There is also an excellent selection of duel maps here:
/topic/at/2317/I've added a few more!
And here is the description of duel maps from Vam Rada!
I will try to define the most typical fixed map for 2 players: size M, no computers, sufficiently resource-rich, with early combat encounters between players. Of course, reality is much broader than this definition; there are wonderful "elks," maps with bots, etc. I will try (without lingering too long) to touch upon all of this.
It's a real shame that specialized sites have almost no analytical materials on fixed maps, except for the field reports by Lord Maniac and Horn. Moreover, while the older generation of players has dwindled significantly, the new ones criticize fixed maps without reason, having never properly played them—it's time for some basic instruction.
Part One. Classification of the Unclassifiable.
For my own purposes, I would conditionally divide all fixed maps into 4 groups.
1. Closed maps. There are player zones; between them stand fences consisting of dozens of high-level monsters. To reach the opponent, this fence must be demolished.
2. Large maps. Here, the separation of opponents is achieved by geographically increasing the distance between starting castles. Since the division, I remind you, is conditional—I've gathered all reasonably playable large-sized maps here.
3. Open (to all winds) maps. These are exactly what fit the definition of "folk" maps. As a rule, they are very simple and clear. Opponents are not separated by barriers; scouts (and others) may make contact in week 1. These maps are the death of the tryhard and a headache for the uninitiative player. Light sorts of beer go very well with these maps. Actually, no, any sort of beer is good with them; more important is that the opponent be worthy. Read the topic title and you will find out who these "favorite maps" of Vam Rada are.
4. "Pro" maps. Maps of increased difficulty. Initially, they may seem very simple, but when meeting a player who might even be weaker but specifically prepared for this map, inevitable defeat awaits you. I will try to analyze some maps of this type.
1. So, the first group of maps—closed maps.
At one time, the anti-rush thinking of mapmakers worked in exactly this direction—separating players with monsters. As a result, the vast majority of known maps are built on this principle. Medium-sized maps, sufficiently provided with resources, mines, and dwellings. A player can do whatever they wish on their own territory until the opponent breaks through the guards to reach them. Unfortunately, despite all their merits, tryharding often manifests on these maps. Inevitably, an optimal route for the main army was sought, as a result of which hero stats reached extreme values after a couple of weeks of leveling. After that, no dragons or titans were able to hold back the runaway powerhouse. Externally, everything looked more than decent—the tryhard guy acted as the active side in the game, impressively breaking through powerful monsters, earning respect from spectators, and quickly wiping out the stunned opponent. That's all well and good, but creativity and player talent are not present here. Instead, there is persistence and diligence (spending several evenings on one map), smoothly flowing into tryharding.
It is precisely this point that casts a shadow over the noble action of playing fixed maps. But I admit, if the map isn't too complex, the game can be interesting even without tryharding.
The earliest variety of these maps is when player territories begin immediately after the guards—the fence. One can recall maps such as Battle for Glory, East vs West, The Duel (not to be confused with "Duel").
There's really nothing to say about these maps. Although no, I will remember one worthy map—Invader.
A more advanced variety is when the mapmaker created a certain neutral area between player zones, containing various Pandoras, utopias, dwellings, etc.
The first to break through there gained a decisive advantage in the form of powerful leveling for the main hero. I'll name maps such as The Hive, Supreme Ruler, The Showdawn, Cold War, Split, Battle for Power.
Conclusion: the only but significant downside of these maps is that the conflict between players often begins and ends in one big battle. From the first moves, you simply plot the most favorable route to the final battle. If you want an idea of them—besides Invader, I recommend the well-made Battle for Power and the original Cold War.
2. Moving on to the next group of maps—large ones.
There are significantly fewer of these that come to mind than "emks." I recall only 7.
Guardians, Danger Zone, Seven Lakes, Final Conflict, Xathras Prize, Last Battle, Wizzard Blizzard.
Guardians (author - Berlov, Saint Petersburg). In my opinion—the best of all created maps. Opponents' cities stand side by side; only azure dragons separate the passage (and an event that resets resources upon passing). Beyond that—freedom of creativity; on this map, you can do anything, there is no single path to victory. Despite the fact that the map may initially seem poor in resources—there are more than enough resources, you just need to know how to fight for them. The map has no weak spots; only that with good play from opponents, the game can be long. Quests are not annoying, everything is organic. It's an asymmetrical map; each race has its own development path. For those who haven't played or seen this map—it's hard to explain what happens on it. Those who played and didn't like it—perhaps fixed maps aren't for them?
