Winner - Triple Play Frenzy - Congrats JaesShurrig!!

[BiggaBullfrog]

We have a winner!!

Congratulations @JaesShurrig !!!

Toxic Trepidation

​

It was a really close race all the way to the end, but Toxic Trepidation has emerged as the peoples' choice!! Huge congratulations to him and to everyone else who participated as well! We're happy to have had so many cool 3-player maps come through this contest, and I know I'm excited to try them out! This has been one of my favorite contests going through and I'm looking forward to trying out more interesting themes in the future!

Huge thanks to everyone who submitted maps and helps to keep new and exciting battlefields coming to the community! And a big thanks as well to everyone who helps with those maps, be it through feedback, voting, or just playing on them! We're looking forward to seeing you all at our next contest!



Original Post:

Spoiler Alert!

The time for voting has come!!

We've got 10 great submissions for you to pick from for our Triple Play Frenzy! Look through the submissions and vote for the map(s) you think are best. Remember you get 3 and ONLY 3 votes to cast. Anyone who casts more than 3 votes will have their votes disqualified from the final tally.

The poll will run for a week with a great prize awarded to the winner! All the maps will then be considered for official sanction within our multiplayer map repository!

The maps:

Scoria Tribunal by @Br1an
***Note: Bigga is a silly silly frog and didn't put this map into the poll. If you would like to vote for it, please post here in the thread or PM him or one of the other judges. For reference, it currently has 5 votes (will be updated as more come in)***

Spoiler Alert!

Scoria; a harsh, unforgiving wasteland. An ancient civilization, reclaimed by the marshy and molten terrain. Now prisoners of Valhalla are grouped into thirds and sent to the desolate planet to fight to the death amongts the ruins. Only the survivors of the winning team are pardoned. It is a frantic, unforgiving rush for bloodshed.

The Cursed Stone Table by @Br1an

Sullen Garden by @JaesShurrig

Toxic Trepidation by @JaesShurrig

The Cirdan Garden by @Leaf_It

Sunken Outpost by @Leaf_It

Ringstrasse by @Ulysses

Triptych by @Ulysses

Ice Pit of Kaazune by @Yodaking

Spoiler Alert!

Sgt. Drake had been searching the dungeon complex under Mt. Kaazune for several hours, and was just about to call it a day, when scouts returned with reports of a significant temperature drop in one of the northern tunnels. It was well known that decades ago a great Ice Dragon hunted this mountain range, and there was no natural reason for the temperature to go down this far beneath the surface. Had they just found the Great Wyrms’ lair? This news required a direct investigation, so Sgt. Drake set off with his troops in tow. When he arrived at the end of the cold tunnel, he found the chamber beyond opened up into a great pit of ice and stone. Treasure could be seen glinting in the darkness below, reflecting back light from the torches. Now who will venture down into the depths to retrieve it, and who will deal with the other interested parties, who were just now appearing at two other tunnel entrances?

[URL="http://www.mediafire.com/file/1qzhyh4c1oxfmdb/Lost_City_of_Z.pdf/file"Lost City of Z[/URL] by @Yodaking

Spoiler Alert!

Utgar had given Grimnak an important task, and he was determined to please his new master. He had taken his forces deep into the jungle in search of the Lost City of Z. Legend held that the ancient city contained secret
vaults, which held many items of great power. Items that could help Utgar complete his conquest of Valhalla. Two weeks into the search, Grimnak received word from Utgar that each of the other Generals had also dispatched forces in search of the Lost City of Z, turning his secret quest into an open race. Today Grimnak believed that race may have come to an end, for they had located the ruins of a city deep within the jungle. It must be the prize they had come in search of, if only this unnaturally thick fog hadn’t made it nearly impossible to see anything more than a few feet in front of his face. They had first stumbled upon the edge of the ruins almost an hour ago, but Grimnak would not lead his troops into a trap, whether it be one of the Lost Cities ancient untriggered defenses or another generals ambush. So he had sent out a couple of small groups to investigate and report back before taking the bulk of his forces any further. He had still not heard back from those Blade Gruts he sent into the city proper, the simple minded fools were most likely completely lost in the fog by now, if not dead. The Arrow Gruts he had ordered to investigate a tower nearby had reported back that the fog was equally thick above the city, and they were unable to see anything of note. An occasional echo of sound would reach them through the fog though, Grimnak just wasn’t sure if it was his own scouts who were making the noise, some wild creatures that called these ruins home, or a competing search party. What to do now?

Suddenly Grimnak felt the mole hairs on his back move in response to a soft breeze that was not there before. The wind steadily picked up in intensity, the city itself seems to be moaning now as the wind whips about the ruins. The fog was swirling before Grimnak’s eyes, much like the fog itself this wind felt quite unnatural to Grimnak. Whether mystical energies were at play here or not would have to be investigated at a later time though, for the Arrow Gruts were squeaking excitedly. The fog had lifted, and it turns out they were not alone……..

