Crow's Court

By xNFx Monsta and RBG Persian
4v4 Grifball
9.0

Map Description

  1. xNFx Monsta
    -- The map has now become finalised and is ready for competitive griffball. After countless and countless of hours being put into the development of the map it is finally complete. Cant thank my co-forger 'RBG persian' enough for all the help he provided in making this map, and huge thanks to Nokyard for dealing with some of our **** hehehe ;) --

    This court was built in the time span of 'two' weeks and was heavily inspired by the mission Crow's nest in Halo 3, we strived to blur the line between what is considered a forge map and what is considered a developer map. We spent a huge amount of time making sure there was enough detail jam packed into the arena so that while you play this map you would generally have a different experience than with other regular Griffball maps. (Extremely detailed versions of the map can be found in the previous versions which are still up for download. The latest version is number 4.5

    Our thoughts were, just because Griffball arenas are generally a square box doesn't mean they can't be detailed, fleshed out and be given a breath of life. We strived to really flesh out the atmosphere of the map by utilising our available forging pallet to the best that we could. Unfortunately we had to prioritise Frame rate over detail so the map can run really well during possible tournaments.
    The map is a slightly longer and slightly thinner court than normal grifball courts. However it was built with the correct measurements in mind when it comes to spawn placement, bomb placement and the jump ups around the map.

    The map features slight hight differences on each side of the court, the choice to include them was purely for aesthetics as our goal was to try and take crows nest and turn it into a playable Griffball arena. The height differences are fairly small and do not change the pace of game play by much. That being said the elevation is noticeable and does freshen up gameplay, even if its only slightly.

    NOTE: Both videos show off previous Updated versions of the map. If you would like to download those versions look for versions 1.2.0 to 1.2.5

    special thanks to Infinity gaming for Reviewing our map as well! and for all the kind words said about it.
    Here is a link to the video if for some reason the one above doesn't work. https://www.youtube.com/waatch?v=ZReFL30Ngvw

    Overall we hope you all enjoy playing on the map as much as we enjoyed putting it together :) The past 2 weeks have been a blast!

Recent Reviews

  1. ArturBloodshot ArturBloodshot
    9/5,
    Amazing map! I couldn't test it before, but now that is on Matchmaking i had a great experience.
    The aesthetics are incredible, almost looks like a campaign level! You worked really hard on this. I liked how you put attention to the details, from the translucent floor to the flying pelicans.
    The gametype gets a twist with those accidents on the floor, creating a unique gameplay, and that excellent!

    Just some advices: Maybe more scripted environment will give an ultrarealistic experience, that would be great. And... the cinematics are a little poor, this map deserves a better camera action. ;)
    Mar 29, 2016

Discussion

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  1. Black Racher

    Black Racher Forerunner
    Senior Member

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    Awesome aesthetic ! Really really nice ! Good job !
     
    #2 Black Racher, Mar 1, 2016
  2. xNFx Monsta

    xNFx Monsta Legendary

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    Thanks Man! :)
     
    #3 xNFx Monsta, Mar 1, 2016
  3. xNFx Monsta

    xNFx Monsta Legendary

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    Slight Tweaks to the map:

    Updated Graphical issues, cleaned up lightmap a tad. Added better animation to the pelican ( less jittery ). Added extra detail to the court after revising, Also changed some colours on objects to suit the environment better. Removed Dust effects because they caused frame rate to drop from 60 to 50 so the map feels more smooth.
    Fixed bugged Starting animations for the intro and centred the ball spawn slightly better. Extended the court by a few metres and Lastly I added Invisible Boundaries to the floor to create a more smooth movement experience while traversing the field.
     
    #4 xNFx Monsta, Mar 1, 2016
  4. Black Racher

    Black Racher Forerunner
    Senior Member

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    It's not visible without a video or without play it but... Did you put a turning red light ? I think it could add some life to the map, creating a red light turning on itself, just for aesthetic.

