Welcome to Sanctum. DOWNLOAD LINK HAS BEEN FIXED, SORRY EVERYONE http://www.bungie.net/forums/posts.aspx?h3fileid=26999047 Recommended Players: 4 to 12 Best Gametypes: Slayer, CTF, Assault Working Gametypes: All Weak Gametypes: KOTH Presented to you by I RIFT I and Company. "Sup' guys!" "Recreating A Classic" When I was creating Sanctum, I wanted to create something special, something competative, and something that would make people instantly feel like they were on a classic, favorite map.Sanctum is meant to feel like a mix-mash cross between the popular maps Beaver Creek, Midship, Santuary, and Snowbound. The first thing you'll notice about Sanctum is that it is NOT a wide open map. I purposefully took the time to constuct many forms of cover, and also many forms of inherant danger, such as Fusion Coils. I didn't want a map where the Battle Rifle was overpowering, taking out anybody from anywhere on the map, and I didn't want any particular part of the map that was so open, you would be foolish travle that way. After countless attempts to build barricades that didn't break the map, it's finally ripe and ready, with an immense amount of polish. After that, I moved on to weapons, and after several weapon placement iterations, it got down to the point that, if there wasn't a weapon there, nobody wanted to go that way. It may seem like there's a ton of weapons on the map, but once you start playing, you don't feel it so much. Base Overview "Give Me A Rundown" I built 2 identical bases, both reminiscent of Midship and Santuary. The bases have two main entrances on either side - a wide set of stairs, and a Grav-Lift side - and one openning on the front. The openning seems to be just an exit, but with the Portable Grav-Lift place towards the middle, it can become a defensive flaw when used against you. Front of Bases Interior, facing Stairs Grav-Lift Entrance On either side of the map are towers of a sort, with a ground level, a second level, and a small third level. The Grav-Lift side of the bases lead to the Sniper Tower/Shield Door Room, while the Stairs entrance side lead to the Fuel Rod Gun Tower/Portable Grav-Lift Hall. Each tower is similar in a few features, but both are very unique. Area Surrounding Grav-Lift Entrance The Shield Door Room is my pride and joy of this map, taking a bulk of the time to create. It has very few flaws, and those present are minor. I placed this here with the spirit of Snowbound in mind, and as I love the shield doors on that map so much, I had to recreate them. Front of Shield Door Room The upper levels of this tower are the setting of the Sniper Tower. It's set up in a way so either team can get to the Sniper Rifle simultaneously, which isn't necessarily a good thing for either side. It does make for some crazy battles though. Sniper Tower Overview On the other side of the map is the Portable Grav-Lift Hall. It was originally very empty and pointless, other than to escape gun-fire, but after some tweaking around, and placing a Portable Grav-Lift, it became another powerful asset. It actually feels a lot like Midship in this area, with a bit of Sanctuary on the side. Portable Grav-lift Halls The upper levels to this tower make the Fuel Rod Gun Tower. It's This time around, as the Fuel Rod Gun presented greater danger, there's only one way up in the middle, so the teams have to compete to even get to the top of this tower and claim their prize. The tower also differs from it's fraternal twin in that instead of being broken apart by the base of the third level, there's a large openning in the bottom of it, so as soon as both teams are up onto the second level, they can see each other. There's also a Needler up here, which is handy when approaching the next part of the map. FRG Tower Overview The two towers are connected by a single bridge, the Sword Bridge. It of course has an Energy Sword floating just above the middle of it. While the Sniper Tower's second level area seems to be a tad bit closer, the FRG Tower has a Needler on the second level, good for clearing out opposition that might be approaching from the other tower. Now, all around the Energy Sword are four, tall, wide pillars. They make for great disruptors in the map, but also serve as a base area for the entire middle of the map, connecting the Shield Door Room to the center, which connects to the Portable Grav-Lift Hall. And right in the middle, just underneath the Sword Bridge, is the Shotgun Barricade. Now I know you might be thinking, "An Energy Sword AND a Shotgun!? Are you nuts!?" Well, no, I'm not. Sword Bridge & Shotgun Barricade It was just too much to have a single Shotgun or Sword on the map, as they would dominate the whole tight-quartered areas, blocking the other team from actually reaching the enemy base. There are also 2 Maulers on the map, but they aren't as effective against Shotguns or Swords as people would like to think, especially in this map. The point of the 2 close range weapons is to offset the other weapon, plain and simple. "So In Conclusion..." There is no one strategy that is more effective than another, and that's the way I like it. I personally find maps like Construct, where holding that center room is the key to victory, to be fun, but too predictable. I like surprises, and that's what you get with Sanctum. I built this map to be fun, explosive, and surprising, so hopfully you all agree. Special Thanks: II Chieftain II, for helping me with overall weapon and explosives placement. CeeJ Mantis 3, for helping me with the concept and design. Rocketdriver, for helping to test out equipment placement. My Friends, for putting up with playing the original version of the map. Forgehub, for helping me to promote my map in an organized fashion. I hope you all enjoy. Old War Photo - "Believe, 2553."