 

[TREX]

Re: VOTE NOW - Triple Play Frenzy!!

Well. I got the party started. These all look super fun and Im sure Ill be building them to enjoy because we do alot of 3+ player games out at my place. Awesome selection of maps.

 

[Yodaking]

Re: VOTE NOW - Triple Play Frenzy!!

Well. I got the party started. These all look super fun and Im sure Ill be building them to enjoy because we do alot of 3+ player games out at my place. Awesome selection of maps.

If you ever get around to trying one of mine out let me know how it plays. I haven't had a chance to get in a 3 player game on either one yet and I'm not sure how soon it will be until I do.

 

[TREX]

Re: VOTE NOW - Triple Play Frenzy!!

Well. I got the party started. These all look super fun and Im sure Ill be building them to enjoy because we do alot of 3+ player games out at my place. Awesome selection of maps.

If you ever get around to trying one of mine out let me know how it plays. I haven't had a chance to get in a 3 player game on either one yet and I'm not sure how soon it will be until I do.

For sure. I really had to think about which ones I wanted to vote on because I like pretty much all of them in some capacity. I'll have to say that my very favorite has to be Toxic Trepidation. I just cant get over the split start zones along with the cool star design. I think what really kicks it off for me on that one is that when playing a 3 player sometimes it goes back in forth between 2 players while the other one picks up the kills, where this one is great, is that all 3 players are mingled in there together with the split start zones. Well done all you guys that submitted your maps. I think this will be a great start to getting a centralized place that people can find multi player maps.

Also, I think we may have missed one @BiggaBullfrog:

 

[BiggaBullfrog]

Re: VOTE NOW - Triple Play Frenzy!!

***Important Note***

I missed a submission while compiling the maps for this thread. If you would like to vote for it, please do so by posting and/or PM-ing myself or another judge. This is what I added to the OP:

Scoria Tribunal by @Br1an
***Note: Bigga is a silly silly frog and didn't put this map into the poll. If you would like to vote for it, please post here in the thread or PM him or one of the other judges. For reference, it currently has 5 votes (will be updated as more come in)***

Spoiler Alert!

Scoria; a harsh, unforgiving wasteland. An ancient civilization, reclaimed by the marshy and molten terrain. Now prisoners of Valhalla are grouped into thirds and sent to the desolate planet to fight to the death amongts the ruins. Only the survivors of the winning team are pardoned. It is a frantic, unforgiving rush for bloodshed.

I'm super super sorry Br1an and hope that this doesn't mess up the map's potential performance in the poll too much for coming up so late.

 

[itsbuzzi]

Re: VOTE NOW - Triple Play Frenzy!!

I am voting for Scoria Tribunal.

 

[Tiamat]

Re: VOTE NOW - Triple Play Frenzy!!

I voted for 2 maps in the poll and would like to cast my third vote for Scoria Tribunal.

 

[antmarchingroves]

Re: VOTE NOW - Triple Play Frenzy!!

My third vote goes to Scoria Tribunal.

 

[Sir Heroscape]

Re: VOTE NOW - Triple Play Frenzy!!

JUST 1 DAY LEFT!!!​

It's a close race, let's get in those final votes!​

 

[Dad_Scaper]

Re: VOTE NOW - Triple Play Frenzy!!

I'm very excited to see @Ulysses sharing his maps in this contest. Don't be shy, new people! Love it.

I love me some split start zones, and I love me some quick action on 3-player maps. So it was an easy decision, for me.

 

[lefton4ya]

Re: VOTE NOW - Triple Play Frenzy!!

Add a vote for Scoria Tribunal. Also voted for Sullen Garden and Ice Pit of Kaazune. The two in the lead, although they look and sound cool, from a playability standpoint are are the WORST MAPS in the contest in my humble opinion because you can attack a figure in the start zone one your first order marker and that is a no-no in my book. It should take AT LEAST two turns with range, preferably three. Cursed Stone Table and Goxic Trepidation will just be slaughterfests and will have little strategy, as will actually most the maps submitted. But vote how you want.

 

[TREX]

Re: VOTE NOW - Triple Play Frenzy!!

Add a vote for Scoria Tribunal. Also voted for Sullen Garden and Ice Pit of Kaazune. The two in the lead, although they look and sound cool, from a playability standpoint are are the WORST MAPS in the contest in my humble opinion because you can attack a figure in the start zone one your first order marker and that is a no-no in my book. It should take AT LEAST two turns with range, preferably three. Cursed Stone Table and Goxic Trepidation will just be slaughterfests and will have little strategy, as will actually most the maps submitted. But vote how you want.

