Urban Simulator

LINK: Urban Simulator

This is my fourth map, my second on Foundry and my last on Foundry for a while. I have some ideas that I want to explore on some of the other maps and, frankly, I'm bored of Foundry's drab surroundings. For now.

This map makes extensive use of the interlocking objects technique (and was actually completely lost to the ether at one point when the 32(?) rounds ran out after I'd painstakingly placed two of the enclosing walls. Live and learn!

Overview: Urban Simulator is a small arena style map designed around the concept of an urban training environment. Within the map are many areas which simulate situations that might be found in tight, close quarter city fighting. These are: long, narrow hallways (possibly apartment complexes or alleyways), tight blind corners, and ambushes from rooftops. Strong teams should learn to control these areas and their respective weapons (and break setups when another team is already doing so) as they are a key to dominating this map.

The initial concept was a small-scale 1v1 map and it works very well for this, but it is also great for 2v2 and it scales upwards to team games of 3v3 and even 4v4, however it starts to fell very crowded at the 8 players point. I don't recommend FFA games of greater than 6 players.

Points of interest:

The centre of the map is obviously dominated by two fence boxes which allow glimpses across the map but also deny a guaranteed shot at the enemy. The fence boxes are slightly separated allowing players to drop down into bottom-middle. These fence boxes are on top of a symmetrical structure which simulates tight, blind corners that obstruct long lines of sight and also grant multiple routs to the centre.

On either side of the structure at opposing corners are the "bases", which also have ramps up onto the second floor (home- and away-middle) and the outer ring. This area is largely open, but has an open box in it and a second opening in the wall at the corner allows access to and from the outer ring. The outer ring itself encircles the map and is a series of mid-length narrow hallways with no cover, but with quick escape routes into the centre of the map at various points (one at each base-home, and one on each corner).

In addition to these main playing areas there is an upper area which can only be accessed by grenade/partner jumping. By doing this you will be able to get on top of the fence boxes and have access to three of the five "power" weapons (more on that in the next section).

The environments that each section is supposed to simulate:
Upper level: Rooftop sniping points, top-down ambushes.
Middle level, centre: transition area, open lines of sight.
Middle level, outer ring: narrow hallways or tight alleyways.
Lower level, bases: open lines of sight, negotiating obstacles.
Lower level, centre: blind corners, situation awareness, close quarters combat.

Weapons and equipment:

Basic weapons contained on this map (spread symmetrically around the map):
Assault Rifle: Default spawn times and clip size.
Battle Rifle: Default spawn times and clip size.
Covenant Carbine: Default spawn times and clip size.
Magnum: Default spawn times and clip size.
Plasma Pistol: Default spawn times.

Power weapons contained on this map:
Mauler: 60 second spawn, no spare clips - floating inside fence boxes, requires a timed jump to reach.
Sniper Rifle: 60 second spawn, no spare clips - in sniper "nooks" on the upper level, requires a grenade/partner jump to reach.
Energy Sword: 60 second spawn, will not appear at the beginning of the game - floating above the fence boxes and can be reached at the very height of a normal jump (tricky, but possible) or by grenade/partner jumping to get extra height.

Grenades/Equipment on this map:
6x Frag Grenades: Default spawn times.
4x Plasma Grenades: Default spawn times.

I decided that the map is far too small for power-ups and equipment, which could very easily dominate.

Game types:
This map works, as far as I know, with all default game types for both FFA and Team Games, including Multi-Team (up to 4 teams), however it is designed primarily with Slayer in mind. It should also work with MLG gametypes.

Screenshots

It's really hard to get a feel for just how cramped lower-middle really is, so bear with me when we get that far.


"Home-Middle", the middle floor showing two of the access points to the outer ring.


A view down one of the narrow hallways with (in the distance) the ramp up into the "Base" and one of the entrances into the bottom-middle area. This view is from one of the outer ring access points. The plasma pistol grenades spawn in the open box on the lower level, and also on other side at the same point.


A top down view of the central area showing the open lines of side at the bottom and middle areas.



Combat in the hallways.


After 60 seconds the sword will spawn above the fence boxes. You can also see the sniper "nook" from this angle, which is mirrored on the other side of the base. Note the Covenant Carbine here: In the version being tested in this screenshot there were spawn points on the nook and no Sniper Rifle. These spawn points proved problematic (especially with BR start) as the team that died first inevitably spawned higher and quickly gained the height advantage over the other team. They have now been removed, the basic weapons deleted, and the Sniper Rifles placed here. Now the only way to access them is by grenade/partner jumping.


A successful jump for the sword. I was pleased when I saw this because I didn't tell anyone pre-game where and how to get the sword; he figured it out for himself! Unfortunately I was on the other team


This shot doesn't do justice to just how cramped it is down there in lower-middle...


... whereas this one, perhaps, does. Same encounter from a different angle. Even so, it still doesn't do it full justice.


Putting the sword to good use. In this shot you can see the Mauler floating within the fence box.

 

Cheers for the comments and downloads (6 in less than 24 hours). I didn't play H2 that much, and not at all online, so I don't know about Foundation... but I hope that's a good thing

Edit: I just looked up Foundation and realised that it was the hidden map that I never unlocked, so no wonder I didn't know what you were talking about! Also, is the other map Ivory Tower?

 

Hi Furious, cheers for checking it out!

The main reason for putting the sword and snipes up high is rooted in the map's initial concept: a small scale 1v1 competitive map. By making the most powerful weapons (without a shotgun on the map the sword user is almost invincible without careful grenade placement and skill) difficult to reach, I hoped to address that balance.

Without that challenge the map is so small that a quick player would be able to grab the sword and any other power weapons within only a very short space of time. It would then turn from a competitive match into something of a spawn camping slaughter fest.

In this way, even in 1v1 if one player may has grabbed snipes and sword but lurks up top he will be vulnerable to grenades and won't have an obscene advantage. Likewise, if the same player comes down to the lower levels then in CQB he will be vulnerable to an opponent that keeps his range because his secondary weapon is unsuitable.

I also wanted the main focus to be on individual skill (or teamwork in team games), and this is why I left out the shotgun (the only weapon which consistently beats sword at close range). In an early draft there were two shotguns hidden on the ledges under the fence boxes which required a difficult jump to reach. However, no one ever found the shotguns so I replaced them with Maulers and made them much easier to get to.

Another reason they are so high up is simple practicality: I ran out of logical places to put power weapons!

So, rather than have them lower and potentially game breaking, I made them higher and harder to reach, but very beneficial.

I hope this answers your question, and I know what you mean about that lower level... while I was building it I would always go as fast as I could through that area for no actual reason at all!