Dormancy is a competitive map built in Forge World's quarry area, otherwise known as the home of Asylum. This is fitting because Dormancy's design is somewhat inspired by Asylum (and the original map, Sanctuary). It has two more or less symmetrical bases and a circular center structure - or in this case, two of them. Where Dormancy departs from this model is in two areas: one, the center structure is a far less dominant position since only jetpackers can use it for elevation, and the second level (top) offers no cover; and two, the map is divided into two major play areas (with multiple doorways between them). The slightly larger area is the outdoor courtyard, reminiscent of Asylum with its rock-strewn terrain and structures integrated into the natural environment. The other is the unmissable, enormous forerunner hall, which overlooks the courtyard and has a vast, vacant, ancient feel to it. Dormancy supports most standard gametypes and is meant for 4v4 play, though slightly smaller or larger is fine too. EDIT 5/16/11 - Re-shared map with slight tweak to spawn zones. Please re-download if you'd like to play the most current version. EDIT 6/30/11 - Re-shared map with added kill zones to prevent escaping the map, and additional starting spawns. Weapons and equipment - 1 shotgun (2 minute respawn) - 1 rocket launcher (3 minute respawn) - 2 sniper rifles (3 minute respawn) - 3 health stations - assorted DMRs, needle rifles, grenades, etc. - 1 needler - 2 plasma pistols Video YouTube - Dormancy (Halo: Reach map) Screenshots Spoiler
Another beautiful map. I like the architectual design of your buildings, they look neatly forged and very creative. Also, I like that you decided to put alittle lighting into the map, it really adds a nice touch as does the natural enviornment. I can kind of see the inspiration for this map, but it's weak. I do like your center-piece too- it's simple yet awesome. The layout looks clean and no-one area looks too open. I honestly don't have anything to complain about, until I can get some games on it. Keep them coming.
This is such a gorgeous use of the Quarry space. It actually feels like a map rather than a bunch of Forge pieces cobbled together. Very nice weapon choices, and excellent sight lines too. My only complaint would be that the building the Rocket Launcher is in feels very open. Other than that, great job!
another epic map from you. anyway, a few things: 1, HOW LONG DID THIS TAKE YOU!?!?!?!? 2, like titan said, the rocket building seems a bit open. 3: awesome job! this map is simple yet elegant, a quality that is hard to really achieve. this should get a feature, dude. =) so yeah, good job, i hope to see more awesome maps from you in the future.
Thanks man, appreciate you checking it out and the nice comments. In answer to a couple things -it took me not that long actually. I sketched a basic idea for the building which was slightly different and spent about an hour building it in Hemorrhage canyon. That version of the map was going to be sort of like the Halo 2 map Gemini, with the hall being the main play area, some side hallways with different elevations, and an outside courtyard area. Then I had the idea to tweak that into what you see here, and rebuilt starting with the hall in the quarry area. From there it took maybe 3 hours to do the basic build, couple more to set up gametypes and spawns, and then I don't know how many hours playtesting and refining it. The building looks more open than it actually is, hopefully. It was planned carefully. The central platform with the rockets was lined up specifically so that players at ground level couldn't see each other over it, which means you can walk along the backside and not be spotted by someone on the other side from you (especially if crouching). You can also walk under the walkway with the "elevators," and there's quite a bit of cover back there. And of course the walkway itself has partial cover and is a good vantage point. Overall though, I wanted to keep that interior simple and clean, and encourage some range fighting - and since it only occupies about a third of the map, your best bet for cover is just to use the doorways to move in and out of the building freely. Think of it as being like just one side of Asylum, outside of the center structure and between the two bases. There's little cover there, which forces you to either be good with a DMR or make sure you know how to move through that area for maximum protection.
i like this map! looks like alot of fun. the round tower in image 4 has been done a couple times : ( are you the original creator of that? I am just asking because you used it for your main image and start of your video. nice song btw
Nah, it's not my idea. I don't really strive to be super original in map designs or aesthetic touches - I just try to make things that I think will be fun to play on and will look good. I'm sure some aspects will be original, and others will have been done a lot. Just how it goes. In this case I just wanted one base structure to look different from the other, so I put on that dome and the orange light. I used it for the banner because I think it looks good with all that wilderness behind it. If anything, I think Forge Hub can be a little too beholden to originality. I've seen lots of maps around here that were crazy popular just because they did something strikingly new, but the same maps were borderline unplayable or had lots of framerate issues.
