This canyon's structures were walled off in an attempt to preserve their value, which was ultimately ignored. 6-16 players.V3

Qanyon Overview

Qanyon

Qanyon (still pronounced just "canyon," I'm totally awesome with names) is a mostly symmetrical large-sized map with opposing bases set sideways in the Canyon space on Forge World. It supports all gametypes but Invasion (I. Slayer was considered, but ultimately ignored) including everything from Infection to even Race and Rally. The map easily supports 8 players or all the way up to 16 for hectic Big Team Battle games, and is best played with two teams.

Blue Base Exterior

Background

The idea behind this map came to me one day waaaaaay back when I thought "HWAWW!! What if I make a map in the canyon, but SIDEWAYS!!" At the time I thought I was being an original beast, but after some injections of community content to matchmaking and after joining this site, I realized how many other people got the same original idea. Well, even though it isn't quite the same as feeling like a smarty-pants forger person, I still think Qanyon is just different from similar canyon-based maps. I also experimented with some Forge options on this map that I hadn't messed with before, that hopefully will result in much more unique experiences when played with different gametypes. Read on for details.

Red Base Exterior

Groundwork

Being symmetrical, the bases are exactly the same distance apart from the other structures in the map, as are the structures symmetric in themselves. But as the bases are identical, not mirrored, the directions the bases spit you out to besides the center ramp are different, not that that really affects too much. The bases themselves are placed at the same height but have differing terrain, causing each base's flow to be slightly different when entering, exiting, and moving around the exteriors. Thier structure consists of the interior and roof floors with landing pads and windows, the idea being to give the map height despite its length. The steep ramps also limit the inside of the base to foot travel only.

The center structures consist of a lovingly crafted bridged structure, a lazily crafted rock tunnel, and a rather uncertainly crafted filler-type structure, all housing power weapons of some sort. The Rocket Structure is a simple ramped platform with a glass covering and a bridge with access to the Falcon Structure, which has decent cover and is raised for enough space for foot traffic below it. This building built around a puddle I like to think of as a stream took a long time to build as different pieces and structuring were experimented with to make this building to my envisioning. Opposite it, the Laser Structure, really is just designed to fill the void on that side, as I knew it needed SOMEthing, though I still think it turned out rather well, with steep ramps and a mancannon to access the higher level.
All of these structures were designed to make height really a factor in this map, expanding lines of sight and providing cover for long distance fighting, as well as being open enough for the light vehicles on map.

Base Interior (Bases are identical)

Gameplay
Well, ideally, Qanyon is a two-team game, but all other team colors and other spawns are set up as well, including Race! While I haven't gotten the chance to play Race or Rally to really test my racetrack, it should be set up properly, and in any case the map is more for competitive games even if it doesn't work. Respawn points are plentiful and dynamic spawning is in effect (future versions may have static spawns for more gametypes as deemed necessary.) Now in this map, I've experimented with some features I usually leave alone, like having something placed at start, asym/symmetric gametypes and using objects with Zones around them. Examples:
-Aerial vehicles, the banshees and the falcon, are spawned during the match, and both are for symmetric or asymmetric gametypes only respectively, intended to help make one flag/one bomb gametypes play differently than multiflag/neutral bomb.
-Some weapons and vehicles are replaced for FFA games, Warthogs switched for Ghosts, Plasma Launcher switched for Sword, and so on.
-Some forge pieces have shapes, and labeled for things like KOTH Hills, HH drop points, etc. These pieces, though labeled, are still in games that don't require the labels.
-There are also different Territories for one-sided territory games compared to gametypes like Land Grab and 3-plots. For symmetric games, territories are evenly placed throughout the center structures, asymmetrically, territories favor the defending side (Red side.) I have yet to determine if this has the desired effects, my friends aren't what you might call "objective-gametype-inclined."
Overall, these experiments have really increased the flexibilty of the map, as well as implementing these features in maps I created after this one making them more dynamic and in-depth.

Rocket Structure and Rock Tunnel

The weapon set is about the standard, scattered light weapons with power weapons focused in the center. The driving paths are very easy to drive around and can be used to easily cross the map in heavy long-distance fighting. I'm getting closer to my standard weapon set up (spawn times and clips) by this map, but it's not quite there yet, and can still be fixed in later updates. Now there are discrepencies across the weapons, as some are always on the map, some for asymmetric games, some symmetric, and otherwise, so I'll break it down:

