Creative Force - Map Beta Release - 10 Maps!

Community General Discussion
1

Presented here is the first grouping of maps created by our collaborative group, known as Creative Force. We are a collection of forgers (among other things), with the goal of bringing a collaborative, structured process to map design. Our process follows a relative system of Design > Blockout/Prototype > Alpha > Beta > Release, with tons of teamwork mixed in. These maps are nearly complete, and so we turn to the rest of the community to help us test them out on a larger scale. All of these maps have been a product of teamwork, many of them with weeks and weeks of design and development. In the future, we won’t be releasing so many at once, but this is just the beginning. The following maps can be found under the “Creative F0rce” gamertag (that is F0rce with a “zero”), in the Bookmarks section, all of which will be titled as “Map Name (Beta)”.

Here is a link to an album of the maps! http://imgur.com/a/47F1r

Reliquary

“It was like Midship, Zealot, and Derelict had a threesome and somehow produced offspring.”

Gametypes: Team Slayer, CTF, and Strongholds [6 - 12 players]

Lead Members: Darkprince909, WolfpackDragon, Randy 355

Design Synopsis: One large, open, circular room with bases at opposite ends as smaller rooms

Aesthetic Synopsis: Covenant structures surrounding a Forerunner artifact. Mixture of curves and purple vs angles and grey.

Reliquary builds on the success of the classic, tried-and-true Midship formula. However, that’s not to say this is a Midship “clone”. While it is a “2 base, 2 tower” design, it sort of shies away from the typical movement patterns than are expected from Midship-style maps. Beginning as basic, unused sketches for a HaloCustoms competition, Reliquary was made into forge over many, many iterations. The idea was always a covenant theme; having covenant buildings surrounding some sort of forerunner artifact, hence the name Reliquary; a container where religious relics are stored or displayed.

The map went through many changes, and there was a lot of team input from many members, especially WolfpackDragon and Randy-355. WolfpackDragon and I worked in collaboration for most of the project, and we did get a lot of testing and feedback from the rest of the team. When the map was nearing Beta stage, Randy-355 helped a lot in redesigning and polishing different elements like the reflection camera and the pink tower. The main hurdle we faced was resizing the map, which had grown very large, down to a 4v4 scale. Thanks to the new forge features like grouping, we accomplished this in about 20 minutes, versus a day or two.

Coagulation

“Recent excavations have failed to shed light on the true purpose of the outposts in this bloody gulch.”

Gametypes: Team Slayer, CTF, Strongholds [4v4 to 8v8]

Lead Members: CaptainPunch374, Darkprince909

Design Synopsis: Hilly fields and rock formations tuned for vehicle play and vehicle infantry interaction, with a base for each team.

Aesthetic Synopsis: A large box canyon with two metal bases, rocky cliffsides, and grassy fields.

The box canyon of Halo 2’s Coagulation is hands down one of the most iconic levels in any FPS game, let alone the Halo franchise, and was even the setting for a large portion of the machinima series Red vs. Blue. Originally incarnated in Halo: CE as Blood Gulch and re-imagined in Halo 2 with updated visuals, easier to navigate terrain, a basement-garage in each base for the Banshee, and overall better balanced gameplay, this BTB classic has seen multiple iterations and reimaginings.
If it isn’t immediately obvious, the level is built on Parallax. This is obscured by Near/Far Fog settings giving the blue sky and turning the normally tan Alpine terrain as green as possible under the circumstances. Special thanks to DarkPrince909 for his assistance in finding the right combination. He was also a large help in bringing other aspects of the map into focus, including working on the base upgrades from their original blocked-out shape and help managing the physics budget.
What to expect:
The terrain and rock formations are as close as I could manage to get them within the Physics budget. Invisible blockers are placed generously across the sky, allowing for high flying Banshee dog fights. Some of the original weapons have been replaced, (Hydra Launcher for Brute Shot, Suppressor/ Storm Rifle for Plasma Pistols, and Bolt Shot for Magnum. I also placed Splinter Grenades at both Shotgun spawns, and Light Rifles opposite each other at the center-map exits of the elbow ridges. The Rocket, SMGs, Snipers, Plasma Pistols, Needlers, and Frag/Plasma Grenades are all right where they used to be. Strongholds changes vehicles and other map features for balancing.

Turf

“Even years later, conflict still fills the snowy streets, as Spartans fight for control of the Turf”

Gametypes: Team Slayer, Strongholds, CTF [4v4]

Lead Members: Darkprince909, Whos Blaze

Design Synopsis: Small, square rooms connected by hallways, with an outdoor, street area

Aesthetic Synopsis: A snowy street in a human city development, with a crashed scarab in a corner.

Turf is one of the maps I knew I wanted to remake in Halo 5 (Ghost Town is the other, but that is for another day). I actually remade the map back in Halo 4, and it was very close to making it into matchmaking. So to begin for Halo 5, I started by looking at the old screenshots, gameplay, and feedback from that map. I also looked at the blueprint, above-view diagram of Turf from Halo 2. The goal was to be accurate, with some minor changes in order to compensate for the Halo 5 mechanics.

