Download Here!
(if you download, PLEASE make a comment in the map's topic on bungie!)

Prologue
Cavern Version 2 is a remake of my first Legendary Map pack map made specifically in the mancannon cave in the center of Avalanche. The previous version found here, clocked a total of 3800+ downloads, 1000 of which came even after the original topic became locked due to bumping by second and third parties. Because of this, I would ask that those who wish to post on the map's topin on bungie.net, don't say things like "bump" in your post. At least find something constructive to say as I do not want this topic to belocked like the last version of my map was.

I started on the V2 of CAVERN two days after releasing the original. Because the original was a rushed project, I knew that there was a lot of problems with it. When I started getting good feedback and changes people wanted to see, I started working hard with the second version. It was a long road with a lot of fustration, inlcuding 6 or 7 people claiming I stole this map from them, but I got a lot of help from various forge groups and friends in getting this next version the best it can be. Reguardless of difficulties, things have progressed smoothly and now I have the finished project, What this map was MEANT to be.

I Present:

CAVERN V2!

Mapper: Mighty Midgi7

Map: Avalanche - The Mancannon Cave

Size: Small

Players: 2-8 (you can always play with more if you want ^_^ )

Affiliated Forge Groups:
-Halo3forgery.org
-Forgeguide.com
-The Bump List (Bungie.net Group)
-Forge For Thought (Bungie.net Group)

Total Production time: 32 hours in-game (on and offline)

Total Playtesting time: 6 hours in-game

Description
Cavern is an asymmetrical map suspending above the bottomless pit in the mancannon cave on Avalanch. Only forerunner scenery has been used in order to add an atmospheric feel to it. People have described the feel of the map as a combination between Bever Creek and the original Lockout. It is a strange combination if you ask me, but it is what a few people have said. Both mancannons are dissabled by overloading the map and placing ramps in front of them and power cores dot the map in key, strategic places. The use of shield doors is necessary in many places though they are bright. It may take a little time to get use to them for some players.

This map is based arround 5 main platforms/bases. The first is the blue base in the upper left side of the map, second being the red base in the far back corner on the right. The 3rd and 4th are the mancannon platforms in the front and back of the map. The final is the upturned watchtower base in the center of the map with the sword towwer sitting on top of the left edge of it. All of these are key places used in various gametypes as well as team bases for starting points. The distances between bases, platforms, and other geometry have been measured so that they can be used for techniccal jumps of varrying difficulty. Aside from the power cores, there are no static scenery placed on this map as there is a lack of forerunner themed scenery in this department and they tend to get in the way of gameplay.

Gametypes
This map is compatable with every gametype on every setting you can immagine. There is literally nothing you cannot play on this map. CTF, Assault, Infection, and Territories play with the Attackers in the red base in the back corner and Defenders in the Blue base in the upper left. Flag Rally (territories), Oddball, and VIP can be played with start points placed for up to 4 teams. KotH can be played with as many teams as wanted.

A few gametypes that players have commented on as being best on this map are Single Flag CTF, FFA KotH, SWAT, and Team Oddball.

Tips and Strategies

Technical Jumps:
There are about 7 technical jumps on this map that take some skill to make. Many involve crouching at the right time in the jump in order to make them. Some playtesters have called this map more hardcore than lockout because many of these jumps are harder than in that map. Mastering these jumps can be the key to getting to different objectives faster than your opponents.

Shield Doors:
Shield doors have been used on this map as floors as well as walls. These doors have certain properties that make them different than other normal geometry. The biggest of which to notice is that plasmas AND spike grenades will ricochet off thes floors and walls just like a frag would if not stronger. Use this to get the more technical grenades arround corners or into bases that they normally would not be able to reach.

Power Cores:
Some who have played the original probably noticed the many power cores there were on the map. Thou there are less now, they still serve the same purpose and can be used to chip away a player's shields so you can get an easier kill. Use these to dammage those in turrets or to detach the turrets before one can get to them.

Teamwork:
This seems really genereal but I cannot stress this enough. This is a team map so working together is necessary in order to get the advantage over your opponents. Defense in many gametypes is generally easier than offense so you need to pull out all the tricks in order to get the advantage easier. In many of my 4v4 playtests, one team would lose because 1 player would not follow the lead of the rest of the team.

Changes from V1

Structural:
-attacker base layout has been altered to make it more deffendable as symmetrical gametypes tened to lean a little more towards the blue/defender team
-pushed the attackers' base back about half a foot to prevent people from falling off the edge when backing up from the teleporter or walking off if the teleporter is blocked
-shield door walkways have been pushed closer to map geometry to prevent people from falling when accidentaly walking too close to the cave walls
-leveled the sword tower a little more to make it less uneaven
-changed the rotation of the barriers used in one of the corners of the sword tower
-Capped the turret base to prevent camping in oddball, infection, and VIP
-cleaned up the walkway from the front-side mancannon to the sword tower
-moved the center platform on the bottom closer to the vertical ramp in front of the mancannon to prevent people from falling off the edge when they missed one of the harder tactical jumps
-cleaned up the walkway/ramp from the center platform to the right side of the front mancannon
-straitened the step to the center platform where the shotgun is located
-Shield doors on the side of the mancannons have been cleaned to prevent people from using them as walkable surfaces
-altered the angle of the shield door on the right side of blue base to make the entrance a little wider
-added a ramp on the right side of blue base to prevent people from falling if they miss the jump into blue base or walk too close to the edge
-power core number has been halfed

Spawns:
-many troublesome spawns that were either too close to the edge or had objects too close to you which dissoriented many players
-changed the location of team 4's starts in a few gametypes to prevent them from becoming immediately under fire from the red team after the game starts

Weapons/Equipment:
-Removes 4 plasmas to remove grenade spamming
-added 1 more spike for balance
-added another mauler on the opposite side of the first for balance
-rearanged a few weapons to improve balancing
-regenerator removed due to an interesting glitch that would increase the stream size of the mancannon if the regenerator was placed on it allowing it to grab nearby players and throw them randomly, sometimes off the edge
-deployable cover added in approximately the same location as the regen

Gametypes:
-oddball started in red base instead fo the center, fixed now
-reset the VIP go-to points to work with the default 3 point escort gametype
-altered sizes of hill and territory borders

Special Thanks
Halo3Forgery.com and specifically Thomas for help with finding issues with the previous map, helping with some plagerism scandals, and a lot of playtesting time.

Debo and The Bump List for support and a playtesting

JBSpudster for his in-depth review stating what needed to be touched up on or fixed as well as support.

Forgeguide.com for help getting my map out there as well as some playtesting. I am also planning on getting a youtube video from them to post in this topic in the future.

Pictures

Overviews:

Left Side

Right Side

Front

Back

Bases and Structures:

Blue Base

Red Base

Sword Tower

Turret Tower

Turret Platform

Random Angles:

From top of Red Bace

From Bottom of Red Base

From Inside Blue Base

From Below

Thanks everyone and PLEASE enjoy ^_^