    Oh and... If you have any budget, don't hesitate to create more life again in your map, and create Pelicans flying outside or if you think you're patient enough, script a Pelican leaving the hangar after 2 ou 3 minutes. It could add some evolution to the map and create a really good atmosphere.

    Did you put Invisible Wall to stop de ball if a player try to throw it outside of the map ?

    For sure, at the moment, this map should be a variant of Grifball Court.
     
    #5 Black Racher, Mar 2, 2016
  5. xNFx Monsta

    xNFx Monsta Legendary

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    About the idea of making the pelicans leave the hanger through the use of scripting. I actually tried doing something like this but with the opening cinematic. Im going to re-attempt scripting a turning rising pelican that will fly out of the hanger during the intro cinematics (As the current opening is a place holder that i will finish fairly soon). However for scripting a pelican to fly out of the hanger mid game it may be near impossible unfortunately :L as players might be able to abuse the pelican if it does fly in, because it would fly fairly low AND the scripting would be a living nightmare to perform due to timers being generally not user friendly x)

    About the map boundaries they extend all the way to the ceiling of the map except for a tiny sliver so that while in forge i can fly through to edit the other parts of the map. Nobody can break out of the map by jumping or stack jumping and if someone throws a ball over it the ball will most of the time land close enough to the other side of the barrier for it to be picked up :p and if not it just re-spawns after a few seconds.

    Also could you elaborate with the idea of a turning red light :) ? It sounds like a fairly nice concept although im not sure myself where i could place them...
    Perhaps the ceiling ? Unless you meant for me to just script the lights to rotate because that could be pretty simple, in terms of budget though i could probably spawn 4 or so more objects in As i have plans to further update the Aesthetics with some other stuff.

    If you mean does it play practically ? The answer is yes! the map is 99% complete and is undergoing some minor tweaks. My friends and i have had a blast playing on this court, they all told me it plays fairly smooth and its a breath of fresh air for Grifball. All i can hope now is that 343 considers this map for matchmaking :)
     
    #6 xNFx Monsta, Mar 2, 2016
    RBG Persian likes this.
  6. Black Racher

    Black Racher Forerunner
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    About the light, I just mean place 1 or 2 lights (maybe to the center top or to each side of the map (red team and blue team, so maybe a red light and a blue light) and make it/them turn. Or beside a Pelican, as a warning that the Pelican could leave the hanger soon, even if the Pelican never leave its landing pad.

    About the Pelican, I know scripting is really complicated to create for smooth movements, that's why I said "if you think you're patient enough" =') Sure it could be possible, but possibly difficult to do.

    If you don't make it leave the hanger, as I said, you could make 1 or 2 Pelicans fly outside (not leaving the hanger, but already out of the hanger). You created a great opened door for the hanger, let us see clouds and sky. Script just a movement A to B of 500 feet for 6 seconds. It could create life outside of the map and make it more detailed ;)

    If you want another idea for your opening cinematic : I saw you put a Pelican on the landing pad outside. It seems like the Pelican is ready to fly or like it just lands. If we say that it's the second possibility, then you could create a camera inside the Pelican and just create a script of the Pelican's door to open it and make the camera move forward to let us see the Grifball Court. I think it looks less complicated than your first idea, so if it doesn't work, you have another intro here ;)
     
    #7 Black Racher, Mar 2, 2016
  7. xNFx Monsta

    xNFx Monsta Legendary

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    xNFx Monsta updated Crow's Court with a new update entry:

    Crow's Court *1.2.4 Update* ' The cinematic Update'

    Read the rest of this update entry...
     
    #8 xNFx Monsta, Mar 4, 2016
  8. Gabotron ES

    Gabotron ES Recruit

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    Flying pelican is a little gimmick to me as with the current scripting it looks too lame imo, despite that the map has awesome aesthetics, really looks like the campaign playspace.
     
    #9 Gabotron ES, Mar 4, 2016
  9. xNFx Monsta

    xNFx Monsta Legendary

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    The map is undergoing some spawning tweaks and will have its invisible barriers raised as to not allow people to throw the ball over. Also the pelican animation flying outside will be tweaked. Instead of it just continuously flying outside the hanger it will de-spawn after the intro cinematic. I will then replace it with two different pelicans with dedicated scripts for them flying outside the hanger back and forth As per suggestion of 'Black Racher'.