Base Map Weapons (respawn, extra clips):
Rocket Launcher (180 secs, 1 clip): Center Structure
Spartan Laser (120 Secs): Side Structure
Focus Rifle x2 (150 secs): Off center, both sides
Grenade Launcher x2 (75 secs, 3 clips): Both Bunkers
Concussion Rifle (80 secs, 2 clips): Below Bridged (Falcon) Structure
Assault Rifle x2 (45 secs, 3 clips): Base Interiors
Magnum x2 (40 secs, 3 clips): Base Interiors
Plasma Pistol x2 (60 secs): Base Roofs
Needle Rifle x2 (45 secs, 3 clips): Outside bases' center ramps
DMR x2 (60 secs, clips): 1st floor Laser and Falcon Structures
Needler x2 (50 secs, 2 clips): Before ramps to Rocket Structure
Frag Grenades x6, Plasma Grenades x6 (15 secs each)
Health kits x7 (15 secs)
Other Weapons:
Plasma Launcher (105 secs, Team Only, Asymmetric Only): Rock Tunnel
Sword A (80 secs, Team Only, Symmetric Only): Rock Tunnel
Sword B (100 Secs, FFA Only): Rock Tunnel
Vehicles:
Falcon (90 secs, Team Only, Asymmetric Only, Not placed at start): Bridged Structure
Banshee x2 (100 secs, Team Only, Symmetric Only, Not placed at start): Base Landing Pad
Mongoose x2 (45 secs): Below Laser and Falcon Structures
Warthog x2 (120 secs, Team Only): Base Exterior
Revenant x2 (140 secs, Team Only): Beneath Both Bases
Ghost x2 (130 secs, FFA Only): Base Exterior

Originally, I had intended the Banshees for games like One Flag/Bomb, so they were on asymmetric only. Turns out though, Slayer and any other gametypes without "sided" gameplay are all considered asymmetric, and my intention was to have the Falcon for most gametypes, not the Banshees, so they were switched for Version 2. Sword and Plauncher too. The Banshees may seem to be on a quick respawn time, but due to the nature of not being able to leave the map, (kill zones) they really don't have anywhere to hide and recharge, so they should be taken out pretty quick. Also why they aren't placed at start, so power weapons can be taken/dispersed/used and map control can be gained without them. Version 2 also added the FFA Ghosts and Team labels to other vehicles, as playing a FFA game with hogs and revs is a little ridiculous. There also used to be Snipers on the map, but they were deemed too ungodly powerful for this map's design, ruining both vehicular and infantry combat, so Focus Rifles replaced them.

Falcon Structure and Bridge

Details and Miscellaneous
-At one point, I had made the map more infection-y for zombie variants, adding random cover, crates, explosives and scenery set for Infection only. Though while editing for Version 2, I found that I could not place any more hill markers for Bro Slayer respawns. Apparently I was about two objects away from forge's object limit with version 1! I wasn't even aware of such a limit until then (I blame all the Race objects.) So, to make room for Bro Slayer and future editing, I decided to sadly do away with all infection-specific objects, saving only one Purple FX orb. Really brings the zombie out of a map.
-Z-fighting and framerate issues are avoided in all but Forge mode (again, I blame the Race objects) and the map plays well even in splitscreen.
-The Racetrack basically just loops twice around the entire map, starting at one end, along the outside of all the structures, then another loop inside to finish. I still haven't raced on it yet, but it's not really important, just there for those who like to race.
-I worked hard making the structures look and feel like they have height, but ultimately the map feels more long than tall. Long range battles are clearly much more common, though I try to focus on the vehicular aspect, but it all just hangs on how it's played.
-I also worked hard at making the bases as similar as possible, so when I discovered that Blue Base's then-railing pieces by the ramp to the roof were easily jumped, I knew it needed to be replaced. The height on Red's Base prevents jumping into the base that way, and making some kind of rock cliff to climb up was unacceptable, so both bases had the railings below the ramps changed to cover pieces. Though I did notice elites can still jump the cover (damn those elites and thier different jump heights!!!) and both can still clearly be jetpacked, those just aren't really important. Who plays Elite Slayer anyway?
-There are Kill Zones, so no jetpacking up to the cliffs on either side, no going outside the walls (hard kill zones out there, don't do it yo!) and as far as Falcon and Banshees are concerned, no going too high. Dramatic pause... There is no escape...

Laser Structure

Done
Well that does it for Qanyon, any and all feedback is appreciated, though negative feedback will last longer in my head, so that'll get my attention better. Man, did it really take that long to write this? I started like 6 hours ago, I figured after one map post already this would go faster... oh well. Query's up next! Special thanks to everyone who tested, played on, or even looked at this map for a fleeting second.

Update: Not that anyone looks at old posts, but I figured I'd give a brief update as I refresh the download link. Most version 3 changes were fixes to weapon spawn times and clip numbers, as well as objective and respawn zone fixes. Some labels were added or changed to some objects as well.