PIONEER

"There were others before you"

Pioneer is a competitive 4v4 map built in an enclosed portion of Alaska. The borders of the map itself are rotationally symmetric, and as such a large portion of the design follows the same pattern. However, the bases, inward rocks, structures, and weapon placement are mirror symmetric, affording equality to both teams. Pioneer was inspired by Standoff from Halo 3.

Rendered Walkthrough

Click for Map Stats

Status: Version 6 completed
Ideal Player Count: 4v4
Best Gametypes: Capture the Flag, Neutral Assault, Slayer, Arena Slayer, FFA
Supports Vehicles: 1 Ghost
Power Ups on map: No
Armor Abilities on map: No
Easter Eggs: Yes
Budget Remaining: $1010
Overall performance: No framerate drop or z-fighting. May experience occasional, brief impostering
Split Screen Framerate Rating: Supports 2 players seamlessly

Changelist

> Tweaked various spawn points' direction
> Made neutral weak respawn zone FFA only
> Added additional FFA only spawns
> Added additional jumps to flag podium
> Decreased Ghost spawn timer to 120s
> Placed Rockets on drop-spawn
> Added additional columns near Ghost spawn
> Added another antennae to Red Side
> Redid center structure to block LoS
> Tweaked rocks
> Replaced Crenelations with Wall Corners for higher cover
> Removed Overshields
> Fixed Hard Kill Zones
> Added additional platform to sides for extra cover
> Added needlers and plasma repeaters for each team
> Swapped Magnum and Plasma Pistol spawns
> Increased rocket spawn time to 120 seconds
> Replaced two pillars in center structure with large walkways
> Tweaked rocks again
> replaced some flooring and trimmings in base
> Made the 1 frag/1 plasma combo 2 frags at base and 2 plasmas at sides for both teams
> Placed side healthpacks on ground
> Moved Needlers to each ramp up to Platform
> Redesigned sides again, removing walkway corners, adding a brace large overhang, and clustering the remaining crates closer together
> Tweaked man cannons so that you can grab the plasma pistol and jump straight over the railing once you land
> Removed excess Brace Larges to address framerate issue
> Tweaked z-fighting
> Tweaked rocks again
> Tweaked pillars in base so Ghost can pass through easier
> Laid Repeater next to Spiker in each base
> Added hard kill above map
> Tweaked rocks again
> Added additional spawns
> Slightly moved healthpacks
> Added jump-up to front of flag podium
> Polished map

Screenshots

Overview

Overview 2

Red Courtyard

Red Base

Red Side

Red Shotgun

Blue Courtyard

Blue Base

Blue Shotgun (obvious jump-up is obvious)

Blue Side

Platform

Ghost on Approach (outdated)

Flag Stolen (outdated)

Flag Dropped (outdated)

Defense (outdated)

Click the tab for an in-depth map description:

Pioneer was started around March when I was rough drafting a design for a new BTB map. I wanted to create an experience similar to Standoff, so I sought out to find the largest leveled-area available on Forge World. Alaska has a few mountainous regions, but for the most part it's really flat. I first isolated as much of the flat terrain as possible using coliseum walls. I then placed 2 Bunker Rounds at opposite ends and rocks in the center to mimic those from Standoff.

The bases were tricky to design because of the natural terrain surrounding them, much like what I went through with Jackal Creek. As such, I looked to that map for inspiration and I decided to expand upon the usage of dual Triple Rooms. I wanted players to be able to assault the base from the front, and I wanted a team to be able to defend it from multiple rooms and atop. I didn't want the flag inside the base like Jackal Creek, so I came up with a structure for the flag to stand upon. After more designing, I placed a man cannon behind the flag, giving players the option of taking the quicker, more vulnerable route with the flag as opposed to the opposite. I design my maps around CTF path runs to ensure they aren't too quick or too difficult.

The side areas had to be rotationally symmetric due to the way I walled off the area around the terrain. Because of this, I made the bases rotationally symmetric as well. The side areas also had to be elevated because the terrain started to slope downwards in the corners of the map. The design I came up with was inspired by a few Halo Custom Edition maps I used to play. I wanted it to be vibrant and unique, yet simple and clean, allowing players to maneuver around it with ease. You'll find an OS, Healthpack, DMR, and Nades spawning here. Originally Grenade Launchers spawned there, but they were too dominant on the Ghosts so I had to replace them. And yes, there were two Ghosts spawning for each team at one point. Unfortunately, the ghost battles were very clumsy, so it was minimized to a single neutral ghost instead. The center was redesigned from a thicker column to the two pillars that it is now in order to place both the Ghosts and Neutral Objectives in the middle of the map.

The center platform was designed to offer height elevation over every part of the map other than the roofs of the bases. This is so players can gravitate towards this area and push the other team back towards their base. The team being pushed back will likely jump onto their rooftops, which gives them the advantage over the center. This forces the team controlling the center to position guys on the side bridges, which gives them the angle to hit a player on the roof. Players caught in a trap will need to push their OS side to lower the pressure for their base roofs. Once they gain control of that, they can use the roofs to clear out the rest of their side of the map.

Pioneer was built with competitive gameplay in mind, but players only interested in having a good time getting kills will have no trouble running around doing so. It isn't as casual as Jackal Creek, but it still holds some of its charm. I felt that I lost really competitive action in my previous map, so my goal with Pioneer is to quite literally pioneer competitive gameplay on terrain-based maps. Many people are building complex, multi-layered path maps from the ground-up, so I decided to go back to the more simple "two-bases-and-a-center" terrain-style maps originating from Combat Evolved. I hope you enjoy it, and I look forward to your feedback!

Special thanks to B RICE and members of WAY and ReachingPerfection.com for helping me playtest the map.

Weapons, Vehicles, Power-ups, and Healthpacks:
-DMR x 8, 2 clips, 30s
-NR x 4, 2 clips, 30s
-Magnum x 2, 2 clips, 30s
-Rocket Launcher x 1, 0 clips, 118s
-Concussion Rifle x 2, 1 clip, 120s
-Shotgun x 2, 1 clip, 180s
-Plasma Pistol x 2, 45s
-Spiker x 2, 2 clips, 30s
-Frag Grenade x 4, 15s
-Plasma Grenade x 6, 15s
-Needler x2, 120s
-Plasma Repeater x2, 30s
-Ghost x 1 120s
-Healthpack x 4, 15s