OMEGA Well, you can all see by the review on page 2 that the map isn't perfect. However, I have made some changes to the map that will improve gameplay. There are no radical changes, with Reach less than a month away I did not see the point. Spawns and weapon respawns have been tweaked though, and there is now more cover in the central room. Also, there is now a big change in the way asymetrical games play out. There is now a central platform in the top of the main room. This platform is only there in asymetrical gametypes and houses the flag in one-flag games. The map's strong point is still 1-3 player FFA matches but it now should play much better in one-flag as well. It still isn't perfect, but it is a much better map after these small changes. Download: Bungie.net : Halo 3 File Details Weapons: BR X2 Carbine X2 Plasma Rifle X2 Needler X2 Sentinel Beam X1 Shotgun X1 Plasma Grenade X6 Bubble Shield X1 New Screenshots: Central room (symetrical): Looking up through the center (symetrical): Central room (asymetrical): Overview (asymetrical): Old Screenshots: Overview: Upper Walkway/Stairway: View of Central Area: Grav-Lift: Attackers' Base: Defenders' Base: Download: Bungie.net : Halo 3 File Details
This map looks really cool. I think the pics you have don't do it justice. awesome job though looks great.
This... reminds me of something. I just cant remember. Its the tall sturture. I just cant... think. Well the map is very impressive. If you know the budget, then you know the limit. This would probably be awesome for Shotty Snipers.
If I can offer my advice for everyone who plays this... Don't underestimate the Sentinel Beam! (NO I'M NOT KIDDING!) The shotgun is defineately useful here, but the Sentinel Beam proved to be the true power weapon during testing.
Great looking map, but you couldn't have chosen a worse release date. Most people on FH are gonna be playing the Beta, so you should've just released it after the beta. It would've got a lot more attention than it will now. Still, great looking map, but I'm not too sure about the verticaclity about it. Unless the top floors have some kind of disadvantage that the bottom floors don't have, since the top floors have the height advantage, all gameplay will center around the top floor like Construct. Anyway, I dunno, I'll need to play some games on it.
I didn't really wanna wait until after the beta to release it. I know this wasn't really a good time for it. Anyway, the upper level has little cover and definately isn't overpowering, even if 60 to 70% of the combat takes place up there, it's not like construct where 98% of the fighting takes place on the upper level.
woh!!!! i knew it was going to be a good map ever since teh first pic the other ones dont give me a really good layout though. GJ
Ok I like the idea of the corridors around a multi-leveled middle area, but the centre piece isn't very creative and has been used countless times before. Still like the map though so 4/5
This map has top notch excellent forging. There looks like there aren't any bumps in the map at all(well from the pics). I will have to download this and give it a try once I am ungrounded. Great map dude! You have inspired me.
Thanks for all the great feedback. I'm thinking about making some changes after the beta ends. They will probably be mainly aesthetic but who knows? I have plenty of budget left. Any suggestions are welcome.
[highlight]Omega Review[/highlight] [highlight] Enjoyment: [/highlight] At first glance, Omega appears to have a good layout and weapon setup, but upon further inspection, flaws make themselves apparent. The gametypes suggested as Omega's strong points played decently, but nothing really stood out to the players. Which directly reflect my feelings on the subject; I'm playing this to get a good feeling of the map to write a review and for that reason alone. Now don't get me wrong, this map isn't bad, there were a decent amount of close call moments that the layout was responsible for, and with some improvements, you could have a very solid layout and well playing map. However, until then it simply feels like another creation. [highlight]Balance:[/highlight] Height variation is a great thing to implement into maps, if done correctly, that is. The upper most portion of the map appeared to house most of the action, any fighting that was had elsewhere was generally because those players were either just respawning and working their way back up, being shot down on from above, or they accidentally fell off the top catwalks. Players seemed to mindlessly move toward the mancannon lift (which by the way is a very confusing lift the first couple times you go through it.) The bottom of the central room seemed to be a place where death was common; it's incredibly open, and finding out just exactly where you're being shot from can be a bit of a task. Again, this is due to the fact that the only sightline blocker from the top walkways to the rest of the room is a tube piece pillar, which you can simply walk around to a different position to regain your view of your target. Playing one flag was a bit more frustrating than slayer; the defending team is capable of locking down the upper playing field with relative ease, creating an annoying and nearly infection feeling gameplay experience. Your weapon selection seems to fit the map fairly well, the shotgun did feel a bit overpowering though, being that there are a lot of narrow walkways and corners for shotty wielders to use to their advantage. It's nice to see a sentinel beam though, it's rare that a map can contain one successfully. [highlight]Durability[/highlight][highlight]:[/highlight] Omega is unbreakable in a sense of escaping; however, there are a few other things to be noted in terms of durability. As previously mentioned, your mancannon is super confusing. Sure, it's a simple concept, walk in, fly up, turn to the left, and exit. However, while designing a well playing map you really have to keep the players with less skill or knowledge in mind. Things such as mancannons should be as simple for the first time Halo player as the MLG pro to grasp. A quick solution would have been to have the left hand turn at the bottom, rather than the top. As a rule of thumb, keep the landing of your mancannon facing the same direction as the player upon entering. (There are some exceptions; I can go into greater detail if you wish.) On another note, for players who don't know the map it’s a common mistake to walk into the mancannon landing room and attempt to drop down to the bottom floor, only to find themselves being flown right back up to the top. Try to make sure that your one way paths are known, or inaccessible when going the wrong direction. (I.E. a dropdown into the landing room.) A few of your spawn points are facing walls, or otherwise confusing things to initially see upon spawning. Players always want to know where they are, and what they have to do to get to where they want to go; the more options available upon spawning the better. Any bit of confusion at spawn slows the game down and can cost the team points. On top of that, anyone with a sense of how Halo's spawn system works will easily be able to identify a likely area for people to be respawning. You write that Omega is for "small FFA/One-sided objective … suitable for 2-5 players", personally, the games I enjoyed most were the 1v1's, four players or more just overloads this map to an almost annoying extent. [highlight]Aesthetics[/highlight] The aesthetics of Omega are about par, there isn't really anything that truly bursts through the crowd of other maps out there. The center tube piece column is a nice touch, but we've seen similar things before. The blue lighting gives a nice cooling feeling over the entirety of the playing field, some may argue that aspect makes orientation difficult, however, other callouts should be apparent in maps other than lighting. Also, using the "stone bridge" pieces for your upper catwalks is a nice touch; too often people underestimate just how well those pieces can boost the aesthetics of a map. [highlight]Originality:[/highlight] Looking through the all the competitive sandbox maps, not many come to mind that are based around a single, tall room. Sure there are some out there, and there’s no doubt about it that this isn't a brand new idea. On the contrary however, Omega pulls this off fairly well for 1v1 games. There are definitely some things that should be addressed though. [highlight]Summary[/highlight] For any of you reading this that have not downloaded or played on Omega, give it a shot, maybe you'll like, maybe you won't. It's definitely worth a few plays, and with some thorough time, though, and effort, it very well could be a well playing map. This map is subtly similar to Halo: Reach's Swordbase, and peculiarly this was released a few days before any of us actually even played the Beta. Enjoyment: Balance: Durability: Aesthetics: Originality: Overall: [highlight]Understanding the Review Hub's Ratings[/highlight]