Works every time and looks freakin' sweet to boot.
For the second week of our Community Cartographer series, Sikamikanico steps in to tell us all about his Forged Sandbox space, Tartarus. If you're still looking for great community-crafted content to check out for your Custom Games night, you should definitely add this one to the roster. But before you do, take a few minutes to dig into the building process, straight from the map's creator.
Map Variant: Tartarus
Q. What’s the core concept behind Tartarus?
A. Putting aside the obvious homage to everyone's favourite evil Brute Chieftain, I wanted to create a fast paced, action packed arena map. In my humble opinion, the one thing I find Halo 3 to lack is smaller arena maps – so this my little attempt to fill that gap. I wanted something that played well with either AR or BR start, and still celebrated the wonderful variety of weapons that Halo 3 employs. The one thing that sets this map apart from most is the options available to the player for movement. I love those Man-Cannons and little jumps to get around!
Q. What gametypes should players looking for options on your map check out?
A. I’ve managed to Forge Tartarus with all gametypes in mind, but it plays best with Team Slayer, Team KOTH and Team Oddball in my opinion. It’s pretty sweet for SWAT and Snipers too, and you can find especially created variants for those gametypes in my File Share.
Q. Is this your first crack at Tartarus or have you been working at it for quite some time?
A. Believe it or not, this was the 30th iteration of Tartarus! I had a lot of help and feedback from a variety of players of all skill levels, and it all helped. The map wouldn’t be as good as it is without their honest feedback and suggestions. I’m pretty sure they began to hate me after playing nothing but this map for days on end, but they all rock regardless.
Q. So, what worked from day one and what needed tweaking?
A. The central area and surrounding walkways haven’t really changed since the map was started. The biggest changes were made to the bases and the Overshield and Active Camo spawns – one of my pals in particular commented that getting around just didn’t feel right in that area, and that it took to long to get back up on top – so after a lot of thinking, the Man-Cannons were brought in to help the player get out of trouble. The bases also saw a roof added to prevent base to base grenade spamming, as well as a nifty little prison bar section straight out of Sidewinder to house the Regenerator, which can be grabbed from either side. (Thanks Ash!)
Q. What was the most difficult element to get right?
A. Without a doubt, the Man-Cannons. I’m sure most Forgers can tell you, the Man-Cannon doesn’t always send you where you want it to send you. It all depends on so many factors – if you walk or jump in, walk backwards, or sideways – it can all make a difference to where you end up. It took almost a day to get the design quite right for them, and I’m pleased to say after plenty of testing, they just work – every time. That and they look freakin’ sweet to boot.
Q. What drives you to spend so much time with the Forge?
A. Seeing people having fun on something you’ve made is an awesome feeling. That, and I find Forge weirdly therapeutic. As my friends can attest to, I spend literally hours in there just trying different things out. I’m currently trying out the Sky Bubble, but it’s very different to most other workable areas – it’s taking a little getting used to.
Q. Advice for anyone looking to get used to the Forge and build their own therapeutic map? Wanna make some shout-outs?
A. Hmm. On the advice front – when it comes to maps, in my opinion it’s all about flow. You need to give your players reasons to move, advantages to get to and hold, and above all, a fun environment to play in. I always work to that ethos, and it hasn’t let me down yet!
It would be totally wrong if I didn’t take advantage to shout out to some of my pals, so first of, special thanks to KingBartlett for being my Forge comrade in arms, and Vinnie13, Mini Waz and ash 55 for all map advice and suggestions! Secondly, big thanks to the cool folks in
OMG (Check them out if you live in Europe people!), Halo 3 in the Work Place, and Atlas/Test Pilot. I’m sorry I made you play this map so much, but you know it was worth it! And lastly, thanks to the guys at Bungie for making Halo 3 of course.
"Final Cut" - Fly-through Video
Thanks to Sikamikanico for dropping the knowledge. If you've come this far with is, reward yourself by scrolling back up to the top and downloading Tartarus - you done good. After giving it a good spin, make sure to drop back into the discussion thread attached to this interview and let the mapmaker know how much ass it kicks.