Hotel Zanzibar By: PAINTS 420 Welcome to Hotel Zanzibar! Not too long ago, I posted a thread about making a Halo 3 map with Reach's forge. Out of the three choices in the poll, the majority of people voted for Last Resort. So I took on the massive 16 player map, and started forging. It took me about 20 hours total, and although that may not seem like a lot of time to dedicate to a forge project, it's definitely ready for the first round of testing. I set the map up with a few of the old favorite gametypes to play. One flag, One bomb, Team Slayer, Infection and FFA are all supported at the moment. More gametypes are to be added later. I played a few test games on it today, we played One flag and Team Slayer. Down below you'll find pictures from those games, and also some pictures that show the map fairly well. Remember guys, right now this is a reimagination so the map is built the way I saw it my head, not an exact copy. It is fairly close to the real version, so I would like to know if I should keep it the way I have it or go for the exact remake. I am looking for someone who wants to make a video of the map before I release it, whether it be a trailer or gameplay or a walkthrough, it doesn't matter. Also, If you would like to help test, fix, critique or look at the map. Just let me know. Thanks, enjoy.
Looks pretty stylish man. My only worry is that any and every Zanzi remake I've seen to date focused too much on looking like its H2 and H3 counterparts and not enough on its actual functionality in the Reach realm. H2 and H3 remakes just don't function well with Reach mechanics unless they have been adjusted to suit the mechanics.
I've never been a fan of remakes in reach, in general, but Zanzibar is one of my favorite H3, H2 maps. I would really like to get a game on this sometime, even though I loathe customs in general most of the time. I'm feeling to get a game on this- It looks pretty nice.
You took so many liberties with the map it hardly represents the original. And "I've been forging for years" doesn't mean that you have any skill, experience perhaps but certainly not skill as is evident by your focus on aesthetics and the actual geometry of the map suffering. The actual base itself, it looks very bland with all that flooring and how the walling is just there, not even flush with any part of the canyon and is so low that the sky is distracting. On top of that the actual geometry is very simple and actually detrimental to gameplay. Having a bottom entrance on the side where the ramp is supposed to be completely changes the flow of the base and the jump up where the control panel is supposed to be is very lazy. It looks like you focused all your resources on the wheel and gimped out on the actual functionality and playability of the map. And I'm surprised that you focused so intently on aesthetics yet it turned out more gray than the forge map you were comparing it to. When I said that the wheel is aesthetic noise that is not an opinion. It serves no function to the gameplay and the sole fact that we are limited in the number of pieces we can use as well as the performance under those conditions, there is no reason you used so many pieces for that wheel. While other maps are smaller and have nice aesthetics that are throughout the entire level, they use much less than 30 pieces to accomplish it and for that reason it further shows how useless the wheel is. You can go ahead and build the wheel but like I told you it will only hinder the performance. You took a lot of liberties when forging this and many of the changes are not at all for the better. I'm not going to say that mine is better than yours since that is not my intent; this is your re-imagination of the map so all I can ever comment on is this version and how it plays. All I ever said was that the wheel is a waste of time and a waste of pieces which is clearly the case here as the rest of the design suffered in favor of having the "staple aesthetic". Also it was high and mighty of you to make that comment saying that "I suck at piece management" when your map hardly reflects the original design. You can't make comments like that when you aren't building the same thing.......
@Overkill- it's his reimagination of Last Resort. He clearly wasn't trying to make an exact remake. I see few aesthetic problems and I have no problem with the wheel. If you have the pieces and budget and can do it without causing frame rate issues than the wheel is a great addition. And have you ever gotten a game on this map? It's only a preview and I see no DL link.
While your opinion is fine and all I see no reason for you to openly insult his skill as a forger. While the wheel does use up his pieces I am sure he has lots more he can use for any adjustments to the map.
Hence the bolded part of my post. I realize that its a re-imagination and the changes are subjective to the forger's vision. It was a continuation from his other thread I simply left out his quote. Yes, this is my opinion however I am basing it on the functionality of what is currently shown and in reference to the original map. Some changes are good like the connection of the rock cave to camp froman however the actual base itself is poorly constructed in the sense that the flow is butchered by the new passageways and getting on top consists of a jump up now which is lazy. Again, its a re-imagination so he can do whatever he wants with it I am just pointing out the questionable designs as well as the pointlessness of the wheel.
