Squally DaBeanz

The new changes look like they'll improve gameplay, for sure. However, I think some of the changes could be done better aesthetically. The two that stand out to me the most are the curved walkways in the back and the lift in Gold. The pipes in the lift stick out like a sore thumb among the rest of the aesthetics, which feel very Forerunner. There are also a few different ways to make those curved walkways look a lot better. Hit me up on XBL sometime and I can help you out with some aesthetic tricks

So, I just played this with Oasis. I've gotta say, you've definitely stepped up your game this time. I couldn't find anything particularly wrong with the map in it's current state, though I may need to play it more. I'll try to get some more games on it and see if there's anything that need to be done. Well done Zandril. Well done indeed

INHERITOR By Squally DaBeanz Players: 4-8 Gametypes: Slayer, CTF, KotH, Ricochet Inheritor is a medium sized symmetrical map with a two base design. The map was designed with symmetrical objective gametypes in mind (especially Ricochet), and takes subtle design elements from Midship, The Pit, and Gemini. The map is divided into five main areas: The two bases (Red and Blue), the upper platform (Gold), the middle atrium, and the outer balcony (Green). There are also various jumps throughout the map for quicker movement between areas. A majority of the jumps have been optimized for easy use. Each base has a bridge leading into the middle atrium, a tunnel housing the sniper with a lift at the end, and two large ramps leading up to the lift exit. The upper area of each base leads into gold, while the doorway on the other end connects to the outer balcony. The outer balcony curves around the outside of the map, connecting the two bases and the middle atrium and houses a teleporter leading to gold. Gold is a large platform with a ramped structure dividing sightlines between each base landing, and has sightlines over the middle atrium. The middle atrium has two ramps leading to a floating middle platform, and two small balconies connecting to each base looking down on the platform. A sword spawns on the middle platform and a rocket launcher spawns out on green, by the teleporter entrance. Each team gets a sniper off of spawn, with quick access to Gold via the lifts. Enjoy! Video Walkthrough:

And on the opposite end of the spectrum, you can get people just running around blasting each other and camp close quarter areas with the AR, taking away the skill of using a precision weapon and having to be very accurate with your shots. XD But hey, that's not the issue at hand. I just want people to stop voting for Infinity Slayer so we can get rid of the random elements in future Halo titles.

Quick little update: Chronos just got a small update. With the announcement of Legendary BRs and Team Slayer being added to the Infinity Slayer playlist, I've decided to put some loadout weapons lying around the map. Also, I've created a "classic" version for classic gametypes, like Legendary BRs. The classic version is named "Chronos [CLS]".

As many of you are well aware, 343i has recently announced that Legendary BRs, as well as the new "Team Slayer" will be added into the standard 4V4 Slayer playlist soon. This has many people excited, myself included. Legendary BRs will provide a classic Halo experience that has been absent from Halo 4 for too long. On the other hand, Team Slayer will provide a nice middle ground, allowing personal loadouts but removing the randomness and chaos of random and personal ordnance. This is a change that has long been needed in the realm that is Halo 4 matchmaking. With these coming additions, I have a proposition for the Halo community. A campaign, really, against the randomness and chaos of Infinity settings. When these new gametypes go live, I want to see people voting for either Legendary BRs or regular Team Slayer instead of Infinity Slayer. Here is why: 343 believes they know what is best for Halo. While they have done some things right, they have also done many things wrong, and we as a community need to get that message across in a way they can't ignore. Currently, 343 is looking to consolidate playlists, and make things more condensed and streamlined when looking for a match to play. They are basing their judgments on the numbers they see. Playlist populations, hours played in certain playlists, consecutive hours played, maps and gametypes voted for, etc. This is where we need to send our message, in the numbers. If people only vote for gametypes without random and personal ordnance (Legendary BRs and Team Slayer), the numbers will show it. With this, we can get Halo back to the way it should be: skill based. If we can get enough people to support this, 343 won't be able to ignore the numbers we put up, and will be forced to make changes. These changes will be for the better in the long run. It will bring the competitive community back, keep people playing the game for longer, and bring the series back to it's roots. Please don't misunderstand this, I love change and new additions to games. But when something this drastic comes along that ends up killing the population, something needs to be done. If this campaign is a success, we can see improvements made to not only Halo 4, but all future titles in the series as well. I have created a list of five base gametypes to be used in Slayer playlists on Halo Waypoint. Please support this thread, along with this campaign to get a message across to 343i. Together, as a community, we can save this legendary franchise! https://forums.halowaypoint.com/yaf_postst225171_Playlist-Consolidation-Proposition.aspx

Vitality: Weren't you gonna get a rockmod for this one? Because as it stands now, it's pretty open and pretty flat. If there's anything you can do about that, I would highly recommend you do it. Fracture: Similar problem here, but not as extreme. I think if you could maybe simplify some of the structures to save you some budget, allowing you to make more interesting spaces to fight through instead of just water, rocks, and the occasional platform. Diocese: I really like what you were going for on this one, but the map was pretty broken when I last played on it XD I can't quite tell from the pictures, but I'm hoping you made more hard routes throughout the map and fixed the camping spots.

