SIERRA "Nestled in the mountain range, this prosperous city is a high-value target for many factions." Updated on 7/15/11. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_pskip6j4o Overview: Sierra is an Invasion map that improves upon all aspects of my previous Invasion map, Deference City, whether that be in aesthetics, balance, gameplay, or performance. It mainly focuses on urban combat and always keeps a fast pace of gameplay, reflecting its backstory. Story: The Covenant have taken over a human city in the mountain range, giving them a key position in the area due to the city's high-value position in both trade and warfare. However, the surviving humans in the city have banded together to rebel against the Covenant oppression. After being forced out of the city by the insurrection, the Covenant deployed a strike force of Elites to retake the city in a brutal conquest. Gameplay: Gameplay on this map was, from the first playtest to the last, fast-paced. There is always constant action on the map, keeping the fast, urgent feeling of a brutal Covenant conquest. The Spartan defenders have only two stationary, armored Warthogs in the first phase to hold off the Elite assault. The Elite attackers are granted with a Ghost and a Revenant in the second phase, which is further followed by another Revenant in the third phase. However, infantry-vehicle balance is as close to perfect as you can get, since the close-quarters nature of the city, along with the Spartans' Grenade Launchers, give the Revenants a weak point that the Spartans can use. In the right hands, however, the Revenants can wreak havoc on the Spartans, bringing them down from their key vantage points and causing mass chaos in the city streets. The armored Warthogs in the first phase also support the story behind the map. Seeing as the Spartans are part of an insurrection, they do not have the conventional means to hold off the Covenant forces. Therefore, they're forced to utilize Warthog turrets as a way to fend off the assault. In gameplay, the turrets are great for suppression, but they don't give a clear line of sight to the Elites' objective. Objectives: The objectives for this map are as follows: Territories, Territories, Territories. The Elites first start off by activating the city's bridge controls in order to lower the shields. Once the shields are brought down, the Elite forces can proceed into the city. The second phase consists of the Elites trying to take two major control points in the city itself. The Apartments and the Rock Garden are these two major points. After taking either the Apartments or the Rock Garden, the Elite team ventures further into the city to take either the Park or the Parking Lot. After either of these two points are taken, the Elites have won in their retaking of the city. Another thing to note is that the included gametype is standard Invasion, but with accordingly switched objectives for each phase. The third phase's Shotgun class also has no AL, as this was a common concern in playtests. Performance: There is no z-fighting, lagging, or any other performance issues on the map in singleplayer. I've tested this many times with at most 12 players, and no severe issues have been detected by anyone. 2-player splitscreen is also great, and I got no framerate issues anywhere. 3-player splitscreen was tested, and no significant framerate lag or other performance issues were caught. I still have yet to test 4-player splitscreen. Screenshots: Overview (Outdated) Offense Camera (Outdated) Defense Camera 1st Phase Overview 1st Phase Armored Warthogs 1st Phase Man Cannons 2nd Phase Rock Garden 2nd Phase Apartments 3rd Phase Parking Lot 3rd Phase Park City Streets City Overview (1/2) City Overview (2/2) Thanks for reading, and enjoy the map!
As one of the two player split screen players, I can say that this map runs really nicely in terms of performance. Great, frantic, fast paced gameplay is constant on this map. Although this isn't really my style of Invasion map, I did enjoy playing on it a lot. Great work!
Very fast-paced. Matches seemed a bit too quick, but the gameplay was pretty intense throughout. The 'Hogs dominate even more than Shades would, yet they're not overbearing; if the Elites treat them as primary targets, they don't often last long. I particularly like the arrangements of the Platform Ys; makes for some interesting and crafty jumps from cover to cover. Great map.
I agree with the fast pace of the game; others said that it was a bit too fast as well. So I changed the first phase objective to Assault rather than Territories, along with altering Elite spawns during the second phase. That seemed to slow down the game to an acceptable rate. Thanks for the comment!
This is a great invasion map. The first phase was quite hetic, but was enjoyable and the turrents were quite easily taken out with a couple well placed grenades. The city theme was excellently executed. I loved the look of the bridge and just the overall tallness of the entire map. The map was enjoyable throughout the 3rd phase, however, things could be improved. Like the 3rd phases loadout... shotguns and swords... blah. And I would change up your spawn areas because some of them felt strange, like I had to kind of figure out where I was once I spawned in them. Overall though, really nice map.
7/15/11 Update - New loadout camera for the offense. - Altered the design of the bridge. Main changes include the addition of an upper walkway, along with a set of man cannons underneath that propel the player to the middle of the bridge. - Removed the Assault in Phase 1, and replaced it with the original Territories. There are two territories, each with a 15 second timer and a 5 second float timer. - Other minor aesthetic changes on the bridge. - Altered the size of the Apartments territory in Phase 2 to be completely inside the building instead of slightly protruding outwards. - Gave the Elites a Ghost in their backfield spawn in Phase 2. - Added a GL on top of the Spartan spawn in Phase 2, right next to the turret. This is to counter the vehicles in Phase 2, which was a common concern. - Phase 3's Shotgun class no longer has AL, which was a common criticism due to the pair's potential power. - Slightly reduced the size of the Park territory in Phase 3. - Other minor aesthetic changes in the city. - Updated version and gametype in my File Share. [br][/br]Edited by merge: Updated with gameplay video.
