News Halo 5 BTB

In just over a week, the BTB playlist will hit Halo 5's servers. The playlist will launch with four maps, three of which were a collaboration between community cartographers and 343's internal development team. More details will release on the maps at a later date, but for now you can catch a glimpse of each and learn a bit about them in the latest community update.

Deadlock: a reimagination of Standoff created by Nokyard in collaboration with 343

Guillotine: a reimagination of Headlong created by The Psycho Duck (who even likes that guy?) in collaboration with 343

Recurve: a reimagination of Longbow created by The Fated Fire in collaboration with 343

Basin: a reimagination of Blood Gulch and Valhalla created by 343

So, that's what we have to look forward to in about a week! Who's excited for BTB and Forge?

 

My body has never been more ready.

 

Oh my god, this looks so good.

 

I hope they add infection one day

 

Looks like Fated got into the dish pieces again on the bases.

 

Looks like Fated got into the dish pieces again on the bases.

I guess you can say he likes to dish these maps out.
I'll show myself out.

 

Just thought I'd drop by and share some of the comments from other sites regarding these maps and BTB. Looks like people are excited!

"The thing about these forge maps is they don't look real, like an actual place like the warzone and arena maps do. And its more obvious with guillotine. Its almost like an overwhelming lack of detail"
"but I'm a little bummed to learn that initial BTB maps are Forge"
"The only reason I'm ok with the btb maps being forge is because they're remakes. But very soon I want completley new maps, not made in forge."
"Those colors in the forge created BTB maps are terrible. It would've been much nicer if they made real maps with personality."
"If I knew a month ago the BTB battle maps were going to be ugly -Yoink- forge -Yoink- I wouldn't have purchased this game."
"wow headlong looked so bland these maps have horrible quality"
"hope 343i polish a Little bit that forge maps"
"I am sorry but I am disappointed the BTB maps are forged. I mean I know 343i are just trying to show forge off but they look bland and have no real colour to them :/. I'm sure they will be fun to play but I expected maps built by 343i with full colour pallet and unique environments."
"I'm kind of disappointed that the BTB maps are only forge maps. Forge maps just don't feel as good as developer made maps."
"I was just thinking the same. Clever marketing. I hope these forge maps aren't part of the 'free 19 map dlc' bundle because they're just community forge maps"
"so, is btb only going to have forge maps? that's... disappointing"
"I really hope these are cleaned up a bit in their final release. I know some of them are Forge maps, but I shouldn't be able to instantly tell they are Forge maps from a single render screenshot. They look like lego sets."
"Free forge maps lol good one. If they turn around and say these are part of the 15+ extras then I'm done."
"The forge maps definitely look nice (for forge,) and I'm sure they'll be fun, but I hope we'll have some more maps built from the ground up instead of with forge in the playlists."
"I think the btb maps, look good, well as good as a forge map is going to look. but in headlong, not sure why there are flat grey walls, would look better if they added some color there instead of leaving it grey."
"Why have they started making loads of forge maps"
"Oh look, disgusting Forge maps to play BTB on. One step forward with BTB, 30 steps back with ugly maps. I just can't play on them "
"I want to say it looks like a remake, but the suspended bridge part is much lower than in the original map. This and the Standoff map look like direct ripoffs as opposed to re-imaginings."
"No idea, I honestly thought it was a troll of some megablock picture set until I looked closer."
"It's a Forge map by The Psycho Duck... Looks like ass. Too much grey. Lord knows what else this amateur screwed up with the map."
"That's what happens when you bring in not talent amateurs like the Cartographers to build a map. Only decent looking map of this release is the Longbow successor. Pretty sad."
"Because this is our first "DLC", which is total bullshit that they're giving us forge maps by amateurs instead of real maps by developers."
"mediocre forge maps"
"To be fair, the Standoff/Gulch/Longbow remakes aren't that bad - but the textures on the headlong one look like something from the Sims."

It's really great to see the community coming together with such enthusiasm and respect for content creators!

 

Just thought I'd drop by and share some of the comments from other sites regarding these maps and BTB.

Don't worry about it too much, Duck. Most of the reasoning for their dislikes are ignorant and misunderstood. You and the other cartographers had a great chance to show what the new forge can do, and it can certainly do great things. I am personally very excited to play these maps and have a good time, ranks and all.

 

"but I'm a little bummed to learn that initial BTB maps are Forge"

"The only reason I'm ok with the btb maps being forge is because they're remakes. But very soon I want completley new maps, not made in forge."

"I am sorry but I am disappointed the BTB maps are forged. I mean I know 343i are just trying to show forge off but they look bland and have no real colour to them :/. I'm sure they will be fun to play but I expected maps built by 343i with full colour pallet and unique environments."

"I'm kind of disappointed that the BTB maps are only forge maps. Forge maps just don't feel as good as developer made maps."

