Crazy Kingdoms is an 8 player battle royale that combines elements from diplo style games and those from spawn based ones. Players begin the game in the infamous Ghoul Arena, a closed in dirt square while waiting for the map to set up the actual game. Once the map finishes setting up, players transition into one of the four randomly chosen arenas. Using their random spawns, players must survive the frenzied melee and emerge as the winner by defeating all other players. A caution to the competitive: because of the random nature of this map, it is impossible to win every game. This map is meant to be silly and fun to demonstrate some possible uses of "counting" and randomization, and I will put up an unprotected version for those curious!

This map makes extensive use of a very basic counting mechanism, which surprisingly few popular maps actually take advantage of. The resources come in the form of building refineries, but instead of tediously listing out N triggers such as "Player controls X refineries, Give player X * Y minerals", where N is the maximum number of refineries, the map has a basic but clean set of loops that count this out. Thus, there is no limit to the number of expos the player may have, and furthermore, the position of these expos can be random, since it is not tied to any hardcoded locations! This is important for randomization.

Because of counting, the position of the geysers can be randomized. This allows for a unique and unpredictable experience every time and causes players to develop new strategies each game. The map also randomizes the player's buildings (detailed below), their unit spawns (detailed below), and the terrain itself. While the map does not actually generate random terrain, there are instead four possible arenas, the choice of which is random each game, and each which offer a different kind of game every time. The combinations of all these randomized features lends to a very unpredictable game, that if nothing else, should be called crazy, hence the name.

The traditional SC resources, minerals and vespene gas, are both used and very important, but the method of gathering them comes from diplo style games. Instead of mining minerals or vespene, players must construct refineries or extractors to gain income. There is no limit to the number of refineries or extractors one may build, except bounded by the number of geysers present in the map!


Terran Refineries: +200 minerals per cycle

Zerg Extractors: +1 gas per cycle


Like in standard SC, minerals are the bread and butter and are required for building or upgrading anything. Gas, however, is a very important resource but slow to gather. Defensive structures or research all require gas, which are crucial to securing geysers. There is also a third type of resource, which shall be called a Spawn Cycle. Building Protoss Assimilators gives these, one for each assimilator, but they are very costly, and otherwise give no resources.


Protoss Assimilator: +1 spawn cycle




A spawn cycle is a special type of resource that has two functions. The first is that it acts like a tech structure in that it allows higher tiered units to spawn (imagine standard castles from LOTR-esque maps). The second is that a player's spawn is multiplied by the number of assimilators he controls. So, if a player spawned 2 marines while owning one assimilator, the second assimilator would jump this to 4, the third to six, and so on and so forth. Higher tiered spawns only get multiplied after the next assimilator, so while two assimilators are required for the standard ultralisk, it takes three to get a double spawn. Thus assimilators are amazingly powerful, but very costly, and must be considered as part of any winning strategy (if such exists).

Each player is randomly assigned three different buildings that will spawn in the chosen arena, in a random position. Each of these buildings has a certain function, and take names from mythology or popular fiction. There are a total of 24 buildings, which means 8 unique buildings per type. The types are explained below.


Main/Spawn Building (denoted M): This building is where all units and workers spawn after each timer. While there are 8 unique such buildings, they themselves have no influence on the units that are spawned. Instead, they vary on buiilding type: Terran, Zerg, and Protoss. Terran buildings have the lowest health, but this is because they can be repaired. Zerg buildings have higher health than Terran ones since they regenerate health, where as Protoss buildings have the most health and armor, as they cannot be repaired. If the main building is destroyed, the player most likely loses, as they can no longer spawn any more units. These buildings are named after fictional or mythological fortresses, cities, or headquarters.

Income Building (denoted I): This building provides the player with a natural base income of minerals every turn, even if they control no geysers. Like main buildings, they are also divided into three groups (Terran, Zerg, and Protoss), though they all have much less health and armor than main buildings. These are named after places of wealth and richness. Losing the income building does not necessarily mean defeat, though it certainly does hurt in the long run.

