H2 RELIK

I have remade my all time favorite, and what I believe to be the most fun and balanced of all maps, Relic from Halo 2. ALL MAJOR GAME TYPES SUPPORTED!

(Edit: 5/7/11 - I've managed to remove over 40 overlapping objects from the main base and replaced them with 10. This decreases the lag considerably.
- repositioned rocks and scenery to allow a more open driving experience
- adjusted some kill barriers.
- my original map was called 'RELIC ºÇüJÓº' with 1,312 downloads. It is now simply called H2 RELIK (CUJO). I will leave the original link available if you'd like to download both and compare.

(Trying to recreate that classic image here...)

YouTube - reach7966175-127377545.wmv

(The rendered video above shows off the map and not necessarily my skills. I was preoccupied with watching everyone else play so I could fix obvious problems later. This was one of the several play-tests over a two week period.)

The hardest part about remaking this map was finding a location that suits it. Since building an island completely out of walls looks tacky, unrealistic, and definitely not true to the original, I had to find a natural piece of land that could work. Since relic is an island, and the only island available has a mountain in the center of it, I had no choice but to create my map on the plateau called 'Alaska'. Falling off the edge on all sides simulates the original island.

(overview blue side)

(overview red side with weapon layout)

Some of the things I paid close attention to was size and scope. Working within the confines of Alaska, I was able to make this map about 80% the length and width of the original. This doesn't change game play much at all, and in fact, makes the game play more robust and exciting as all spaces are equally skirmished. There were spots on the original relic that people never played on, namely the land behind red base and the rockets, and a portion on the side of the blue's teleporter. I loaded up Halo 2 relic on a separate tv, had photos and scale drawings up on my girlfriend's laptop, and made practice runs from one location to the next so I could create the map as accurately as possible while retaining all the aspects that made Relic, Relic. One of the things you'll notice is the use of the coliseum walls as drivable terrain on the one side of the map. I tried to make it look 'forerunner-esque' but needed to widen the map so there was more driving room. This map was meant for quick escapes and fast approaches. In the picture above you will see weapon layouts. As much as possible, the weapons were replicated piece by piece, except the needle rifle was put in place of the carbine and the focus rifle was put in place of the beam rifle.

(red base overview)

(Same base after reducing number of objects. It's much prettier.)

(blue base overview)

One of the things that made this map great and unique was the teleporter system. The attacking team would have to make their way inside of the base, at the far end of the map, and activate the defending team's teleporter. As soon as this happened, the blue team had a quick and easy way into the defending team's base. I managed to pull this off with a simple switch. I tried a few different techniques given as advice by my buddy Van, but anything I tried didn't feel right. Blocking the teleporter with a shotgun so you'd have to remove it in order to 'activate' was goofy and unblanced. After a couple of nights of tinkering, I found that the best solution was to make use of a trip mine inside the teleporter with shield door blocking it. As the trip mine is active, it essentially blocks the teleporters from being functional. After it is destroyed, the teleporters open up and are working as a 2-way system.

(teleporter switch)

By using the shield door, the trip mine will not spontaneously activate by fire or grenade spamming, and will only activate after someone goes through the teleporter from the defending side. The shield door also prevents anyone from getting hurt.

(attacking teleporter) [This teleporter is not 'locked' in free for all games. The switch remains inactive and is a completely functional, 2 way system from the start of the FFA games!]

I'm including a few other shots from around the map and I'll have a link for some gameplay vids you can download to your xbox.

(The ramps that normally appear here in free for all games show up during, get this, free for all games!)

Let me know what you think and enjoy!!!

New Version Download: H2 RELIK

Original Version Download: Halo REACH RELIC

Rendered video: Halo REACH RELIC