Heaven’s Feel

By Memento Mori P3 and Pfhilosopher

Gameplay Video:

http://www.bungie.net/Stats/Reach/FileDetails.aspx?fid=2608905&player=Memento%20Mori%20P3

It’s fairly accepted that Halo Campaign simply feels on a much grander scale than Multiplayer. With less people connected to the game, you can have more in game entities (Allies and enemies) and overall much larger battles. 16 player multi simply can’t compete.

We aim to rectify this.

Heaven’s Feel is a map built for a custom Invasion gametype. It supports up to 16 players, and is meant for larger parties, Spartans on offense, Elites on defense. It is meant to emulate the large scale of Campaign maps as closely as possible.

Spartans begin on a beach, with 4 scorpion tanks. Yes, 4 tanks. We’ve extensively tested the balance in 8-16 player games, and it is completely balanced.

The first objective is to disable the first Covenant shield wall that stops armor from advancing further through the canyon. The Elites own a Plasma Launcher, 4 Revenants, and multiple loadouts built for anti-tank or anti-infantry.

The Spartans will literally have to slog through a barrage of artillery fire. It’s visually something that wasn’t possible to do in a console Halo game in multiplayer until Reach. Tanks will need the Scouts to take key points, and the Medics to dropshield when necessary.

When either of the two points at the wall are captured, the first shield wall will fall and vehicles will move up. The Spartans are rewarded with an anti-vehicle loadout, DMR spawns at the beach, and 2 Warthogs. The Elites are given a second wall to fall back on, 3 Wraiths, another Plasma Launcher, 2 Grenade spawns on high ground, and more varied loadouts.

The first wall had 2 shield doors for armor. The second wall has one main one way shield door, but also has a weak section on the left for armor to slip through. If you can get a Scorpion through this area, you can flank the enemy Wraith armor platform. Once again, drop shields and armor lock play a crucial role in bringing down the shield.

With the second wall down, the map reaches its climax. Two Rocket Warthogs and two Rockets are delivered to the beach for the Spartans. The Elites take on more of an airborne role, with a Jetpack loadout, a new more powerful but specialized anti-vehicle loadout, a final Plasma Launcher, and 4 Banshees on a staggered and very fast respawn. Again, the map has been tested extensively, and the Banshees are balanced.

The final objective is a sheer rock wall, but there are now 3 points instead of 2. During the third phase, a teleporter also opens for the attackers. Controlling both the sender and receiver nodes gives the controlling team a huge advantage and may lead to surprising comeback matches.

Again, this map is made for large parties, 8 players is the minimum for good gameplay. The map was completed in approximately 8 hours, which is a ridiculously small amount of forging time for what I feel is a fairly good quality map. All we’re asking for is that you simply play it in large parties and get back to us with any constructive feedback that you can. Thanks for reading and/or downloading in advance.

Strategies that testers employed:
Phase One:
Attackers: You only need one medic for a drop shield. Send 2 or more scouts to rush the wall, then cover the medic's approach with tank support. In effect, you can get 3 people in a drop shield on a point very quickly using this method.
Defenders: You only really need two Revenants going at a time for artillery support and one guy on Plasma Launcher, the rest of the team needs to rush the enemy tanks with plasma grenades, plasma pistols, and evade. They can easily take out at least 3 of the tanks through careful use of cover and evade if their tanks aren't being covered by infantry. Always have a plasma pistol on hand when fighting medics.
Phase Two:
Attackers: Move the tanks up carefully, try to keep them in pairs. Use Warthogs as mobile spawn points, they're invaluble for moving 2 men with drop shield or armor lock to the front lines, all you have to do is keep them moving.
Defenders: Play this phase more carefully. Keep your Wraiths back until you absolutely need them, they're better as artillery. Stick to needle rifles / plasma pistols except for one or two designated specialists.
Phase Three:
Attackers: Rocket hogs are very good distractions. Move one up and make as much noise as you can to divide the defenders. You also only need 2 Demolition men, any more just makes it impossible to fight infantry. Keep your beachhead spawn secure from late game enemy flanks. Don't spam the teleporter, wait until there's a gap in the enemy defenses before sending guys through, otherwise you're just handing them a pile of human munitions.
Defenders: Never move Banshees up alone, always move in groups, always coordinate on targets. You only need one or two Juggernauts, otherwise infantry destroy you at medium to long range. Try to keep the Wraith spawn area relatively secure, artillery support forces the Attackers to spread out, making it easier for Banshees to pick them off one by one.