I really enjoyed playing games on the earlier versions of this, though I'm still determined to figure out a way to jump that gap with the flag in hand! I'll be sure to play this with any big parties when I'm leader. Though one criticism I have about the map is that it isn't Gridlocked, nor does it have a train on it. You may wish to add those features in a subsequent version
^-It's actually funny, because that's what I asked if that's what this map had/was (before I saw it). ANYWHO... I only played that one game of CTF (I see you took a screenshot of me being a ninja) and I gotta say, it was a lot of fun. Though flag movement mainly flows towards the bridge, if a tactically team can sneak away towards the middle/backside then it's much more easier to get to the other side of the map safely. That's how we capped the last flag. (In case you didn't see that in the video)... Oh well, there was one thing that kind of bugged me... I felt like it was sort of pointless to get into the hog. Though it's a nice tool to get to from one side to the other, there's a decent amount of weapons that can tear the hog up. Laser, Rockets, CR's... bit much. If anything, I would remove the CR's... and give it a shot.
I think people just originally attempt to cap the flag by the bridge because it's the the most direct/obvious way to capture the flag. In subsequent testing, I found players using multiple routes to run the flag (Kind of like your round a bout capture at the end). I think it's just a matter of players getting to know the map and developing a strategy. And I agree/disagree about the warthog. When players initially spawn, they have the jump on the foot troops getting to the rockets and spartan laser, so each hog (depending if they survive the encounter with one another) typically makes a run for the opposing base. This leaves ground troops near the initial spawn with less of a chance to defend themselves, which is why I placed the CR's so far out from each base (to draw them out). Mix that up with the fact that the CR's and Spartan/Rocket all have different spawn times, they all won't be in play at once. My biggest concern was/is my placement of plasma pistols and plasma grenades on the map. Both are useful counters, and I feel their placements may be perhaps too appropriate for their function. If I had to make any changes to the map, I'd consider lowering the placement of the plasma grenades, and removing two of the plasma pistols. Both of which seem to be a factor to a warthog's life span. These items spawn far more frequently than the "power weapons" located on the map which is why I am more concerned about them. But I'm glad someone finally mentioned it, because the thought had certainly crossed my mind!
Yeah... and remember, I've only played one game so far. It's far to rare to get a big group together and play these bigger maps. But once I get a chance to, I'll be back with more feedback. I also forgot (or just never used) the plasma pistol. But yeah, those can harm the lifespan of the hogs as well.
im dying to get a game on this DTL. this as well as a bunch of other great btb maps that have been posted recently too make sure to send an invite the next time you're running it congrats on the awesome map
If Devinish cannot find a way to jump that gap, I'm confident no one else can... except maybe buddhacrane... lol. And I never intend to remake any of my older maps, but I do intend to use them as inspiration for my new stuff. I've got a new map in the works (another BTB) that should feed some cravings, and hopefully create new ones. Thanks, I need to add you on xbox live for sure. And yeah I've definitely seem some fairly solid submissions for the Forgetacular's BTB selection. It's going to be a nail biter to see who wins the category (hopefully the results will come any day now). Good luck to yourself as well! The next time we have a 16 player party we'll have to hijack the party and play our maps, lol.
I'm always looking for good BTB maps and this does the trick for me. I really like that you have created nice structures and a neo-urban feel by use of realatively simple forge pieces and shapes. This has allowed a very large play area with no apparent loss of frame rate. I like the combination of open spaces and narrow corridors which creates a good spread of power between the weapons rather than one weapon being almighty. Two minor gripes: Firstly, the hogs are very limited in the paths they can travel. as far as i can tell, there is one set path from base to base that the hogs can travel at any great speed. This slightly limits their usefullness as their paths are very predictable. There are one or two spots where it seems a little to easy to fall off the map while engaged in a hectic firefight. these are minor gripes though and overall i would score this map 4/5
Yeah, if I had more items and budget to work with, I definitely would have added a second warthog path to mix things up a bit more, and I suppose with more forethought, it could have been included in the original design. I am taking this into consideration for my next map though (another BTB, if you're interested). And this is another issue of budgetary restraints and item limits. Railings are expensive, unfortunately. I tried to give all of the hot spot areas railings to protect players, but there are still some risk/reward areas that can been more menacing. If I had the money/objects, I would certainly go back and place them accordingly. Unfortunately the size of the map restricts me from adding some of these smaller details (hazards of building your own flooring rather than using pre-built geometry) I am quite grateful for your comments, and while there isn't much that can be done for this map at the moment, all of your comments are quite applicable to my next project as well. Hopefully these small gripes won't be an issue in my future maps. [edit]: After toying around with various objects, I managed to find a way to fix the railing issue, as well as making that whole play area more fire friendly. The updated DL link is in the OP. Thanks for your insights.
