Orion H4

4v4 King of the Hill
9.0
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Map Description

  1. SecretSchnitzel
    Orion is a vertical oriented macro positional styled map designed for competitive King of the Hill game play. It is macro positional in the sense that there is no single power position that is dominating on its own, but that multiple positions across the map must be held simultaneously to effectively control the map. Each position greatly influences a team's ability to hold any individual position, as they work in tandem to one another. The main positions are Top Gold, Red Street (Gold or Purple side), Blue Street (Gold nbsp;or nbsp;Purple nbsp;side , Purple Lobby orRocket Ramp, and Snipe Spawn (Under Purple). It is essentially combinations of six different positions that should be held down by three players, the strongest holding Gold nbsp;or nbsp;Rockets, and the fourth player roaming/supporting.
    Hill movement is a 1 - 2- 1 - 4 cycle. It starts at Under Purple (Snipe Spawn), moves to Blue Street (Purple Side) returns to Under Purple and finishes at Red Street (Gold Side) before recycling back through the rotation. This style is also known as a Wild Card - Control Hill cycle dynamic as the first and third hill location is extremely difficult to control and can become chaotic if a team's set up breaks down, while the second and final hills are a lot easier to set up and control. Control of the Wild Card hill is what makes or breaks it for a team, as this is the hill where the difference in skill between two teams really shines.
    Additional Notes:<br />This map is asymmetrical and intended for asymmetrical gametypes (KotH and Slayer). While Blue Side features a hard route connecting the top and bottom levels via a ramp, Red side features a soft connection in the form of a drop down with a Jet Pack at the bottom.<br /><br />The lifts have been meticulously crafted to allow players to throw nades up (the lift carries them up and out), as well as prevent players from going back down from the exit. Additionally players are incapable of getting stuck in the lift, which is a problem that plagues many forge maps.<br /><br />There are variously jumps that have been included in the map for players to find that will benefit more skilled players when it comes to traversing and controlling the map. Master all the jumps and you'll greatly increase your teams chances of winning.

Discussion

  1. Shik

    Shik Forerunner

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    Hehe, I thought the name said onion at first. Anyways, about the second picture in the screenshot section, the bridge looks like it's sticking out and hard to use that incline in the corner. I love the drop down in the middle, reminds me of Boardwalk.
     
  2. GruntHunter

    GruntHunter Ancient
    Senior Member

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    Here let me fix this for you (BTW looks great :D )

    Orion
     
  3. Nutduster

    Nutduster TCOJ
    Senior Member

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    Welcome back to forging, Schnitzy, and welcome to the dark side of Reach (a.k.a. casual gaming)! This is the map I saw you roughing out the other day, yes? Looks pretty good. I like your platform XXL + 2x2 block floors - I just did a similar thing for Hoglaunch and after goofing around on it a bit I started thinking it would look pretty good in a competitive map.
     
  4. Cheeze

    Cheeze <FONT COLOR="#FE2EC8"><b>I Beat the Staff!</b></FO
    Senior Member

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    You gotta use the Bungie vid BBcode.

    [bungievid]25854955[/bungievid]
     
  5. SecretSchnitzel

    SecretSchnitzel Donald Trump
    Forge Critic Senior Member

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    Not entirely sure about the piece, but I nudged it when I went back into forge to tidy up a few things. As for the drop down, I had completely forgotten there was something similar on boardwalk. I thought of it more of a "construct" sort of thing.

    Thanks dude. Been doing the Platform XXL thing for awhile actually, originally the flooring on Despair was done the same way... But when I scaled it down for splitscreen play, the floors had to go. :O
    Probably gonna get to designing a BTB map after this. Tired of the MLG tryhards and the b/s drama in that community.


    Went through the map again this evening and changed a few things up a bit. Broke up some LoS along the outskirts of the map, raised of the flooring in the red and blue lift rooms, and added grenades and health packs. Also uploaded the beta testing variant of the map to my RedSchnitzelSec account. Download here.

    Um... whats the bungie BB code? And thanks for posting the video Cheeze.
     
    #6 SecretSchnitzel, Jan 7, 2012
    Last edited: Jan 7, 2012
  6. Eightball

    Eightball Forerunner
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    I have to say, the way that ramp is going into the column in the second picture is driving me crazy. Is there anything you could do about that?

    Anyways, I think there's plenty of color on the map. I really don't see why you would need more. You used quite a few of the nicer textures FW has to offer.

