http://www.bungie.net/Online/Halo3UserContentDetails.aspx?h3fileid=106354382

This map is part of the MLG H3 Forge Forum Map Pack. You can find the complete map pack here

Suspect
Designed and Forged by b0b43 (with assistance from Tak)
Supports MLG Slayer, King of the Hill, Narrows Flag

4 x BR ~ 10 sec ~ 2 Spare Clips
2 x Carbine ~ 90 sec ~ 2 Spare Clips
1 x Mauler ~ 150 sec ~ 1 Spare Clip
2 x Sniper ~ 150 sec ~ 2 Spare Clips

8 x Plasma Grenades ~ 30 sec

1 x Custom ~ 120 sec
1 x Camo ~ 120 sec

Suspect is now my 3rd forged MLG map and I would have to say the most time-consuming map I have forged. The majority of time I spent on the map was before a single block was laid - but more on that later. The end result is something I am proud to present, and despite the fact that I know could have done certain things differently that may have worked out the better, I am very satisfied with the version that is released.

I feel that Suspect is one of those maps where you really like it or you don't. I've had numerous forgers tell me that they loved certain parts of the map (whether it was the design, gameplay, aesthetics, etc.) and just as many forgers tell me that they hated the things I just got praised on the other day. This pattern has been the same with the wider community - I have a few people tell me that it was their favourite in the map pack and others who don't want to ever play it again. This fact doesn't particularly bother me (although it gets annoying if I want opinions on what to change ;)).

I guess it comes down to the knowledge that I have taken risks on this map. I didn't want to forge something generic and simple (if you aren't going to take risks forging, the map will never turn out well). Vertical interactions was definitely something I looked at before I started the map, because so many H:CE maps did it well - yet so little H3 forged maps incorporate vastly varying heights.

Having a very high vertical range makes balance a very difficult task - and again, I have had to take risks in terms of what weapons to place, where to place them, how to compensate certain positions and how to reduce the effectiveness of others. So I get the feeling that some people like the risks I have taken, and others hate them.

Now that is out of the way, I just want to throw in a few statements that I find myself stating every time I show someone new the map:
-The map was inspired by Prisoner
-Suspect is at the top of the sky bubble to prevent people from getting on top of the columns in gameplay (NOTE: I saw this in another forged map - I forget what it was - and thought it was a great idea. I encourage anyone who builds a sky bubble map to do this)
-The map isn't as big as it feels
-I have Fin railings on each side just for aesthetics. TheEpicCiabatta and I thought of something like this a long while ago, and I had to incorporate it somehow. Why? So we can have the callout 'Finland' (Another thing to note, now that there is a Fin railing on each side, the callouts are Communist Finland [Red side] and Democratic Finland [Blue side] :D)
-Yes, I like the grass too

Now for some pictures:

Download Suspect here

I think the background history of the map is quite interesting, so I'm going to talk about the progression of the map. If you don't care about it, just move on and download the map :D. I will try not to be too long with this.

Well the map was originally concepted just before the first map pack was released. I was screwing around with Sketchup with ideas in my head, and I contacted Solo xiii to see if he could make a sketchup based on the ideas I had.

I left it for a while, but came back to this for map pack two. Now that I had a bit more knowledge in Sketchup, I started to design a map based off solo's two sketchups and my previous one.

You can probably see that these starting points, although not much, have very little in common with the final design. The only thing that has stayed the same throughout the production of the map is the parabolic grass :D. Originally, I did want to (and still do now) make the center an S-shape, but due to the difficulty of fitting items in there, constant angle changes and general awkwardness I decided against it.

I didn't like the direction the map was going in, so I scrapped it and started again. You can see a few things that made it to the final cut in the following pictures, such as the lowered/raised windows, the semicircle ramp wide set, and if you saw the beta version, those columns and arches in the background almost made it all the way.

The second picture shows me just being a little too complicated with things. One side was a bit too complex, the other too simple, and they didn't really balance out. I asked myself the question: "Would this play well?" Truthfully, the answer was no and I started to re-do most of the map again.

These next two pictures really show the map starting to take shape. The first picture shows things like the supported walkway and the arch tunnels, but I didn't like the bases. So after running around Dammy and Pris for a while, I re-did the base, incorporating everything I liked with previous versions and other influences, and got a base that is very similar to the final version. I got on a roll after that and started to re-craft the rest of the map straight after.

The second picture shows a map very similar to the beta version, but has a lot of differences. I had 51 double blocks and way too many objects on that sketchup. Some serious item switching was needed.

The final two pics show the beta and almost-final versions of the map. And yes, I just figured out how to colour components. Don't judge me.

The pink picture shows the version I started forging. Unfortunately I don't have the original, and this version was a link between Forge and the sketchup - when I changed something in Forge, I made the changes in Sketchup and saved over it.

The last picture is a result of Tak and Nasty tearing apart the map after a few games. Tak came up with the streets, and after much back and forth sending of files, we got to this version. Of course, you will notice some differences between this version and the actual map - that is very last minute item swaps and budget saving (which at this stage, I didn't think was possible.

And finally, here we are:

Special thanks:

-All of my testers, whether you loved the map or hated it
-Spaceneil, for feedback all the way - and the name ;)
-Nasty, who tore apart the map and gave extremely valuable feedback in a short space of time - but most importantly, feedback that was useful, practical, and ideas that I didn't hear from anyone else
-Anyone else who assisted along the way who I may have forgotten.

But most importantly, Tak.
He was the first to help out, and the last to help finish up. Every single version I created (around 60) was sent to him, de-constructed, analysed, and changed for the better. If I needed budget, he would get it. Even if it didn't look possible. He has helped out so much, involuntarily, that I would almost call him co-creator. Almost. Scrub ;)

Well that's it. Thanks for reading, go download, play, and let me know what you think!

Download Suspect here

http://www.bungie.net/Online/Halo3UserContentDetails.aspx?h3fileid=106354382