2-4 Players (Sticky) Titan

Discussion in 'Halo 4 Archive' started by theSpinCycle, Aug 8, 2013.

  1. theSpinCycle

    theSpinCycle Halo Reach Era
    Senior Member

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    Titan
    "Time slowed to a standstill here millenia ago..."

    By SpinCycle and Hahka (thealm0ndkiller and Hahkarazy)

    [​IMG]

    Loadout camera


    Background:
    Titan is highly inspired by the classic duel map Aerowalk, from Quake. It was one of the first maps I made in Reach. Back then, it was a 1v1 map, just like the original from Quake. And it was awful. Two later reforges in Halo 4 were also awful, featuring camping, awful spawns, and a noticeable lack of dancefloor. Finally, I decided that the map needed a massive upscale to deal with Halo 4's movement, sprint mechanic, and Instant Respawn. The new scaling resulted in the basic geometry you see now.

    So after the basic stuff was done, I ran a few testing lobbies on this map. One just happened to be with a certain Hahka. Soon after, he joined me and we began to forge the map together (read: he did most of the work). We toyed with the weapons, teleporters, lifts, and even the hard routes on the map, doing anything we could to make the map less campable than the original. Eventually we settled on the current combination, which minimizes the number of teleporters on the map (only one, compared to Aerowalk's four).

    We also discovered 2v2 Extraction and set the map up with five extraction points. Titan has also already been picked up by Unity as a Doubles Extraction map and has gone through testing at a tournament level.



    [​IMG]

    Sniper side



    About the map itself:
    Titan's layout mimics that of Aerowalk. The design consists of one atrium with three floors, surrounded by two side areas and various hallways connecting all three together. Me and Hahka had several design goals when putting the map together:

    1. Stop the camping that occurred on early versions of the map by adjusting the hard and soft routes around the map. This resulted in the addition of the high hall, the mid and snipe ramps, and the snipe lift.

    2. Create an atmosphere. This resulted in the green theme and 'timeless' look.

    3. Make soft routes (jumps, lifts, teleporters, etc) feel like they're part of the map and not some lego blocks added to make a jump up. This resulted in the current styled lifts, shield door teleporters, and overall tricky object use. Oftentimes Hahka would add a nondescript jumpup while changing the geometry to meet some other goal, and I wouldn't realize that the new geometry was a jumpup for several days.




    [​IMG]

    Shotgun side



    Power Weapons:
    1x Speed Boost (or Camo) - 90s
    1x Overshield - 90s
    1x Sniper Rifle - 120s, 1 spare clip
    1x Shotgun - 120s

    Everything spawns at start. Red and Blue have advantages on the Overshield and Sniper, respectively, while the Speed Boost (or Camo, depending on the gametype) and Shotgun are more neutral.




    Additional Screenshots:
    [​IMG]

    Overshield Hall



    [​IMG]

    Lower Teleporter



    [​IMG]

    Main Atrium

    Download Titan
    Download the Unity V3 variant of Titan (different weapon layout)

    A QUICK NOTE:
    2v2 Extraction and Slayer are the recommended
    gametypes for Titan. Just a note - when playing extraction, please use this gametype (here) or another gametype specifically optimized for 2v2 extraction. 4v4 extraction gametypes will provide a substandard experience on 2v2 maps.


    Special Thanks:


    • to SecretSchnitzel, for explaining to me how Quake maps transfer to Halo and for giving feedback every step of the way
    • to Overkill and Solo XIII, for helping me understand the scaling problems of Titan
    • to Doju and the Unity gang, for testing Titan and for putting it into their 2v2 settings
    • to a Chunk, for capturing several gameplay videos on Titan
    • to Dax, for advice regarding the routes around the map
    • to thefro3po, for coming up with the name
    • to everybody who tested and abused the map, for helping me improve it
     
    #1 theSpinCycle, Aug 8, 2013
    Last edited: Aug 8, 2013
  2. Audienceofone

    Audienceofone Forerunner
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    I played this a long time ago, and my has it improved. I'll have to snag this and play it myself, until then, I am impressed by both the changes and the aesthetic beauty. Well done.
     
  3. Eightball

    Eightball Forerunner
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    Looks beautiful in terms of aesthetic appeal, and layout. Good height variation, good structure, good use of angles. Definitely going to have to check this out, and maaaybe kick your *** on it...Haha, good work, Spin.
     
  4. The Fated Fire

    The Fated Fire Promethean
    Cartographer Forge Critic

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    I've been watching Titan evolve for half a year now, constantly testing and giving you and Hahka crap for all the green. Titan is easily one of the top 3 best dubs maps of Halo 4.
     
  5. Chronmeister

    Chronmeister Blockhead
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    I played on this map a couple months ago and distinctly remember really liking it. Great map. If you have improved it further even better. Anyone looking for a great 2v2 should download this.
     
  6. Blaze

    Blaze Sustain Designer
    Forge Critic Creative Force Senior Member

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    Aside from the overlapping objects the map looks beautiful and actually a lot better than I remember a long time ago when I played this. I almost don't see areowalk anymore. Does This one still support 1v1 or do you have a separate version for that? I'd love to get a few games on this with you soon. Keep up the good forging man.
     
  7. Zombievillan

    Zombievillan Ancient
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    ^ the overlapping is a pet peeve of mine but it's not enough to ruin it for me. Good to see great maps still being forged with the restraints of the older maps. They just look so much better than FI if forged right and you guys did it right. I know aerowalk is a hot topic for remakes and inspirations, though I never saw the original, I have seen several maps back in reach that we're successors. Looks good any way and I'm DLing it. I'll get back to you guys after I check it out in person.
     
  8. theSpinCycle

    theSpinCycle Halo Reach Era
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    @Audience, Chronmeister
    Thanks :)))

    @Eightball Thanks, man. I remember a few games on Pendant where I got absolutely wrecked... :p I've gotten better. Or rather, Halo has gotten easier. lol

    @Fated Yeah, I decided against the colors.. I just couldn't get them to fit with the rest of the map, so I ended up just using the extraction crates. :) Thanks for the compliment, man.

    @Blaze, Zombie
    Yeah, we tried to keep the overlap as minimal as possible, but some of it was hard to remove without compromising the Aerowalk feel. For instance, there's still overlap on the streets going around the main atrium in the last additional screenshot. :( Aerowalk's still there, the scaling is just funky and some of the hard routes have been changed so that players at bottom tele / red spawn can't spawn trap. Although that was intended in Quake, that kind of thing just doesn't work well in games with shield regeneration.

    As for 1v1, Titan supports it, but it's pretty slow. It generally takes at least ten minutes for the match to get to 15 kills.
     
  9. Blaze

    Blaze Sustain Designer
    Forge Critic Creative Force Senior Member

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    I didn't mean that Areowalk being almost not recognizable was a bad thing at all. I'm saying it's very good that you are going through that much trouble to make it play well for halo and it shows how hard you're trying.
     

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