[floatright] [mouseoverimage=http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt198/Noxiw/1b-1.jpg]http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt198/Noxiw/1-47.jpg[/mouseoverimage] [mouseoverimage=http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt198/Noxiw/2-40.jpg]http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt198/Noxiw/2b-1.jpg[/mouseoverimage] [mouseoverimage=http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt198/Noxiw/3c.jpg]http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt198/Noxiw/3d.jpg[/mouseoverimage] [/floatright] So Close, Yet So Far Act I: Pillar Trials A single player puzzle by Noxiw Pillar Trials originally began as a few platforms floating off of the Pillar area of ForgeWorld. A man-cannon here, and a man-cannon there, it rapidly evolved into something I just kept coming back to in Forge. It was only a matter of time until I found that all of my other forging projects were placed on the back burner, darkened by the shadow that was my un-named puzzle. Day in and day out I worked until I was finally at a point that it was able to be tested. Nick the Ratman, MetaWaddleDee, Urban Myth, Nibbles, Sleazy Grandma, and Throwin' Some Bows threw themselves into the frontline, exploiting every single aspect of the map, forcing me to revisit things I thought were fool-proof. Iteration after iteration, this map has received as much, if not more scrutiny than the average competitive map, and it is finally at a point that it can be released. Ready to make your mind explode. Pillar Trials requires no knowledge of glitches within the game's engine, rather: logic, thought process, spatial awareness, and trial and error. Modelled closely off of Mander's Poseidon's Lair puzzle, this puzzle is capable of being solved by every caliber of puzzle player, from the first timers, to the puzzle-pro's. One unique difference Pillar Trials brings aboard is that instead of having a room-to-room styled puzzle (where you complete a task at X, move onto Y, complete a task at Y, and move onto Z), there is more of a "localized repetition". You'll find yourself repeatedly returning to the same 6 rooms, doing different tasks throughout the length of this "adventure". With this kind of progression exploration is crucial. Don't ever assume that just because you've used one object that you're done using it, you're probably not. Continually think of ways to use the same thing in multiple situations. If you find yourself confused or lost, go walk around what you have readily available, looking high and low for places you haven't yet gotten to. And while there are no hidden weapons, grenades, or armor abilities (this isn't a scavenger hunt), you'll find more often than not you know what to do, you just weren't aware of it. Pillar Trials is meant to be easy. ... Once you know what you're doing. Use what you have to get where you need to go, once you're there you'll find that it wasn't actually THAT difficult... Pillar Trials uses a "localized", or short-cut checkpoint system. Being that, as mentioned before, this puzzle takes place using just a few rooms, an actual spawn checkpoint system just doesn't cut it. Instead, as you progress you'll find that certain areas are blocked off by fixed fusion coils and some teleporters just aren't teleporting. These are two different forms of checkpoints that you'll have to find out how to unlock (Don't worry, they unlock as you make your way toward your goal.), and once you have you'll notice if you should mess something up, you won't have to repeat that last little bit you just completed. I encourage you to go at a slow pace, completing a challenge or two every day or so. If you think you're going to get through this in one short sit-down, you're going to get quite annoyed. As mentioned before, once you've completed something it's not difficult to repeat what you know how to do. Don't burn yourself out on the map and you'll find you'll enjoy yourself more upon completion. If you get to a point and you just haven't the faintest idea of what to do and think a quick Forge-through will help you progress, think again. Unless you were to physically alter the geometry or supplies the default map gives you, forge will not help you. (It's not recommended that you change anything (actually, just don't do it.), being that you revisit areas so often you never know what might not work later on should you change something.) Rather than make an "elite trap" at the beginning like a lot of other puzzle maps do, the gametype forces you spartan. No need to change your preferred species. As mentioned before, this is a single player puzzle map. Playing with multiple people break some challenges and should there be a connection-host switch mid-game one of the final challenges may actually not work. Take it alone. Special thanks to Rifte Gifle for making an uber awesome trailer for our viewing pleasure. 