Outline Outline (formally Abridged) YouTube - Halo: Reach Custom map Abridged Outline is a large asymmetrical map with symmetric tendencies. It was designed like a smaller map, but intended for larger scale battles. This allows Outline to offer a more intimate combat space and focus more on foot combat rather than vehicular battle. The map features urban enclosed elements as well as an open air environment. The result is a map that at times can feel like Turf, Headlong, Hang em High and even Lockout, but on a much larger scale. This variation in play space helps accommodate players of varying styles, so Abridged has something to offer any player. This map is big, so I recommend a bigger party to get the most out of the map, although I've still had fun playing 3v3 skirmishes on it. Most of the map is very easy to learn and navigate, although there are some trick jumps that players with knowledge of the map can take advantage of. At it's core, Outline is a horseshoe shaped map with two bases at each end, and a bridge which directly connects the two bases to one another. The bridge becomes a pivotal point to control during a flag match, although there are many ways to get to each side of the map. Human Weapons: DMR - 8 Sniper Rifle - 2 Shotgun - 2 Assault Rifle - 4 Rocket Launcher - 1 Spartan Laser - 1 Frag Grenade - 2 Covenant Weapons: Plasma Repeater - 3 Needler - 2 Needle Rifle - 2 Plasma Grenade - 6 Vehicles: Warthog - 2 Mongoose - 2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Below are various images of the main feature of the map: the bridge. The bridge becomes a pivotal point to control during flag matches, because it is the quickest route from one base to the next. However, players carrying objectives cannot jump the gap on the bridge. Meaning players will have to sacrifice themselves in order to move the flag back to their base quicker. It's a dangerous route during flag matches, but the right teamwork can make it a very capable capture route. Shown below is the core of the map. Naturally most of the action will gather here. Each side has varying structures that will give them an advantage over another area, however, each space also has it's weaknesses. This creates a "rock, paper, scissors-like" playing space. This means that no one area should be too dominant. Near the waterfall is one of the power weapons on the map, the rocket launcher. It becomes quite useful against personnel as well as warthogs driving through the center of the map. There are also several pathways throughout the center to help vary combat and make the map feel larger. The second power weapon on the map is located on the landing pad. And while the Spartan Laser is quite powerful in open aired environments, it's initial spawn location doesn't offer the greatest view. This forces players to push to either the center of the map, or to one of the two bases. The outer pathways are also a good way to sneak past your enemy located deeper within the map. (Version 1.1 and up features the new outer pathway system shown below, which offers a better pathway system from red to blue side) Red base features a single building, a base structure and a large alleyway for vehicles. The red building (I refer to as the hospital) houses a med pack and a Plasma Repeater. The alley way holds a sniper rifle with one extra clip of ammunition. And the base itself holds a shotgun and a plasma pistol. 4 DMRs can be found all throughout red side. Blue base features a single building, a base structure, and a narrowing alleyway. The blue building (I refer to as the cathedral) holds a Plasma Repeater and a med pack as well. The alleyway contains a sniper rifle with one extra clip of ammunition. And the base structure holds both a shotgun and a plasma pistol (noticing a pattern?). 4 DMRs can be found throughout blue side. This map has been a lot of fun to build and test, hopefully everyone else will enjoy this map as much as I do. Thank you to the Testers Guild and everyone else who has helped influence this map. I couldn't have done it without you guys.
This map seriously rocks. I've had a TON of fun helping you test this a couple times, and I dig the changes you made to it between the two iterations I saw. Great layout, great matches. You got something special here, man. I hope others realize it as well. Good luck in the contest dude.
