Stealin' Your Flags YouTube - Stealin' Your Flags General Information Hello all Forgehub members. This is the first map I feel confident enough to post here and say is good, if not great. I originally had this idea back in September of 2010, so I am hoping nobody has used it since I began. The concept was simple; make a game that would utilize the Rocket Warthog. I then expanded this and tested out various things in Invasion, when I figured out exactly what to make. I found out that you could create Point of View rocket hogs, the same way you could in Halo 3. If you don't understand what I mean, please scroll down to the pictures and prepare to have your mind blown. Anyway, this made aiming much easier then normal, and gave a really exciting twist on gameplay. I am sure this has been used various times in other maps during the Halo franchise, and I am not calling the idea my own. The Objective The game itself is pretty self explanatory, as is any Capture The Flag style game. Think of this as a One Flag CTF, with multiple flags in play at the same time. Each team takes turns defending and attacking flags, and whatever team captures the most after 4 rounds, wins. Players can drive the mongooses while holding the flags, and obtain a waypoint. The whole map is also scattered with Land Mines. Let me explain the basic play field before I continue to the action pictures. The Attackers will spawn here on the beach, and drive towards the flags at the far side of the canyon. Please take note that this whole area is the capture point, and is not where the Stockpile counter is located. The beach side of the play field consists of Lines of Sight blockers. There is a shield door blocking the spawn area off from rockets, and is also useful to tell where the stockpile begins. Pictured Above is the rest of the map, this side is a bit more complex. The first thing you will notice is the Noble Team emblem, marking where the flags spawn. The two bump looking objects were actually just random clutter to cover straight paths, but a playtester gave me a good idea (Don't quite remember who it was, if you read this speak up). They are a great indicator of how low the rockets can be shot. The lower level of the base can shoot about as far down as the one in the shade. The upper level can shoot about as far down as the left one. There are two lifts that spawn 90 seconds into the game, pictured in the spoiler. Spoiler These ramps make it easy to dodge incoming rockets as well as block Lines of Sight. They aren't used very often, because if you flip over your usually dead. The last non-action pictures are the Defenders Rocket Warthogs. Both floors are connected via teleporter. Below is what it looks like while playing, and a quick example of what it looks like on each floor. Top Floor Bottom Floor ACTION SCREENSHOTS Panorama of Awesome Gameplay Videos: [bungievid]11996766[/bungievid] [bungievid]11996768[/bungievid] YouTube - Halo Reach Forges - "Stealin' Your Flags" More Action Spoiler Things Changed Since Testing/Pictures: Removed Radar to make it harder to guess where the mongooses will go. Removed a few rocks Added some extra scenery to the base If you were part of early testing, the gametype now works properly and you will be able to capture flags correctly. UPDATE 2/15/2011 Added more mongooses to the spawn, played much better with 16 people. Added Sprint AA that will only work for 5 seconds after dying. This will make it easier to get to mongooses. Thanks to whoever suggested this, I couldn't see your name in a 16 person party. Download: In Your Base (Gametype) Stealin Your Flags (Map) Thanks: Adelyss - I figured it out. Null Parameter - For Rendering the Videos. <3 Indie Anthias - Mongoose Fix All Testers Everyone that comments below. Thanks for checking out my map. Happy New Year. - RPAL
This gametype looks very cool, but it also counfuses me. Is the idea to defend the flags that are below you from being taken by the enemy team and stop them from getting them to their capture point. You haven't shown any pictures of the spawn/capture points which is confusing. It also looks like the defenders can jump down and defend the flags with their swords. Could you explain these issues to me and then i will download
Flags spawn (I'm assuming) behind the Rocket 'Hog wall, and the attackers must 'Goose their way towards the flag(s) and return them to their spawn point to collect a point. Unlimited points/round. Reach has a 0% jump option. I don't really get what's so confusing about that. It's an awesome yet simple gametype that people should probably download. Good job RPAL, you've actually made an original minigame that plays incredibly well.
what confusing about it? if you read what he said you can clearly understand the game. i knew what it was just by reading the name. anyway, this looks awesome. i cant wait to play it with other people. the only problem is, i can never get enough people to play with. this is the first i have seen of any gametype liek this. so congrats on making something new and fun. (Side note)! Sick ****in barrel roll in the mongoose POV video. that was awesome. Just got done lookin at it in forge. really cool. the only disapointment i had was that the 5x1s that you put as rocket blockers out in the field werent full octagons. but no big deal. =)
The whole beach area where the mongooses spawn is the collection point. People were getting confused about that in-game because of where the stockpile timer is located (Its above the opening in the wall to make it easy to see from across the map) As for jumping down, there is 0% jump height. It is still possible to walk over the barrier by using the hogs, but there is 2 problems with that. 1. If you use the hog to slingshot yourself outside the base area, you will die from fall damage. 2. If you use the hog to walk directly over the barrier and attempt fall down, you will meet a death barrier. I may tweak the death barrier because I have found times when people could escape (not recently) but never figured out how they did it. In forge it literally looks full proof.
