The wait is finally over. Paradox Origins has arrived. The better half of a year has been put into this map, crafting, rebuilding and tweaking every detail in order to give you a smoothest and most enjoyable gaming experience we have to offer. Outdoing Paratroxity presented us with quite a challenge, but through time and dedication I believe we have done it.

Description

Before Paratroxity was ever discovered, explorers came across the wonder that started it all- Origins. It was the first they had encountered of its kind, an age-old network of structures, designed to test the knowledge and wit of the archaic community. It served as a sort of ceremonial rite of passage, with those who made it out the end earning a repectable status among others. The explorers now intend to take part in the ritual, as it's the only way to get to the rest of the structures and understand more about what once was. The thirst for knowledge would be the death for many. Entering the mysterious structure through an ancient sewer grate, they began a journey that tested their problem-solving skills, bravery, and logic, pushing them to the limits. Many times they had to pause to appreciate the architecture, which was often simply breathtaking. Crossing chasms, encountering explosives, and dodging death, they slowly made progress to the heart of the system, but their numbers were steadily dwindling. Only one made it to the end, and it was he who obtained the stone skull that served as a key to the next adventure- Paratroxity. The structures he had passed through were now open for others who wanted to tempt fate. So now it's your turn. Will your skills and dedication be enough to get you through to the end, earning you respectable recognition as one of the few who did, or will you perish along the way and take your place as one of many who couldn't?

Background

This project was started by Yee Man Iz Bak back in August to serve as an in-between map until Paratroxity's sequel. Dr Tech Ex and myself had jumped onboard early on, and as the project developed we also picked up aAftershock and Gamer720. Yee Man led the project for the first few months, but due to a number of delays (forgers going on holiday, etc) the progress being made had come to a halt. We then decided that I should take over lead and try to get it going again. The map remained about 75% complete for a number of months because we kept tearing down old structures that weren't up to our standards and replacing them with new and better ones. Seriously, half of the current map has been built from the remains of old challenges. One of these include a room that was once a simple contraption (built by none other than Yee Man of course ;)) and has now been transformed into an entirely new full-blown challenge. So in the end, what we were left with was only the best challenges, ones that had received the most praise from testers, and the least complaints from the team. That is why this map has taken so long. We knew you all had high expectations for it, and so we made sure we did our absolute best to fufill them.

Tips and Facts

This is a solo map and can be completed with one player, but feel free to bring your friends along, although this may open some opportunities to cheat. It is up to you whether you take them or not, but to get the most out of the map, it should be played as though you were on your own.

There are a total of sixteen challenges but many of them are much larger than those of Paratroxity, causing its run-time to be about the same.

When you get to challenge 9 make sure you throw away all your firebomb grenades, as sometimes they don't despawn properly.

You should also note that most of the best challenges are in the second half of the map as to reward you for getting through the first.

Pictures

Overview

Skybubble Overview

Starting Challenge

The Hub

Challenge 2

Challeges 3 & 4

Challenges 5 & 6

Challenges 7 & 8

Challenge 9

Challenge 10

Challenge 11

Challenge 12

Challenge 13

Challenge 15

Challenge 16

Credit

First Challenge by Mander, with some inspiration from the original starting challenge by Tech.

Hub by Aftershock.

Challenges 2-4 by Yee Man.

Challenges 5-8 by Aftershock

Challenges 9-10 by Tech

Challenge 11 by Mander with some idea developements from BuddhaCrane.

Challenge 12 by Yee Man.

Challenge 13 by Aftershock.

Challenge 14 added by Mander.

Challenge 15 by Gamer.

Final Challenge by Mander.

Extra Effort

Mander- Easily put most time into map. Tweaked challenges to make more consistent, added checkpoints, and touched up forge in various sections. Also donated Microsoft Points for contest.

Yee Man- Started map, made large portion of original version and didn't hunt us down and kill us when some of his challenges were taken down and replaced.

Aftershock- Made a large part, and tweaked it numerous times for convenience. Also touched up forge in a number of other sections and did various tasks to further the map's progress.

Tech- For keeping the party conversations interesting.

Gamer- For rebuilding his part in another area of the skybubble.

BuddhaCrane- For having a spiritual influence on the map without having to do any physical work.

Hints

Seeing as I have heard some requests to not do hints this time as to increase the map's difficulty, I will only do up them up for each challenge if there are atleast four replies that ask for them. If there is, I will then put them in a spoiler.

Contest

Fastest time to complete the map by April 27th will recieve 1400 microsoft points, and the video will go up on all our fileshares as the official walkthrough. Map must be completed properly, without using breaks if any are found. Map creators are not eligible. To enter just save the film to your fileshare and send it to me (mander A1) via xbox live, or in a private message on this site.

Download Links

Enjoy!