I have a map that has come along quite nicely so far. It's large, something in the order of Death Island. The only problem is, while my natural forging looks pretty good (I can terrain, rock, tree, and grass a map to death), my Forerunner base design leaves so much to be desired. I'm looking to build symmetrical bases on either side of the map, with a centrally located structure similar to Apex 7's or Valhalla's. I'm looking for any suggestions, forging assistance, or the like to make this map slightly more playable and attractive. I want the focus of the map to be the exterior play space, but I also want there to be a reason to venture into the base. If you'd like to help or have an idea, please either respond here or shoot me a message on Xbox. Gamertag's SheapCreaper. Thanks!
Hey they. I'd love to help but I've got a few questions. Is this a BTB Map? Are there vehicles? Are you looking to do 1:1 remakes or just inspired pieces What's your current item count? And what canvas is this on? Alot of questions huh? Lol I'm just trying to mentally gauge the project in my head. Or you could tell me the map name and I could peek into it. BTW I've done tons of Forerunner inspired projects (my profile will tell the tale)
Thanks for the interest! Yeah, this is a BTB map, and I want to put the B back in BTB. It'll have vehicles, likely the Woodland variety, and the canvas is Tidal. The current item count is fairly low, considering it's such a large map. A lot of the detailing- smoothing of rocks, additions of trees, movement routes, and infantry perches- has yet to be done. I'm not in the habit of doing or liking remakes; I like original, creative stuff. However, interior spaces has never been a strong suit of mine. If you'd like to check it out, it's currently rocking the uninspired name of "Tidal Canvas."
Haha so in regards to it being on Tidal, you're aware that you're going to have to break the lightmap to get it to work right? (I agree that BTB has gotten too small)
Break the lightmap... the budget for lighting? If you mean the problem where Tidal won't work in customs, then yeah. I figure, though, I can get the map in good standing before it gets fixed.
I was just making sure, hopefully it is fixed soon but as it stands now you have to do a pretty straight forward glitch if you want it to reliably load. When I get the chance I'll dip into forge and take a peek
Disect previous base concpets and figure out what makes them work. For example apex 7 (or pretty much any other warzone base) all have 3 chokepoints in and out, with a raised platform (rooftop). Vallahala same thing, beaver creek same thing... Personaly i'd like to see somthing akin to the death island bases implemented, but without all the teleporter madness. Maybe one tele, a man cannon, somthing creative like that.
What I have right now is an elevated sniper's perch that's accessible via man cannon, a lower entrance with an open room overlooking the beach, a ramp and platform connecting to the sniper's position, and a passage leading though the cliffside to the map interior. It works, but it's basic and kinda ugly. I like the idea of bringing in some Forerunner equivalent to the armories; maybe I could fiddle around with that.
I used various campaign levels for the biggest inspiration for base design. Do you have a favorite Forerunner style?
Initially, that was the plan. However, after a few iterations, I went for a re-imagining of the Warzone Armory and Garage designs. It's working a lot better, actually. There are a couple of pictures of the bases in-progress further up in the post- I'd get interior pics, but they don't have their final coloration and are pretty ugly right now.
After a lot of fiddling with this map, it's almost to the point where the weapon and spawning locations will get set. Lighting budget's through the roof, but since the map's spread out (and Tidal's broken), there don't seem to be frame issues or lighting problems... so far.
the bones! Great use of the floaties! I'm going to steal that idea. What you have looks very interesting, I'll DL the map and take a look around. There are some truly great forerunner aesthetic designs so far from current forgers, I'm sure you could direct those as Soldat said and build your own design. Regardless i'd love to see this in the BTB testing lobbies soon.
Thanks! I'm really proud of how the bones turned out! As to the Forerunner stuff, I decided ultimately to do something a bit less... ornate. The UNSC Warzone-style archetype works wonders for re-playable maps, so I did something more in that vein.
Well, 'better' can be subjective. For Halo 5's faster-paced, competitive feel, smaller maps work okay. As a heavy vehicle junkie, I'm more than a little annoyed that not a single map has a tank, and very few have good vehicle paths. On the other end of things, Death Island from CE was a mess to play on, but it was a fun, beautiful mess. Things like Valhalla and Blood Gulch are popular for a reason; they might not be the most balanced or 'better,' gameplay-wise, but they sure were all the more fun for it. My favorite multiplayer experience in Halo to date was Halo 4's Heavies. When I think about truly BIG BTB, that's my standard. I made a few maps back then to cater specifically to the gametype, and they were popular with my friends. Everyone had a shot at a heavy something-or-other, and there was time and space to maneuver on the maps before your encounters. In this map, I've tried to make what essentially amounts to a laid-back, non-competitive Warzone match on an early-Halo style island. It might not have the best gameplay, and it might not be perfectly balanced, but it is what I enjoy in customs: time and space to breathe, places to maneuver with friends, and areas where you can go to rest if the action elsewhere gets to be too much.
Better gunplay* yes. But, it's completely subjective what is better gameplay. I had some of the most fun playing 12-16 player Halo CE LAN parties where Sidewinder and Blood Gulchmatches would last up to an hour But we loved every second. Halo PC elevated that BTB fun even more IMHO.
If anyone's interested in checking the map out, or taking it for a spin in Forge a la honor rules, just let me know! I'd love to hear what anyone thinks! As an added bonus, I'm on my Xbox right now and could give a bit of a tour and hear feedback firsthand.