The biggest decisions revolved around the aesthetics of the map. Should it still be a human city, or could covenant be interesting? I decided to stay loyal with a human theme, but I did decide that a night-time, snowy version of the map could be very interesting. So I made it on a Glacier canvas, and began the process of recreating the map. Some minor changes were made. The very last detail, which I got some help from the Creative Force team, was the scarab design.

CONTINUE ONTO NEXT COMMENT

2

Knell

“And as the bell gongs, they begin their march. Their feet on the metal, their bullets into flesh, all drowned out by the solemn knell”

Gametypes: Breakout [4v4]

Lead Members: MythicFritz

Design Synopsis: Shaped like a “C”, with a higher outer route and a lower, protected inner route.

Aesthetic Synopsis: Standard breakout aesthetic, painted maroon and black to match the solemn name.

I’ve always enjoyed games like Counter Strike with a strong emphasis on initial pushes and team -work. When I can’t think of anything else to do I play CS, which can be considered a parallel game mode to Breakout. I am personally trying to get faster at building maps, and so the 2 week deadline put that to the test. With the Creative Force team, we were working with a multi-step system of Design>Blockout/Prototype>Alpha>Beta. With the new forge system and how easy object manipulation has become, I started with a blockout that was playable in three hours.
With the help of CF, testing happened several times almost every night for two weeks. We received feedback each evening and were able to test changes with the next session. Other CF members helped with input on lots of things other than just the map design. Details like named locations, cameras, player orientation, etc. We even considered and debated different visual/aesthetic themes. This group-push allowed the map to get to the point it is at now very quickly. Knell is still far from done visually, due to focus having to be on gameplay with short time frame.

Pantheon

“This training hall will harden the UNSC Spartans, like their ancient ancestors from Greece”

Gametypes: Breakout [4v4]

Lead Members: SmartAlec13, CaptainPunch347

Design synopsis: Wide for a breakout map, divided by a large temple structure, with a high end and low end.

Aesthetic synopsis: Themed like a temple, with large pillars and stairs of roman/greek-deco architecture.

My original idea was to utilize the cylinders to create huge columns, and design the map like a temple. The temples were inspired by the front of the real life building, the Pantheon. My main ideas I wanted to capture was having a “wide” breakout map, heavy greek/roman theme, and to have large steps that players rush up to clash in the center. The map has long sight lines to combat flag-rushes, but ducking and weaving between columns provides plenty of close-quarter opportunities

The map began very basic, very bland, and far too huge. I had the style idea down, but the geometry and layout were so simple and open. I eventually stopped development on it to go work on other forge projects. Eventually I revisited Pantheon and completely redesigned it to be more complex, with a ton more structures and features. I was constantly posting updates so the other members of Creative Force could weigh in and offer different ideas. After plenty of playtests, the map was nearing completion. Different members contributed different skills, like Captain Punch, who helped build the DMR-Nest, and created the beautiful intro cameras. The next step is to get beta-tested feedback, and work on the polish of the map. This will involve unifying and smoothing out the aesthetics and piece alignment, moving the map to the center (0’0’0’), and creating surrounding aesthetics.

Evergreen

“Once an atrium garden, this skyline vista has been co-opted by O.N.I. to broadcast Breakout for good PR.”

Gametypes: Breakout [4v4]

Lead Member: CaptainPunch374

Design Synopsis: A tangle of paths amidst scattered pillars creating long sightlines that can be weaved in and out of.

Aesthetic Synopsis: Once an atrium of green-white pillars and gardens with a rooftop forest garden, the atrium has been converted into a scenic breakout arena.

I had originally designed a radially symmetrical paintball arena, with oversized cover and 3 vertical levels to clamber up to and traverse, with corner platforms for 4 teams, but it was far too large and needed cut down, so I took a rectangular chunk and deleted the rest, set it up for two teams, tested it twice, and was locked out by glitched spawns. I proceeded to rebuild Coagulation instead. After that started getting tested, it had been a few weeks and I had played on all of the other Breakout maps being passed around by the group.
When time came for the final tests for that round of development I had, 4 hours prior, started development on Evergreen. About an hour after things were due, I finished my initial blockout for Evergreen, lacking a title. It was an amalgamation of multiple design elements from the better maps I had played and my original Breakout design that was lost. Aside from two ramps that had been accidentally deleted shortly before my save and noticed in/fixed right after the first test the next day, nothing about the geometry of the map has merited change according to received feedback.
The aesthetics came right before the first test, but used breakout pillars and cover for most the trim, now replaced by primitives for a much cleaner appearance and much smaller object cost. I originally named it Malachite, but the name was changed to Evergreen when shaping the visuals to fit the darker-green and circle-dominant aesthetic of the original title.

CONTINUE ONTO NEXT COMMENT

3

Absolute

“Hosted on an icy planet, this station oversees space travel coordination in the surrounding area.”

Gametypes: Breakout, Team Slayer, CTF, Strongholds [4v4]

Lead Members: Black Picture

Design Synopsis: A more “open” breakout map with a central building, and connecting overlook buildings/towers

Aesthetic Synopsis: A metal human station with glass floor and icy surroundings.