wow, I godda play campaign more, cuz I don't know if this even looks like the level. But I am fairly suer it does, because It looks like you put a lot of effort into it, so good forging pal!
Seems you did a lot of thinking about this map, but I have one HUGE problem. If, say, at start, the two teams meet near the sword area, and Team A kills Team B's players. Team A now has control of the sword, an easy drop down to the shotgun, a small walk over to the sniper, and another small walk over to the fuel rod gun. Team B has...BR's. So the map seems to be set up to be whoever wins the first fire fight wins the game. Correct me if I am wrong if the power weapons are not placed all in the middle. If they aren't, or if they cannot easily be accessed from the central sword area, then I will DL.
Well, those are valid concerns, but alas, that's why the map is built the way it is. There are many weapons on the map, and so far, if one team has monopolised on several power weapons in the beginning, the other team still has a chance to pull back. It's like any other map; if you get the Sniper Rifle, you now have an advantage, if you get the Sniper Rifle and the Sword, you now have multiple advantages, yet on those maps the other team still has a chance to come back. The biggest difference is that there is a much larger volume of weapons on this map. It's rare for someone to get caught in a situation where there can't fight back simply because of a certain weapon. In this case, it's fixed with a small amount of ammo, and rare chances to use the weapons. The close range weapons are great for defending the bases or fighting in the middle, but with weapons like the Carbine and the Battle Rifle right next to each base, these close range weapons are very limited in their capabilities. With the Sniper Rifle and the FRG, the map itself is their weakness. They aren't useless, just less usefull. It's certainly a better idea to attack from your base with a Sniper Rifle than just a BR, and it's better to assault a base with a Fuel Rod Gun than an AR/BR. Again, their ammo is lower, but not too low. It took me a while to change from a Beam Rifle to a Sniper. The problem was that the Beam could shoot twice quickly, destroying the idea that with so much cover, you might be able to escape from a Sniper. Anyway, it's all just talk unless you try it out with friends. I really never ran into problems with one team becoming overlypowerful or unbalanced due to weapons, but with the Halo community, who knows.
Also, Nitrous, what part of the download sequence are you getting stuck at? I just tried it again, as did one of my friends just now, and it worked for us. I'd like to help if I can, sorry for any problems.
I know it doesn't look like it from some of the screenshots, but this map is very well made. Any platform that was built for you to walk on is almost seemless. If there were bumbs that were noticed during testing, they were so minor I just looked past them. Here, I'll be honest, on the second level of the Sniper Tower, there is a slight bumb on the Red Base side of it. If you walk over it, you will lift up about an inch if you walk over it quickly. If you're running, you won't notice it, and if you're walking slowly or sneaking, it doesn't impede your movement at all, just lifts you up slightly higher. It should also be noted that this map has no more room. I did the whole "infinite money" glitch, but eventually I made so much, that the game told me, "You cannot place anymore items on this map, as you have reached the limit."
Maybe you should possibly consider putting put a certain weapon on both sides of the map to help out with balance issues, if you want to play a game on here at some point I'll be happy to help out.
