“A construction disaster forced this maintenance port to be abandoned. The docking station is hidden away in the shadow of a canyon far from prying eyes. Exposed power conduits still pulse with the dormant power contained within. The site of this terrible crash is now the battlegrounds for many eager Spartans. The long disused machinery provides a variety challenges and trying conditions.” This is my first attempt to make a complete map in Reach. I’ve fooled around in Forge for a while since I got the game but never really finished anything. I used to Forge a lot more in Halo 3 and I am starting to get back into it now that I’ve gotten Reach. First off I’d like to say that Forge has certainly changed a lot. The time tax for learning the techniques is significantly smaller and I think that because of this, the Forging community has grown quickly and the standards for ‘good’ maps have been raised considerably. This map is an entry for the Forgehub Throwdown 2v2 tournament. Thankfully the contest to forge the tournament maps was just the motivation I needed to get my act together and build this. Also, you should note that this map is built for only the Throwdown gametype, or just (Team) Slayer in general, it is not compatible (at least I didn’t purposely add anything) for any of the other gametypes. Saying that, the map is a very small, arena style map. Crank forces players to be alert at all times due to the circular nature of the terrain. The Throwdown gametype itself adds a lot to the style of gameplay; this means being able to navigate quickly and safely is much more important than usual. A careless player will find themselves falling victim to the edges of the map rather than the opposing team. Needless to say, knowing the map will give you a significant advantage since there are many rewarding and strategic positions and jumps for the keen observer. The map is built to allow for mainly mid-range battles; long-range lines of sight are available but dangerously open and close quarters fights are hard to come by due to the circular style but are equally dangerous and punishing for the unaware. I’ll just jump into the pictures now, details about weapons and times can be found at the end. Crank The map opens with this shot of the smoking wreckage of a UFO: Full map layout, Red side is on the Top, Blue side is on the Bottom: The two halves of the map, Right then Left in respect to the previous layout: Here is a close up of the Red side, showing initial spawns (and some crudely added extra info, because I know secretly everyone enjoys it more than fancy Photoshops): A quick look at the opposite Blue spawn, complete with the spawn point visuals: The view down the back corridor, I chose a slatted flooring style to punish grenade spammers without disrupting the map flow: The map includes a lower level for the more daring players, it provides little cover from enemy fire but when used correctly can save your life: The teleporters (same on both sides) - sender followed by receiver – it is important to note that the sender node on the Blue side is linked to the receiver node on the Red side: Plasma pistol, health pack, plasma grenades: Gravity hammer: Here’s a final overhead shot to put it all in perspective, hopefully you can see the maintenance port I had envisioned: Weapons List: weapon x count x respawn time x notes DMR x 2 x 30 x 1 extra clip Needle Rifle x 2 x 45 x 2 extra clips Sniper Rifle x 2 x 120 x 0 extra clips Gravity Hammer x 1 x 90 Plasma Pistol x 1 x 45 x doesn’t spawn at the start Frag Grenades x 4 x 30 Plasma Grenades x 2 x 30 Active Camouflage x 1 x 150 x more like not-so-active-camouflage... Health Pack x 2 x 30 In terms of balance discussion and weapon selection, I think this palette has worked the best so far. The snipers make for a frantic rush off the start but do not last long so they do not give any heavy advantage for one team or another. The hammer is a useful tool but difficult to wield efficiently. Crank tends to keep players away from each other due the essentially cone shape of the map (low in the centre, high on the edges). In terms of the grenade count, some may say that there are a lot on the map compared to its size but I think with the lowered starting grenades built into Throwdown helps counter the issue of spamming grenades. This coupled with the fact that the grenade spawns are not placed in high traffic areas and the longish (in terms of grenades) respawn times should prevent the issue altogether. In general, long grenades are tough to hit effectively and more often than not, players will send them sailing off the edge of the map. In my opinion, the plasma pistol is somewhat of a power weapon for gametypes with low player counts so I made it not spawn at the start to force the sniper contest in the beginning and to reward the attentive players who keep an eye on the game clock. I have tried my best to mix in some aesthetics and keep to a common theme. To the best of my knowledge the extra pieces that went into creating the huge robotic arms and power conduit do not disrupt gameplay (the only aspect that it might impact significantly are some odd grenade angles) and do not cause any lag. I have not tested this extensively though, only splitscreen with my brother. So there you have it, normally I would post more information about the tricks and secrets of the map but I’m going to hold off for now due to the Throwdown competition. The map is small and you should be able to figure them all out for yourself. Have fun; play safe. tl;dr -> Download Crank Here