Paragon II

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Note; Sorry for the long delay on Paragon II. This map has been finished for quite a while, but I didn't post it on my File Share over the past month since it's been finished. The reason being is I've been busy with other Forge Projects, and I've also been busy outside of gaming. Anyway, here's the final product of Paragon II, enjoy. ​

Welcome to Paragon II​

Paragon II is a medium size symmetrical map designed for team based game like Team Slayer, CTF, Assault, etc. But also works extremely well with Free-For-All Slayer and KOTH. ​

The design is an octaganal shape and the map took influences from past Halo maps such as Citadel and Midship. It was designed to keep players on edge most of the time, giving them very little breathing room and then thrown straight back into the action. The map was meant to keep players always moving around the map so the flow of the map rarely stops. It was designed for constant, non-stop action, always making sure players are always aware, vigilant, and always on edge while playing on Paragon II.​

　
　
　

Paragon II was released in part because of some minor problems that a select few of people pointed out to me, and now those past issues in the first Paragon are now going to be adressed and what has been fixed for Paragon II.

There were two big major factors that dumbed down the full experience of Paragon. The first was the atrocious ammount of z-fighting and framerate issues. While it wasn't a big issue in Custom Games (it was still present), it was a problem in Forge. After going through and fixing the z-fighting and framerate issues as much as I could (thanks for the tips Flying Shoe ILR), I then removed the red and blue lights. It wasn't something I wanted to do, but lights cause framerate issues, so I was almost forced to remove them. Players still seem to find their way around the map perfectly by identifying landmarks (red and blue struts, one side of the map is somewhat is ligther than the other), and during team based games players haven't been confused of where they were on the map.​

The second issue was a strange problem with spawing with red and blue team (Green and Orange were fine). I soon found out that red and blue team didn't have a main spawn area for Team Slayer. There was only one spawn area for red and blue team towards the lower levels of the map (those spawn areas were somewhat small), which led to spawning problems. So I then added another "main" spawn area for red and blue team (on the upper level), and now the spawning has been fixed.

There were a few other minor changes that I made (thanks to Flying Shoe ILR, daboiboibert, Soul Slaher X, and Bones 153 for the constructive criticism). ​

The first is the centerpiece that the Rocket Launcher rests upon. Players mentioned that the centerpiece was too high, which forced players to jump to get the Rocket Launcher. They weren't able to just walk up to it and pick it up. In order to fix it, I moved the centerpiece downward a few coordinates, allowing players to pick up the Rocket Launcher without the extra effort of jumping to retrieve it.​

On the bottom floor (in the "then" Shotgun Room) there were double windows used for walls, but you could see through them, and players were able to see outside and underneath the map, which somewhat ruined the atmosphere of the map. You could even see the other parts of Forge World outside of the Coliseum (Due to there being no Coliseum Window closing off the Coliseum from other parts of Forge World). In place of the double windows are double walls, so now players cannot see anything outside of the map. It is completely enclosed. ​

The Vehicle Gravity Lifts in the Needle Rifle Hallways have been removed from the walls (due to jetpack users getting hurt by them), and have been placed underneath the map so you can still hear them, but they do not affect gameplay. ​

There have been a few weapon placement changes as well. Due to designing problems, I was unable to merge both Shotguns (which were virtually spawned right next to eachother) into one Shotgun with one extra clip. In order to solve this dilema, I decided to do some weapon placement switching. Both red and blue team have a lower spawn room that lead to the center room below (where the Shotguns originally spawned). Originally there were two Plasma Grenades and one Plasma Rifle in each spawn room, and there were two Shotguns in the center room below. What I did was switch the Plasma Grenades and Plasma Rifles with the Shotguns. So now instead of it being called "The Shotgun Room," it is now called the "Plasma Rifle and Plasma Grenade Room." Rediculous name, I know, how about calling it the "Plasma Room," eh? ​

The lower levels ( Now The Plasma Room), as seen by playtesting, seem to be the road less traveled so it is a safer route to go, but it takes longer to travel from one side of the map to the other. It takes longer going this route then staying on the upper levels (with the exception of the outer walkways). But beware, the presence of two shotguns and two Plasma Pistols are around this area, and it is moderately easy to run into Shotgun and Plasma Pistol users. If you are in this area, there are four Plasma Grenades and two Plasma Rifles in the Plasma Room, so it would be wise to use them. I also added two more Plasma Pistols on the map on the outer walkways. I placed them symmetrically from eacother (their on seperate ends of the map) going towards the Needle Rifle hallways. ​

Those are all the changes that I made from Paragon. With Paragon II, all the above problems have been fixed.​

　
　
　

Weapons
DMR X4 (1 spare clip)
Needler X2 (1 spare clip)
Needle Rifle X4 (1 spare clip)
Plasma Pistol X4
Plasma Rifle X2
Rocket Launcher X1 (1 spare clip)
Shotgun X2 (No spare clips)
Sniper Rifle X2 (1 spare clip)
Plasma Grenades X8
Health Station X2​

　
　
　

Screenshots

Rocket Centerpiece


Needler Hallway(s)


Lower Team Spawn Room(s), Shotgun(s) spawn


Needler Spawn(s), Inner walkway(s)


Plasma Room (Lower center Room)


Another look at the Inner Walkway(s)


To Needle Rifle Hallway(s)


Health Pack Needle Rifle spawn(s)
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Action Screenshots








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In case you missed the download link: Paragon II　​

　

I would like to thank Flying Shoe ILR, daboiboibert, Soul Slasher X, Bones 153, and everyone else that gave me constructive criticism and helped gametesting. Without you, Paragon II wouldn't have made it. ​

 

I'm sorry for somewhat "neglecting," or "ignoring," you guys lately. I've just been busy outside of gaming while trying to finish up some other forge projects, some of which you know, and others not.

All of these projects are mostly in the finishing stages, but there is still some work to be done.

As for Paragon II, I really took my time on this map, and wanted to polish it up as much as I could. I hope you guys and I can have a gamenight soon so I can finally try out Paragon II more as well as playtest some of my "other forge projects."

 

Actually, there wasn't ant inspiration from the previous Halo levels, but there was a lot of influence from Halo 3's Citadel and Halo 2's Midship.

But, yes, it does look very similar to those levels.

 

There has been several gametesting done on Paragon II, and the weapon layout seems solid and the power weapons

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Edited by merge:

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There has been several gametesting done on Paragon II, and the weapon layout seems solid and the power weapons aren't over powering.

There is one Rocket Launcher (1 spare clip), two Shotguns (no spare clips a piece), and two Sniper Rifles (1 spare clip a piece).

It would be great if you could go more into detail about the power weapons to see if I could make any changes.



I take everyone's concerns into consideration.