Alright, I gave this a run through in Forge, and saw a few minor things I think can be done better. First off, the weapons. There's a bit too much ordnance on the map at spawn. You can do without the Carbines and Pulse Grenades at each spawn. Plus, having the open air ordnance drops right in front of you off spawn can be a little distracting and disorienting. Also, the Sticky Det is clearly in favor of Red spawn. I think you can just get rid of that and be fine. The Damage Boost seems a little weighted toward Blue spawn. I don't know what the run times are, but even if they are equal the blues get the height advantage over the reds when approaching it. Same thing can be said with the Sniper. The reds can just jump up onto the platform next to them, and control the approaches to the Sniper. The Shotgun is a little better. I think you could maybe adjust it's position or the wall blocking sight into it for Red, so both team can see it at about the same time. The second area I feel could be improved is top gold. First, get rid of the tree right in front of the platform. It makes the position too powerful by obscuring the players up there. Also, make the ramp up for Red side more connected and smoother, instead of being a jump up to a ramp. The third and final thing I feel needs to be changed is how top heavy the map is. I think if you were to make more, and higher walls on the roofs, it would make the map feel more like it has overlapped areas, instead of roofs looking down on everything (like Complex). One particular area That needs to be raised is the out of bounds roof at Red. There's a ramp leading right to a jump up into a kill boundary. Make the out of bounds areas more concrete and obvious. You could also benefit by raising the wall behind Blue spawn. Overall, pretty nice looking map. Try adjusting these things and let me know how they play out

Hm... Interesting. Just from the pics it seems to have more potential than some of your other maps (no offense). It looks like you're getting back to what made Infernal so good and sticking to that construction style, which apparently works well for you. I'll have to check this one out sometime

Much better looking now. I think the spawns could still use some work though ;P

I understand the "aesthetics" side of it, but it's unnecessary and redundant cover that clutters the map and limits movement in that area.

I gotta say, I was pleasantly surprised with this map. The overall layout feels very good for a fast paced 4V4. However, with the way things stand right now, it may be a little TOO fast. I'll get to that. ANYWAY! On to areas of the map that I feel could be improved. GREEN: Green was the first thing that grabbed my attention when running around the map in Forge. While the aesthetics are great, the structure jutting out of the floor makes the area feel a little awkward to move through, it really breaks the flow. I would scrap the middle structure, and focus more on the pip structures on the side. Flesh those out a little to create a choke point and add some cover. THE BASES: The bases feel pretty good as they are right now. My concern is the areas directly outside the bases. The doorways to the left of each spawn feel a little cramped to walk through. Try opening those up a little. Also, add a roof on top of the halls where BR spawns. This would double as dancefloor up top, and add some segmentation to the map. The ramp leading to top mid from each base feels a little bare. I suggest getting rid of the glass cover at the top of each ramp (it just feels lazy), and converting each of the cover pieces on either side of the ramps (the ones holding the Carbines and LRs) into full walls to break up sightlines a bit. NEEDLER SPAWNS: These areas aren't too bad, they feel just a tad bit cramped. Remember, everything is gonna feel smaller and more chaotic when in game as opposed to just running around in forge. The piece usage here could also be better. The structure itself just looks and feels a little awkward, but nothing too major TOWERS: I REALLY like what you were going for with the towers. My only problem is that they're a little too enclosed and campable, even with the multiple ways up. Try redesigning them to be more exposed to fire from the lower levels, making them a slightly less viable option to hold out in. Also, maybe experiment with a thin bridge connecting the two, just to add flow and options to the player (just a personal thought). So, overall I'm really liking what I see. Try implementing everything I mentioned along with some cleaner forging in some areas (like the 4X4 Flat floors, Green, and the towers) and this will definitely start standing out more and more. Nicely done. Laterz!

