So when I got Reach, I immediately decided that I was going to do something that impossible in Halo 3's Forge. I didn't want to just put these improved tools to use in the same way, I wanted to push boundaries and build upon established concepts. So I say down and took a look at what I had to work with and decided to try building a map and variants around one of the new Armor Abilities. I went with the easiest first.

The Jet Pack.

This is what came out of my little project. I like to call it Offshore.

Offshore was made for exclusive use with the Dogfight variants that I also created. The variants themselves are basically vanilla Halo: Reach modes with the stipulation that Jet Packs are a necessity. With that being said, there are no Load Outs in this mode. Each Spartan starts out with an Assault Rifle, DMR, and two Plasma Grenades. That's it. Pretty simple actually.

The interesting part is the map itself. In many ways Offshore is an ode to the classic FPS games of old, obvious Tribes influences aside. It was built around the tried and true concept of two opposing bases, Red and Blue. Hell, it even has retro spawn rooms. Each base is asymmetrical to its opposite. Red is always on defense while Blue is on offense.

The paths in between each base are, for the most part, symmetrical for both sides. The exception is the far left path on Blue's side which only Red can reach from their base in CTF. The other two paths, the assortment of scattered tiles and the covered walkway, are about the same for each team although weapon spawn placement often favors the Blue side as they are always offense.

When it comes to the bases themselves, they are asymmetrical by design. Red is much more defendable where as Blue has easier access to some of the weapon spawns. The bases themselves are small but fairly complex, specifically Red's, and I believe each fulfills its role well.

Red Base:

Blue Base:

Here comes the really exciting part. Offshore actually makes dynamic structural changes based upon which mode you are playing it in. For instance, in Red's base in Assault is much more fortified than their CTF base, though in exchange it is much harder for them to move around in. Likewise, Blue's Assault base is a patched up version of their CTF base with fewer holes for Red to infiltrate but as a result there is now a teleporter leading from the Red Base right under their main entrance.

Here are some comparison shots.

CTF map:

Assault Map:

Right now I am, quite frankly, not very confident in my map. I haven't been able to do the extensive testing I would like to have before submitting it to a board like this but, alas, my options are at the moment somewhat limited.

Eventually I would like to add King of the Hill, Crazy King specifically, and Slayer in both Team and FFA varieties to Offshore as well, but before I invest more time into it I'd like some honest opinions on how I could better balance out the map.

Here is an explosion.

Current Dogfight Game Variants for Offshore:

One Flag CTF
One Bomb Assault