Jackal Creek

"The beavers have fled."

Jackal Creek is an asymmetric-symmetric map for 8-12 players inspired by Beaver Creek and Isolation. It's built on the Island and is based largely on terrain. There are five unique structures of interest and many different weapons spread throughout the map. The name may not be the most original or fitting, but the gameplay is incredibly action-packed, balanced, and fun for both Team Games and FFA. I have enclosed a variety of screens, a video, and a lengthy description below:

YouTube - Jackal Creek gameplay preview

Screenshots (all of these are outdated and will be changed soon)


Overview


Red Base



Blue Base



Abandon all hope ye who enter


Around the corner


Right next to the headlight fluid


Build a bridge and get over it


Levee give you a hand with that


Damn large dam


So easy a cave man can do it


No...you can't destroy it...yet...


Prepped and ready



Covering Fire


Catch!


Volleyball...but with heads


Do it you wont


Flag Stolen!


Two can play at that game


I can't believe I died for this war!


This speaks for itself


And so does this one


Over-goat


Rampancy


Base Design

Jackal Creek boasts a large array of unique aesthetics, from a floating Watchtower platform to a covered bridge. The bases underwent extensive remodeling until they reached the functional look that they have now. They were of course inspired by that of Beaver Creek, but they have their own personality. The front of the base not only has a small jump to the roof, but it also is at the ideal angle to permit a slide jump*. You can access the open roof up top to get into the base, and you can also get to the topwith Jetpack, the posterior gravity lift, and even the crates inside of the base. They were designed to be simple, aesthetically pleasing, functional, and unique.

Location

Speaking of unique, pay attention to Jackal Creek's location. Not many maps are built on this corner of the Island because its a very difficult and tedious space to Forge in. Not only is it at a 5 degree angle, but it also has awkward built-in terrain that you have to work around. Fortunately, Jackal Creek was made solely to be a terrain map, so working around the natural rocks wasn't too frustrating. Red and Blue side have advantages unique to them, so it's up to how the players use them in the battle. For instance, Blue side has many large rocks for cover, but Red side is slightly elevated and has the advantage of trees. I'm looking forward to see what strategies players create depending on their side of the map.

In order to make Jackal Creek a unique map, I had to wall off the location so players would focus on the map rather than where they were on Forge World. They may not be too interesting, but the map is about the terrain and the immersion rather than the walls.

Gametypes

Jackal Creek was built with CTF in mind, but it works best for Free For All. All the party games such as Infection, Juggernaut, Crazy King, Oddball, Headhunter, and even Elite Slayer are a blast to play on the map because of the unique terrain. Traffic flows throughout the map and the assortment of weaponry make for interesting skirmishes. Jackal Creek has static spawning (as it is clearly sided), and the furthest you can spawn from your base is near the Dam. The roofs of the bases and the Watchtower counter the Dam, so everything balances out. Stockpile didn't manage to work out with playtesting due to the respawn glitch. If it's possible, it'll be added in the future.

Weapons

Jackal Creek mixes a Covenant aesthetic with a human structure, so there is a combination of weapons of both sides. A lot of the shorter-ranged weapons had to be removed based on testing, but for the most part the map has something for all players. The map is more focused on team-shooting and moving in squads as opposed to camping one area. Should you run into any campers, the optimized base design makes it more convenient to break a defensive setup.

Here is version 2's weapon set:

Vehicles

I originally wanted Mongooses on the map, but that made flag runs very uninteresting. The only vehicle is a neutral Ghost on a 120s respawn time. There used to be a Shade Turret on the Watchtower, but testing rendered it obsolete (it was more for show than function). Instead Rockets to counter the Ghost, you have Plasma Pistols, a turret, a Grenade Launcher, Plasma Grenades, and (of course) Armor Lock in addition to regular fire. Another counter to the Ghost are the Plasma Batteries placed at choke points about the map. The map was built with the Ghost in mind, but you need to be very cautious and conservative to use it effectively. You will bump into terrain should you boost excessively. This balances it out by making it less of a threat.

