[Interview] Earthattack – Legendary Korean Mapmaker!

Hi there!

I want to begin by thanking you for checking out this thread. We have a very special interview in store for you! This one’s with a legendary Korean map maker by the name of Earthattack. For over a decade, he’s made many well known and classic maps, including:

Blue Storm (2007)
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EarthAttack’s debut map, which won him the *Best Map at the 2007 Esports Awards*

Troy (2008)
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Andromeda (2008)
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Wuthering Heights (2008)
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Plasma (2008)
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Destination (2008)
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*2009 Esports Grand Prize Best Map: Destination

Battle Royal (2009)
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Outsider (2009)
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Holy World (2009)
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Match Point (2009)
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El Niño (2009)
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Great Barrier Reef (2010)
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Fortress (2010)
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Circuit Breakers (2010)
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*Best Map for eSports Awards 2011: Circuit Breakers*

Pathfinder (2010)
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Outlier (2011)
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Chain Reaction (2011)
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Mist (2014)
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Gold Rush (2017)
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Third World (2018)
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Block Chain (2019)
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Multiverse (2019)
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Escalade (2020)
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Optimizer (2020)
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Hidden Track (2021)
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Revolver (2021)
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He is certainly my favorite map maker and I hope you can consider him as one of yours, too. He is a super nice guy who was kind enough to answer a ridiculous number of interview questions about his mapmaking history. I hope you enjoy it!

May I ask your age please?

Hello TL. I am Earthattack and I was born in 1984. I live in Seoul, Korea.

Did you follow StarCraft since 1998?

Yes, I started with the original version in 1998. In Korea, there were many PC rooms (like internet cafes) at that time. After school, I went to the PC room and played Starcraft with my friends.

What year did you start map making?

The first time I tried using the map editor was in 1998. But I started making a map in earnest in 2004 when OGN [OnGameNet] held the 2nd map contest (1st Prize Winner was Requiem). At that time, I didn’t even make it to the top 100, so I couldn’t pass the first qualifying round. I remember sending an email to the reviewer in charge of the judging and asking why I was rejected. I found out later, that reviewer is Rose.of.Dream who made Fighting Spirit. Rose.of.Dream informed/taught the map-making community, and from then on, I learned map-making skills and started making maps in earnest. In 2005, I enlisted in the military, and in 2007, I made an official map at the same time as I was discharged from the army. In 2007, I recruited a team member for the OGN Map Architecture Team (OMAT), and at that time, I was lucky enough to be selected for my submission Blue Storm. It was the same time when Str18-02, who created Katrina besides me, was also selected.

Why did you start map making?

I loved playing Starcraft, but I also loved making maps, and the best part was playing directly on the maps I made. But as time went on, the proportion of watching the game increased rather than playing the game myself, and I thought it would be really fun to see progamers playing on the maps I made.

Why did you name yourself EarthAttack?

Many people call me EarthAttack, but “Earthattack” is correct (Not a capital A for attack ) This ID was created while playing Starcraft in 1998. I can’t remember exactly, but I think I created an ID by combining Earth + Attack while thinking of a name that has a similar feel to Star + Craft.

Which mapmaker(s), if any, inspired or influenced you? Can you provide any names of map makers or maps that you really love?

I was inspired by several map makers who made official maps before me. I tried to absorb the strengths of their map-making skills.

[Ragnarok]Valkyrie (Jin-Tae Kim): The map maker who makes the best maps for 2 players. He made maps such as Bifrost, Ride of Valkyrie, ShinBaekDuDaeGan, and Heartbreak Ridge which are for 2 players. For a two-player map, it’s important to have a good concept and make each terrain layout meaningful. He is the best at this kind of ability.

Rose.of.Dream (Jong-seok Byun): The map maker who makes the best 4-player power fight maps. He made a lot of 4-players maps with good balance, such as Fighting Spirit, Nostalgia, La Mancha, and Guillotine. I learned his composition and design skills.

