INTRODUCTION

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This article speak about a competitive map (2v2) that I made on Warcraft 3, in collaboration with my friend Baudoin Guiot Desvarenne who played the role of QA and analyst. Of course, this map was made in honor of the announcement of Warcraft 3 Reforged. Already for his time, this map editor was very good and even today, it doesn't despair. I can't wait to see what Reforged has to offer!

 

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MY INTENTIONS

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I've wanted to practice designing competitive map for a long time, and above all, to work on a project on which I'm not comfortable. The goal was to get out of my comfort zone and work on my ability to adapt.

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This choice of map allowed me to experiment with new constraints. You know, competition is a very demanding and often unforgivable aspect. Indeed, the slightest detail can totally change the course of the game. Or, give a significant advantage to one team over another.

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In addition, given the age of the map editor (2002-2003), the graphic aspect has aged considerably. I really wanted to be able to give an immersive tone to the map, whether it was pretty and expressive. In addition, I wanted the players to feel that the map had a story. As a result, I had to do a lot of work on the choice of assets.

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Finally, I wanted to approach the map asymmetrically but this could cause some concerns for the equality between players. There is therefore a touch of asymmetry on some parts of the map but symmetry remains dominant.

 

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A DIFFICULT EXERCISE

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While everyone around me has grown up and played a lot of strategy games and I haven't, I had a hard time getting into this exercise. There is a lot I didn't see during the creative process. Some people told me, "This passage is too tight, we won't be able to fight." “The players won't be able to defend these mines if you do that.”. I have therefore often had to reiterate in order to make everything as competitive and balanced as possible. You might say, that's part of the job.

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There is no doubt about it, making this map was the most difficult exercise I've ever done in level design.

 

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UNDERSTAND THE MAP

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As you can see, the map is big for 2v2. It is composed of: a central city, four spawns, two ruins and mobs.

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The city is asymmetrical on its surface, we can see that it is not a perfect square. This choice comes first of all from the fact that I didn't want the battles to be the same. I wanted there to be different choices, especially in terms of strategy. Moreover, it is asymmetrical on its fountains because we can see that there is a fountain of life and mana. It also serves the strategic aspect. Some will prefer to quickly regenerate their mana and others their life points.

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You will also notice that there is only one goblin laboratory and two goblin merchants.

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In order to make communication (especially shot callings) easier, you can notice that the city is made up of four very different districts visually. We have here: a port, a residential area, a magic district and a water square.

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There are also four very distinct patterns on the ground to clearly differentiate the different areas. This visual variety allows players to perceive very accurate information about adverse movements.

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Each spawn contains an equivalent number of resources in terms of gold mines, forest and mercenary camps. Symmetry is precisely represented by these means because they have a lot of impact on gameplay. There are many forests and mines so that players are more likely, in case of failure, to be able to catch up again by building a new army.

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Ruins are the first point of conflict between players of a different team.

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Each ruin has a mine at its disposal, positioned at equal distance between each spawn. I didn’t want the allied players to be able to prepare themselves quietly in their corners and then join forces to fight without encountering any difficulties before hand. I wanted it to be more subtle than that. The goal here is to make the game more dynamic. If allied players want to gather their strength, they are forced to pass through the city. However, there is nothing to prevent them from going to control a mine together.

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Mobs are scattered all over the map. They are of different levels and provide different resources. The more important a place on the map is, the more powerful the monsters around it are. In addition, the lower the level of a monster, the lower the drop rate to get the right equipment.

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It must be understood that monsters are also a way to gain an advantage over the opponent as a way to be totally surrounded. Knowing that a monster can be more or less powerful, it may be possible to let the enemy exhaust his troops on them and then finish off his army to then steal the dropped resources from him.

 

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THE OVERALL STRATEGY

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As you will have understood, the main strategy is the control of resources. They are therefore distributed in a very precise way.

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As you can see, there is only one goblin laboratory. This laboratory allows the purchase of zeppelins. The zeppelins fly and therefore allow access to the islets on the map (boats are not available). The main purpose is therefore to control this laboratory in order to be able to operate the mines.

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Namely, this laboratory is well guarded and above all, it is in a fairly ventilated area, right in the middle of the map. I let you imagine its importance.

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Finally, there are mines very close to the city. They are located at the various entrances of the latter. The reason they are so close to the city is so that players can quickly take control of a mine when they take an advantage over the other team.

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CONCLUSION

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To sum up, I could say that despite the difficulty of the exercise, the result is satisfactory. Competitive maps are very complex to designate and it is an excellent level design training.

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I would like to thank Baudoin for his experience on the game and his regular QA. This allowed me to work efficiently and above all to save time on a play style in which I have little experience. Thanks also to all the players for playing and giving us your time and feedback.

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As for downloading the map for interested people, it is impossible to share it because you have to create a multiplayer game in which I have to invite you so that you can access the map.