"so, is btb only going to have forge maps? that's... disappointing"

"The forge maps definitely look nice (for forge,) and I'm sure they'll be fun, but I hope we'll have some more maps built from the ground up instead of with forge in the playlists."

It's really great to see the community coming together with such enthusiasm and respect for content creators!

I fail to see the lack of respect here.

People are completely justified in being disappointed that there will only be forge maps in BTB at launch. These people aren't saying the maps are shit, they're saying that they'd prefer to play on a map built from the ground up by the developers of the game. Considering the game already shipped with 7 forge maps (Orion, Pegasus, and the 5 breakout maps), and that the "new" Warzone Assault maps were just Stormbreak, A.R.C, and Apex cut in half, it's no surprise people want more dev maps. That is without even mentioning how many new fans grew accustomed to 343's heavy focus on BTB maps in Halo 4, and Reach's god awful forge maps (lol remember Atom and Cliffhanger?).

The maps will likely all be very good, and the Valhalla-inspired map gets me hyped. Everyone in the Halo forge community is aware of you guys' forging abilities, but not everyone is in the forging community. From the outside looking in, it's not hard to understand why people would think that 343 is making maps in the level editor to get quicker maps out easier to appease fans and to save on dev time.

Of course there are people genuinely showing disrespect on waypoint by simply shitting on you guys for no reason, but those people you quoted that I also did above aren't them. If you believe they are, then that would mean I also lack respect for you guys as content creators, which you know is a ridiculous assertion.

Berbedit: Would love to discuss more ♥

 

I fail to see the lack of respect here.

People are completely justified in being disappointed that there will only be forge maps in BTB at launch. These people aren't saying the maps are shit, they're saying that they'd prefer to play on a map built from the ground up by the developers of the game. Considering the game already shipped with 7 forge maps (Orion, Pegasus, and the 5 breakout maps), and that the "new" Warzone Assault maps were just Stormbreak, A.R.C, and Apex cut in half, it's no surprise people want more dev maps. That is without even mentioning how many new fans grew accustomed to 343's heavy focus on BTB maps in Halo 4, and Reach's god awful forge maps (lol remember Atom and Cliffhanger?).

The maps will likely all be very good, and the Valhalla-inspired map gets me hyped. Everyone in the Halo forge community is aware of you guys' forging abilities, but not everyone is in the forging community. From the outside looking in, it's not hard to understand why people would think that 343 is making maps in the level editor to get quicker maps out easier to appease fans and to save on dev time.

Of course there are people genuinely showing disrespect on waypoint by simply shitting on you guys for no reason, but those people you quoted that I also did above aren't them. If you believe they are, then that would mean I also lack respect for you guys as content creators, which you know is a ridiculous assertion.

Berbedit: Would love to discuss more ♥

I was merely compiling a list which demonstrates the thanklessness of this entire project. At this point, I could compile a massive post purely quoting the blatantly insulting and disrespectful posts I've seen today as well.

What people don't realize is that these are essentially dev maps. Yes, they were built in Forge instead of in Maya. But, they went through the same process any dev map goes through. They had to clear the same design passes, testing hurdles, and art passes that any other developer map must go through. I understand that people are also looking forward to new traditional developer maps, but it's ironic that forgers who spend so much time arguing that forge maps can be just as good as dev maps are turning around and claiming that they're being ripped off by this.

What disappoints me most (aside from the abysmally ignorant, disrespectful, and insulting attitude displayed by many) is the message this will send to 343. They've put a lot of focus on forge this time around and made something incredible which has already allowed for some amazing maps to be created and the response from the community has been so overwhelmingly negative that they will surely question the time and resources they've put into it.

 

So, that's what we have to look forward to in about a week! Who's excited for BTB and Forge?

Wait so does this mean Forge and BTB are going to be released at the same time?

 

Wait so does this mean Forge and BTB are going to be released at the same time?

No. These first four BTB maps are releasing in just over a week. Forge is releasing in December.

 

No. These first four BTB maps are releasing in just over a week. Forge is releasing in December.

Wah-wah. Got my hopes up :'c

 

I was merely compiling a list which demonstrates the thanklessness of this entire project. At this point, I could compile a massive post purely quoting the blatantly insulting and disrespectful posts I've seen today as well.

What people don't realize is that these are essentially dev maps. Yes, they were built in Forge instead of in Maya. But, they went through the same process any dev map goes through. They had to clear the same design passes, testing hurdles, and art passes that any other developer map must go through. I understand that people are also looking forward to new traditional developer maps, but it's ironic that forgers who spend so much time arguing that forge maps can be just as good as dev maps are turning around and claiming that they're being ripped off by this.

What disappoints me most (aside from the abysmally ignorant, disrespectful, and insulting attitude displayed by many) is the message this will send to 343. They've put a lot of focus on forge this time around and made something incredible which has already allowed for some amazing maps to be created and the response from the community has been so overwhelmingly negative that they will surely question the time and resources they've put into it.

