Verticaus

This map is soooo nice to play on. It's got tons of depth, no game plays the same as the next. Great job foxy noxy, this is a classic.

 

HOLY HELL. This looks fantastic..YOU NEED TO POST A THUMBNAIL IMAGE!! Seriously, if you did, you'd get SOOO many views. This is one insanely cool looking map, it kinda reminds me of Jia by Rho, but I know it's nothing alike. I'm definetly going to DL this and learn from it.

Nice photoshopping skills by the way. (If you did.)

 

hmm it seems that i know this map. I think i saw an even cooler map just like this called Column or something♥

Loved playing all the games on here. It was really fun testing this out, and helping with some tweeting. It was an interesting twist on gameplay since the column is the main focal point, but has a soft-kill so no camping will happen. awesome. would love another game on this. hope to seeya on xbl again Noxy

 

You have one hell of a map here! Can't wait to get on tomorrow and have a fly-through. I would also, and absolutely love, to get a game on this. I've been designing an asymmetrical recently, and I can learn a thing or two from this.

 

I'm assuming that the map doesn't only work with your gametype.

This map for some reason kinda reminds me of the pit. And nice job on making a 'fair' map even though it's not symmetrical.

 

What kind of color filter did you use? Overall this map looks amazing. I love how there are trick jumps. In my opinion more maps need to add trick jumps. They are way to unappreciated. Bungie's map Zealot has them, why doesn't the community add more trick jumps to there maps? Awesome map keep forging.

 

This was a pleasure to test. It definitely sets itself apart from other maps out there. Hope my feedback helped you improve the map. Good job man.

 

Glad you posted this. I had a lot of fun when we played it. Minus the custom infinitely spawning, it was perfect. Love the quake inspirations (even if they were accidental). We need to do a coforge. I mentioned that a while ago, but nothing ever happened. Please add me ♥

Also, I want to see those 1v1s your working on

Love this

 

Sorry Noxiw, but not one of the jumps in that video was a trick jump. The closest you came to a trick jump was when you did those 2 Evade jumps. A true trick jump would be doing something similar, but without the evade.

Looks like a pretty good map, and the fact that it's asymmetrical and made by you makes it instantly worth a download. Do you have any testing sessions/customs you plan on doing soon? I'd like to get a few games on this.

 

I think tactical jumps is what he meant. Just clever ways of getting around the map differently/more effectively,

Also, I'm up to join you guys if you ever do those customs. Map is awesome

 

Ohey, you posted this? Jeez. I did the feedback for this and struggled to find bad things to say. That happened with Radius, too. Did you see that feedback, yet? Idk. Anyways, great map for 1v1 and 2v2. Good job, Sir Nox.

 

This map was made wonderfully. Gameplay looks intense! 10/10 my friend.

 

Great map! The jumps don't spoil gameplay, clever uses of kill boundaries are involved and there are many useful ways that you have used forge objects. Grav lifts and cannon men are cleverly used and the weapon arrangements are fantastically balanced. 10/10 from me!

 

Verticaus

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Summary of Gameplay

In the history of Halo, maps that focused on one domineering location never did well. Verticaus breaks this mold with the elegant use of soft-kill barriers atop a centralized tower to counter a player’s natural habit of camping at a high position to prey on the opposition. The result creates a very interesting form of gameplay that attracts players to the center, but keeps them away from it at the same time.

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Core Enjoyment

Verticaus plays best with four to six player team games, although it supports up to eight players. This amount is sketchy at times because spawning is less than perfect. However, when it comes to two versus two, Verticaus sets the perfect stage for a Throwdown between four people. Each player working together to control the top for as long as possible and holding each side’s base. This heartwarming story does come to an end in the form of the ability to camp Red Base to a certain degree, but that will be covered more in depth later.

Verticaus is also a very nice map to look at. Aside from some hidden away weapons, visual cues are given to show certain pathways. Natural hues are present that coincide with what team spawns where, and the various piece use and color helps players orient themselves on what would otherwise be a confusingly circular map. With the exception of a few nicks to weapon layout and an inherent teleporter problem, Verticaus possesses a very enjoyable array of play that most players can enjoy.