Ha! I've never been so inclined to download a forge map. This is probably the first thread I've seen that I could not pass over and feel fine about. I know I would have missed something special. Can't wait to play this, and I assume this is in Forgetacular, so best of luck to you. From the thread, I would not be surprised if this turned out to be a winner. Hopefully I return here with real feedback, but great work! Thanks for this! Edit: Well now that I got my 360 repaired I at least hopped around on this bad boy a bit. But jeez, it took me forever! That was the first thing that hit me about Abridged, is that you made so much out of what's there with your layout. That was really impressive, and exploring all those routes was simply pleasing. Running around on it just felt right, nothing impeded me from just feeling natural. Another thing that made Abridged feel so expansive is that it has everything. Large open spaces, ramps, buildings, perches, a main bridge, catwalks, multiple stories, a tunnel, alleys. You name it, it's there and the fact that it all is fit together so well has gotta satisfy anyone's gameplay tastes. And, of course, to top that all off it looks awesome, the right kind of awesome. Meaning it's not just over-the-top aesthetic parts, but architecture you might find in real life or in campaign. And what all of that achieves is something that will set this map apart. I was immediately associating feelings and memories with certain parts of the map and I was eager to make more as I first started exploring it. It felt just like how I felt when playing on any new Bungie-made halo map. I think that effect is something that you either stumble upon by chance, or you really are a one man level design team. You must have worked on this FOREVER dude, so congratulations on all of this. I hope to god this wins Forgetacular, so I can play it regularly.
I don't know what i like about this map. Its both incredibly complex yet brilliantly simply. the layout seems solid, the aesthetics look beautiful and some of the features seem to be very different but familiar. Are you submitting this? I think you should.
I remember testing this; I have yet to play the release version, so I'll have it queued to DL later tonight. I did really enjoy the urban environment you'd created in the map as well. It brings something different and unique to the Forgeworld maps we see on a common day to day basis.
Yeah you were one of the first people I showed the map to a month or so ago. It has certainly gone through many changes since then, all for the better. I'm definitely proud of the release version. I definitely submitted this into the forgetacular event, so I have my fingers crossed. A win would be wonderful, but I know there are a lot of other great submissions out there. And I always appreciate feedback! Yeah I wanted the layout to be simple enough that a player could pick up the basic layout pretty quickly, yet still have those all important nooks and crannies to remember. I think it's those small details that make the classic maps work so well. It didn't change too much since it went through the tester's guild, although there were some small alterations to red side that should shake things up a bit more, along with some changes to the spawn system. A big thank you to the tester's guild for helping me out! Your work was quite valuable!
Oh wow, it's this map. I can honestly say that this is the best map that I've yet to test, mostly because I love the urban backdrop and the structure of the map. Having never played Halo 2, I missed out on a lot of stuff like Turf and Headlong, and this really helps fill the void of a large urban map for me. It was also really versatile; there was plenty of CQC, running around with Snipers or gunning people down with Warthogs, and the map was really well orchestrated for some neat encounters. I'll have to donwload it and see what's changed from the beta version.
This map is tons of fun. The design is awesome, with the bridge being a key part of the map while still not being overused. I especially like the design of the bases, as a lot of great battles took place in there (like me getting owned in the last picture trying to stop them from capping the winning flag). And the infantry combat was balanced excellently with the vehicle combat. There were a few questionable spawns, but it wasn't too bad. Good luck with forgetacular. If I lose to you, I honestly wouldn't be upset at all.
Played it last TGIF - Lots of fun, except CTF spawns were a little zany, though that could just be the game's spawning engine. Otherwise, it was absolutely awesome. I think there was ONE spot where I found framerate lag, when I looked down the long "road" opposite to the bridge. Good luck in Forgetacular!
Yeah, I had just altered the spawn areas at that point and forgot to set them to be gametype specific. Spawns work much better now after that little blip. And I don't believe there should be any framerate lag from any angle on the map. I did some pretty thorough testing to make sure, so hopefully you were just experiencing good old fashioned lag. Or if you haven't installed reach onto your hard drive, that could be why as well. I'll have to look into it though. Thanks for your feedback!
