this is my first forge map that i’ve deemed decent enough to release into the wild. i’ve been doing some serious forging since reach but haven’t really shared any of them like this before. the long halls and large central room of this classic design seemed to be a great fit for the medium-long range style of halo, much to my surprise and thus, it began!
yes, it’s a simple play on words. it’s a fairly accurate 3d rendition of Hyrule Castle from the Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. it’s not the prettiest map out there, as i prefer to make playability a priority, but i think that it’s turned out fairly well. the out-door patio is a place that i kind of made my own, so it’s accuracy is between 0 and 5% or so.~
Lay Out
the center of action is a very large room in the center of the map. recognizable by it’s entirely open ceiling. (jetpackers be warned, you will be smitten and rejected by the guardians should you try to escape.) in the connected space above and beyond the central room, you have what i like to call the throne room. it’s a good place to control, especially with close ranged weapons.
around the perimeter of the central room is a series of long halls with differing intricacies, each allowing for different battle opportunities. to keep it simple, you have the blue hall, the back hall and the red hall. the back hall has a 2-way teleporter at it’s center that is shared with the very back of the throne room, creating a way to quickly move to either destination.
the red and blue bases are easily identified by the lights in their doorways to the central room. outside of the upper-level of either base is an open patio without walls or ceiling. each has a man-canon that will launch the player to a larger central patio.
the central patio leads to a ledge that is above the central room. there is a 2-way shield door at the gates, however, separating the outside from the center room. The line of site here is HUGE and makes for a crazy place to snipe from until you’ve been realized. finally, beneath this central platform, a small garage-like area is accessible from the center room.
Ideal Game Set-Up
it’s a big map and lags in split-screen, but over xbox-live it seems to work great. the most i’ve tested it with so far was 2 teams of 3. it turned out to be a more spacious map than i’d imagined and may actually play best as a BTB type of map. the average 4 vs. 4 should be alright, though. i imagine FFA gametypes would be especially fun!
all of that said, the map is set up to work with the various Infinity Slayers and also Odd Ball and King of the Hill. Regicide and similar game-types that don’t require any specific map items will work fine as well. i haven’t set the map up for game types like CTF or Dominion as i feel that the map simply would not quite suit them. it’s not symmetrical and the red base is very different from the blue base.
Weapons
weapon spawns are set up for infinity game types only, with the 3 re-occurring main weapon spawns placed in various co-ordinates of the center of the map, creating objectives and places for either side to fight for from fairly even sides. these three weapons are:
- a UNSC Sniper Rifle located on the central outdoor patio. It’s an interesting and dangerous place with a huge line of sight either inside or outside the 2 way shield door. there is little cover besides the shield door, however, so keep aware of this area whether you have the rifle or not.
- an Incineration Cannon in the very center of the action of the map’s large central room. anyone brave enough to fight (or run) to this thing and claim it totally deserves it!
- and an Energy Sword located in the top-most and smallest enclosed room on the map (the throne room). various ledges and vertical levels create a prime slicing environment!
there are various random ordinance drops placed through-out the map, as well. they include some of the more typical power weapons, power ups and grenades. I chose ordinance that i felt suited the map and spaced the random ordinance evenly across the map. they do spawn randomly, however, and you will likely have to fight your way to them, should you want them.
- there’s 1 on each team’s outdoor patio containing various things of use.
- 1 in the central garage-like area containing ordinance preferable for close combat.
- 1 on an upper-ledge in the center of the back hall, containing any of the 3 sniper rifles or a rail gun. (requires some climbing or jetpack)
- finally there is 1 in the corners between either team’s hall and the back hall which will bring any of the 3 grenades types.
there are also 2 mounted turrets on the map (in clear distant vision of eachother). one in the throne room should you want to help protect the area. another on the inside central ledge that looks towards the central room is useful for suppressing fire on some of the central room or throne room.
Vehicles
combat is typically on-foot, but there are 2 ghosts and 2 mongooses with which you can cruise through the halls, splattering all those in your way! they are also able to enter the 2-way teleporter, should you decide to get creative, though the ghosts don’t quite take to this notion as well as the mongoose does.
whew. that just about covers everything. you have some salutable patience if you’ve read this far. i hope i’ve covered any potential questions, so please refer to the appropriate sections of this post if you have any, first. whether you’re an old school zelda fan or just looking for new and interesting places to kill your friends, i hope you guys enjoy it! any feedback may be potentially useful in possible future improvements.~