:GO play $8k, despite them having taken in 3 times as many community maps in ONE year as Blizzard did over the past THREE years. Nobody ever got anything from Blizzard (aside from minimal credit, which one would rather not have after getting your work completely butchered before being put into ladder). I'm not saying map makers are in for the money - cause they are not - but it proves how much Valve cares about their community. This is something that shines through in every game they released (CS:GO, TF2, Dota2, HF2...).
There is a Thread on Bnet that basically says that the people that
participated in the TLMap Contest #2 contest never received their
promised prizes from Blizzard. What is that about?
The two mapmakers who won the competition and a ladder spot even had their maps completely retextured by Blizzard, without any kind of permission or notice - and to be frank, it looks like Blizzard only spent half an hour trashing their stunningly beautiful maps, that has both been in development for more than half a year. Oh and yeah, they never received their contest prizes.
Scorp, can you give us a list of the core problems you encountered in
sc2?
It might be interesting to know which problems you can identify
regarding melee mapmaking.
I assume the problems would be that people don't play public custom
games very often as they aren't as easy to use (very inferior to the
easy-to-use ladder). I've heard that the game starts automatically when
the player joins and getting an opponent with a comparable skill level
is therefore unlikely.
But I'm just observing it from the outside and making my own assumptions
which might not be true. So, having the mapmakers' point of views would
be great.
The lack of play on maps on bnet has actually never been an issue. Sure they don't get played at all, but that is to be expected - why would people practice maps that will never hit ladder? The core issue is that Blizzard never supported the community, despite us making far superior maps to Blizzard themselves. Almost every Blizzard map stays for one season, while all community maps so far (aside from Korhal Compound, but that's because Blizzard denied taking in a much improved version by the author) have been staple maps all around. Yet Blizzard has not seemed to even care about the community - they keep bringing in 2-3 trash maps of their own every season, only to remove it again ASAP.
The TPW retirement post written by Ragoo actually sums up the core issues pretty well. Feel free to ask me any questions regarding this, I'd very much like to help out.
With the majority of mapster being well aware of the arcade situation (most mapmakers quit / are inactive), I just wanted to notify you all about what's going on in the melee mapmaking world.
Melee mapmaking has suffered even more than arcade in the sense of lack of support, which has led to a lot frustration and ultimately inactivity.
Recent events have finally made the final push, resulting in the disband of DF (my team), followed up by TPW a couple of hours later. As ESV (kind of) disbanded ealier this year as well, the western melee mapmaking community is left with now only 2 quality mapmakers (barely active, but still around).
I think it's safe to say, that the western melee community is now practically dead.
Personally, I have decided to quit SC2 entirely, abandoning my arcade project Golfcraft you may or may not have heard of. That's not the point of this thread though.
I just wanted to let everyone here on sc2mapster know of the melee situation, and I sincerely hope the death of melee mapmaking (something that lasted for 15+ years in SC1) will open Blizzard's eyes soon enough; hopefully reviving what's left of the arcade community.
It's been a great journey throughout my roughly 3 years on mapster, but I'm afraid I have to finally wave goodbye. I wish you all the best.
I sadly lost my faith (and for that reason interest as well) in D3 a long time ago. As good as this expansion may be, I think it might be already too late to drag people back in - especially with a full game price.
1. Is there a language/text based way to do stuff with the objects in the data module (like make new units, etc.) without even opening the editor or using the gui? I know you can view the text based format with the gui, but is there a dedicated interpreter for it so you could create up new units, spells, behaviors, etc. without ever going into the editor?
Saving your map as a sc2component allows you to browse your map as a folder containing all data. This way, you are able to edit and/or add chosen data written in XML.
Obviously, blizz is focused on it's world's domination campaign throug ESPORTS... But my question still remains, by just checking on the forums you see almost no one here. Is mapster dying or just the season?
Blizz has failed always in delivering custom mapers and modders the adecuate support (if any), they focus on their "silly" balance (wich imo has led to scrap a lot of units, upgrades, abilities, etc. and diversity to the game) while a lot of maps here have even better balance and of course a lot more units and stuff.
Why would esports NOT be their focus? It's an esport game after all.
It's wrong to neglect every other aspect of the game though, obviously.
I created a pretty cool (and challenging) level if anyone's interested in playing more than the tutorial. Insert the section into your bank file and change map number if you already saved levels yourself.
