Map Name: Galaxy Cup Gametype: Gravball Author GT: J3litzkrieg Ladies and gentleman, I present to you: Gravball Give gravity the finger while simultaneously teabagging your friends! The name says it all; Gravball is a team vs. team, "high-stakes contact sport". Slay your enemies, then thrust home for the win! Literally thrust home for the win, by using your thruster pack to thrust into the center of each hoop. Get your head outta the gutter. Moving on. Each team member has a choice of 3 loadouts: A. Railgun/Sword B. Needler/Sword C. Sticky Detonator/Scattershot Weapons have bottomless clips. Thrusters are infinite. Prepare. Field Tips: -The grids on each side give you an idea as to where you are on the field, as well as where you are in relation to the grav volume you're in (which helps with passing). -You can drop down from either side of the court, as well as from any space beyond each hoop. -I suggest having a goalie, but play it the way you want. Any questions, comments, concerns, or critiques, feel free to drop me a line. Enjoy!
Reminds me of Quidditch, although with more of a suicidal twist. It looks like it'd supply hours of entertainment, so invite me to any customs lobbies you find yourself in. I know I've been in one before with you and you displayed some good maps. What's the recommended players?
Quidditch is exactly what it started off as. Unfortunately it just isn't possible with the limitations of forge, and more so because of how broken game variants are (such as being unable to use more than one capture plate as a teams goal.) I would say optimal teams are 5v5, but its good with 8-12 players. And thanks, I think you were actually one of the first people to see some of my maps, and one of the few that actually gave good honest critiquing on them. I'll def hit you up with a game invite as soon as I've got some games going on it. And if you happen to get a game going yourself, send me an invite L;
I remember seeing a Quidditch minigame in Reach, just after it was released. I think it was the first episode of Halo: Reach Forges. If it was possible then, it's almost definitely possible in H4. Just a side note, but there was a Grifball variant in Reach called Gravball.
Yeah I remember the mini game in reach. But unfortunately you're mistaken, there's no way to make it work properly in 4 for a number of reasons; one of which is actually mentioned in the quote you just cited from me. I'd love to be proven wrong, but I don't think that's gonna happen until (if) they fix what's broken in forge, and more importantly in custom games. The name could always change, but I chose Gravball because of its simplicity and how generic it is, that way people grasp the concept from the very beginning. Appreciate the comments though L;
I'm sure if you experimented for long enough you'd find some kind of compromise. It's always worked for me.
I've heard of, and done some of my own ridiculous workarounds plenty of times, but in this case I really don't see any possible way to have multiple goals per team without either A. The custom and forge options being patched or B. Using a different game variant such as KOTH, which wouldn't allow for the use of a ball (which of course more than kind of defeats the purpose.) Feel free to let me know if you find or hear about a workaround though, as long as it doesn't involve modding.
Played a few matches on this with you yesterday and today. 2v2 was actually pretty fun, less chaos, more strategy. 5v5 is where it really shines though, that was a blast. Now, a couple critiques. You should think about adding a few more gravlifts. Maybe a couple next to each goal, and one at half court next to each wall? I noticed during one of the matches that a player from the other team was just floating off to the side picking off players trying to use the lifts, this would hep reduce that. It would also give players more routes up, right now after you drop down it's quite a hike back to the lifts, even with unlimited thrust. I was also going to suggest making the gravity volumes visible, but realized that would probably clutter up the playing field way too much. Consider adding "yard markers" to the side walls instead, at the bottom of the volumes. This would help players orient themselves, as give them an idea where the volumes are to aid in passing the ball (which almost never happened). Maybe make it a bit more obvious where to go to get down as well. "How do I get down" was a common question in the lobby when we were testing. And the good stuff: The court itself is great. Well designed, aesthetically pleasing, objectives couldn't be clearer. Using the natural terrain on Ravine works well. Minus a few details I noted above, it's great. The loadouts are perfect. Railgun is your main offensive weapon, really useful for picking off enemies on the ground. I had a hell of a time hitting airborne enemies, but that's probably because I'm garbage with the Railgun. Needler was a ton of fun, I had a blast running around spamming Needler at anything that moved. Sticky/Scattershot is tailor made for defense. Sticking the goal then engaging with the Scattershot works wonders, as anyone who slips by you can simply be blown up. Sword does seam a little useless, but considering the offensive power of the first two loadouts, subbing it for anything else would render them way OP against the third. TL;DR: Love the map, love the gametype, had a blast. 8/10, but a few easy fixes and I'll give you the other two points hands down.
