Stratosphere

Hey all. I suppose it is a bit weird to make my first post for a custom map, without saying high or anything, but I've browsed enough and I'm really eager to get this map out to the world. So hi - I am totally addicted to making maps in Forge, and while I don't have a lot of experience under my belt, I think I have a good sense of the art to map decent maps. That all having been said, here is the map itself.

Stratosphere features a series of interconnected platforms and buildings, mancannons and varied elevation. I was inspired by many elements such as platforming in the gameplay (don't worry, it's not a super mario level), a couple of maps in the Jedi Knight series (the aesthetics of Star Wars in general for certain areas, and specific levels like the floating refinery from Jedi Academy come to mind) and obviously my own ideas for how combat should unfold. I had an original idea of making a map that involved players jumping from platform to platform, which would obviously have involved a lot form of the suggested genre. As I began to connect the pieces more fluidly, the final idea began to flourish beyond floating slabs into the almost city-like look of the map. It still retains many aspects in its design of the platform-favored inspiration, and players who like jumping around to take shortcuts will be delighted by this map.

While a first glance might mislead you into believing the map will be dominated by jetpacks, the architecture and placement of walkways, buildings, and even forcefields obstructs or otherwise complicates the line of sight enough that jetpacks should be used for convenient transport around the map first and foremost. Even those that don't have jetpacks will have an easy enough time to move around as players can take advantage of mancannons that carry them all the way from the bottom to the top tier of the map, clever jumps across the platforms, and even carefully planned drops from elevated tiers down to lower ones. Constant motion and utility of the environment will be key to victory, as higher spots obviously provide combat advantages, while the lower tiers house most of the power weapons.

Study of the map and fancy footwork are key to utilizing its geometry to your fullest potential. While it may seem too easy to fall to your death, taming your use of the jetpack and learning which falls are deadly (it is actually safer to drop down than you would think - think of a marble in the old game Kerplunk) will limit your accidental deaths and reveal new paths that you may not have considered before. This also contributes to the overall flow and direction of the map and allows players to travel quickly - You could get from the bottom of the map all the way to the top, and then back to the bottom without dying in about 20 seconds or less, depending on your selection of AAs.

I have only made it work in slayer, oddball, and king of the hill so far (the last two untested, but I've played several slayer matches on it).

Okay, screenshots.



A large walkway spans across the next to lowest tier. On one end, inside of a small passage, is a sword. At the other end is the rocket launcher. The forcefields, seen in this shot, canopy about a third of this tier and protect players from snipers, but still allow attackers to drop in for the kill.



The highest point on the map provides a huge vantage point over the middle tiers, and can attack some areas of the lower ones. It can't attack players in the basement portion of the map at all. It is also susceptible to attacks from behind via the mancannon. Players will also have to abandon that spot if they want to get ammo, and the sniper rifle, which is on the middle level, can easily pick these players off.



These walkways can bring players on foot from the middle level to the top level. There are two ways of attack - good use of grenades will be crucial here. The walkways also tend to draw out chases rather than shorten them.



The central platform seen here is the centermost spot on the map and features two mancannons for daring assaults and a forcefield to mix things up a bit. This area is usually the most highly contested during my play tests.



The mancannon, seen here, launches players from the basement all the way up to the topmost building. Before landing, players can get a quick glimpse at the rest of the battlefield to plan their attacks. Players also have quick access to the rocket launcher and sniper rifle from this spot.



This basement area sees more combat than one might suspect. Pursuits that involve plummets to safety often end here, and counting drops, is accessible in three ways. The aforementioned mancannon is also here to launch players up to the very top of the map.



This platform, while tucked to the side, often sees more combat than not. It is a junction point between the blue base, the central mancannon assault platform and the two paths that lead by foot to the red base. It also has a needler, so players can lockdown the walkways up to the red base.



This curious crow's nest often goes unnoticed at first, but its ability to lock down a good portion of the map will draw attention to any snipers that get careless. It has a good view of the sniper rifle building and the red and blue bases, and it has a barrier that protects from the grenade launcher spawn. The forcefield canopy below will give the sniper a hard time supressing would be attackers, and it's small movement space likely means that snipers will have to make quick hit and run manuevers from the tower instead of elongated camping sprees.



