Sandbox Air Stream

I've been a long time lurker on ForgeHub now and finally decided to take the time and make my first post. It's a bit long as it's a crosspost from NeoGAF where I typically hang out to talk Halo but figured I might as well go all out on a first post here.

04.05.2009: Updated to Air Stream 0.2


So 4/1/09 not only brings you B.U.N.G.L.E. but it also brings to you my FIRST EVER Halo3 forged map. If anyone ever told you that FourDoor would have created a map from start to finish, I would have told you that it was a funny April fools joke. But here it is in it’s entirety. I spent the last 3weeks working on this map off and on used it to learn how to work in Forge. Learning to deal with objects that want to never line up, waiting forever for the object respawn timers so that I can merge objects together, accidentally deleting critical pieces because Forge hates me, and managing the default object quirks and budget. It has been fun and agonizing but at the end I am happy with what I ended up with. So I present: Air Stream

Air Stream is a map that has undergone a few changes along the way from it’s original inception. Below was my initial sketch up of the map. 3d rendering software has nothing on my pencil and paper skillz! The original concept was having 2 small bases connected by 2 outer exposed tunnels for some fun shotgun and AR action. The 2 bases would be connected via teleporters in the back to make the frantic AR/Shotgun action more unpredictable as the tunnels themselves would have been the sole chokepoints.


Progress shot of initial mockup:


Then during the process of building out the bases, I ended up changing my original design and wanted to add different tiers/levels for the players to move through as opposed to just 2 simple bases and 2 tunnels. So as I was building the main floor, I decided to build on top of the roof as well.


As I was building the roof area, I saw the similarities that my map was starting to show with Beaver Creek. So from there, I took queues on how to place the little details of the map including the entry points from the top of the base. I then took it one step further and placed windows in the back of the base to make for some quick and dirty flag caps with a well organized team set up to do some flag throw/catches through the windows.


The next major piece I ended up adding to the map that were not part of the original design were sniper ramps/ledges. I played with a couple of different ideas for this but felt that since I already borrowed some ideas from Beaver Creek that I would also take inspiration from their sniper ramp. And it was at this point that I decided that my map was now eerily similar to Beaver Creek so the name Air Stream was born as it now sort of looked liked Beaver Creek in the air.

Air Stream Map Features:
- 2 Symmetrical Bases (red/blue) 4 ways in the bases (tunnels or dropping in from the roof) and only way out is back down through the tunnels unless you're desperate enough to grenade jump out through the drop in holes from the roof. (Edit for v0.2 you can now jump out of the base via a small little vertical ledge) Objective items can be passed through the window.
- Roof areas can be accessed by utilizing the outer building structures to jump on top of the base
- Lowered inner tunnels connecting the bases with exposed areas from the main floor in the center. One side of the tunnel contains a ledge that lets you jump out while the other side features an embedded ramp to walk your way out.
- 2 Teleporters connecting the 2 back sides of the bases for maneuverability through the map without crossing the center of the map
- 2 Sniper ramps housing an exposed sniper ledge with just a little bit of cover.
- Center area of the map features a gap in the middle of the now dried up creek. The center also houses an elevated platform housing the overshield. Miss the jump and you may end up falling through to your death.
- Side walkways of the map have built in bumper rails to prevent you from accidentally walking off the map and falling. But the inner sections of the map purposely do not have bumper rails as to provide consequences for attempting to reach the overshield.
- Shotguns are placed on top of the roof with limited ammo to help prevent camping inside the bases for objective type games. BRs and Carbines are also placed throughout the map.
- Air Stream is set up for all gametypes.

Weapons/Items List:
2x Sniper Rifles
2x Shotguns
2x Carbines
6x Battle Rifles
2x Brute Shots
2x Needlers
8x Plasma Grenades
1x OverShield
2x Bubble Shields
1x Regenerator
1x Power Drainer

I did a few small quick playtests last night on the map and made a few tweaks based on those games. I added additional cover in the area behind the bases and tweaked the objective points on the map for both symmetrical and asymmetrical gametypes and feel it is ready for you guys to hammer away at it.

Known issues so far:
- The window in the back of the bases allow people to be able to pick up the item through the window if it is close enough. Sort of like the good old Lockout days where you can grab items through walls. But this only works on the window area so it's like the Spartan reaching his hands through the window to pick up the oddball/flag/bomb. If this ends up being a big issue defending the flag in CTF games, I can try to flip the slotted walls over to see if that prevents people from being able to grab the flag if it becomes a big issue.
- Red team keeps spawning player #4 on the roof even though the starting point is inside the base and the same layout as blue base. Any tips on how to fix this would be appreciated.
- Bumper rails are also not available in all of the back area of the map but I don't see too many firefights in this back area that requires you to be at the edge too much
- There is no additional cover inside the bases which was designed to help prevent camping but let me know how this plays for you guys. If you think some cover is needed, let me know where you think I should place it.
- There is a few $ left in budget for this map right now but I can fix certain areas where I was a little too liberal with $ to fix any issues you guys find with the map.

Pics:
Overview shots:



Blue Base:
From Red Base

From Blue Base Sniper


Back of bases:
Sniper ramp (from 0.1)

Teleporter Area (from 0.1)


Top of bases:


Inside the bases:


Tunnel ramp:


Center Area/Overshield:



Action Shots:

Air Stream Action Shot 02
Air Stream Action Shot 03
Air Stream Action Shot 04
Air Stream Action Shot 05

So there it is. My first ever Halo3 map. Feedack would be greatly appreciated.