In order to make Absolute, I first recreated the breakout arena on the Glacier canvas. I knew I wanted to build on Glacier because it would bring a unique aesthetic, and make the floors look more like glass. Originally I wanted to make Absolute a broken up, destroyed station, but that didn’t fit well with the breakout theme of artificial, smooth, and clean. So I made the station before it got destroyed. I did want to make the destroyed version of the map, so my main goal was to make a map that could support Breakout, but then also the other core game types (with minor variations) like CTF, Slayer, and Strongholds.

This proved to be a challenge, but I had a lot of help from other members of Creative Force, and even some other friends of mine. There were a ton of changes that were made, like changing the cages to being less cage-like, creating the BR towers (Blazelightcap), and changing the red/blue caves (MythicFritz). The map ended up being selected for matchmaking. Though it is a bit awkward to release it for Beta, it will give more feedback, and provides a more community-focused release of the map.

Fragment

“Once a station for space travel collaboration, it was destroyed during the wars with the covenant.”

Gametypes: FFA, Team Slayer, CTF, Strongholds [4v4]

Lead Members: Black Picture

Design Synopsis: Remix of Absolute, with asymmetric routes, caves, and tunnels

Aesthetic Synopsis: A destroyed, abandoned station of human origin. Similar aesthetic to Absolute, but with more broken pieces and fires.

This is the original concept idea that I started for fragment and is why I made Absolute. Absolute is geared more towards smooth, clean aesthetics, I decided to make this a seperate, remix map. Like Absolute, the main challenge was to create a map that supported Slayer, CTF, and Strongholds, but could also play well for arena Breakout. The challenges were very similar to Absolute, though this map provided some more interesting opportunities for aesthetic and gameplay, since it is asymmetric.

The main differences between Fragment and Absolute is the addition of some tunnels and holes in the map. For example, in center-mid there is now a fiery hole, with a small entrance into a tunnel system, revealed by the destruction. This creates some interesting gameplay, allowing for more CQC and sneak style of combat. During testing, it was found that this map also played well for FFA.

Pylon

“They say that war and combat are an art. If so, then this is the gallery in which it’s perfection is displayed”

Gametypes: Breakout [4v4]

Lead Members: Darkprince909

Design Synopsis: Three large rooms, broken up by wall segments, with plenty of catwalks and higher paths on the edges.

Aesthetic Synopsis: Hard to pin down. There is a beauty to it, like an art/architecture gallery.

Pylon… Where do I start? I initially designed the map to be a symmetrical Ivory Tower. Obviously, there were some major changes that needed to be made to make the layout fit the Breakout gametype. The Tower where the Sniper would spawn had to be completely redesigned, and the resulting map would need to be smaller, but a lot of elements from Ivory Tower remained through to the finished map. The boardwalk area where the flag spawns, the multi-leveled bases, the tunnel down through the center of the map with access to the tower. This lends to a somewhat nostalgic feeling while playing on Pylon.

The map went through several changes on its way to beta. The geometry on the tower side used to be much taller, and made that half of the map much more clamber-heavy. The attics weren’t in early builds, causing the rooms to feel much more segmented. And power weapon and objective placement was very unbalanced and led to one area of the map seeing almost all of the action (admittedly, after seeing how people in matchmaking are playing the map, there’s still room for improvement here.) Most of these changes were suggested by members of Creative Force, and we were able to quickly identify issues and get them ironed out in a very short amount of time.

Highrise

“The training scrimmages that take place on this unfinished skyscraper prove that construction sites really are the best playgrounds.”

Gametypes: Breakout and CTF [4v4]

Lead Members: Randy 355

Design Synopsis: Plenty of long sightlines, rectangular corners, and a wall/bridge cutting the map in half.

Aesthetic Synopsis: Strong theme of a building being constructed in a city, including the classic red-steel beams.

Highrise, along with many of our recent Breakout maps, are examples of group inspired work. The first iteration of Highrise in particular was purely experimental. Since I had no experience making a Breakout map, it ended up being an oversized arena map that would have played better in standard Team Slayer. Our first test of the map wasn’t great, but the feedback was enough to know that downscaling would have huge benefits. The maps we tested that day before and after the Highrise test were huge inspirations to what we have now. A tighter scale with multiple pathways that lead to complex but open sight-lines. Godly’s design, Think Fast (still in development), really inspired this one, though Highrise is much larger and more fragmented.

Highrise now really is a completely different map from the mentioned first iteration. It does share a few qualities though, such as two lifts on each side of the map’s center as well as a main center structure with more than one layer. What we have now really is inspired by the Creative Force team’s work, and their direct involvement in feedback from the large amount of testing we did. Something I really wanted to add to Breakout was some unique visuals. The standard Breakout look is neat at a glance, but can be tiresome after multiple maps use it. The Empire canvas did a lot to bring originality and flavor to the backdrop, but even more did it inspire the actual map’s design. I found the girder piece in the Forge menus. A piece which would normally look a little out of place felt perfect on this canvas, and the cranes really drove the theme home. It’s a building under construction! But… it’s still Breakout! It allowed me to have fun with visuals while still designing a fun playspace.