I am disappointed that one of the maps was leaked by some raving hooligan but I'm going to make the best of it and just let it be a complete public beta. You can download the map at Hce.halomaps.org.
But before you run off to play I would like to give a nice long rant about what I think of it and how well I thought it played.
Snowtrap is a remake of the halo 3 map Sandtrap (original name I know) and is primarily a VCTF map. A lot of changes have obviously been made to it so that it would fit the halo 1 game play and graphical style but the layout remains almost un-touched. If you look at the overhead screen shots above you will see a large structure on 1 end and a smaller structure on the other end. In between these 2 structures are many linked buildings.
Picture Here Also
The larger of the 2 end structures is blue base and the smaller one is red base. Both bases have a few weapons and grenades piled around for supplies and defense. But attackers can come at the base from all sides since the map is completely open so defense is rather hard.
We are planning on taking a elephant model (created by hunter) and having it half buried in the snow. This will provide a smaller more easily defended base and will cater to that "halo 3" feeling everyone wants. A working moving elephant similar to halo 3's would be impossible unfortunately. I could create a elephant that moved but the BLAM! 1 engine does not support objects or players to stand on a moving vehicles. You would just slide off when the elephant was driving.
The weapons and vehicle layout stays relatively the same to halo 3 but some weapons have been replaced and moved. The sniper and rockets are in there rightful place and the spartan laser has been replaced with the fuel rod laser. The small hut like buildings now contain a pistol 2 plasma grenade and 1 random short range weapons. The bubble shields are replaced with plasma pistols.
At each base you will find 1 ghost 2 warthogs and 1 rocket warthog and if you want you can specify a tank in the game type settings. A banshee is hidden off on the left of the map (near the downed drop ship)
Personally I thought the map made a great Big Team Slayer map and was great on CTF too. There was plenty of mid range and long range fights with the pistols and a few up close fights near the bases and the 2 teleporters. Another thing I would like to note is that almost all sniping came from the large snow drift on the side of the map opposite the downed drop ship. It was a amazing sniper point giving you a view of nearly all the map but once you are up there you have 0 cover so it's a purely offensive point.
Heavy weapons seemed well balanced on the map giving you a easy way to take out enemy armour and vehicles. I splattered quite a few banshees and tanks with the fuel rod laser.
Over all the snowtrap is turning into a prime example of a 8v8 map but it still has a long way to go. There are plenty of model and UV errors yet to be fixed and I'm working them out as I go.
All the best,
Inferno
