Forge Hub I bring you a map that I have personally not seen before in the center of avalanche im not saying it hasn't been done before, that would be naive of me to think that my map in the ceneter was the only map in the center that was merged in full. The map provides minimal cover while providing you with multiple levels to work with. I'll get into the weapons list later. When I say minimal cover I mean enough for the map, to much more would get clutterish. The bottom level has a man cannon that shoots you up to the middle. On a side note the stock man cannons create some crazy game play, above and below the double box. The 2 water falls where fun to make, although they could be better a v2 im sure is in the works down the road. After a get a few suggestions from this beast of a web site. lol Alright i'm done typing just check it out download it give me the bad news. WEAPONS LIST 4 Br's 30 seconds 2 Carbides 30 seconds 1 Sniper Rifle 120 seconds 1 Shotgun 120 seconds 1 Mauller 45 seconds 1 Brute Shot 60 seconds 2 Spikers 45 seconds 1 Needler 60 seconds 1 Magnum 30 seconds 1 Plasma pistol 45 seconds 6 Grenades 4 Plasma Grenades 1 Power Drain 1 Regeneration 1 Bubble Shield Thats all That's it no more. Now please enjoy these photo's comment please.( please don't comment on my sloppy post very novice with the internets) Thanks lol Pictures Shang Ra La
i have played this map and believe me when i tell you that these screen shots don't give it justice. this map is multileveled and quite balanced. although one team does start a bit higher than the other it really does even out. when u first see it it feels like one of those maps you'll easily fall off of, but it really isn't the case so long as you have a head on your shoulders. WHAT I DON'T UNDERSTAND is why u put this in the casual map section. This is a real legit slayer map. asthetics 4.5/5 play 5/5 fun 5/5 balance 5/5 overall 19.5/20 good stuff.
Thanks for the kind words guy's. I do hope to get a few more comments though download it play it review it please thanks again.
Enjoyablity: This map is extremely enjoyable since it is fair to all players, has a fast paced gameplay and kept me drawn in the entirety of the match. 8/10 Balance: This map is well ballanced and fair for all players. There is no "easy" camping points and the multi-teir approach gives everyone a fair chance of killing enemies. The spawning is great since it is extremely hard to camp a spawn area. 10/10 Durability: I found no way to break this map at all. All exits are covered and there are no areas that would disrupt the flow of the game. 10/10 Aesthetics: Beautiful forging job. Everything is smooth and keeps the flow of the match at a high pace. The various paths and the darker areas add to the gameplay making for flanking routes and hiding spots. The only problem I found was that the main ramps would sometimes force you up if you walked down them. You can't do anything about this since the man cannons are fixed in place. 9/10 Originality: Although the idea is unoriginal, this is by far the best slayer map built in the cave of Avalanche I have seen. Things that set tis map apart are the waterfalls in opposite corners, various paths and ramps between levels. the bridge tunnel and the use of the fixed man cannons to launch players up the ramps into the battle. 9/10 Final Scores Enjoyablity: 8/10 Balance: 10/10 Durability: 10/10 Aesthetics: 9/10 Originality: 9/10 Overall Total: 46/50 Average Score: 9.2/10
The man cannons certainly add to the gameplay. They create fast paced battles right from the door. There is one point on the map that lacks flow. The ramp going from the bottom, to the higher fixed platform is a little to steep causing a moments pause before continuing on your route. it does not cause any kind of bad gameplay but please you be the judge. The fixed stock man cannons will also bring you up and around to the middle section causing some interesting battles. thanks alot for your review hobo.
