Game Forged: Results

The Game Forged contest asked for fan-made Reach Forge creations in one of three categories: Slayer, Race, and Invasion. We offered a shirt with a brand-new Halo design from Game Paused as the prize for the top map in each category - with the potential for a 'special mention' winner.

Things didn't turn out as we expected them to.

Submissions

We received 16 Slayer entries:

We received 1 Race entry:

THE GARGANTUAN, by VEGAPRIME
[14 Oct 2010 - link updated with a Race-enabled map, thanks to VEGAPRIME]

Unfortunately, this map is not set up for Race, at all. It did not come with a custom gametype, and when I asked the creator if he had one, his response was "we always just play in Forge." When we were testing this map, we tried this; yes, it's playable, but more than once someone who died would respawn far, far away from the track on another part of Forge World. As submitted, it simply doesn't fit the criteria for a Race map - even though it's got quite a bit going for it. (FyreWulff spent 10 minutes converting it to a true Race map; we had fun doing a run-through with actual checkpoints. If you enjoy Race gametypes, this map is absolutely worth a look - just realize it's a fixer-upper.)

Because this map doesn't qualify as a Race map as is, and because this was the ONLY map submitted for this contest category, we are not awarding a Race winner. (See? You should have submitted! The competition was NONEXISTENT!)

We received 3 Invasion Entries:

The Control Room, by Ghost Faction (requires Assault gametype)
Helms Deep, by Sqorck (requires Battle for Middle Earth gametype)
Hallowed Valley, by Elwing (requires Invasion: Hallowed Valley gametype)

Judging

We put together a number of teams of players - groups ranged in size from 6 (3v3) to 12 (6v6), and games were played both with and without Armor Abilities. Feedback was collected at the end of each game, and a vote (up/down) was tallied.

Slayer

The Slayer category showed two standout maps. (There were many entries that were liked - but two were liked by almost everyone.)

NOBLE Complex is a small-ish multi-level arena, with plenty of places to hide (some players thought there were too MANY places, especially when Jetpacks were available), multiple routes to most areas, clearly identifiable geometry, and a decent supply of weapons. It's designed for 2-8 players, but 12 wasn't TOO crowded.

War Zone 1.1 is a large, symmetrical map which works well for Slayer or Objective games - but might be a bit too large for 4v4. Long lines of sight make this popular with the sniper crowd, while multiple routes give people a way to scurry.

We decided that rather than choose between these two maps, we'd award both of them a prize.

Invasion

Invasion was a bit tougher to judge. There were only three entries, and all three had good features and bad features. Deciding which features mattered more than others was very, very hard.

Control Room is modeled after the structure housing the Halo Control Rooms in each of the first three Halo games. The first two stages are Territories-based, with Spartans attempting to capture points on various levels. The third stage requires bringing the core back to a zone at the bottom of the map.

The map is quite large; gameplay was fun at 6v6, but less so at 4v4. With full teams, we never managed to get the core very far down the structure before time ran out... so in actual gameplay, we never saw the weakest part of this map. The distance the invading team must travel with the core is absurdly large; I doubt any real game would ever be 'won' by running it. (There is a Falcon, but it's very easy for the Elites to steal, at least in the version we played.) Even with this weakness, though, the atmosphere and level design (minus the very top area, which suffers from some unpleasant z-fighting) is quite good.

Helms Deep has (as you might guess) a Lord of the Rings flavor to it; defenders are in a fortified structure, attackers must first destroy the surrounding wall (Assault), then blow a hole in the front door (Assault), then carry the core to a cavern deep on the other side of the map. This was the most aesthetically-pleasing of the three maps; the castle and its wall are gorgeous, and the destruction of the outer wall adds a great twist to gameplay (attackers have an easy in to the castle itself by clambering up the rubble). However, it's far too difficult to plant that second bomb; defenders can protect the plant zone from behind the safety of solid door... and drop grenades through a slot onto the plant itself. And the third stage... the run to the cave is HUGE. This is another one that would only be completed if the team you're playing against had never seen the map before.

Hallowed Valley leverages existing spaces more completely than either of the other two entries; Stage One is a nearly-unmodified Hemmorhage, Stage Two is a nearly unmodified Paradiso. (That's not completely fair - they DO both have modifications. But the underlying play spaces are quite familiar to anyone who's played those two maps.) Stage Three is more customized - but the plant zone for the bomb becomes utter chaos with a team of any size at all. (The bulk of the action takes place in the enclosed Grifball court of ForgeWorld - and within that relatively small space there are often two Covenant turrets, a Revenant, a Banshee, and a Falcon, as well as players on foot.) This one is winnable - but there's a large element of chance involved. And spawns for the defenders include areas at the start of the invaders' run... which means it's quite easy for the defenders to get BEHIND the attackers.

All in all, the three Invasion maps showed promise... but all had problems that the creators could rectify to make a more playable map. We had trouble deciding how to award prizes, so after talking it over with the Game Paused crew, we decided to award Hallowed Valley the 'Top' slot (because, in the end, gameplay is more important than aesthetics) while simultaneously recognizing both of the other maps with 'Honorable Mention' prizes. (These two maps will win Game Paused T's, as well - just not Halo T's.)

Prizes

If you decided not to read the wall of text above, the short version is that the following maps won prizes:

Awarded Game Paused Halo T-Shirt:
NOBLE Complex
War Zone 1.1
Hallowed Valley

Awarded Game Paused Non-Halo T-Shirt:
Helms Deep
Control Room

Thanks

We'd like to thank Game Paused for providing the cool schwag we gave away, and all the contestants for their map submissions - whether you won or not, know we had fun playing on your map!