Special Building (denoted S): These are the most unique buildings, and each of them has a unique and powerful effect that can drastically change gameplay. At the same time, their effects may be situational depending on the player's position and units. They take their health and armor from the same formulation as income and main buildings. Loss of the special building will not result in defeat, though it will negate any strategies that hinged on it. These take their names from popular fiction and mythology.

1. Eternal Engine (Power Generator): Every turn it makes all Missile Turrets, Spore Colonies, and Pylons invincible. They stay indestructible until the Eternal Engine is destroyed.

Lore: "Said to originate from those that also made the Death Stars, these structures housed
great dynamos that allowed them to form impenetrable defenses--for both keeping enemies out
and prisoners in. While most have had their precious cores stolen, the few that remain
function as well as they did millenia ago."


2. Deathstar (Ion Cannon): Every turn, mandatorily, if the controlling player has at least 1 vespene gas, a random opponent's refinery is destroyed instantly. The controlling player then loses 1 gas.

Lore: "To contest with the gods, it was said that the first race of beings, the greatest of all
civilizations to have existed, sought the power to destroy the very heavens themselves.
Before their dissappearence, most remaining structures were dismantled or terribly crippled."


3. Sage Stone (Egg): Constantly sets all units' mana around the building to 100%

Lore: "In the golden era of magic, the greatest mages and wizards crafted wonderous gemstones
out of rare material such as Adamantine or Mithril. Most such treasures were pilfered or lost, but
a few were saved and rumored to contain the arcane knowledge of their makers."


4. Yggdrasil (Overmind Cocoon): Sets all units around the building's hitpoints to 100% every turn.

Lore: "When the world was young, the source of all life was said to come from a great
and eternal tree at the heart of the world. By trickery, this tree was eventually felled
and burned down, but it was said some of its seeds escaped the attack, growing to great forms."


5. Arcane Sanctum - Clairvoyance (Protoss Observatory): Gives player control of an invincible scanner sweeper. Sweeps cost 1 energy. The sweeper is removed if the observatory is destroyed.

Lore: "The Arance Sanctums served as great learning centers of magic and were also known
to house rare magical artifacts. Some were rumored to contain the legendary Seer Stones
that allowed a user to see into the future effortlessly."


6. Arcane Sanctum - Armageddon (Protoss Observatory): Gives player control of a nuclear silo, and additionally a spawn of a single Terran Ghost per turn if they do not control any. Nuclear silo is removed if the observatory is destroyed.

Lore: "The Arance Sanctums served as great learning centers of magic and were also known
to house rare magical artifacts. Some were rumored to contain spell books of lost demonic knowledge,
which had the power to destroy entire worlds in flame and chaos."


7. Eternity Wellspring (Protoss Shield Battery): Restores the shields of all buildings controlled by the player to 100% each turn. Sets the shields of all units around the building to 100% at the end of the turn.

Lore: "The mystical waters that nurtured the world tree were sought by many for their healing
properties. Most of this water has been dried up or long lost in history. However, some managed
to contain it to arcane fountains, allowing users to restore themselves from its energies."


8. Chapel of Skorm (Infested Command Center): If landed, creates spider mines at its base each turn. If lifted off, it will attempt to spawn a creep colony beneath it.

Lore: "In the era before the birth of the sun, men once worshipped the dark deity
once known as Skorm. His followers were eventually hunted down, leaving only
a few of the omnious chapels in tact, hidden away by the last of the cultists."

All players will receive the same number of unique unit spawns determined at game setup. However, the particular units a player spawns are randomly determined from a set of 64 units (yes a nice power of 2). Units feature different tiers, from a zergling to a Battlecruiser, which is marked by the label all units receive at the end of their name.


unit (x/y): x denotes how many of this unit spawn per spawn cycle, while y denotes the required number of assimilators to begin spawning it.


Thus, Ghoul (3/1) will spawn three zerglings per spawn cycle, while Battlecruiser (4/1) will require a hefty price of four assimilators before it begins spawning! While the majority of units belong to the first, players will most likely be assigned units from the other tiers as well. This means not all your random spawns will come until the required number of assimilators are reached. Players who are most unfortunate might spawn no units at all, if all of their unit spawns are high tiered, though if they manage to get the assimilators, they will be quite fearsome.

