Battlefields of Valhalla Discussion Thread

[Rÿchean]

Update

- logged velenne's reviews of Fire Isles and Frozen Foothills

- Hot Bog added to pending acceptance for review

- Jexik's decline/accept review votes tallied

- Revdyer's decline/accept review votes tallied

- Velenne's decline/accept review votes tallied

- Kahrma's decline/accept review votes tallied

- The Ruined Road to Gotham moved to the not accepted for review category

- The Crossing moved to the not accepted for review category

- Baraxton Falls moved to the not accepted for review category

- Hopscorch moved to the not accepted for review category
__________


Updated 3/13/2008:

Maps pending acceptance for review:

Hot Bog by Jonathan
YES = 2 (Revdyer, Jexik); NO = 1 (velenne); Pending = 3 (Rÿchean, Kahrma, Bunjee,)

Maps currently being reviewed:

Road Rampage by Ch1can0, modified by Messenger
YES = 3 (Revdyer, Jexik, Rÿchean); NO = 0 ; Pending = 3 (Kahrma, Bunjee, Velenne)

Ice Blossom by STAROCEAN980
YES = 3 (Revdyer, Rÿchean, Jexik); NO = 0 ; Pending = 3 (Kahrma, Bunjee, Velenne)

Frozen Foothills by Messenger
YES = 1 (Revdyer); NO = 1 (Velenne); Pending = 4 (Rÿchean, Jexik, Kahrma, Bunjee, )

Alpine Shrine by CH4071C
YES = 2 (Revdyer, Rÿchean); NO = 1 (Jexik); Pending = 3 (Kahrma, Bunjee, Velenne)

Fire Isles by yagyuninja
YES = 3 (Revdyer, Jexik, Velenne); NO = 0 ; Pending = 3 (Rÿchean, Kahrma, Bunjee)

Ice Buffer by GameBear
YES = 1 (Revdyer); NO = 0 ; Pending = 5 (Rÿchean, Jexik, Kahrma, Bunjee, Velenne)

[Revdyer]

Originally Posted by Elstree

Thanks, guys, for giving it a look. I hope you'll give it a play sometime just for your own amusement. I think there's a lot going on that you can't see just by looking at the image, but of course everybody says that!

We're going to play on it tomorrow night (since I have it set up) and I'll give you our honest experience with it, Elstree.

And thanks to bunjee for the nifty tags! I especially appreciate that there are Emeritus ones. Most excellent!

[Rÿchean]

Originally Posted by Velenne

Frozen Foothills: From the getgo I thought this map had promise and hoped my minor issues with design could be surmounted by some subtlety I missed in studying the build. To whit, there are issues with wasted features and missed opportunities with the glacier + tree combination. I found the glyph in the central choke point to be a unnecessary hurdle given the location's inherent strategic advantage over the tempting road. In each game I played (and watched), the player to start assailing his opponent's starting zone swung the match in his favor. I must vote no to this one.

These are astute observations. When I played the map, there was something that just didn't feel right. You helped capture some of that for me. The central glyph does counter the gains melee units usually receive on smaller maps. The road often serves as a shooting gallery for the hills with the water buffer funneling, making it overall less appealing to even use the road. With the glyph choking off the flow to the hills, the map plays mostly in the mountains where ranged fire becomes premium in the heavy snow. I also have to vote no to Frozen Foothills.
____

With two NO votes, Frozen Foothills will be removed from the review process as it can not attain the required 75% approval rating from the 6 sitting judges.

Messenger, thanks for the efforts with this map as well as Road Rampage. You involvement and support is appreciated.

[Shades fan]

Originally Posted by Rÿchean

These are astute observations. When I played the map, there was something that just didn't feel right. You helped capture some of that for me. The central glyph does counter the gains melee units usually receive on smaller maps. The road often serves as a shooting gallery for the hills with the water buffer funneling, making it overall less appealing to even use the road. With the glyph choking off the flow to the hills, the map plays mostly in the mountains where ranged fire becomes premium in the heavy snow. I also have to vote no to Frozen Foothills.

I had actuallly set this map up 2 days ago and played on it yesterday. Not enough to make a complete decision on if I liked the map or not but their was something that didn't quite feel right about the road and the Glyph! I wasn't quite sure if it was just me or not but I am glad you felt the same way about something being off. Has anyone else that play tested the map feel this way?