    The layout looks pretty solid, as well.

    I can haz DL link?
     
  7. SecretSchnitzel

    SecretSchnitzel Donald Trump
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    That section in general is actually bothering me a bit... The stairs seem to long and steep, and the piece you mentioned just looks wrong. I'm pretty satisfied by how much color is on the map. I think it'd be rather difficult to get lost or disorientated on this.

    There's a link in the OP now btw. Only three gametypes atm... Slayer, KotH and Oddball.
     
  8. Cheeze

    Cheeze <FONT COLOR="#FE2EC8"><b>I Beat the Staff!</b></FO
    Senior Member

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    [ bungievid ] The last numbers on your video (Yours are 25854955) [ /bungievid ]

    So without the words

    [ bungievid ] 25854955 [ /bungievid ]
     
  9. Hulter

    Hulter ^Raindear
    Forge Critic Senior Member

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    "Oh, and thanks to Hulter for teaching me what a flat map is. ;)"

    Are you trolling, or no?
     
  10. SecretSchnitzel

    SecretSchnitzel Donald Trump
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    Trolling hard of course. But in all seriousness, because of your flat comments I went over the map like a mad man and implemented a lot of changes to the flooring and elevation. I still say it wasn't that flat to begin with, but its much better now. So yeah, actually you do have my thanks. I still say your way of pointing it out and how you reacted to my reaction is bollocks though.

    Edit:

    I'm not sure if it was you Hulter, or one of your MLG buddies that I pissed off, but the tagging of the map file was a very immature and bullshit move. I can probably count that it wasn't you, but the grudge some of your buddies have against me is laughable. Seriously, why can't y'all grow up?
     
    #11 SecretSchnitzel, Jan 8, 2012
    Last edited: Jan 9, 2012
  11. Auburn

    Auburn a dope soul
    Forge Critic Senior Member

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    Classic slayer? I see a jetpack in there...

    Anyways this looks nice and colorful. I love maps that have an AA implemented into them as a power weapon and the dropdown looks cool. It looks a bit too open for the energy sword to do any good though.

    The second to last picture looks funny, what are you going for there?
     
    #12 Auburn, Jan 9, 2012
    Last edited: Jan 9, 2012
  12. Psychoduck

    Psychoduck Spartan II
    343 Industries Cartographer Forge Critic Senior Member

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    I'm really excited to play this, as it takes what worked from Construct and got rid of what didn't. The map's got just the right amount of verticality, and everything is well thought-out. I'm glad you're back Schnitzel!
     
  13. SecretSchnitzel

    SecretSchnitzel Donald Trump
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    Any slayer variant. The jetpacks are in the place that they are because there is an immediate us for the jetpack that offers another route the the higher levels. The sword I doubt will be of much use, but I included it as a fanfare for players that love sword... It may be removed later on. As of right now, it's only included in slayer.

    Not entirely sure what you mean about the 2nd to last picture...

    Thanks Duck. Unfortunately it doesn't have a LoS from the bottom levels to the "streets" like Construct did; however there are other LoS to control the "streets". I am very satisfied with the design, LoS and verticality of this map though.
    Glad to be back.

    Got another 4v4 map I'm refreshing as well. Old map I never released from June, currently reforging and tweaking the design. Will be posting a preview thread for it in a few days. ;)
     
  14. Ociee

    Ociee Forerunner
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    This.

    Other than that deformation, the map looks great, I love what you did with those block 1x2 and 1x4 combination they remind me of Tetris for some reason.
     
  15. SecretSchnitzel

    SecretSchnitzel Donald Trump
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    The issue with the ramps has been fixed, no worries. Not in the version on my f/s, but the one I'm cleaning up for its upcoming release.

    The 1x2 and 1x4 structure in the center is my friend Dawkin's contribution. Essentially the aim was to break LoS between top gold and top green. Works adequately I must say.

    I've gotten a fairly decent number of test games on this map now. For the most part it has played wonderfully. A few issues have become apparent here and there, but the map is progressing marvelously. Hopefully it should be ready for release within a week.

    Thanks for all the support guys.
     
  16. Proximo

    Proximo Forerunner
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    Beautiful map dude. The file you linked to, that's the old version no? How long till you release the map? I want to see it soooooo bad! Could you please update the pictures to reflect the changes as well? Many thanks.
     
