Sandbox Surreal

Surreal

Forged by:

The Blaze JP
Conkerkid11

Designed by:

Spaceneil8
Solo XIII

Backstory

This map started a little over a year ago when a couple people at the MLG Forge Forum and I wanted to design a Big team map that is actually balanced and plays well. I especially was too sick of downloading big team maps that were basically unplayable in traditional 6v6-8v8 games. Maps that were budget glitched, or had open bases, terrible lines of sight, and poor weapon placement. So I, with lots of help from Solo XIII, set off to design a big team map with balance and gameplay in mind. Ultimately, the design we created achieved most of our goals.

However, due to a busy life, I was unable to forge the map. So, I put the map up for adoption in March of this year. After 10+ forgers who said they would forge it but couldn't, I gave up on trying to find a forger. It wasn't until June, where I randomly got numerous offers to forge it. After reviewing the forgers, I decided on Conkerkid because I was going to be on vacation from July 1st - August 15th, and I wanted to release it before that time. Something coincidently happened to Conker's computer and he couldn't finish it. I ended up giving it to my good friend blaze from the MLG Forge Forum to finish it by the time I got back. After some changes based on testing (with help from Fritzster <3) the map is finally read for release.

This map is lucky to be forged at all. I am not planning on forging this in reach, unless this version is successful. Even still, I have various projects for Reach and this is not one of my priorities.

About the Map:

The design itself is influenced by a variety of things. Since I wanted this map to be fun and balanced. I chose an unique inverse symmetrical style for the design. That way, it never feels like you just came from the same area when you are crossing sides. The pathways are wide enough so that a team of players have no problem maneuvering around the map, and so that the warthog is not only capable of driving on the ground but on the rest of the map as well. I'll be honest with you, this is a very fun map to drive a warthog around. Closed bases are an obvious staple to this map. Even if you have multiple players/warthogs circling your base, there will always be a safe place to go to or spawn in. Making this map within budget was also a huge priority. I want to make sure you guys can actually play this map the way it was intended. Budget glitched maps are horribly laggy for anything above a 4v4 imo. Dividing the lines of sight was my main goal with this map. I rarely see this in big team maps, and it is one of the most important aspects on big team maps. Each team's side should be very distinct. I should feel safe on my side, and my team should push together to be successful on the other team's side (Think Standoff, Valhalla, Avalanche, and Rat's Nest). Also, I want to point out that getting on top of the wall is absolutely intentional. It is undoubtedly the strongest position on whole map, but it is also the most open. You can shoot a very large area but a very large area can shoot you. This isn't a dominating line of sight because it cannot shoot protected areas. It's a Risk vs Reward situation.

Now for the weapon set up. Rockets spawns on the wooden platform, and OS spawns under the arch. These power weapons are placed here so that teams cannot simply camp the base, and if one team is not watching their OS or Rockets the other team can quickly take advantage of that. The Spartan Laser spawns in the middle. This is THE weapon to watch. The laser has the potential to quickly turn the tide of the battle. Missile pod spawns in the garage, power drain spawns under the wall platform, plasma pistol spawns on the S, and brute shot spawns on the top of the base. These will be your bread and butter to defending yourself against the warthog, ghost, and mongoose. The warthog spawns on the wall platform, ghost spawns in the back of the base, and the mongoose spawns behind the wall platform. These will be the best ways to maneuver around the map quickly, but these vehicles are not necessary to properly travel around this map. This lead to another gripe I have on big team maps. Some maps are basically impossible to walk around without a vehicle. Trying to get from one place to another without a vehicle is suicide on some maps. Ranting aside, it's a great design, give it a download and see for yourself. If you actually read the whole thread so far, please put an eight with a parenthesis after it at the end of your post. This cool kid smile face simply lets me know that you care.

Special Thanks

Solo XIII - for helping me design it.
Blaze - for making sure the map gets finished.
Conkerkid - for doing what so many couldn't; forge some of the map.
Everyone who wanted to forge it - for letting me know the design is actually good.
Everyone who took the project but couldn't finish it - for being nice about it.
Fritzster - for helping the map get released. I can honestly say this map wouldn't get released without Fritzster.
Pulsekiller - for helping blaze out, and helping with spawns.
b0b43 - for taking a look at it way back when.
Tak - for taking a look at it way back when.
My bro - for something idk.
bunniesz - for Iron Chefz .
Yoyo, and LD - for reviving the thread in june. Sorry you guys didn't get to forge it.
MLG Forge forum - for making quality maps.
Everybody who helped test it - for testing it.

"what about the...?"
"Oh, yeah"

Pictures














It's surreal that this map actually got finished.
Surreal - Download Here​

 

@Hugh

Thanks man. I can see some sanctuary influence too. The dividing wall, along with the inverse symmetry is an example.

@ E max

Thanks, we really wanted to make this map different than the other big team maps out there.

@ Conker

Yeah, It's been a while. I'm glad this map even got released. It's really hard to find 10 people to test a big team map in Halo 3 nowadays.

@ MLG Instinct

Thanks man. I love Instinct too. Hopefully, they pull out a win at Raleigh.

@ RittSea

Thanks so much. I'm glad you read the whole thing. I really appreciate the fact that you read everything. <3

@ Death Yoyo

Sorry about the PM. But I'm glad you supported the map. Your support definitely helped get this map done, in an indirect kinda way.

On to the S's. The S's serve as a weaker strong hold, as well as a LoS blocker. They prevent a lot of cross map shooting. Cross map shooting is sometimes a big problem in big team maps. For example, on an open map like standoff, the player has the ability to shoot across the whole map at times (in the side to side direction, base to base is fine imo). This severely weakens players that try to walk to the other base, even if they are going around the sides of the map. In addition, the S's serve as a stronghold. If you are able to push to the other side, the S will be able to shelter you from shots from the base or either side since it is detached from everything else. When you hold the S, you give your team mates a much easier path to attack the base and control the OS, Rockets, and Laser. Also, holding the S on your side will make it a lot easier to fend off pushes from the enemy team, while your team might be recovering. However, since the S's are detached from the rest of the map, holding the S does not guarantee success elsewhere. Ideally, the S's are situational strongholds, you want to hold the S when you are waiting from support from your team mates, and when the power weapons are up. The S has angles of attack on all 3 off the major power weapons, and leaving the S to get one of the three offers an interesting Risk vs Reward.

Every part of the map is well thought out. And I'm glad you read the whole thread. Your feedback is much appreciated. <3

@b0b43

Lol yeah. Bungie and their shadows. Hopefully we can get some customs going. It's impossible to get good games in these days.

 

Thanks man. Everybody's support really helped this map get finished. The height variation issue is there. I had to make some areas around wood flat in order to stay with in the budget. There are other ideas I had that we simply did not have budget for.

This is mainly aimed at forge hub guys, but Budget glitching is simply not an option for a big team map, it makes the map basically unplayable past a 4v4.

 

You help is definitely appreciated. Thanks man.

And Here's a post I made on a separate site discussing the reason behind the center wall.

 

Thanks man. Good luck with your Reach projects.