Throwback

Submitted this for the Template Contest, and figured I'd post it here, too, in the hope of some good criticism.

Well, after months of lurking here at Forgehub, this is my first submission - I think the template finally inspired me. I've always been a big fan of Big Team (pardon the pun), and the idea of successfully implementing vehicles on Foundry (which I'd never personally seen done) got me going.

Design: The problem with Foundry and vehicles is that the small space of the warehouse forces together all of the most deadly instruments in the game. A balance must be struck between the need for open space, for proper vehicle maneuvering, and more broken sight lines, so as to prevent warthogs, say, from achieving complete dominance. My solution to this problem was to leave most of the ground floor of each side of Foundry open, but separate the sides through one major and one minor chokepoint. This, however, essentially collapsed the entire map into one area. As a result, the idea of a side-spanning platform was formed - a completely exposed route that would go over the middle divide, but would leave one completely open to fire from all sides of the map. The result is a 'C' shaped ramp that spans all the warehouse.

With the vehicles squared away, the next focus was to ensure quality gameplay for the footsoldiers on this battlefield. The template provided a good start for this, and the vehicle chokepoints mentioned earlier should only add to that. However, more was needed, especially with the decision not to form the bases around the warthog spawns, but rather leave them in their default locations. Consequently, a combination of Sidewinder/Avalanche-esque and Valhalla-esque movement systems were put in. From Avalanche, the quick teleportation from the base to the 'corner hill' and subsequent mancannons were implemented, and from Valhalla, the mancannons from the base spawning to the central fighting area were also put into play.

The result, I hope, is a worthwhile show of good use of both vehicles and the entirety of Foundry.

Pictures:
This is the 'template area' of the map. The spawn point in the foreground is a rough marker of where the base mancannon will land. A magnum spawns on both sides in that location, and a pair of SMGs are on the back wall, atop the fencepiece.

This shows the pair of mancannons that allow infantry to traverse the backside of the map by air. The teleporter in the far corner is one-way from the base, and the two ground-floor level chokepoints can be seen.

This shows the two opposing bases, and the center region of the warehouse-spanning ramp. The mancannons along the center wall throw soldiers into the fray at the 'template area' of the map. The Gauss Hog on one side and Wraith on the other only spawn during Asymmetrical gametypes, replacing the the two default 'Hogs that normally spawn on the other end of the map. The interplay between the Gauss and the Wraith can hopefully incite positive memories from the Terminal days of Halo 2.

A view looking out from the attacker's base.

Teams looking for an edge may time the spawning Overshield, but they will need to find some other way around - windowpains and shield doors prevent people and fire from being exchanged.