Tomorrow is the Blizzcon and this is going to be very exciting. Sixen is already in Anaheim and will be able to get us fresh informations about Starcraft 2 maps! Friday 3pm-4pm is the Starcraft 2 Map talk on the main stage :)
greythepirate found out that you could use the Trigger Debugging Window on Battle.net maps. While this is not really useful this is still fun :)
Blizzcon Map Winners
I have been able to find out two of the three winners of the Blizzard Custom Map Contest. We can see that Blizzard chose action maps, they are both using mouse control and have really few abilities to master.
Rocket Missile Arena Deluxe (MAD) by Acemore
Missile Arena Deluxe is a Team versus Team map. With only a few abilities the skill takes great part in victory. The map is not yet published on Battle.net so you will have to wait after the Blizzcon to play it ;)
- Move around the map: Right click
- Shoot a missile: Left Click
- Jump: Space
by Galdiuz
Photon Command is a solo map that is really to understand: you just have to left click on the map to send bullets to kill the incoming units! Each new wave is harder than the one before and you can learn new abilities through the levels. There's 45 waves, with bosses every 15 waves.
You can already play it on Battle.net searching for "Photon Command".
Blue Posts
Here's the latest round of blue posts :)
Quote:(Ardnived) - Is it possible to easily rotate doodads in three dimensions for the purposes for terraining? The only way that I have found is through Host Site Operations, which I can't seem to get to work anyways. In warcraft 3 we had Roll and Pitch which was reasonably easy to work with, but I cannot find anything similar to that in the Data Editor.
You should be able to rotate a type of doodad by using Site Operations, but we are also considering adding support for per-placed doodad pitch and roll.
(PointBlank) - Why is there nothing to change unit attributes (Heroic, Armored, Biological) in the data editor, editing/adding more such as changing "Armored" to "Heavy" or adding another like "Immortal"
You can rename the unit attributes in the text editor by modifying the strings that begin with e_unitAttribute. Certain attributes will still affect in-game functionality like the Structure attribute.
(Wakeman) - Can you add some kind of "unit / ability creation wizard" to the editor in the future?
We've considered adding a unit wizard to the editor frequently and have generally decided to focus on improving the existing UI for editing data instead. However, we're still planning on adding a simple unit wizard in a future patch.
(Roanari) - How about triggers allowing you to change some of the properties of effects?
You can already change certain fields of effects using the Catalog Field Value Set trigger, or the upgrade system. Let us know if there are specific fields that are important to be able to change through triggers.
(Skittles) - (How do I...) Set animation speed for all animations.
You can use the Set Time Scale Global actor message to control animation speed for all animations.
(Skittles) - (Any plans to add...) Holding shift while painting in the terrain editor to make straight lines.
We're planning on adding this feature in a future patch.
Bro, your map is not live. I've searched for it countless times to no avail.
Plz upload it again, I really want to play it.
Where did you find out that these won? And which map is the third winner!?
How about'em skittles, mm mm.
Thanks to Rrowland for the shoutcast!!!!
Hey, thought I'd post something since I see a few are upset about MAD (previously called RAD) winning.
RAD was out in the beta, not sure if this counts as released or not to Blizzard. After retail, I had publishing problems with RAD as the name was taken on US. I wanted the same name for both regions. That's why I changed the name, and at that point I didn't even know about the contest.
I did some more work on the map, and before I got around to publishing it for real, quite a few of my friends and others (from beta) suggested I send it in. I did read the part about all maps submitted should be unreleased, and yes this gave me concern. =\
After talking it over with people, and getting countless of arguments like "beta doesn't count" and "your map was out on EU for what, like 2 days?", I just thought 'what the hell' and submitted it.
My guess, like someone stated earlier, is that many of the rules are there more for legal issues than anything else, but I don't mean to post this as an excuse or in any way try to justify the map winning. I just wanted to explain that I didn't change the name to try to get in through some loop hole. In the end, I think most of us would've wanted Blizz to elaborate a bit more on what they mean by 'unreleased', such as if having it out in SC2 beta counts, or if you could upload it as 'closed' and play with your friends to test it multiplayer without it being released to the public.
Not sure why people are surprised by these selections. They're both fun and simple ideas that people are already familiar with and show the flexibility of the editor. In addition, they can be played in a short amount of time (i.e. limited time sessions where there's a line of people involved).
Renaming and submitting a map that's been developed since beta is a bit unfair methinks.
WOW lmao you've got to be shitting me. These 2 maps won? Is it the 1st of april already?
With these "dont have to know wtf you're doing to perform" maps, this is just another proof that blizzard cathers to casuals and wants to add more imbeciles (derp) to its fanbase because afterall, they are the one who'll be stupid enough to buy shit like a 25$ celestial steed mount.
Yes... Missle Arena Deluxe = Rocket Arena Deluxe renamed...
I think it's unfair that an already published map had won this contest completely ignoring the rules. I could have submitted Crush Company changing its name then...
I mean .. that ridiculous photon defense.... 1 photon ? 3 Nexus ? 1 Valley with a bunch of upgrade ? Seriously...
Now that's what happen when they have 3 judges and cant make it in time
So as per my question (PointBlank) they never mentioned anything about "adding" should I reask or just accept that it won't be in at least until the expansion if ever :P
The unwritten rule of online competitions: You need not follow the rules to a T! Most of it's there for legal reasons; they aren't going to disallow a good entry because of a technicality.
It looks like they were going for the 'drop in and play' kind of maps, which makes perfect sense considering these will be played at blizzcon where things can be a little hectic. But yea, two very strong entries it seems, can't wait to see the 3rd!
Congratulations to the winners! (Though I too was surprised about MAD)
Those two won...seriously?
I underestimated Blizzard. It turns out they really were looking for playability instead of three showpieces (though I can't personally vouch for the quality of the entries).
If it's true that one of the entries broke the rules then that's a pity. Even five minutes of multiplayer testing would have been invaluable for me.
Edit: No one likes a sore loser, so congrats to the winners and i'm going to do my best to rescind my long winded tantrum. But seriously, Blizzard can still suck my asshole over these winning entries.
Not hating on Acemore at all, but how the hell did his map win when it was clearly publically published/featured on the mapster news way before the deadline?
I never finished my map on time so I had nothing to lose, but I strongly feel this is unfair to everyone who did enter, strictly following the rules (as you rightly think you should) and never getting a chance to test their map with other players.