Ok, I flew through this in Forge for a while, and have a few things to note. While this map definitely shows promise, it's gonna need a LOT of changes. Don't freak out though, most of it's fairly minor stuff ;P Now, on to the first, and probably biggest thing: piece usage. There are MANY areas that you can either save pieces on, have better and cleaner looking pieces, or don't need pieces at all. A big one is the flooring. A lot of the lower floors could be taken out in favor of the natural Forge Island ground. This would save pieces, and look a lot better. The most notable areas this could be done are under Gold, and between Green and Purple. Alright, on to individual areas... BLUE: This is probably my favorite area of the map and needs the least work. The only thing I can say is try different doors (ones where you don't hit your head when jumping) and maybe find something cleaner to replace the 3X3 Talls for flooring. Other than that, looking good. Nice rocks GREEN: This area also feels pretty good, EXCEPT the cover. Get rid of all the cover and tiny rails on top of Green. This will make the area much less campable and much harder to control, giving movement to other areas of the map. PURPLE: Purple is very interesting, and I like the concept a lot. I just think it could be fleshed out a little more. First, get rid of the glass and artifact base in the basement. Just no ;P Also, try making some easier way up from the side facing Green. It would help the flow of the map. RED: Red was honestly a little disappointing, but it can be saved. I say redesign Red to be less claustrophobic, and have less weird angles (like the ramp leading to Purple. Also, turn it into it's own structure with a ceiling and everything, like Blue. This would add segmentation in the map and cut down some long sightlines across the map. GOLD: Very similar problems to Red. VERY claustrophobic and open to long sightlines. Try redesigning Gold to have more dancefloor, and possibly a back route leading toward Blue. Also, try making the platform sticking out bigger, and give it some walls. Again, this will help break up sightlines. Do the same thing with the rock in front of it. Oh, and those Braces. Flip them around. Nuf' said. Nitty Gritty Stuff: The spawns, weapons, and kill boundaries on the map all need a lot of work. The weapons seem randomly placed and are odd choices, for both the map itself and their individual placement. The spawns are also seemingly random, and there's a LOT of them. Try small groups of spawns (usually pairs) in a few safe locations around the map that are easily recognizable and point toward obvious paths. And kill boundaries. You need some hard kills on the border of the map, otherwise people will just fly out of the map and have a sniper-fest out on the island. So, overall it's a very interesting concept, one I'd like to see polished and refined some. If you need help with any of these changes or want to talk to me directly about any of this, shoot me a message on XBL and we can go through the map in person, er.... game. Laterz!

Personally, I prefer maps inspired by old ones, not direct remakes themselves. http://www.343industries.org/forum/topic/25814-stigma/

This is actually something else entirely. The co-forge shifting IS a glitch, and really needs to be fixed in the next game. But yes, the best way to avoid this is to just forge by yourself. Or, at least load the map by yourself, save it, then invite others in. The map will still be fine on your screen, but will appear shifted for others. However, anything pieces placed after the join will be oriented correctly for both parties.

It's not a glitch, it's a mechanic put into place in Reach to prevent the kind of modding that happened in Halo 3, where people would change the object IDs and have things like motionless Spartans standing around. Having the pieces shift slightly alters things about the object's location in the coding, making those mods impossible. There are ways around this, even in Halo 4. Once you have saved and reloaded the map, just adjust things free handed or with magnets. A word of warning though, magnets can sometimes cause even worse shifting when the map is loaded. There are many tricks to use to smooth things out properly, so I can't list them all here. Just play around with slightly nudging things when the map is loaded a second time and you'll figure it out

Chronos Chronos is a medium sized symmetrical ring shaped map for 4V4 matches. The idea of this map was to create a somewhat circular map with different "rings" circling an enclosed atrium in the center. The result was a Forerunner themed structure slowly being taken back by nature with various height differences and crossing sightlines through the middle atrium. Screenshots: Download: http://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/players/squally%20dabeanz/halo4/fileshare#!/?section=GameMap&SearchDate=7&SortBy=2&view-select=Tile&startIndex=0 Chronos is set up for Infinity Slayer, King of the Hill, Capture the Flag, and Swat. Slayer and Hill played as well as I had hoped. However, CTF and Swat were surprise hits on this map, offering a lot more depth than I had anticipated with those gametypes. The straight shot through the deadly center made Flag surprisingly fun, forcing players to skirt around the edges with the flag. And the varied sightlines through the center and segmentation of the map makes for some great Swat matches. Any and all feedback is appreciated!

Chronos Chronos is a medium sized symmetrical ring shaped map for 4V4 matches. The idea of this map was to create a somewhat circular map with different "rings" circling an enclosed atrium in the center. The result was a Forerunner themed structure slowly being taken back by nature with various height differences and crossing sightlines through the middle atrium. Screenshots: Download: http://www.halowaypo...le&startIndex=0 Chronos is set up for Infinity Slayer, King of the Hill, Capture the Flag, and Swat. Slayer and Hill played as well as I had hoped. However, CTF and Swat were surprise hits on this map, offering a lot more depth than I had anticipated with those gametypes. The straight shot through the deadly center made Flag surprisingly fun, forcing players to skirt around the edges with the flag. And the varied sightlines through the center and segmentation of the map makes for some great Swat matches. Any and all feedback is appreciated!

You generally don't need respawn zones for normal map functions, they're more of an advanced mechanic. Only set respawn zones and such for CTF. You want dynamic spawning in other gametypes, otherwise spawning becomes predictable and the dominant team can spawn trap and continuously spawn kill the other team.

Influence spawning for different teams, create static spawning for certain gametypes, reduce spawn trapping, give equal weighting throughout the map, strengthen dynamic spawning, etc.

Polis Massa Tantive IV Mustafar Endor Hoth

Haha, sounds like you were using too many spawn points. I've only had one instance where I hit the object limit on Halo 4 so far, and it was due to too many spawn points on the map. How big is the map and how many spawn points are there?