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Jpec07
11-04-2010, 02:43 AM
Author:
Jpec07

Map Name:
Megiddo (http://www.bungie.net/Stats/Reach/FileDetails.aspx?fid=10511492) (old version (http://www.bungie.net/Stats/Reach/FileDetails.aspx?fid=8492874))

Map Canvas:
Forge World

Map Size:
Medium

Player Count:
4-12

Supported Gametypes:
Assault, Capture the Flag, Infection, Juggernaut, King of the Hill, Oddball, Slayer, Team Slayer, Head Hunter, Stockpile, OVERBOARD! (http://xforgery.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2138)

__________________________________________________

Description:

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/Jpec07/Megiddo/web-header.png
Download Megiddo (http://www.bungie.net/Stats/Reach/FileDetails.aspx?fid=8492874) ||| Download Megiddo Hoarders (http://www.bungie.net/Stats/Reach/FileDetails.aspx?fid=9039183)

Introduction
Halo Reach. We all have it, we all know it, we all love it. And especially the new additions that were made for what Bungie calls its Forge 2.0. Personally, I find some of the aspects of the system incredibly buggy, but it is an enormous improvement over the original in Halo 3. Maps and map concepts can now be created and implemented in record time and precision, and mapmakers who were formerly unknown are now gaining more and more in the way of renown. The playing field has been leveled, and especially in Forge World, there are no longer any techniques or practices that separate the Pros from the Joes. It all breaks down to level design and ingenuity now, and that’s where Megiddo comes into play.


Conception
Initially, my first instinct upon getting my hands on the Forge 2.0 engine was to try and recreate a map concept that I’d been working on in Halo 3 (which was never posted: some of you may remember The Complex that looked like a massive spider-thing in the confines of Sandbox’s main level). That map failed early in its construction, though, so I decided to start brainstorming and twisting ideas around in my head.

Megiddo started as a simple concept: catwalk over an open courtyard with two paths running down the rear to that courtyard, with railings on the back side most of the way, but wide open in the middle. Its design was initially inspired by Construct and The Pit, and once I started forging it really just came together.


The Map
Megiddo is a medium-large map designed primarily for symmetrical Slayer and CTF variants. It has been built support gameplay on all of the variants that Halo Reach has to offer with the exception of Territories (I’m not a fan of that one, and couldn’t decide where I wanted the territories to be). It’ll support up to 16 players, but I recommend 4-10 for FFA games, and 6-12 for team games. It does not support multi-team gameplay at this time, but plans are in the works for that.

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/Jpec07/Megiddo/web2-overview.jpg

The map is laid out as a mirror image along a central plane. As I described before, the main focus is at the “top” of the map, where a catwalk joins the two opposing team’s bases. A large platform rests in the middle of that with a turret to cover the “bottom” half of the map, and a sniper rests at the back. Railings prevent people from walking off, except where they intersect a large frame that serves as the support structure for the large bowl that looms overhead. Each base consists of two levels, which are adjoined by a lift-drop system that will be shown in the screenshots (the lift is more towards the “back” of the map). An enclosed ramp leads down from the back of either base to a long hallway (where most objectives spawn in asymmetric play, and where I’d toyed with the idea of putting a rocket launcher). This tunnel, where the two bases meet, spills out into the main courtyard, which has an entrance into each base before an incline takes it down a level (a rock “spine” divides the hill in twain). From the bottom of the hill, on either side, paths will take players towards the rear structure: a three-story tower. A horseshoe of walkways leads people to the sword room, where a teleporter will lead them to the stage. Directly in front of the teleporter is the top story of the tower, which houses a man cannon to take players back to the turret platform. Directly to either side of the tower is a ramp that leads down to both junctions in the map: a key point in many symmetrical gametypes. A ramp here leads down the bottom level, adjacent to the horseshoe, and the entrance to the tower’s second level is also here (this contains the concussion rifle). If a player takes the other path from the stage, though, they will find themselves on an incredibly open pathway towards either base, with very little cover until they’re actually in the base.
</wallotext>

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/Jpec07/Megiddo/web2-overview02.jpg

