Starcraft AI blog

A few thoughts on the map Transistor after watching the ASL5 games today.

“Transistor” is a clever name for the map. On the one hand, the bases are laid out like the standard diagram of a transistor: Source, gate, drain. On the other hand, the middle “gate” base can act strategically as a gate that blocks or allows movement between the two other bases.

The underlying idea of the map is to create strategic variety between games where both sides have corner bases and games where one side is in the middle base. If both sides have corner bases, the situation is symmetrical and balanced. If one player has the center base, the intent is that the 2 base positions will have offsetting advantages and disadvantages so that each player has different goals while neither has a big overall advantage. The center base is more vulnerable to harass, but is also in position to block access between the top and bottom halves of the map, achieving a favorable map split later in the game.

I’m not sure how successful the intent will turn out to be, but it is a sophisticated design. Map making has come a long way since Lost Temple.

Bots so far seem to be totally incapable of the strategic analysis or adaptation needed to play differently depending on the positions that the players end up in. Another map which is deliberately designed so that play varies depending on starting positions is Fantasy, a 4 player map in which each start location is laid out differently. When Fantasy was current, some pros played specialized strategies for specific starting positions.