I'v gotta check this out. Message or add me on Live sometime and I'll help you test it. I'd love to do a video on this for you also. GT= Grif otaged
Too right you posted this! Awesome concept. It took me a while to figure out how to play it properly, but I think if you give it the time to get used to, it's a blast. Couple things to mention. I think the gametype itself is perfect. There was two things I gotta ask about the map though. Is there a reason for the grids? I know they are supposed to set the boundaries for the map, but I gotta admit that grids in general look god awful. Why not use the Erosion grifball court, or even just an open space on impact. It's just something about the grids right next to the ravine cliffs that looks unnatural. I was also a little unsure of where the grav zones were. I didn't even know how to get down from the low gravity until you told me I had to go back to the goal zones. Anyway, my complaints are mainly things that maybe you can't fix. If you can fix any of those things that would be great though.
First off I just wanted to say thank you guys for the compliments, always nice to hear L: I had a ton of fun playin this with you both times Frag. All the things you mentioned are spot on, and seem to be the general consensus, so I've gone ahead and addressed the man cannon issue, spreading out the mid cannons slightly to give players some breathing room, and adding a cannon to each corner on the court. As for having something to orient players as they're traversing the aerial field, that is actually the reason I used grids for the enclosure; each large "box" on the grid corresponds to the 10x10 volumes, so no matter where you are you should be able to gauge your ability to pass while airborne. If I continue to hear more about it though, I may add a few more visual cues just to simplify matters. Always happy to have more players man. I'll be sending you a friend request shortly. As for the video, I'm blushing over here L; lmao. Seriously though, I'd be honored if you made a video for Gravball. Let me know if ya need anything from me, and keep me posted! Hey man, if it wasn't for you, I probably never would have published this lmao. You're the one who told me I had to, and when PA1NTS tells ya to post something, you post it L; Really glad you enjoyed it though, I know I had a hell of a time blastin you outta the air haha. As for your concerns about the map; like I stated above to Fragsturbait, yes, there is a reason for the grids lmao. I really debated whether or not to include them, and as of right now I'm sticking by my decision. The aesthetics of it is definitely a constant debate, but mostly a matter of opinion (I personally like they way they look, depending on how they're incorporated of course), but in this instance it was more their ease of use and function within the game (giving players something to orient themselves with within the grav volumes). So for now, the grids stay, unless there is a significant amount of complaining about their inclusion lol. Thanks again for the love, and for the critiques. The (newly improved) game is up on my fileshare, so go at it fellas! Also, in case anyone wants to get a few games in, I'll be hosting some matches of this later tonight, probably somewhere around 7pm EST. Message me here or on live and I'll send ya an invite. Cheers!
This looks fun! really excited to play it. you should get a video made showcasing what you consider to be a great game, and include that in your final post of the map.
Thanks for the great comment, especially coming from you Titmar! I'll add you on live tonight and get ya in on the action. As for the video, I completely agree, and I believe Mr. Grif Otaged up there has already volunteered to make one, so keep an eye out for that coming soon!
It's useful on the ground (Which is besides the point, I know). But if you're lucky, or skilled enough to get a thruster-sword kill on another thrusting player it is SO satisfying. I forced myself to try with the sword last night and I got about 3 airbourne kills, even killed the 'Grif'. It was great fun, It can be put to good use, it's all about the timing. More on topic, I've played this alot of times with you now so I don't need to tell you again how awesome it is. Great game, I hope they patch Forge and Customs so you can perfect it man. Peace -TS
This is actually an awesome minigame! If you can get it tweaked so players can be prevented from scoring so easily, and have the scoring mechanisms tweaked so they always score when players go through the back hole... you're on to a major winner!!
The scoring issue is one of the things I'm (99%) certain I fixed along with the inclusion of the extra cannons, so go ahead and download the newest version and try it out. If you still have issues with it though, definitely let me know. As for scoring so easily, I'm not gonna touch that unless it's absolutely necessary, just because really the only way to change that would be to mess with player movement, and after thoroughly testing that aspect, I found no other combination works well; they're either too fast or too slow. However, I am contemplating releasing a more "competetive" version, using precision weapons of some sort. I'll keep ya updated, and of course, thanks for the compliment
I actually though about suggesting an extra loadout with a more precise weapon. Beam Rifle/Hammer would be a truckload of fun, especially considering (i'm pretty sure) hammer affects movement in the air.
for "not scoring so easily" what about a Dominion Base Shield placed in front of the goal that you or your team will have to destroy before scoring w/ the ball? would make the team have to work together more, and would put a slight delay and difficulty on the goal. you could set it to respawn at an interval that you feel is appropriate
I'll be testing this soon, I was thinking the exact same thing. My only concern would be everyone on each team choosing Beam Rifles and spamming the hell out of them, since it's bottomless clip. Depends on how easy it actually is to pull off shots. That's not a bad suggestion, and I may well do that depending on how the addition of a 4th Binary Rifle class affects scoring. I'll keep you all updated.