Thanks very much for this explanation, and I will definately try and get a few games in with my friends. From the flythrough I did in forge, it looks a little light on the cover side(especially closer to the flag spawn) but the speed of the mongooses (who cares what the plural is!!!) might make up for this. One final question: How can a player hold a flag and still be able to ride a mongoose, i thought you couldn't carry objective items whilst driving a vehicle, is there an option that allws you to do this???
The correct plural of Mongoose is actually Mongooses, not Mongeese. Though both are acceptable. There is a setting in every objective gametype for this. For stockpile you would click Flag Carrier settings, go under the vehicles section, and switch the use to "Full Use". The only objective I don't believe can use a vehicle is an Invasion Core.
Just one word, Amazing. Just finished playing a game with 11 players and I have tos say that this is ridiculously fun. My friends and I are definitely going to continue playing this one in the future. I have only heard positive things from this gametype and I love its simplicity.
Thanks everyone for the comments. I have started working on an update for the map, which will make it impossible to escape to the bottom floor. It also fixes a few other issues that weren't addressed earlier because it involved too many people dying at the same time (Only happened in a 16 player game). I found out about these few problems when people started blowing up each others warthogs. I will need to review possible options to attempt to stop that from happening as well. I wish there was a way to have more mongooses though, because if they don't get blown up, they don't instantly respawn. So yea, its not perfect yet guys, but it will be fixed as best as possible within the next few days. If people that downloaded and played the map have a concern or idea that may help, please let me know!
Played this with a full lobby and we had a good time with this. A lot of people didnt know you could make it so people could drive while carrying the flag. So people started yelling for a driver, and were like "just drive!", lol. But anyway, great map!
Haha yea, that seems to happen pretty often. Thanks for your comment, I hope you enjoy the map. YouTube - Stealin' Your Flags New video along with the updated version of the map AND gametype. This should be the final version.
Good map, just played it. Although some people thought that the hogs should have been angled down a bit, I thought it was perfectly balanced. I'll be playing this alot down the road
yea same party! didnt realize that was you from your gt being different. anyways yea this is a lot of fun. some people in the party are suggesting the hogs be pointed down maybe 10 degrees or so to have a slightly better field of vision. i would have to agree that it would be a good thing to change. i might make the changes myself if you dont plan to make further edits... ? at least just to see how it works out anyway it is definitely a lot of fun, i could see this becoming a "Standard Gametype" that has multiple different maps created for it! great job!
On the slope for better field of vision, I had a few problems. First, I wanted to get this map out ASAP. I have been working on it since mid October 2010, and its been through 3-4 different maps and gametypes. Knowing that, I didn't want to mess around with adding a sloop to the map. If you don't know how the First Person hogs work, they work by blocking out where the 3rd person camera goes. Doing this on a slope wouldn't only be time consuming, but it also might not work properly, the camera might mess up its angle instead of looking downward. It may also stop you from shooting farther out, which would stop people from saving flags at long range. I didn't want to tinker with it. Oh, and trust me, its been through so many phases. When I first started testing, all of the hogs were in their own little sections of the map, and I was using Invasion as the gametype. They each had different angles and lines of sight. The way it currently is looks amazing, and it also makes for a much more enjoyable game. You could have any hog you wanted. The lower floor was also made for a better angle below at the risk of not being able to shoot farther away. I am not sure, but I believe I made that floor after someone asked for a better downward angle. I think the last reason I didn't touch it was like I said earlier, that base area really looks great. I don't want to mess it up making a downward slope. If you would like to attempt it, go right ahead. If it works, post a download link in this thread, I would love to see what you came up with. Thanks both of you guys for your comments. I really appreciate feedback, its the only way I can get better.
