Morpheus - A Halo 4 recreation of the 4th most downloaded fan-made level for the 1997 game, Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight (better known as JK). Original level by "Bug" in 2000, who was one of the best level designers for the game, and also created "Atlantis" and others. ATTENTION: PLEASE REFER TO MAIN MAP THREAD FOR ALL INFORMATION ABOUT THIS MAP Recreated by JKaddict, GT "ExTerrestr1al" While this is not my first forge map (and I hope it shows) it is my first official published map for the community. Thanks to Psychoduck for inspiring me to make this after watching his video on Jump Pads. I realized suddenly, "I could make MORPHEUS!" I dropped other projects and dove right into this concept. The result was the "Super Jump Pad" design featured in this map. What the heck is Morpheus, you ask? Jedi Knight was one of the first and biggest fanbased communities built around level editing, and is actually still alive today. Though, now days, level designers are using hi-res textures to make it look more current. Morpheus was a level that featured jump pads placed around the level to allow you to jump from building rooftop to rooftop like Morpheus did in "The Matrix". The fast-paced running of JK gameplay married itself beautifully to the jump pads concept and coupled with higher damage added to some of the weapons, it made for great fun, no matter what number of players you had. Primarily, I was concerned with replicating the exact design of the original, with little care about how it would affect Halo gameplay. Secondarily, after testing w/ some friends which some of them were Halo noobs, I realized the level needed to be more "noob friendly" with fewer places to fall into the abbyss and more ways to save you from dying from a poorly executed jump. More visual cues needed to be provided to show players where they can and cannot make a jump. FEATURES: SUPER Jump-Pads with unique design Building tops surrounded by a full 360`city-scape view. Higher jump height everywhere Faster player run-speed everywhere No fall damage anywhere (except falling into abyss) Slightly higher damage from weapons to compensate for large distances (110%) These attributes when blended together offer a balanced results. Game-types Supported: (best with classic Slayer types) Slayer, Team Slayer, Infinity slayer (if you really must), 2 Flag CTF, and King of the Hill. (If suicides are a concern, modify gametypes to not penalize deaths/suicides. Once familiar with jumps that should not be a major concern, however.) Recommended Players: 2-8 Some pre-emptively answered questions (PAQs): Spoiler Q: Do I need a special game-type to fully enjoy the unique gameplay of this map? A: No. A large trait zone defining player movement covers the entire map, and other localized ones modify it to provide you the abillity to jump just right without any gametype customization. EDIT: You may want to alter some gametypes for no death/suicide penalties if you fall a lot. Q: Why is everything so flat and open? A: Because that's how the original was, and it was fun. Just try it out. A jump height of 110% and Speed of 150% (I think) creates a faster moving target that does not suffer from long lines of sight (LOS) in the same way other levels do. Q: Why did a particular jump not execute properly? A: Probably based on the player's movement prior to hitting the jump. Try to hit them cleanly and toward the center of the pad, though anywhere on the pads should work to a lesser degree. You will get best results from hitting the center. Q: Why did you increase player damage to 110%? A: Because of the larger distances involved and to help get closer to the larger explosions of the Morpheus weapons. (weapons could be modded using the levels themselves) Q: Why are jump pads designed with this particular technique? A: Because I needed a bigger boost. Placing a trait zone (or multiples) with a One-Way shield makes you bounce off of the pad much better and projected much higher/farther. it also adds a visual style to the level which is unique (for now). Q: Why is this particular weapon placed where it is? A: Because it corresponds closely to a weapon placed in the original. Rocket Launcher corresponds to old-school "rail gun" for instance. Q: Why are there mines on top of the buiding w/ the sniper rifle? A: To emulate that there were placeable mines in JK which were located in that same spot in original Morpheus map. You can't pick these ones up, but they are not there just for decoration. If you think someone is going for the sniper rifle, you can shoot one of these mines from across the level and get a kill to eliminate the wannabe sniper Q: Why are all of the buildings floating in space? A: I wanted to close it all off, but the limitations on number of Wall pieces forced me to leave some things open, but when you are not looking for the gaps, the level does appear to be in the middle of a cityscape which is not floating. Q: Why are the jump pads at each base using a different type of shield and mancannon from the rest of the jump pads? A: First, the game only lets you use 6 items from the "Shields" menu, and I just ran out. Using a red-colored Dominion base shield allowed me to get a similar look to the others. Second, the different type of mancannon offered the ideal type of lift/jump for the placement of these two. It was all done very intentionally and works great. Q: Why is there a jump pad on the Red Base when there wasn't one in the original Morpheus? A: Because