Proving Grounds

		"You belong in a museum!" This article or section may contain obsolete information, but exists here for historical purposes.

Proving Grounds Minimap

The Proving Grounds was a basic map for teaching new players basic gameplay mechanics and concepts, such as using abilities and what turrets are.

Proving Grounds was re-released as a single lane, 5v5 map available through custom matches for the sake of All-Random All-Middle (ARAM) games in patch V1.0.0.141 (this had no effect on the tutorial).

The Proving Grounds was replaced by Howling Abyss in patch V3.6.

Development

Tutorial Version

By Marc 'Tryndamere' Merrill

We're writing a tutorial, which is another very highly requested feature by a lot of users, especially the newer guys, obviously, who haven't experienced games like DotA before.

The Proving Grounds is available from the Play Button in the main menu of the PVP.net client, by selecting the Tutorial button. In the Tutorial Map the player controls Ashe and the abilities are limited only to Volley and Summoner's Heal. The only item that is available for purchase is Thornmail. You are facing an enemy Master Yi who can never kill you because you have Thornmail, due to the fact that Thornmail calculates the damage returned before resistances (see Trivia on why you cannot die).

Custom Version

Testing of the Custom Version of the map started on the PBE on 09-Jun-2012 following Richard 'Brackhar' Hough's forum announcement:

Hey Dudes!

A little over a month ago, a number of developers and I participated in Riot’s first ever Thunderdome - a periodic, companywide event aimed at allowing developers to work on whatever they want. My team set out to make the Proving Grounds, our basic tutorial map, playable as full on 5v5. This is something I’ve wanted to do ever since I originally worked on the map, and with the help of some other devs (and a good bit of caffeine) we managed to get everything up and running. Everyone was pretty happy with how the effort turned out, and with the upcoming removal of Winter Summoner’s Rift we saw an opportunity to sneak the new map out by repurposing the same UI hooks.

In the next patch, the Proving Grounds map will be selectable in custom games. While we’ve been playtesting it internally as All Random (and lovin’ it) for quite some time now, all the pick options will be available – Blind Pick, Draft, and All Random – because we’re excited to see what variation you enjoy the most. We’d love to hear any feedback that you may have, as both RiotNome and myself will be providing support post release. Check it out and let us know what you think!

Fellow Rioters who helped me sneak this out:

• Bigbadabruin
• chunkface
• Drevarius
• Kilmourz
• RiotNome
• Ponts
• positron7
• Riot Taco Storm
• RiotTroyzilla
• subninja
• Veigar

Trivia

• Proving Grounds is referenced in Vi's login theme.
• In response to a summoner's question about what happened to Proving Grounds prior to Howling Abyss' release, Richard 'Brackhar' Hough said it crumbled due to the many battles fought on it.
• Proving Grounds' music was originally the soundtrack for Summoner's Rift.

Tutorial Version

• Although the tutorial has you start with Revive, you cannot be killed since the lower your health is, the less damage enemies deal.

Custom Version

• The custom game version of the Proving Grounds has slightly different mechanics to its tutorial counterpart and Summoner's Rift, incorporating some features previously exclusive to Dominion:
  • Players receive a constant stream of experience and accelerated gold income.
  • Health relics are located at points along the lane.
  • Exiting the team's base immediately locks the shop from use. Players may only use the shop again if they die.
  • Recall is disabled.
  • The fountain does not regenerate health, mana, or energy.

See also

• Field of Justice
• Tutorial

Media

Proving Grounds Theme

References

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