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This section contains pictures and comments for selected Blizzard maps (the ones I've played enough to have an opinion about). Click the small pictures to see blow-ups of the maps. To see pictures of the rest of the maps, go to the Starcraft Compendium's maps page.
-- Fair, fun, flawless; perfect in every way.
-- Good but with minor flaws or slightly less
lively gameplay.
-- Flawed but
ok for playing once in a blue moon.
-- Unimaginative, ugly, unstructured, and/or unfair.
-- Hopelessly terrible.
Char Magma
(192x192, ash) -- A great map, Char Magma is star-shaped and symmetric. You start off with
a decent-sized resource patch (10 mineral clumps plus a geyser) and about halfway to the
center of the star there is a 6-clump patch with a geyser. There is another patch in the
middle but I've never seen anyone mine it. Spy your opponents' secondary mines (the ones
halfway to the middle) before they expand, if possible. Most people expand there
first, rather than going to an unoccupied start location. Also realize that the north,
south, east and west paths are high ground, and the diagonal ones are low ground. The
ramps down to the diagonal locations can be deadly choke points, and you can control them
if you put ranged units on the high side of them. Note that the bottom left and
right locations have two ramps each, while top right and left have only one ramp.
Also note that the north, south, east and west locations each have one or two
little low-ground 'lips' near their expansion sites. These are somewhat out of the
way and connected by ramps. I suspect that the map designers reckoned people would
unload transports there, but I've never seen it done. For allied play, good
technique involves coordinating attacks by uniting your army with your teammate's just
before an assault on an enemy base; in Char Magma, I often meet my teammate at my
opponent's expansion mine. This is a convenient rendezvous point that has an added
advantage: your opponent cannot expand while you are gathering your forces because your
armies are standing on his expansion spot. :) 
Homeworld (192x192, jungle) -- Another great map. This
one has start spots mostly surrounded by walls. There are expansions between the spots, up
against the edges of the map, plus 16 three-clump patches scattered through the middle
that nobody ever mines. The start spots are connected to the center by bridges; these
choke points can become traps if used properly. Also the start points have access to each
other by going around the edges of the map through the expansions. It is somewhat easier
to hide expansions on this map because the extra resources are located at the edges, so be
sure you reconnoiter thoroughly. Also, don't forget that each start spot has two
entrances. If you are attacking an opponent's "front door" and you find
that it is heavily fortified, try running around the back. Your opponent may not
have defended it so well.
Plains of Snow '98 (192x192, ash) -- Ahhh, the old
standby. Also known as the Map Which Would Not Die. This one looks and plays just like the
old POS, except that you can't wall in. What does this mean? Rushing is a threat more than
ever. Don't expand too soon (just like old POS); make sure you have a large enough army
first. The start spots have 9 mineral patches (four 1500-mineral clumps and five
3000-mineral clumps) and a 10000-unit gas geyser. Pretty big. Expansions are 10x1500
(top and bottom), 7x1500 plus 5000 gas (four sites surrounding the center) and 10x1500
plus 2x5000 gas (center). The expansion mines are as inaccesible as always, so new
bases are usually limited to the eight start spots. However, don't neglect recon in
the middle; an enterprising or desperate opponent (especially Terran) is likely to put a
base there when you least expect it. In 8-way games, you can kill an opponent and
expand at his base. :)
Green Valleys (256x256, jungle) -- This huge map is
also star shaped, somewhat like Char Magma. Make sure you get zergling speed and
zealot legs because it's a long walk to anywhere. There are two patches of minerals
(13 total clumps) at each start (only one geyser though) PLUS minerals and gas about
halfway to the center. In addition to this, the raised plateau surrounding the "green
valleys" also contains lots of minerals and gas. There are no ramps, so you must
transport workers (or fly command centers) up to these areas. If you do establish a base
up there, you can be pretty sure no one will find it for a while, as the map is huge and
people almost always neglect recon on the plateau. .