I wanted to enable team-based gameplay here, and both sides, while asymetric in layout, needed to have similar features to provide equivelant gameplay for both sides. This is also why in CTF you will not see the teleporter appear. Q: Why are there trays, rocks and soft-kills placed around edges? A: These were all part of making sure the player knew which areas were playable versus which were just for decoration. The rocks discourage players from climbing over the edge into the abyss, trays catch players who don't perfeclty execute jumps (most of the time), and soft-kills are used to just barely give a warning when you are at the edge of some cliffs. Once a player has run around the map, though, they should know where the safe areas are very quickly. Q: Why are some weapons as normal pickups and others are Initial drops? A: Because I wanted to alert new players where the good weapons are, and control the ammo in some of the others. Q: Why are grenades placed in groups of three when Halo only lets you pick up two? A: This is one of many things done merely to pay homage to JK, where "Thermal detonators" usually came in packs of three on a belt of sorts. Q: Why are there no Jetpacks placed around the level? A: Because JK did not have them, and they are lame in Halo IMO. I've made sure this level will not favor someone who tries to bring in JetPacks to get around vs using the jump pads. That's simply not the type of gameplay this was designed for. Q: Why is there a building with a diagonal piece coming out of it extending into another building? A: I know it looks weird, but that is true to the original and awesome just for that reason alone I hope everyone enjoys this level! In fact, I'd love to play it with some of you, so add my Gamertag if you would like to get in on some Morpheus customs!!
Wow, that map brings me back to my Jedi Outcast single player days. I'm not paticularly sure how Morpheus will play in Halo 4; but you know what, who cares? It looks like Morpheus could be a blast to kick around on with a whole variety of gametypes. I'll see if I can download and play on Morpheus some time with my friends.
I didn't know any one still played the original Jedi Knight. I sunk so many hours into that game. I'd play that over Halo if it were re-released on XBLA.
wow, I must say I'm surprised that both comments already mentioned something about loving Jedi KNight and Outcast (basically JK II). As far as how this plays on Halo 4. GREAT. I did some more play testing w/ a friend last night and even w/ two players it is fun as heck. I did make one basic change, so if you downloaded before say, 8:30 or 9:00 eastern last night, please download again. Player Damage is now 110% instead of 125% so that it still takes two body shots w/ a sniper rifle to kill. Even 1v1 CTF is fun. Imagine... mid-air laser shots (while you AND/OR your enemy is flying through the air) high jumps and firing down needler shots as you land. going for the sniper rifle as someone detonates mines to cut you off, or carefully detonating them yourself so they can't kill you w/ them. The whole time me and Matt, my friend, were commenting "wow this will REALLY be fun with even two more people". SO YEA, DON'T WORRY ABOUT NEW TYPES OF GAMEPLAY, because this really does work great. ANd as for emulating Jedi Knight even more, the "sword room" has two quickly spawning (1 minimum) swords that are as close to a lightsaber as you can get.
I really like the look of this, aesthetically. The silos have been used effectively and you've managed to allow room for the Impact skybox to shine through, which is a really nice touch. Regarding gameplay, I have no idea how it will play but it does look really fun. I'll DL and play a 1v1 with a friend sometime - I'd imagine we'd have a lot of fun blowing ourselves up.
thanks The map is totally finished so anyone who wants to grab it should go right ahead! The gameplay is a little different than most maps, but it's a very awesomething once you get used to it and it all just comes together. regarding the silos... that was challenging. I just barely used up the allotment of walls, silos (due to shadow budget), almost used all available blocks etc. and had to start using bridges and inclines as buildings and walls. It's a miracle that it just barely came together using what Halo has available. 1v1 is fun, but try to play with 3 or more and you'll really see the fun stuff! (CTF & KOTH enabled)
Wow, I love the jump pads everywhere, very underused in Halo nowadays in my opinion. And I agree wholeheartedly with the "jetpacks suck in Halo" bit
glad you liked it! Did you DL and play it yet? Also, anyone trying to send me FR's I think something is blocking me from receiving them even though my settings should allow them. I may need to contact Support because I've seen some FR messages come up on my screen but when I go to look at them they aren't there... If any of you have tried to send me a FR please PM me here about it. Thanks. [br][/br]Edited by merge: I've made a few small tweaks such as modifying the "catch trays" to prevent people who can't seem to make a clean jump from dying as much. those who are good at movement in Halo shouldn't really have a problem, but still. It's safer now. I've also changed Hill locations and labeled them better (previously they were all called "A"). placed another weapon or two and other small tweaks. go get the freshest copy from my fileshare - ExTerrestr1al and let me know what you think once you play it w/ friends.