Phantasm Creator:The Fuglystick Track Name: Phantasm Map Name: Forge World Average Lap time: 1:10 Description: This is a skytrack over the waters between paradiso and the coliseum that is connected by a series of floating rock islands and a "mysterious portal." Racers start in a tunnel and head out to the first jump of the track. Take the turn around and past the jack-o-lantern, and under the two bridges to the cemetery island. From there you go back over the track and towards the portal. A creature I have dubbed THE THING FROM BEYOND (his name is actually phil) has taken out a chunk of the track so you'll want to be careful as you make the jump over the gap. Also, don't get too close to the creatures mouth or you may get killed. After you pass the portal you head to the next floating isle(which has two scarecrows) and hit some back-to-back banked turns. At the end of the second bank you go into a drop. At the bottom of the drop you take a ramp and jump up to the next section and the next floating isle with a haunted house. Go around the haunted house to the rolling hills. At the top of the hills you hit another banked turn which takes you back up to the top of the course. Note: the double wall section has some framerate issues that I haven't been able to resolve, but otherwise the track should work perfectly. I've tried to reduce as many objects on the map without losing the atmosphere or aesthetics of the map. If anyone has some Ideas for how to fix it I'm all ears. Now for the pics: The Start The Jump/first turn by the jack-o-lantern Under the two bridges and towards the Cemetery rock There used to be a cemetery here, but time has taken its toll on these monuments to the deceased IT CAME FROM BEYOOOOND!!!!( Phil: rawr, and stuff.) The back to back banks by the scarecrows The drop, as well as the ramp up to the haunted house The haunted house The rolling hills. This pic is from a slightly earlier version with a different path back up to the start. The hills are the same in both versions though The final bank that takes you back up to the start An overview of the track Q: What inspired your creation? I realized that in all of my forging career I hand never made a complete sky track. I had been throwing around some ideas for a track before I saw the halloween contest and figured that I'd kill two birds with one stone. Q: How long did it take you to create this track? It probably took about 13 hours to make the track layout. Add another 7 for aesthetics(redid a lot of stuff). Some credit for ideas goes to my friends LOBO MIKE and Aaronbeatdown(non HT affiliated). Q: What aspect of the track took longest to make? If i counted the aesthetics as a single thing, it would be those. As far as the track goes, the rolling hills probably took the longest to get right.
[highlight]Phantasm Review[/highlight] [highlight]Enjoyment[/highlight] Race isn’t exactly a new feature to the Halo Universe, sure, the gametype itself is, but “Race” is not. With Halo 3 coming to a close nearly two months ago, the evolution of Race has progressed just as any other original gametype should. Phantasm is a curving Halloween themed race map set throughout the night time skies of Forge World. It takes what we’ve come to know and love about the classic race maps set in Sandbox’s skybubble, and transcended the reminiscent feeling into Halo: Reach. With Forge 2.0 it would be assumed that more quality maps would make themselves apparent, yet the ratio is still surprisingly low. Phantasm has earned itself a rightful place among the upper tier of ForgeWorld’s Race creations thus far. With flowing turns and mind blowing aesthetics, there shouldn’t be any doubts whether or not its worthy of staying in your custom map listing. [highlight]Balance[/highlight] It’s difficult to gauge balance in race maps, the author may intend for some portions of his track to be more difficult than others, and others more simple. That being said, there should be a good mixture of difficult portions and easy portions, rather than a map that is mind numbingly easy, or so difficult it’s rage-quit-inducing. Phantasm pulls this off wonderfully; with a good number of hairpin turns to keep players on their wheels, and an equally proportional amount of nice flowing hills and curves, Phantasm keeps players wanting more. The only detriment to gameplay is a single blind-spot turn that sent more players tumbling to their demise than it should have. Try to keep in mind while forging race track maps that players don’t have the knowledge of the track that you do, they don’t know that directly beyond the next crest the track makes a quick turn. A strategically placed shield door would have trumped the situation adequately. Also, an even starting line for the players would be a great improvement, rather than a cluster of starting points that may consistently place repeat players at the back of the line. This may not be a huge deal, but generally one of the only ways to gain ground on another player in Halo's Race is if the player in front messes up. It can quite frustrating when players repeatably spawn in the back of the line. [highlight]Durability[/highlight] Phantasm is unbreakable in terms of cheating. The sheer number of players falling off around the one blind-spot hill was alarming, being the number one complaint from players. One other thing to take into consideration would be adding a kill zone below the lowest point of your track. This way if players do fall off they don't need to fall all the way to the water before respawning. [highlight]Aesthetics[/highlight] Let’s face it, even if Phantasm wasn’t rocking the great aesthetics feats that it is, it would still play amazingly well, fortunately for us all, however, Phantasm boasts some amazing works of art. Pumpkins, gravestones, scarecrows, worm/snake things from another dimension, Phantasm has everything a Halloween themed race map should have. While most of the aesthetics are quite obvious upon viewing them, the pumpkin just doesn't stand out. This was not because of the aesthetic quality, rather the placement relative to player movement. If you had placed it on the outside of the curve players would be able to see the face as they drive around that portion of the map, rather then just seeing a large gray ... Thing. It's only apparent that it is a pumpkin when you can see it's face, which during normal racing circumstances, you cannot. Aside from that relatively small complaint, the aesthetics put forth in Phantasm are certainly a sight for sore eyes. The first time a player whips around this track he's consistently greeted by some new and interesting piece of aesthetic work. [highlight]Originality[/highlight] While making themed races isn’t exactly a new thought, this is the first of its theme that has been made to this quality. Originality is something that more race maps need, and Phantasm boasts some unique curves, interesting eye candy, and overall a feeling that this race is its own. Too many race maps cast a mundane feeling into its racers; the ability of keeping things fresh is something aspiring race creators MUST strive for. And while there is always room for improvement, you've already got a headstart on the rest of the crowd. Overall rating: /10 Understanding the Review Hub's ratings.