If not installing Reach to your HD causes FPS lag, then that's probably it. I've only got like 1 GB left on my HD
This was a good level, I really liked it, it had a unique urban atmosphere, and an original map layout and design I helped test this map and it was truly an honor, stuff like this is better than any of the crap Bungie passes as a map by far, congrats. BTW I think that's me getting air in the jeep I'm not sure.
Sorry I missed out on the testing (didn't see your invite until I was about to get off), but I got a real kick out of hopping around your early versions of this map. Glad to see DtL is back and bringing us some awesome urban maps.
This is a fantastic map, i enjoyed testing it with you. The flag passing over the bridge is great as it promotes teamwork and can also help provide some important time for defenders. Good luck with forgetacular, this will give most maps a run for their money.
I haven't had a chance play any custom games on this yet but I did do a walkthrough and I was very impressed. And I mean, I could find no problems, the design was amazingly perfect. There were soft kill barriers everywhere where a player could get an unfair advantage, but not in places where a tactical jetpack user could succeed for a little while which I thought was great and more people should pay attention too. I also loved all the tactical jumps you made available. Excellently placed crates that seemed aesthetically pleasing and had an important purpose. I could move from almost any level quickly with some easy, some more difficult jumps. Having the cut off bridge was a stroke of pure genius. Reminds me of how in lockout there was that small gap near the sword area and the bottom of the center area that if people didn't pay attention they'd fall to their death. Providing players with a quicker path from base to base which is possibly more dangerous is a great example of map design which encourages balanced flow everywhere in the map. I also thought weapon placement was great. Further proving that you don't need to set weapon physics to fixed to have weapons stand out in their spots. I loved how the 3 main power weapons; snipers, rocket launcher, and spartan laser, we had their unique spots in the map and require a battle just to get to them. (Except maybe the snipers as each one is available near each team spawn). I liked how almost anywhere I was in the map I could get more DMR ammo or pick up a useful weapon. So, if it seems I'm lavishing praise too often and with too much hyperbole, it's because it is all true, and I hope to play this game in customs soon and in Matchmaking.
I don't think it causes lag, but I know Reach is optimized by having it installed on your hard drive. If you can find room on your HD, I highly recommend it. Unfortunately that was from a much, much earlier test. But you see that particular scene quite often in Abridged. Oh no worries, I have yet to get a game in on Crown of Flies, so I think we're even ;-). And hopefully I should have more stuff cookin' in the near future. Originally I had planned for the bridge to only be jumped by players using sprint (and the jetpack of course), however that limited other AA options and I wanted more varied movement throughout the map. So my next option was to limit objective carriers, since the bridge is a direct connection to both bases. I think the pro/con list is fairly even, and a team focused on holding the bridge can have their flag taken from the back alley if they're too concentrated in one place over another. The concept is a bit similar to what you saw in Rat's Nest actually, now that I think about it. Even though I have the softkill barriers on top of the buildings, I've seen some players use that brief time window to jetpack on top of the buildings and pick off a few players in the few moments they have before being killed. It was an interesting strategy I had never thought of when building the map, and can probably be used to break set ups if necessary. And I did have variously skilled players attempt the tactical jumps while in testing, so most of them should be accomplished by the average player (unless you're using an odd controller configuration, I noticed that caused problems). And the sniper isn't difficult to get at the beginning of the game, but once the game starts, you're much more vulnerable running out into the open to grab the rifle. So it too can be risky given the right circumstances. Thanks for the feedback, hopefully you can get some people together and play a game or two on it.
Ohay. What's going on in here!? I remember this map when we were testing it. Very fun to play. The gameplay was amazing and the aesthetics of the map reminded me much of headlong with a New Mombasa mix. I'm seeing from the pictures that the areas that needed some work have been fixed, and although my favourite area (the grass between the ramps in red base) it still looks very nice. Downloaded this. Keeping this for quite a long time.
This map looks pretty sweet. I like the layout. ...plus,the name, "Abridged" was my placeholder name for the map I eventually called "Tension Span",so it definitely got my attention...and my dl!