[WIP] B40 Firefight Public Beta

This single player map takes place on the last BSP of the level Assault on the control room. Your goal is to hold the pyramidal structure as long as you can, beating as much dropship waves as possible.

Features of this beta:
- Almost non-stop, very intense, action
- Phantoms dropping off squads on the pyramid
- Other covenant spawn from monster closets, and will climb up the pyramid
- Marine and ODST allies: once the marines die, you can call in a new pelican with a fresh squad of marines. The pelican is also heavily armoured, and can lash out massive amounts of damage. Calling in the pelican thus becomes a tactical strike, and is available once the marines on the lower platform are dead. You get a total of ten available pelican call-ins. You call the pelican in via a covenant communications-uplink, which is located near your spawn-point. ODST's cannot be replenished.
- This map differs from traditional firefight maps in the fact that you only have one life. The amount of available marines is limited instead, so use them wisely.

I haven't implemented a "score" system yet. I do have a variable that counts the current wave though. You can see which wave you are fighting by typing (inspect wave) in the console.

Run the map by typing map_name b40_firefight in the console.
Also note that this map cannot be "won".

Alright, with that out of the way, here is the download link:

http://www.filefront.com/14799205/b40_firefight.rar

New build:

http://www.filefront.com/14810185/b40_firefight.rar

Feel free to give constructive (and ONLY constructive) criticism.
I might get pictures up later today, but for now, just trust me when I say it's a fun, intense, map.

Credits:
-CMT: ranger elites, brutes and pelican (I have masterz permission, map is protected btw)
-CLS_Grunt: ODST biped
-Whoever else's stuff I'm using, and cannot think of at this moment in time
-Bungie and Gearbox: for making Halo CE
-Me: scripting + populating + actor variants + some weapon adjustments

Have fun!

Sounds cool, I will be checking this out

I'll DL this after work.

I got squished by an invisible vehicle on the ramp.

Fix this please.

link wont work, says server was reset, please re upload

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Originally Posted by sevlag

link wont work, says server was reset, please re upload

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Just try it again. Working now.

nice use of the b40 leak, noticed your phantoms use the same paths as the sketchy CMT drop ships

<3 the ODST music

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Originally Posted by sevlag

nice use of the b40 leak, noticed your phantoms use the same paths as the sketchy CMT drop ships

<3 the ODST music

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In case you didn't know, Lodex used to be on CMT, so he has some of the tags and probably worked on that level while on CMT.

o hai bugs and or eggs

http://www.xfire.com/screenshots/tac...758b8ee28e.jpg

http://www.xfire.com/screenshots/tac...758b8ee28e.jpg

http://www.xfire.com/screenshots/tac...758b8ee28e.jpg

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Originally Posted by ShadowSpartan

In case you didn't know, Lodex used to be on CMT, so he has some of the tags and probably worked on that level while on CMT.

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meh only way i reconigzed it was cause i keep tabs on that ripper kid

still, good map
http://www.xfire.com/screenshots/tac...758b8ee28e.jpghttp://www.xfire.com/screenshots/tac...758b8ee28e.jpg

Pretty cool stuff. I died a lot though.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sevlag

nice use of the b40 leak, noticed your phantoms use the same paths as the sketchy CMT drop ships

<3 the ODST music

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I made b40 final, I did everything of that. Also, the paths in this are COMPLETELY different from those of b40_final. This map uses custom animations, whereas final used recorded anims that were stringed together.

Oh and lol, you cheated in your screenshots!

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Originally Posted by Sel

I got squished by an invisible vehicle on the ramp.

Fix this please.

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There are death barriers that keep you from going down the pyramid. I'm guessing this is what happened to you. I should have mentioned this before though.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by L0d3x

I made b40 final, I did everything of that. Also, the paths in this are COMPLETELY different from those of b40_final. This map uses custom animations, whereas final used recorded anims that were stringed together.

Oh and lol, you cheated in your screenshots!

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you need to cheat to break a game sometimes :P

but how about using those banshees at one point, and what are those hunters there for?