In addition, players may apt to purchase a new random unit spawn at any time. This is incredibly expensive, and like purchasing a lottery ticket, it may not pay off, but it is worth investing in if the player is deadlocked. The new unit will always be one the player did not spawn before, thankfully.

The map features four unique arenas, one of which is randomly chosen for each game. Each arena takes up roughly 25\% of the map space. Some arenas lend to very erratic set ups and situations, while others offer the chance for quicker games and slightly less insanity, as described below.


Caves: A series of winding high dirt cliffs that feature narrow entrances snaking around the entire arena. In the center is a wide open dirt-mud plain, with a few bodies of water dotting the area. While the northern area features extensive cave systems, the south is a rocky beach that favors large armies and flanking attacks. Various hills and ramps also are present, serving as natural defensive positions. This arena generally results in quicker games, though due to the nature of the map, it can also result in trench style warfare if the game goes on long enough.

Jungle: A verdent and wild emerald forest feature a large lake at its center, while rivers cut around the southern coast. The jungle has many jungle cliffs that carve out the forest, making navigation of large armies almost impossible. In the north, however, lies a vast grassy plateau that leads into a valley in the far northeast corner. This arena can be very frustrating, but it does create many unique and interesting situations.

Temple: A series of broken temples constructed on three different islands. Each island is connected by a series of bridges, manmade or otherwise. The southern island has open areas of jungle grass and ruin structures flanked by falling temple walls. In the southwest corner there is a narrow ramp to a high temple citadel. The western island is much more claustrophobic, with a maze of temple pillars and temple walls. At its northen edge, however, lies an open beach area. Finally, the eastern island is more more intact, featuring a series of citadels with narrow entrances and temple ramps.

Islands: A broken chain of islands dominates the geography of this arena. Each island is connected by a series of winding, narrow bridges. In the far south, however, are two green islands which are flat and open. These landmasses are disjunct from each other, but help quell the madness of the archipelago. The northern islands feature a variety of well defended coves and hills. This arena favors a long, drawn out game, where air power is key to victory.

Because it can take a few minutes for the map to set itself up, the Ghoul Arena serves as a distraction for the impatient. Each player is given a Ghoul (Zerg Zergling) and an invincible probe. The task is simple: get as many kills as possible. While the probes cannot be killed, each player's Zerglings are mortal, but respawn immediately after death. Each kill earns the player 5 minerals. All the minerals earned in the arena will carry over into the second (and actual) phase of the game once map set up is complete. Until then, sit idly by, or micro your Zergling and probe to maximize your starting minerals.

During the Ghoul Arena, the map is setting itself up. During this time, the arena has been chosen and all players' buildings are assigned, though you will not know yours until the game actually starts. Once the arena is chosen, the first phase of set up begins.

Geyser placement: During this time, a random number of vespene geysers are placed in the arena, in random positions. The number, however, is roughly proportional to the number of players in the game. In maps with narrow terrain, like Jungle or Islands, geysers are much fewer and far between, except in the few flat areas. Caves and Temple however usually feature a rich amount of expo. This takes about 1 minute to perform.

Building placement: This is the longest phase. During this time, all of the player's buildings are placed randomly across the map. Generally the buildings are next to each other, but sometimes will be scattered around. The more players there are, the longer this takes. Like geysers, the terrain also influences the time spent. A short set up time implies caves or temple, while a very long one is usually Islands or Jungle. If players are unfortunate, their spawn buildings can sometimes be right near their opponents!

Final phase: After the building placement has finished, the game is ready to begin. At the sound of a siege tank, player 1 will be given control of a Protoss Nexus above the Ghoul Arena. For each probe player 1 makes, each player receives that many random spawns! Thus if player 1 made 64 probes, everyone would have the same spawns. In general it is recommended to make anywhere from 5-10 probes. Any less risks a player have no initial spawns, and anymore can create a very crazy game, though that is all very welcome still!




Finally, the game begins!