All-New Blizzard Custom Maps: Left 2 Die, Aiur Chef, and Blizzard DOTA

The team then went on to discuss how their design approach is applied in practice, using three upcoming Blizzard-made custom maps as examples. They also gave audience members some insight into each map’s inspiration and the overall gameplay.

Left 2 Die

Left 2 Die offers a cooperative take on the StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty campaign mission Outbreak (i.e. the mission where it was only safe to go out during the day), which received a lot of positive feedback from the community. Feeling that Outbreak created a dynamic, fun environment that encouraged coordination and promoted the importance of both offense and defense, the design team adapted this mission into a team-based mini-game that allows players to share tech trees, earn research points by destroying infested buildings during the day, and create elaborate ground defenses, all in the hopes of surviving through the night against hordes of slavering zerg zombies.

Aiur Chef

Players will get to wear the hat of zealot warrior chefs skilled in the arts of cooking and killing in this round-based mini-game. Every round of Aiur Chef will feature a theme ingredient, and players will need to fight (sometimes to the death) to collect components scattered around the map to make a variety of succulent meals.  Each dish created using the theme ingredient will award points, and the player with most points at the end of all three rounds will be named Executor Chef, culinary guru of the entire Koprulu Sector.

The designers also shared the origin story for “Aiur Chef,” noting that the inspiration for this particular custom map came while browsing through the unit list in the StarCraft II Editor. Upon discovering that there were a number of food objects available, the idea for a cooking-based mini-game where zealots skewered delicious treats on their psi-blades was born.

Allez cuisine!

Blizzard DOTA

After seeing so many great player-made maps based on Aeon of Strife and Defense of the Ancients, the designers felt inspired to create their own adaptation of these legendary StarCraft and Warcraft III custom mods using updated graphics, customized character models, and epic new environments.

Blizzard DOTA will be a 5-vs.-5 mini-game with a chess-board theme, featuring three lanes, two bases, creep-based farming, and an emphasis on protecting key structures. Players will get to choose among 12 iconic heroes from the Blizzard universe, including superstars like Kerrigan, Sylvanas, Jim Raynor, and Muradin Bronzebeard, each with his or her own unique abilities and tactics.

It’s important to note that all of these custom maps are still in their formative stages and do not yet have a release date. While BlizzCon attendees have a unique opportunity to check out early demos, these maps will continue to be tuned, polished, and possibly even augmented as the development process continues to ensure that they’re epic, balanced, and—most importantly—fun to play.

StarCraft II Editor

Next, the developers showcased several short videos demonstrating the variety of cool visual effects that are possible to create using Trigger and Data Editors to manipulate existing art assets, encouraging avid mapmakers to seek out similar ways to really make their maps shine.

Embodying the design team’s appreciation of community feedback, the panelists then highlighted an upcoming addition to the StarCraft II Editor that was directly inspired by player discussion on the Custom Maps forum. In patch 1.2.0, the next major feature and balance patch for StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, players will be able continually track the mouse position in triggers. A video demonstration of the new functionality in action and a final reminder to the audience that “Feedback Becomes Features” served as a transition into an open Q&A session.

But Wait, There’s More…

For those attending BlizzCon this year or watching from home via the BlizzCon 2010 Virtual Ticket, we encourage you to check out tomorrow’s StarCraft II Art panel at 12:00 p.m. PT (pacific time) on the Development Stage to learn more about how our artists are taking custom game graphics to the next level.

Thanks for tuning in!

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