http://www.bungie.net/Stats/Reach/FileDetails.aspx?fid=24307222&player=Rorak%20Kuroda
http://www.forgehub.com/forum/reach-competitive-maps/133871-opal.html http://www.forgehub.com/forum/reach-competitive-maps/133872-azula.html

This busty beauty of a forged map shall henceforth be known as Lux to you, oh great reader of ForgeHub threads. If you know what's good for you, you're going to fasten your seatbelt, throw your hands in the air, wait for the excruciatingly long chain lift to the top of the imaginary hill, and enjoy the jaw-shattering ride down. We present to you, Lux.

Weapons List
2 Sniper Rifles / 0 Spare Clips / 89s
1 Grenade Launcher / 2 Spare Clips / 118s
1 Active Camo / - / 180s
1 Custom PowerUp / - / 150s
3 Health Packs / - / 60s

Rorak Kuroda
Lux, for me, was an experiment. I took inspiration from many of NeXn's creations, namely Sequence, and the concept of a map that has no corners. The teleporter system, which involves 3 senders and 3 recievers, is designed to move players from what would be a corner of the map to another location, entirely seperate and distant from the sender. For this reason, tracking down enemies can be a daunting task if they happen to have greater knowledge of the layout. It is truly a map that punishes lack of knowledge and lack of thought. Ace and I rebuilt this map just as a snake sheds its skin. We went through rendition after rendition, and with each molding, learned from past variations and made improvements. We could have made multiple maps with how many changes were made.

The design came together quite nicely. With so many teleporters and such seemingly limited movement, camping might appear to be an issue. This simply isn't so. There are two snipers, two powerups, and a Grenade launcher, scattered across the map. This alone would be enough to move players around, but there's an underlying balance involving the top-dominance of the map that most players don't immediatly see. If you were to stand on one of the four high platforms of the map (One being in each corner), you would see two more high platforms to each adjacent Line of Sight of you. There would be a single platform which you would not see, diagonally across the map from you. So in essence, you have to worry about two other locations, probably a reciever node, and the possibility that the enemy has decided to hold the platform that you can't even see. That's a lot to worry about, making height advantage not seem very advantageous at all.

The flip side to gameplay, however, would be aesthetics. Atmosphere. Feeling. These things can effect a player more than weapons and layout ever could. While the layout does not employ any sort of real-life environment, it does have a unique artistic quality. When an artist creates color balance for complimentary colors, four times as much purple is used as yellow, as yellow is much more stand-outish. You'll see that to an extent in Lux, as just with gameplay, Ace and I tried to balance the artistic nature. Certain parts of the map have certain floor textures, which can be found scattered in different areas. In total, there are four different textures that make up flooring. The apex of the map, the center, contains its own, personal aesthetic, and it acts much like the focus of a painting. Just as the eyes are drawn to the center of a painting over and over, but only for brief moments, as the eyes continue to wander, so do players to this center atrium. It's a perfect transitional location, but in no way useful to control.

In all, Lux was truly an experiment. An experiment in player requirement, in visual appeal, and in every aspect of the term 'flow.' The things I have learned from this forging experience have carried through into all of my newer projects, in some way, shape, or form.

AceOfSpades
Lux started for me when Kuroda invited me to a forge game where he had placed about 15 pieces, most notably the center tiles of the map, and we both started tinkering with how to make things look good around the center tiles. He said something along the lines of "Did we just start a coforge?", and Lux began.

We went through many iterations of pretty much every area of the map, making sure every area flowed together well both gameplay-wise and aesthetically. We really tried to focus on keeping a coherent theme of pieces throughout the map, and I really think we pulled that off well. No area on Lux feels out of place, with every area serving a purpose.

http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n418/longshot619/Inc%20Map%20pack/Lux/Lux_Purp1.jpg

http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n418/longshot619/Inc%20Map%20pack/Lux/Lux_Purp2.jpg

http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n418/longshot619/Inc%20Map%20pack/Lux/Lux_Purp3.jpg

http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n418/longshot619/Inc%20Map%20pack/Lux/Lux_Purp4.jpg

http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n418/longshot619/Inc%20Map%20pack/Lux/Lux_Purp5.jpg

http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n418/longshot619/Inc%20Map%20pack/Lux/Lux_Purp6.jpg

http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n418/longshot619/Inc%20Map%20pack/Lux/Lux_Purp7.jpg

Special Thanks

Unoverrated
We couldn't have asked for more great layout advice than the help you gave us on one half of the map. You really helped bring the map together, in every way, shape, and form.

NeXn
You inspired this map. You inspired the very premise of the idea of this map. We cannot thank you enough for that, and words couldn't express it well enough.

Erupt
Man... you really made yourself quite the prostitute for testing on this map. We mean that in the most endearing way possible, too. We found so many tiny, microscopic issues thanks to those games that Lux really gives us a feeling of "Quality" now. All thanks to you, bro.

Longshot
I ask for fancy threads, you give me threads that look as if they were formed by the hands of some sort of demi-god. I ask for them to be finished whenever you feel like it, you finish them almost as quickly as I asked for them. And you've got a big penis to boot. Thanks man, for everything. Especially the super awesome threads.

Lux
Lux (No FX)
Iridescence 1v1