Sandbox Desert Rats

Discussion in 'Halo 3 Mini Game Maps' started by LIGHTSOUT225, Mar 6, 2009.

  1. LIGHTSOUT225

    Senior Member

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    [​IMG]

    First, there were cats.
    Then, there were tremors.
    Now...both.


    Download Desert Rats (required gametype)
    Download Death Valley (map)

    Recommended Players: 12-16, but the full 16 is best, so lets party up!
    (any less than 12 players and you need to change the game settings to allow only 5 zombies)

    Desert Rats takes two of the most popular mini-games and smashes them into one incredibly epic, large scale battle.

    Death Valley uses Alex RFW's Sandbox Open canvas where the laser-wielding sphinx's have been blocked off, which creates a nearly complete free-roam for the rats (mongeese) to frolic in. But tread lightly, for thou are not alone. Set out to spoil your fun are a staggering 2 cats and 4 tremors!! Don't worry though, its not as bad as it seems. The vast amount of area to cover is intimidating, and the cats/tremors must work together to coral and cut-off the rats. The actual forging isn't spectacular, but I chose to avoid putting too much stuff int he center of the map to focus the rats to the hills, which provide ample cover to cunning drivers.

    Just like traditional Cat N Mouse, the Cats won't be let free from their cages until the 30-second mark passes.
    Some tweaks in the original gametype did need to be made to accommodate for Death Valley. Most notably the Cats/Tremors can now see their allies' waypoints. Last Man now garners 6 points, and each round (3) lasts 7 minutes.

    Desert Rat Honor Rule
    Choppers do NOT fire their guns.
    Humans (Rats) may not board a chopper


    VERSION 2 PICTURES:

    One of two Fun Boxes now on the map. They don't look like much, but hit one of these babies at an angle, and you'll feel like you're at the X-Games.. no joke. backflips, mctwists, flat spins, and mad height
    [​IMG]

    The Graveyard (about 10 double boxes merged into the ground at different heights and odd angles)
    [​IMG]

    The Spine, with the bridge in the background
    [​IMG]

    The Bridge connects to two peaks of the largest valley on Sandbox. Receiver nodes help guide your goose in the sandbox night and align you correctly for bridge traversal. Tread lightly.
    [​IMG]

    Man Cannon jump off of the tallest ridge (near chopper spawn #2, seen below)
    [​IMG]


    Cat's cage prior to 30 seconds
    [​IMG]

    Cat's cage after 30 seconds
    [​IMG]

    Chopper spawn #1
    [​IMG]

    Chopper spawn #2 atop one of the highest ridges
    [​IMG]

    Rat spawn (dead center of map)
    [​IMG]

    Flat ground layout. Nothing impressive, yet effective.
    [​IMG]

    Couple shots from a Last Man run
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Download Desert Rats (required gametype)
    Download Death Valley (map)

    Big thanks to testers...was a ton of fun. And thanks to Alex RFW for his badass canvas.
     
    #1 LIGHTSOUT225, Mar 6, 2009
    Last edited: Mar 13, 2009
  2. IPokeNinjas

    IPokeNinjas Ancient
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    Looks great and to be honest it looks like a hell of a lotta fun,
    I saw the Canvas a while back and it really does open up alot
    of space and thats very handy for this.

    Honestly, I can't wait to load this up with a bunch of mates but
    probably the only thing wrong is the chopper honor rule, but I know
    you can't take it out I've played both of those gametypes before.

    However, it looks and most likely plays like a great map. Kudos to you :)
     
  3. pinohkio

    pinohkio Ancient
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    what a surprise lightsout has brought mongoose mastery to yet another map.
    the design is simple but bring a sense of security to those who hide in the middle.
    the only problem is that i can never get more than 8-9 people ion a party at once, :(
    i would suggest making like a giant ramp that goes like} / {and put mancannos or
    something at the end to go super far so that people}_ / {do epic flips and stuff.
     
  4. Silva Sniper

    Silva Sniper Ancient
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    Finally a game on the mythic map pack that is actually fun to me.
    I love the spawn setups and the major middle of the map.
    Good job on this one,cat and mouse crew.
    Try to make one on blackout entitled "Black Mice"
     
  5. Death Height

    Death Height Ancient
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    this looks like hell of a fun map! cant wait to play it!
    too bad i have to wait for the map pack to come out on xbl first -__-*
    as soon as i get the map pack, youve got a dl from me
     
  6. Linubidix

    Linubidix Ancient
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    Ooh, I see by the screenshots there're some extra structures at the bottom. Good choice.

    'Twas a blast playing this. There were some kinks which were unavoidable. Like rats slowing outrunning Tremors; that was annoying. The sheer size of it is awesome and it's a great addition to the Tremor/Cat n Mouse series. Looks like a standard TGIF game.
     