As a 2 player map Id agree with you on your points. As a 3 player map, sure you can bombard 1 of your opponents, then put a target on your back and die quickly from both opponents. It all depends on what format you play. In my experience, most of these kind of games are indeed a bloodbath, and Its good when a turtling army isnt rewarded. This contest is definitely very different from the average one. For instance, the raised glyph of wannok on the one map would be a sure fire no on a 1v1 or 2v2 but on a 3 player deathmatch its my favorite aspect after looking it over. There are lots of fun designs here and I look forward to getting to play on them.

 

[Sir Heroscape]

Re: VOTE NOW - Triple Play Frenzy!!

Add a vote for Scoria Tribunal. Also voted for Sullen Garden and Ice Pit of Kaazune. The two in the lead, although they look and sound cool, from a playability standpoint are are the WORST MAPS in the contest in my humble opinion because you can attack a figure in the start zone one your first order marker and that is a no-no in my book. It should take AT LEAST two turns with range, preferably three. Cursed Stone Table and Goxic Trepidation will just be slaughterfests and will have little strategy, as will actually most the maps submitted. But vote how you want.

As a 2 player map Id agree with you on your points. As a 3 player map, sure you can bombard 1 of your opponents, then put a target on your back and die quickly from both opponents. It all depends on what format you play. In my experience, most of these kind of games are indeed a bloodbath, and Its good when a turtling army isnt rewarded. This contest is definitely very different from the average one. For instance, the raised glyph of wannok on the one map would be a sure fire no on a 1v1 or 2v2 but on a 3 player deathmatch its my favorite aspect after looking it over. There are lots of fun designs here and I look forward to getting to play on them.

I agree with TREX here, 3-player games have a way of working themselves out when it comes to what would normally be imbalance. In my experience, I'm a very aggressive player and look for blood fast and early...but in a 3-player format, it's easy to get a target on your back when you do that, so there's a balance in that quick and dirty attacks aren't always rewarded in the long game. that's the fun and craziness of 3-player. Also, the politics haha, trying to win over one of the players to gang up on the other who is "hiding" or doing better than you both collectively, seems to work it's way into the game and help balance out any imbalances in the map. It's hard, even for a 4th Mass podding army to beat 2 opponents with double the attacks.

 

[Dad_Scaper]

Re: VOTE NOW - Triple Play Frenzy!!

Add a vote for Scoria Tribunal. Also voted for Sullen Garden and Ice Pit of Kaazune. The two in the lead, although they look and sound cool, from a playability standpoint are are the WORST MAPS in the contest in my humble opinion because you can attack a figure in the start zone one your first order marker and that is a no-no in my book. It should take AT LEAST two turns with range, preferably three. Cursed Stone Table and Goxic Trepidation will just be slaughterfests and will have little strategy, as will actually most the maps submitted. But vote how you want.

This is a fair criticism, and deserves a thoughtful response.

When I look at these competitions, including this one, I am not looking for a map that will be the closest to some platonic ideal of maps-that-meet-the-criteria. When I look at these maps, my criteria all flow from how I think about this one question: "How do I feel about using this map in a tournament?"

I probably would not have voted for Toxic Trepidation at all, if my only question was "If I was trapped on a desert island, what one 3-player map would I want to have with me to be the one forever map?"*

Lefton4ya is absolutely correct that in Toxic Trepidation, the players can jump right on top of each other with both feet. That's ok for me, though, for my criteria, because this is one map among many.

There are a zillion 3 player maps out there of the "I'm going to plod my way across the plateau toward you" variety, and many of them have networks of roads in the middle. Some are suitable for competitive play; most are not.

As far as I've been able to detect, though, there are zero 3-player maps that give the feeling of a knife fight in a phone booth. I would love the opportunity to blend such a map in with the others at a multiplayer tournament, and I therefore think Toxic Trepidation looks like something the competitive metagame is missing.

I'm always looking for new ideas in mapmaking, and I rarely vote in these contests as if I'm picking a "desert island" map. If I were voting by my friend lefton4ya's criteria, though, I might have voted as he did.

________________________

* ~ The correct answer here is Sacrifice, by dignan. There is enough terrain on that beast to build a raft.

 

[lefton4ya]

Re: VOTE NOW - Triple Play Frenzy!!

I understand not everyone agrees, as for multi-player free-for-alls sometimes a slugfest friendly map is best as it prevents camping. I do like split maps actually and wish there was more of these maps, it is just that Toxic Trepidation will just have people run the start zone and melee armies or armies without bonding will be sitting ducks, and range and bonding armies don't need the help. But again, my and I guess the majority disagrees at it is the highest vote-getter as of now.