4/5​

Gametype Enjoyment

When it comes to what should be played with Verticaus it is best to gear up for some straightforward Slayer. Verticaus is not set up for any other gametype besides Slayer, and the incompatibility for any other gametype should be obvious thanks to a highly frequented kill-zone that would make any other objective game a nuisance. Regardless, it was a good choice not to include non-item based objective games into the map either such as King of the Hill or Territories. The highly vertical oriented gameplay is not compatible with these types of games. So, while it may get boring to play the same game on the same map every time it is played it was wise to not include any other gametypes as it would have made the map less enjoyable in reference to a wider spectrum of gameplay.

5/5

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Weapon/Vehicle Balance

Verticaus does an excellent job at maintaining a fair weapon balance between Red and Blue team. While elevation may play into distance here it still takes roughly the same time for each team to get to the same power weapons. That being said, the choice of power weapons on the map is not overzealous either. The choice of a Grenade Launcher countered by a Concussion rifle and a Sniper Rifle countered by actual lines of sight on the map make for a good balance formula between them leaving one power weapon that would otherwise not be thought of as one.

The Evade Armor ability is probably the one ability or item on Verticaus that goes without counter. It expedites travel across Verticaus on the various levels and opens up many more pathways for whoever has it to utilize in their path of destruction. Whether it is to roll in for a finishing melee or to make a quick getaway, the Evade power up is an intuitive choice as a power weapon of sorts that does not throw team balance off much more than one person being able to maneuver a bit better.

However, something can be said about one’s ability to locate some of the weapons. The Evade, being the most centralized item is probably the easiest to locate, but the same cannot be said of the Sniper Rifle and the Grenade Launcher. Both of these weapons feel out of place and due to a lack of any aesthetic indicator around them, they are difficult to find for newcomers to the map. Sure, the position may have suited equality well, but it certainly does not amend for an experience imbalance present in the weapon positions not being easily identifiable even for first time players of Verticaus.

4/5​

Design Balance

Verticaus, being a circularly oriented map, does not present many issues in the form of design balance. In fact, a series of walkways slicing through the circle and, of course, the ever present tower break up the monotonous play that Verticaus would otherwise have. It really is not until players realize how exploitable Red Base is that the design of Verticaus seems very near flawless. But, alas, Red base is highly exploitable in that it is closed off, it has two balconies overlooking both main entrances to the base, and the only other entrance is via a Gravity Lift that makes whoever takes it a sitting duck thanks to the signature sound it makes while using it. Simply put, a good team effort can hold Red base very well for most of the game while an equally good opposing team effort makes taking the Red base difficult. This single flaw in the design disrupts the intended flow of the map and instead pinpoints it all to this spot on Verticaus.

3/5

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Physical Breaks

Talking about being able to physically break the confines of the map, Verticaus is rock solid. However, there is other issues concerning durability that revolves around an area seemingly able to be traversed that is actually not. This is in reference to the area of the map above Red teleporter that opens to the rest of Forge World. Verticaus is littered with tricky paths and tactical jumps and this area just seems like another one of those, but upon getting to the ledge players will be greeted by a soft-kill countdown. This may be good to avert camping above the teleporter, but another issue arises out of the fact that the ledge is rather thin and should the player step off the ledge they suffer a five foot fall of fate. The opening to the environment is a nice touch, but it begs the question, if no one was supposed to be up there why make it possible to begin with? Other than this glitch in durability, any vantage point that could otherwise be covered by crafty evade jumps are properly blocked with kill-zones leaving no exploitable spots from which players can make unruly kills.

4/5​

Spawning

Spawning on Verticaus is strange. The recommended player count is anywhere from two to eight players and the game changes drastically between those numbers. At two players the map feels almost vacant as if playing one versus one on a big team battle map. With four players the map plays optimally with near perfect spawns and spawns far enough from the enemy to gather one’s bearings before engaging in combat again. At eight players the spawn system starts to fall apart, sometimes spawning players very near the enemy and nowhere near their team. This does not happen enough to ruin the game, but is happening within the recommended number of players does stand for penalty. With that being said, it is best to walk into Verticaus with a four person lobby. No more and no less.