  7. Mace

    Mace Old Tyme
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    cron, why dont you flip a ***** and turn around?
    EPIC -sauce
    Quite enjoyable, but quite different from the average of the two games. And I do agree, the canvas is BADASS!
     
  8. MichMaster32

    MichMaster32 Ancient
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    i like this map a lot mostly because it reminds me of tremors. i think the map itself is really nice. like you said nothing impressive but effective. i think its very nice. my only question is how far can you go out of the map before you are shot down? or did you some how take that out?
     
  9. Conkerkid11

    Conkerkid11 Ancient
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    Darn! And to say that I just made a Tremors map on Sandbox to! Hehehe... let the best man win Lightsout!

    But back to your map! I like the idea that it kind of seems like you just wanted to get this out there before anybody else made one, but couldn't you have at least added some Gravity Lifts or Man Cannons out there in the dunes like the traditional Tremors map on Valhala?

    I like the map, and the idea to have Tremors and Cats, but I don't like that there isn't anything in the map.

    I will play it and rate you at some point, oh and your Tremors Spawn is right below were mine is floating! Yay!

    Teh towerz are blocked off with Epic Win Sauce so they cannot shoot you! The farthest out in the dunes you can go is to, well, the towers!
     
  10. MultiLockOn

    MultiLockOn Ancient
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    hooray! Its been done! Ive been waiting for this for quite some time, and I knew it was coming and it has! Great job blocking MAH LAZORS!!!!!!! I never wouldve thought of that for some strange reason. I see a feature coming up....
     
  11. Zanitor

    Zanitor Ancient
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    Yay new tremors map time for me to lose...lol, I never get to be on mongoose >.>
    You done a really good job, I will like this much more than avalanche for sure. Great job on it.
    I think Sandbox is a really good tremors map by far.
    I liked how you have the mongooses in a circle ready to spread out...lol
    Good job ;)
     
  12. Titmar

    Titmar Le Mar du Teet
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    Sorry about that when we were playing, my mic broke.
    I kept hearing the occasional "stop!" flutter thru my tv speakers as i was firing the brute choppers guns.
    Then i realized finally that i was ruining the game!
    My bad guys.

    Anyway, it was fun but i wanted to tell you that i thought it could use a couple more ramps or jumps out in the dunes, just something to spice it up. My mic was broken though.
     
  13. DeathToll77

    DeathToll77 Gone For Sec
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    Do the towers constantly fire at whatever is blocking them? Causing it to lag?
     
  14. timbojim

    timbojim Ancient
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    thats a good idea to block the lasorz
     
  15. Masta Blastr

    Masta Blastr Ancient
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    Looks awesome. I'm downloading.

    It looks like it would be a little hard for the mongooses though.
     
  16. penguin asassin

    penguin asassin Ancient
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    You know what my favorite memory on sandbox is? Overloading the map to deactivate the towers, then searching the outside of the map for the skull, only able to see a few feet in-front of me were my headlight was shining. You got that concept and added tremors and mice. My only complaint is finding 12 people with sandbox. I cant even find 3 . So do you mind making a chart for, how many zombies per party size?
     
  17. LIGHTSOUT225

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    I think you are referring to the original Cat N Mouse, not original Tremors, that has grav lifts for the mongeese. Yes I could add some man cannons, and may very well do that eventually (this is only v1), but most experienced mongoose drivers know to stay away from man cannons for the most part. Its usually a death trap on hilly terrain like this. But you may see some pop up here or there in the near future. By no means is this a final version :)

    Oh, and the more tremor/cat maps the merrier I say!



    The towers are always firing at their blockers, but there is no lag. We played probably 7 or 8 games last night with a full 16 player party and experienced 0 lag.. and we even had an aussie and a kiwi in the party :)

    Well, given the size of the map, and the speed of the mongeese, you really don't want to be playing this with less than 12 players. But if you have to drop down to 10 players, drop the # of zombies down to 5. Its hard enough to coral those rats in as it is in the vast terrain, so the more zombies the better. Send me a FR if you are having troubles getting players. I think I have a slot or 2 open on my FL.

    Thanks for the good comments guys. Im always looking to improve it, and will continue to do so. Which probably means some man cannons added for flavor here and there, but not too much. The cats/tremors already have to cover enough ground as it is.
     
  18. Titmar

    Titmar Le Mar du Teet
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    i still think for a quick update to a version 1.1 you should a couple ramps here and there out in the dunes, just to spice it up a bit.

    perhaps a random structure here or there for aesthetic quality... its just so barren
     
  19. Soren515

    Soren515 Ancient
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    This was absouletly awesome playin this with you guys last night. Im glad that you thought to combine the two on sandbox. The only word to descrobe it is EPIC!!
     
  20. LIGHTSOUT225

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    Had I not been at work, I'd already have a new version ready :)

    I still have to go back to work for about an hour and a half, but I'll be workin more towards a v2 tonight when I get off
     

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