This building is where the sniper rifle can be found, and attacking or holding the tower requires careful consideration. The most direct route to the top is via jetpacks, but the presense of the force field canopy below means that players will have to be somewhat far out before they attempt to fly up there. One of the mancannons on the central platform will launch a player directly to the top, but they will have to be careful about getting picked off. A wrapping stairway of blocks is a slower way up to the top, but is protected from the sniper's direct intervention until the very top. The red base overlooks this building directly, but a jump is nearly impossible from there without a jetpack, and an attentive sniper can take advantage of the lack of cover in that line of sight to keep himself from being bombarded by grenades.



This bridge is covered in most of its length by the forcefield canopy, and is directly beneath several landmarks - the central platform, blue base, and sniper tower. At either one of its ends is the sword tunnel (seen in the picture) and the rocket launcher (behind the camera). It is the main junction of the mid-lowest level and can get player access to the rest of the map.

Gameplay is a good mix of seek-and-destroy and all out bullet exchange. As I said previously, jetpackers will obviously feel at home here, but they won't necessarily be able to take free range when or wherever they want. I placed a heavy emphasis on long range combat when considering the construction, but it also has a duality in that it seems to foster close range combat as well. The lower levels especially seem to favor close maneuvers without completely shutting out the long to medium range.

 

Awesome, thanks for the comment! Yes, one of the things I realized was that I didn't see a whole lot of maps in Reach that seemed to strongly emphasize the vertical combat. The real trick was designing the areas so that elevated spots didn't simply dominate lower ones. The results were somewhat intentional and somewhat accidental - I didn't really count on the walkways, for instance, being able to block players below from being sniped, but that's kind of what they do, and they offer a surprising amount of protection.

Also, mid-air jetpack fights are incredibly fun and nerve-wracking. Trying to get that last bullet in for the kill before your opponent does, and worrying about your jetpack fuel, and then hoping you're not at a height that would kill you if you fell makes for some pretty intense moments.

If you wanna give the map a shot, add me on XBL and we can play some slayer matches sometime.

 

I actually understand exactly what you are talking about - honest response is that they were done that way. I have used the coordinate system but I actually like eyeballing the pieces together better and clicking the left thumbstick in, which gives even more precise movement than the coordinates (tenths of a unit don't seem to cut it sometimes).

If you'll notice with those certain areas where the walkways are broken, this was actually done intentionally. A good example is the platform with the needler on it - when coming from the adjacent walkway or the blue building, you can walk straight and just fall onto the platform. If you try and leave the platform, you have to jump. There are a few other areas where you can walk straight one way and still have smooth movements, but may have to jump to go the opposite way. Honestly it was an experiment and I fully expected there to be mixed opinions about it (I noticed that some Bungie maps employ one-way paths - this was a similar idea but with less of a restriction, ie not true one-way).

The idea was to be able to force the combat to change depending on where players are in the map. Some areas have lots of cover to protect from long distance shots, but may not be the easiest to move through - ie, you have to jump to get to another area, thereby exposing yourself. It was honestly a tactic I attempted to employ to discourage flagrant camping/sniping across the map, and it also factors into why jetpacks can't be completely abused. Try playing some 1 v 1 on it and you'll get a better idea of what I mean by this. It tailors very well to cat and mouse gameplay, and I think if you consider this logic when looking at the map again, it may alter your opinion

 

I could but I would have to retool a bunch of parts, and I'm moving on to a different map idea anyways. The jumping parts aren't honestly as bad as you guys make them sound (seriously, give the map a shot in at least 1 v 1) but I don't feel like twisting anybody's arm anymore

 

That's interesting, I did not know nor did I even consider that Forge alters the maps after you save and quit.

I've also given the map more playtesting and sometimes I honestly feel some frustrations that have been previously noted. The platforming elements are nice, but I can see from extensive falling to my death that...well, falling to your death is not fun at all. I took inspiration from maps like Construct specifically where you have multiple levels and you can quickly jump down to attack or get the drop (lol c wat i did ther) on opponents, but Construct has the advantage of a large floor underneath you, and you really only fall off the map if you are being stupid. This one is definitely too easy to fall off when having crazy jetpack fights.

I'm somewhat stuck on the map I'm currently working on (it's looking more and more like I might have to erase a big part of it due to overly complicated geometry among other things) so I might go back and rework parts of this map and release an updated version. Still, if anyone wants to give it a go on XBL or give me any more critiques, let me know.


EDIT:

I also was wondering what thoughts were on the balance of weapons/their placement was on this map? This is something I know relatively little about - and while I try and keep it in mind when thinking about the map, it often goes as one of the last things I think about. Any feedback would be appreciated.