Blast Zone
Created by The Abhorrent

Map Description

Blast Zone is exactly as it's name implies: it's an arena-styled map which is constantly being pummeled by explosions. The map is nothing short of pure chaos, and the players only add even more explosions. If you like it when things go boom or are feeling a bit masochistic, this map is perfect for you.

Red vs Blue in an explosive Grifball arena!

Custom Gametype Description

The general premise could be described as "Grifball in an 'interesting' situation". The bomb spawns in the only safe area of the map: atop the hump in the centre of the arena. The goal is marked by a pair of small antennas and a light matching the colour of the team it belongs to.

The Red & Blue teams spawn in their respective safe areas, each with three one-way shield doors into the main area. Both bases contain four Rocket-hogs each, intended to be used for maximum booms. Inital spawn points are right beside the hogs for quick deployment. Respawn points are on the centre platform of the base, with a small shield door leading directly to their own goal area. Respawn times are set a brief three seconds with no penalties.

All players are given 500% damage resistance (and normal shields) on this map, and for good reason. One explosion will seldom kill you at this setting, but they do add up. There is also no health nor shield recharging on the custom gametype, preventing things from dragging out too much. So that it doesn't take too long to kill eachother, damage and melee modifiers are set to 200%. Gravity for players is set to 50%, so being knocked out the arena is a possibility. Everyone also has a waypoint on them at all times, so that you can see both your team and you foes through an explosion or mountain of debris of needed. The bomb carrier gets several perks: damage resistance being upped to 1000%, melee damage up to 300%, run speed up to 110%, and gravity up to 75% (the bomb is heavy). The only downside is jump height being reduced to 75% (the bomb is heavy), and the absence of your normal weapons. He'll also be wearing bright gold armor.

Weapons loadouts are like Grifball as well, choosing which of the two main weapons you start with. Those weapons are a Golf Club (Demon loadout primary) and a Concussion Rifle (Angel loadout primary). There are no weapons on the map, and the gametype is set to Bottomless Clip so that it's not a problem. Both loadouts come with four grenades of each type for more high-flyin' booms. Neither loadout has an armor ability, nor are there any on the map. As a side-note, Evade is rather buggy. Using it on a ramp can send you flying, and it may be used to bypass one-way shields with ease.

The map itself supports several gametypes (didn't see a standard CTF checkbox in the options, but that's supported as well), though the custom version is highly recommended. If you're going to use one of the other possible game types, turning up the damage resistance for all players may be necessary to accomplish anything on the map (along with upping the damage output so that it doesn't take forever to kill anyone). The objective points all lead back to the goal lines.

Explosions Rundown! And other obstacles.

Variety is the spice of life, and in Blast Zone that means a good variety of explosions! The set-up of all the falling bombs (even the makeshift ones) ebbs and flows as the match goes on. Most of the time the blasts are only a mild obstacle which is easily avoided, but all the sudden it may seem like the entire map exploded at once.

Fusion Coils - There are 8 spawn points for these, launching from the twin towers above each base. They will bombard the two sides of the central ramp with regularity. Very rarely do these survive impact.

Propane Tanks - Also 8 of these, which bombard the map in an X-shaped pattern about the central hump. Respawn fairly quickly. Most of the time they explode on impact, but they are quite resilient; if one survives the fall, the rest tend to pile up. When a player finds a pile, fun things happen.

Plasma Batteries - 8 of these again, but their respawn time is considerably longer than the previous two due to their debris lingering afterwards. When they do start falling, they fall en masse. Each wave lasts only a few seconds, but these are usually responsible for making the map explode. Set up in a cross shape pattern over the central hump, drawing lines of explosions across the midfield-line and the path between both goal posts.

Mongooses - 8 of them falling infrequently, in front of the four warthog ramps. Minor in most cases, but still there. Rarely these survive impact, but can be a way to get around in the event they do.

Wraiths - 4 of them, falling very infrequently and in the same general area as the Mongooses. Survives the fall fairly often, usually when it lands on the wreckage of another, but never undamaged.

Scorpions - Only 2 these, falling right in front of the goal-lines for each base. The physics of their impact can result in some really wierd stuff, with them spinning like mad or flying off into the distance. Still survive the fall on occasion, but less often than Wraiths I find.

Crates & Soccer Balls - Crates line midfield, at least until explosions move them. Balls drop from the same launchers as the fusion coils. Mostly there for the sake of debris, though balls can be sent flying with your Concussion Rifle.

Vehicle Cannons Placed a bit closer to midfield than The Wraith drop-points, but same general area. Send yourself, your hog, or even a tank that somehow survived..... actually, the tank isn't a good idea (it's why the Kill Balls are places where they are).

Special FX Orbs - Juicy + Next Gen for a brighter colour palette than normal, but nothing too obtrusive. If you want to remove them, they're placed just outside the main area at midfield (both on one side).

Images

Yes, half of the map is exploding there.

Aerial view of Blast Zone

Example of the random events which can happen on this map. The tank was spinning wildly and took out my Warthog (upper right).

Beware of falling tanks. If the impact doesn't kill you outright, they push you through the floor and into the sea.

Enjoy the highly explosive map that Andy the Bomb would be proud of.