The making of ESV Cloud Kingdom

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The making of ESV Cloud Kingdom

Under swirling mists and a patrolling shark, the purple-hued battleground of ESV Cloud Kingdom awaits. Designed by the young Frenchman Philippe “SUPEROUMAN” Cwik, Cloud Kingdom offers a unique game play experience within an almost surreal environment. With its unique rotational symmetry, unique strategic options, and aesthetic flourishes, Cloud Kingdom won Team Liquid’s map contest. More notably, the map is the first foreigner-made map—in both StarCraft 1 and 2—to appear in a major Korean tournament. Thus far, the first round of GSL 2012 Season 1 Code S has showcased several impressive games on Cloud Kingdom.

ESV Cloud Kingdom

Cwik is a mapmaking veteran who designed Brood War maps for broodwarmaps.net, two of which made it on the iCCup ladder. When StarCraft 2 debuted, Cwik was one of the founding members of iCCuptv, the precursor to ESV. Cloud Kingdom is one of three maps by Cwik that have made a significant splash on the competive scene. His first, iCCup Testbug, is a testament to his tile-set abilities, though it was plagued with some tough balance issues. ESV Sanshorn Mist AE is a remake of a map by konicki, and is used in the IPL Team Arena and ESL map pools.

The success of Cloud Kingdom ushers in what Cwik has called a ‘golden age’ for foreign mapmakers. If the map’s debut is any indication, that’s bound to be true. But it’s also important to note that the map wasn’t created overnight. Cloud Kingdom is the culmination of a simple idea: how could Cwik undermine traditional notions of area control.

It began with a simple parameter: “In Cloud Kingdom, my goal was to use a tiny choke in front of the natural and in the middle,” Cwik says. Such an exploration is common for Cwik. He prefers working around a thematic, game-play oriented idea rather than towards a visual goal. In the case of Cloud Kingdom, the first versions manifested in the unique use of ramps, both in the main-to-natural area and in the middle of a map, to dictate army movements. Rather than a refined map, each of these exists as more of a sketch, and Cwik can take anywhere from three hours to the better part of a day to design one. In each case, Cwik was playing with axis symmetry, where the map is a reflection over the diagonal.

In the third version, Cwik expanded more into center development, but the map still wasn’t coming together quite the way he wanted. “[The third version] looks okay, but I didn’t know what to do precisely with the top left and bottom right areas,” Cwik says. “When I have this feeling, I put the map away for some days to maybe have a good idea pop up.”

Cwik’s breakthrough came when he decided to play with the same theme—area control—but configure his layout in a rotationally symmetric way. Thus, the notable ‘S’ curve of Cloud Kingdom was born, with the abundance of ramps allowing for unique positional battles and flanking opportunities.

“I remember I did the entire map layout in one sitting, which is extremely rare for me,” Cwik says. “I somehow liked every part of the map the first time.”

This version also was textured quickly, even before the layout was completely finished. This is rare for Cwik, who usually works with a sample texture on one part of the map to experiment with the look, holding off until the final layout to add the finishing touches.

Even at this level of development, the map was still far from complete. Most of the ramps in the beta version are the smallest width, capable of being blocked with one force field, whereas the final version expands them to three times the size and adds destructible rocks. Final testing on Cloud Kingdom was done by various people Cwik knows, as well as some master-level players.

“In Cloud Kingdom, I had a lot of testing around the two entrances to the third, and the four tiny chokes on the main path,” Cwik says. “I also told the testers to abuse or mess around with these key parts as much as they could to see if it caused imbalances.”

In total, Cwik completed about five or six distinct versions of Cloud Kingdom, with each of these having a number of iterations and plays on layouts. The complete process, from initial ideas to the final map, took Cwik three months. With unique low- and high-ground opportunities, the final version of Cloud Kingdom is one of the most positional, macro-oriented maps to date.

At 126*132 (Metalopolis is 140*140), Cloud Kingdom is sized for a longer game. Cwik’s intent was to allow for a rather safe progression to two-base play, with interesting positioning and tactics really coming to fruition in the mid- to late game.