720p Available on Youtube... Click it. YouTube - Video Request .illar Trials by Noxiw [PUZZLE]:. Things to know: Trait | Base Player Traits | Custom Power Up Player Speed | 100% | 0% Jump Height | 90% | 150% Gravity | 150% | 150% Infinite Ammo | Enabled | Bottomless Clip Damage Resistance | Invulnerable | Invulnerable Damage Modifier | 0% | 100% Flag Carrier Cooldown | 3 sec. | 3 sec. Primary Weapon | Pistol Flag Reset Time | 30 sec. Flag Carrier Traits: Unchanged Cooldown Traits: No equipment usage Active Camouflage Armor Ability Pickups are the ONLY fixed (floatable) items on the map. As mentioned before, Pillar trials uses localized checkpoints, or "Shortcuts". The types of shortcuts are as followed: Blocked doors/windows/holes by Fusion Coils. Once removed you'll find that it takes less time to get somewhere Mancannons blocked by Fusion Coils. Same story as the above Teleporters blocked by Fusion Coils/Plasma Batteries. Remove the blockade and get to the otherside. Teleporters and a floating Plasma Grenade. Remove the grenades and you've just activated the sender. There are only two teleporters like this. [HIGHLIGHT]BEWARE: SPOILERS[/HIGHLIGHT] [highlight]Fall Back I: Photo Rollovers[/highlight] Spoiler [mouseoverimage=http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt198/Noxiw/ro1.png]http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt198/Noxiw/rollovera.png[/mouseoverimage] [mouseoverimage=http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt198/Noxiw/ro2.png]http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt198/Noxiw/rollovera.png[/mouseoverimage] [mouseoverimage=http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt198/Noxiw/ro3.png]http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt198/Noxiw/rollovera.png[/mouseoverimage] [mouseoverimage=http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt198/Noxiw/ro4.png]http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt198/Noxiw/rollovera.png[/mouseoverimage] [mouseoverimage=http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt198/Noxiw/ro5.png]http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt198/Noxiw/rollovera.png[/mouseoverimage] [mouseoverimage=http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt198/Noxiw/ro6.png]http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt198/Noxiw/rollovera.png[/mouseoverimage] [mouseoverimage=http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt198/Noxiw/ro7.png]http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt198/Noxiw/rollovera.png[/mouseoverimage] [mouseoverimage=http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt198/Noxiw/ro8.png]http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt198/Noxiw/rollovera.png[/mouseoverimage] [mouseoverimage=http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt198/Noxiw/ro20.png]http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt198/Noxiw/rollovera.png[/mouseoverimage][mouseoverimage=http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt198/Noxiw/ro9.png]http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt198/Noxiw/rollovera.png[/mouseoverimage] [mouseoverimage=http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt198/Noxiw/ro10.png]http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt198/Noxiw/rollovera.png[/mouseoverimage] [mouseoverimage=http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt198/Noxiw/ro11.png]http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt198/Noxiw/rollovera.png[/mouseoverimage] [mouseoverimage=http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt198/Noxiw/ro12.png]http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt198/Noxiw/rollovera.png[/mouseoverimage] [mouseoverimage=http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt198/Noxiw/ro13.png]http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt198/Noxiw/rollovera.png[/mouseoverimage] [mouseoverimage=http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt198/Noxiw/ro14.png]http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt198/Noxiw/rollovera.png[/mouseoverimage] [mouseoverimage=http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt198/Noxiw/ro15.png]http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt198/Noxiw/rollovera.png[/mouseoverimage] [mouseoverimage=http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt198/Noxiw/ro16.png]http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt198/Noxiw/rollovera.png[/mouseoverimage][mouseoverimage=http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt198/Noxiw/ro17.png]http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt198/Noxiw/rollovera.png[/mouseoverimage] [mouseoverimage=http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt198/Noxiw/ro18.png]http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt198/Noxiw/rollovera.png[/mouseoverimage] [mouseoverimage=http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt198/Noxiw/ro19.png]http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt198/Noxiw/rollovera.png[/mouseoverimage] [highlight]Fall Back II: Video walkthrough[/highlight] Spoiler Nearly a flawless run here. [bungievid]14123108[/bungievid] Perfect run estimated at 14-15 minutes. So Close, Yet So Far Act I: Pillar Trials A single player puzzle by Noxiw And yes, there will be more to come. .
This looks very well forged together. I love the asthetics of it all very well thought out. No doubt the puzzle's will follow suit as using the same object and returning to some rooms will no doubt force you to think back a little instead of not worrying about what you've done and focusing on the next. I'll gve it a Dl and play through tonight, hopefully give you a better write up once done.
This map is epic keep it up. its very long but that makes it fun as. will there be another, if so would it be paradiso trials or somthing.
In my opinion this is the best puzzle since Poseidon's Lair. I love the checkpoint system; the mechanics work really well. I only had time to play for half an hour today, but I managed to work out a couple checkpoints. So far, awesome. I'll get back to you with a better review when I finish it
Had a quick play last night, the whole map looks and feels very unique asif its always been there. So nice to have a change from going A - B and having to go around differant parts. Your deffinatly on with a winner from what i've seen so far. Will have to give it a good play through but so far very impressed.
