Forged by jacobdenver1 and ll TR1BAL ll DOWNLOAD HERE UPDATED: April 16, 2011 Serenity is a spacious, symmetrical map built in a custom coliseum, floating high over Forge World and is suitable for up to sixteen players. Its design encourages extremely fast-paced gameplay, especially in the objective gametypes for which its been prepared (all CTF and Assault variants, plus Team Oddball). This is due largely to the four man cannons which lift to the highest tower of each base from alternate corners of the map. Blue Lifts Blue Tower The lifts and towers were designed by jacobdenver1 and form the conceptual foundation stone for the map. We wanted to create a fairly strong base for each team, but make room for any setup in these bases to be broken by good use of teamwork and close-quarters combat. The lifts achieve this by allowing quick access to each strongpoint, resulting in fluid capturing and recapturing of bases in Team Slayer games whilst also encouraging quick-scoring objective games. Blue side from Blue lifts By the second iteration we had developed the initial idea into a multilevelled arena, with strong, high bases looking out over terrain with varying altitudes; the lowest visible being the very center of the map. Center/Top Mid We then added the Vault, or basement area as an alternate, hidden route across the map which becomes a focal point for Neutral Bomb/Flag gametypes. It also houses the rockets on Slayer games. The Vault has only two access points and these are both located at the bottom of the lift platforms, meaning one location on each side of the map is where the majority of decisions about map movement are made. The exception to this rule is the two way teleporters, which are located in their own room on each side of the Vault and the neutral zone between lifts and tower on each side of the map. There are two large pillars on each side of the map which, in addition to the tall structure in the center, drastically reduce sightlines for long-range weapons from each tower, thus encouraging map movement. These interlock with the rooftop areas via walkways which offer very little cover, on which are placed the godly Shade Turrets of death. Weapons (Power weapons in Bold) Sword x 1 (1 Max) - Top mid - 120 sec respawn Needle Rifle x 4 - 60 sec respawn, 2 spare clips Conc. Rifle x 2 - Top tower - 140 sec respawn, 1 spare clip Plasma pistols x 2 - Mid tower - 90 sec respawn Spiker x 4 - 60 sec respawn, 2 spare clips Shotgun x 2 - below Mid tower - 120 sec respawn, 1 spare clip AR x 4 - 30 & 60 sec respawn, 2 spare clips Needler x 2 90 sec respawn, 2 spaer clips Sniper x 2 - Cover by lifts - 180 sec respawn, 1 spare clip Magnum x 4 - 60 sec respawn, 2 spare clips Frag x 12 - 30 second respawn Stickies x 4 - 30 second respawn DMR x 10 - 30 & 60 second respawn, 2 spare clips Rockets x 1 (Slayer only) - Bottom mid - 180 sec, 1 spare clip Shade Turrets x 2 - 120 second respawn Playtesting Big thanks to Matty the IV who organised an extensive playtesting session yesterday, which allowed us to try out a variety of gametypes on the map. It worked surprisingly well for FFA games. Playtests: FFA Oddball 7v7 Team Slayer 6v6 CTF 6v6 Assault FFA Slayer FFA Slayer FFA Slayer Gameplay/Flythrough Video flythrough of Serenity during FFA Slayer playtest Changelog (since v4): >Soft Kill boundaries added above teleporters >Soft Kill boundary added at top of central structure >DMRs repositioned in Vault and top mid >Z-fighting near blue lifts fixed >Aesthetic & structural improvements made to Shotgun tunnel >Top of large columns modified to fix coordinate glitching >Ramps, blocks, and bridge area cleaned up near lift platforms >Corner Pyramids replaced with Brace, Large >Initial Spawning areas demarcated with embedded Tower, Tall >Removed Grenade Launchers >Teleporters rebuilt to accomodate Elites >Fixed coordinate glitching on vertical Coliseum Walls near bases
Wow. Just wow. I don't believe I have seen very many 'good' maps with Shade turrets, but it seems that you have pulled this off quite well This map seems like it would be very, very good for team-oddball, but that's not on the list. Are you planning to make a V2 sometime in the near future? Also, are you going to add a ramp up to the wall coliseum in picture 6?
Thanks Josh. We aim to please. I'll happily make the map work for team oddball and change the original post to reflect this when it's done. If anyone else has requests for gametype compatibility then by all means request it and I'll make the necessary adjustments if I agree that it could work. Regarding the Coliseum wall in image six: If we're talking about the same wall then it's unlikely I'll be adding a ramp up to it as that area/altitude already has three access points from below; two ramps and a ladder! The wall is there to provide cover for base spawns and flag stand. UPDATE: If you mean the horizontal Coliseum wall then yes - I actually will be adding a ramp up to it as I want to avoid unecessary jump-ups/steps. Thanks again for the feedback. Keep it coming.
