Remake Blockout

I went through the trouble on the first morning of H4 coming out to start making Lockout / Blackout, but I didn't get around to finishing it til about 3 weeks later. Then I never had anyone to play it with and Thanksgiving was coming up, so I left this map alone. Things got in the way of playing for a while, but I'm mostly back now and I started to forge a bit again. I decided to join this community to show off my map and see what needs tweaking/balancing. The lines are mostly there, the jumps definitely are. I have yet to test it out with other players tho. I put most of the spawns in generally good locations as well as the standard for the original version(s) from which this is derived from.

Here are a couple outside pics:









If you're wondering, yes that is a piece of glass that sits in the middle. I added some more glass to other areas that didn't previously have them to help discourage camping. I also put in the original weapon drops with random choices of the default options or an equivalent. The Scattershot is available as well as the Sticky Det (if I remember correctly).

Now, keep in mind this was all built from memory (and a few pics of weapon spawns) and started when I had no sleep from playing all morning since the midnight release. I actually scratched the whole thing out once, but then didn't save and recovered most of my progress. I worked from the BR/Library first, then moved to the center, then Sniper Tower and finally the Lift. The Shotgun/Center area took a bit of finessing, but I got most of it. I would post pics of that spot, but it's really cramped and I just wanted to get the main idea out there.

Here are some lines of sight:

Bottom of Lift Tower to Shotgun


Bottom BR through center to Bottom Snipe


Open Sniper platform to Top Lift (with elbow and part of top center)


Top BR to Snipe and Lift


Top lift to BR Tower


Top Lift to Snipe


Library to Top Lift


If anyone wants to know how to get Screen Caps like this, just google "Halo 4 extract saved image" and it should have a link in the first result. They'll be set to max resolution in JPG format. I can put together a (480p) video if some people want to test it out with me. Add "Oni Zonda" or send a message saying you want to try it out. I'll be free Thursday 1/24 after 3PM PST.

Moving on, Gametypes are Team Slayer (5v5 and lower), SWAT, Snipers, Multiteam (4 players x 3 teams or 3 players x 4 teams), FFA, 1 Flag, KotH and Regicide (if I remember that it doesn't use special weapon drops). I started working on a Dominion version (insane, I know) but I'm still working out how/where to put some things. Other than that, I'm open to suggestions on what to do with the map.

 

It figures that I would post mine and then I would see that 343i is introducing someone else's version already. But the lights are for the people who never got a chance to play it on Halo 2 and didn't get it in the regular rotation of Halo 3. It makes it easier to understand what general area people are talking about, since only the initial loadouts will be set and after that it's somewhat random. As for the name, it's a combo of Lockout (H2) and Blackout (H3) and that fact that it uses building blocks in forge. I made a similar one in Reach, but I don't think I ever shared it with people. I know I'm not original with the name tho so you've probably heard it before. If you look tho, the date it was created was launch day so I'm one of the first people to properly work on it. I have 2 other maps I started that day, but they're not even closed to finished.

EDIT: I just played the new version and I can't stand it. It's got the essence of being Lockout, but it's definitely not to scale and doesn't have the proper lines. Most of them are there in some kind of way, but they're not complete. This change is mostly due to he fact that sprint is now available and that does change things a bit, but if a map is solid enough, you don't need sprinting. Mine is at least as close as it can get in scale.

 

True that it's hard to reproduce them with the standard set of buildings, but that's why you add in other pieces. I used a Cover for that top BR tower jump and it can be made if you use the railing. The one I can't easily dup without altering the jump height is from bottom BR ramp -> mid BR to Center bridge. As for the windows, I will alter them to be plain walls if it becomes to much of a problem, but as is, I'm trying to prevent campers from hiding too easily. They're protected if they stay there, but they're not gonna get the jump on people. I didn't showcase the bottom center, but it's got glass too. You can kind of see it in the Bottom Lift to Shotgun pic. But if you look at Blackout as compared to Lockout, there are some major differences already. The lift doesn't allow you to drop down if you can place yourself just right. The bottom Snipe ramp's door can see clear to the bottom of BR. The jump from Center to Elbow became a lot easier. The lamps provided an extra layer (if you could make it onto them). Overall, it felt like Lockout, but it became its own thing. I'm trying to stay as true to the originals as I can while giving it a more balanced approach. And as I said, I'll tweak the windows if it causes too much of a difference.

Thanks for the window compliment. It also plays better because it doesn't have as many bumps for you to get snagged on. I worked on that probably just as long as I did for the Lift tower. It looks like it's just 8 pieces of 2x2 (maybe 3x3) but I went through all the different blocks to find the right feel. This is the only map that would allow me to use that glass because it's Impact exclusive. And after I messed with the upper level, I had to readjust the bottom too.
But yes it really does test forgers (me being somewhat noobish) because you have to work with the generic slayer settings and still get the right spacing. Not only that, but the sprinting adds a whole new dimension of play. The way I figured out how everything flowed was I just hit the up button every few minutes and walked around to make sure the pacing was right. The jumps took a lot of trial and error. But after everything was in place, I ran around everywhere to make sure that it still had the flow and fixed what didn't work. I think the budget ended up being close to 800. EDIT: Thinking about it that didn't make much sense. I believe the budget used up everything I had and was at about 800 left. But I could be thinking of the one that had the Dominion on it cause those things took up a lot of the resources. Either way, brain fart.

I'd just like to put some self criticism out there, 2 problems I have with it: you can see behind the Sniper Tower a bit too easily from Top BR. But I'd rather have that and faster gameplay than people camping everywhere, not that you can easily camp on any version of this map. The other is the bottom ramp for BR tower is a bit steep. You can walk on it and it doesn't hinder motion at all, it just looks odd compared to the rest.