Right now spawns are set up for symmetrical gameplay with the bases being the two rooms on either side of the catwalk. With asymmetrical gameplay, users spawn the long way across: attackers near the Concussion Rifle, and the defenders near the back tunnel. Not a lot of time was spent on these gametypes, but enough to where it will function for them (even if not well). There are also a few objects that are symmetry-dependent: asymmetrical gametypes get a pro pipe for their troubles, but miss out on the central man cannon and the energy sword, which symmetrical gametypes have. That, however, brings me to the weapon loadout: DMR: 6 placed (10 max), 30 second respawn, most with two clips (two on the bottom level only have one spare clip)
Plasma Repeater: 2 placed, 45 second respawn
Concussion Rifle: 1 placed, 45 second respawn, 2 spare clips
Energy Sword: 1 placed (2 max), 135 second respawn, sym. and slayer only
Pistol: 2 placed, 30 second respawn, 0 spare clips
Grenade Launcher: 1 placed, 60 second respawn, 4 spare clips, asym. only
Drop Shield: 1 placed, 60 second respawn, sym. only
Sniper: 1 placed, 90 second respawn, 1 spare clip
Needle Rifle: 2 placed, 45 second respawn, 1 spare clip
Plasma Grenade: 6 placed, 10 second respawn
Health Station: 8 placed, 15 second respawn


YouTube - Video Request .:Megiddo - Competitive Map by Forgotten Wing:.


Structure Photography
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/Jpec07/Megiddo/web-juncture02.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/Jpec07/Megiddo/web-juncture01.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/Jpec07/Megiddo/web2-stage.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/Jpec07/Megiddo/web2-horseshoe.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/Jpec07/Megiddo/web2-cannon.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/Jpec07/Megiddo/web-backside.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/Jpec07/Megiddo/web-concussion02.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/Jpec07/Megiddo/web-underside02.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/Jpec07/Megiddo/web-liftsystem02.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/Jpec07/Megiddo/web-lookout.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/Jpec07/Megiddo/web2-catwalkorramp.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/Jpec07/Megiddo/web2-hall.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/Jpec07/Megiddo/web-underside03.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/Jpec07/Megiddo/web-longline.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/Jpec07/Megiddo/web-sword02.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/Jpec07/Megiddo/web-sunshot.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/Jpec07/Megiddo/web-sniper02.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/Jpec07/Megiddo/web-sniper01.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/Jpec07/Megiddo/web-sword01.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/Jpec07/Megiddo/web2-ramp.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/Jpec07/Megiddo/web-underside03.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/Jpec07/Megiddo/web-juncture03.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/Jpec07/Megiddo/web-juncture02.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/Jpec07/Megiddo/web-hall01.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/Jpec07/Megiddo/web-concussion.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/Jpec07/Megiddo/web-catwalk.jpg


Action Photography
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/Jpec07/Megiddo/web-action01.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/Jpec07/Megiddo/web-action04.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/Jpec07/Megiddo/web-action02.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/Jpec07/Megiddo/web-action06.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/Jpec07/Megiddo/web-action07.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/Jpec07/Megiddo/web-action05.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/Jpec07/Megiddo/web-action03.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/Jpec07/Megiddo/web-action08.jpg


Zackj191's Story Time
"Long ago, there was an ancient land know only as Megiddo. This land, as the legends say, was the birthplace of the greatest of all the worlds heroes. It was here, that the bravest and strongest men, competed for the ultimate glory. The Legends told of a disaster. A disease or fire, that wiped out all of the population in this wondrous land. The land was to be forever lost, the only known paths to this immaculate land lost in the minds of those who inhabited it. The outside world had known of no way to ever reach this blissful land of courage and bravery, until one day.

One day a man, not much older than you or I, had a vision. In this vision, images of a land once lost appeared to him. From what he could remember in this vision, this place looked just as the legends of old described Megiddo. The giant drops and the scaling catwalks. The gravity defying lifts and the devices known only to instantly transport people from one place to another. So this man set out to find Megiddo. he collected all the rumors he had heard of the land and travel far and wide to search for clues. Most of the scriptures and the etchings of this beautiful world had been lost or forgotten, but this young man was set to find any hint to the location of this arena of old.

