"Arena combat from floor to ceiling." Crawler is a small, partly symmetrical, intense arena-style map for all gametypes, but especially good for slayer (FFA and team) and CTF/assault games. Also has some very interesting hill locations for king of the hill and territories. The most unusual feature - parts of the ceiling are sticky and you can float across them to gain high ground on an enemy, grab a power weapon, or disappear through a hole in the roof to get an overshield. Very unusual but intuitive gameplay - take a look! Screenshots Gameplay and weapon tricks videos YouTube - Halo: Reach map preview: Crawler YouTube - Crawler trickery Weapons and equipment - 6 DMRs - 1 needle rifle - 1 needler - 1 sword - 1 shotgun - 2 sniper rifles - 1 grenade launcher - 2 plasma rifles - 2 plasma pistols - 4 assault rifles - 2 spikers - 2 magnums - numerous frag and plasma grenades - 2 health stations (note - on some of the lesser weapons I may have counted wrong, but there are at least as many as listed here, and maybe one or two more) Notes This is the first released version of Crawler and the version that will be submitted for Forgetacular, but I'm not opposed to doing updates. The ceiling is the most unique feature of course; however I feel the gameplay is really fun, flows naturally, and is easy to understand. It's a solid little map whether you can float across the ceiling or not. As far as the ceiling area goes, I have tried to make sure you can't get stuck anywhere - it's perfectly flat and gapless. There are blue flags pointing you to the "exits" (places you will drop off from the shield). The only non-flagged exit is the hole in the very center of the ceiling - that boosts you up to an overshield and a teleporter. I don't think you'll have trouble figuring that part out though. (A grav lift also transports players from the floor to this OS/teleporter room.) To maybe pre-empt a question I know I'm going to get, why two sniper rifles? The answer is that on a map of this size, the sniper rifle loses a lot of its mojo - it's about as useful as it was on Citadel, which is to say, a good sniper will still like having it around, but it won't be that hard to take out that sniper either. In testing this didn't prove to be a huge problem at all, especially with DMRs plentiful and in three different locations. This was as fun as I expected in multiple games of team slayer, and surprisingly fun for 4v4 multi-flag as well. Give it a try and let me know if you like it! EDIT: One of my testers has reported (woefully late!) that there was a spot where he got stuck during one game. This will be fixed and the map will be re-upped as soon as possible. EDIT 2: Map has now been re-upped with this slight change. DOWNLOAD HERE
Baw, wasn't mentioned in the video, not that I care lol. This has probably been the most unique map I've played in reach so far, not only does the ceiling make it awesome, the overall feel of the map seemed balanced and fun. The slayer matches I played used all aspects of the map, didn't seem like there was one vantage point. CTF was fun and frantic and I loved it. This Map will def be kept on my forge world maps.
Dammit derp, I knew I was going to screw over somebody. I think you were in the second game we played and I replaced you with someone that was only in the first game..? You know what, I'm just going to fix the video and list everybody that played it at all, just to be on the safe side. (edit - fixed!) Anyway thanks for your kind words. CTF was a really nice surprise. I thought the "jail bars" that close off each base from the middle might make that fun, but it was better than expected. If I do that again, the only thing I'm going to change is lowering the flag reset time. You could almost do that as an old school touch-return game, due to the map size.
This map was so awesome. I really liked where the sniper spawned and the bases on the side. The map had no bland spots and everything stood out. CTF I think was the best. BTW I'm the red guy throwing the nade and grabbing the sniper in the beginning and you can see my no-scope at 0:28
Thanks man, I really enjoyed that CTF match too. I think that's actually me throwing the nade at the beginning (we had the same idea!) but that's definitely your no-scope - I don't get a lot of those. One thing I'd like to add about this map for anyone perusing the thread: if you like intense, competitive arena maps like Wizard, Warlock, Citadel, and so forth, and like maps that play very evenly (no positions of great superiority over all others) and without dead zones - this ought to be for you. Personally I think for pure gameplay, it's the best map I've ever made.
This map was great when i had the chance to walk through it and check it out. The map looks very impressive and im sure the gameplay is just as good. Your map brings alot of creative elements to it. I really like the different ways you can move through the map on the barriers above. I though that getting the sword was more thought about then just picking it up. I really liked this map and i can see it going father. I still havent managed to play a match on it but i bet it will be fun. (5/5) from me =]
I noticed you had this tagged for the Forgetacular contest. I hate to say this but there are probably two things than will almost guarantee you will not win. Which is sad because it is an amazingly solid map that I would not mind at all seeing in matchmaking. 1) You have the energy sword set as phased. I don't know if you noticed this or not but once you pick up a phased weapon, it can no longer be picked up by anyone else. If you drop it, it simply hangs in the air, unusable. A simple fix there though and you will be fine. 2) The gravity ceilings however will likely never make it into matchmaking. This is based off comments Bungie about custom maps in Halo 3 that did similar things that were not part of the core mechanics. The reasoning being that the vast majority of players have no idea the one way shields can work this way. And let's be honest, the idea of sticking to the ceiling is not exactly intuitive for Halo. In terms of usability, far too many people will be totally confused about the map for their first few matches. Nobody needed that much time to adjust to man cannons, or shield doors. They just make sense, no explanation needed from either other players or trial and error. As a rule of thumb, any mechanic that requires explanation is not user friendly enough for matchmaking. edit: Oh, and you need more initial spawn points, especially team ones. If a game is lagging enough when it starts, the game tries to recalculate your spawn point for lagging players. What happens then is someone may end up being sent to a respawn point, as the initial spawned is incorrectly labeled as occupied, because of the lag.
