Archeopteryx: extinct primitive toothed bird of the Jurassic period having a long feathered tail and hollow bones; usually considered the most primitive of all birds.

Archeopterix: A Halo 3 custom map variant created within the Avalanche Ice Cave by Cosmic Rick. Will grant limited flight abilities. [syn: awesome]

Download Archeopterix

Suggested gametypes: KotH, Slayer (FFA or team), One-Bomb, and Oddball (FFA or team).

Suggested Player count: 4-10 (12 if you're nasty)

Map Haiku:
Where did he come from?
You must master the grav-lfts,
And then you must fly.

Overview:
Welcome to my first forge in the legendary map pack. Archeopterix is my attempt at ye-olde ice-cave map. Initially, I was just playing around with my geo-merging skills to see if I could get a decent flat floor down and block off the large man-cannons. The feel of the map changed to a sort of zany Blackout once I got down to the actual map geometry, though. The map is much more complex than it looks at first glance. The top levels are the obvious areas of play, but the lower levels can be just as hotly contested and contain some key power weapons.

Because it's a smaller, asymmetrical map, and I was going for bungie-standard gametypes, I decided to make the defenders' base pretty defensible. Otherwise the games would be over far too quickly. I feel like the balance is pretty good at this point. As with most Cosmic maps, there are a number of power weapons and you shouldn't have too much trouble finding what you need. It gets a bit hectic, but I think the level is big enough/separated enough that nothing destroys too badly. The leveled separation also means that more people can play at once.

Screenshots:

From the Shadows

This is a view of the central map area from the shadowed sniper spawn. The sniper gets a flare (only 1 per round) as a little perk. You can even back up well into the cave walls to get a better shot. Note that the blocked off grav-lift on the right side of this shot has some interesting properties. Also, the sword that spawns mid-air below the main grav-lift might be worth your efforts.

The Underbelly
A lot of players might not even notice this area their first time through the map, but it is essential to your team's success in any gametype. The rocket spawns atop the overturned base at the bottom, a bubble shield is available in the central walled area, and a mauler is up for grabs on the platform extending out to the left of the SC.

Beam Spawn
The opposite side of the bottom area has a sentinel beam spawn and is a good place to hide out if things get too hot up top. You can run down here from the central bottom area or drop down from a shaft directly above.

The Upper Floors
Things get really crazy up top. If you can't handle some frenetic action, I'd suggest you avoid the central grav-lift system. All paths seem to converge on this central area overlooking the defensive base. If you make it past the firefight, you can climb even further and get a good view of the chaos below. Oh, and watch out for the trip-mine.

Two Times Tuesday (Defensive Base)
The defensive base is double sided (two bomb plant points and everything), so the attackers and defenders both need to make a choice on which side to work from. It is possible to jump between them out front or walk around the barriers. Again, since the map is so small, I made it pretty easy to hole-up in the base for the defenders.

Needling Orange
I like to think this map makes for some unique conflict points. Here's a shot of me flying through the air after being blasted by Orangeremi's power-core snipe and proceeding to drill some needles into his forehead.

Download Archeopterix

Let me know what you think. And, as always, thanks to my many testers.