Hey Spartans!
I'm beyond excited to share with you a heavily scripted map I've been crafting called King Ping. This map transforms the way we play Halo by giving you the power to control the very ground beneath your feet. It's all about dynamic terrain, strategic gameplay, and a ton of fun.

The Core Idea:

In King Ping, you can raise or lower hexagonal pillars on the map by simply pinging them. Stand upright and ping to lift a pillar up; crouch and ping to bring it down. Using the Thruster equipment will leave a lifted trail of pillars behind you. This means you can create your own cover, reach new vantage points, or open up pathways to hidden weapons and power-ups. The battlefield becomes a living, changing environment that you control.

In-Game Guidance:

I know that King Ping introduces a lot of new and exciting mechanics, and I want to make sure you can dive right in without feeling overwhelmed. That's why I've built in context-based messages to help you along the way. As you play, helpful tips will appear just when you need them, guiding you through the various features without cluttering your screen.

These messages are designed to pop up only when relevant, giving you the information you need at the exact moment you need it. Whether you're figuring out how to manipulate the terrain, switch weapons based on pillar height, or utilize special abilities like the Thruster trails and power-ups, the game will provide timely hints to enhance your experience.

So don't worry about memorizing all the mechanics upfront. The game will naturally teach you as you play, allowing you to focus on the action and have fun. Jump in, experiment with the environment, and let the in-game guidance help you become a master of the battlefield!

Game Start Mechanics:

Initial Descent:
When the match begins, you have about 15 seconds of low-gravity glide time before touching down. During this phase you can start manipulating the terrain by pinging pillars below you. It's your chance to set up early strategies and get the upper hand. If you want to increase your drop speed you can push the custom input to rush down to the battlefield. Alternatively you can decide to shoot and sacrifice your overshield and fast drop ability for free floating airborne movement and instant access to the radial menu equipment.

Respawn Features:

Overshield Protection:
Every time you respawn, you're granted an Overshield and low gravity, giving you a moment to readjust the terrain and plan your next move. Using the custom input boosts your drop speed, allowing you to touch the ground faster and avoid being seen in mid-air by the enemy for too long. If you start shooting during the fall, you can glide freely around and use the Grappleshot, but this will make you lose your Overshield immediately. If you don't shoot, you can keep your Overshield until its power is drained, you have used the initial Grappleshot, or have reached one of the 2 nav marker power-up level heights.

Grappleshot Use:
You get one Grappleshot use upon respawn, that you can extend to more uses by fast chaining and grappling right after the cooldown has passed. Right after the first use (after touching the ground) you will lose any remaining Overshield energy and once you've stopped fast chaining the Grappleshot you will get direct access to all other Equipment, by opening the radial menu with the custom input. To earn the infinite Grappleshot without cooldowns, collect 6 grenades of each type through gameplay (activating power-ups will immediately give you 6 grenades as well and stacking both power-ups will give you 12). This Grappleshot will only disappear once you lose the required amount of grenades.

Weapon Use After Respawn:
Firing a weapon after respawn will make you instantly lose any remaining Overshield energy, but give you direct access to the radial menu and crouched weapon pick-up functions, with the custom key.

Terrain Control:

Raising Pillars: Ping while standing to lift pillars up.

Lowering Pillars: Crouch and ping to bring pillars down.

Pillar Limits: Be mindful of the maximum height (+9) and depth (-9); there is a different sound effect playing when pillar surpass these limits. Exceeding these limits will cause the pillars to bounce back to +8 or -8.