Also, as a quick defense to Al Campwnge post, which I tried earlier, but noticed I was just rambling, there are indeed other weapons and items on the map to help out your team. If you're rushing for the power weapons, you might have ignored them, but they're there, and they're very helpful, as well as near your base. A Brute Shot, or the lesser FRG in this case; Firebomb Grenades, or as we like to call them, Pocket Rockets; there's also several pieces of equipment nearby to help out, like a Regenerator. Seariously, there was never a point when my friends and I were playing where one team became hoplessly omnipotent.
It looks like you have created a very fun team map. There are a few things you've done in this map that I enjoy quite bit. The first being the color of power ups you've used to determine bases. You used the same colors that were available as signs, and I love it. Its a small detail, but I think its very important method to use rather than using an active camo and overshield. I also liked you placement of the sniper rifle with the fusion coils. It reminded me of Lockout, and thats always a good thing. And finally, I had to quote you on this: I think you are the only one who actually liked those shield doors on snowbound. You were the one always down there with the shotgun killing me, weren't you? All joking aside, it looks as though you've created a fun map and I can't wait to play it! [edit]:Your link isn't working
Looks great. The shield doors on snowbound are good for sticking people. pop in, throw, run. Definatly ganna look at this when i've finished revision.
Hmm, let me see if I can get another link real quick. Sorry for any problems guys. Direct Link http://www.bungie.net/forums/posts.aspx?h3fileid=26999047 File Share http://www.bungie.net/stats/Halo3/FileShare.aspx?gamertag=I%20RIFT%20I I put my File Share just in case. I know it's not exactly what you guys want here (yes, I read the FAQs) and is usually frowned upon, but hey, if it helps. I hope it works this time. Oh, and as for the shield doors, yeah, I like'em, but I'm usually the one dying around them. It's my friends who are great at utilizing them. I'm the guy who rushes in and dies... or I sit outside with a Beam Rifle and try sniping people. I actually didn't realize people didn't like them untill just recently.
This map does looked stacked to the people controlling the middle, id suggest giving each team a certain power weapon or two, that way each team has a fair chance
Hmm... I'm open to suggestions as far as weapons go. I've got a bunch of sticky grenades circling the bases, as well a Brute Shots just a jump away. Should I move both Maulers near the bases? 1 near each base? Or perhaps maybe just remove the bottom barricade and remove the Shotgun... or leave the barricade and Shotgun and get rid of the sword... those weapons set up like that were simply there to keep the feeling of Midship within the map though... o'well, if it get's me more votes I suppose I can change it.
The idea of 2 weapons with similar function to try and cancle out, is in my opinion, a good one that I've used a couple of times. But it also depends on the skill of the players. Someone good at sticking could use those stickies around the base and sacrafice himself to stick the sword, then a hidden teammate nabs it before they can reclaim it. But someone hopeless at sticking can't do this so another method like the shotgun or a needler is needed.
Thanks for the feedback GF300. Okay... so the map is a tight-quarters map, great for people using Swords, Shotguns and Maulers, but it also works well with the FRG, as it's shots can actually bounce, and it has a bit of splash damage... what other weapons could I throw in to try and balance it out? I've already got 1 Needler just under where the FRG spawns, so I could just make another and move them to the bases instead. I've got Regenerators that are just in front of each base if that helps at all. I thought they were good offsets to the other power weapons, minus the Sword/Shotgun. There's also lots of dangerous areas where Fusion Coils spawn, even further hindering the close-range weapons. If anybody is up for it, I'd be willing to play a game for test or skirmish reasons. I'm pretty open as far as time goes, so it's up to you guys.
I did a 2player FFA which was fairly balanced since we didn't go for power weapons much, except sniper and occasionaly sword. The flame grenades offered a good chance to defeat sword but sniper was a bit harder since if you shhot them with a br they run and disappear. The spawning was a bit dodgy at times. Did u use respawn zones? But that was 2 players and the map was ment for more wasn't it. got more players now tryin again