Map Title: DC SpykeBahl by a dumb cat
Interlocking Madman at work, finest arena this side of Halo. Oh and teh Glowing Serpent sez hai.

MAP variant: Download 'DC SpykeBahl F' here
GAME variant: Download 'Pro SpykeBahl' here

New Screenshot! (panorama shot, or Haloramic as TiedTheLeader.com puts it) - my pro PhotoShop skillz lol

For: 2-8 Hurlers
Type: Dodge-Ball, Grenade Sticking
Selling Point(s): 100% Cheater/Shortcut/Honor-Rule Free; Professional/Quality Feel; Impenetrable barrier between both sides, while still allowing grenades through.

I know what you are going to say. "OMG, another arena. It is gonna be lame..." Well, its true that it is another arena, but I had to take a stab at making one; and this one is unique among all the others you have seen, I guarantee it.

Halo Arena "DC SpykeBahl" Overview: (remember to click on the images for a better hi-res view)
I was inspired to make this after seeing the only spike ball arena featured on ForgeHub.com was made on The Pit. I realize that it was probably made before the Heroic Map Pack came out, but nothing has been posted since. And without being overly critical, I think we need an updated version. Hopefully my aesthetically pleasing and useful arena will someday replace that one.

This is not your ordinary arena. There are two distinct sides that do not allow players to travel between freely. Honor-rules come into play for the majority of arenas because games depend upon players "honorably" staying on their designated sides. This map fixes this by putting an impenetrable barrier between both sides. "But if you can't walk from one side to the other, how can you possibly interact/shoot/kill each other?" you ask. Well, through clever use of forge objects, I have allowed enemy fire to pass from one side to other, while still restricting player movement to one's own side.

Grenades, bullets, powerdrainers, etc. can easily be fired from one side to the other, just like in an open environment. You can almost think of it as an Inverse Shield Door, or ISD™: Players can shoot, but not walk through it.

With the ISD being the most prominent and useful feature, lets move on to the secondary features (and in some cases, useless, but in a good way). The first has to do with spawn locations. Other than the starting points, all spawn points are placed in mid-air, where a steep ramp guides the player into their side of the arena. This solves the problem of spawn camping (chucking 'nades at known spawn locations to get easy kills). Along each ramp are two Weapon Holders that hold spike grenades. This allows any spawned player to immediately start hurling as soon as they spawn The gametype, which accompanies this map, even has each player start with 3 seconds of invulnerability, just in case you do get stuck with a lucky 'nade just after spawning.

Another cool feature, which is pretty, but completely useless (lol), is the Glowing Serpent. "WTF is that?" you ask. Well, its an aesthetic piece of the map that was added to provide a little bit of eye-candy for those playing on this map. 16 teleporter nodes strung together in a perfect spiral, floating above Side B. "Why did you add this?" you might ask. "Because I wanted to. That's why." (lol) I guess I feel that everything should be done to make your map unique and stand out from all the rest. This is a small arena that uses fewer resources, and I thought that it needed a little spicing up. When you look at it, you're looking at 3-4 hours of work spent on that thing (not counting time spent on other experimental designs).

Well, that's pretty much it. Its a straight-forward map with a straight-forward purpose aimed at taking the place of the existing featured Spike Ball Arena forged on The Pit.

More pics in my PhotoBucket Album here

Pro SpykeBahl Gametype Overview: (UPDATED and uploaded for download NOW)
WHEN CHOOSING TEAM COLORS, ONLY RED AND BLUE WORK PROPERLY. OTHER TEAM COLORS HAVE A SLIGHT POTENTIAL FOR SPAWNING OUTSIDE THE ARENA. SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE.

Sticks are worth much more than splash damage kills, therefore if the opposing team runs out of lives with more points, they still win. Just think of Sticks as touchdowns and all other kills as field goals. :-)

Lives per game: 7

Scoring...
Points awarded for sticking an opponent: 7 points
Points awarded for killing an opponent with "Splash Damage": 3 points
Points awarded for any melee, possible only if both players approach the ISD : (-3) points
Points awarded for betrayals: Not Applicable (friendly fire turned off)
Points awarded for suicides: (-7) points (So you can't sabotage your own team)

Respawn Traits...
Duration: 3 seconds
Active Camo: On
Invulnerable: Yes
Forced Color: Black

Leader Traits (Team)...
Movement: 90% Speed, 150% Gravity
Forced Color: White
Waypoint: Visible to ALL players

MAP variant: Download 'DC SpykeBahl F' here
GAME variant: Download 'Pro SpykeBahl' here

Happy Sticking!

--a dumb cat