<<UPDATED>> DOWNLOAD LINK 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" among others. 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 result. Game-types Supported: (best with classic Slayer types) Slayer, Team Slayer, 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.)[/COLOR] Recommended Players: 2-8 NOTES ABOUT USING JUMPS SAFELY: Initially players did not know which ledges can be lept from and which cannot, which caused frequent deaths. Also, some jumps can provide different results based on how you hit them. Here is how you should hit them: If running over a jump, try sprinting over it and pressing the stick forward/left/right to steer while watching where you are going to land. If you are falling down onto an angled jump, try pressing your stick against the jump as you hit it, and then pushing forward w/ stick and steering left/right as needed. Walking up against an angled jump will always produce a reliable trajectory. Jumps that are poorly executed can often be saved by pressing the stick in the desired direction if done soon enough. Experiment in practice to find other trick jumps available. Some of which are featured in a "Jumps of Morpheus" video I'll be posting sometime soon. (Available on fileshare now) If practiced, there is no reason you should ever die from these jumps, especially now that they've been fine tuned. Video: (Note: This video was prior to many cover & safety changes made after playtesting with Friendly Fire Customs on 1/28/2013. Thanks to Fenix Hulk for the video capturing/posting. (see below for detailed changes made from version seen here) Morpheus FFA Slayer - YouTube SCREENSHOTS: (notice the changes since video above such as railings along walkways and additional cover.) MORE SCREENSHOTS: Spoiler ORIGINAL JK Screenshot ORIGINAL JK Screenshot 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! It's a fun yet potentially competitive experience.
Looks very clean! I would like to see though (pictures, D/L later on today) more of the structures or walkways that you fight on- bases for CTF and so on. I do like the look of it though, pretty neat with the background. The idea of a super pad is cool and if it works well, than thats awesome!
yes the super jump pads work very well. You do have to be careful about hitting them correctly, but seriously I've noob-proofed this level as much as I can stand to. It's not overly easy to die from the jumps and anyone with any sense about them should be able to avoid dying accidentally. But that's the nature of this sort of retro-styled map. Remember when games used to make you aware of where you stand and walk and how you jump? People make too many railings and walls to confine you. Now, gamers think they can just push the s tick in any direction and be safe. Not here. As for shots of the bases, the first pic above is looking over to Red base from the Blue base. It all looks very simple in design, but because run speed is increased some, you really don't need lots and lots of cover. You'll find that there is plenty. ANYONE WHO IS SKEPTICAL must load up this map with a friend and then try to tell me you didn't have loads of fun. Everything is well balanced and thought-out. Hope you enjoy it!
This makes me want to dust off Jedi Knight and have a LAN party. I haven't played JK online in years. *sadface*
yea, it's too bad that it would be almost impossible to get enough people to play a JK LAN party. heck, it was tough back in the day. too bad we can't make a lightsaber in Halo, but at least we have the sword, which also works well on this level (surprisingly). I'd be really curious to see what some of the core community thinks after they've actually played this. Has anyone gotten a custom game with even one friend yet? Cuz even w/ 2 ppl it can be really fun. I think people are just skeptical about jumps being a main feature on a level that they aren't giving this a serious look. Their loss.
I downloaded the map but haven't been able to get any game on it. Personally I love man cannons in maps, the more the merrier. Something about flying fast in the air for a long jump is great adrenaline rush for me. I'm working on a map now that has a big man cannon jump for each team and seems like a lot of fun using it for vehicles too. Whether the map will work out or not I can't say yet but I will try to finish this one. Kinda stuck on alternate routes and the blue team's base design, and I'm sure it has LOS issues, but it's made for BR loadouts to prevent that too much. It's a huge map so I'm trying not to break the lighting and run out of budget. I really like the Morpheus map though, looks like a lot of fun. I just don't have a lot of custom game friends to try these maps on. I usually don't get a chance to ever test one of mine either.
well then that's something we will have to change! BTW, if you see me online and busy in FOrge, you may still invite me to test out one of your creations or just play a game. don't worry about bothering me
Updated file on share to current version, same name. Updated with new and improved screenshots of changes made, and nifty logo posted gameplay FFA 6 player video created by Fenix Hulk (Thanks) Playtesting with Friendly Fire Customs (thanks guys) revealed several needed improvements previously thought to be unnecessary. I must say, while thinking hard about their suggestions, I realized just how much better I could make this map. I am pleased to say this is FAR superior thanks to the feedback received and the incentive to improve it! Changes based largely on feedback from that group: More Ammo - additional rifles placed and each contains more clips. More Cover - All open flat areas now contain at least one obstacle to use as cover. But not so much that it changes the intended flavor of this map. Safety features - Raised ledges of buildings so that a small wall blocks players from unintentionally falling. Additional soft kills placed on edges to show you where danger is. Safety-spec trait zones control jumps to avoid over-shooting a platform. Connected bottom platform to adjacent building to avoid poor jumps from resulting in death. Additional "Jump Assist" trait zones placed in various areas to help make jumps more successful. Remove center platform jump or connect to something worthwhile - this jump no longer goes "nowhere" but straight up and down. It goes straight up to an Incineration Cannon (risk/reward), or can be used when steering with the stick to reach rooftops of several different areas. Sword Room too easy to hold - The two swords spawn less frequently and allow fewer instances. Added purple light to illuminate. Existence of Incinceration Cannon nearby allows more frequent kills against sword. [br][/br]Edited by merge: 3/4/2013 - New file added after further testing/feedback: replaced spartan laser with beam rifle reworked all spawns moved sniper rifle slightly to avoid setting off mines when the weapon respawns no more initial spawn on the bottom dish area. both snipers spawn at 110 instead of 90 tweaked soft kill at red base to warn both top and bottom of being too close to edge. replaced teleporter with halo CE style (green)