SIERRA Sierra is a map created specifically for the invasion gametype, and as with most invasion maps, Sierra is suited towards big team matches. The map is settled in Alaska but includes a bridge from Montana that serves as the stage for phase one. This phase involves the capture of the bridge by the invading elite force, while phases two and three have the elites capturing various parts of the city, including buildings and a small urban park. All three of these phases are fast paced and keep players in the action for a very large majority of the match. Sierra does a good job at creating a map that is not too small for bigger teams but not too large that the gameplay becomes slow and boring. If anything, the action happens too quickly on Sierra as matches often end in a very quick elite takeover of the city. This does not allow players the opportunity to fully explore and understand the map; this can be a letdown to some players. The three phases often feel very similar, as all three fall for the same suicidal push strategy; this is amplified by the fact that all three phases are territories based. Phase one is more easily differentiated as it takes place on the bridge and is more of a straightforward push while the later phases add vehicles and alternative access routes, yet the lack of additional phase types makes gameplay repetitive. That being said, the hectic style that is repeated is entertaining and makes for great fun in the big team chaos one might expect. From a competitive standpoint, this is slightly lacking. Teams can coordinate defense and offense, the latter with better results, but the chaotic style dominates the gameplay and serves as a blessing and a curse: gameplay is fun and constantly hectic, yet this gameplay can get old and allows for limited tactical options for the more competitive player that this map is said to cater for. While Sierra makes for excellent casual fun, the targets competitive audience may find the tactical aspect and predictability to detract from the otherwise great experience. Sierra looks like an uphill battle, but the defenders will almost certainly fail in all three phases. A constant push by the attacking team will overwhelm the defense and disallow them time and cover to dispose of the attacking threat. The attackers are also given superior positioning, weapons, and cover in the objectives granting them an easy victory. In phase one, involving the capture of a bridge, the attacking elites are given two lifts that take them within arm’s length of the territories they must secure. Obviously this offers the elites a massive advantage in taking these territories. The attackers are also given access to the highest point on the bridge; the beam that runs across the top. Defenders are left with two Warthogs rendered stationary with barricades and given the guise of armored cars or military humvees. These are easily dispatched by the plasma grenades given to all of the attackers and allow for an easy victory for the attacking team. Phase two introduces both teams to the city that is the stage for phases two and three. Spartans are given one lone spawn with access to a turret and the streets below. No weapon besides the turret is present, while elites are granted a Revenant and a Ghost back at their phase one turned backfield spawn. Attackers are also given a new spawn at the entrance to the city, and the objectives are a small rock garden and the inside of a building. Both of these objectives offer cover while the defenders are given a limited view of these objectives from their side, forcing defenders to charge the objective as well as the attackers in hopes that they can secure a better location on the battlefield. These objectives are also placed fairly close together, and elites can easily travel to the other if one is locked down. The vehicles help ensure this phase falls to the elites as certainly as the first fell. The third phase gives a second revenant to the backfield elite spawn, gives the Spartans two spawns further back in the city and grants them a laser and sniper; unfortunately these weapons are difficult to use in many parts of the city leaving these weapons with a smaller effect than intended, allowing this phase to follow the same cycle as the second, closing out the game with an elite victory almost every time. Sierra has few problems in the durability category. Great use of kill zones and safe zones ensure any player with the intent of leaving the map meets death at the hands of the guardians. As a map that advertises itself as compatible with up to three player split screen, it lives up to its promise by providing no frame-rate problems for the standard one player, and performs well with more, a feat few maps can accomplish. The spawns are all in decent locations for invasion and allow both teams a safe location to re-enter the fray. The possible exception is the sole Spartan spawn in phase two, as it is dangerously close to the frontline and serves as the only location of the defenders to spawn. This is not usually a problem as hectic action and the objective keep the elites from reaching it, but this does limit the options of a defender. Other than that, Sierra faces no other issues worth mentioning. Sierra offers more than decent aesthetics, especially as a map without frame-rate problems in some split screen matches. The city theme is executed nicely, and the look of features such as the armored vehicles on the bridge and the buildings seen fit the theme very well. A tree is also incorporated into the city seamlessly, creating a bit of variety within the city. Also, as advertized in the original post, there is no z-fighting. Only one instance of sloppy aesthetics can be seen, that being the wall encompassing the city sticks out of the ground on the right side. Sierra is otherwise a cleanly forged map with a very evident feel and aesthetic theme. As an invasion map, Sierra already stands out a bit from the standard competitive grind. While the map handles a topic many invasion forgers attempt to recreate, that being a city invasion akin to ODST, Sierra pulls off the theme better than most; this helps to set it apart. Other features like the armored Warthogs and natural segments of the city aid in this regard. While this isn’t a new frontier for invasion maps, Sierra still feels relatively original and not like a generic city map or bridge map. FINAL SCORES Rating Multipliers Enjoyment: 7.0x3.0 = 21/30 Balance: 3.0x3.0 = 9/30 Durability: 9.0x1.5 = 13.5/15 Aesthetics: 8.0x1.5 = 12/15 Originality: 7.0x1.0 = 7/10 TOTAL SCORE = 63/100 FINAL SCORE Understanding the Review Hub's Ratings Have a question about your review? Review Hub Community Feedback