It has taken about four months between this and all the failed maps that led to this one, but after scores of tests, I can finally announce the final version of Xiphos. For my third map in Halo 4, I decided to go smaller, designing for one versus one games. Inspirations came all the way from the Counter Strike maps Dust and Dust 2, a little influence from Hushed Behemoth's fantastic (and recently improved) 2v2 map Traverse, and from the Mass Effect 3 map Firebase White. However, the influences quickly faded after the first half hour of forging though, and the map took on a life of its own.

Xiphos is a small map aimed at providing a fluid environment and promoting movement across the five sections. Myriad short and medium lines of sight are spread across the map with arguably three long expanses cutting through them that the sniper rifle makes great use of. Control of an area or weapon will only get you so far though, as your opponent can flank or deceive you quite effectively here. Power weapons are not the only thing to contend for either, as the ever-useful suppressor excels at taking out foes in the numerous close quarter areas as well, and the extra grenade on the bridge can easily make your next encounter turn in your favor.

Xiphos was honored to be the second map in the Halo Customs 1v1 Unity tournament. I worked on the competition for a while with Dax, and cannot say how great its been to both work on the competition and provide a map for it. Tedium wrote a wonderful article and Dax provided a fantastic video for it, for which I would just like to thank both of them. You can view Dax's video from The Halo Network below.

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I have tested this map for use with the Unity 1v1 V3 gametype by Doju (due to the testing for the tournament mentioned above), which boasts some quality competitive settings. That being said, any similar gametype will work as well, the only suggestions I have would be that radar and personal ordinance are off, and loadouts are not the customized ones used in infinity matchmaking but rather consist of only one grenade and any of the four precision rifles, no sidearm. I have found these settings, already in the Unity gametype above, the best for both this map and near every other 1v1 map I've played.

Note: Sniper Rifle and Sticky Detonator are both drop-spawned

I would like to thank all those who have helped me produce the final version of Xiphos. To those who tested, I am incredibly grateful. Even when you had little to comment on, I looked at how the game went and altered things I didn’t like. To the following:

Behemoth
You were in the first test, and without that my spawning would still be predictable and the light (sniper) room would never have existed. That was an incredibly important part of this map’s development, and you continued to provide help testing afterwards. I cannot tell you how important all this has been to the production of Xiphos.

Dax
Your support and assistance in testing has been invaluable. You brought several great suggestions to this map and it would not be nearly as good without your input. From start to finish, from spawning to structure and weapon placement, you were there helping me along the way. Even in the little things, you insisted change if they were not perfected. You even approached me the night before its release, after I was all ready to go, bringing new ideas to the map. This is why the images and your video are not completely up to date. Those who download will find a surprise tac-jump thanks to your insistence. I hate you a little for it, but I also cannot thank you enough.

SpinCycle
You may not have spent a lot of time helping me here, but you really got me thinking about my weapons. I juggled some things around several times after talking with you, racking my mind for some solution to the weapon layout issue that you insisted existed. I owe the great alteration of sticky detonator, precision rifles, and pulse grenade to your comments.

Urban Myth
The dark speed boost room has never worked better since you joined me. The white room’s bridge over sniper has improved the flow of this map and I finally made that jump from suppressor spawn ledge to the dark room hall easier. Your suggestions were massive and daunting to think about, and each one helped make this map so much more interesting to play on. It was incredibly enlightening to hear your feedback, and your ideas changed how the map played drastically. I owe huge changes to your feedback, and I just wanted to thank you one more time.

Again, thank you to not just those I specified, but to all who touched down on Xiphos while testing was going on. It was fantastic to hear all of your thoughts and incredibly difficult at times to accommodate for the issues you had with it. Still, it’s only at this point now because of all of you.

You may download Xiphos here
You may download Unity 1v1 V3 here