And yet, try playing as a Barbarian, a Demon, or a Beast. Try to rush the opponent in 2 weeks via the upper sea as Red, break through the azure ones with Gorgons and Vampires, collect at least the armor of the damned, the admiral's hat, and the legion figurine, visit all islands, free prisoners, solve quests—perhaps you will change your mind. This map is the only multiplayer map that is interesting to play in single-player.
Danger Zone—another worthy representative of the large-map family. The map has a randomizer's joy—utopias, plenty of resources, and a strong bastion in the center—a magical city whose approaches are guarded by heavily leveled heroes with armies. A long, tense struggle. Ignore talk of rushing—no one will let a scout with an army for redeeming a fallen main hero get near the tavern on their own territory.
Huge armies under the command of extreme powerhouses gather for the final battle. Again, a map for the finale.
Seven Lakes. There was no better map in Heroes II. In the same version for III, nothing of its former charm remains—but it's quite suitable for a long struggle. Keep an eye on opponents, don't forget to bomb level 7 dwellings—and you shall have happiness.
Xathras Prize. A map from the standard set. A map of unrealized possibilities. What ruins it is that a powerful computer inevitably emerges from the Dungeon and inevitably spoils the game for the purple player. And the fact that opponents often end up side by side (red and orange, orange and purple); scout clashes begin as early as day 3-4, and the one less hindered by computers wins.
But if you disable the same Dungeon entirely in the editor and make orange only a bot—then with 4 positions (red, green, purple, and brown)—it becomes a puzzle for players. It's hard to even imagine how twisted the game's plot can be.
The remaining 3 maps—Final Conflict, Last Battle, and Wizzard Blizzard—are suitable for a final game, quite playable, but still tedious due to their size.
YES, THIS IS THE SAME VAM RADA WHO WROTE THE RECRUIT'S COURSE. AND WHY DID THE QUESTION ARISE? EVERYTHING WAS WRITTEN TO POINT; WE ARE EXAMINING TYPES OF FIXED MAPS. TO THE POINT, BECAUSE ALL SUBSEQUENT MICHURINSK TOURNAMENTS WILL BE HELD ONLY ON FIXED MAPS (GOOD FIXED MAPS) ON VERSION TE.
No matter how you look at it, the first two groups of maps have a significant downside—they are long. At the last St. Petersburg tournament with Alex Great (not to be confused with our Alexgrid), we played on a closed map for about 5 real hours and one game month. Then he had to leave, and in that time, far from fighting with main armies—even scouts hadn't met.
But if we had played maps of the third group—the game would likely have ended by the end of the 5th hour. So, the maps I called open. Examples—Fighting, Boomerang, etc.
There are no guards between players' castles, or they are symbolic. Tryhards hate such maps because an opponent disrupts all their calculated plans. I've seen situations several times where a tryhard, say, executes a fast attack strategy—it fails due to the opponent's counteraction... And that's it, the tryhard instantly wilts, even though there are enough forces and means to continue the struggle—he just sits with folded arms, waiting for the opponent. A player who forced himself to become a tryhard forever loses human qualities such as initiative and resourcefulness.
Read the topic about the 10-city tournament—players chose maps with fast, sharp gameplay; sometimes battles took place in several directions at once, and the player had to defend and attack simultaneously. Read about the game between Lavren and Lixent—a typical example of a game on an open map.
Now for the maps themselves.
1. Duel.
Another brilliant map by St. Petersburg mapmaker Berlov. The idea is simple—in one corner (ring) sits someone relatively "good," choosing from Castle, Rampart, Tower, or Fortress, and in the other, someone relatively "evil," choosing from the remaining 4 castles. And again, freedom of creativity; there is no single path to victory. It's good to take a boat and collect great wealth at sea, not bad to break into the center or the lower left corner, good to spend time in the upgrade area. Or better yet, attack the opponent immediately? You have to make a choice, invest in one thing. And all while the opponent is also hatching similar plans. A mass of development paths; I've never seen identical games—opponents came up with something different in each. Add that playing as a Barbarian will be completely unlike playing as a Necromancer; the paths of the swamp-dweller and the mage diverge from the first move, etc.
