Inspired

I was playing a Big Team Slayer match on Spire and, well behind, I was spawned way out at the river, despite all the action taking place around the Spire. As I was alone in this scenery, I got to thinking "This would be a great sub-map of Spire for CTF!"

So, I created Inspired. (In... Spire... Get it?)

INSPIRED
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Inspired is a Slayer/CTF map set on the river of Spire. In fact, the river leads you from one flag directly to the other. The rest of the map is expansive, reaching all the way back to "middle road" (it covers generally the same area as Phase 1 in Invasion: Spire).

Rather than make it a one-flag CTF map where we're forced to cover the same paths from Invasion, the flow of the game follows the river.

Map Overview:


Red Team spawns with their backs to the waterfall:


Blue Team spawns with their backs to the cliff. Be careful Blues!:


Red Flag rests on a rock at the base of the waterfall:


Blue Flag rests here, at the cliffside:


There is limited Forge-ability in Spire, so this was about the most interesting structure I could build to break up some long sight lines:


There are two low-shot mancannons, one near each base that propels players up the river. These send you in a low line along the river, so there is no risk of fall damage:


Gratuitious Action Shot:


Gratuitious Action Shot 2:


Gratuitious Action Shot 3:


Weapons on Map:
DMR x 5
Needle Rifle x 3
Sniper Rifle x 2
AR x 2
Concussion Rifle x 1
Shotgun x 3
Rocket Launcher x 1
Spartan Laser x 1
Gravity Hammer x 1
Plasma Repeater x 2
Plasma Pistol x 2
Machine Gun Turret x 1

Vehicles on Map:
Warthog x 2
Mongoose x 4
Ghost x 1
Banshee x 1
Wraith x 1
Falcon x 1

 

I'd rather remove them, or place the Mongeese elsewhere on the map than move the flag up the hill. Using the river as the connecting points between bases makes for easy navigation as well as breaks away from already used paths from Invasion: Spire (which is where you're suggesting I place the flag). The map is centered on the most neglected parts of Spire. So, I built it there. I'll probably remove them, or move them to more neutral areas, but the flags stay.

As for the Wraith, the play area makes for very tight roads for the Wraith driver. They'll be easily countered/boarded. There's literally nowhere the Wraith could go without being within a quick sprint of a boarding enemy. In fact, the whole map is rather unfriendly to land vehicles, which is why I was not shy about including them. Warthogs and Mongeese are gonna flip, the Wraith is gonna get stuck. The Ghost is the real money maker of the land vehicles.

The Banshee is there to counter the Falcon. The Rocket and Spartan Laser will counter both. Unlike Hemorrhage or Spire, you can't simply fly to safety. You'll always be exposed, so even players with DMRs will be able to wear out the Banshee before they go on 20 kill sprees like in Matchmaking.

 

There are several paths built into the natural geometry of the level, and because of the terrain, the only place you're really exposed is if you march directly up the river to the opposing flag.

I can understand the power weapons being a problem. I'll probably relocate them or remove some of them altogether. The vehicles, though, shouldn't be too much of a problem if you have equally skilled players on each team.

Like I said above, the Banshee (and Falcon) have nowhere to run. The best they can do is lower themselves behind some rocks, but at that height they can be boarded. They cannot retreat into the main section of Spire - that's closed off with killzones. They'll be within range of everyone's DMR shots.

As for the Wraith, you've got probably a meter on each side of the "wings" to navigate the roads and the river. To board this (and destroy it) a player simply needs to stand still and wait for it to pass them, sprint up and plant a grenade. There's so little room to operate the thing, it will be countered easily.