The Cursed Stone Table, Ice Pit of Kaazune, Sunken Outpost, & The Cirdan Garden you can attack 1st urn, but only with a couple figures so I can see these as being better - I even voted for Ice Pit of Kaazune as I thought it's strategy and theme/look was worth the slight ability to attack with one figure turn 1, making it my 2nd favorite map. I still think Scoria Tribunal is best designed map - wonder where the votes are on that map.

 

[Brian]

Re: VOTE NOW - Triple Play Frenzy!!

I have to admit I am a little sad that the poll wasn't remade to include Scoria Tribunal in the vote. It's still getting a decent amount of love for a map that you have to vote for manually but I do feel it could've done a great deal better if it was as simple as a click like the others. But I'm more than happy with the performance of the Cursed Stone Table for my first competition entry! Thanks everyone for the love!

I appreciate your feedback on the maps @lefton4ya. Until now I've pretty much only heard praise for that map so it's good to hear what someone on the other side thinks of it, because I believe all viewpoints can help me become a better map maker and account for more wants than just my own when approaching a new map!

 

[flameslayer93]

Re: VOTE NOW - Triple Play Frenzy!!

Maybe one good counter arguement to @lefton4ya ‘s good points would be that on a map where players have to walk 2-3 turns until they reach the enemy, is that strong ranged builds (like 4th x4) can still get that lead vs 2 weak-ish melee armies. 4 attacks of 4 in this game is just too strong in this game. Ranged units getting that first turn slaughter vs 1 player is still horrible for one player, but on a map where even melee can reach on turn one, they can take a nasty hit too. And on a split startzone map, that 4th Mass cheese player gets to get hit two turns in a row, that second time by the player they originally hit.

Best way to balance it, imo, is to make a map so that 5 move melee can reach the SZ on Turn 1 to even the odds.

 

[Dad_Scaper]

Re: VOTE NOW - Triple Play Frenzy!!

I have to admit I am a little sad that the poll wasn't remade to include Scoria Tribunal in the vote. It's still getting a decent amount of love for a map that you have to vote for manually but I do feel it could've done a great deal better if it was as simple as a click like the others. But I'm more than happy with the performance of the Cursed Stone Table for my first competition entry! Thanks everyone for the love!

I appreciate your feedback on the maps @lefton4ya. Until now I've pretty much only heard praise for that map so it's good to hear what someone on the other side thinks of it, because I believe all viewpoints can help me become a better map maker and account for more wants than just my own when approaching a new map!

It's a good looking map, Br1an. Thank you for sharing.

I like the layout, in that there is road and jungle in the middle to keep things moving, and there are walls around the edges but also an outer perimeter for more pathing options. It's very good; maybe my second favorite in the set. One thing that would raise its quality, to my eyes, is an easier way to get from the start zones to the road. It's a bit of a hike, the way it currently is.

Might be my second favorite overall, though. It's an excellent map with its own qualities distinguishing it from the others out there.

 

[Ulysses]

Re: VOTE NOW - Triple Play Frenzy!!

I'm very excited to see @Ulysses sharing his maps in this contest. Don't be shy, new people! Love it.

Thanks @Dad_Scaper! I'm still pretty new to Heroscape. I found a RotV at Goodwill about 3 years ago and have been hooked for the last couple years, slowly building my collection. I have learned so much from this forum and used so many resources from it. Putting up a couple of maps is the least I could do! I can't wait to contribute more!

 

[BiggaBullfrog]

Re: VOTE NOW - Triple Play Frenzy!!

We have a winner!!

Congratulations @JaesShurrig !!!

Toxic Trepidation

​

It was a really close race all the way to the end, but Toxic Trepidation has emerged as the peoples' choice!! Huge congratulations to him and to everyone else who participated as well! We're happy to have had so many cool 3-player maps come through this contest, and I know I'm excited to try them out! This has been one of my favorite contests going through and I'm looking forward to trying out more interesting themes in the future!

Huge thanks to everyone who submitted maps and helps to keep new and exciting battlefields coming to the community! And a big thanks as well to everyone who helps with those maps, be it through feedback, voting, or just playing on them! We're looking forward to seeing you all at our next contest!

 

[Flash_19]

Congratulations @JaesShurrig! I'm looking forward to giving it a whirl.

 

[Sir Heroscape]

Indeed! Congrats!! It's a very unique idea, especially because you could even make it a 6 player map :O though, with the startzone's so close that might actually not work out as well as the 3-player would...but maybe...

 

[TREX]

Indeed! Congrats!! It's a very unique idea, especially because you could even make it a 6 player map :O though, with the startzone's so close that might actually not work out as well as the 3-player would...but maybe...

This map could be a 2 player map, 3player, 4 player 2v2, and a very crazy 6 player. That is why I like it so much.

 

[Yodaking]

Congrats! It's a cool map, I voted for it myself.

 

[Shurrig]

Thank you guys!