Fraternal (Updated!) FRATERNAL Welcome to Fraternal. This map has been in the works for many months now and I'm finally satisfied with how it looks and plays. If you played Halo 2, you will remember Gemini. You will recall it also had many issues. Fraternal is a re-imagining of Gemini with changes for flow and stupidity. I added two new pathways to the side tunnels to make them less campy. I also lowered those pesky ledges and made them much smaller, making them less campable and much less overpowered. The map is also bit smaller in general than Gemini. It has been tested 6,000,000,000+ times with multiple gametypes and has been optimized for split screen. Weapons: Sniper 180 Shotgun 120 2x Concussion Rifles 120 Overshield 180 Anyways, since you probably didn't read any of that on to the pics Edit: The map has been overhauled for aesthetic, campy and flow reasons. And just because I didn't like it anymore. The layout was not changed but most tunnels and doorways were widened. The new access ways to top yellow were opened up and made to feel more like rooms than just pathways. NEW PICS! Spoiler Heres a video walkthrough made by ForgeUniversal its a little outdated but the layout is still the same Youtube Old pics for comparison. Spoiler Thanks to everyone that tested this and gave some sort of criticism Nutduster Overdoz1z Cyborganthro Audienceofone Funkstopshere juanez sanchez psycoduck Duck NG I'm sure there's more sorry if I missed you! A special thanks goes out to the TCOJ for all their very specific help and suggestions Thanks for looking!
This is one of my favorite maps I have ever seen forged. I never played Gemini, so I haven't that reference to the map, although I can say the layout is well put together, the map skillfully forged, and that there is no spot to just wait and camp. I only played here twice unfortunately, but those were some fantastic 4v4 games. The gameplay is fast paced and fair. By chance though, were you ever able to fix those obscenely thin pathways (I think on the lower level)? They weren't too bad, but felt strange and out of place. If not that's its fine though, mostly curious. If this fits requirements, you should submit this to the library. If we can get some fun maps there I may take up Reach Matchmaking again! Right after I beat Mass Effect 3 up, down, and sideways.
This has definitely been a fun map to test. I wasn't blown away by the forging, but this is definitely a worthy substitute for Gemini, and it stands out from other symmetrical 4v4s for this reason. There were some problems with there not being anywhere safe to spawn in CTF, resulting in some spawn-killing, but overall it wasn't too much of an issue. I'd definitely be willing to play this again.
Thanks man that means a lot! I do plan on submitting it to the Library. And unfortunately no I couldn't do anything about those pathways. There is a ledge right behind the walls. [br][/br]Edited by merge: Thanks man. I don't really recommend it for ctf. It plays ok but not great. Other Asymm games are great though.
I like this map better than Gemini (which I was never that fond of - this is far more fun to me, in large part due to being smaller). Kudos on a fine map and on FINALLY releasing it. I would certainly not mind playing it in matchmaking, although I must say, it's actually a bit small for 4v4 play - feels more like a 3v3 map to me. 4v4 works OK but it tends to be a little chaotic.
I find the chaos of 4v4 here perfect. Couldn't get enough when I played it here, though that point is certainly reasonable. Arguably more so than mine.
its a great map but I found that the spawns made gameplay very hectic. That is not necessarily a bad thing but if you put in more respawn points then you will spawn in smarter places and give you some breathing room when respawning.
I believe the map size has more to do with the game being hectic than the spawns. The spawn system was gone over thoroughly and is probably as good as its going to get. Thanks for the feedback though and I'm glad you liked it.
I would agree with Gorilla here - if you review the map in forge you'll see a large diversity of spawn areas, most in logical and safe places. The problem is the map is just not huge and if you're playing with eight people, it's easy to get into a situation where there just isn't anywhere really left to spawn that an enemy isn't nearby. Basically the map has just four areas - mid room, top room, left hallway and right hallway - and if an enemy is in the area you spawn in, you're already back in the action. Gemini had the same basic areas, granted, but each one was larger and the very large, curved balcony area allowed a lot more room to spawn somewhat safely even if someone was out there. And the main middle room had a much more distinct separation between the upper and lower halves due to the larger size and the big sculpture/line of sight blocker in the middle. Anyway, if you really want to see this map playing optimally without the hecticness, play it with 4-6 people. But if you don't mind a little controlled chaos, 8 players can be very fun on this map too.
It is crazy with 4v4. I have played this 2v2 and 3v3 and it is very enjoyable! Also my hopes aren't very high for this to make it into MM but hey its worth a try because I know its got to be better than 90% of the maps already submitted to the library lol
The tree reminded me of Vanilla. Me Gusta. I seriously had an eyegasm over this map though. Submit it to The Library. Now.
I have enjoyed a lot of close and hectic, fun games on this map, alas, only during the final stages of it's construction, and I missed all the earlier versions. It's a blast- you gotta think fast during a game on this cos it's very intense (in an awesome way)!
Great job on this one one Gorilla! Map has been a blast to test and every game has been very fast paced, a trait I appreciate in maps. I cannot say whether the map plays better than the original(never played the original), but regardless the map is a blast.
Quoted from the map's description in the OP (which everyone should read when looking at a map. I know, reading is boring, but it can help you get an understanding of the map in some ways that pictures cannot always convey): "If you played Halo 2, you will remember Gemini. You will recall it also had many issues. Fraternal is a re-imagining of Gemini with changes for flow and stupidity."
Thanks Lynx. Lol To answer that even further, I wanted to remake Gemini but it clearly wasn't possible to do without major framerate and other issues. I also wanted to fix some other problems I and many others had with Gemini like how campable the side walkways were and those pesky ledges which I lowered dramatically and made much smaller. I feel that I fixed gemini's problems while retaining some of its original glory and creating a fresh gameplay experience.
Gorilla, this is a great re-imagining which works out a lot of the old problems with gemini. I'd say that it's your best map so far, which is no surprise since you haven't released a map in like thirty years. Keep up the good work.
LOL true. I have a problem with that. But I'm working on something new in a similar vein as Fraternal that should be release worthy. Thanks for the positive Broseph!