Halo Wars

'Halo Wars' is different than any other Halo 3 map you have played before. It combines the strategic element of Halo Wars and the action element of Halo 3, to bring you a whole new gaming experience. At first it may seem complex, but once you understand how it is played, you will love it!

Story: In 'Halo Wars', two Rebel armies have spotted each other's bases in a desert, exiled from civilization. These Rebel armies are mean, and want nothing other than to destroy everything they see. They use anything they can buy, UNSC or Covenant technology, to destroy their enemy. They have access to similar funds, weapons, and troops, but how they use them will determine the victor. They must use their minds and their combat skill to win. The Rebel War has begun.

How to play: 'Halo Wars' combines strategy and action to create a whole new Halo 3 experience. The explanation may sound complicated at first, but you will quickly catch on.

Let me explain this map in an 8 vs. 8 situation, the ideal number of people to play it on (8-16 players work well). Each team has one Commander. The Commander is the brains of the battle, and chooses what troops, vehicles, and weapons go into battle. The Commander spawns trapped to a roof, with a overhead view of the entire battlefield. Everyone else spawns trapped in individual boxes. The Commander starts out with 8 Sniper shots, basically his money or funds. He can choose to: release players from their boxes to fight, gives existing players more powerful weapons, or give existing players vehicles. The Commander gets 8 more shots each minute to simulate gaining funds.

The other players spawn in one of two types of trapped rooms. Two players spawn trapped in the base, and 5 spawn trapped in boxes above the base, ready to drop in like ODSTs. The two players in the base are trapped in separate open topped tubes. The Commander must shoot a pallet that drops a Gravity Lift down to the trapped soldiers, which they then use to escape the base, and enter the battlefield. The other five troops have blocked teleporters in their boxes. The Commander must shoot pallets to unblock the teleporters, which allows a player to drop down to fight.

There are four vehicles accessible by each team: A Transport Hornet, a Wraith, a Mongoose, and a Warthog. The Warthog spawns at your base free of charge (like in Halo Wars), and respawns every two minutes. The other vehicles must be "purchased". At the start, the Mongoose is available for one shot; You simply shoot it once to have it drop down to players. The Wraith spawns at the one minute mark (and one minute after it is destroyed). To drop it down, you shoot a pallet holding it up. The Hornet also spawns at the one minute mark. To release it to the battlefield you shoot a fusion coil, dropping it into play.

Each player starts with a Shotgun. The Commander, as already stated, gets a Sniper. The other players get Battle Riffles, and have unlimited ammo. There are three available weapons to drop down: A Sniper, a Brute Shot, and a Fuel Rod Cannon. Each can be dropped down by shooting them once. The Commander is always on a constantly spawning Custom Powerup that gives him invulnerability, limited ammo, and invisibility. The other players have double the health with no recharging shields and 150% speed, due to the large size of the map. The Commander has a massive radar, and the players have regular radar.

The map itself: This map is on the middle level of Sandbox with blocked off lasers. The map contains five bases: A home base for each side, and three central bases. The home bases have one turret each, two man cannons each (for quicker travel on the HUGE map), and some cover. The main central base is the largest of the bunch. It has two turrets and a Power Drain. One of the central bases, The Sniper Tower, is a small elevated base with a Deployable Cover. The other central base, nicknamed (by chung_wii) the Nazi Base, is a very small close quarters base with a Bubble Shield inside.

The gametype: The gametype is Territories. Each of the five bases have a territory with a 60 second capture time. The time limit is unlimited, and the Territories do not lock on capture. When a player is capturing or inside a captured territory, their shields recharge at a 50% rate. First team to control all five territories wins.

Cost overview ($=number of shots):
Player - 2$
Sniper - 1$
Brute Shot - 1$
Fuel Rod Cannon - 1$
Wraith - 2$
Transport Hornet - 1$
Mongoose - 1$

Pics:

The Commander spawn.

Five of the player spawns.

The weapons.

Some Gravity Lifts waiting to be dropped down.

A mongoose preparing for action.

A Wraith getting ready for its plunge.

A glimpse at a few of the teleporters you must unlock as a Commander to allow players to spawns into battle.

Front view of one of the main bases.

Top view of one of the main bases.

A Mongoose bouncing into an almost smooth landing.

The central "Nazi" base.

The central "Sniper Tower" base.

Overview of the battlefield.

The main central base.

The weapons after they have dropped down.

A true trooper entering battle.

What the vehicles look like after they drop down.

Overview of the "behind the scenes" stuff up high in the map.

The proccess: I have made countless maps in Farcry and Farcry 2, games with actual map creators. I have forged a few map here and there, but nothing fantastic. I made a Demolition Derby and two Obstacle Cources no one could beat, but all that stuff is easy to create. Simple. 'Halo Wars' was not. Out of hundred of maps I have made in my lifetime in all sorts of games, I have never been so frustrated, pissed off, and eager to chuck my 360 off a cliff as I have been while making 'Halo Wars'. Every time I found a one problem, I found three more. Every time I found a solution, I found two more problems. Half of my solutions that should have worked, didn't. I think due the extremely complex nature of this map, it was bound to happen, but I wasn't prepared for such a workload. This map took me over 30 hours, 300 custom games, and 36 variations. If I would have known what I was doing, and exactly how to do it, I may have finished it in 10 hours. I guess this is what I get for trying to complete such an ambitious "true" first project.

There were so many more things I wanted to add, but couldn't because their cons outweighed their pros. I wanted to add more vehicles, more diverse weapons, but couldn't because of balance and item limit issues. I had to add all sorts of extra objects to prevent cheating too. Overall I am pleased with this new type of Halo 3 map, although I wish I could have added more. I pray to god that you have more fun playing this map than I had making it! :)

Downloads:

The map: Halo Wars

The gametype: Exile (Named after a map in Halo Wars and because of how the level is in an isolated desert.)

8-16 players recommended!

Thanks: Thank you to A PREDAT0R, chung_wii, The Atrain11, and everyone else for ideas and helping me Forge some of the map! :)

Final Notes: I hope everyone enjoys, basically, my first real map! I had trouble getting enough people to play test it, but tested it a TON myself. My main goal was great gameplay, and I did my best to incorporate good visuals. Let me know of any glitches you encounter. Have fun! :)