What I'm doing this week (13/12/2021)

This week I'll be working on a map I made in Halo: Reach when I was 15 (a whole decade ago....). Below is a quick overview of the original map, with some of my personal thoughts and commentary added in.

The original map is named Symmetry, with a mostly open and as symmetrical as possible layout. Both teams have an equal number of resources, weapons and items to pick from, though there are subtle differences between the sides.

The first thing you will notice when you spawn into Symmetry is...…you aren't on it.

When I first created this map, I was a stubborn 15 year old who used this map editor without accounting for the fact that Halo's base colours are Red and Blue. So when I made this map the initial spawn points are assigned to...…Gold and Orange. Visually similar colours would mean that players could get easily confused between teams. I only picked this because, at the time, I liked the colours. One of my first changes to this map will be to make the spawn points neutral (with team specific ones to be added later.)

Approaching....

Below is the full Layout for Symmetry, seen from the air.

Players spawn in many different places around the map (provided they are on the correct team), with yellow team on the left, and orange team on the right. In the centre of the map lies a tunnel (photo below) in which I would have expected players to primarily fight over, as there is a powerful weapon in the centre.

Orange's side, Yellow's is identical to this, but with human weapons instead of covenant.

One of Yellow's spawn areas.

At some points I would clearly set up spawn points with a fight in mind, as if I were setting up action figures. Below is a powerful weapon in the middle of two initial spawn points, with opposite respawn points on opposing sides.

An overhead view of the map, from Orange's perspective. At the very entrance to the tunnel, two overlapping initial spawn points may be seen

Some sneaky hidden weapons underneath the bridge. Players would be expected to grab one of the many jetpacks available around the map, and use them to fly underneath the bridge and grab the weapons. On the South side of the map, there is an Energy Sword.

On the North side, a Gravity Hammer.

Some respawn points were placed directly on top of each other. I think the intention here was to randomise the direction the player was facing, however I know this would only serve to disorient and annoy the player, and potentially suprise two players spawning in the same place!

A small mistake in the level geometry.

Having already fixed a few things, in particular neutral spawn points, just below are some of the changes I've already made.

Formerly Yellow's side, the now neutral west side has more armor abilities added, with the inclusion of a heath station. This has been added to the opposite East side as well.

Level geometry has been adjusted.

And lastly, it has occurred to me that the most common thing a person would do when they get in a vehicle is drive forward immediately, however as a 15 year old, I did not consider that my boundaries that I set for this map are in any way reasonably large enough for anyone to properly use without crashing into a kill wall and immediately exploding in a fireball of death.

The space between the red instant death line and the player's vehicle is distressingly small, and would only serve to make the map feel restrictive and arbitrary. I have immediately resolved to make this right by removing the instant death walls, and instead making the whole map (and a larger space around it) a "soft safe area". This means that, instead of instant death when they leave the boundary, players are given a 10 second countdown before death, allowing players to return to the map in time. Additionally, I have turned the vehicles 180°, so that they face inwards, meaning players are more likely to drive towards the map than away from it.

That's all for now, my next post will be a look at the new and improved Symmetry!