Unofficial Review by cart0graph Enjoyment This category is where mini-games need to shine in, and Stealing Your Flags certainly didn't disappoint. After my first time playing it with Titmar, I couldn't get enough. I left when the party had lost some people and immediately started my own to simply play this awesome game with more people. They loved it. We could just not get enough and kept playing it for around five games. There weren't many flaws to speak of in my opinion, but a few people felt that it would improve gameplay if you were to put a shallow ramp underneath it so that the warthogs could have a better angle on the attackers. If you were to ever change this, still make sure that the attackers have a little bit of safety from the hogs, but this ramp idea is definitely something you should look into. I'm sure I don't speak for myself when I say that this map is crazy fun. Enjoyment Rating: 9/10 Balance Stealing Your Flags was a fairly balanced mini-game, but the main problem in the balance area of your map was when you would respawn, and no mongoose would be waiting for you. This posed as a problem when people couldn't go out and steal some flags, but instead had to wait for a mongoose. It'd be real annoying if you'd be waiting for one for a long time and someone that just had spawned got lucky and hopped on the goose before you got there. To be honest I couldn't even think of a solution to this, but it really wasn't that much of gameplay hindering problem. Some people in the party felt like maybe a gauss hog would be a good idea, because once the goose got far enough, it was pretty much over. I'm not suggesting that you make every warthog gauss, but maybe try to experiment with just one central gauss. Again, this isn't a gameplay killer, you may just want to look into it. Balance Rating: 7/10 Durability There's nothing wrong with this map in this category, the defenders can't really get out of the warthog area and the attackers really don't have anywhere to get out of. Durability Rating: 10/10 Aesthetics Stealing Your Flags didn't boast crazy aesthetics, but the thing that caught my eye was the extremely well made NOBLE Team insignia. It really did make the map look much better. The cover you provided throughout the canyon looked decent. The cover could've been created in a much more creative manner than just walls and such. A few of the pieces looked really nice, such as the brace object with the shield door and railing that the attackers see right out of there spawn. I figured that you did what you could with such an open map, which is why I'm not going to be too harsh in this category. Aesthetics Rating: 7/10 Originality Along with enjoyment, this is where Stealing Your Flags truly stood out from other mini-game maps. A herd of mongeese attempting to steal a flag while eight fixed Rocket Hogs shoot at you?!? I myself would've never had thought of an idea such as this. It's just such a clever and ingenious idea. Please keep making mini-games that are this good, even though it be pretty hard to live up to such an amazing game. Originality Rating: 9/10 Overall Score: 8.5 Summary: Stealing Your Flags is definitely a download and a keeper for a long time. With very few flaws and some decent aesthetics, this map one of the best mini-games out there. Please keep creating amazing mini-games, and great job. Hopefully this 'unofficial' review will help you create even better maps in the future.
i know i shouldnt submit feedback before i play, but the presentation alone is enough for me to say; Nice Work OP! Somehow i already know this is going to be fun, off to the lol now.
I must say, that the video is pritty intense. Without the video, i probobly not gotten fully what the map was about. Just saying, without it, you wouldn't have my dl. I had a fun time playing on this, good job! JGarb Forge
Thanks for the well written review. I don't want to make this post longer then necessary, but I will comment on a few things. The mongooses not spawning fast enough is not fixable. Bungie only lets you have 8 on Forgeworld, and all of them have a 1 second spawn time with the minimum and maximum both at 8. Anytime one blows up, it should spawn in pretty fast. It seems even having them set to 1 second still causes issues. I guess in another way it balances out the game, so there isn't always people rushing for flags. About the gauss hog comment, while this has passed my mind before, I never tried it for a few reasons. The main and obvious reason is that I don't want people fighting over it. It would definitely get way more kills then the rocket hogs, and would just be overpowered. If every hog was gauss, it could work better, but I think the fun of this game is avoiding rockets and timing your shots. The game isn't perfect, and there is a rare problem when people realize they can blow up each others hogs. Its just one of those things I cannot fix without ruining how it plays now. (If you didn't already know this, sorry for telling you now. I didn't even have someone start doing it until after I released the map. I completely forgot until then it was possible. It doesn't kill you, but it blows up the hog. I experimented with blocking parts for the updated version, but it cut the area the hog could shoot at mongooses.). Again, thanks for the amazing review. I will look into the sloped hogs, but unless they are a major improvement and don't make it too easy to kill people, its unlikely they will be used in this map. I am already looking into other minigame ideas, as I seem to have more success with those then competitive maps.
this map was really fun, I had a hard time hitting the mongeese with the rockets but that wasn't a problem for everyone else to people who are a little confused, imagine the hogs as a sort of artillery, you have take the mongooses out before they get too close to base (success felt balnced with failure) because there is a safe spot immediately in front of the base and extending out a bit, the base looks like a wall from the front and the flag spawns right in front of the base/wall
Now that I have played; GREAT JOB OP! This is a BLAST. This is so many BLASTs at once that I EXPLODED. Several times. If you have not played this you should already be downloading. OP, thank you for this game; you ROCKet.