    This will be finished either tonight or tomorrow. Expect the update before the 6th for anyone interested about this map :)
     
    #10 xNFx Monsta, Mar 4, 2016
  10. xNFx Monsta

    xNFx Monsta Legendary

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    #11 xNFx Monsta, Mar 5, 2016
    Last edited: Mar 6, 2016
  11. xNFx Monsta

    xNFx Monsta Legendary

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    xNFx Monsta updated Crow's Court with a new update entry:

    The league update

    Read the rest of this update entry...
     
    #12 xNFx Monsta, Mar 6, 2016
  12. xNFx Monsta

    xNFx Monsta Legendary

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    xNFx Monsta updated Crow's Court with a new update entry:

    'The Grid update'

    Read the rest of this update entry...
     
    #13 xNFx Monsta, Mar 7, 2016
  13. NOKYARD

    NOKYARD GrifballHub
    Cartographer Forge Critic Senior Member

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    I went through your court and made substantial (yet invisible) changes to the perimeter. I replaced the (dark) Grids on the sides and ends with Invisible Blockers using a technique which resists shifting. I believe the Orange/Black Grid you placed gives the player enough visual information as to where the edges of the play space can be found. There was no need for the darker Grids which looked out of place and seemed to block the parked Pelicans. You can grab the map from my files (not Bookmarks) and save your name back on.

    Also, nice job on the transformation from 'average' map to 'phenomenal' map. Well done!
     
    #14 NOKYARD, Mar 8, 2016
    Legion Vs and xNFx Monsta like this.
  14. xNFx Monsta

    xNFx Monsta Legendary

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    Thank you very much for helping us out with the map Nokyard and for all the kind words said about it, without you i don't think the map would of made it even up to the testing stages x) We are truly grateful for that. You made the experience very easy too so also thanks again for that and all the kind words you had to say about our map :)

    I will be sure to go replace my copy of the map with yours ASAP to put my name on it and have the updated non glitchy shifting invisible barriers xD and i will notify Persian to do the same. He is currently at work and will do so at his next available time. I just cant believe Crow's court is finally done! I hope 343 enjoys the map as much as we do hahaha :)
     
    #15 xNFx Monsta, Mar 8, 2016
    RBG Persian likes this.
  15. NOKYARD

    NOKYARD GrifballHub
    Cartographer Forge Critic Senior Member

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    It's too late now but i realized i moved one of your Crates on the left side. Hope it Ok where it is.
     
    #16 NOKYARD, Mar 8, 2016
  16. xNFx Monsta

    xNFx Monsta Legendary

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    It should not be too much of a problem, Il take a look at it tomorrow. Unless of course it impedes on another part of the map awkwardly ? or pulls you out of the immersion? I doubt that because i didn't even notice its misplacement haha.

    By crate though did you mean one of the large creates we used as wall decoration over at Chief spawn? or did you mean a crate like one of the small prop style crates such as the 4x4 crate stack?
     
    #17 xNFx Monsta, Mar 8, 2016
    Last edited: Mar 8, 2016
  17. Legion Vs

    Legion Vs Legendary

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    Awesome looking map xNFx Monsta going to add this to our SC Friday night playlist and leave you a review once played.
     
    #18 Legion Vs, Mar 8, 2016
    xNFx Monsta likes this.
  18. xNFx Monsta

    xNFx Monsta Legendary

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    -Redacted-
    Internet is back up. Nothing to see here.
     
    #19 xNFx Monsta, Mar 9, 2016
    Last edited: Mar 9, 2016
  19. xNFx Monsta

    xNFx Monsta Legendary

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    xNFx Monsta updated Crow's Court with a new update entry:

    Update of all Updates

    Read the rest of this update entry...
     
    #20 xNFx Monsta, Mar 9, 2016
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