Crimson Woods
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File Category:
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Halo CE Maps
Description:
Two large base camps with several out buildings in a curved canyon with a central lake and waterfall.
File Notes
Crimson Woods
By: «RLA» Apoc, a.k.a. 05h3t5ky
E-mail: [hidden]
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Thanx
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I decided to put this section first since many people leave it until the end so it isn't read much or at all. The following is a (somewhat) short list of the people I would like to thank:
- «RLA» Epoch, ~Arsenic~, Acuve2 (a.k.a. Smirnoffs) for helping me bug-test my map and make suggestions to better it.
- Doc Oc for the amazing Energy Sword.
- Grenadiac for Sparkedit, without which I would not have been able to recover a few segments of HALO's mesh for my buildings and bases.
- The Gearbox community for being so patient for the map and accepting my {WIP} threads without any flames.
- You for actually reading the readme and giving my last 6 month's work at least a play or two. =)
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Instructions
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-Extract the files from this .zip file, and place the map file in your Program Files/Microsoft Games/Halo Custom Edition/Maps directory. Done.
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Overview
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Well, after a LONG LONG LONG journey through teaching myself the HEK and 3DS MAX and how to UVW map/unwrap and such, my first map ever is complete to my standards; for I REFUSED to release a crap box map like so many were when the HEK first was released. My map would have been out a month or two ago if it hadn't been for the need to completely scrap the original landscape I had made for the level. Now, after HALO 2's debut which has syphoned away a great many of CE's players, I present to you, the dedicated CE players (or those that just don't have an XBOX like myself), my complete map, Crimson Woods.
Yes, it's ANOTHER "box canyon" style map...but I made every effort to make it an original one. The main bases are the Infinity Beam-Emitting bases, extracted using Sparkedit, and completely re-skinned by me, which was also my UVW map/unwrap learning experience. I modified them to hold an Armory and a garage in the base, and also added a sniper loft in the middle of the larger upright, accessable via an extra tunnel up from the banshee platform. Via a teleporter in a small, otherwise useless building out back of these bases, you can teleport out to the area I crafted to be (hopefully) the main battle area, Wartorn Cove style (kinda). The teles route out to two outpost buildings, one for each team, which are basically a type of pillbox with a walkway around behind shatterable windows in openings which can be used for cover while firing on the enemy. The outposts are by the lake formed by the giant waterfall, which has the bridge across it, which can be a main control point of the map.
The rest of the map is relatively self-explainatory. Included in this .zip file is two wallpaper files for you if you like the map enough to grace your desktop with it. Have fun, and go kill yourselves some n00bs. =D
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Known Concerns
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-First and foremost, this is not the most video-card friendly map out there due to all the scenery objects, the 11000 polys in the BSP, and the fact it has water that cannot be seen on some cards. But I believe it has decent enough performance to be played on moderate video settings. And for the love of your god, turn off specular and shadows...they're really not needed, and with them on in this map, there are some freaky zones near the buildings where if you are looking the right way the FPS plummets to the low teens to even the single digits b/c of all the shiny metal materials used. So for my sake and for your gaming pleasure, turn them off.
-The Comm Tower isn't exactly elaborately textured....but in the shadows, no-one will care anyways (I hope).
-A few pieces of scenery have bluish fog on the texture around the bottom....this is some glitch with it intersecting the Fog plane of the water, causing this, and the way those objects are placed, can't be fixed.
-I encountered a random Exception Data or two during the testing of the map....but this didn't happen to any of the other few people I let test it, so it may just be my computer acting up. It's no major problem, b/c it didn't happen very often.
-Water edges are somewhat rough...done to save polys, and doesn't really affect the map either way, so deal with it.
-Rockets don't travel through water...but this is a HALO thing which I do not think can be changed. So, throw nades instead if you're up against a camping n00btard parking a vehicle in the water and firing.
-It's dimly lit...what, are you afraid of the dark?
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NOTE
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-If some really annoying problems are found or too many complain of performance issues, or think something should be moved/changed, I MAY (I repeat, MAY) consider re-working a few minor things (I will NOT make another completely new terrain) for a v2 or 'revisited' release. So, if you have any concerns, drop me a line at my E-mail address at the beginning of this readme (first character's a zero, not an "oh") or PM me on the GBX forums.
Happy hunting.