an Infection Map Yeah. The name's temporary. The thread is really gray too. This is Mocknizzle008 and I's entry for the Hub of the Dead 3 contest. The basic story is that a squad of soldiers has been sent to the remains of a crashed Halcyon class ship with orders to set it's fusion core to go critical and wipe out a dangerous alien species that has made its home there. The map is a larger linear progression with a few unusual twists to the way a linear progressive map is usually played, including a powerful boss alien that literally bursts out of the wall. We will be testing a lot over the next few weeks, so hit us up if we are online or just hop into a lobby if you want to take part in testing.
This actually looks very good. If you want help testing, submit it to BIOC. It could use a few more pictures, like an overview, if you want people to give you helpful feedback on it. And, don't feel guilty about the grey. It's bungie's fault.
@ Minion - He intended to not give the map away completely (I support this message). This map is very large. And cool. And pretty. I liked helping to test it out a few times tonight. Oddly enough, the grey doesn't bother me one bit. I especially like the vehicle bay and its looks. The zombies just didn't seem like they knew what they were doing, but that's just cuz we had some li'l timmies in our game. Can't wait to see it when it's finished. If I had to say one thing, it would be that the humans seemed to be slightly stronger than the zombies, but again, most didn't know what to do. The forging is going really well, and I'm glad to know I helped you guys with this! How about the name "Callback"? I can talk to you & Mock tomorrow about the name.
The purpose of this thread Minion was to entice people to come play the map with us. I feel the feedback we will get from actual players will be much better than from those who have only seen an overhead picture, as being in the game is so crucial to understanding the balance. If the pics make you want to see more, then they have done their job. We should be doing some testing tonight by the way. @ Minister, we'll figure out a name when the time comes. Thanks for the idea though. Hopefully the few changes we made and extra starting zombie will help bring their strength up.
Haven't played on it yet, but I was checking it out in forge and it gives off a very "destroyed" type of feel. The vehicle bay with vehicles everywhere, the ruffed up elevator shaft, and the whole map being on a slight tilt help a lot with the atmosphere, and the "boss" alien is probably insane to see in the midst of a game. Good job so far guys, I'll have to play this sometime with you.
Um... he comes out of a wall? Can you specify how this happens? I'm sure he doesn't literally come through a wall.. but I'm curious. Good luck in the contest - Theme looks nice, but I'm worried about fall damage suicide (ahem Sword Base) in the second picture. Can you actually get up to where the camera is?
There is a point where a wall is "ripped open" and it becomes a new point for zombies to enter. It's not as crazy as I made it sound, but it still scares the **** out of you when you are fighting to survive and you think you know where they are coming from and all of the sudden, BOOM! You can't get all the way up to the top of the elevator shaft in the second pic, and there is no fall damage. We've also extended the platform at the bottom and made it easier to survive the jump.
The games on this were so much fun, and that was just a pre-build. Was thinking about those squeakers kids getting upset because they couldn't use the vehicles. Can you blow them up so they're more apparently nonfunctional? They appear after a shield door spawn right? If so, you may be able to time that. Also, zombie spawning at the top of the pit was disorienting. I usually look before I leap, but ended up falling to my death a few times. Can you position that receiver node in a location with a better field of view? I'm also a supporter of increasing weapon damage for the "tank" and lowering his health to compensate for it. With the increase in health, it might be more advantageous for the tank to drop the turret and charge in for some sword kills. Or is the melee damage reduced with picking up the CPU? Great work on this, eager to test this out with you again.
Thanks War. We can't blow up the vehicles right now because of budget, but once people realize they can't use them if they are sensible they will go by them. We wont resort to that unless it becomes a continued problem that is getting people killed. I've been trying to find the best way to do that zombie spawn, but to no avail I see. We might have to back it into the wall in a little nook (and use more budget, but because the doors are at a 180º angle from each other it is tough. We'll improve that one. Were you in our most recent game? We bumped starting zombies up to 3 and took off health regeneration and it balanced a lot better, with humans making it to the room only once, and only then because of a glitch (now fixed) with a blocked teleport. Unfortunately for zombies the melee damage and weapon damage are locked together, so hopefully no one will rush sword as the tank. Preacher did it once and he died pretty fast (that was the game humans actually made it, may have been coincidence but it shows he didn't do too much damage.) Hopefully we can test more tonight and fix up problems. Thanks for the feedback.
Hot damn, guys. Our lobby was godly (Trans-continental High-Five, Shoe; for the good vibes). This map has such a creepy atmosphere... It almost doesn't feel like Halo; which isn't a bad thing. Weapons, spawns, timing. It's all so wonderful. Good luck in the contest guys!
Trans-continental high five received. Those were some pretty awesome games we played tonight. I made a few changes since: • Added 2 AR's to last holdout to resupply humans who were running out. • Made second to last teleport un-campable. • Made AR's at start more visible. ] Overall it seemed balanced from what I experienced and from the feedback. Both zombies and humans had a pretty good amount of fun. Still needs more testing though.
Dear sweet jesus balls were those games awesome. I'm really happy with how our timings worked out, there's the perfect amount of "Ohshit ohshit ohshit that door needs to open right ****ing now" before the humans just barely escape the last holdout, and the distances are such that an aggressive boss zombie can chase the humans down the safe room corridor and scare the living **** out of everyone inside in the final few seconds of the game.
Hey everyone, here is a quick update to the map. We have made a few changes to help rebalance things and to add to the aesthetic of certain previously lacking areas. Thanks to everyone who has helped test so far, we'll be playing a few games at REM's BIOC lobby on Sunday if you are interested in joining. The more the merrier (as we have learned the hard way in balancing the zombies) so if you see us on hit up Mock or I for some customs. Updated Version of the first holdout, the Reactor Room. The Armory, a risk vs reward side room that may lead to an easier victory or a quick death for oblivious humans. That shaft isn't there for decoration.
Like how the changes are coming along. I'm happy you added variety to the first holdout, didn't realize you added those platforms on the sides. Really hoping we can test this with a smart, 16 player lobby by the Hub of the Dead deadline.
Looks nice, the lift looks so spooky, definatly a fun/scary part of the map I'm here for beta test if u need me PM me on Xbox GT: SlashedTortoise
Hey, I'll help you test. I'm free most of the time and I actually played this at BIOC and I must say it was fun and I look forward to doing more testing And if you do a test PM me on xbl or on Forgehub in advance
Pretty sure w/ blue you can actually do that, but only to your own threads. Yeah, in the 'Thread tools' drop box you can use 'close thread'