Shang Ra La Enjoyment Shang Ra La is something interesting. When a player sees a map with the DLC tag, their first thought generally is that they should not expect much out of the map other than maybe some different aesthetics. It is very rare that someone lurking around the forums will actually stumble upon a map that is better than a good number of sandbox maps, and nobody expects much made by a forger who is relatively new around here. That is a huge error when the map turns out to be Shang Ra La. Most maps created today are plagued with minimal movement of the z-axis and very poor flow. Some of the better known forgers spend more time in aesthetics than the actual gameplay of the map which can kill most. Playing Shang Ra La is a totally new experience for almost any forger; when a person first enters the map they are afraid of all the stupid things that will happen in such a tight space, namely spawn killing. Shang Ra La takes such a great advantage in its build from using every inch of available playing space to its advantage, and in doing so secures itself a very high rating in Enjoyment. The newness and brilliance of this map make it simply fun. Balance The weapons set for Shang Ra La make a player fear for their life; a shotgun, a sniper, and so many grenades all crammed in a very tight space. But the use of elevation on this map removes any problems that a similar weapon layout could cause on another map. Even when playing with only two players anybody can easily find themselves running low on ammo- but never out of it. The weapons are placed so well that it’s almost impossible to complain about this section. And the choices of shotgun and sniper are well combated with the equipment, all of which fits in suitable with the layout of the map. The sniper seems like it would be good with so little cover, but it’s simply an advantage and not overpowering. The shotgun would be thought to overpower in a small map but the map is not remotely small at all. It’s big enough to support as many as six players without feeling excessively overcrowded. An effective spawn system is something that is difficult to place into a map. One that works well is not something you commonly come by, because of the default spawn order implemented by the order that spawns are placed on the map. The spawns on Shang Ra La do not feel the burn of this dilemma. Instead they are totally random and play as if the builder just placed dropped the, from above then rotated them to face the correct way. While this isn’t bad, it isn’t really good either. The actual layout of Shang Ra La is where it shined. It somehow managed to create a map in a tiny enclosed space with no floor that felt very large when playing. During the first few minutes it is not uncommon for some bewildered Spartan to stare down from the top of the map and wonder if the map even has a bottom level at all. The incorporation of the giant man cannons into the map was not only creative but brilliant as well, the ability to boost oneself up the ramp was very enjoyable and the aesthetics they created were astounding. But best of all was the huge amount of fighting along the z-axis, the height differential within the map. It was easy to move between different floors, whether you were going up or down. Shang Ra La is well built by that definition Durability Breaking a map built in a giant cave with no exits that also has a bottomless pit instead of a ground floor is no small feat. Yet, there are a few select players that have mastered the art of hiding so well that they know about a secret jump that you can do to get along the entire wall, strait to an area that you can stand on. This map does not cover that area and it is a considerable break because you never think someone is going to be standing on a rock wall ten feet below the map. The spawns are well set up in a manner that does not allow for much spawn killing at all, however if you get a kill at the top of the map you know that the other player will always spawn on the bottom, and vice-versa. This strange little detail does cause problems and make the spawning feel predictable at times. Aesthetics One would not say that aesthetics is the strong point in Shang Ra La. It obviously wasn’t built for that, its mainstay is originality. Yet the builder did not abandon it either. There are a lot of interesting possibilities that the massive man-cannons could be used for, but nobody ever expected the bottom section of them to be a playable area within the map. Imagine your surprise when you are stumbling around the bottom most level and find a shotgun located inside of the fore mentioned alcove created by the cannon. There is also the use of shield doors as waterfalls, something that people find tacky most of the time. Somewhat the waterfalls in Shang Ra La look not only thought out but realistic as well, especially the one placed on the lower side of the map closest to the shotgun spawn. Little things like this added to the feel, giving this map a more than average rating aesthetically. Originality Shang Ra La is by no means the first map to be built in the cave of Avalanche. Neither is it the first to included waterfalls, or any of its design structures. But it is very easily the first map to use the feel of the cave to its advantage. Shang Ra La’s use of the man-cannons is something that is definitely a first, which is made all the more impressive by the fact that it took so long for someone to think of this. The overall design, being based on up and down flow more than side to side or rotational, is very strange for a player to get used to but a welcome change from the ordinary. It is not common to find maps that are so different from the bulk of the forum in a good manner; usually the uniqueness is the downfall of such creations. Shang Ra La is certainly one of a kind in this regard. [floatleft]Enjoyment Rating: Balance Rating: Durability Rating: Aesthetic Rating: Originality Rating:[/floatleft] M A P . R A T I N G
An absolute brilliant review mr. yoyo. I can't thank you enough for the time you spent on this. The downloads are lacking but after that review i hope not. I was not aware of the spawn problem good catch you suggest neutral respawns on the top area. Anyhew can't thank you enough.
I remember seeing this map on the waitlist to be tested and reviewed. This is a prime example of top notch quality of forging. The map flow is well thought off and the map its self overlall is well balanced. There are two things which cought my attention. One being that the cannons of Avalanche are directly intergrated into this map variant. The second is the waterfall. (Pardon me, correction waterfall(S)). Those who have seen my cavemaps especially my unpublished work will notice that almost every cave has some sort of body of water. In this map your use of shield door in real time really does capture the effect of slow falling water. And in the pictures that effect is frozen in time to accommodate the probable temperature of the map. Very nicely done.