This idea just started bouncing around in my head and I want to see what you fellow Forge Hubbers think. Would it be possible to forge an Invasion-style map that functions like a campaign mission? I would like to think so. It would feature Spartans on offense and Elites on defense, where the Spartans have a 4-player maximum ("4 player co-op") and the Elites consist of the rest of the party. The Spartans would begin at a starting location - say, a crashed Pelican - and make their way towards an objective. Instant-capture territories would act as "checkpoints". There would be two checkpoints and then the final phase would consist of a really long territory capture (kind of a "defend against waves of Covenant" objective), or an Assault/CTF objective. Like in the Campaign, Spartans will start with a Sprint loadout and find AA's along the way to use. They'll also eventually get a Warthog, because no awesome campaign mission is complete without gallivanting in a Warthog. The Elites will have their share of vehicles too. I want the Elites to be distinguished classes - Minor, Major, Zealot, Spec-Ops, etc. Obviously, if this was through load-outs, everyone would pick Zealot every time, plus that wouldn't give me much to work with as far as shield strength/other character traits go. For this, I'm thinking of spawning/respawning each Elite in a closed-off teleporter room, featuring weapons, AA's, and custom powerups per each Elite enemy class. They grab their gear and then teleport into the level. Assuming a party of 4 Spartans and 12 Elites, here's how I think I'd divide them up: x1 Zealot - x3 Overshield, 120% movement speed, 120% jump height, Plasma Rifle, Energy Sword, Evade, x2 Plasma Grenades, Forced Color: Gold x1 Ultra - x2 Overshield, Concussion Rifle, Plasma Rifle, Armor Lock, x2 Plasma Grenades, Forced Color: White x1 Stealth Spec-Ops -Focus Rifle, Plasma Repeater, Active Camo, x1 Plasma Grenade, Forced Color: Steel x1 Spec-Ops - Needle Rifle, Plasma Repeater, Jetpack, x1 Plasma Grenade, Forced Color: Steel x2 Major - Plasma Rifle, Plasma Pistol, Evade, x2 Plasma Grenade, Forced Color: Red x6 Minor - 75% shields, Plasma Repeater, Needler, Evade, x2 Plasma Grenade, Forced Color: Blue The big challenge here is how to make the level playable for the Spartans in a 4v12 situation, and to make it so that the people stuck as Elite Minors still have fun. What do you guys think? Any suggestions for the gameplay or the map itself? Thanks for reading and I appreciate to hear your feedback.
Sounds Interesting, Mind if I Join? I was trying to create a Zombie Campaign Split into Chapters. It was working well until there somehow got deleted. FR: Lil Devil9597.
This sounds like a great and very ambitious idea. Too much work for me at present, but I wish you luck with it!
Sound awesomly Great! Invite me when or if you make it and i'll help you make it! Gamertag: Kewl hoovy
Checking the custom powerup trait options, I'll only be able to make them last for 90 seconds at most, so those aren't an option anymore. It looks like I'll have to use a loadout system, and try to balance it so that not everyone goes with one class or another. I really appreciate your offers to help but my Gold expired and I'm using Silver for the time being, so I won't be able to co-forge in the near future :/ I'll probably do a testing session/map preview of some sort later on though. As for the level itself - I was thinking maybe trying to recreate a mini version of the level "Halo" from CE. The Spartans would start at a crashed escape pod up on the Montana cliff, cross the bridge onto Alaska, and then make their way to the beach where they'll get a Warthog, go through the big tunnel that is "not a natural formation", and then fight to hold one of these towers placed where Red Base would be on Hemorrhage: Thoughts on that? Any levels from previous Halo games or completely new level designs you'd like to see implemented with this?
You may as well make it 4v4 because when the rounds end you switch teams which would put 12 Spartans v. 4 elites. I'm actually doin this right now and I believe captainSTFU is too. It would be interesting to see a collaboratory effort to create maybe a mini campaign between us. Mine right now actually involves a Spartan escape from a covenant brig (like on Truth and Reconcilliation).
Aghast great minds think alike, I'm working on something like this too. Different level design choice but same idea otherwise. I can help when I get my live back up, I'm trying to use my budget wisely so I can make mine massive. Or at least Alaska and Montana and the little area across the canyon. Good Luck, we probably could colab on the gametype to make all of our maps support it.
You will have to use loadouts, as the very limited amount of AAs and their wonky respawn times will make spawn rooms like that improbable.
Awesome, I really like the idea of making a collaborated mini-campaign among all of us with a single gametype. @Organite: My thought on the Spartans vs Elites was to have 1 round, and then the teams would switch up in the lobby. I think a greater number of Elites would create a better 'campaign' feel. Just my opinion, it's not exactly the most workable one. If your mission involves escaping a Covenant ship, perhaps mine could take place right afterwards, since I'm thinking of starting mine with a crashed escape pod. @Rook: I'd like to see the same gametype compatibility too, that'd be really neat. There'd obviously be variations from level to level, but if we can create a cohesive feeling between all of our maps that would be a nice accomplishment. Let me know what your ideas for a mission would be, and let's see if we can't fit in somewhere with the others. @Izano Slayer: If you set an AA's "Run Time Minimum" to the same as its "Run Time Maximum" in the advanced item options, it should respawn as soon as the person equipped with it dies.
I'm actually working on something like this also! haha, dang! It'd be fun doing a collab I think. Mine is more of like... The Covenant mission on Halo 3. I've built the Forerunner structure in the Hornet portion of the level. Basic concept: Infiltrate structure, and escape out with the longsword (Built in forge, grab core and book it to the longsword.) I can post pictures if you guys want. But yeah, back to the main idea, we should all connect somehow.