Sorry I did not get to edit in the rest of my post I has to go work on something. But this is my opinion on the wheel. It is a necessary part of the map. Without the wheel there there is no divide in the map at all if you took away the wheel the lines of sight would be terrible to play with. In the halo 3/halo 2 version the wheel was actually built in the ground obviously he cannot do that here but what that allowed for was essentially a trench for infantry and a jump for vehicles so they did not have to go around the wheel. On this map however he does not have that. I suggest to you paint that you lower the wheel to the ground a bit and add ramps on the sides so that you can get in the trench and vehicles can get over it. Also extend that wall of the wheels cradle into the hill so that vehicles can jump over but not go around. It seems more interesting that way. The wheel was the definable feature of last resort/Zanzibar. Without it being there it would be difficult to see this as a reimagination.
So wouldn't you say that the bottom, gameplay relevant part of the wheel should function properly? The entire point I was making was that the parts of the wheel in the sky serve no purpose to the gameplay and in turn he focused more on that than the actual gameplay the structure provides.
Could you expand a little on that? I'm not really sure what you mean by mechanics. Do you mean armor abilities? Jump Heights? Scale size? It was defnitely my favorite map too. I'll run a testing lobby soon, and I'll be sure you get an invite. I was hoping you would show up and voice your concerns How is it lazy? There's supposed to be a tac jump there... What's lazy is not having any sort of tac jump there at all. Ahem Ahem. I have 2000 budget left. I also have a wheel. You have neither. lol Wrong again sir, you're on a roll aren't you? The wheel is climb-able. If you look closely at the way I have the fan blades angled, you can walk up either side of the wheel. This creates the quick route up to top mid that the moving fan used to serve as. What is your intent exactly? You sure aren't helping. Also, it's obvious that your attempts to give constructive criticism are not for the better of the map, but only in disbelief that I chose to make the same remake as you. Guaranteed if I remade any other one of the maps in the poll, you wouldn't have even posted in the first place. Oh. Now the sky is distracting. You must be running out of things to complain about. Oh you`ve played it? That's funny cause it's not in my file share...Furthermore, explicitly rating or reviewing a map without downloading it, is a definite violation of forum rules, if I was as easily butt-hurt as you, I would report you, but since most of your assumptions about the map are wrong, your review really means nothing to me anyway. I no talk to this guy anymore. He angry that I make Zanzibar remake.
^ I lol'd so so hard. Anyway firstly I'd like to say I really don't like the name. When I saw it first I thought it is a linear infection map set in a infected hotel. The map itself doesn't refere to a hotel in any way. I'd love to give this a game though. I'd be up for testing!
I sort of get the name. Last Resort- Resort has multiple meanings and can mean(as I put it) a fancy place to stay while on vacation. As I see hotels serve a similar purpose, I get the name Hotel Zanzibar.
Minor complaint that doesn't affect anything really, but I am not a fan of your block choice for the windmill. It's just too thick.
Holy ****, Paints, I love you. Not for the map, it sucks. But really, I had no Idea what I was going to see when I joined you. I Instantly recognized Zanzibar. I love your re-imagination. I WANT TO PLAY SOON. One thing I didn't like, though, is that the courtyard (or the wheel side of the beach wall) seemed a tad cramped and difficult to traverse in a vehicle. Wonderful job mang.
You got all butt hurt b/c I criticized your map. IDK if you know this but pictures speak volumes about how a map will play. Had you given only one picture then there is no way to really visualize the entire design but you provided multiple screenshots. I gave you constructive criticism and I even liked your Camp Froman section how it connects to the Cave. However you criticized my piece usage when you hardly even stuck to the original design so how can one reasonably do that when your creation is not even comparable to the other? Like the other guy said, the base of your wheel is lacking, severely. It no longer divides the map or provide significant cover as it did in the original. I believe what he said was something along the lines of a trench and a jump for the vehicle. As for the sky being a distraction, well thats what happens when your walls are too low. You know... Visual Mass and all that. Its called rules of composition. Look it up... It's a useful thing to know and you won't look like an idiot when it comes to legitimate complaints.
Personally, I think it looks gorgeous. And I most definitely want to play on it sometime. As for thread drama... Chill pill guys, chill pill.
Have you played halo 2? The map was called Zanzibar. I'll invite you when I test it definitely. You get it. Thanks. Yup, I have $2000. So I can work with a few adjustments and maybe extra pieces. Only if I need them. Suggestions? I initially thought using Wall, Curved, but I'm pretty sure they have lights. And I need my Doors, Windows and Walls. I might just send out a message to plan for a test game to everyone who wants to help test. There seems to be quite a few. But I'm sure you'll play it eventually anyway. Thank you. I gotta arrange this test. I could probably change that. Thanks
I'm loving the look of this map. Brings back so many memories. Send me an invite if you need an extra tester.
I'm not much of a BTB guy, but this looks like the best Zanzibar/Last Resort remake yet. Send me an invite next time you have a testing lobby. GT: Blood Gulch 7 (my listed GT is an alt)