Saw this in the voting thread thingy. I LOVE city maps. And the screen shot you have for the main title is cool. Too bad both guys are blue though... As soon as I get some new friends on live that play reach customs I'm going to play this!
Both guys are blue because one player is about the pass the flag to the other, an interesting feature in my map which I wanted to highlight. I didn't know my map was in the running for voting, so thanks for the heads up! Anyways, I have a 2.0 version coming soon. The outer walkways are being adjusted to include railings, which have been a concern among the testers. The results are already looking much better! [br][/br]Edited by merge: Abridged V1.1 is now available for download. Updates include: - Outer walkways adjusted, now including railings, more combat friendly - Spawn time adjusted on Concussion Rifle, now spawns less frequently - One pair of Plasma Rifles and pistols removed from map Overall the updates make the map look (and play) much better. Here is a rendered video of the updated map, enjoy! [bungievid]11884455[/bungievid]
Drawtheline, I've always thought your work was great, but this map embodies what I'd like to see come from the community. It doesn't always have to be BTB, but it FEELS like a real map. Like you remade some beloved map in another game. There are actual memorable structures. It looks good. I played it once, and loved it. The new improvements were necessary, but you went through and made them. My only gripe is that I don't feel it was entirely necessary to remove the plasma weapons from the game even more. I say promote variety.
Just played this map last night and have to say it was pretty fun. I was in a big party playing capture the flag and the game play never slowed. It has a very consistent flow and a great balance in spite of being asymmetrical. While playing, I totally got the urban atmosphere feeling like turf. Keep in mind, I was not made aware of that prior to playing to that alone is a huge accomplishment. It seems to have been clearly envisioned and accurately established. The only flaw I will point out is that the blue base tends to be a little favored when playing CTF. However, that may just be a result of my party and not the map. Overall, fantastic map.
There were originally 4 plasma pistols in the map, I only removed two of them for the sake of the warthogs. I too am a fan of variety Thank you, Turf did inspire this map quite a bit, and it seems that those influences are showing. The version you played is the old one though (just updated this thread a few hours ago), and I suggest downloading the new one. The outer pathways have been adjusted to promote a more equal flow between each base (my intentions at least), as well as just looking and playing better in general. Thank you for the response and I hope you get a chance to play on the updated map!
Sounds like a good addition. I will definitely give it a DL and let you know how it goes. If you test it again (I don't know if you're still working on it) send me an invite. It was fun to play.
I like the changes. There are few maps I play over and over again when I'm in a party of appropriate size but when I'm leader I always select this map as one of those maps. CTF is just great on this and all the tactical jumps from getting from level to level make it great to dart in and out of fire quickly.
I've been following this map for ages (however I haven't been keeping up with Forgehub so sorry about the delay). But I just wanted to say great work. <3 It's just a really well-connected Big Team Map, with a very "Bungie" style to it.
Thank you, and I think it's those small jumps/pathways that keep a map exciting long term. Yeah you're one of the few people that have seen the entire building process of this map, and I've certainly appreciated your input throughout everything. I've just updated the link again to fix the objectives appearing in other gametypes, I don't know how I missed that, lol. Thanks for the heads up.
I can't believe how long its been since this map has gotten attention. I liked the map a lot, but at one point I found myself deleting it from my HDD. Not because I didn't like it, but because it just didn't feel like the kind of map I could see myself playing. And a couple months after that, I found myself downloading it right back to my hard drive again. Never thought that would happen with any map that I delete, but strangely it did. I just can't stay away from this map.
Well you know what they say... Once you go... something... you never... umm.... nevermind. Anyways, I'm glad you picked the map back up, it's still one of my favorites. I working on a stripped down version of the map for MM at the moment, so hopefully it could find it's way into MM one day (under a new name now of course). I also have a new BTB map in the works as well, although it's much more vehicle centric than Abridged. Should be fun either way.
I played this for my TGIF party and we had a great time! Its always nice when someone makes an awesome 16 player map. We played team SWAT and one-bomb assault. The tunnels and the bridge made it so people had to work together to arm the enemy's base on assault. Plus I love it how you built the map around the waterfall on forgeworld, it gave it a very nice touch.