  17. FriedFoodStuffz

    FriedFoodStuffz Forerunner

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    Got a game on this last night, and have to say it was for the most part very enjoyable. I REALLY liked how I could look out into the gulch from the edges of the map. That's something I hope more people start incorporating into their maps. Anyways, When I first saw it here, I thought it seemed a little too open. But any such qualms have since been squashed. There was ample cover, but never too much. Oh, and that overshield saved my ****ing life! Perfect placement.
     
  18. SecretSchnitzel

    SecretSchnitzel Donald Trump
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    Which file did you play? I think I have 3 different ones on my f/s currently... Orion B being the last of my "unfinished" version, and Orion with the description "look to the stars" being the closest to complete.

    Anyhow, glad you liked it. As you said it was the most part enjoyable, what are some aspects you didn't care for? Anything you would change?

    As for the cover/LoS breakage, I'm glad you found that pleasing. That's the aspect of the map I've been tooling around with the most since I got the basic structure up. Originally it was intended to be much more open, but with no-sprint game types out there I thought it best to add some more functional cover. I prefer when a map has some sort of cover or safety within 4 seconds of moving.

    Originally the OS was in the basement on the midway ramp and rockets at top gold. Unfortunately having rockets in that location makes the lift lobbies and top gold too campable, so I needed to move them. That left two options, bottom mid where they are now or middle plat between initial spawns. The latter location is too close to the initial spawns so I chose the basement, and with the spawn weighting on the lower levels, this can be ideal for breaking up opposing set ups. Ideally this left the middle plat for OS, I just turned off "spawn at start".

    Anyhow, sorry for the Wall o Text. Cheers to every one who's enjoyed testing the map so far. Hoping to have the final version out this week. Still tweaking spawns and trying to get KotH to spawn the hills in order. I keep mucking up the hill numbering. :O


    Edited by merge:


    Major changes have been implemented since originally posting this thread. The walkways outside of the basement have been expanded slightly to allow for players to jump down from red/blue street. Jet pack has been moved to this outlet accordingly. The narrow walling ledge on the streets to the green side ledges have been removed and replaced by direct ramps (which killed the ability of players to drop from top level to basement level).

    Now I would greatly appreciate if I could get some real tests on this map. Playing it once a week because that's a "fair" testing lobby is b/s. I've got maybe 6 games on this now. This is ridiculous. I haven't released a map since I was a n00b without at least 50 to 100+ test games.


    *UPDATE*


    At this point I've managed to get some test games on Orion. Not nearly as many as I would like, but it's hard to get decent lobbies together these day. Too many players have abandoned Reach and most forgers won't help get dedicated testing on a map as they want to test their own maps too much. This wouldn't be a problem if forgers would learn to take their time and release quality maps over period of time via longer design cycles, but every one seems to want to pump out as many maps as possible. Anyhow, /rant.


    I've redesigned the sides of Orion as the ledge from initial spawns to green balcony weren't the most movement friendly. Instead we now have brace large walkways. This nerfed the ability to drop down to Jet Pack as well as the immediate benefit of picking up JP, so I added a lip on the outskirt by the Concussion Rifle to preserve that element. I also placed some doors on the outside "streets" of the map to further break up line of sight. In addition to these changes, I moved the rockets and OS. The OS now spawns in front of the gold play tele at 2 minutes into the game, and rockets are bottom mid on the ramp down in the main atrium. Snipe has been pushed further back on green platform.




    Main Atrium
    [​IMG]










    [​IMG]
    Top Green / Snipe Spawn
    [​IMG]r
    Basement / Lift Room / Health Pack
    [​IMG]
    Blue Door / Jet Pack / Concussion Rifle / Health Pack
    [​IMG]
    Blue Side / Blue Balcony / Blue Spawn
    [​IMG]
    Mid Gold / Gold Tele / OS Spawn / Main Plat
    [​IMG]
    Rockets / Bottom Green / Green Tele
    [​IMG]
    Red Balcony / Red Stair
    [​IMG]
    Red Jet Pack / Red Concussion Rifle
    [​IMG]
    Red Side / Red Spawn
    [​IMG]
    Rockets / Plasma Pistol Cubbies
    [​IMG]
    Additional call-outs are Red/Blue Lobby (top of lifts) and Top Gold.
     
    #19 SecretSchnitzel, Jan 28, 2012
    Last edited: Jan 29, 2012
  19. Berb

    Berb Forerunner
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    This better play one-flag. Overall, it looks clean and pretty. I'm always a bit off about having Armor Abilities on the map but I guess i'm just not hardcore enough for that.
     

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