To download Purple Reign, add "a Polish Korean" on Xbox Live. Then, in Halo 5 go to your roster and click on my profile. Go to "Bookmarks"

INTRODUCTION

Purple Reign is an asymmetrical Covenant-themed 2v2 map. The primary design goal was to strike a balance between having meaningful power weapon acquisitions and engagements while also having appreciable periods of Magnum interplay. The primary artistic goal was to properly emulate the Covenant aesthetic by using a proper color pallet as well as having recognizable aesthetic landmarks and details. I also had a performance goal: I wanted to keep the map from going over 100% lightmap without turning “Light Bake: Off” on any objects to ensure that the lighting and quality of shadows was top-notch. Through constant and tireless refining, I was able to do so despite hitting the object limit.

THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

I’ve always had a huge appreciation for asymmetrical designs carved out of symmetrical skeletons. Two maps that took this design approach which were very influential to Purple Reign are Nomad by Solo XIII and Archon by Waldo the LEMON. I recently attempted this design approach in Halo 2 Anniversary with a map of mine called Frantik, which I used as a foundation for Purple Reign’s design.

When I first built Frantik, I built and replicated octagonal pillars until I had a 4x4 grid. From there I carved out platforms and pathways until I had a functioning design. This is exact the approach I used for Purple Reign, but I was much more liberal in my deviation from the 4x4 skeleton. As for the art direction, I chose to go with a Covenant theme after seeing Forger after Forger attempt the theme without the attention to color pallet and aesthetic detail that really sells the Covenant look. After grinding out a portion of the design accompanied with my aesthetic, I showed what I had to Solo and Seth and they were absolutely stunned and could not stop clamoring over my execution of theme and aesthetics.

At that moment, I knew I had something special on my hands. I have the highest appreciation for Tom French and the rest of the Forge team and 343 Industries, but Halo 5’s file browser allows anyone to view my local files, which meant that I was running the risk of people seeing my work-in-progress at any time. I came up with a clever trick to make my map appear to be spawn glitched but people either figured it out quickly thereafter or already knew how it worked, and that’s when I decided to create a smurf account and began to forge in isolation.

Fast forward a few weeks later and after three complete rebuilds of the map, the first playable version was complete. After a total of two games on the map, I knew what I had wasn’t playing to the level I wanted it to. I made major revisions to the design and played it again two or three times, and although it was marginally better in some ways, it was also marginally worse in others and I knew I had to start over once again. I struggled for about a week to find the sweet spot, but I finally hit my stride and started hammering out the new and improved design. Everything since then has gone extremely well and although I had so much more planned for the map and had to strip the map down to fit under the object limit, I am very satisfied with and very proud of the end product that I am presenting you today. I hope you all enjoy.

SHOUT OUTS

Solo XIII and II Sethiroth for providing feedback throughout all of the map’s iterations.
ILevvi, SaltyKoalaBear, and A 3 Legged Goat for providing additional feedback.
Solo XIII, II Sethiroth II, ILevvi, A 3 Legged Goat, MultiLockOn, purely fat, Given To Fly 93, and Brotastic Bear for participating in testing.
SecretSchnitzel for alerting me that my map was accessible.
Xandrith for keeping my smurf account a secret even after discovering it.