The Hunters (128x128, jungle) -- This smallish (for an
8-way) map is vaguely star-shaped, with expansions in funny places in a kind of ring
around the center. Start locations have 10 crystal clumps and a geyser. Eight of the
crystal expansion sites have six clumps; the one in the center has seven crystal
clumps. There are seven expansion geysers (not eight); some are closer to crystal
sites than others. Not all of the start locations have equal access to the expansion
resources; bottom right, bottom center and top right have a good deal, while top left and
top center pretty much have to fight it out for the nearest expansion spot. Center
left and center right have good access to minerals, but not to gas. Bottom left's
expansion gas is pretty far from the expansion minerals. Bearing all this in mind,
it seems best to hide new towns in a vacant start spot. Also the expansions are too
near the center not to be noticed. The Hunters' small size makes it something of a rush
map, but its odd shape may just make up for that. Although this map is not terribly fair;
I find myself playing lots of games on it because it is popular.
Eruption (128x128, jungle) -- Eruption was
Blizzard's third .SCM of the
Week; it was also the first SotW that's good for playing big allied games. The
starting positions are in my favorite configuration (1-2-4-5-7-8-10-11 oclock); each start
has eight crystal clumps and a geyser. In addition, each spot has a ramp-accessible
plateau which contains another five clumps (well, except top left, which has six, oops!),
but alas no gas. To get more gas you must take a vacant start spot or grab one of
the expansions in the middle; there are eight of these, and each has three crystal clumps
and a geyser. However, be careful mining the middle, as many of the middle
expansions are vulnerable to ranged ground attack from the start spots. Note that
the middle is a big plateau with ramps leading down to the start spots; the usual pointers
about controlling the ramps apply. You can put troops at your choke point to protect
your base and expansion from ground assaults, but watch out for hit-and-run flyer attacks
at your rear. This is a great map and I hope people start to play it. I hope
it ends up on the expansion CD, too.
Elderlands (192x192, jungle) -- This was the
first Starcraft map I made, and Blizzard made it their sixth .SCM of the Week. The
start spots are arranged in a circle about halfway between the center and edge of the
map. Four plateaus go diagonally from center to corner; these plateaus dominate the
start spots, so don't let your enemies sneak any tanks up there. Start spots have
only six mineral clumps (nine originally, Blizzard changed this), so you should try to
secure an expansion early. Expansion points are located on the plateaus (six mineral
clumps), at the edges (eight clumps), in the corners (eight clumps), and in the center
(four locations of six clumps each). The center is a strategic area, as most assault
groups travel through it -- fortifications should generally face toward the center.
However, each base has a back door and a side door. These other entrances take more effort
to use, but hitting from the blind side can be a decisive tactic on this map. There
are lots of places to hide towns, so go ahead and expand -- your enemies may not see your
new bases. I really like this map (but then again I'm a little biased); too bad
Blizzard killed it by reducing the starting minerals.
Station Unrest (256x128, space platform) -- This long
skinny map is bit of a mess. There is a loop which runs around the map; six start
locations are on this loop. The other two start spots are on nodes of platform
jutting into the middle of the map. Add this to the almost always confusing and
unappealing nature of the space platform tileset, and you get a pretty frustrating place
to play. Two of the start spots are located directly in the only two east-west paths
and another is almost as bad on the right hand side. There is no way passing troops
could fail to notice these towns. The other spots are well off the beaten path,
especially the two middle spots, which have a single choke point to defend (with high
ground to shoot from!), and access to expansion minerals and gas behind the choke.
At least the start spots all have the same number of crystal clumps (six).
Land-accessible expansion spots seem to have five clumps and a geyer. Island
expansions have either four clumps or a geyser (with one 5-clump+geyser exception near top
right). Anyway, I'm not too thrilled with this map.
Killing Fields (256x256, jungle) -- This is the closest
I've seen to a 256x256 rush map. It's wide open, with near-straight-line access
between many of the start spots. Even worse is almost complete lack of
structure. Each start spot has 10 mineral clumps and a gas geyser, but other than
that, the map is a mess. Resources are scattered all over the map, but in almost all
cases the sites contain either minerals or gas but not both. The only good
expansions (both minerals and gas) are on islands or no-ramp plateaus -- there are five of
these, clustered at the bottom and left of the map -- plus a single non-plateau site on
the right side. Many people love to play this map, but I'm not one of them. :(
Sherwood Forest (192x192, jungle) -- This one is good
for a quick 2v2 game -- you aren't quite sure where your opponents will be. The five
start spots are surrounded by walls, with ramps. If you are a lover of big Terran
defenses, you'll love Sherwood Forest -- the walls seem to be made for seige tanks.
