Screenshot of the week: Yum, Spostrich Burger

Screenshot of the week: Yum, Spostrich Burger

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There are these creatures on Reach called Moa that look a bit like Ostriches. Being spacemen, fighting aliens in outer space, we came to call them Space Ostriches, which over time has been shortened to Spostrich. Imagine my surprise when I found you could actually buy Spostriche burgers! You can find other Screenshots of the Week on here by using…
“My Random Encounter with Toxic”

“My Random Encounter with Toxic”

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This was originally posted on GRcade by Zenigame, but for those of you who missed it, I've decided to reproduce it here. So got put into a game on Big Team Slayer and as the game was starting I noticed a certain Gamertag on the opposing team. "toxic rf". Nah, it couldn't be, could it? Toxic? :o So from that…

Forge is so much fun

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Making maps is just so relaxing, really takes my mind off the massive problem that is not having a job right now. Headrush was finished a while back, and a week or so ago I finished Quadro, which is a quasi-remake of Relic, or at least, a re-imagination of it's core principles (flag up really high, go get it). Then…

Reach is still giving me goosebumps

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Headrush has had 55 downloads! Is that a lot? I don't know. I've started on my next map, it's called Quadro (semi-named after Karl, I guess). It's a bit like Relic, but built around the terrain on Montana (or Alaska, I forget). Montana (or Alaska) is the raised bit that runs parallel with the Coag Canyon, with blue base being…

We went to the Zoo today

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Seeing as it was a nice day, Myrtle brow-beat Claire into taking the kids to the zoo with Matt. Then Claire brow-beat Jane and I to come along too. I love a good traipse around Marwell Wildlife, but Claire and Matt seemed more interested in getting around as quickly as possible, sneaking looks at their mobile phones when they thought…
Headrush

Headrush

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So, I finished my first proper Halo: Reach map yesterday, my Headlong remix – I call it Headrush.

It’s not a straight up 1:1 scale port, oh no, it’s more of an inspiration-based creation. It has recognisable elements from Headlong, but also additions and revisions that make it play better with Halo: Reach. This is because of the differences in scale between Halo 2 and Reach, and Armour Abilities like Sprint and Jetpack also meant tweaks to the original formula were necessary. I mean, why give you a Jetpack and then tell you not to go flying on top of buildings? I think I’ve been more than generous with the leeway you have on this map with regards to Jetpacks.

The most iconic part of the map, the red base, is a several story high building which is mostly faithful to the original. Things have been changed slightly, such as there being no breakable glass by the bomb/flag spot, and the wall being more transparent on the floor above that. Those Colosseum Windows are great, they made for amazing walls, and their asymmetric design meant I could position them in a visually distinct fashion and use their nice angles for entry points. With the map being expanded out, I felt that walkways going all the way from red base to the outer buildings would be ridiculous, so I replaced them with incoming man-cannons. That way, it’s easy to get in and attack quickly, and the cover on the landing pads give an attacking team a chance to regroup, but the long run home with the flag is fraught with danger.