Authors: Blue, Catmon Map Name: Foothills Map Canvas: Valhalla Map Size: Large Player Count: 12-16 Supported Gametypes: ODST Control __________________________________________________ Description: "In the midnight amethyst, Dealing death with his hands, ODST comes from the mists Above these destroyed lands. Emerging from his waking dream, Black city found at last. Previous events he must redeem To unlock the luring past. Beacon of a long lost fight; Evidence that he must find. Darkness turns to blinding light; A past he must unwind. The path ahead lay distraught and dark, Though hope he can’t give up. Maddening Hell buried and stark, Though into it he’ll jump. He must conclude his quest; See dawn’s pure new light. Though all his friends he’s lost, He must finish the fight." (-Sotha Sil) 2 hours ago, the V-398 Pelican, transporting important information, was shot down by rebel forces. This rebel faction has been spotted in this sector various times, but now they have given away the location of their main base. As an ODST, we will be dropping you into the heart of the foothills and and your mission is to secure the perimeter, as well as the two main co tell towers. The fate of the Pelican's crew is unknown.. ORBITAL DROP SHOCK TROOPER United Nations Space Command (UNSC) Orbital Drop Shock Troopers (ODST) are under the operational authority of Naval Special Weapons (NavSpecWeap). Their methods of operation allow them to conduct missions against targets that more conventional forces cannot approach undetected. The ODSTs perform highly specialized, small scale, high-risk operations such as: • Deep ground surveillance (DGS) • Direct action (DA) • Unconventional warfare • Counter-terrorism operations • Counter-contraband operations • Personnel and special equipment recovery/capture ODSTs are recruited from the Special Operations Groups of all the nations of the Unified Earth Government (UEG). Since the first group of “handpicked volunteers” was activated, ODSTs have been dropping “feet first” into combat. As an ODST, your mission is to drop in and secure the 8 strategic locations around the rebel base. Your drops will be synchronized with your fellow squad members, but they will be totally random. This is a technique we use to confuse the enemy. The element of surprise is on your side.. We managed to get a sattelite scan of the field, as well as hack into the four main security cameras located on the base. Your HUD's will guide you to the eight locations on the field, in which you will place EMP beacons that will help disable any hidden anti-aircraft weaponry. This sattelite scan shows the eight key locations, as well as the drop zones (represented in red). You can also see the location of several vehicles and weapons that you will want to secure to have complete dominence over the rebel group. Here is the main security camera feed: In the first camera, you can see the crashed Pelican. It's puprlose was to carry information to troops on the ground, but it did have some vehicles and weapons stored in it, including a Warthog and a Mongoose, that may have survived the impact. Searching for scattered items will play a strong role in this mission. In the second camera, you will see the command room of the secondary base. This forerunner-styled structure houses one of the two plasma cannons that were responsible for the takedown of the V-378 Pelican. Capturing this control center is a vital part of your mission. In the third feed, you can see a small outpost, fiftied with both a radio tower and a high powered machinegun. After takng control of his outpost, it is reccomended that you leave at least one troop stationed on this gun, seeing as how it offers some very good lines of sight on various other control points. But for God's sake, don't break the damn thing. It's not like it will "respawn." The fourth camera shows you the inside of the primary base. This is where most of the rebels will be stationed and, as you can see, this base contains a lot of firepower. It seems the rebels have built some sort of weapon enhanced motorcycle. Many ground trroops are saying that these vehicles can often take out whole squads at a time so it is advised that you either destroy this vehicle on sight or try and hijack it and use it to your advantage. This is all the coverage we have so far, so do your best to find your way around and use your surroundings to your advantage. Also included is a weapon spec., showing your deployable weapons, as well as weapons and vehicles spotted on the field. Spoiler Capture the Hog This Warthog was dropped out of the Pelican before the crash. As a survivor, securing this hog will greatly help