This defensive setup is offset by the relative openness of the map; apart from the choke
points leading into the bases, point-to-point navigation is easy and fast. Rushes
are common. The start spots each have nine mineral clumps and a geyser.
Between the start spots lie five expansion bases, each well protected by choke points and
containing seven clumps and a geyser. In the central forest are five more expansion
spots, with six clumps apiece (no gas though). There is a lone geyser in the
center. The middle area is dotted with trees, so remember that units hiding under
trees receive a defensive bonus when attacked from the air.
Island Hop (128x128, jungle) -- This is not a great
map, but it is one of the few medium-sized island maps on the Starcraft CD. The five
starting locations allow for at least a little bit of uncertainty in a 2 on 2 game, but
the odd placement of the start spots and the uneven distribution of expansion locations
hinder this map. Initial resources are nine mineral clumps plus a gas geyser.
The bottom and left side starting positions are isolated and not surrounded, but the two
positions at top right are crowded together with possible enemies on either side.
All five islands are spacious enough to allow for terran sprawl with room left over for an
invasion force to land. There are six expansion locations. Four of these have
six clumps and a geyser, but the two centermost spots have eight clumps and no
geyser. For the typical gas-hungry island game, these no-geyser expansions are not
useful. In addition, the expansions with gas are distributed unfairly -- bottom left
has easy access to two of them, while the rest of the start spots must compete with
neighbors for the closest gas expansion.
Lost Temple (128x128, jungle) -- If you need to play a
four-player map, I recommend this one. Start locations are large and raised, with 8
crystal clumps and a geyser. A ramp leads out the side to an expansion site
containing another 8 clumps and a geyser. The expansions are protected from the
middle by a moderate choke point -- control that and you control the entrance to both your
base and your expansion. In the middle there are four 6-clump crystal sites, but no
more gas (kill your neighbor and steal his!!). Islands to the top left and bottom
right have 8 clumps and a geyser. I really like this map because of its logical,
mostly fair layout and the decent defensive capabilities the terrain provides. It's
also ladder-legal, for those who are into that kind of thing :) I play and win 4-way
FFAs here all the time. One thing to watch out for: if you are top, be careful of
the right-side player's cliff by your ramp -- tanks on the cliff can really put the hurt
on you. Also, make sure you park a flyer over the islands to watch for
expansions. And look out for shuttles full of reavers unloading in your backyard. :)
A Bridge Too Near (128x128, badlands) -- If you have to
play a four-player map and for some reason you can't play on Lost Temple, then try this
one. :) Minerals are a little scarce: you get only six mineral clumps at your start
location and five more at on a nearby ramp-accessible plateau. The other four
plateaus also have five mineral clumps, but they have no ramps. Each mineral site
has a geyser. The central island is connected to the four start locations by narrow,
easily defended bridges; look for FFAs on this map to become possible air wars, especially
if there are a lot of Terran players. Notice that the top two spots have their
ramped expansions next to each other, and that the bottom two spots have their non-ramped
expansions next to each other. Since resources are so scare you would do well to
steal your neighbor's minerals, either by killing him (my favorite way) or by sneaking
into his non-ramp expansion spot. Make sure you have adequate anti-air forces on
your non-ramp expansions, as you can't just run in a group of hydras to help out.
Zerg players would do well to burrow zerglings in the center island and bridges for recon.
Dire Straits (128x128, jungle) -- This excellent map
offers fair starting positions and a wealth of expansion choices. The four start
positions are located on large islands, with eight mineral clumps and a gas geyser.
The six expansion islands are distributed equitibly between the start locations. The
four smaller islands each have eight mineral clumps and a geyser. The two larger
expansions each have a whopping fifteen mineral clumps plus a geyser, but these resources
are so spread out that at least two headquarters buildings would be required to collect
them efficiently. The main flaw in this map is the uneven layout of the resources on
the six expansion islands. There is only one spot where a resource collection
building fits snugly between minerals and geyser (bottom section of leftmost large
expansion island), and the other sites vary from pretty good to downright awful in terms
of town hall placement. The worst offender is the bottom center island, where the
minerals are divided into two clumps of four and separated by such a great distance that
two town halls fit in between with room to spare. Despite the flaws in the
expansions, this map is largely fair and is played regularly on Blizzard's ladder.
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