I really like the rock formation in the middle. Actually, this map looks awesome overall. The bases, however, don't seem much like bases rather they look more like checkpoints. Other than the not-so bases, this map looks clean and well put-together.
Yes, they're basically just structures where the objectives sit. They're not full-fledged bases. The idea is that a team trying to hold their "base" needs to hold that structure and some of the area around it - basically everything on their side of the center rock formation and the fountain.
Yeah, we had some good flag games on this! I love how in CTF the flag ends up in a massive battle when you take it through the rocks and the crazy battles that take place at the start for the rockets. I feel like the bases fit the area, small bases can be a good idea for flag so it isn't impossible to steal. Keep it up man, I'll see you on!
I really like the central building the sides look like theyve been blown out which is very cool. The other great thing about this map is the location. You have done so much with such a small bit of land! I would throw some gameplay footage in the video though give us a sense of how it plays.
I can do that. Here's a gameplay video from a team slayer match. This build of the map is slightly older than the released one - the main difference (maybe the only one actually) is that the two entrances on the hall that face the courtyard, excluding the middle one inside the rock structure, were originally narrower, which you see here. I made them both 1 unit wider and that changed the look of the hall a bit as well, since the front wall was changed to use slightly different pieces. Otherwise though, the layout is the same and this should give a good idea of how it plays. The main reason I made the entrances wider after this was to encourage interaction between those two halves of the map a little more, but I haven't saved video of any play tests following that change. YouTube - Dormancy gameplay video (Halo: Reach map)
Alright wrap this baby up and send it to the world already XD (me and my friends are sorta an unofficial testing team we play and test everything that stands out) (ON TOPIC) we played it and very well it played. I simply love the way this map looks and plays. I could not find anything i disliked about it. personally i think it should be shipped into matchmaking right away LOL. its WAYYYYY better then that POOP they have up there now. wonderful work and you have gained a fan.
Update 5/16/11: I tweaked the spawn zones on this map today and re-shared it. Please download again if you want the most current version. The main thing I did was remove weak zones around the bases - I just don't trust Reach to not spawn players inside a weak zone like half the time, which is not what I was aiming to achieve.
Dormancy Dormancy is an asymmetrical three vs three or four vs four competitive map. Aesthetically it is an asymmetrical map because the bases look different and there being different rock patterns, but in action the game plays like a symmetrical map, mirrored over the center line where the fountain is. The map is situated above the Coliseum and as such means the game-space is relatively small. These smaller competitive maps usually end up being more enjoyable for objective gametypes then competitive slayer ones and Dormancy is no exception. Slayer matches on Dormancy are fast paced, hectic affairs. The small size of the map means players will spawn near each other often and no area seems devoid of action. Players will want to go for the shotgun by the fountain, the snipers by each respective base, and the rocket launcher in the building on the edge of the map. The team that can control these power weapons and use them effectively will most likely dominate the match, but this is true of most maps. The plethora of cover in the middle of the map means a skilled player can duck in and out of cover easily to avoid persistent shooting, but if they venture into the building or by the fountain, they are easy game for players with ranged weapons. Where Dormancy really shines is in games like capture the flag or assault. The bases have a high ground advantage so defense of them is much easier as it is easier to see the enemy coming. However, the bases also have three separate ways of getting into them along with crouch jumping into them. One of the ways into each base is a pair of man-cannons angled to shoot players into the top level of each base. These man-cannons work perfectly and offer a great tactical purpose with just the right amount of risk to get to them. Players should expect very close games and intense offensive and defensive battles while playing capture the flag or assault. Team or free-for-all crazy king along with headhunter are also surprisingly good. There are many hill locations keeping players moving all over the map and they are placed in positions encouraging cover and strategy to keep a hold of. No hill is unfairly placed making for a pleasant competitive experience. Balance is an essential concept for symmetrical competitive maps. Dormancy might not be symmetrical in appearance but it is in gameplay. Distances to power weapons are equal for opposing teams as well as distances to any advantageous position. Each time gets a sniper rifle which makes the small map with some long sight lines a little sniper dominant but there are areas of the map where players can move in and out of cover making it hard