I'm getting that tingly feeling like we're in the works of something big here =) On another note, wouldn't it be epic if piece by piece the entire Halo 1-3 campaigns were recreated through Invasion?
Indeed :] I think it might be overly ambitious to recreate the entire trilogy, but that's not to say our own missions couldn't emulate past Halo missions. For example, you mentioned yours would be similar to the Truth & Reconciliation mission. The idea of a "Flood" mission where the Spartans have to activate light bridges to make it across the level makes me giddy with excitement. In fact I might have to call dibs on that one. Let's see if we can't list our mission ideas so far and connect them all. 1. Escape from Covenant brig. 2. Crash-landing on Halo ... 3. Infiltrate Forerunner tower and escape with a Core to a Longsword. ... 4. Flood mission ... I think the first two go well sequentially. Maybe a mission before that to explain how the Spartans were captured? Perhaps the Covenant boarding a UNSC ship in a Pillar of Autumn-style mission? What if the Core in the 3rd listed mission is a ship AI the Covenant capture in the aforementioned boarding? Just some ideas. Throw your own out there too.
When I get my xbox back, i going to start to make a one sided assault. Like a campaign mission. I'm not going to tell you any more because it would ruin it.
Mine so far bridges from the small area on the far side of the canyon to montana (I think, the one farthest away from the island) and has a bridge that goes across, my current gametype uses the first two phases like checkpoints and the last is to wait 30 seconds for evac. my mission is somewhat inspired by the mission where you kill the prophet in halo 3, more so by the whole building leading to the prophet. as I said earlier, I'm all for a colab gametype. Im going to lay out weapons and AA's throughout mine like the normal campaign has and start only with sprint for the spartans. for elites i tried to keep them from having 2 stickies at spawn unless they got a loadout with 1 weapon then i gave them 2 stickies.
Wow, what a coincidence. For the past week or so I've been working on a thing I like to call "Blue Team." It's invasion, with four players assuming the roles of the infamous 'Blue Team' from the expanded universe (That being the Master Chief, Kelly, Linda and Kurt, give or take some of them at various points in the timeline.) and the other 12 being Elites. Out of personal preference I decided to go for realism: High damage, slower shield recharge, faster movement, higher gravity, etc. in an attempt to force to players to think as a team rather than as an individual. The Spartans have an advantage in weaponry, the Elites in numbers and vehicles. (quick edit: One life per round to further encourage group planning.) The way I have it set up right now is the Spartans have to make their way through the valley, capture some point at the Elite vehicle depot, blow up some important structure at said depot, then hike there way all the way back to the island so they can secure the extraction point. Ideally I'd make a bunch of variations of this at different locations, with different objectives and such. If you're interested in collaborating, give me a holler.
you know whats weird... i was about to start making a map like this... lol GT: fasteddie304 is you want some more input.
Wow, there are quite a few more people doing this than I expected Let's see if we can't iron out a gametype to go with all of our mission maps? Depending on the map, this could be 4v12, 4v4, 2v8, or even 1v8 for someone who feels like doing "Legendary Solo". Since most of these variations feature far more Elites than Spartans, it would make sense to limit the game to 1 round and then switch the teams in the game lobby. For 'missions' with an equal amount of Spartans and Elites, 2 rounds works fine too. MONSTERheart, I am really starting to like the idea of 1 life per round (or if there was a way to allow respawns at the start of a new phase, that too) for people who want a little "Iron" to spice up their missions. As for the loadouts, I'm thinking the Spartans won't have any - they'll spawn with Sprint, and then the weapons for the mission (usually AR/Magnum, or say for a 'Flood' mission, Shotgun/AR). The Elites' loadouts might take some time to figure out, for balancing purposes. As in Invasion, as the phases increase, more advanced loadouts will be available. Here's kind of what I have in mind. Phase/Checkpoint 1 Loadout 1: Elite Minor Needler Evade x1 Plasma Grenade Loadout 2: Elite Major Plasma Repeater Evade x2 Plasma Grenades Phase/Checkpoint 2 Loadout 1: Elite Officer Plasma Repeater Plasma Pistol Evade x2 Plasma Grenade Loadout 2: Elite Spec-Ops Plasma Repeater Needler Active Camo x1 Plasma Grenade Loadout 3: Elite Specialist Needle Rifle Plasma Repeater Jetpack x1 Plasma Grenade Phase/Checkpoint 3 Loadout 1: Elite Officer Plasma Rifle Plasma Pistol Evade x2 Plasma Grenade Loadout 2: Elite Spec-Ops Plasma Rifle Needler Active Camo x1 Plasma Grenade Loadout 3: Elite Specialist Needle Rifle Plasma Repeater Jetpack x1 Plasma Grenade Loadout 4: Elite Ultra Concussion Rifle Plasma Rifle Armor Lock x1 Plasma Grenade Loadout 5: Elite Zealot Energy Sword Plasma Rifle Evade x1 Plasma Grenade This could very well change from mission to mission as well. For one aboard a Covenant ship, I can see an Active Camo Sword loadout being great, and perhaps for a mission someone might try to emulate Brute enemies using Spiker and Gravity Hammer loadouts. Power weapons such as the Fuel Rod/Plasma Repeater will be placed around the map for the Covenant to pick up (and for the Spartans to retrieve from their dead bodies). These weapons should have incredibly long respawn times, if they are to respawn at all. Same goes for vehicles. Spartans will receive weapons at checkpoints too, such as the Sniper or Rockets. Sorry for the long post, but anyone have suggestions? Ideas? I'd really like to see this get off the ground.