Moving from two bases to three remains a relatively safe progression. The ramp into the middle of the map from the natural is easily securable as long as the rocks can be held, and the establishment of the third base also allows the defender an ample awareness of incoming drop play, as both the second and third base provide a drop cushion for the main. The defending army can pivot easily between the ramps, which provide a natural defender’s advantage. Any decisive strikes against the third are best completed by travelling around the ‘S’ path, leaving other areas susceptible to counterattacks. “The longer the path you take, the better position you have to attack your opponent,” Cwik says. “It’s safer to attack the opponent’s natural by going near the third, and attacking the opponent’s third by going behind the fourth.”

The match opens up dramatically as players vie for a fourth base. Most players will opt for one of the two expansions nestled in the lowered cavern in the middle of the map. Each of these offers distinct benefits and disadvantages. The first option (see: 4 BASE a.) has the player taking the expansion at center-left. This provides a much more consolidated cushion against drops, but leaves the player highly susceptible to counterattacks at the third or fourth base, depending on the army’s position. The Xel’Naga tower is easily held from here, and the army can centralize in a more forward position for mounting offensive strikes.

The pocket expansion (see: 4 BASE b.), located just north of the third base, provides a more uniform defensive posture, as the army only needs to patrol the lower ground between the natural’s ramp and the fourth base. However, the back area of the fourth is highly susceptible to siege attacks, and the army loses the mobility to cover the natural from drops. Also, by being positioned on the low ground, attacking armies have a positional advantage if they can occupy the higher, middle stretch of ground.

The outlier option for the fourth base, the corner expansion in the bottom right, is viable only as a hidden expansion or as Zerg. Still, even Zerg is safer occupying a central expansion, as an attacking army can bisect this base from the main Zerg army by setting up position on the high ground.

If the game gets to five bases, a dance ensues in the middle of the map. Such a game was Cwik’s intent from the beginning, and the multiple paths around the sides offer numerous advantages to the positional player. Flanks, counterattacks, and feints became widely viable in such positions, and the unique position of the Xel’Naga tower ensures a diagonal split, as opposed to the vertical split on a map like Metalopolis. The progression to the sixth rounds this out, with base’s occupying the far corners.

With its use in GSL 2012 Season 1, it will be interesting to see how such progressions play out in the hands of the best players in the world. Already, an impressive game was played between two SlayerS players, Ganzi and Boxer, as the two went back and forth in a wacky tug of war following a proxy barracks play by Ganzi. In another game, FXO.Lucky tried to use the narrow confines between the natural and third base to baneling drop IM.MVP.

A definite nod has to be given to Cwik’s texture work, as Cloud Kingdom is one of the most beautiful maps released to date. It’s use in a notable tournament raises the expectations for all future maps. Such aesthetics might not make any tactical difference, but they add a visual impact for the spectator. “I think the goal of aesthetics is to give the spectator the feeling that what happens on the screen looks realistic and plausible (except Testbug), and to create a unique atmosphere that the spectator can feel,” Cwik says. “Concerning my aesthetics philosophy, I like to say, ‘A whole is a sum of details.’ It sums up how much attention I pay to all the details in order to give the spectator the best viewing experience.”

Cloud Kingdom also marks a new way to view map making and balance, notably the power of maps to dictate game play. “The map-making community understands the way to make a map balanced with the current game,” Cwik says. “While having a balanced map is great, the game play can be bland and uninteresting. I think it's better to have slightly imbalanced map with new and interesting features that allow new strategies, tactics, and some adaptation in the game play of the less favored race on that specific map.”

To remedy such minor imbalances, Cwik advocates for a balanced overall map pool. Looking at Cloud Kingdom, Cwik predicts Zerg players will have a slight disadvantage, with all the narrow chokes and relative dearth of wide-open areas. However, the multiple attack paths should allow ample opportunities for flanking and counters.  Whether Cloud Kingdom becomes a tournament staple or exists as a flash in the map scene, Cwik and the ESV team plan to continue raising the prominence of foreigner-made maps in all tournaments. Beyond this, Cwik opens up his expertise to anyone willing to watch. Check him out on his TwitchTV stream, where he regularly showcases his process. You can also find Cwik on Twitter (@ESV_SUPEROUMAN).

All images in this article are courtesy of Philippe “SUPEROUMAN” Cwik and the ESV Mapmaking Team