0
I think Hide Terrain Cells (Terrain Palette) is what you're looking for.
0
I see; thanks for notifying me. I'm unsure how much map makers can actually help it though. I know melee map makers tried establishing a proper contact since forever without luck. You can't make Blizzard (or most other big companies) listen unless they want to.
0
There's been no thread on the subject of melee map making around here for as long as I can remember. Feel free to prove me wrong though.
Also, you should consider this thread a news update more than anything. I'm not here to rant :)
0
Valve pays each map maker that gets a map into competitive CS:GO play $8k, despite them having taken in 3 times as many community maps in ONE year as Blizzard did over the past THREE years. Nobody ever got anything from Blizzard (aside from minimal credit, which one would rather not have after getting your work completely butchered before being put into ladder). I'm not saying map makers are in for the money - cause they are not - but it proves how much Valve cares about their community. This is something that shines through in every game they released (CS:GO, TF2, Dota2, HF2...).
0
Indeed they were, good times!
My map team, DF, plan to start modding for CS:GO instead, and aside from that, I'd also like to get into actual game development.
Indeed they were, good times!
My team, DF, plan to start modding for CS:GO, and I'd also like to get into actual game development.
Ironman is very much on target :(
The two mapmakers who won the competition and a ladder spot even had their maps completely retextured by Blizzard, without any kind of permission or notice - and to be frank, it looks like Blizzard only spent half an hour trashing their stunningly beautiful maps, that has both been in development for more than half a year. Oh and yeah, they never received their contest prizes.
The lack of play on maps on bnet has actually never been an issue. Sure they don't get played at all, but that is to be expected - why would people practice maps that will never hit ladder? The core issue is that Blizzard never supported the community, despite us making far superior maps to Blizzard themselves. Almost every Blizzard map stays for one season, while all community maps so far (aside from Korhal Compound, but that's because Blizzard denied taking in a much improved version by the author) have been staple maps all around. Yet Blizzard has not seemed to even care about the community - they keep bringing in 2-3 trash maps of their own every season, only to remove it again ASAP.
The TPW retirement post written by Ragoo actually sums up the core issues pretty well.
Feel free to ask me any questions regarding this, I'd very much like to help out.
0
With the majority of mapster being well aware of the arcade situation (most mapmakers quit / are inactive), I just wanted to notify you all about what's going on in the melee mapmaking world.
Melee mapmaking has suffered even more than arcade in the sense of lack of support, which has led to a lot frustration and ultimately inactivity.
Recent events have finally made the final push, resulting in the disband of DF (my team), followed up by TPW a couple of hours later. As ESV (kind of) disbanded ealier this year as well, the western melee mapmaking community is left with now only 2 quality mapmakers (barely active, but still around).
I think it's safe to say, that the western melee community is now practically dead.
Personally, I have decided to quit SC2 entirely, abandoning my arcade project Golfcraft you may or may not have heard of. That's not the point of this thread though.
I just wanted to let everyone here on sc2mapster know of the melee situation, and I sincerely hope the death of melee mapmaking (something that lasted for 15+ years in SC1) will open Blizzard's eyes soon enough; hopefully reviving what's left of the arcade community.
It's been a great journey throughout my roughly 3 years on mapster, but I'm afraid I have to finally wave goodbye. I wish you all the best.
Further reading:
Dream Forge Maps Retires From Starcraft Map Making
TPW Mapmaking Team Officially Retires
0
I sadly lost my faith (and for that reason interest as well) in D3 a long time ago. As good as this expansion may be, I think it might be already too late to drag people back in - especially with a full game price.
0
Saving your map as a sc2component allows you to browse your map as a folder containing all data. This way, you are able to edit and/or add chosen data written in XML.
0
Why would esports NOT be their focus? It's an esport game after all.
It's wrong to neglect every other aspect of the game though, obviously.
0
Arcade maps show up too, but authors of arcade maps might tend to lock their maps more often than melee authors due to obvious reasons.
0
Sounds like the model linking is broken. You might want to try redownload the map files.
0
I created a pretty cool (and challenging) level if anyone's interested in playing more than the tutorial. Insert the section into your bank file and change map number if you already saved levels yourself.
0
This just gets better and better. Looks sick!
0
It's not advertised here because everyone who cares about melee mapmaking is at TL.
0
@HydraMannequin: Go
Doesn't even look all that bad