http://www.bungie.net/Stats/Reach/FileDetails.aspx?fid=24307222&player=Rorak%20Kuroda
http://www.forgehub.com/forum/reach-competitive-maps/133873-lux.html http://www.forgehub.com/forum/reach-competitive-maps/133872-azula.html

Ladies (Ha, who am I kidding, none of you are girls!) and gentlemen, welcome to Opal. This map will blow you away. It will give you an asthma attack. It will give your girlfriend an asthma attack. It will pay for your car insurance. It will save you from a burning building. It will groom your dogs, AND groom your minute amount of facial hair. Be prepared....

Weapons List:

1 Custom Powerup / 90 seconds
1 Active Camo / 180 seconds
1 Sniper Rifle / 150 seconds
1 Grenade Launcher / 120 seconds
1 Spiker / 150 seconds

Inspirations for this came from everywhere; from other games, from other maps, from paintings, from philosophical concepts, and even from aspects of the human brain itself. Most of its inspirations were filtered out during the forging process, like large, unwieldy stones in a mixture of fine sand. Basically, most of the ideas that originated the map would not work in the realm of Halo, and so they were removed. An early version of the map was composed mostly of stepping stones, to make falling hazards the primary concern of the map. I wanted a map that acted as another player, so that every time you played someone, in reality, you were facing two opponents, two challenges. That can still be said about the map today, but luckily, a medium was found between the traditional and the psychotic.

To help add to this “playing against the map” environment, I made each power weapon location a challenge in itself. The Sniper sits atop a precarious perch, exposed to nearly everything, and surrounded by a watery grave if you don’t pay close enough attention. Considering the size and open nature of Opal, the Sniper is very coveted, but not often as sought-after as other weapons due to its location. The Grenade Launcher sits at its most useless location, directly in the center of the map, with nothing but open air around it. The Active Camo rests in a room that is normally used for cornering in enemies, where each exit can be watched from a single location. The Custom OS is placed in an isolated cubby, which can be easily naded from many different key points on the map. Essentially, each weapon offers a different challenge, because by attempting to obtain a weapon, you’re giving yourself a disadvantage for a brief moment that your enemy can take advantage of. And more often than not, a brief moment is all it takes.

But weapons aren’t the only focus of the design. Another aspect that I wanted to emphasize was the split-up in top control. There are two halves to this map, with each half offering different opportunities that the other side may not. Blue Receiver platform is more beneficial for DMR-focused players, offering safety from grenades and ample amounts of cover. The Red Receiver platform and the Sniper platform compose the other half of the height advantage, and are much more exposed. However, this side offers the Sniper, as well as a teleporter that leads directly to Top Blue Receiver. The interactions of the two platforms force movement depending on the weapon spawns, and depending on the type of players. The overall goal was to make a map that felt different each time you played it, which can be hard to find nowadays in 1v1 maps.

Special Thanks

Shad0w Viper
You helped get my mind out of the clouds, and into halo map design. The map never would have reached its current state without your honest advice.

MetaWaddleDee
The amount of testing and feedback, and general time spent helping with the map, is unparalleled by anyone else. Thanks man, you DA BOMB.

Ace
Look at this guy. How can't you love this guy? Without this guy, I wouldn't have had the drive to really make Opal shine. To be part of something greater is the best motivation there is, and my coalition with Ace, along with his advice, was certainly something greater.

Erupt
Despite having not beaten me on this map, I hope you enjoyed the countless amounts of tests you made me do on this map. The long nights in which you would just chant "Go again" repeatedly after each game were fun indeed.

Longshot
I ask for fancy threads, you give me threads that look as if they were formed by the hands of some sort of demi-god. I ask for them to be finished whenever you feel like it, you finish them almost as quickly as I asked for them. And you've got a big penis to boot. Thanks man, for everything. Especially the super awesome threads.

Opal