Oh yeah I had banshees in at first, but they would tend to get stuck or splatter the marines. It just wasn't very fun. I found that the ranger elites did a better, more balanced job of danger from above. That hunter is a remnant biped from part of b40_final.

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Originally Posted by L0d3x

Oh yeah I had banshees in at first, but they would tend to get stuck or splatter the marines. It just wasn't very fun. I found that the ranger elites did a better, more balanced job of danger from above. That hunter is a remnant biped from part of b40_final.

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I kinda like the funny hunter cannon

btw for the final take those fuel rod cannons out of "cheat_all_weapons" can't pick em up so no point in having it

but yeah fun map, btw the jackals "climbing" the center beam is kinda like in b40_final

I had an idea for the map, at the bottom of the pyramid have a crashed pelican with scattered supplies, you know, tempt the player into abandoning the top of the pyramid for a chance to get ahold of some better weaponry (ie laser)...

just a suggestion though

The jackalls are actually the exact same beginning encounter as in b40_final. That thing was never supposed to be released, and I learnt a few things about who is trustworthy around here.

There's also that death barrier that keeps you from leaving the main playing field. So I can't really do the crashed pelican.

I get an exception data error when loading your map. It only happens wirh your map. Maybe I should redownload it then.

E: Yeah, i redownloaded the map and it still crashes the game.

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Originally Posted by L0d3x

The jackalls are actually the exact same beginning encounter as in b40_final. That thing was never supposed to be released, and I learnt a few things about who is trustworthy around here.

There's also that death barrier that keeps you from leaving the main playing field. So I can't really do the crashed pelican.

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like i said, its a suggestion. because the average player (if it existed) would be tempted to run past all the enemies to get, let's say BR ammo and a laser or maybe a sniper rifle...

I'm surprised you didn't utilize the hunters as a sort of harassment mechanism. you know, have one come from left and another from the right and have them scripted to attack the player from the land bridge until he/she can dispose of them (B shot or rawkeets)

anyways, can't wait for the final build of this firefight map, its got potential

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Originally Posted by Amit

I get an exception data error when loading your map. It only happens wirh your map. Maybe I should redownload it then.

E: Yeah, i redownloaded the map and it still crashes the game.

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did you try running it as a campaign map? map_name b40_firefight

Ahh fuck me. Thanks for that. I kept forgetting.

I'm liking the map, but it has it's flaws, being a beta I guess this is a given.

My biggest concern is the following;

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Originally Posted by L0d3x

There are death barriers that keep you from going down the pyramid. I'm guessing this is what happened to you. I should have mentioned this before though.

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Although this might be a sure way to contain a player, it is certainly not the best. Players don't want to feel as if they have to obey some godlike power to stay in their place. They want to feel as if they can freely explore what is given to them, this is why all of Bungie's maps are usually canyons or islands, so that the player doesn't feel confined by a magical higher power. Perhaps editing the BSP would be going too far, but scenery is not exactly out of the question. Other than that, the map is great, especially for a beta. Good work :)

Suggestions:

1. Add more human weapons. An AR, BR, and Rocket Launcher are hardling anything to work with.

2. Remove the Death Barrier blocking you from the control center. it could add more layaway to game play by adding natural barriers (I.E. containers) in such for you to gain and lose ground, giving the player a sense of impending failure or gleeful resolve.

3. I'd also like to see this done on another map. Perhaps on A30 at the cliffside pick up point. Give it the "ability to win" by surviving enough waves until evac arrives, or not it's up to you, but either way that section of the map may seem fun to do this on.

Players die pretty often
Needs more weapons available to the player
Needs a larger playing area, with more cover
Most of the marines from the pelican were killed as soon as they hit the ground (and the sergeant stayed in the pelican)

Its fun and very frantic but pretty much the longest I survived was like 5 or 6 minutes (A timer counting your time would be nice too). Good but with room for improvement.

Things I plan on fixing considering feedback:

- Lower the grenade chance for brutes
- Lower brute shield vitality, perhaps health too
- Move the "back" death barrier further to the control room, or completely remove it, to let the player retreat to the control room, for a "last stand - all is almost lost" feeling.
- More breathing space between waves.
- Some more human weapons and ammo.