While listening to an old mans story, the man couldn't help but hear a part about a waterfall, never before had he heard of such a thing near Megiddo, but this man, being old and wise must have some sort of knowledge to bring up a mysterious waterfall. There are only a few waterfalls in this world as large as this map claimed this one to be, so came the first hint to the lost location. The old man had said that this land of lost, if his memory had served him correctly and his father story, from his father before him was true, then this area, Megiddo, was seemed to suspend in midair, as if lifted by the gods. The ancients had once said the land seemed to hold its self with massive supports, almost like legs, and these supports would hold this island up in the air, as if it were built on a cloud.

With this new information, the man set out on his journey to search, no longer for clues or legends, but for the lost land itself. He looked far and wide, high and low, never to find this intriguing world. He had taken a boat out to see to travel to a nearby city to find travel to the countyside. In the middle of the ocean his boat got caught in a massive storm and the crew was thrown overboard. The young man bashed his head against the side of the ship and was knocked unconscious. He awoke in the middle of the storm, right as his boat smashed into a rocky beach on unfamiliar soil. He jumped off the ship and ran to the beach just in time, because a massive tide lifted his boat almost completely out of the water and smashed it on a nearby cliffside. The man began to wander along this mysterious canyon.

Many hours later, he stumbled into a cave for shelter from a brutal rainstorm. This storm has been going for hours and he couldn't see 100 feet in front of him so he stopped in this cave to sit down for a rest. He slept the night, and in the morning the most glorious island sat in front of him. To his right was a beautiful ocean, stretching far as he could see. The storm had long since passed and the sky was clear and beautiful. To his left he saw a massive bay, with a giant island in front of him. This island had a massive rock stretching towards the heavens as if to greet them. Farther down the beach he saw the sand end into a massive cliffside, with the most monstrous waterfall he had ever seen. This must be the one in the stories the man thought excitedly! He began to rush towards it, using the strength now returned after a long nights rest. As he approached the end of the beach he scanned the area for any sign of a town or city, there was none.
Feeling disheartened he sat down on the fine sand. The stories all said it would be here, next to the giant waterfall in a land unlike any other he had seen. He closed his eyes and fell back onto the beach to rest. No sooner had his head rested on the soft sand that he remembered the old mans story. Megiddo would be floating in midair as if suspended by the gods! He opened his eyes and there it was. The magnificant city of Megiddo! Floating in the sky as if light as air. How to get there he asked himself? So he began to climb. The mountain side was very smooth and offered very little footholds and handholds, but never the less, he began his journey upwards. After an hour of climbing he reached the top and looked out over the beautiful landscape. Flowing across the ocean as if sculpted by some artist years before.

The city was bare. The air smelled of crisp, morning dew. The many battles here had been long since ended and the man could almost feel all the past lives that were lost here. The courage of men to do battle in this glorious arena. No sooner had he reached the end if the floating island, than massive sizzle and a pop sound could be heard behind him. He ran to the noise, only do discover a slight blue glow, almost as if a floating ball of energy, above a small circular platform. The glow gave off a slight hum and as the man reach for the bulb of light he was instantly transported to an open area directly above where he had been standing. He knew, as soon as he had went through the fascinating light sphere, that this, was where he would be forever remembered. Maybe not for his journey to find Megiddo, or for his fame and glory he gained when he got back to his homeland and took others to the magical land. No, he will always be remembered as the man who brought the land of legends to life."

So here we are, young warriors, at the gates of the Megiddo arena, the greatest arena in the history of man. And I ask you, are you ready?


In Closing
Special thanks goes to the people who deserve it. I have to give a shout out to zackj191 for pointing out a few spots where people could camp, after I thought I’d gotten rid of all of them. Everyone who playtested this with me, you have my thanks, and I hope you all enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed making it.

Oh, and I also thank God for giving me the time to be able to make, playtest, refine, and enjoy this map, as well as giving me the grace to be able to post it. Wouldn't have gotten this done without him.

Download Megiddo (http://www.bungie.net/Stats/Reach/FileDetails.aspx?fid=10511492)
Download Megiddo Hoarders (http://www.bungie.net/Stats/Reach/FileDetails.aspx?fid=9039183)
Download Original Version (http://www.bungie.net/Stats/Reach/FileDetails.aspx?fid=8492874)

fin.

Prod
11-04-2010, 04:13 AM
This is an excellent map. I really enjoyed testing it. You should be proud of yourself.

