CREATRIUM1.1

Millennia have passed, but only scratched the surface of this familiar battlefield. 4-8 players. Version 1.1

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Version Updates: The biggest gameplay-influencing changes from version 1.0 to the present come in weapon placement, reduced escapability and some minor scenery tweaks:

Moved Sniper weapons to lower buildings.
Removed Turret weapons.
Moved one BR (per side) from objective to old Sniper spawn and one from new Sniper Spawn to old Turret Spawn.
Moved Plasma Pistol and Needler to the rear face of their respective side's lower building.
Removed spare rounds on the Rocket Launcher so there are zero.

Added extra walling to low sides and the top floors of the bases.
Also added an extra level of walling above the rear Obelisks (behind the old Turret Spawn)
Changed the shape of the 4 Obelisk towers for bolder walling along those top paths.

Many of these scenery changes came in order to free up budget for walling. To my knowledge, the map can no longer be escaped without the use of Grenade Jumping.

Added low walls at the end of the Turret blocks (or where the Turrets used to be). These created awesome new jumps between the buildings.
Sunk obstacle pieces like the block that Rockets spawn on slightly into the ground. That block can now be crouched jumped onto from the floor.
Removed one Obelisk from each of the Obelisk towers, giving them flexibility for players seeking cover on them, but also opening them up to fire from more angles.
Moved Red and Blue lights to inside their respective towers.

And I think that's about all the changes that occurred to raise this map another decimal place.

A skilled, practised, nimble player can navigate almost any part of the map without touching the floor. I can't honestly say that this is through any good intention of mine, it's purely luck that it has turned out that way, and perhaps it's turned out equally in other Sandbox maps for other Forgers. The result is a lot of pretty cool trick jumps to shorten the time taken to get from one place to another. For example, you can jump from the lower building Snipe Spawn to the interior wall there, to the low Turret Wall, the opposite interior wall and up to the corresponding base's third level, but it's not easy to perfect.

Introduction: My first venture into the Sandbox world was always to be a remake of an older custom map from Foundry, to test how this new Forging canvas stood up against its predecessor; the choice of which for me was simple: Atrium. I planned to make this map into everything I had wanted Atrium to be, which only really required an upsizing of the scale. Sandbox allowed me to widen and elongate the original and while the core gameplay still stands, some small differences make for fresh outcomes in set pieces of the map.

The increase in size, pulling the four original structures further apart, resulted in a lot empty space which needed to be filled with new constructions that didn’t obstruct sight lines or gameplay too much. Very slightly raised towers opposing each other flank the centre-field, which has been transformed into a symmetrical shrine-like cover piece.

The most obvious change from Atrium to Creatrium is in aesthetics, and due of course to the skin-change on objects. No longer an urban playground, this map has become an ancient and deserted relic.

Description: The main premise of Atrium was four buildings, one in each corner of the map and that element remains in Creatrium. Two of the buildings, diagonally opposite, are the main bases reaching 3 floors high. The other two buildings, each connected along the back wall on their upper floor to the middle floor of its respective base, reaches 2 floors high. Wrapped around each building is a set of ramps climbing upwards. These are outside of the buildings instead of beneath them like in Atrium, so they can be dropped down onto from above.

In the middle of the map is a large platform as wide as the space between two corresponding buildings, and as long as the space between each side. This is dominated by a structure housing the rockets, and flanked by a ground level passage linking the outer buildings together with ramps at ends up to bases, and on the side up to the main field.

Towers between bases and opposing lower buildings can be jumped across. They offer reasonable cover and quick access, but the jump is too big for a flag carrier on usual settings.

Slayer on this map is calculated and quick, it all comes down to control, of areas and weapons. The higher ground gives the best advantage and can be used to trap spawning opposition down low, but rockets in the open can break almost any good set up and are the quickest way to knock away tower-campers.

Objective requires communication and planning, team-mates that lose their lives can lose the game easily, while a co-ordinated effort can make a quick change. Open ground is quick to cross, but easy to ambush, while routes around the outside are slower but more covered, although still susceptible to attacks from above.

The map is currently set up for CTF, Slayer, Team Slayer and King of The Hill.

Weapons/Equipment:
4x Battle Rifles [1 Spare Clip, 90 Second Respawn]
2x Carbines [1 Spare Clip, 90 Second Respawn]
2x Maulers [1 Spare Clip, 120 Second Respawn]
1x Sniper Rifle [1 Spare Clip, 150 Second Respawn]
1x Beam Rifle [150 Second Respawn]
1x Plasma Pistol [90 Second Respawn]
1x Needler [1 Spare Clip, 90 Second Respawn]
1x Rocket Launcher [0 Spare Clips, 150 Second Respawn]

4x Frag Grenades [20 Second Respawn]
8x Plasma Grenades [20 Second Respawn]

1x Bubble Shield [120 Second Respawn]
1x Power Drain [150 Second Respawn]

I don’t usually admit to this, but given the weapon set and playstyle of the map, I would actually advise Assault Rifle starts in most gametypes for most player counts, take that how you will.

Screenshots:

A slideshow with all the screenshots of the previous version and all of the ones below can be viewed here.

Alright, so once again I'm finished with Creatrium, I hope all is in order, and that everyone with the original version on their HDD is happy to replace it with this flash new one.

Happy Forging.