SKY ISLAND 5
By ER1C0

"The Grand Finale"

YouTube- Sky Island 5 - A Halo 3 Forged Map

Story:

This is actually the 6th Sky Island map.. and the last. The first Sky Island blew the Halo world away. It used a completely new technique that convinced 5,760 people to download it. Sky Island 2 brought more islands all created in one map. Small ones, large ones, and even a giant gravity lift. This map got a total of 19,402 downloads, completely smashing the old Sky Island... But as time came and blew away interest, the Sky Island series' popularity slowly began to decline. Over a period of two years, only 3 maps in the series were released. Sky Island 3 (don't have a download link), Sky Island 4, The Sky Island............ Until now.

So here it is, Sky Island 5.

BTW, I made two "drafts" of this map. My original idea involved a gigantic island placed on top of the sky bubble. That didn't work out so well. I forged for about 3 weeks, and decided to delete it.... so this is the second draft.

Map Description:

The whole map focuses on the large island in the center of the map.

Each side has one warthog, one mongoose, one spartan laser, one sniper rifle, amongst other smaller things. The center area has one rocket launcher, a shotgun, and a needler. All of the larger weapons are on the ground level and are generally in the open. Smaller weapons are generally placed in smaller areas... for obvious reasons.

This map is 97% symmetrical. The missing 3% is just a very small gap I miscalculated between the red base and the mancannon/lift thing. It's really unnoticeable and doesn't effect gameplay.

There are four verticle levels to the "island". The first doesn't really count because it's underneath the island. The second is an enclosed area just above the ground level. The third and fourth levels are open and don't have much cover.

Here's the ground level with a total of six mancannons (and three total lifts).

Each lift will bring you to the very top of the island easily.

The ground level also has two side lifts pictured here. These side lifts conveniently bring you to the second level of the island.

The second level is fairly closed up.

(2nd level diagram)

There are two walls on the top and bottom of this picture. The two short ends are open. There are two small pathways in the middle area. Also... I forgot to add the 2 side lifts in the diagram... They're just open gaps in the walls located on both top wall and the bottom wall near the two pathways.

The third level is the same size as the second. It's much more open than the 2nd level and it doesn't have as much cover.

The fourth level is much smaller than any of the others, as you can see.. It has basic cover, and a few fusion coils to prevent camping. It also has two small pathways connecting the large gap in the middle, which actually really helps when using the middle lift on the ground level.

Here are the two bases.. There is lots of cover to prevent spawn camping. There are two main ramps that lead up to each base... Although you can also try using the ledges on the back of each base.. It's difficult, but can be very advantageous (if you're good at jumping).

Forging 101:

☑ Floating Objects
☐ Instant Respawn
☐ Immovable Objects
☐ Timed Map Events
☑ Effective Spawn Placement
☐ Gravity Lift Techniques
☐ Objects Placed in Water
☑ Used Symmetry Option
☑ Interlocking Objects
☑ Objects Merged with Map Geometry
☑ Unlimited Budget Glitch

Gameplay Description:

I can't say I tested this map a lot. I'm not completely sure everything is 100% perfect, but I can say it works.

I also noticed that there are some key "roles" each player can play if you decide to work as a team. One person can sit back at the base and snipe anyone trying to use the triple lift technique (where you jump into the first lift, fly up in the air, go straight into the second lift, fly up once again, land in the third lift, fly up AGAIN, then land near the other side's base). Now, you might be thinking that the triple lift technique is stupid because it gives enemies easy access to your base. If that's the case, then I'll say it's much more difficult to use this technique than you'd think. Remember, each side has both a sniper rifle and a spartan laser. In order to use the triple lift technique, you must fly into the air at least three times, which makes you a main target.... If anything, try to relate this to the lifts on Narrows... only much more slower.

Another way of teaming up is just taking the warthogs for a spin.. It may seem obvious to you, but it gets pretty hectic in-game, so I recommend coming up with tactics prior to each game.

Mmkay, so here are two action pics I randomly got:

Here's another random pic that I couldn't fit into the post:

So there it is. Thanks for takin' a look and I hope to receive some good feedback :D

Click to Download

P.S. This map supports all gametypes.