Money map

This article or section concerns fan-created content.

Money maps are the name given to a series of StarCraft maps where, contrasting with 'normal' Starcraft maps, there is essentially an unlimited amount of resources. In these maps, initial mineral and gas deposits are set to the 50,000 unit cap (or, in user-edited maps, sometimes higher) in order to obviate the need to take expansion sites and gain map control.

Though 'normal' maps have dominated in being widely played in the earlier years of StarCraft, as of late, money maps are becoming more and more popular. On the US West and East servers, money maps are extremely popular in comparison to the other servers.

Types of Money maps

Big Game Hunters

Big Game Hunters (BGH), produced by Blizzard Entertainment, is a map which consists of eight differing, yet strategically similar bases and their immediate expansions. It is somewhat of a hybrid between money maps and low-money maps. Unlike Fastest and Zero Clutter, BGH does not employ the use of mineral stacking and there are expansions available. Each starting location contains 2 geysers instead of the traditional 1, and each mineral patch has an abundance of minerals.

Fastest maps

An example of a 'Fastest Possible (money) Map'

Fastest maps ('Fastest Possible Map') are another type of money map which is designed to allow for the quickest resource gathering, unit creation, and tech tree climbing.

The bases are optimized as it employs minerals which are directly stacked on top of each other, and placed directly beside each base. As only a single worker can mine in a mineral patch at a time, multiple workers can be mining from the same position due to stacking minerals with such programs as StarEdit. Vespene gas is similarly enhanced with a row of 4-8 geysers on either side of the primary base. These modifications greatly decrease the time needed to mine the necessary resources and enables the game to progress much faster regarding both movement up the technology tree and unit production. It also changes the game dynamic as once the default main base is destroyed it cannot be rebuilt in the same place.

Zero Clutter

The most commonly used Zero Clutter map for 3v3 gaming, created by E-Tarded

Zero Clutter (ZC, 0clut) maps are a slightly different version of fastest maps. They use the same base resource modifications, but default bases are organized into two groups of 2-4 bases in the north and south. These groups are usually separated by a barrier of either mountainous terrain or water with a land bridge in the middle for ground units to cross. Players tell each other where they are located as the game starts and ally players that are adjacent to them. Often there is an agreement between players that no side will attack the other before a set time limit or before "map max" (MM) a point at which the game cannot place any more units into play. Games without any set time to attack are often known as "rush games".

Criticism

There is a widespread perception that "money maps" fail to challenge development of build order and expansion-taking skills, and that these maps are therefore favorites of weaker players. As there is essentially an infinite amount of resources, there is less of an emphasis on micromanagement and more for the potency of "massing".

Defenders of money maps claim that the game remains strategic and skill-based even without the need to expand.