Thank you very much. I spent a lot of time working on just the design of Pillar Trials. I wanted to give it a sense of purpose, not just a bunch of blocks randomly placed throughout. I'm glad that people are noticing that. Good luck. I knew I wanted to use a CTF gametype, so I searched and searched and searched for a CTF gametype that by default forces spartan. (I.E. was in matchmaking at one point) There will be more... That's all I'll say. Thank you sir, Poseidon's lair was really my only influence on this map. I've played other puzzle maps before, but, I just haven't enjoyed them nearly as much as I did that one. I wanted to give people that sort of feeling while playing through.
Yes! I just finished tonight. Total time logged: 5 hours, 22 minutes. Let me start off by saying how much I enjoyed the layout and concept of the map. Everything came together very nicely, and the fact that almost all of the puzzle was interlocked was excellent. There were some really unique challenges, which definitely had me stumped for quite some time. The checkpoint system worked really well, and I got a good sense of satisfaction every time I unlocked one. In addition, the aesthetics were beautiful, and I enjoyed exploring your map immensely. However, when I finished the map I realized I hadn't actually used some of the items or areas I found when playing. AFTER I captured the flag and completed the map, I looked at the photos and watched the walkthrough video. Surprisingly, there were a lot of dissimilarities between how I did it and how the walkthrough played out. Fortunately, I don't feel like the "breaks" I used detracted much from the difficulty, but I didn't end up needing some of the items. For example, I never needed to use evade, or even (I think) the concussion rifle. Like I said, though, the map still took a lot of figuring out; and I think a little tweaking could easily fix my exploits. Regardless of how I played it, Pillar Trials still remains in my top favorite puzzles ever, and I really look forward to playing your next map. Also, if you'd like to see how I "broke" it, send me a message or FR on my account "How Much Dollar". (Jesus got hacked, i'm currently working on that, haha). I'd be happy to show you anytime.
its a great map alright, but youve ended up with a common fault Only the creator knows what to do. Its just too hard. If it takes like 5 hours to do, then theres very few people who will do it. Youu therefore have to use the walkthrough, which defeats the point. Look at some of smokemonstors maps. Their just right, pissibly a bit too easy. Youve got to think definatly, but not so much its impossible! Youve got potential, you will be one of the best puzzle map forgers about, no question, but youve got the difficulty scale all wrong on this im sad to say ;-(
Hmmm, that's interesting... All the testing that was done I thought I weeded out the breaks in the map... I'm quite curious what you did. I'll add you tomorrow. Regardless, thanks for the kind words and I'm glad you enjoyed it. I'm really quite worried about what you did and what you didn't do... =| EDIT: to poster above, As I've stated in the OP, this is meant to be done over the course of a many play throughs. When I play through really difficult puzzle maps I figure them out one step at a time and continually reload them for the course of a week. (or month) to me, smokemonsters puzzles were quite simple and left me with an unsatisfying feeling afterward. (no offense) the biggest thing I can say is that if you find yourself getting frustrated is to quit and try again some other time. Burning yourself out on a puzzle map is a common reason people get a negative opinion about them.
This looks pretty good. I was a fan of puzzles back in Halo 3 and this looks to be a pretty good challenge. I like the layout of having familiar locations with different objectives. It's fairly original compared to most puzzles and it rewards good observation rather than luck or jumping skill.
Noxiw.. I hate you. Very.. very much. Why couldn't you make the puzzle simple to figure out at the start so I wasn't incredibly frustrated already when **** started getting complicated? I hate you :'( Because I got stuck... you got stuck!
1 hour 48 minutes and 43 seconds I spent on that hell hole of a puzzle map! -.- It's built really well and it's frustrating, that means it is good. Recommended download for anyone!