*Nominated*

Obibital
11-04-2010, 06:36 AM
I remember testing this a while back, beautiful and original design.
I do like how you used the natural look of the rocks in with all the smooth metal.

(also nominated)

ZaTaisho
11-04-2010, 08:33 AM
I remember testing this map. This was very good. It's been that long already though...hmm.

Nulls Wife
11-04-2010, 09:09 AM
Very few times do I ever open a map thread and actually think that it is impressive. I think this map looks beautiful and as soon as I am playing Halo again I really want to play this map. I am very impressed!! I really hope this gets featured.

GodlyPerfection
11-04-2010, 10:50 AM
This map is gorgeous without a doubt. I highly suggest Stockpile for those who play this map. It is a great design and I am very impressed with your work forgotten. Keep up the good work and I miss seeing you around bro. ;) Btw, this does play well with hoarders. :P lol...

Jpec07
11-04-2010, 10:53 AM
Btw, this does play well with hoarders. :P lol...

Not yet. I'll probably post the link to that version this afternoon.

Zackj191
11-04-2010, 01:30 PM
"Long ago, there was an ancient land know only as Megiddo. This land, as the legends say, was the birthplace of the greatest of all the worlds heroes. It was here, that the bravest and strongest men, competed for the ultimate glory. The Legends told of a disaster. A disease or fire, that wiped out all of the population in this wondrous land. The land was to be forever lost, the only known paths to this immaculate land lost in the minds of those who inhabited it. The outside world had known of no way to ever reach this blissful land of courage and bravery, until one day.

One day a man, not much older than you or I, had a vision. In this vision, images of a land once lost appeared to him. From what he could remember in this vision, this place looked just as the legends of old described Megiddo. The giant drops and the scaling catwalks. The gravity defying lifts and the devices known only to instantly transport people from one place to another. So this man set out to find Megiddo. he collected all the rumors he had heard of the land and travel far and wide to search for clues. Most of the scriptures and the etchings of this beautiful world had been lost or forgotten, but this young man was set to find any hint to the location of this arena of old.

While listening to an old mans story, the man couldn't help but hear a part about a waterfall, never before had he heard of such a thing near Megiddo, but this man, being old and wise must have some sort of knowledge to bring up a mysterious waterfall. There are only a few waterfalls in this world as large as this map claimed this one to be, so came the first hint to the lost location. The old man had said that this land of lost, if his memory had served him correctly and his father story, from his father before him was true, then this area, Megiddo, was seemed to suspend in midair, as if lifted by the gods. The ancients had once said the land seemed to hold its self with massive supports, almost like legs, and these supports would hold this island up in the air, as if it were built on a cloud.

With this new information, the man set out on his journey to search, no longer for clues or legends, but for the lost land itself. He looked far and wide, high and low, never to find this intriguing world. He had taken a boat out to see to travel to a nearby city to find travel to the countyside. In the middle of the ocean his boat got caught in a massive storm and the crew was thrown overboard. The young man bashed his head against the side of the ship and was knocked unconscious. He awoke in the middle of the storm, right as his boat smashed into a rocky beach on unfamiliar soil. He jumped off the ship and ran to the beach just in time, because a massive tide lifted his boat almost completely out of the water and smashed it on a nearby cliffside. The man began to wander along this mysterious canyon.

Many hours later, he stumbled into a cave for shelter from a brutal rainstorm. This storm has been going for hours and he couldn't see 100 feet in front of him so he stopped in this cave to sit down for a rest. He slept the night, and in the morning the most glorious island sat in front of him. To his right was a beautiful ocean, stretching far as he could see. The storm had long since passed and the sky was clear and beautiful. To his left he saw a massive bay, with a giant island in front of him. This island had a massive rock stretching towards the heavens as if to greet them. Farther down the beach he saw the sand end into a massive cliffside, with the most monstrous waterfall he had ever seen. This must be the one in the stories the man thought excitedly! He began to rush towards it, using the strength now returned after a long nights rest. As he approached the end of the beach he scanned the area for any sign of a town or city, there was none.
Feeling disheartened he sat down on the fine sand. The stories all said it would be here, next to the giant waterfall in a land unlike any other he had seen. He closed his eyes and fell back onto the beach to rest. No sooner had his head rested on the soft sand that he remembered the old mans story. Megiddo would be floating in midair as if suspended by the gods! He opened his eyes and there it was. The magnificant city of Megiddo! Floating in the sky as if light as air. How to get there he asked himself? So he began to climb. The mountain side was very smooth and offered very little footholds and handholds, but never the less, he began his journey upwards. After an hour of climbing he reached the top and looked out over the beautiful landscape. Flowing across the ocean as if sculpted by some artist years before.

