Map Title: Pinball Alley
Hilarious Rocket Racing

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Description:

The racetrack simply follows the outside road of Rats Nest. Barriers and the like have been removed to keep it clear. You score a point by doing one lap to the finish line, and the first team to do 10 laps wins. That may sound uninteresting compared to the crazy twists and turns of other racetracks out there, but this isn't supposed to be a track that requires perfect handling like Gran Turismo. It's more like Burnout and there are a number of tweaks and additions Iâ€™ve made that add up to be more than the sum of their parts. This is a different type of racing than you usually see. That doesn't make it a bad thing and I hope people will give it a chance and see how much fun it can be. Coupled with the â€œDouble Dashâ€ variant (gametype link found above) there is enough explosive action to keep things fun without it going to the other extreme and being over done.

The Specifics:

Shield Doors: Anyone who has driven on Rats Nest will know that itâ€™s easy to get stuck on the walls when taking those turns. This interrupts the flow of a race and can make for a frustrating time. To solve this Iâ€™ve added shield doors along the walls/stairs of those turns. Mongooses just bounce off them allowing you to focus on the fun of blasting rockets or tossing grenades at your friends. In fact Iâ€™ve found that if you drift into the shield doors they actually help you take those turns.

The Boom Room: One of the great highlights of the track. A section/room, just before the finish line, full of instantly respawning propane tanks set off with a flying fusion coil. The room is madness in fiery bouncy form. The balance appears to be just right. Sometimes you can dash through the chaos with no resistance. Other times youâ€™re sent flying back, forward or up, spinning wildly about. This is where leads are lost and underdogs can regain ground. Frankly speaking this is the section that drove me, not only to complete the map but also to spend the time needed to perfect it. If I hadn't created this part early on we wouldn't be here today.

Mind the Gap: Along the â€œopen stretchâ€ section of the map (where the Pelican is) all the barriers along the edge have been removed. This makes it a danger zone as a well placed rocket can send you and your partner over the side.

Wire Spools: Iâ€™ve created a couple wire spool "cannons" that shoot wire spools out randomly down along the â€œopen stretchâ€. These add nice moving obstacles and can even knock you back or, if you're unlucky, over the edge.

Teleporters: My game variant is set up for player invulnerably, however sometimes the unexpected happens. If you need to meet up with your partner and a new mongoose fast, there are teleporters scattered throughout the level that will take you back to the starting line. Youâ€™ll be back into the driving action faster, rather than running about the map trying to find your way to the right place.

Quick Spawning: Mongooses and fusion coil obstacles are set for quick/instant respawning. No team should be without a mongoose, even if all 8 are needed.

Pictures:

The shield doors at work keeping you from getting stuck in corners and continuing the flow of the race.

Two teams battle it out along the "open stretch". Doesn't look good for either of them.

Over you go. Looks like Yellow team will have some catching up to do.

Entrance to the "boom room". Propane tanks add a fun randomness to the last leg of the race. Notice the shield door that prevents you from being thrown off the track.

Despite the chaos it is possible to make it clean through. Other times you'll bounce all over the place. The balance is great, favouring neither option over the other.

If you have odd numbers you can do an "every man for himself" race.

Just a minor setback for the Red player. With the "boom room" and "open stretch" it's still anyones race.

Because I didn't want to slow down the loading of this page with too many images I haven't used all the pictures from my original post at bungie.net. You can find more by going there.

Thanks for looking and reading. I really appreciate it.