It's hard to believe that a map—just an "emka" without even a Dungeon—has so much built into it. I take my hat off to such talented work by Berlov.
2. Outer Limits.
Again, a map you could never mistake for another. There is no other map with such a tricky start. From the first move, the player sees a small courtyard where mines and others are located. You can only leave the courtyard via a one-way teleport; another passage is guarded by titans. Consequently, crowds of heroes throw themselves into the teleport to devour rich territory. Endless battles between scouts (in my case, at least a dozen die every game, for my opponents—hardly fewer). Main heroes level up with armies. Fast castle build-up—monster dwellings are always completed in week 2, and by the third—magic floors. With magic and a leveled hero, titans are broken through without problem in week 3, maximum 4, and it turns out that opponent cities are not far from each other at all. The knot of contradiction is a neutral city in the middle of capitals.
Despite its many merits, the map has downsides.
The main one—all games are similar; there's a linearity to the plot. There is a strong dependence on the magic tower—whoever has the better one gets an advantage earlier, and a decisive one at that. But the map is very popular.
3. Fighting for Turf.
I think this map can be called the official fixed map of the city of Michurinsk. The interest in it is simply frantic. I'll go into some office for work and see it on computers. Yes, I'm glad I didn't advertise it in vain—the map is worthy of it. It's sufficiently provided with resources; battles boil from the very first week, and the time and place of an enemy attack are impossible to predict. Attacks come through teleports, through swamps, through sand, landings from the sea—all this in both directions. There are successful attacks in the first, second, and third weeks, although the most typical end to the game is at the end of the first or beginning of the second month. You want to invest in building up—often this leads to defeat; a player with a decent build-up can only watch as their comrade, who invested in early army levels and rushed, takes the castle without problem. At the same time, someone who delayed building the castle suffers a fatal shortage of army and also faces inevitable quick rout. The only way to protect yourself from rapid defeat is to fight for initiative from the very first moves, to take risks. The role of scouts is no less important than that of the main hero; there were many games where a couple of broken-through level 2-3 mages with placed ones crushed the rear of an inattentive opponent. An excellent map for playing with a friend.
4. Survivor.
Many don't believe this map is an "emka," but it is. A correct choice for players who dislike the adventurous gameplay of the previous map, but also don't want to play a long closed map. Again, thanks to good build-up of dwellings and magic floors, the game doesn't drag on. The knot of contradiction from the start of the game to the end is the center. Whoever controls it wins.
5. New World.
A map with a temper, although it seems simple. It seems you need to break through the shipyard guards and collect both seas. You need to gather your own territory for a decent castle build-up. And you should probably take the second city. But the opponent interferes. Oh, by the way, if you think the dragons in the center will stand forever—you are mistaken. Don't miss that moment.
6. Devited Loyaties.
As soon as a player started outplaying computers—he started mapmaking. He wasn't ready for masterpieces yet, but he had enough sense to wipe the Dungeon from this map in the standard set using the editor. After which, a mediocre-nothing map became a sufficiently combat-ready proving ground for two players. I've seen many versions of this process; perhaps the most polished variants were developed in the St. Petersburg Alpha club (a kind of analog to our Wings).
7. Dwellers.
Although the map seems simple—playing it is quite difficult. There are two small dungeons from which cave people emerge into the light of day. Blinking in unfamiliarity, they begin a process of gathering (beekeeping), then tribes clash, and the development process goes quickly. Again, it's important to open territory quickly.
8. Universal Commander.
Same principle as in the previous map. Players start on small islands, enter the continent via teleport, where the brawl takes place. "Continent" is a strong word; the territory is small and very suitable for rushing. There are Pandoras, though I didn't quite understand when to take them—battles of army annihilation begin almost immediately.
9. Natural Enemies (NE). And another map similar to the previous two. Only in reverse—start on the continent and enter islands via teleports, where neutral cities are located. And this map is slightly worse. I couldn't understand why until it hit me—simply, there are no gold mines on the map, as a result of which building up an expensive castleis extremely difficult. If the rush isn't completed quickly, the map's poverty narrows the players' operational options. Although the map is popular at St. Petersburg tournaments.
10. Boomerang. A very ancient map - good old Boomer. No matter how much it was criticized for its primitivity, everyone played and continues to play on it. And they will keep playing. It's quite possible that the last two fans of HoMM3 will play the very last fix-map specifically on this one. The outlines of the "rogalik" (croissant) are also unmistakable in the editor. A charismatic map.
