Sandbox Kineticism

Kineticism

"This ancient structure was once a triumph. Now its derelict ruins serve only to highlight human futility"



Kineticism is a small-medium sized asymmetric map centred around small-scale team based gametypes and FFA slayer for between 2-8 players. 10 may be stretching it a bit.

Download V2 Here

Bear in mind that this is very much an ongoing project, and I'm looking for some decent criticism here, and meaningful suggestions on how to improve this map. Thanks guys.

Description:

Kineticism was built as an asymmetric map with parallels perhaps to Guardian and maps of a similar vein. I wanted to balance the map for small team games, where sound tactics were paramount to success. Doubles works particularly well, and the map supports flag gametypes and one-sided Assault. Oddball and KOTH are also supported, but work better in FFA games. Slayer, in my opinion, is the map's biggest strength.

Structurally, the map has two bases, though one is significantly more prominent than the other. The map works over several levels, giving players ample opportunity to move around and outwit opponents. In simple terms, the layout features a central 'hall' with line of sight broken up by pillars surrounded by numerous tunnels, the two bases, and 'blue room'. Underneath the length of the hall runs a bridge, somewhat similar to the map 'Narrows' also supported by additional pathways at its sides. I wanted the map to flow, and tried to connect as many parts of the map as possible.

I should probably mention that the fusion coils are set to fairly short respawn times. This is mostly to discourage camping and to force players around the map a little.

Overall, the map is suited to mid-range fighting broken up by short range offensive skirmishes for a bit of variation.

Aesthetics:

I felt compelled to add this section simply to avoid questioning at a later stage. Most, if not all solid objects on this map are interlocked into something else. I'm convinced that most areas are 'grenade slip' proof, and OLN + budget allowances required me to reduce any unnecessarys. The map's position in the skybubble obviously removed any need for geomerging.

The map resembles a derelict building, possibly of religious or cultural importance to whoever built it. Don't ask why it's floating; because quite frankly, I needed the death barrier for this map to work, and cannot concern myself with petty cries of unrealism. It's Halo.

Slightly off-topic, but I'm fairly certain that the map is unbreakable. I've employed some decent jumpers to give it a go, and I'm almost 100% sure that an ordinary Halo player will not be able to get himself onto the roofed area, or behind the playing area. If you can, then I'll fix it.


Weapons on Map

3x Assault Rifle
8x Battle Rifle
2x Carbine

1x Machine Gun Turrent (150 second respawn)
1x Shotgun (120 second respawn, spare clips: 0)
1x Sniper Rifle (120 second respawn, spare clips: 2)
1x Energy Sword (120 second respawn)

2x Sub Machine Gun
2x Plasma Rifle
2x Mauler
1x Magnum
1x Plasma Pistol

Weaponary on the map is varied enough to balance out mid-short range combat, with the key power weapons being a Sniper Rifle, shotgun, and energy sword. I couldn't have included one without the other I'm afraid, and the balance comes from people realizing that the open areas are generally better for picking up kills, with the map not lending itself well to potential campers.

BR starts are highly recommended. That's how it was tested, and that's how it should be played. AR starts don't make for a tactical game in my opinion, even though the weapon is a great one for support.

The sniper rifle is an interesting one. During playtesting, it's been a great weapon for anyone that can use the weapon to a fairly high standard. I've seen some fantastic close range work with it, with the scope being used mostly for the occasional quick snipe. There isn't any one place that a lone sniper can occupy without difficulty so in FFA games it becomes a weapon for taking off the odd shield and putting in a BR shot. It pays to keep moving around, as no single area can claim to have a fantastic line of sight. In small team games, a sniper can wreak havok if covered by team mate. Otherwise, you're likely to be outsmarted and flanked. If you haven't got bloody brilliant reflexes, you'd be better off with the plasma pistol for shield removal.

The turret is a notable inclusion to the map. Cries of "Overpowered!" should be dismissed immediately. It's actually quite limited in its deployment as potential opponents can easily escape its line of sight. Nonetheless, it offers a potent method of dispatching any vulnerable players who aren't quite aware of their surroundings. Anyone caught of guard will be ripped to shreds. In team objective games, the attackers can remove the turret, and use it to punch into the defense.

I should note, that I've tried to include a variety of dual wieldable weapons. The plasma rifles can be great in close quarters, alongside the SMG and plasma pistol. The maulers give players the chance to be a little more aggressive in their play style than they would be with an AR.