This looks neatly forged and the layout seems simple to understand. I don't think it's a good idea to use too many pre-forged structures, but it seems you blended them well in this map. Also, how much budget do you have left? If you have a lot you should think about adding more aesthetics to this map, it seems a bit bland, but that may just be from the pics. Let me know otherwise. Cool map and welcome to Forgehub.
Thanks for the feedback, Eightball. And it feels good to have finally contributed after having lurked around here for quite some time. This version of the map was deliberately simplified from the original, as the latter had major framerate issues. The resulting simplification meant that we skipped on a lot of the aesthetics and attempted to keep the number of objects to a minimum in this iteration. I was perhaps a little over-zealous in this regard with some of my re-forging, as I wanted to ensure smooth gameplay, even on split screen. I was personally able to justify this by reminding myself of the simplicity of the look of the maps in CE. I'm trying to invoke this in some areas of the map (close to lift and the entire Vault area). Having said that, I do actually agree that some areas could do with a little sprucing up. We've got $610 to play with but we'll have to get creative with inclines as that's pretty much the only thing we have available. Thanks again for the feedback.
Looks like a very nice map with some nice aesthetic points and some nice colors...the map has several differnet levels and pathways which can make the map fun to play because the different number of ways the map can be played...the shade turrents and the some of the powerweapons may be overpowered but I might be wrong...overall nice layout and structure to the map that should be fun for flag...
Thanks anime. Yeah; we're sticking with the shade turrets for now. Their sightlines have been quite heavily reduced in the latest version of the map, but we imagine they're still going to be useful in objective games with big teams. We can't say for sure yet as we haven't had the chance to test the map with any more than 3v3 (which doesn't really work for objective games). Anyway, just wanted to say thanks to all for the ideas so far. You've helped shape our approach to Serenity and inspired us to update it to reflect a more balanced concept of form vs. function.
Wow. I am new to the forum as well, and this is the first one I have to comment on. The map looks SOOO cool. I downloaded it and looked around and I have to say I look forward to playing on the map with my friends in the future. You did a fantastic job at including the towers already in forge, and made them seem like they fit perfectly. Kudos for that. The only issue that I saw was on the blue side, where the grav lift takes you up to the top of the blue tall tower, I hit the railing of the tower and fell a few times because the grav lift came barely short. Other than that the map is great and I am glad I downloaded it.
Thanks for downloading and contributing! It's much appreciated. We've spent a considerable amount of time tuning the angles and position of the lifts and it seems it's impossible to account for all variants of usage. They work as they are intended if you enter them from the back. They only bring you up short if you jump into them from the front and even then, we tried to ensure the landings do not damage shields (though let me know if the latter occurred in your case.) The reason for the barriers is to discourage jumping into them from the front, but we've only used them on one lift on each platform. We'll continue to monitor feedback and consider modifying them if it becomes an overriding concern. Thanks again for contributing!
Hey man! This map is looknig really nice and i will definately give it a download and play with some mates. Overall the layout is simple, the aesthetics are good but the weapon placement looks like it may cause problems. Keep 'em coming! I am also from the UK and are looking for good people to forge with so if you want i'll forge with you. Gamertag: Matty the IV
Many thanks for the feedback Matty! By all means leave more after you've played some games on it. I'm interested in any thoughts relating to weapon placement etc. We've attempted to keep it balanced in this regard, but cannot really be totally sure about this until we've played more games on it with larger parties. FR accepted. Look forward to perhaps collaborating with you in the future.
Alright, so I finally got around to looking at your map ll TR1BAL ll. I first spawned in the downstairs area where the rockets spawn. I LOVE this area. Unique aesthetics, plenty of cover spread about without being too close together, and not too tall so most any armor ability can be useful in this area. I then went to the second floor. The various ramps and decoration gave in a nice look, and I can really see your own style in it. Looks good for battles as well. The highest areas are the only thing I felt could use touching up. When you used the built in buildings, it kind of took over that style presented on the floors below. I can also imagine those higher areas making the jetpack particularly powerful over the rest of the armor abilities. I'd have to get a test on it to know for sure though. Overall, impressive map. I would love to get a playtest on it. If you are still touching this map up, I'd play with the top area to see if you can give it more of that beautiful style from the lower levels. Well forged!
Firstly, many thanks for the detailed feedback. It is highly appreciated and has in itself kickstarted phase 3 of our development process for the map. We're running on a tight budget, but we're going to see if we can move a few things around to incorporate some style into the higher areas whilst also fixing a few glitches on the lifts. Work starts tomorrow. I'll update the OP when the new version is ready. Thanks again!