wow.......this map was very time consuming. There were a lot of great challenges going on in here. After playing the map, though I/we (ben, stevo) found some breaks to the puzzle. One was found while we were playing, and now the second much more serious break was found while watching the walkthrough video. I played the map for an hour and 30 mins and ragequitted before I figured out the death barrier thing. I walked out there, died, and felt I needed to be done. Here's the less harmful break The second one really breaks the map. Follow along in the video.. at :55 when you blow up the two fusion coils, go back up and get the mongoose. Drive it all the way back into the main room w/ the dice. You're suppose to evade through that hole, but if you use a mongoose you can drive into it. This lets you skip over half of the map...which brings you instantly to 12:40 in the video. I'm not sure if it's entirely possible w/o the concussion rifle at that point, but I have a good feeling you could finish the puzzle if you did this. You easily fix this if you just block the mongoose from leaving it's designated area, though. problem solved =P
Thanks everyone. Thanks Stevo for the stick, and the others for the kind words. Saltine, I don't know how I overlooked that mongoose thing... Regardless, I'll go fix both of those breaks... Four months and breaks are still making themselves apparent!! Ah well, it's all good. I am assuming (and hoping) the mongoose glitch is how Jesus broke the map, if not, extreme sad face at something else being terribly wrong. EDIT: Updated the map. Mongoose glitch fixed, gravity lift/fusion coil glitch fixed, all is well now. I also found one other thing that I don't think had been found. Regardless, new map is up.
I played a few puzzle maps in H3, and I must have picked the most frustrating ones. After I played those, I just kind of ignored puzzle maps in general just because I didn't like the whole concept of using the game mechanics to win as opposed to an actual 'puzzle.' This looks like a great map to start playing puzzles again. It looks fun to play and still should provide a good challenge. Since I haven't played the map yet, I don't have much to say, except that it looks pretty EDIT: Can you give me a hint for the first area? I'm stumped...
Ouch Noxiw, I'm afraid I broke this map...a lot. It's a real shame because I absolutely love some of the challenges you came up with and how it all intertwines together. There's a reason puzzle makers avoid this style of puzzle map though and stick to room-by-room enclosed challenges, because it makes it very very susceptible to breaks, as I shall demonstrate. My first vid (which I've rendered) shows some major breaks that allow me to pretty much skip the entire map. I complete it in 2 mins 30 seconds with the help of Mental speeding things up for me (note that I didn't need him, he just did one part of the break while I did another). It was only after viewing your walkthrough just now that I've realised that what Mental was doing was also a break, so I'll point out that Mental was able to throw the flag up to the ledge above without needing the active camo "ledge". If you throw the flag just right it can make it all the way up. You can download the video and switch to his perspective if you need to see it. [bungievid]14607547[/bungievid] As you can see, you can easily jump passed one of the checkpoints, and then blow up a further checkpoint from there that you shouldn't be able to. Then you can just run over and grab the concussion rifle. Now the concussion rifle is a huge worry in a Reach puzzle map because it gives the player lots and lots of freedom of movement around a map due to its launching ability. This weapon combined with an open-plan layout made so so many breaks available to me. In the video I use it to get up to the ledge just outside the capture point room. From here I could grab the custom powerup as I drop down to shoot the fusion coils holding the jet pack. With the jet pack I was able to just finish the map. Those are not the only breaks I discovered though. Two more breaks are shown in the video below. Note that I used one of my other breaks to skip ahead so that I could demonstrate these breaks quicker. One break is being able to jump up to the rock ledge from the flag pole using two grenades (you can actually do it with just one grenade but it's a lot harder and I was feeling lazy). Then I show an alternate break for how to get the concussion rifle by avoiding the Armour Lock challenge. Bungie.net : Halo Reach : File Details I think we found even more breaks than this when we played it last night but I can't remember them. I fear that with more time we could have found more too. It's only now that I've seen the video to realise just how much we've skipped out! We never even knew there was a whole section in the Canyon. I hope you can fix these breaks so me and my buddies can give it another go. Good luck.
Oh man, I'm on my iPhone so I can't watch the video, but when I can I'll surely watch it and go revisit it forge again. I do realize these types of puzzles are more susceptible of breaks, but it will get to an unbreakable state! Thanks Buddha, I'll keep you updated. EDIT: Wow, first off, I can't believe that first little hop around by the CP and rock face was overlooked... that's an easy fix. I'm going to have to find a way to make the concussion rifle less prevalent, but the rest of those breaks are simple fixes just by moving items around so they can't be used together. (I'm looking at you CP's).
This looks really good, as I scout through the puzzle maps for something taxing, I found this, I am just downloading and about to see just how challenging it is. It looks really well forged, and there seems to be a great deal of different challenges. Looking forward to trying now! Great work on the map and the post, very descriptive also video is good too.
Break in Map YouTube - Act 1 Pillar trials bug (For Noxiw) ^ Potential Spoiler. So, I don't know if you can tell what is going on in this video, me and my friend tallaho found a bug in your map. We threw plasma grenades over the water in the video and ran back to the custom power up before it blew up. So we pretty much skipped that whole part.