::FALLOUT3.7::

::INVASION:FALLOUT::

:: The following is a transcript of a distress call received prior to Spartan deployment. ::

Caller: Hey, ONI guys
Operator: This is a secure military line. Identify yourself now.
Caller: Oh… yea. This is agent James Abrams of the ONI CCF station 42. Over.
Operator: Abrams, what is the situation?
Abrams: Well you see… we have a situation. Over.
Operator: Well I guessed that already. And stop saying over.
Abrams: Stop saying what, sir? Over.
Operator: … Listen I do not have the time or patience. Tell me what is wrong!
Abrams: Well you know how the covenant attacked a couple days ago? Over.
Operator: Go on.
Abrams: Well, despite the incredibly secluded and out of the way location of our station the covenant found us. They have seized the station and I believe are planning to use our ordinance against us. Over.
Operator: Why weren’t we informed prior to them obtaining the station?
Abrams: Well we kinda didn’t see it coming. Over.
Operator: And your security systems didn’t pick up on this intrusion?
Abrams: Well the green die console has been kind of hit and miss lately…
Operator: Green die console?
Abrams: …and the other console malfunctioned months ago so we rigged a covenant crate to it. I guess that didn’t work either. Over.
Unknown: Tell him we need more Lemon Pledge too.
Operator: Who is that?
Abrams: Oh that’s the janitor. Over.
Operator: so you mentioned the covenant hijacking your stations ordinance. What exactly is that?
Abrams: Our station is equipped with a CCFN, sir. Over.
Operator: What is that?
Abrams: A Capital Cruiser Fucker Nuke, sir. Over.
Operator: A Nuke?
Abrams: yes sir. Over.
Operator: Unbelievable.
Abrams: Sir, I swear I didn’t come up with the name…
Operator: I cannot believe they put dumbasses like you in charge of a nuclear device! You people are clearly unfit…
[long pause]
Abrams: unfit for what, sir?
Operator: You know what, I take it back. Your team is capable. You can clearly retake the station, easily!
Abrams: Really? You think so?
Operator: Yea, hell yea! Abrams, you can do this. Go fight those alien bastards. Run in there, guns blazing. Don’t look back!
Abrams: you hear that boys? We’re gonna take the station back! Grab your guns and let’s go!
[indistinct crowd yelling]

Operator: Idiots.

Operator: This is ONI Operator 91 contacting commanding Spartan officer.
Officer: Go on Operator.
Operator: We are going to need Spartan reinforcements at ONI Nuclear Defense Site 12. The Covenant has taken over and to the best of our knowledge plan to use our on-site nuclear missile to attack possibly a major human city.
Officer: And what of the personnel?
Operator: uh they’re all dead.
Officer: All of them? Who contacted you?
Operator: They contacted me just before they decided to make a suicidal attempt to retake the station.
Officer: and you did not try to stop them?
Operator: I… tried. But macho stupidity got to them.
Officer: What idiots…
Operator:

:: Spartans Deployed. ::

"A Covenant Elite squadron has captured a top secret ONI missile site used to take out Covenant capital cruisers.
They have been working to re-designate the on-site warhead to target a major human city.
Spartans, we need you to take this facility back before it is too late."

::FALLOUT3.7::

::INVASION:FALLOUT::

YouTube - Just Invaded In To See What Condition Fallout Was In

Back Story:
I'm pretty sure that as of the second or third day Reach came out and I started to become familiar with the aspects of forging Invasion in Reach preliminary ideas for Fallout popped into my head. Invasion maps, within the first week of Reach began to surface like dead fish, and dead fish they were. One of the first things I noticed with most user created Invasion maps is that they a) stuck so close to the matchmaking invasion maps that they became redundant or b) strayed so far from the competitive vision of what Invasion debuted with that it became nothing more than a casual map or mini-game in the sense of the terms Forge Hub puts it in. For a while, especially here on FH, Invasion maps were actually held in more of a casual standpoint and I knew that wasn't what I wanted in Fallout (or whatever the hell I called it back then). I wanted my Invasion map to uphold the competitive spectrum that Boneyard and Spire possessed while being its own experience. I wanted it to be unique yet fun; competitive yet balanced. I wanted Fallout to be like nothing no one had ever seen.
Come to find out, such uniqueness doesn't necessarily define a great map.
In fact, sometimes over-uniqueness can be disastrous.
It can be said that Fallout has taken on about four notable forms including its final version seen here.

First was a little experiment I called Epiquest. My first attempt at creating a unique Invasion experience was more just testing the grounds and pushing the boundaries of what Invasion was capable of. Come to find out, Invasion is capable of a lot. It is truly beautiful what kind of things can be done with this gametype, and many of them we still see shining face today, but back then they had not quite yet been fully explored so when I thought of (what at the time seemed an amazing) concept of using Assault coupled with gate tags and rocks to create an exploding wall, I ended up creating a lot of hype for a map I pretty much already knew was too good to be true. This doesn't mean Epiquest is dead, no. It'll come back eventually, but as a 1v1 "I'ma solve this puzzle while some alien bastard tries to stop me" type of deal. Curious? You should be.