After even a few games, it became apparent that rockets do not suit this map. Initially, they sat in the centre of the pillars, between both sides of the map. However, they were too much of a controlling factor, and didn't encourage anything remotely resembling tactical play. Hence their removal.

Equipment:

1x Bubble Shield (90 second respawn)
1x Overshield (120 second respawn)
2x2 Plasma Grenades (30 second respawn)

Equipment on Kineticism is limited to a single Bubble Shield placed slightly off centre. The chosen respawn rate of 90 seconds is designed to give it a good bit of usage. However, as the sole piece of deployable equipment on the map, it serves a major tactical purpose. Offensively, it can be used in small objective games to cover an attack or block a pathway from enemy bullets. Additionally, it allows the map's close quarters weapons, namely the shotgun and energy sword to increase their versatility and expand outside the confines of the lower passageways. As a defensive aid, the Bubble Shield needs little explanation, and its ability to change the dynamic of a battle is unrivaled.

The overshield is an interesting one. Initially, I opted for an Active Camoflage in its position under the foundation pillars. Quickly, I realised that camo, alongside the sword and shotgun would be too much of a powerful tool. Additionally, attackers would gain too much of an advantage from camo, especially when considering the map's size. The overshield is never enough to turn the tide of a battle, but it can certainly help a well formulated plan to work. In 2v2 objective games, it can give the attackers that little something to get the flag carrier a few metres further. In a FFA, it can at least get you a kill.

Plasma grenades were the sticky of choice this time around. I'm always fearful that grenades can start to accumulate in FFA games, usually to a map's detriment, so I opted to leave out frags. In smaller team games, grenade availability can obviously become an issue if you're not willing to work tactically. I tried as hard as possible to limit spamming, and I won't bow to pressure to include frags. Besides, you're always going to have a little spamming, it is Halo after all. The convincing factor for Plasma inclusion was their abilty to serve as an effective counter to the sword and shotgun; so if you happen to be out of the close quarters loop, you've still got a chance in those narrow passages. They're also great for taking out any would-be turret whores.

Gallery

My test matches aren't saved onto my recent games, so I fired up a custom on my own (no friends online at 04:46 I'm afraid) to snap a few shots. Action shots should eventually follow unless of course the map ends up on page 32 within a few hours.

As a side note, I found it incredibly difficult to get some decent shots, largely due to the fact that the interior is quite compact, and the exterior is...well the outside walls (and roofs) hardly look neat!

Anyway, I hope the shots can at least intrigue you enough to download. It's very difficult to get a feel for the map simply from these screenshots.

View from the attackers' spawn.


The bottom bridge 'a la Narrows' with Overshield in the centre.


Sword [blue] room - one of the mid points between the two bases


Exterior entrance to the main base, showing bubble spawn and a wooden plank [yes I used a wooden plank and didn't feel the need to interlock it. The next time you see a builder interlock wood and concrete for scaffolding, you tell me]


Back entrance to the main base, also showing the exterior of some of the tunnels found below. Shottie spawn in found near the Spartan on the right.


A risky jump between Overshield bridge and through the window of a parallel room.


Emerging from a passage


I'm not going to bore you with pictures of tube insides, but I can assure you, theres quite a bit to the map that I couldn't photograph, mostly because I kept running out of space, but also due to the fact that screenshots are ridiculous in confined tunnels. It's also 0630 here, so I should probably get to bed, and apologise for any grammatical errors in the text. I'll fix it later hah.

Anyway, I hope you all have some comments to make, I'm looking forward to some criticism and advice. Thank you.

Download Kineticism

 

I thinl 'confusion' is a fairly valid criticism of the map. For a game to work, players need to know the map. I found it quite difficult to 'keep things simple'. I completely strayed from my original plans, and perhaps went slightly overboard with the lower section. I still maintain that all those paths were necessary, especially the chute leading into the tunnels, and I worked to nullify campers with some fusion coils.

The sword room was a strange one actually. Originally, I had planned to open up that area a bit. In the end though, I needed to be a bit economical, so I decided on putting a pretty room somewhere. The sword came to mind when I interlocked the tube into some wedges, and I immediately knew that the sword would look great there, and actually fit with the map.