4/5​

Lag

Even with the amount of natural geometry meshed with built parts of the map, Verticaus has no noticeable lag or even z-fighting for that matter. The only time there ever seems to be a hint of framerate drop is when playing near the tree where Green team spawns, and that is only when three or more people are in the vicinity. Even though that drop is worth mentioning, it is not worth penalizing, but Green spawn does possess its own set of problems outside of durability.

5/5

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Theme

The leitmotif of Verticausnearlyrepresents that of a stronghold, castle, or fortress of some sort. However, some elements of the map could be attributed to a foundry. It is the presence of elements that do not exactly mesh together well that blur the line between distinguishable themes. For instance, the centralized tower, a very sentry type of structure, lends well to a castle theme, whereas a bridge suspended over molten material seems more like the trait of a foundry. One could say that in a world built like Super Mario’s Mushroom Kingdom a castle could have a bridge suspended over lava, but all digressions aside, any theme Verticaus may present is mostly up to the player’s interpretation.

3/5​

Key Aesthetics

Two key structures should come to mind when playing Verticaus. One is very obvious while the other remains fairly subtle. The centralized tower of Verticaus takes the gold when it comes to the key aesthetics. The way gameplay revolves around it and its sheer dominion over the map makes it an iconic structure within the map. If Verticaus is known for anything, the conversation about it would probably begin with comments about the tower. Either way, it is clear from the construction of the map and the tower itself that the author wanted at least eighty percent of the focus of Verticaus to revolve around this iconic pillar. The next more subtle aesthetic piece is really only noticeable upon a casual stroll through the map. If the piece were presented in a more, “Here I am! Look at me!” fashion the piece would have had a more profound effect. This piece actually comes in the form of a room that is generally passed through as a quick getaway route. Players will spend milliseconds in a room with a slightly lowered bridge suspended over what looks to be lava and lofty ceilings that make for a great stoic atmosphere not present in the rest of the map. It is a shame that this mood is only present in a part of the map that very little time is spent in, but should the chance be had it is certainly nice to appreciate the surprisingly little effort that went into creating such an interesting room.

4/5​

Neatness

Overall, Verticaus is cleanly forged with fine attention to detail in the efficient use of forge pieces. However, there are some spots that just do not seem to fit in with the rest of the map and other spots that feel like they were forced into the map. The Green team spawn area is a perfect example of this displacement. The pieces used to craft that area feel widely inconsistent with the rest of the map and some of the pieces used to make the floor are just downright ugly. With the rest of the map feeling rather clean and organized it makes certain parts, Green spawn in particular, feel extremely forced and disorganized. As mentioned, aside from a couple things Verticaus possesses a widely organized and neat feel that will not make players’ eyes bleed.

4/5

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Originality

Verticaus uses interesting aesthetic touches to nudge gameplay into the intended directions and to create an atmosphere that makes Verticaus feel very unique. Granted some of the aesthetic qualities have been done time and time again, their implementation and subsequent combinations forged a very unique looking map. It is hard to associate the way Verticaus is constructed with any other map, and any vague comparison would have to be an incredible stretch. All in all, Verticaus is a widely unique map with its own qualities that help separate it from the crowd to make it a very definitive map in the face of forgers.

5/5

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Rating Multipliers
Enjoyment: 9 x 2.0 = 18 out of 20
Balance: 7 x 3.0 = 21 out of 30
Durability: 13 x 2.0 = 26 out of 30
Aesthetic: 16 x 1.0 = 16 out of 20

Final Score​

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Still have yet to get a game on this map. I believe you deleted me from your friends list, (or I may have accidentally deleted you from mine) so add me back and try to get a few games sometime. If you can start up a lobby, or even a 1v1, that's fine. I still have yet to see how this plays.