on the snipers. The snipers do have long respawn timers to space out this sniper domination forcing players to rely on another weapon. The bases offer a little bit of high-ground to view the play-space and players will often find an enemy or a teammate in the upper level of a base firing a DMR or needle rifle using the bases pillars as cover. This advantageous position is countered by the different ways players can get into the base. The ease of player movement all throughout the map keeps camping to a minimum. There are a few locations where players like to camp, such as the rocky area or by a corner within the building on the edge of the map but, as players will constantly spawn around this area, camping does not last long and will not get that player many kills. This is usually the point in a review when it is mentioned the map is inescapable. Unfortunately and surprisingly, Dormancy can be escaped. On red team’s base by the entrance to the rocket launcher building there are some rocks. Here a player can completely escape the map, even without the aid of a jetpack. A simple grenade jump or a well-timed crouch jump could get players past the rocks and outside the borders of the map. Everywhere else on the map is well covered by soft-kill barriers preventing players from getting any height advantage they should not have. This fact makes it all the more surprising to see a lapse in design. There is also no framerate lag despite some densely packed forge objects, such as the fountain. All the gimmick items work as they should, the man-cannons do not harm the players as they land. The one-way shield door lifts in the rocket launcher building work as intended. The only small hitch with these lifts is that push the player very roughly into the upper level leaving them completely vulnerable to attack for the few seconds they spend after reaching the top of the lift. Spawning, apart from during slayer, works great. There are four to five locations for players to spawn on each respective side of the map, usually in or near some cover in case they spawn near the enemy team. During slayer matches players seem to spawn either in the rocket launcher building or in their base a little more often making the spawns predictable. There also seems to be some issue in the slayer spawns as opposing teams will spawn very close to each other at times. Dormancy is a hard map to classify under a single theme. It seems to have opted for a town square approach. Aesthetic features like the central fountain, the light post on one of the bases, and the main building seem to support this theme. What breaks the consistency of this theme is the rocks. The entire center of the map has a bunch of tall rocks that aid in blocking line of sight and providing a different aesthetic to otherwise grey buildings but it does not fit the desired theme of the map. Another strange aesthetic choice is why one base has a light and the other doesn’t. The bases look different, one has a dome and the other looks very rectangular. This is enough of an aesthetic clue for players to distinguish which base is which. So why does one base have a light and the other does not? The key aesthetic highlights of the map are the fountain, which helps identify the location as the shotgun spawn, and the main building. The main building goes for a tall, arched, ceiling look. This location helps identify the location of the rocket launcher. Lastly the base with the light can be viewed as a key aesthetic. The domed roof and the light make the base seem more important. There is no z-fighting and the rest of the map is forged very cleanly. There is not much color in the map but instead it opts for a more natural look for the outside segments of the map, and a very clean, forerunner grey look for the inside parts of the map. Nothing Dormancy does or has is new in Reach but the combination of some of the features makes for a refreshing experience. The man-cannons used to great tactical purpose. The one-way shield doors used as lifts inside the main building look nice and are obvious to the player that they are lifts. Aesthetic features like the fountain, the domed base, and street light all aid in selling the theme of the map and give it a unique look, which is rare in a competitive map. So while players won’t experience anything they haven’t seen or done before the gameplay experience is refreshing and a good break from some the monotony of other competitive maps. Rating Multipliers Enjoyment: 8 x 3.0 = 24 out of 30 Balance: 10 x 3.0 = 30 out of 30 Durability: 3 x 1.5 = 4.5 out of 15 Aesthetic: 8 x 1.5 = 12 out of 15 Originality:5 x 1 = 5 out of 10 Final Score Understanding the Review Hub's Ratings Have a question about your review? Review Hub Community Feedback
Pac, thanks again for a great review! No unpleasant surprises there except the escapability part - I have no idea how I overlooked that. Map has been updated and re-shared, here's the new download link: Bungie.net : Halo Reach : File Details Regarding the single light, it's just part of the overall theme of the map - symmetric gameplay, asymmetric aesthetics. So the bases look slightly different, the large hall has different entrances at each end, etc. but both sides play roughly the same - I figured just one light would be a way to extend that theme, and it does also provide orientation assistance (not that it's really needed). Also I just thought it looked nice, but your mileage may vary.