Forgotten_ (Seung-yeon Cho): He is best concept map maker. He mainly made maps with special concepts such as 815, Monty Hall, Forte, Hitchhiker, and Arkanoid. I was influenced by his creativity.

Ashelen (Myeong-su Ko): His map design is the best, I think. There are only two official maps he made, Usan-Nation and Fantasy, but I got a lot of inspiration for map designs from his un-official map.

How long did it take you to become good at map making?

It took me about 1~2 years to learn map making skills and make an official map. It is important to make a lot at first, and then, if you have the skill, it is important to polish one map for a long time.

What are your top 3 favourite maps not made by you and can you explain why you chose them?

Ride of Valkyries
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I think I was most influenced by [Ragnarok]Valkyrie’s map skill, and this map was also a big inspiration for me.

ShinBaekDuDaeGan [Peaks of Baekdu]
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Cause it is a classic two player strategic map.

La Mancha
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I think this map is the most beautiful among the maps created by Rose.of.Dream.

What are your top 3 favorite maps made by you and can you explain why you chose them?

Blue Storm
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It is the first official map I made, and I am very attached to it because I was promoted as an official map maker. It was also voted Map of the Year by Kespa in 2007.

Outsider
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This is a concept map using an outer route, and this concept influenced many of my later maps. (El Niño, Pathfinder, Gold Rush, Blockchain, etc.). I think it is the map that best shows my identity.

Circuit Breaker
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It’s the most widely used official map among my maps, so it’s the map I’m most attached to. It was also voted Map of the Year in 2012.

Can you name three progamer matchups on three of your maps that you really love to watch?

2007-09-13 MSL Round 32. iloveoov vs Bisu @BlueStorm : First Game on my map🙂
[Watch VOD here – thanks for locating it for me Blindrawr!]

2018-05-13 ASL 5 Round 3-4 5th Match. herO vs Mini @ThirdWorld
[Watch VOD here]

2019-01-13 ASL 7 Round 24 1st Match. NaDa vs Larva @BlockChain
[Watch VOD here]

Who are your favourite pro-gamers of all time?

My favorite gamer is BoxeR. I’ve been playing Starcraft since 1998, so I like old gamer little more. Another reason is he was doing a lot of research on maps.

When you made maps, was your goal to create a long lasting map that is loved by many players?

Circuit Breaker was created with that in mind, but most maps are made with emphasis on the concept. Since the sponsors who request map production prefer concept maps that are unique a lot. So I also put more effort into creating unique maps.

What was your goal when you made Blue Storm in 2007?

This map is a map that I worked hard on for a very long time because I aimed to become an official map designer. The map concept I’m pursuing is a map that changes the rush route in the early stages and the rush route in the middle and late stages. I like short in the beginning and long in the second half. In the beginning, the goal was to quickly attack small units with short routes, and in the second half, large units moved to long routes, so we could watch large-scale battle at the second half. Many of my maps have different early and late aspects, and Blue Storm is one of them.

What was your goal when you made Plasma in 2008?

I came up with the concept of a neutral egg, and I thought that I should use the concept because it has a characteristic that only workers can easily pass through. To do that, I had to make an island map in the end, and I applied the four-color problem that I had been thinking about for a long time as the concept of the map.

What was your goal when you made Destination in 2008?

Destination also won the Map of the Year in 2009. At that time, I prefer a map with a back road and lots of routes.

What was your goal when you made Match Point in 2009?

Matchpoint is an upgraded version of Bluestorm. I think that Matchpoint is my best 2-players map.

What was your goal when you made Circuit Breakers in 2010?
Did you ever guess that Circuit Breaker would become so popular?

Circuit Breaker is a map made solely for the fun of the game. I was confident that the map would have a good balance, and it seems to have been loved much more than I expected. I didn’t install any doodad on Circuit Breaker that could interfere with the game. For my map Great Barrier Reef, a lot of coral-shaped decorations were installed at the request of the sponsor, So it happened that n.Die_Jaedong’s lurker was trapped between the doodads in Star League. After that incident, I thought I should minimize the use of doodads.