Thanks for the feedback

 

I tried very hard to reduce the amount of short range weaponary, but I felt that the sword's existence obligated the inclusion of a shotgun. Remember, the shotgun only has 1 clip of ammunition to play with, so it can't completely dominate. Throughout testing, even with the number of short range weapons, players had a tendency to move to the upper levels for more open combat. Don't get me wrong, the short range weapons are powerful, but the BR (or carbine) is the weapon of choice and its ability to complement a well-placed grenade is unrivaled. If players do choose to camp in the lower tunnels, a typical H3 grenade spamwich is usually enough to get rid of them.

I'm still open to the idea of a rocket launcher, but in testing I couldnt find a way for it to work. On this map, rockets, and to an extent, the brute shot would be far too potent even without the fact that they require no skill whatsoever.

 

Thanks for the feedback everyone

Now I'm generally quite happy to take criticism... if it's constructive, but your comments are quite frankly ridiculous. Now I'll try and make responses to each of your points, I apologise if I make any stupid assumptions.

"No purpose for going onto the top of the map"
By that logic, there's no purpose to BR3 on Blackout. The top of the map serves as a strategic vantage point where a solid BR will win through against power weapons. I don't know how you play your slayer games, but I'm not interested in AR starts or anything similar. I've seen a tendency amongst the people that win games on this map to stick at the top with a BR and occasionally dive underground for a little calm.

"as u cant see much of the below levels from up there anyways."
Now without glass floors, I can't deal with this point. If a multi-tiered map is too complex, then stick to something else.

"i struggled to find anything i wanted such as weapons and powerups"
Perhaps spend a game to familiarise yourself with the map before jumping into a serious match. I'm baffled as to how you couldn't find the sword. To be honest, it's in one of the most obvious parts of the map. I can't make apologies for your inability to locate items. The map is fairly complex, yes, but if you're not putting time into learning a layout, then it definately won't be fun.

"also didnt like the slit wall pieces being used in the flooring"
Slit walls? There is one example of a slit wall being used in the floor. Don't fabricate your comments with falacies. The reasoning behind it is fairly obvious if you took a minute to think about the layout. Below the hole is a turning in a lower corridor... the hole gives people in the upper area the opportunity to flush out anyone thinking of camping with a well placed grenade or BR spray. It also opens up the map aestheically, so the bottom isn't completely enclosed.

"alot of bumps"
You need to be more specific, since everything is interlocked as well as feasibly possibly. There are a couple of places where the map can jerk you upwards slightly, generally in places where there's a notable change in height, and the ramp may be angled to allow the player to walk over it. If you're having problems with 'bumps' in the central areas of any floor, (which nobody else has) then it'll be a problem with forge, and it's system of floor unalignment (refer to Bungie's recent article on the matter... I'll spare you the details).

"Im sorry if that sounds mean, but IMO it doesnt work as a map. better luck next time. 1/10 "

I understand that you didn't enjoy whatever you did on the map, which in all honesty is the only part of your 'opinion' that matters. The support you've given to your 'opinion' hasn't made any feasible points about what could be done to improve the map, nor have your problems been specifically the map's fault. I'll stress again, that the map's layout probably neccessitates a decent warm-up or forge-through so that you have an idea of what you're doing. If you can't navigate your way around a pillar, then I've got little patience for unconstructive comments. The overshield is in a fairly obvious part of the map, and if you couldn't find it, I really don't have sympathy.

I'm well aware that the map could be confusing, but that's how it is unfortunately. Epitaph is confusing for a first-time player... Orbital could be confusing. At least if you explained what you did (number of players, weapon starts) I could offer some potential fixes... or you could even go as far as to suggest something that I could change... as it stands though, your criticism is completely unworkable, and whilst I can understand some of your points, I remain unconvinced of their general validity.

 

@ Milk Assasin - An opinion is an opinion. Good that we both accept that

@ Xylom - originally the grenade jump could be done off of the turret... but I see the possible route one could take with a decent attempt. I'm glad you've flagged that one up.

The grenade jump from the cover is not possible. It's almost possible... I'll give you that, but I've had people try and try and not get get to the top. Originally the cover there was slightly taller and it was possible to grenade jump, but I'm almost 100% sure that it cant be done. Now I say that, and someone will go and prove me wrong!

@ Dylan - The guardian/blackout mix was my aim from the start, with one powerful position but several incentives to move around the map... I think the whole combination of levels is important... otherwise I think maps can turn out too linear.

Thanks for the responses guys... I appreciate the feedback!

~ Joe