Hey everyone, this is my map 'The Trenches'. It's not a new idea, in Halo 3 we saw a lot of maps trying to recreate a World War II battlefield; but I think that I have really accomplished it now in Halo: Reach. It is actually a fairly simple symmetrical design with A LOT of special fx added. Each team spawns in the back corners of their individual bases within the trenches. The map is made of a small maze of routes traveling between the two bases accompanied by chaos up above. I had originally peppered the upper portion of the map with falling fusion coils (Halo 3 style), until I realized that I could simply apply soft kills zones and fewer fusion coils to make an even better setup. This way you can travel over the upper portion of the map on the condition that you're not up there too long. I then placed vehicles across the upper portion of the map and used my additional explosives to create the feeling that a battle was really in effect with debris (from said vehicles) falling everywhere. Add a purple effect to make it night and the final result was a totally awesome battleground. For weapons I made one side of the map possess entirely human weapons, and the other side entirely covenant. I tried to place the rough equivalent of every weapon in the same place on the other side; I figured that the setup of the map would generally discount the differences. I did the same with the over head vehicles just for affect. I placed generally one of every weapon with the exception of gravity hammer, spiker, and plasma rifle. I even included an exposed turret in each base. Here are a few pictures of the map that I actually don't think do it justice: Red base (purple/covenant) Blue base (green/human) From above to below Why camping is bad Explosions below Watching all sides Ambush over the dead ghost Trouble in the cave Just looking awesome So I hope you guys like my map, I worked on it for a little while and think it could use a couple of adjustments but I want your opinions before I change anything. Please comment and thanks for checking out my post.
so can you travel across the top in the vehicals cause that would be really sweet it you could travel the top while in a vehical while everyone else was hiding in the trencehes below.
well, u can if u can get in and drive away fast enough...I hav all the vehicles set to pretty much explode on spawn but usually u hav about 2 seconds before the fusion coils hit u. The top side of the map also has a lot of soft kill zones so there r only a couple spots u could possibly take the vehicles and not die. I thot that would be a cool idea except the map is a little small for it and to make a bigger version would kind of ruin the effect of the explosives. If i could double the number of explosives, then i would totally do it!
Played this today with a friend. I'm no expert on maps, so I can't really offer any constructive criticism, but I really enjoyed the map. It has a nice feel to it, and I was happy to see that the sniper tower isn't the best place to be on the map - its actually quite dangerous. I also liked how at any moment, a vehicle could be blasted into the trenches, temporarily blocking your path. It makes for some very tense and frantic gameplay. My only complaint is that if you have a jetpack and pick up a Rocket or Fuel Rod, you pretty much squash everyone else. For that reason, I make it so jetpacks aren't allowed for this map when I play. Other than that, this is one of the maps that I'll be holding onto for a while, thanks.
Thanks! Ya I noticed that too and thought that maybe removing the fuel rod gun because it has so much ammo, and putting a soft kill zone at a certain height so that you couldn't get high for long would be an alternative idea. I also wanted the dangerousness of the map because camping is one thing that really bugs me so I figured I would remove that option except for like 4 or 5 five small spots that won't really help you unless they are coming after you.
I always wanted to make a map like this. I think that the alleyways, or trenches, in a these kind of maps brings a lot to the table. The lines of sight makes it so that you have to constantly pay attention to your radar and utilize the crouch feature. It really reminds me of the good times on the Halo 3 classic, Gridlock(ed). Judging from the pictures though, it seems to me that you have a lot of powerful weapons and vehicles on the map which could cause a bit of imbalance. Falcons, Fuel Rods, Lights, Explosions and FX all sound like a great idea in original thought but can unfortunately cause a lot of framerate lag.
I know what you're getting at, but its really not bad at all, I played 6 players systemlink and 4 over xbox live and never had any problems with lag. The vehicles really dont affect gameplay unless the debris falls in the trenches which actually makes the game a little more fun I think because it mixes up the available routes of travel. I added the purple fx because when it was clear it was too easy to see quick travel routes above the trenches without getting killed, and really took away from the feeling of an actual battle scenario. The new halo engine compensates for the fire and explosions more than enough, not to mention the very small amount of over lapping pieces. In fact, im actually debating whether or not to add a tunnel with entrance points at the sword and shotgun spawns. either that or re routing some of the trenches near the tunnel.
I liked the idea of the map and it does make for interesting gameplay. It was fun playing around with my friends on it... My only gripe is that there are WAY too many power weapons... oh, and what's with the random soft kill zones up top?
I know what you mean about the super weapons, my updated version is gonna remove the fuel rod gun and possibly the focus rifle (not sure yet let me know wat u think about its current placement). Im not sure I know which soft kill zone u r talking about, I hav several on the top parts of the trenches but there should be enough room to stand on the edges without setting it off, and some areas dont even have soft kill zones. is it a particular zone thats bothering u? i put the soft kill zones so that i could use the actual explosives for other uses, without them the battle would quickly move to the far too upon area above.