the ODST team dropping in. If you can grab this Warthog and bring it to a safe location, it can provide great protection from the Rebel vehicles. Rocket Racing One of the UNSC's favorite tactic deemed "Rocket Racing," often used to take down Covenant Scarabs, is a tactic that can also be used during this mission. If you find a rocket launcher on the field, be sure to hop on a mongoose. If you have a good driver, you can provide rapid anti-infantry and anti-vehicle strikes on the field. Hot Dropping "Hot dropping" is a term that is used to describe dropping in directly above the enemy, also called a "hot zone." When hot dropping, or dropping in in general, you have the ability to see the entire field. Because you can see a great distance, be sure to communicate with both the troops dropping in and the troops already on the ground. You can warn your fellow squad members of rebel troops readying for an attack or trying to flank your teammates. When hot dropping, you also have a tactical advantage over the enemies you're dropping on. You have a perfect view of the enemy's most vulnerable spot; their head. It usually takes about 3 seconds to hit the ground. During this time, you can unload almost 3/4's of a clip onto the enemy, providing a very strong advantage. If you hot drop correctly, you can take out a whole squad of rebel troops before you even hit the ground. -------------------------------------------------- As many of you know, we have just shot down a UNSC Pelican, unfortunately giving away our location. The UNSC will be sending in ODST troops in a matter of minutes and we must protect this base at all cost. Elimate the survivors There were survivors from the crash that are perfectly capable of relaying information to the ODST teams. There were also various weapons stored in the Pelican and can or very harmful in the hands of the ODST's. Suicide Driving Our new vehicle, aka the "Chopper," is a very heavy duty vehicle and can often be hard to control on the terrain we are located on. Being hijacked is a serious factor in this mission, which is why we included a standard Covenant plasma grenade next to the Chopper. If you are ever to be hijacked, you should throw this grenade onto the vehicle, destroying it and keeping it out of the enemy's hands. Storm the Base The secondary base, or "Lake Base," is the least protected base, and will probably be the first place the ODST's will attack. Getting to this base early and holding it down can cripple the enemy's attack, and also allow us to grab a few extra weapons and vehicles. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Foothills ODST Control Spoiler Special thanks to Catmon for his patience, ideas, and all the images he made for the map. Great thanks to Sotha Sil for letting me steal his idea and his poetry :rogue: This was a map that started at least 3 months ago, way before the hype of the new ODST game. We knew we wanted to make a map where the ODST's "dropped in" and we knew it had to be a semi-big map. I once saw a post on Forge Hub saying something like "Sorry, man. You just can't make a good map on Valhalla anymore." I set out to prove him wrong, a goal which I think I managed to accomplish. Hopefully this map brings you back to the old days of Valhalla BTB, while adding a little spice to the gameplay. As for the gametype, it's essentially one-sided territories in which the attacking team "drops in" near or around the territories. 4 rounds, each 10 minutes long. Communication is key, and without it, chaos will unleash. If you are smart and organized, however, you can easily topple your enemies. Just like nomral ODST's, your starting weapons are SMG's and Magnums and, as a standard, you have black armor on. Yes, you do spawn in the air. And remember: "Feet first into hell!" BTW, this was all written on an iPhone. How's that for dedication?
First of all, great post. Like actually. Really looks like some sort of mission briefing. The map is pretty good as well. Everything looks pretty well thought out, and I really like the idea of the ODST drop. I'm working on an ODST map as well with a controllable functioning drop pod on sandbox, and the goal is survival. Kinda like firefight I suppose. You should also give the amount of weapons there are to the map along with the types, but other than that this looks really good. I'm still a bit confused with the whole idea of the ''drop" though.
For once, I can say sir, I appriciate your work. Maps with story lines make the so much better, in what way? A fun way. Gets your mind going! Just how Bungie does with there maps, they all have meaning. Great job on the map, keep on using that mind to create!