Thanks for the detailed feedback - responding to a few things here: The sword should be on normal physics - is it possible you had your cursor on the portable shield holding it up, or the block behind it? We tested this in a few games the other night and the sword was definitely changing hands when its owner was killed, so I'm pretty sure it was at least set correctly then. (Also as you can see in the "weapon tricks" video, it falls down when you pop the shield holding it up - that would only happen with it set to normal.) Sadly I agree with you. I tried to make it as intuitive as possible under the circumstances - you don't have to do anything fancy to get attached to it, just walk to the top level and jump. And once you're stuck, I would hope a player's first two instincts would be a. trying to move around, and b. wondering how to get off, followed shortly by "hey, what are those blue flags about?" I think people would figure it out, but I agree that it might take a couple of games for them to understand it enough to use it properly. Anyway - I went ahead and submitted it, because hope springs eternal, but I doubt it would be selected. Fortunately my fileshare is big enough to submit multiple maps - if I had to guess I'd say I have the best shot with Magma. Thanks, didn't realize that. Would it put them on a respawn point near the initial spawn (using the same logic it does for spawning teammates)? If so, then that would be fine with me. The only thing I don't want is them spawning somewhere far away from their starting area.
I didn't get to play a match on this but I applaud your creativity. Its something I have yet to see done, and the map looks great. I really do think you could do the layout better though, I feel the center corner bridges are too busy with all the railings and complicated to navigate. Some of the hallways are very narrow which doesn't lave room for much combat. There aren't many ways from which I can tell to access the upper walkways. The central first floor man cannon does the same thing that sticking to the ceiling does (reaching the overshield) but is much easier and safer to use so I suggest removing it so they have some risk in getting it. With some adjustments I think this map could really be a classic. Just remember sometimes less is more, especially with a complicated map like this.
Thanks for checking it out and for the feedback! The upper walkways have four primary entry points - two ramps leading up from each base. There are also four alternate/jump routes from the middle level, using the short railings embedded in the platforms and 5 x 1 blocks. In addition to those ways, of course, there's always the jet pack. Regarding the overshield, think of it this way: the grav lift is intended as the primary access point to the OS and teleporter room. The ceiling serves other purposes: mainly, you can go up the ramps from your base to the top level, then across the ceiling to the other side, and down into the opposite base from there. In that manner it's much as if it were just a big platform or a couple of walkways up there. Beyond that, it's the only easy way to access the shotgun. The access to the overshield is an additional perk, but not the main reason for the ceiling to exist. So why the grav lift? I wanted a big center structure for players to battle around, and that it has a function is so much the better. It interrupts lines of sight, makes for interesting little skirmishes around it, and if a player gets wounded he has an easy escape route - and can possibly turn the tables with the overshield. But because of its low and central position (visible from the mid and top levels, and vulnerable to both bases through the "jail bars") getting up the lift is not an automatic accomplishment.
When I re-downloaded the map the sword is now set to normal. So yeah either I accidentally did it or you stealth updated the map The problem you have NOW is that you don't actually need to go up there to get the sword. I just knocked it down with a well placed grenade. You may be perfectly ok with that, ala getting the rockets on Beaver Creek quickly that way. Just be aware of it. Anyway as for the team spawns, it should never give you a horrible initial spawn due to lag. But from a professional point of view, having only one initial team spawn for each side is something that would fall under the category of "something Bungie would never do on a map" and as such should be avoided for contest maps. Lastly, I might up the ammo count on the grenade launcher.
The ceiling idea is very interesting, yet, as KCDinc said, Bungie probably will not like it. I like all of the tricks on this map, especially the trick to get the sniper rifle, I never would have thought of that. For fun customs games I would play on this map, but for arena matchmaking, I think it would be a little too complicated and crazy with the ceiling like that.
Yeah, that part is fine with me - as you might guess, since I included it in the second video. I like having weird ways to retrieve weapons, as well as trick jumps and so forth; I think they add depth to a map. Most people will do it the obvious way, but a few people will use the tricks. You can get the shotgun too without using the main ceiling area, but it's a bit harder.
This is obviously your best map. I have an idea. You should just label all of the 1 way shields and tin cups to any gametype like FFA so that people in custom games can play on that gametype but don't label it Team slayer so you can submit it for that in forgetac and win. But just don't submit it for CTF cause thats what I'm submitting my map in. =D
Thanks man - I think the design of this one is maybe more solid than anything else I've done, but curiously it hasn't gotten nearly as much attention as any of my other maps, even with the weird ceiling hook (download-wise, I mean). Oh well. Shrug it off, on to the next build!