Weapon and Power-Up System:

Your location and the height of the pillar you're on determine which weapons and power-ups you can access. Here's the comprehensive list:

Height ±0: MA5K Avenger (your starting weapon)
Height ±1: MA40 AR / MK50 Sidekick
Height ±2: BR75 / Hydra
Height ±3: CQS48 Bulldog / M392 Bandit
Height ±4: Cindershot / VK78 Commando
Height ±5: Needler / Mangler
Height ±6: Heatwave / S7 Sniper
Height ±7: Shock Rifle / Disruptor
Height ±8: Sentinel Beam / Vestige Carbine

Height +9:
  - Overshield (when nav marker is active)
  - Weapons: M41 SPNKR / Skewer
  - With Elite Bloodblade / Stalker Rifle: Diminisher of Hope / Ravager

Height -9:
  - Active Camo (when nav marker is active)
  - Weapons: Mutilator / Fuel Rod SPNKr
  - While Camouflaged: Elite Bloodblade / Stalker Rifle

Nav Marker Visibility:

You will see nav markers that show you the required height and name for available powerups, if no hexagonal pillar is at the required height yet, but powerups are available. These nav markers will be replaced by nav markers for exact powerup positions as soon as the first hexagonal pillar has reached the indicated height of +9 or -9. If any other hexagonal pillar reaches the same height, the nav marker will switch to this pillar. Once the Power-Up is taken, all nav markers for it disappear until the cooldown of it has passed (30 seconds cooldown for Active Camo and 40 seconds for Overshield). If the Overshield cooldown is reached, but the player didn't activate it, the equipment will be reset and deleted from the player inventory.

Weapon Mechanics:

Changing Weapons:
To switch weapons, ensure you have a full magazine, stand on a pillar of the desired height, and crouch. Using the custom key while crouched equips you with the weapons available at that level.

Grenades and Upgrades:

Earning Grenades:
Each kill rewards you with 1 grenade of each type.

Upgrade Levels:
  - 3 Grenades of each: Unlocks maximum reload speed.
  - 6 Grenades of each: Grants bottomless clips and the Grappleshot.
  - 12 Grenades of each: Upgrades your weapons to more powerful versions, if they have one.

Grenade Capacity:
When you play King Ping with the adapted King of the Hill mode "Hex A Throne" or the Husky Raid inspired modes "Hex Key Raid" and "Super Hex Key Raid" you can pick up a maximum of 6 grenades of each type from the map floor. To carry more, you'll need to get kills or have both the Active Camo and Overshield active. In all other modes the standard maximum you can pick up from the floor is 2 grenades, but you can always adjust this in the mode settings if you like.

Equipment Switching:

Reload while crouched to cycle through different equipment:

  1. Thruster
  2. Repulsor
  3. Drop Wall
  4. Threat Seeker
  5. Shroud Screen
  6. Quantum Translocator

Since the latest update you can now also just use the radial menu, by pushing your custom input key/button, if you want to switch directly to another equipment!

Good To Know:
There are no cooldowns for any equipment refills. As soon as you have used your equipment, the next load is ready for you to go crazy with it. This can, will and should cause chaotic fun, while being equally available to all players.

Special Gameplay Elements:

Thruster Trails:
Using the Thruster leaves a wall trail behind you, altering the map dynamically. If you crouch and have Active Camo it will leave a trench behind you.

Active Camo Advantages:
  - Accessing Camo: Lower pillars to -9 to find Active Camo.
  - While Invisible:
    - Gain 6 grenades of each type.
    - Your ping becomes a teleport when airborne.
    - Crouching with a full mag on the lowest (-9) platform with Active Camo on grants you the Elite Bloodblade and Stalker Rifle.
    - Crouched movement and crouched Thruster carves trench trails.

Overshield Advantages:
  - Accessing Overshield: Raise pillars to +9.
  - When Activated:
    - Gain 6 grenades of each type.
    - Instantly lift pillars by their own height, when pinging during weapon zoom.
    - Moving upright teleports up to 3 pillars beneath, or above you to your height.
    - Build your own floor in front of you by upright walking/running over the edges of pillars without any risk of falling, while pillars are above or beneath you.
    - Increased jump height.
    - Player gets repulsed from the death vortex, when falling off the map.
    - Crouch or stop on a Platform, or jump while being crouched, to disarm the floor building function.
    - Releasing the crouch button during fall (before hitting the ground), will make you float back up again.
    - Activation takes Overshield away from any other player and punishes the player, if he was on the other team.