What was your goal when you made Path Finder in 2010?

I wanted to make a map with a close distance in the air, and the initial version was even closer. I still want to make a concept like this, but it’s a pity that the mutalisk is too strong nowadays.

What was your goal when you made Optimizer in 2020?

The optimizer is literally a map that gives players options to optimize their resources. I plan to apply this concept to other maps in the future.

What was your goal when you made Hidden Track for ASL Season 11?

Hidden Track is a map that places 3rd bases on the outskirts, highlighting the outer path. This is my preferred form.

What was your goal when you made Revolver most recently for ASL Season 12?

Revolver’s main concept is dual entrance at natural. It is similar to Match Point, Blue Storm, Circuit Breakers. One is short distance, easy-defence and narrow. The others are long distance and wide. This concept is what I like.

Do you like making 2 player, 3 player or 4 player maps more and why?

If you see my 26 official maps I have made so far, there are seven 2-player maps, seven 3-player maps, and twelve 4-player maps. When I make maps, the number of players is determined by the concept rather than my preference for the number of players.

In 2-players map you start the game with the opponent’s position known, you can play strategically from the beginning. So the terrain should be well positioned for strategic play.

In 4-players map you do not know the position of the opponent. And because of the variety of starting locations arrangements (horizontal, vertical, and diagonal directions), we can watch various matches. Therefore, when making a 4-player map, it is good to make a map focusing on balance.

In 3-player, you can’t even know the opponent’s position, and the rush distance is uniform, so the fun is relatively low compared to 2-players or 4-players map (It’s just my opinion). So, when making 3 players map, I use the map space fully and put in a creative concept. (ex: outsider or goldrush maps)

What tilesets do you really like to use and why?

For my 26 official maps:
Twilight : 7
Space Platform : 7
Badlands : 4
Ice World : 3
Desert : 2
Jungle : 2
Ashworld : 1

But I like Space and Badlands. I like Space tile because all buildings are built on the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd floors. And also like Badlands tile because angled tiles and natural tiles coexist. (Structure and Cliff)

What tilesets would you never use and why?

I try to use all tilesets throughout, with the exception of installations. I tend to choose tiles according to the characteristics of the map and the title of the map.

When you make a new map, what things do you think about or take into consideration?

I produce a map that fits the concept that the league organizers want.

What do you think is the ultimate goal of a map? For example, do you think a map should be balanced as much as possible or do you think a map can give more advantage to one race?

It would be nice to have a good balance, but balance doesn’t come first. I think it is more important to create a map that has never existed before.

How do you decide if you want to create a standard or experimental map?

I prefer experimental more. And there are many creators who are good at making standard maps.

How long do you spend developing one map? Do you have a method?

I make 2~3 maps per ASL season and submit those maps to nominations. If the whole time it takes to create a map is 10, 4 is the time it takes to conceive the concept of the map. 2 is the actual creation time. The remaining 4 seems to be the time to modify the map (including playing and watching the progamers playing).

How can you tell if your map or another map is balanced enough? 

Starcraft is a real-time strategy simulation game and has 3 main activities: Production/Move/Combat. Production is affected by resource quantity and multi base stability. Movement is affected by rush distance. And battle is affected by detailed terrain. The most important among them is the stability of the multi-base and the rush distance. If these two are stable, it could be a map likes Fighting spirit or Circuit Breakers. However, if the map has a special concept, it is difficult to make a map while protecting these principles. So, even though I expected the balance to be bad, I had to make concept maps unwillingly. In this case, I correct the balance in different ways (ex: give 10 mineral for main base)

How important are player comments about a map? Do you think map makers are ultimately responsible for understanding what needs to be corrected in a map?