The city was bare. The air smelled of crisp, morning dew. The many battles here had been long since ended and the man could almost feel all the past lives that were lost here. The courage of men to do battle in this glorious arena. No sooner had he reached the end if the floating island, than massive sizzle and a pop sound could be heard behind him. He ran to the noise, only do discover a slight blue glow, almost as if a floating ball of energy, above a small circular platform. The glow gave off a slight hum and as the man reach for the bulb of light he was instantly transported to an open area directly above where he had been standing. He knew, as soon as he had went through the fascinating light sphere, that this, was where he would be forever remembered. Maybe not for his journey to find Megiddo, or for his fame and glory he gained when he got back to his homeland and took others to the magical land. No, he will always be remembered as the man who brought the land of legends to life."

So here we are, young warriors, at the gates of the Megiddo arena, the greatest arena in the history of man. And I ask you, are you ready?





Whoo, that was a long story my back hurts because this chair is too high and I hunch over. Whatever, amazing map, downloaded already, amazing. Amazing. Amazing.

Also...
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j120/Jpec07/Megiddo/web-action04.jpg look at that sexy beast!

Jpec07
11-04-2010, 01:57 PM
Just making a note here, if you want to play AZN and Sotha's Hoarders gametype on here, you'll want this (http://www.bungie.net/Stats/Reach/FileDetails.aspx?fid=9039183) version instead.

GodlyPerfection
11-04-2010, 06:09 PM
Who is this AZN FTW fellow that you speak of? You should probably give that GodlyPerfection character the credit that he deserves. lol :P

And what I meant was that I tried it for Hoarders and it played pretty damn well. You just don't want to play it with too many people.

Sir Shazmanoid
11-04-2010, 07:16 PM
This really is a good map. I remember playing it quite a while ago and not knowing who's map it was, but knowing that I liked it. XD Well, there were some problems here and there, specifically with objective gametypes... but I'm assuming you've fixed all of the little problems and made some tweaks. Besides that, it played great for Team Slayer and I'm hoping it now plays the same for objective games. Then again, I do recall CTF games being really intense, problem was they were intense because it was sooo hard to score. :P I suppose that's not exactly a 'bad' thing though.

Anyway, I'm starting to ramble. Great map Jpec! <3 It definitely gets my download.

Jpec07
11-13-2010, 01:03 PM
YouTube - Video Request .:Megiddo - Competitive Map by Forgotten Wing:.

Thanks to Rifte for the awesome video of win!

GodlyPerfection
11-13-2010, 03:12 PM
Wow a beautiful and epic video for a beautiful and epic map. Mind if I favorite the map sometime this week at RP wing? Great job on the video Rifte. It was freaking amazing lol.

Jpec07
11-13-2010, 05:09 PM
Wow a beautiful and epic video for a beautiful and epic map. Mind if I favorite the map sometime this week at RP wing? Great job on the video Rifte. It was freaking amazing lol.

I'd actually appreciate that. ^_^

xFear The Herox
11-13-2010, 10:10 PM
how did i miss this post?

i love this map. i am so happy to see this map posted

also i love the video it was so clean and one of the better map preview videos

GodlyPerfection
11-17-2010, 01:13 PM
So Jpec, I wrote up that Favorite post over at RP. It is the very top post on the homepage of the blog. Since I just got front paged again this morning, you will probably see an increase in downloads my friend. Enjoy ;). At least I hope you will see an increase in downloads. At night (the last scraping of download counts for XF) your download count was 116, so let's see what that refreshes to in the future.

Given to Fly
11-17-2010, 06:27 PM
I remember testin a LONG time ago, and I must say I liked it, but didnt love it.
Ive been away from forge for a bit, but I still know a good map when I see one, and this was pretty well designed. Good job