Combined Power-Ups:
  - Dual Activation: Having both Active Camo and Overshield active grants you 12 grenades of each type.
  - Enhanced Terrain Control: Combining Active Camo and Overshield will make you build even faster by teleporting the pillar on your position plus 6 surrounding pillars to your height.

Overshield Sabotage:
  - Strategic Use: Activating an Overshield while an enemy has one, teleports them high above the map, takes away their overshield and locks their weapons to the Plasma Pistol and Pulse Rifle.

Backsmack Mechanics:
  - Punishment: Being killed by a backsmack forces you to respawn with only a Plasma Pistol and Pulse Rifle, unable to pick up other weapons until your next death.
  - Revenge Reward: Backsmack the player who killed you with a backsmack, or hacked your Overshield to receive powerful Banished weapons like the Diminisher of Hope Gravity Hammer and Ravager.

Game Modes and Team Play:

Custom Modes:
  - "Hex A Throne" is based on King of the Hill. The first team to capture 6 hills wins.
  - "Hex Key Raid" and "Super Hex Key Raid" are based on Husky Raid:CTF. The first team to capture 6 flags wins. On "Super Hex Key Raid" you can use equipment while carrying the flag, while on "Hex Key Raid” holding the flag blocks equipment use.
  - "Hexattrition" is a modified version of Attrition.
- "Hextermination" is a modified version of Elimination.
- "Hex A Dome" is a modified version of Oddball.

Supported Core Modes:
The map is also compatible with Slayer, Elimination, Attrition, Oddball, Capture The Flag and King Of The Hill. But in my modified versions I have disabled weapon dropping and changed the maximum grenade capacity for all grenades to 6, to let players collect more grenades for weapon upgrades. In the Attrition and Elimination variants I have also increased the timer for the incoming kill zone circle to 3 minutes, to allow for more playtime on the whole map.

FFA Setup:
All previously mentioned modes except for the CTF based ones are also playable in their Free For All variants. I haven't tested the stability and playability with more than 8 players, so I can't guarantee how well it will play if you have a bigger lobby joining the map.

Team Setup:
Supports Red vs. Blue with up to 4 players per team. If you surpass this team size the additional players will be initially spawning on the lower respawn placements and then be directly teleported up, to float down in sync with all other players. However, as previously mentioned I can't guarantee for good playability and stability, if you have more than 8 players on the map.

Why It's Worth Playing:

Creating King Ping has been a labor of love. I wanted to offer a new way to experience Halo, where the environment is as much a tool as your weapons. The dynamic terrain adds depth and keeps every match unpredictable. Whether you're coordinating with your team to control the map or pulling off solo plays by manipulating the ground, there's something here for everyone.

Get Involved:

I'm eager for you all to jump in and see what strategies you come up with. Your feedback will be incredibly valuable, and I can't wait to see the epic moments that unfold.

Links to Join the Fun:

King Ping - Map Bookmark Link

Hex A Throne - (KOTH) Game Mode Bookmark Link

FFA Hex A Throne - (KOTH) Game Mode Bookmark Link

Hex Key Raid (No Equipment Use While Carrying The Flag) - (CTF) Game Mode Bookmark Link

Super Hex Key Raid (Equipment Use While Carrying The Flag) - (CTF) Game Mode Bookmark Link

Hexattrition - (Attrition) Game Mode Bookmark Link

FFA Hexattrition - (Attrition) Game Mode Bookmark Link

Hextermination - (Extermination) Game Mode Bookmark Link

FFA Hextermination - (Elimination) Game Mode Bookmark Link

Hex A Dome - (Oddball) Game Mode Bookmark Link

FFA Hex A Dome - (Oddball) Game Mode Bookmark Link

Watch and Learn:

Demo/Tutorial Video

Closing Thoughts:

Thank you for taking the time to read about King Ping. It's been amazing to develop, and I hope it brings as much joy and excitement to your Halo Infinite experience as it has to mine. Let's redefine what's possible in Halo together!

See you out there on the battlefield!