There are other maps, but they are hardly better than the top ten.
I ask you, if you do choose a map to play - pass by Me vs You, Battle Rouale, Darkside. Perhaps the authors of these maps have never played Multiplayer, maybe they forgot to finish the maps, or they just woke up on the wrong side of the bed that day. But playing on maps where resources were simply forgotten is ridiculous. You can get a thrill from managing to place level 5 or even 6 monsters in week 1 (fully aware that you won't be able to buy them out), but in doing so, you ignore the game, the combinations, the drive, and disregard your opponent. Sorry, that's not my choice.
Alright, let's move on - the last category is "pro".
The maps are interesting, dynamic, truly tournament-grade. But! The player must be of a good level, which in itself is not enough. They must play on the map at least 5-6 times, draw conclusions, even grind some things; otherwise, when facing an opponent prepared on this map, they will have no chance.
1. Land of Magic (LoM).
Author - a well-known St. Petersburg player Master of Lightnings. The map has been tested at tournaments. Very complex, played by wild rules - Solmyras, Jeddites, etc., are allowed; cool artifacts found at sea, like the cap +6 to all stats, are also allowed, as is diplomacy. Despite the fact that it's an M-map—which should be a terrible imbalance—it isn't. Losing one or two turns while wasting an army means inevitable defeat.
The map is decided quickly, in 2-3 weeks, a month at most. Starting from the second week, even from the first, cool heroes with combat skills and 7 monsters from dwellings appear. A bunch of quests in the underground, the main ones being two for Dimension Door.
You can play for the quest, you can rush, or go for magic or dragons. A unique opportunity to control azure or magic dragons. If you are playing in a tournament - play single-player at least 10 times. Make sure that by the start of week 2, the most terrifying monster on the map is your boss.
2. Just Another Map (JAM).
Another quite difficult map. It seems like a typical closed map.
But getting a rush on week 2 on it is easy, and the opponent may even have a crowd of level 7 monsters (even so).
It's all because of the rich map with the presence of level 7 dwellings. Now pay attention - the dwellings are not neutral, but already belong to someone - on your side are the enemy's dwellings and vice versa. Therefore, it's not enough just to take back your own dwelling; it's also useful to seize the opponent's dwelling. Keep in mind that Conflux and Rampart dwellings are exactly what's missing. The strategy is clear - slot a level 7 dwelling into the Castle in week 1. Now, instead of two, we get four powerful monsters; on week 2, for example, I will have 6 or 7 bears or angels, and even more red dragons considering the portal. Let's count - in the first week we got one, say, bear from an external dwelling and built one in the Castle. In the second week, another was bought out of a dwelling and 4 were received in the Castle. Total: 7 units. Don't get too carried away; perhaps the opponent is preparing a rush with such an army. A tempo game.
3. Locked Undergraund.
An unusual map. Usually, the underground is a logical extension of the surface map. Here, however, it is an absolutely different land with different gravity, customs, and traditions. It's as if you are playing 2 chess games simultaneously, where pieces can jump from one board to another. To dominate on one map, you must simultaneously dominate on the other.
4. The Challenge.
A calculated tempo game. Monsters on the passes are broken through very early.
In the center are the Dungeon, utopias, and university - that's where the decisive advantage lies.
If you are lured into playing on this map - think twice, no matter how friendly it may seem at first glance. A very difficult map.
5. Desert War.
Have you seen "White Sun of the Desert"? Or read "Dune"? If so, you'll understand everything. The atmosphere of the map is indescribable - sands, monsters, a dead city in the center of the desert. No cheap tricks with horror events - just the atmosphere itself. One of the oldest mirror maps. Due to its popularity, it has been polished to the limit by leading players and mapped out move-by-move, which is explained by its small size (M-map without underground) and the obvious route from one necessary point to another. Possibly the most famous Multiplayer fix-map in the world.
Want to feel a bit "pro" - play LoM, JAM, and Desert War - satisfaction guaranteed.
And next we have the actual tactics and strategy of the game - leaders, armies, castles, and so on. The next chapter is called "Choosing Your Weapon".
P.S. The first round of the 3rd offline tournament took place on the Jam map! I will gradually add all the maps mentioned here to the forum!!!