Map balancing is the responsibility of the map maker. Player comments are helpful, but not absolute. There is a dilemma that the more diligently players work on the map test, the more disadvantageous their race is. It’s not good to modify it to a form unfavorable to player’s race before the final version of the map is released, so players don’t talk much. I think this is an unavoidable part of the system. In the end, map makers have no choice but to improve their capabilities.

What part of a map do you feel is very important? LatiAs for example mentioned relationship between natural and third base.

I think he gave the correct answer. In the old days, the stability of the natural was important, now the stability of the third base is important. A typical map can be seen as fighting spirit. And as mentioned in my answer above, distance is important (distance between starting point by air, distance between main bases, distance between multis, etc.). Zerg’s units are faster than Protoss or Terran’s units, so the longer the distance, the more advantageous Zerg is. Likewise, Terran’s units are slowest, so the shorter the distance, the more advantageous Terran is.

What is the most difficult part of map making in your opinion?

The answer is thinking of a new concept. If the concept is clear, there is not much difficulty.

Do you have any advice for new map makers who wish to create a popular map loved by many players like you have?

Choose a best map among your maps, and work harder on it. It is better than making a lot of maps.

Is there anything you wish the map software (scmdraft2) could do?

I am using the scmdraft well, and I am always grateful to the producer. I have some wishes. In the case of units, pixel unit control is possible through coordinate input, but (unit) sprites cannot do this. I wish this part could be done. When I create the entrance of the assimilator (ex: blockchain) I put the sprites at 800% magnification. It is very hard, so It would be nice if coordinates could be entered. And I would like to know more about the pathfinding problem. But I think that it’s probably a problem with Starcraft’s original algorithm.

Do you have any opinion about foreign map makers?

When I see foreign maker’s maps sometimes, I think there are a lot of great maps. I hope we communicate more now.

Do you have any opinion about ladder map pool?

ASL is only one Starcraft league, so it would be a good idea that ladder’s map and ASL map should be same. In my opinion, FS + CB + 5 of 7 ASL maps would be the best.

Do you have any opinion about ASL map pools?

In ASL 12, 4 out of 7 maps are new maps. This seems appropriate.

Do you know if ASL map pools are supposed to contain all balanced maps? Or sometimes some maps are intended to favour one race more?

I think 1 or 2 unusual maps should be included. (And I hope the balance is right, too)

Are you still working on any new maps?

Yes, I’m constantly making maps. You can see the map being made on Instagram @earthattack.

Will you ever retire from map making or do you plan to continue as long as ASL exists?

If maps aren’t needed, I don’t think I’ll make anymore. If it will continue to be adopted then I will continue to make if necessary🙂

Do you play StarCraft at all? What race is your favourite? What is your favourite matchup to play or watch and why?

I’m raising a 6-year-old boy, so I don’t have much time to play these days. I like Terran versus Protoss to watch. There are three kinds of broods, and Zerg is exceptionally unique. Therefore, if there is a Zerg, the game often ends one-sidedly. In case of Terrans and Protoss who have similar characteristics, the balance is the best and the game is fun.

What would you say if someone called you the greatest map maker of all time? Do you feel you earned this title?

I’ve never thought that I’m the best at making maps. I just want to make the most unique and fun maps.

Anything you want to say to your fans out there?

Originally, I rarely did community activities. If I have a chance, I will actively participate. If the responses are good, I’ll continue to talk about unreleased maps and behind stories. Please pay a lot of attention to ASL as well.

I want to thank you for your time Earthattack. This was such a treat for us!

Folks, this was the second interview as part of the BroodWarMaps.Net series, intended to promote map makers and map making.

If you haven’t done so already, please check out the first interview we did with LatiAs, the author of Eclipse, Neo-Sylphid, Ascension and Largo. I want to thank LatiAs for helping to arrange the above interview with Earthattack.

Please kindly leave a comment for Earthattack if you can and give him his flowers while he is still around to smell them. It would mean a lot to him <3

Source: https://tl.net/forum/brood-war/577989-interview-earthattack-legendary-korean-mapmaker