Cladite by a Polish Korean / Synatric The History of Cladite: Citadel is one of my favorite Halo maps of all time. The design, aesthetics, and movement flow really appealed to me as a player (****** you Solo), and playing on Citadel really was one of the highlights for me in a rather frustrating game. A truly breath-taking map. Once I got into forging and I learned more and more about game-level design, I thought I would try my hand at a Citadel-inspired design. Every map has its flaws, and Citadel was no exception. Some of the immediate flaws that were apparent were: lack of connectivity between the High Plat areas with the OV halls, a lackluster middle structure, and dead zones. I tried my best to address these issues in my initial pen-and-paper sketches, and I was rather satisfied. I began to forge the map, and became obsessed with seeing the outcome, and I was able to forge it in a rather brief period of time. After consulting a few people, I was reassured that I was onto something, but I had some glaring problems: massive framerate drops, ridiculously open lines of sight, and an over-the-top scale. Way too big and way too open. After getting sick and tired of rebuilding the map several times, I put Cladite on the shelf. For the next couple of months, I shifted my attention towards watching Quake VoD, making a House of Decay remake, and playing NR 1v1s. I also put an appreciable amount of time into getting better at Reach, which seemed to be more of a chore than a pleasure. NR 1v1s consumed a lot of my time, and was the most enjoyable Halo experiences I've had. Don't be surprised if you see a NR 1v1/Decay release sometime soon. How could you possibly resist playing this? Exactly. After returning to forging for 4v4s with Sierra, I cycled through the plethora of my unreleased and unfinished projects. I stumbled across a version of Cladite that Brett and Solo were helping me with, and it piqued my interest. I decided to start from scrap, and began to get to work. After a couple of days, the new and improved Cladite was finished, but I still had some framerate issues. After reducing my object count and some troublesome pieces (huge ups to Uno for the help with that), Cladite was ready for testing. Test games were very enjoyable, but I came across a few issues. I was stumbling on some of the easiest things when it comes to forging. The most embarrassing problem I had was trying to get side-specific spawns in CTF and Bomb. Except for my first map, Amped, I had only forged Asymetric maps, therefore, I had no clue how to set up sided spawns. When I asked others for help, they were sure that I was pulling their chain, but I reassured them that I was an idiot. After fixing all the kinks and doing some fine-tuning, the test games were a lot smoother and a lot more enjoyable. Below is one of the many test games: YouTube - Cladite KotH aPK PoV.MP4‏ Huge thanks goes out to Cleanup for capping the gameplay. Cladite has been a blast to forge and play for me, and I hope it is the same for you guys. I'd like to give huge ups to Brett for always being the better half of Brolish Polimaled (don't ask), Solo for the suggestions and feedback, Uno for the help with the framerate and additional feedback, Fritz for showing interest since Day 1, Keller for co-forging the first versions of Cladite, Salot and Bunnies for being in almost every test game and providing feedback and suggestions, Spaceneil for initially sparking my interest in Forge, Dawkins for being motivational, Snipedown for sticking around in that custom game lobby to play a couple of forged maps, and everyone else who helped fill the custom lobbies up and offered feedback. Gametype Support: -Team Slayer -CTF (Suggestion: 5 Flag) -Bomb (Suggestion: Sanc Bomb) -KotH -Oddball Intel: -Rocket Launcher -Camo -2 JetPacks -2 Mags -2 Plasma Pistols -4 Plasma Grenades -2 DMRs -2 NRs -2 Health Packs Screenshots: Big Door Base High Plat Rockets Camo Download Cladite
I have to admit that I often do what you were talking about in your paragraphs. I will start maps and just get frustrated or bored and "put them on the shelf" for later. It's good to see that you got inspired and returned to the map and completed it. As for the map I love the layout. A truly great symmetrical design. I like that you included water in your map, but I especially liked the fact you included rock platforms on some sides of the map. I also think you did a great job on presenting the map. I have no problems with this map. Great job, keep it up.
Sweet map man! I can really see where the inspiration came from, i really love the rocky areas. Keep forging!
Okay, so it's between this, going to sleep, and porn. Ah, screw it, I can't choose. Another potential masterpiece made by you APK. This is what's to be expected, though. I'm hoping to get some 1v1's on this, as I do with all MLG maps (my signature 1v1 maps right now are Onslaught by SaLoT and Bloom by Bleuprint. I'm not sure if this will play well with a 1v1, but I'd assume that you meant it for a standard MLG 4v4 anyways), so yeah, I'll eventually see if this plays well.
This map is cool. I think that this map is cool, because I believe that my bff aPK is cool. In my opinion I like cool things and cool things like me. The cool thing about Cladite is that the citadel-smashup up of the bases is pretty cool, and Citadel was a cool Halo 3 Map. The map has a cool style combed throughout its frame, kind of like John Travolta's hair in that one Greace movie that was really cool. Cladite isn't that good with no promising future, but this map can be categorized as coolbeans in my book. Keep playing 1v1s and keep adding me to your friends list because I am Fritzster. In conclusion it is my belief that this map is cool.
Ever since I read this article, I now feel obligated to provide some feedback. FH could definitely use more MLG maps and this is a great addition. People should learn from this, MLGFWF know their sh!t. Citadel was my favorite map that came from DLC, so anything Citadel related earns respect from me(if that means anything). As soon as I get on tomorrow, I'm going to invite some friends, play this amazing map, and reflect on a to-be promising experience.
@Squidman Thanks for the praise. You mentioned the water and the rock platforms and I'm glad that the aesthetic theme of the map is easily identifiable. As I've begun to make more and more maps, I've found a lot of value in using the Forge World terrain for map geometry and/or aesthetic/orientation helpers. @Speechee Thanks for the kind words. @Blood Gulch To have someone say that another one of my maps is a "potential masterpiece" and to say it is what is expected from me is flattering. I'm glad you've enjoyed my work. I haven't played customs with you in a while, but we can fix that @John You're a cool guy. Thanks for the support <3 @Panic Thanks for being welcoming. I used to hesitate on posting over here, but I've come to the realization that it's the quality of the posts in the threads over here, and not necessarily the quantity. With that being said, you guys over here at FH can expect to see me around here a lot more. At a second glance, you guys have a lot to offer. I just want to thank you guys again for the support and the showing of interest. It truly is a new source of inspiration.
One of the best MLG maps for CTF and especially Assault, IMO. I really don't see the inspiration in Citadel here, but I think the rockets would work better bottom mid. I didn't have any major problems. Nothing game breaking, nothing notable. That's about the only improvement I could suggest. Easily one of my favorite MLG maps right now. Nominated for FHF. It didn't win FHF mostly due to low nomination count, but me and Rest In Pieces (Korlash) nominated it for a feature, and it won. Big congratulations, aPK. This one deserved it.