Welcome to Sanctum.

DOWNLOAD LINK HAS BEEN FIXED, SORRY EVERYONE
http://www.bungie.net/forums/posts.aspx?h3fileid=26999047

Recommended Players: 4 to 12
Best Gametypes: Slayer, CTF, Assault
Working Gametypes: All
Weak Gametypes: KOTH

Presented to you by I RIFT I and Company.
"Sup' guys!"

"Recreating A Classic"
When I was creating Sanctum, I wanted to create something special, something competative, and something that would make people instantly feel like they were on a classic, favorite map.Sanctum is meant to feel like a mix-mash cross between the popular maps Beaver Creek, Midship, Santuary, and Snowbound.

The first thing you'll notice about Sanctum is that it is NOT a wide open map. I purposefully took the time to constuct many forms of cover, and also many forms of inherant danger, such as Fusion Coils. I didn't want a map where the Battle Rifle was overpowering, taking out anybody from anywhere on the map, and I didn't want any particular part of the map that was so open, you would be foolish travle that way. After countless attempts to build barricades that didn't break the map, it's finally ripe and ready, with an immense amount of polish. After that, I moved on to weapons, and after several weapon placement iterations, it got down to the point that, if there wasn't a weapon there, nobody wanted to go that way. It may seem like there's a ton of weapons on the map, but once you start playing, you don't feel it so much.

Base Overview

"Give Me A Rundown"
I built 2 identical bases, both reminiscent of Midship and Santuary. The bases have two main entrances on either side - a wide set of stairs, and a Grav-Lift side - and one openning on the front. The openning seems to be just an exit, but with the Portable Grav-Lift place towards the middle, it can become a defensive flaw when used against you.

Front of Bases

Interior, facing Stairs

Grav-Lift Entrance

On either side of the map are towers of a sort, with a ground level, a second level, and a small third level. The Grav-Lift side of the bases lead to the Sniper Tower/Shield Door Room, while the Stairs entrance side lead to the Fuel Rod Gun Tower/Portable Grav-Lift Hall. Each tower is similar in a few features, but both are very unique.

Area Surrounding Grav-Lift Entrance

The Shield Door Room is my pride and joy of this map, taking a bulk of the time to create. It has very few flaws, and those present are minor. I placed this here with the spirit of Snowbound in mind, and as I love the shield doors on that map so much, I had to recreate them.

Front of Shield Door Room

The upper levels of this tower are the setting of the Sniper Tower. It's set up in a way so either team can get to the Sniper Rifle simultaneously, which isn't necessarily a good thing for either side. It does make for some crazy battles though.

Sniper Tower Overview

On the other side of the map is the Portable Grav-Lift Hall. It was originally very empty and pointless, other than to escape gun-fire, but after some tweaking around, and placing a Portable Grav-Lift, it became another powerful asset. It actually feels a lot like Midship in this area, with a bit of Sanctuary on the side.

Portable Grav-lift Halls

The upper levels to this tower make the Fuel Rod Gun Tower. It's This time around, as the Fuel Rod Gun presented greater danger, there's only one way up in the middle, so the teams have to compete to even get to the top of this tower and claim their prize. The tower also differs from it's fraternal twin in that instead of being broken apart by the base of the third level, there's a large openning in the bottom of it, so as soon as both teams are up onto the second level, they can see each other. There's also a Needler up here, which is handy when approaching the next part of the map.

FRG Tower Overview

The two towers are connected by a single bridge, the Sword Bridge. It of course has an Energy Sword floating just above the middle of it. While the Sniper Tower's second level area seems to be a tad bit closer, the FRG Tower has a Needler on the second level, good for clearing out opposition that might be approaching from the other tower.

Now, all around the Energy Sword are four, tall, wide pillars. They make for great disruptors in the map, but also serve as a base area for the entire middle of the map, connecting the Shield Door Room to the center, which connects to the Portable Grav-Lift Hall. And right in the middle, just underneath the Sword Bridge, is the Shotgun Barricade. Now I know you might be thinking, "An Energy Sword AND a Shotgun!? Are you nuts!?" Well, no, I'm not.

Sword Bridge & Shotgun Barricade

It was just too much to have a single Shotgun or Sword on the map, as they would dominate the whole tight-quartered areas, blocking the other team from actually reaching the enemy base. There are also 2 Maulers on the map, but they aren't as effective against Shotguns or Swords as people would like to think, especially in this map. The point of the 2 close range weapons is to offset the other weapon, plain and simple.

"So In Conclusion..."
There is no one strategy that is more effective than another, and that's the way I like it. I personally find maps like Construct, where holding that center room is the key to victory, to be fun, but too predictable. I like surprises, and that's what you get with Sanctum. I built this map to be fun, explosive, and surprising, so hopfully you all agree.

Special Thanks:
II Chieftain II, for helping me with overall weapon and explosives placement.
CeeJ Mantis 3, for helping me with the concept and design.
Rocketdriver, for helping to test out equipment placement.
My Friends, for putting up with playing the original version of the map.
Forgehub, for helping me to promote my map in an organized fashion.

I hope you all enjoy.

Old War Photo - "Believe, 2553."