PS: I can't remove the lower death barriers. They are there to ensure the player doesn't see the...solution I came up with to cope with AI pathfinding problems through the tunnels with "grated" areas.

sweet

Well I've implemented all the changes I listed above. You can now (partially) fall back in the hallway to the control room. Marines will follow you and hold defensive positions, whereas covenant will assault you relentlessly.

http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/1...ainstwall2.png

Sweet glass shaders?

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Originally Posted by jcap

Sweet glass shaders?

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Lol that's what it looked like after I ripped it. What can I say, it grew on me and I kinda like it.

Excellent!!

I look forward to playing the new build.

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Originally Posted by jcap

Sweet glass shaders?

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Unfortunately HEK Plus is buggy when extracting certain tags, like the Monitor and Scorpion animations tags. This shader, is almost the exact same.

No matter how many times you rip the god damn thing it always corrupts itself. It's probably due to how Hek Plus extracts that tag.

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Originally Posted by L0d3x

There are death barriers that keep you from going down the pyramid. I'm guessing this is what happened to you. I should have mentioned this before though.

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Right on the first ramp?

I walked up and down it several times before getting killed.

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Originally Posted by CodeBrain

No matter how many times you rip the god damn thing it always corrupts itself. It's probably due to how Hek Plus extracts that tag.

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Do you expect the data it is parsing to somehow change, or for HEK+ to magically "learn" how to extract it correctly? HEK+ will do the same thing every time to the same exact data, so you are just wasting your time by trying to extract it over and over.

There is no invisible vehicle. You strolled "just" too far on your last stroll down the ramp. The death barrier begins roughly halfway down the highest small ramp thing.

Stand by for new build btw, will be up in about an hour.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ShadowSpartan

Do you expect the data it is parsing to somehow change, or for HEK+ to magically "learn" how to extract it correctly? HEK+ will do the same thing every time to the same exact data, so you are just wasting your time by trying to extract it over and over.

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That was the point I was trying to go for.

Apparently I cannot word my sentences correctly, since even my conversations with you, you sometimes could not understand what I was trying to explain.

:saddowns:

this looks great. the rainbow glass is always so nice to look at when nto being shot at :P

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Originally Posted by L0d3x

There is no invisible vehicle. You strolled "just" too far on your last stroll down the ramp. The death barrier begins roughly halfway down the highest small ramp thing.

Stand by for new build btw, will be up in about an hour.

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I was walking from the bottom up, and died at the top.

New build, still open for suggestions:

Will be up later...
There's a new cyclical music...cycler in there now as well. A total of 3 soundtracks will play, including another ODST one that I looped.

file still being processed, will play when its done

Okay it's really up now, sorry for the delay:

http://www.filefront.com/14810185/b40_firefight.rar

Why do I die when I walk towards the control room?

That shouldn't happen unless you are playing the old build? Do the marines follow you into the hallway? If so, then it's the new build and you should not die.

(here's to hoping i didn't upload the wrong file)

Ok, I'm not sure what build it was. When I got home from school, my brother told me to play the map.

Then you probably played the old version. Try the new one, it's not as hard ;-)

Something needs to be done about the ODST's. Normally they are dead by the end of Wave 1.

Depends on your playing style. They usually last up to wave 3 when I play on normal.
I suppose I could make them shoot very accurately, and up their grenade tossing frequency.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TeeKup

Something needs to be done about the ODST's. Normally they are dead by the end of Wave 1.

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>insert you're doing it wrong here<

for me the marines die

i nade the ramp and spray the AR down it, speraking of which can you retract the barrier alittle, sometimes i slip and land on the second ramp section and die and alot of the good weapons get stuck on the other side of that barrier

enjoyed it, got to 2nd song

I 'spose I can retract the barrier a bit :-)
Myself, I got to wave 10, but I created checkpoints manually...

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Originally Posted by L0d3x

I 'spose I can retract the barrier a bit :-)
Myself, I got to wave 10, but I created checkpoints manually...