The first formal version of Fallout built on what could have worked in Epiquest if it had been properly implemented. Right about here was when the Forgetacular contest was announced and I decided to try and take part in it by creating a formal Invasion map. So I tried.
From here on in, take the map advertised below, take its first phase, and copypasta it into every version of the map. Phase one of Fallout was an unplanned accident, or at least a lot less planned than in subsequent versions. It just happened, and somehow it worked. In fact, it was the only phase to receive any praise in version 1 and 2 of Fallout. So it goes without saying that it pretty much stayed the same in version 3. No. What I really want to focus on is the second half of the map; the area beyond the shield doors. In V1 the main objective was for the Spartans to blow up a satellite facility that contained launch codes for on-site nukes and then get the hell outta there. This was the most unique version of the map, but as I mentioned before unique is not always good. In this instance that philosophy held true and the whole second half of the map, including a satellite facility that I tediously rigged to look blown up after a certain phase thanks to a series of gate and weapon tags, was a bust.

V2 of Fallout began as pure reaction to the mass amount of positive feedback I had on the first phase and the mass amount of negative feedback I received on the second and third phase. I deleted anything and everything that had to do with the second and third phase including my pride and joy, the satellite facility. From this point, I had no plan and I had a hard time coming up with a design. As I was about to drop the project entirely, a friend of mine asked me why I never rolled with my original vision of the map. At first I came back with the statement "Are you mad?" The reason behind this statement comes directly from what I told him I envisioned in Fallout from the beginning. The first two phases would be normal, but the third phase would introduce a dynamic twist that required a constant awareness of what was happening on the map. This involved constructing what looked like a giant nuclear missile, a believable transition between what was already built and the nuke itself, then constructing a phase three that looked like the aftermath of the nuke having been activated (hence the origin of the name). This seemed entirely out of the realm of possibility. Well, it wasn't. By making sacrifices in certain visual aspects of the map I was able to achieve this effect and quite nicely at that. The Green + Nova FX created an ideal 'fallout' scenario along with fusion coils dropping at random points and times along with seemingly 'destroyed' buildings I created in light of having to get rid of my precious satellite facility. The reason this was probably the least known and least tested version of the map was because of one explicit reason: LAG! By the time the map hit phase three there was so much happening on screen at one time that the map was virtually impossible to successfully play on. As such, V2 of the map was trashed very quickly. By about this time, Forgetacular had ended and I had all but given up on Fallout entirely.

I kept V2 of the map for reference, but for the most part it was back to the drawing board for V3. As I was, again, deleting all phase two and three objects I stopped when I reached the giant nuke I had constructed. For some reason I decided to keep it. I don't know if it were out of pride or some instinct that I figured I'd want it, but I kept it, and from there I began anew; right back where V2 started at the end of phase one. After abandoning Fallout for about a month, I came back to it halfheartedly and began laying some random pieces down. Without expecting anything to come out of it I suddenly came to a solution. In the previous versions I focused hard on open play area in phase two and three to conserve for a major objective later on down the road. Never had it dawned on me to make the major objective immediately after phase one. The end result was an indoor area that acts as the activation station for the large nuke off in the background. This transition from open outdoors to close-quarters indoors created an interesting twist to what I thought was going to end up being another run-of-the-mill Invasion map and in the end received as much if not more praise than what the first phase had originally received. So with some tweaks here and there the posted version of Fallout was done.

Reconnaissance Images:

A rough overview of the Nuclear Defense Station showing weapon placements and objectives and such. Click the little resize button so it's not all minuscule.

Welcome to the ONI:CCF facility.
Trespassers will be shot.

The image above is about where the Spartans begin their assault on the station. A Sniper Rifle spawns on the ONI symbol in the picture after 2 minutes.

Overview of the security station that prevents intruders.
Guess that ship sailed.

This is the security facility that the Spartans must capture to begin phase two. The first capture point is in the room with the green die and the other is on the other side beneath the Ramp,XXL in the distance.

Brilliant minds that cast a protective eye over Reach reside in these walls.
They enjoy strip poker and Beer Pong.

This is inside the main facility. Strangely, neither of the capture points are pictured in this, but one is just on the other side of those doors and the other is just above those stairs where a Concussion Rifle is also conveniently located.

This facility is proud to be branded with the purple ONI readout. Jim wanted blue letters and no tree.
We fired Jim. "Get rid of the tree" he says, psssh, what is any place without a nice tree?

This is a side entrance to the facility that can be accessed via the braces to the far right of the security facility.

The launch codes module and the CCF nuke in the background.
This is all top secret information. In fact, who let you in here. Get Out!

This is the core with the sought for CCF Nuke in the background.
The core is located in a room all by its lonesome, waiting for a brave Spartan to rescue it in a Falcon. Be that Spartan, hero.

Fallout is an Invasion based map that combines all of the good things about Boneyard and Spire and throws the rest out the window.
It sports the classic Invasion setup: Territories, Territories, and Capture the Flag (Core).

I am really pleased to see how my first Reach map turned out considering the amount of labor, blood, sweat, and the occasional tear that went in to this.
I sure hope the FH public feels the same.
Join me as I wet my feet again for the first time since Halo 3 for a competitive Invasion map (OMG it's not Infection!) that I believe will knock your socks off (or your pants if you're not wearing socks (and if you're not wearing pants, please put some on))

I'd love to thank everyone who helped in making this map as good as it could be. The people who hate Invasion, but steeled themselves long enough to enjoy Fallout. The people who urged me to complete it when I'd lost hope in it, and the people who urged me to post it a month after it was done. The Tester's Guild has been a particular help in providing feedback for the last versions of this map. All in all, thank you Forge Hub for being a great community.
And to everyone else, Thank you.

And here are the DL links again if you missed them:

::FALLOUT3.7::

::INVASION:FALLOUT::