Performance

Jackal Creek suffers relatively no framerate drop or lag. There's discoing when you fly way above the map, but that's mainly because of the objectives and spawns that tap into the object limit of Forge World. The only hiccup is impostering, which means objects like the 1x1 shorts, the walls, and the Dam have to be rendered for a split second when they come into your view. I wasn't worried about this because it isn't distracting and it happens even on Bungie's maps (and in the Campaign too). There are also no apparent issues with 16 players in explosive Elite Slayer games and Splitscreen play. A lot of my earlier maps had framerate issues, but Jackal Creek outshines them by delivering solid, enjoyable gameplay while simultaneously being framerate-friendly.

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Most people who cut the Island into sections lose a lot of what makes the Island so unique. Although it's very awkward to Forge in, working in conjunction with the terrain may bring out the best in your map. I appreciate any and all criticism and feedback you can offer. This isn't my first map, but I've learned a lot since the others and I've chosen to finalize this one for MP. I recommend trying Free For All on it first, simply because it's actually a blast. Thanks for your support!

--A3LGoat

*to perform a slide jump, run into the anterior base Struts, jump, hold forward, and crouch at the height of the jump. It should feel like you're climbing a ladder and if you bump at the beginning of your jump you wont make it. It works best on the Struts closest to the door of the base.

 

My buddy Jonzorz and I would continuously exclaim how the terrain on this part of the Island seemed like it was made for this map. It was a bit tedious to Forge with it though. I got frustrated when people complained about the map feeling cluttered, and then on top of that a few playtests had people camping the bases and refusing to move. After shifting the bases and weapons around, I finally managed to capture that balance. The only thing that'll need adjusting now is the sniper, grenade launcher, and ghost spawn times (all are at 120s)

@AceOfSpades I'll be sure to invite you next time we're running customs. I also played on one of your maps on the quarry and I liked it a lot.

 

Yea there are quite a few remakes out there. They usually lag or lose the beauty and the creek of Beaver Creek though, which is never fun. Sanctuary used to be a beautiful map until Reach's remakes made it so bland... The ones in Custom Edition are gorgeous.

I hope the Cartographers are interested in it.

 

Thanks for your feedback! Both sides have unique areas that players can use to their advantage. Blue side has the Cave, which not only serves as cover underneath, but also as a perch above if you climb on top of it. Red side has the rock mountain, but it's more susceptible to grenades and jetpackers. Red Side's only true advantage over Blue would be its height elevation. But then Blue Side has an advantage with the large rocks towards the front and behind the base, which provide extra cover from attackers.

I would have loved to make the sides truly balanced, but I had to work with what I had and I'm pleased with the results. Thanks for the sticky too! I'm honored to have created a classic map for everyone to enjoy.

 

lol Pope. I think it's you guys that were boring because I never had any slow-paced games like that prior to that test

I actually have tried it with the teleporters back when the bases were much smaller. The reason that worked though is because Beaver Creek had very intricate bases and you had to go to the sides or jump to the roof after you had taken the teleporter (which exposed you to that base's team). Jetpack would ruin this, unlike how I have it now where Jetpack actually helps map movement.

To be quite honest, I wanted people to camp at their base. The whole reason for this base design was so players can sit and defend their flag if they wanted to. It's also the reason I put the CQB weapons in the base. If that's their playing style, I made it available to them. The problem for them is that the back of the base is very exposed and then there's also rooftops where they can get grenaded. If their outlying team is dead, no base-camper is going to last for long.

The problem with our tests was that there were long-ranged weapons near the base, so the teams felt no reason to push. Now that most of them are outlying, you'll have to move out in the open if you want that weapon unless you choose to stay back in your base. This also encourages players to use their Magnum. I love the Reach Magnum and I made sure the map was just small enough for it to be effective as a spawning weapon.

The biggest issue at this point would indeed be spawns, but I've taken extra steps to make sure you can spawn near the Dam and in safety as well. Thankfully, spawns can be adjusted on the fly and Bungie would be able to tell me what needs to be fixed or added should they take interest in it.

I'd be happy to run a few more tests on here with you anytime. The version we played had experimental weapons. The weapon set we have now is for the most part balanced and fair, and the only thing I'd change at this point is the spawn time on the Sniper or adding additional NRs near the base. Really though--the Magnum is awesome and the map is small enough to where you don't even need a DMR to do well.