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sweet

ya i rarely had to call in support, if you just spray down the rap you can easily kill them as they spawn

Hmm I've spent some more time polishing it, what I have polished/added:
- Lowered the death barrier as promised
- Fixed an issue where the waves would stop coming if, by chance, the dropship ai fell off the pyramid. I now kill off the dropship ai once they fall off the pyramid so the waves won't stop coming because of this.
- The player won't be able to enter the marine-reinforcement pelican anymore.
- You can now actually finish the map. I added another switch all the way at the top of the ramps. When activated, a special rescue pelican comes in, dropship waves will stop coming, and you can leave the battlefield safely.

I'm not going to release another build before the final release anymore, so if you guys have any more suggestions for the map please post them here.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by L0d3x

Hmm I've spent some more time polishing it, what I have polished/added:
- Lowered the death barrier as promised
- Fixed an issue where the waves would stop coming if, by chance, the dropship ai fell off the pyramid. I now kill off the dropship ai once they fall off the pyramid so the waves won't stop coming because of this.
- The player won't be able to enter the marine-reinforcement pelican anymore.
- You can now actually finish the map. I added another switch all the way at the top of the ramps. When activated, a special rescue pelican comes in, dropship waves will stop coming, and you can leave the battlefield safely.

I'm not going to release another build before the final release anymore, so if you guys have any more suggestions for the map please post them here.

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on halomaps i saw your idea for having the player enter in a pelican after they die.

but it seems like this is gonna be a hard map to beat in the CE firefight community

TBH I didn't really like it. There needs to be a round system or a point system of some kind and and a way to upgrade or buy weapons. Maybe even have it where you can buy a "modified AR" with extra ammo and a "modified shotgun" that shoots 2 pellets at once or something.

Oh and put the pistol back.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Inferno

TBH I didn't really like it. There needs to be a round system or a point system of some kind and and a way to upgrade or buy weapons. Maybe even have it where you can buy a "modified AR" with extra ammo and a "modified shotgun" that shoots 2 pellets at once or something.

Oh and put the pistol back.

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he will once you stop spawning witches in the goddman safe room

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Originally Posted by sevlag

he will once you stop spawning witches in the goddman safe room

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Oups, Sorry, I couldn't hear you over the sound of TANK TANK! TANK TANK TANK! TANK! TANK! TANK TANK TANK! PILLS HERE!

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Originally Posted by Inferno

Oups, Sorry, I couldn't hear you over the sound of TANK TANK! TANK TANK TANK! TANK! TANK! TANK TANK TANK! PILLS HERE!

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and whos fault is that? calm the fuck down louis

http://www.youtube.com/v/ubibPayNrAY&hl=en&fs=1&

How the fuck do you make youtube tags work. :saddowns:

Why are you guys going off-topic?
Regardless, I implemented a feature that tells you how much waves you beat at the end of the game. The end of the game = when you call and get in the extraction pelican. Also added some helpful messages in the map, like when reinforcements are available, etc...

Put a counter at the bottom right corner.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by L0d3x

Why are you guys going off-topic?
Regardless, I implemented a feature that tells you how much waves you beat at the end of the game. The end of the game = when you call and get in the extraction pelican. Also added some helpful messages in the map, like when reinforcements are available, etc...

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this is good, but tone down the latter waves, i noticed it just turns into a nuts.map cousin, which is annoying

but other than that i enjoyed playing this and it has raised the bar i think for firefight maps

I finally got everything I wanted into the map. There is nothing that I'd want to change at this moment. All that is left to do is fix pickup icons and stuff like that.

I just had a blast, and...

http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/9453/12rounds.png

The map also has checkpoints now, roughly after every 3 waves you survive.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by L0d3x

I finally got everything I wanted into the map. There is nothing that I'd want to change at this moment. All that is left to do is fix pickup icons and stuff like that.

I just had a blast, and...

http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/9453/12rounds.png

The map also has checkpoints now, roughly after every 3 waves you survive.

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yay :D