Revision History:
(2009.04.05) v0.2
- Added 2 missing spawn points in red base
- Reorganized spawn points inside both bases
- Added a little cover that doubles as a way to jump out from inside the bases
- Added one more bumper rail on each sniper ledges
- Added one more bumper rail to the rear right side of each base
- Redid teleporter areas to get some $ back to make above changes

Download Air Stream 0.2

 

Thanks guys. I went through several different iterations on each section of the map trying to get things to work and flow right with the style of gameplay I have. I did spend more time on this than an average experienced forger would have probably done, but then again, it is my first map so I was at snail pace most of the entire time trying to learn the ropes. And having to rebuild/redo sections was something I ran into often since I didn't like the way it looked/felt after it was laid down. 3weeks to build in it's current state but will be tweaking it further until I get the balance in gameplay just right.

I know the map isn't perfect. There are a few places that I know I got sloppy on but at it's current state, I thought I would throw it out there to see what people thought of the general look, feel, and playability of the map. Looking forward to everyone elses inputs here.

 

Forgot to include it in the post, but it's designed sweet spot is 4v4 but should be able to handle 6v6 but have yet to try. I've only playtested the map 3-4times with limited numbers of people as as it sits right now but will be doing more so this week now that it's finished. I've been setting my online status to away or offline for the past couple of weeks just so I could Forge away in peace so this week and primarily this weekend is when my friends and I run customs. I'll see how the map behaves/breaks with 8v8 by this weekend. LOL

 

Actually when I was laying out the original open tunnels, the middle exposed area was about a double block longer. But since my original intention was for AR/Shotgun action through the tunnels, I decided to shorten it. That is probably one of my regrets about a change in the map that I had done. However, with the extended side paths and enlarged areas behind the base, I felt that there was enough balance and line of sight for some good mid to long range BR battles to offset the close quarter combat in the middle of the bases. I was originally envisioning a MidShip sized map at first but the map grew legs (read ledges) on it's on.

 

Thanks for the feedback. Yes GAF has quite a long approval process. To answer some of your concerns with the initial look through here were my original thoughts regarding the choke point of the 2 tunnel corridor exits with actual gameplay (but have yet to be fully determined since I haven’t been able to get a full on competitive game on it with 4v4). If/when the flag is taken from the defending team and killed inside the base, the alternate spawn points are on top and to the side of the defending base. The defending team spawns are not limited to just inside the base so any flag steals do not result in the entire team being locked back inside the base. The additional areas on top and to the side of the base is there to help defend inside the base. At most, I would expect maybe 1 person out of the 4 person team camping inside the base to help defend. The primary way to defend the flag is to prevent them from coming inside the base in the first place. I thought in my design that it would actually be quite difficult for the offensive team to break through this initial line of defense as they would potentially have to be able to get past a sniper and defenders defending the tunnels from above and to the side. With FFA the empty base area works ok but I believe that you are right that a little cover is needed inside the base. I just didn’t want to make it too hard to grab the flag at this point with a shotgun camper as I wanted the map to play fast and furious ala Midship (which also explains the size of the center area). I’ll see what kind of cover I can place/come up with that doesn’t take too much budget after I make updates this weekend. In regards to the teleporters and another exit, I didn’t want to make it too easy to get out of the base as well. But if I place additional cover inside the base and make it much harder to grab the flag, it may now work to place a little platform for people inside the base to jump back out as I already made it a little bit more difficult to get on top of the bases. I’ll keep in mind your thoughts on the teleporters being removed and will playtest that down the road to see how that changes gameplay.

I’ll also see how the OS works during more playtesting with more people. With the few FFA games we ran, it worked quite well. Risk vs. reward. In addition for KOTH games, I didn’t want to make it too easy for someone to grab the OS and dominate the middle area. The jump requires a crouch jump to make it and if you fall, half of the time you land on the lower block. The other half if you’re unlucky pushes you through the cracks and you fall through.

Hey no worries. That’s why the map is posted. I need outside non biased eyes on it. I appreciate the feedback. I’ll be playing customs this weekend with friends so I’ll shoot you a message if we need more people on.

 

After some more playtesting last night with various gametypes I updated the map to Air Stream 0.2 from the feedback I received. The OP has been updated with the updates noted below. Some more pics will be posted shortly.

Revision History:
(2009.04.05) v0.2
- Added 2 missing spawn points in red base
- Reorganized spawn points inside both bases to be closer to the initial starting points for each team to prevent initially spawning outside of the bases for team matches.
- Added a little cover that doubles as a way to jump out from inside the bases
- Added one more bumper rail on each sniper ledges
- Added one more bumper rail to the rear right side of each base
- Redid teleporter areas to get some $ back to make above changes

Download Air Stream 0.2

 

I'm trying to fix a spawn issue I have here and need some recomendations/direction. For some unknown reason to me, the red team in every CTF game I have played has spawned player #4 on top of the base as opposed to inside the base next to the starting spawn. Blue team does not have this issue and the spawn point layout is identical to my knowledge. From reading the spawn documents and threads out there I read that the host of the game spawns first in the starting spawn. Then the surrounding spawn points turn into a starting spawn area for the map. This is why there is only one starting spawn for each team. So I followed that rule and checked out some of the default maps and came up with my starting spawns inside the base. I tried moving the spawn points on the red side closer but it doesn't appear to have fixed my issue. Pics to illustrate:

Spawn point issue with red base on ctf games:


Red base CTF Spawn points:



Red base outer spawn points:


Blue base starting CTF spawn for comparison:


How do I fix the 4th member spawning up on top of the base? Do I have to move the spawn points inside the bases closer together? Or do I have to remove the spawn point on top of the base since it's just above the starting spawn point? Or do I cheat and add 4 starting points inside the base? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Air Stream 0.2