a rascal cat writes:
Satisfying your thirst for box forts.
Is it Thursday already? Time really does fly. Anyways...
Today I will be presenting to you, Facility 17, a map made by both undr zid, and FC Elijah. Words cannot describe how smooth the gameplay is on this map, nor can they describe undr zid's undying love for box forts, and hidden messages within his maps.
I've done my fair share of talking though. How about I let undr zid take it from here? ;)
Q. Who are you and why do you Forge?
A. I go by "mo," but in the digital world I go by "undr zid". Before I get too far into this interview, I need to kindly stress that this map was a joint project that I shared with "FC Elijah", who is a good friend of mine and helps me run Forge Cafe. We forge because of Bungie subliminally fired pixelated images of monitors and spawn points into the neural makings of our cerebral cortex. This of course, sparked an adolescent thirst for constructing tunnels, bridges and forts that we thought did not exist anymore. What can I say? "Well played."
Q. What was your inspiration for Facility 17?
A. To be honest, we just sort of built it on the go. We never really planned it out, although that would of saved a whole lot of time I am sure. We decided to make a map, he took one side and I the other, and we just started droppin' blocks until I noticed it resembled a lab, sort of. After that, we got a basic plan going verbally, and went into serious face mode. It actually took much longer to put in the details, then the structures themselves. Anything that helped the overall look and feel of a real laboratory was given 2 thumbs up and put into place.
If you want to get specific, I will admit that the facility map from N64's 007 played a big role when trying to think of recognizable objects in a common laboratory. Such as the silos, catwalks, computers and so forth. But the main inspiration came from each other. We sort of fed off of the others' ideas and visions until we both were satisfied. Having a healthy competition is always a good thing. Especially when we both are trying to reach the same goal. Inspiration inspires right?
Q. What made you choose the location you did?
A. We started Forge up. We spawned. We started building. Riveting I know, but that's about it. In the end, it actually worked out really well, and I do not think any other location would of given us the result that we got. So, just say it was divine destiny if the original answer is too dull. That is what we are doing, and it seems to work fine.
Q. Did you employ any unusual Forge techniques in making Facility 17?
A. To me, the new Forge is all an unusual technique. Compared to Halo 3's Forge, the possibilities that are at your disposal are practically endless. I have seen Halo 3 maps from all aspects of design, from the simple and petite to the elaborate and grand size. But even the best could not compete with the "techniques" used today in Reach. So if you are good with a monitor, and are not taking advantage of the Forge in Reach, you are really missing out.
Q. Anything else people should know before they download?
A. Facility 17 was a very fun build for us to do together, and we really do hope you enjoy it. We are confident that our work will reward you with intense battles and ocular pleasure for your eyeballs. Enjoy!
Thank you so much for your time zid, and for all you community goers out there, please feel free to download the map below.
Map Fly-through:
Facility 17 Fly-through
Map Link:
Facility 17