Pariah Fields *renamed* *Updated 1/14/2010 REASON: organized thread better OPENING Pariah Fields (formally Pariah "Sector") is a proposed 6v6 asymmetric one sided objective and slayer map. This project began life as something entirely different, but slowly evolved into what you see in this thread. I will try to keep this updated every few days, or as necessary. Mostly to just help me keep track of my progress. If you aren't interested in reading about my design goals and such, feel free to just scroll down and check out the screens. I am only typing this out to have these idea written out, so I don't ever loose site of my original vision. DESIGN GOALS Pariah Fields is an ambitious project, the likes of which I have never attempted before. Now, i'm not saying the most ever, but it certainly goes well beyond anything I thought I would be doing in forge. That said, I think it is important that people understand what exactly I seek to accomplish with this project. Well, first and foremost I think it is about time that forge maps start "feeling" like REAL maps, and not something forged at all. This desire came from a discussion I had with a friend while playing on a map with a great layout, but not much thought put into making it seem like a believable place. I think that a lot of forgers don't feel that it is possible, given the limitations of forge, or our familiarity with pieces makes it impossible to forge an illusion. But, I want to prove that wrong, and show that we are only limited by our creativity. So, with Pariah Fields, I want to create a space that feels grounded in the world it takes place in. I want players to FEEL like this place is an ancient Forerunner outpost. You'll see signs of age, and general disarray as this place has since long been forgotten. There are areas that are slowly being swallowed back up by the Earth do to erosion. Rockslides have damaged some of the long dormant equipment. I also want to give a sense of space, and grandeur. To achieve this, there are no colosseum walls to found anywhere on this map. Instead, I am opting for a Sandtrap approach wherein the play area is defined by markers. I want players to be able to see the rest of the gulch, but feel like it just out of reach. Doing this however, has created a false sense of scale. There might be moments that feel like this map could support BTB, but in reality it's design can only hold up to 12 players. Altogether, this map represents a half year of research into game and level design. I may never pursue a career in the field, but I find it a fascinating subject nonetheless. SCREENSHOTS These screenshots should give you a pretty decent idea of where this project is heading. Bare in mind that as of this posting (1/14/2012) this map is barely a week old. There are still some rough patches, and layers of polish to be added. But I trust you fine folks here at Forge Hub to look at this objectively, and not judge a project during its infant stages. Something else I have been working hard to achieve are very distinct areas, to aid players in navigation and callouts. I'll label any relevant screens with the working names for each area. These screens guide you from the blue base (defenders) to the red base (attackers) starting with two overview screens to help keep you oriented. Orange signifies areas the play cannot go. I hope this very simple use of color will keep new players from being confused by the lack of a distinctive boundary. Field base You can see the red base in the distance, marked with a large walkway cover. The "Tower" is also visible on the lefthand side of the screen. Base of the Tower Main street, which is the long path going down past the crossroads. I call this area the crossroads because getting past this wall is the main goal of the attackers. Similar to maps like Highground, or Zanzibar. I call this side of the crossroads "mainstreet side" This one is on the other side of the wall,and has been dubbed "turret side. For the obvious turret Here is a closer view, and you're first look at the rockslide area in the distance. The next few screens illustrate the rockslide area. It's turning out so well, I couldn't help but post multiple screens lol This platform now houses the ghost for the attackers. The change hadn't been made at the time these screens were taken, but will be updated in the day or so. Close up of the most polished destroyed power conduit. The rockslide didn't only effect these two pieces of equipment. This boundary marker was damaged as well. Mountain Base (red base) Yes, they are the same. Yes, they are simple. But, bases SHOULD be simple. Most medium to large scale maps feature over designed bases. I believe that this only encourages camping. Going right out of the red base. You can see the tower in the distance. Here is the base of the tower. Note that there is a jump up onto the health kit platform now. Again, I will update the screens very soon. You can swing wide around the tower. It's difficult to tell by the screen, but there is a nice bit of natural cover here to keep it from being too dangerous. Something I wanted to do was always provide a flanking option for the attackers. This should help keep things both interesting, and the action from getting too congested around the mainstreet area. This is a view from the door, looking out towards field base. This final screen shows a view up mainstreet, where I am considering placing the rocket spawn. You can see it marked with cones. CLOSING I am very excited to see where this project takes me. Not just as a forger, but from a general creativity standpoint. I have never really attempted to bring something this in depth to life in 3D. I would also like to assure anyone that gameplay is being taken just as seriously as the aesthetics on this map. I know I spent a lot of time on that subject, but since I am so early in this project, I am still working things like flow and weapon balance. But I hope to prove that a beautiful map can play just as beautifully. Thanks for reading!
If the map is designing itself, you know you're breaking site rules by posting a preview of it, right? Seriously, though, this is reminding a bit of Roundtown. Your screenshots are all really close up, and don't reveal that much of the map's layout, but it still looks nice. I'd be down for testing this sometime.
I wanted to avoid showing the unfinished, and otherwise still very much under construction sections. Once the layout becomes more concrete, I'll post an overview. In the meantime, it might help to know that the first and last screens are pointing AWAY from the base, while the second is pointing TOWARDS the base. You can actually see the rock in the far left corner of the third screen, in the second one. Hope that helps some. Also, once this gets into the testing phase, i'll be sure to let you know.