You spawn in the air, near or above any of the eight territories. Would you mind telling me what part is confusing? Thank you, I always liked the idea of the crashed pelican so I thought I'd base a map around it. One idea lead to another and this map was born!
lol^ this is great man! Very creative and alot of story behind it makes this an awesome map for pre-DLC. If you made another storyline for a map on Sandbox im pretty sure it would be even more epic ^^ Good job, keep it up 5/5
Eh, we thought about it. To us, however, working on pre-DLC is a lot more fun than working on a blank canvas. I wouldn't get too ahead of yourself. There are many great Valhalla classics from the pre-DLC era out there. We just thought we'd bring something unusual to the scene. Valhalla doesn't get used very often and with the release of Sandbox it gets overlooked greatly. We wanted to show that you can still make original maps on.. well... the original maps.
Great rendition on the ODST concept. The weapons/vehicles are balanced and the zones are evenly placed. It's probably the best use of a pre-dlc map. Dropping from the sky is orgasmic, especially when you teammates are around you and you land on the enemy. True tactical genuis.
Thanks DeathToll. I mean, we did learn from the best But yes, a lot of time went into balancing all of the gameplay while making it tactical and fun at the same time. We wanted to make a game that was easy to "pick up and play," as well as make it very strategic and tactical for more competitive players..
this was great man. Fantastic story, layout, time investede, just great. I love it. 10/10 on style, design and details
i really like the idea, this reminds me of something i was planning to do but never did. You probably did a much better job anyways, and I'll now probably do it avalanche, i think i got the territories set out. Also, can you tell us the rest of the weapons on the map, i'd like to know that, for like the br, since normal weapons are just as important, espicialy since you spawn with mag and smg. Edit A quick question, where can i find the basic blue weapon thingy, in the overview screenshot, like the mongoose, sniper, flag, all those and the rest/more, that would be very appreciated. thx
Wow, this map looks great! I've been looking for some good non-mythic maps, because some of my friends that I play customs with don't have Mythic. You look like you really put some work into the post, and it really grabbed my attention. You got a DL from me. 10/10
this map is pretty sweet i like the way the odst spawn in the air that was pretty good, the only thing is though as far as i know ODST dont use he BR and there are a couple of BR spawns but apart from that 5/5
I'm pretty sure ODST's don't use Choppers, Needlers, Plasma Grenades, or Brute Shots, either. But that's why they're invading a REBEL base, right? And to the other member who wants locations of other weapons, you can't have them. It's better when you scavenge for weapons while fending off ODST' dropping in from the air.
Actually, ODSTs use whatever is availible to them, they do whatever it takes to survive, and sre some of the most BA soldiers humanity has ever created. Well, expect for Spartans like me. This map reminds me of old times, back in 2563-2565, when I had to keep the UNSC intact, even with the countless rebel factions all wanting independance. The SOBs even had the nerve to construct a base on Reach! It was just me and them (and my squad consisting of ODSTs, and maybe Guy if he felt like it (His name was Guy Montag, get this, he was one of those flametroopers, or pyros or whatever you want to call them) but there were alot of rebels) I digress, my bad. It's definently a respectable map, DLC or not, and with a story to remind me of old times, however I can't give a real rating as I have never played it with enough people, I lack enough friends who want to play Halo at one time. But I'll give it a pre-rating (based on firest appearance) I'd give it 4.5 (But take out my own byism about haveing to play as a rebel and you get a 5/5,) But remeber, it's not based on actual playablitity, rather how it looks, it was presented very well, with a unique storyline to a map no one plays customs one anymore, another +. And the idea of spawning in air (while not totally original) Is done in a way that gives meaning to the drop, instead of being an ODST assassination camping trip, thus giving it an original (As far as I know) twist. I Look forward to playing this map with a large party, if you happen to be playing this, send me an invite, I'd love to play it wit the maker of this map. (And yes, 5/5 was my actual appearance rating, just so there's no confusion) P.S. Bump (just noticed that)
Okay first, just want to say, BRAVO very very well done and well thought out map. I really enjoy the story and idea behind the map with the whole mission statement thing, so definite download for me. Just one question though, how did you make the overview of valhalla with the flags and weapons and stuff? that was just genius and im just wondering how for a new map im making (not of valhalla) also how did you make the slide show? I dont expect an answer, but if you have even a second and dont mind your help would be hugely appreciated. Anyway great map : )