I feel your pain brother

 

Detracting from the sad negativeness of the other parts of the halo community, it looks like we will be able to have advertising billboards in forge? Duck, your map looks beautiful.

 

Detracting from the sad negativeness of the other parts of the halo community, it looks like we will be able to have advertising billboards in forge? Duck, your map looks beautiful.

I was half-joking when I asked them if they could put in the 'Hog Billboard. They really pulled through on arting all of the maps after we left, but I was really blown away when I saw what they'd done with Guillotine. Yes, it looks like we have the 'hog billboard as well as some signs from Plaza in addition to all of the decals. I suspect that the crane and the Space Prius will see use in a lot of forge maps as well. Thanks for the praise, though much of the credit for how good these maps look go to 343 as well.

 

I just don't understand the disrespect in the Halo community sometimes. This is easily the best iteration of forge yet. I mean its leaps and bounds better then what we had previously. 343 are actually putting a great deal of effort into forge this time around, and guess what? They get loads of shit for it. I mean they have made some questionable decisions before, But this is not one of them.

Great job on the map Duck and the other Cartographers. Big props to 343 for finally giving forge the attention it deserves.

 

Ignore the naysayers, just focus on the more neutral comments.

 

Just thought I'd drop by and share some of the comments from other sites regarding these maps and BTB. Looks like people are excited!

"The thing about these forge maps is they don't look real, like an actual place like the warzone and arena maps do. And its more obvious with guillotine. Its almost like an overwhelming lack of detail"
"but I'm a little bummed to learn that initial BTB maps are Forge"
"The only reason I'm ok with the btb maps being forge is because they're remakes. But very soon I want completley new maps, not made in forge."
"Those colors in the forge created BTB maps are terrible. It would've been much nicer if they made real maps with personality."
"If I knew a month ago the BTB battle maps were going to be ugly -Yoink- forge -Yoink- I wouldn't have purchased this game."
"wow headlong looked so bland these maps have horrible quality"
"hope 343i polish a Little bit that forge maps"
"I am sorry but I am disappointed the BTB maps are forged. I mean I know 343i are just trying to show forge off but they look bland and have no real colour to them :/. I'm sure they will be fun to play but I expected maps built by 343i with full colour pallet and unique environments."
"I'm kind of disappointed that the BTB maps are only forge maps. Forge maps just don't feel as good as developer made maps."
"I was just thinking the same. Clever marketing. I hope these forge maps aren't part of the 'free 19 map dlc' bundle because they're just community forge maps"
"so, is btb only going to have forge maps? that's... disappointing"
"I really hope these are cleaned up a bit in their final release. I know some of them are Forge maps, but I shouldn't be able to instantly tell they are Forge maps from a single render screenshot. They look like lego sets."
"Free forge maps lol good one. If they turn around and say these are part of the 15+ extras then I'm done."
"The forge maps definitely look nice (for forge,) and I'm sure they'll be fun, but I hope we'll have some more maps built from the ground up instead of with forge in the playlists."
"I think the btb maps, look good, well as good as a forge map is going to look. but in headlong, not sure why there are flat grey walls, would look better if they added some color there instead of leaving it grey."
"Why have they started making loads of forge maps"
"Oh look, disgusting Forge maps to play BTB on. One step forward with BTB, 30 steps back with ugly maps. I just can't play on them "
"I want to say it looks like a remake, but the suspended bridge part is much lower than in the original map. This and the Standoff map look like direct ripoffs as opposed to re-imaginings."
"No idea, I honestly thought it was a troll of some megablock picture set until I looked closer."
"It's a Forge map by The Psycho Duck... Looks like ass. Too much grey. Lord knows what else this amateur screwed up with the map."
"That's what happens when you bring in not talent amateurs like the Cartographers to build a map. Only decent looking map of this release is the Longbow successor. Pretty sad."
"Because this is our first "DLC", which is total bullshit that they're giving us forge maps by amateurs instead of real maps by developers."
"mediocre forge maps"
"To be fair, the Standoff/Gulch/Longbow remakes aren't that bad - but the textures on the headlong one look like something from the Sims."

It's really great to see the community coming together with such enthusiasm and respect for content creators!

tl;dr: "halo is kill. its the CCs faults. RIP in peace real halo"

 

I see you got the yellow in your map Duck! Also it's interesting how you have people complaining about the visual nose of dev maps yet they also complain about bland forge maps. It's great to have a clean forge that lets us add detail where necessary. The priority is to get maps that play well and I think it's fantastic that devs have finally excepted that they can't design BTB maps. Giving more control to the forgers means a better quality of maps (assuming 343 know what maps to put in MM). It bothers me too that people might complain and that the wider community could send a negative message to 343 about their dependence on Forge this time around. I think we are going to see some awesome maps made in Halo 5 regardless so the complainers better shut up.

My conclusion: everyone but forgers are full of ****!