Hey guys. My first ever post on forgehub. I've enjoyed playing many of the maps I've downloaded here and I've finally decided to make an account so I can contribute.

So here goes. A double whammy: Rat Race and Rat Race Speed. Both are compatible with the same 'Rat Race' game type.

First things first: These are not remakes of the Halo CE map. They are racing maps on Rat's Nest and I just couldn't bear to call them anything other than Rat Race because I think it fits/sounds good.

Neither of these maps require honour rules as I have used interlocking and careful object placement to ensure that it’s impossible to cheat/take shortcuts. (Please if anyone discovers a way to cheat let me know so I can fix it).

I've seen a lot of very mediocre-looking rats nest racetracks and I really hope you guys agree with me that these two maps are well done and actually a lot of fun. These maps were inspired after playing some incredibly fun games of Glimflicker's Bungie 500' map with a few friends. Rat's Nest has nowhere near the resources or customisation that foundry provides but its sheer size I think makes for a very enjoyable racetrack.

Rat Race

Lets start with Rat Race. I went for a sort of obstacle course-ish kind of circuit, with a few nasty hazards that can get you killed if you don’t keep total control of your 'goose.

Roll on the screenshots:

The starting lineup. I've placed the mongooses (mongeese? :S) far enough apart that it's not a problem avoiding them on 2nd and subsequent laps. The Receiver node at the back there corresponds to all teleporters on the map. If you get separated from your 'goose there are teleporters at even intervals along the track to take you back to the start line to try again. the receiver is also elevated above the ground so it cannot be blocked by a mongoose parked on top (as is possible with the majority of race maps I see including bungie 500).

Corner number 2, take it carefully because overshooting it will get you launched off the cliff by a man cannon (it’s also very fun to try to push your opponents into them).

Immediately after corner 2 is a jump with a grav lift to lift you up onto the ledge. Miss the grav lift and you'll have to attempt it again. Yes I know. the forklifts dont actually need to be there. the ramp is immovable. I put them there because it looks good. a random floating ramp supported by nothing just looks unnatural and ugly

On the right is the ledge the grav lift lifts you onto, leading into corner 3 which ends in a double box with man cannon 'booster'

The 'booster'. Slow down as quick as you can after taking it or risk slamming into the fusion-coil lined corner 4 (yes the explosion does cause a slight amount of lag, but I decided this isn't a problem since half a second of lag won't affect anyone’s ability to race. It's also quite fun because the lag lets everyone on the map know that some idiot has just got themselves blown up.

View of corner 4 and corner 5 which leads into the indoors portion of the track.

A shot of part of the indoors portion. Street cones and weapon holders have been used wherever possible throughout the map as visual cues to help new players tell where they're meant to be going and also to improve the aesthetic quality of the course.

The finish line. boost yourself over that wall and you're back where you started. Yes there are no teleporters to stop people completing laps on foot. On a course this large you're not going to get any advantage trying to walk the whole way so players can still complete a lap even if they've lost their 'goose.

That’s it for the screenshots. If you can't quite get an idea of how the map looks from these let me know and I'll put more up.

Rat race is playable with up to 8 players but would probably be better suited for 4-6 due to the nature of the 'hazards'. Playing with 8 people when a player dies and respawns at the start line they have to wait for their 'goose to respawn also before they can start racing again. With 4-6 players there should always be a couple of spare 'gooses for respawning players to take.

All in all I think this map plays very well and I'm very proud of it. The ability to be killed if you're not careful makes it possible for losing players to make a comeback if the leader gets careless and the wide open corners at the beginning of the track contrast with the tight corners indoors to make a highly competitive track that never gets boring.

I also spent a lot of time on the aesthetics of this map to make it intuitive to navigate and also as nice looking as is possible with a non-foundry map.

Rat Race is my favourite of these two maps and if you only want to download one of the two I recommend this one. I think its looks better, is more fun and it certainly took a lot longer to create than Rat Race Speed (not that Rat Race Speed isn't a lot of fun).

Rat Race Speed

The second of my Rat Race double feature. This map is a step away from the ‘obstacle course’ style track and more of a simplistic traditional style of race course. The idea is that the fun from this map comes from players interacting with each other rather than players interacting with the map.

Wider corners and unobscured views mean that you’re able to tell where your opponents are at all times and makes for a more ‘racey’ kind of racetrack. It’s also important to note that although it shares a name with the previous map no part of this map is taken from the other. It is a totally independent and different track to the original Rat Race.

It’s a figure-8 style course as I thought an oval would be too boring. I understand that the crossover point for the 8 looks quite messy but it’s the best I could do with Rat’s Nest’s very limited item selection while still maintaining a track that firstly required no honour rules and secondly kept a smooth racing line with no annoying bumps. It works fine; it just doesn’t look as good as I would like it.

The screenshots:

The starting lineup.

Corner one and the first booster. Shield doors to bounce off make cornering easier.

Coming around corner 2

Corner 3 and entrance into the figure-8 crossover tunnel

Ramp down to the tunnel

Inside the tunnel, grav lift at the end helps you get through a very tight corner

Coming out of the grav lift corner

Once again shield doors assist cornering after passing through the 2nd booster.

Rounding the corner to enter the crossover again

In the crossover you pass over the tunnel you went through earlier

Exiting the crossover and about to hit the finish line

The finish line, 2 man cannons propel you through teleporters, then the goal, and into a second set of man cannons making it impossible to cheat and go backwards.

So that’s it. A pretty simple map but that is kinda the point. This map is all about speed and hectic passing maneuvers and can be played with up to 8 players. A simple, but very fun racetrack.

The Game type

Quite similar to the Bungie 500 game type but unfortunately I had to make some changes so sorry guys if you want the real experience you’ll need to make some room for the game type as well as the maps. Score limit is 10. Game length is maximum of 15 mins. Players do no damage but assassinations are still possible (unfortunate, but I couldn’t make players invulnerable because they need to be able to die on fusion coils).Gravity is at maximum to ensure no shortcuts can be taken. Make sure all players pick individual team colours before the game starts because these maps are for teams of one only.

So there you have it. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do. And I apologise for the length of this post but I really wanted to sell these maps well. Questions, comments, praise and criticism are all welcome. Please let me know what you think.

Oh and as this is my first post I understand I may have made some mistakes as to the layout of how I’m supposed to post a map. Please let me know what to change if I’ve done anything wrong.

Thanks to Treefingers7 for being the inspiration for a Rats Nest racetrack and for helping me to test/improve these maps.

BTW my gamertag is Xyris231. Add me at anytime if you want to test your racing skills against mine ;-) (Colonel grade 1 Highest skill: 40 EXP: 443)

Download Rat Race map here

Download Rat Race Speed here

Download gametype here