[Velenne]

Ice Blossom: As I started building this map, I really appreciated the intuitive subtleties in the construction. It came together easily and, once before my eyes, I was struck with the cleverness of both the layout and the glyph placements. My games on Ice Blossom were smooth, spread out, full of tactical decisions. The choice to use heavy snow was a wise one. I was also struck with its many similarities to Arctic Divide, which uses fewer expansions and accomplishes as much as Ice Blossom and more. I don't feel the maps are dissimilar enough to warrant the latter's inclusion and must vote no even though I enjoyed it. Starocean, you have a gallery full of excellent maps and I'm utterly confident your designs will inspire others to nominate them.

Alpine Shrine: From the outset I wanted this map to allow melée units to charge the center area and use the cover to cross what is normally a shooting gallery and charge into the enemy's ranks. For the most part this worked as long asthe opponent didnt have any strong ranged units. If they did, the outer turret was a far as they had to get. The LOS was just not impeded enough to avoid that critical free attack all ranged units recieve. As this is intended to be a primary feature of this map, I can't vote in favor of it.

[STAROCEAN980]

Originally Posted by Velenne

Ice Blossom: As I started building this map, I really appreciated the intuitive subtleties in the construction. It came together easily and, once before my eyes, I was struck with the cleverness of both the layout and the glyph placements. My games on Ice Blossom were smooth, spread out, full of tactical decisions. The choice to use heavy snow was a wise one. I was also struck with its many similarities to Arctic Divide, which uses fewer expansions and accomplishes as much as Ice Blossom and more. I don't feel the maps are dissimilar enough to warrant the latter's inclusion and must vote no even though I enjoyed it. Starocean, you have a gallery full of excellent maps and I'm utterly confident your designs will inspire others to nominate them.

Thank you for reviewing it Velenne.
I'm glad you liked it, though I'm not sure how it is similar to Artic Divide.(Except for the sets used) Though that may be becauseI've never played on Artic Divide. So I can't judge that myself.
Thank you for checking it out.

[Revdyer]

Originally Posted by Velenne

Alpine Shrine: From the outset I wanted this map to allow melée units to charge the center area and use the cover to cross what is normally a shooting gallery and charge into the enemy's ranks. For the most part this worked as long asthe opponent didnt have any strong ranged units. If they did, the outer turret was a far as they had to get. The LOS was just not impeded enough to avoid that critical free attack all ranged units recieve. As this is intended to be a primary feature of this map, I can't vote in favor of it.

If this is a NO and not an abstention, it takes Alpine Shrine out of the running.

[Rÿchean]

I accept Hot Bog for review. At least it isn't symmetrical!

[CH4071C]

Thanks Jexik and Velenne for the reviews, I am glad you all even took the time to review Alpine Shrine.

Originally Posted by Velenne

Alpine Shrine ... I can't vote in favor of it.

Originally Posted by Revdyer

If this is a NO and not an abstention, it takes Alpine Shrine out of the running.

I'm confused, doesn't the map still have two more open votes?

Anyways, thinks for all the time all of you took to review Alpine Shrine, from your reviews I have learned a lot about building a well-balanced map and hope to have a second map up for nomination soon.

Thanks again,
CH4071C

[Rÿchean]

Originally Posted by CH4071C

I'm confused, doesn't the map still have two more open votes?

Originally Posted by Battlefields of Valhalla By-Laws

SECTION 2: How maps are judged
1. Maps nominated for consideration will go through the following process after a majority of acceptance votes by the judges.
2. Maps will be playtested competitively at least once by all judges, using 400-600 point armies. Candidates for approval will be playtested more than once.
3. Consideration for approved maps will be given, generally, based on the following criteria and in this order: balance, interesting play, and aesthetics. 4. Time for consideration is: as long as it takes for the judges to make an informed decision.
5. Great maps will be approved; not good ones. Don't let this discourage you.
6. Judge discussions will occur in a public forum on the official non-official Heroscape web site: Currently www.heroscapers.com
7. Voting on maps will occur in private, but vote totals will be presented publicly.
8. Maps that receive a super-majority of 75% of the Council will be formatted and given the Battlefields of Valhalla Seal of Approval. Judges may abstain from a vote on a particular map, thereby reducing the total number of votes needed for acceptance.

On other words, A map must achieve 5 Yes votes out of 6 to get in. With 2 No votes, the highest approval rating Alpine can receive is 66.666%.

[CH4071C]

Originally Posted by Rÿchean

Sorry, I must have missed that
Thanks Rÿchean

CH4071C

[Velenne]

A map needs a supermajority of 75% for admittance into the BoV. With 6 judges, that means no more than one (usually me, it seems) judge can vote 'no'. Alpine Shrine looked really strong, ch4071c, and could probably be a stronger candidate if the center and turrets were reworked. It's a good tourney map regardless. I'll continue following your maps thread.

Edit: Too slow. Cursed iPhone thumb typing awkwardness.