Bungie Favorites
Some of you may already know that Forge hub has been on Bungie Favorites for over a week now. Our first week was mainly our more casual maps and games. They were very well received each raking in over 30,000 downloads. Congratulations to Buddhacrane’s Distortion our highest rated first week map with over 50,000 downloads. The current Bungie favorites are our most competitive maps being a mix between beauty and gameplay. Our selection process for this section was very arduous with extended debates on which maps represent the Forge Hub community best. Now here is a little bit about each map and gametype we selected.
First Week
Cave Freaks on Fave Creeks
By Shock Theta & Insane54
Cave Freaks is a map unlike any other, it relies on a gametype that is very much like an infection/VIP hybrid. The gametype allows for one of the most unique and compelling experiences possible, it makes the game function less like a point to point rush, and more like an epic struggle for survival between plane crash survivors and the "cave freaks."
Brute Burnout on The Hippodrome
By Vicious Vice
Brute Burnout was a gametype created to replace the Rocket Race gametype to accommodate smaller maps like The Hippodrome. The Hippodrome is a 3 tier symmetrical arena with man cannon jumps and large jumps built specially for Brute Burnout. This is also the only map on Bungie Favorites to not be Featured, it also won Best Non-linear race map of Best of Forge.
Tremors on Tremor Valley
By TrueDarkFusion, TheYavimayan, aNitrous, & Trickmyster
This was one of our most obvious choices for Bungie Favorites because its one of Forge Hub’s earliest minigames created and a staple of any TGIF. Tremors basic concept was to recreate the feel of the Kevin Bacon movie “Tremors.” The humans must run and jump to rocks and strategically placed crates to retrieve and return a flag, to their base in order to win. The Choppers, who take on the role of the Graboids must splatter the weak humans to victory.
Cat N’ Mouse on Cat Mouse Chase
By TrueDarkFusion & TheYavimayan
Another must play for TGIFs this is also one of our longest running gametypes with remakes being made on different maps all the time. In this gametype players take on the rolls of Mice by riding around on Mongooses while dressed in white. The cat players dawning their orange suits drive wraiths around Valhalla and destroy the helpless mice. The mice at all times have a waypoint over their head so hiding is futile.
Distortion ø
By Buddhacrane
The non-budget glitched version of one our best of forge winners. Distortion won Forge Hub’s most original map category by landslide victory. When we told Buddhacrane we were interested in putting his map on Bungie Favorites he quickly went to work on unglitching his opus. What he created is nothing short of amazing, he fixed every flaw and redid many rooms to be even more abstract. We thank him too for his dedication.
Conquest V3
By Furious D 18
For the last stop in our Gametypes we place Conquest Forge Hub’s seminal gametype with over 20 maps created specifically for it. It was the perfect stand-alone gametype to share with the community. If you have never tried Conquest feel free to check out The Book of Conquest which holds a complete list of ever Conquest map including some spin-offs.
Second Week
Para-Flag & Para-Bomb on Paragon MM
By TDHarding
For the second week we started strong with an excellent map dedicated to 2v2. Paragon may look simple in concept as it is basically 2 main hallways but with a multitude of side passages and beautiful aesthetics it stands out the crowd. The map is perfect for objective game because of the simple gameplay and fitting weapon placement. A must have for any fan of competitive 2v2 maps.
Gridlocked
By Draw The Line
Draw The Line, like Buddhacrane, decide to remake his maps to be within budget constraints. The original gridlocked was the big winner of Best of forge grabbing the Best Overall Map category with relative ease. It is a must have for our 2nd week on Bungie Favorites because of its simple design and unparalleled gameplay. This is always a must play for any TGIF interested in some epic battles. Morning traffic will never be the same.
Faceoff Slayer, 1 Flag & VIP on Grindstone
By rusty eagle & Shadow Viper
One of Forge Hub’s newest 2v2 map which was featured in the Semi-Final round of our 2v2 Competition. We picked this simply because it is the full package. It is within budget, has some beautiful aesthetics, the gameplay is incredibly deep &weapon placement was tested to perfection. If you didn’t get the opportunity to play this during the 2v2 don’t let this excellent map pass you by.
Aperture
By Matty
Another map that is considered to be the full package but this can accommodate much more people. Aperture is designed to utilize the entirety of Foundry yet keeping it easy to move about the map relatively easy. Design was the key aspect that Matty concentrated on making sure that ever power weapon left you in a perilous positions and blocking off certain line of sights to create movement. A great map that will never disappoint.
Xyience II
By iTs_NeXn, Iv0rY Snak3 & DeKnoZx
This arena simply put is refreshing. The map was completely designed by iTs NeXn in Sketchup. iTs NeXn is famous for co-forging MLG Onslaught, which is arguably one of Halo 3’s most famous Foundry variants. Iv0rY Snak3 & DeKnoZx took on the work of building it from scratch using the original design. They have done an excellent job creating one of the most unique MLG maps ever conceived. Even for people who arent fans of MLG should give it a try because it feels much more different than your typical MLG map. Seeing this on MLG one day might bring this writer to tears.
Now some of you may be wondering where are the more famous competitive maps like Coldfront or Kentucky Tango. Part of Forge Hub being on Bungie Favorites was agreeing to supply only our non-budget glitched maps. Easier said than done but we believe we picked the crème of the crop. Be sure to go onto Bungie.net to read Matty’s Interview about his map Aperture and to download our maps. We are very happy that Bungie was nice enough to give us a 2-week spot and we hope all the community has enjoyed our time in the Community Spotlight. The community however should not fear that their maps wont get their time to shine because its almost that time of the year again. That’s right, Best of Forge is around the corner and this is the community’s best opportunity to get those maps out of the forums and onto the front page for all to enjoy.