WAR-Holywar

By Mandela 'spacedemonebu' Shabazz

	Intro:

Having recently discovered new territories on alternate planes of existence, Liandri sent one of their arena location scouts through a portal across dimensions to broker a deal with the indigenous Deities of those realms. All that returned of the scout was an eyeball, some hair, and his car keys. But the deal had been made and the Deities warned that if skilled combatants were not supplied on the specified date, they would send their most genocidal demon creatures through the portal.

This is my second UT3 map, the surrealistic sequel to my Phase 1 entry, WAR-Imperialism. The map is based on the World Tree as a universal mythological archetype. Warfare is at least 80% of what I play so while this map was originally conceived as a VCTF map, things changed early on. The central tree was originally going to be the play area but now it is more or less a part of the scenery. I developed an addiction to making giant static meshes and I also began changing the materials on these static meshes. I knew that the hypnotic visuals and generally symmetrical layout might be disorienting so I tried to include a lot of landmarks by which to navigate. From there it pretty much went insane. Where sucess in Imperialism was about knowing how to convoy (roll in large, mixed-vehicle groups), I wanted Holywar to be more about the actions of the individuals. There are lots of opportunities for sneaky or clever players to help their team, but if you prefer to just brawl it out, you can do that too.

	Features:

Basics
Supports 32 players. Double Prime link setup across 9 nodes. No imported meshes, I just modified some to have per-poly collision. 2 Matinee Core Destruction sequences.  487 meshes and 632 pathnodes. Holywar also contains at least one of every weapon, deployable, power-up, and vehicle.

Hidden Nodes
There is a standalone node on top of the sun, above the mountain. There is also another node all the way under the map but since it shares the same X and Y coordinates as the standalone, you can't see it on the minimap.

Low Gravity
It is halved. Certain projectile trajectories, vehicle handling, and player movements have been altered by this. You now have a real double jump instead of two half-jumps.

Vehicle Mobility
Not all vehicles are made to go all places. Mantas and Scavengers rule the land in terms of mobility here. The Nightshades have an amazing gliding ability and can drop their land mines from the air. Sometimes the Viper seems to have trouble coming back down after a big jump, thats why i didn't make them as plentiful this time. I love catching air in the Nemesis speed mode, though.

	Inventory:

Dragon/Lion
Rockets, Shock, Avril -or- Flak, Stinger, Avril
2 Manta
2 Scavenger
4 Scorpion

Yax Imix Che/Yggdrasil
Rockets, Shock, Link Gun
Energy Shield, Jump Boots
2 Fury
1 Nemesis
1 Hellbender
1 Scavenger

Fungal Jungle
Flak, Stinger, Link Gun
Slow Field, Invisibility
2 Goliath
1 SPMA
1 Fury

Ashvastha/Zaqqum
Flak, Stinger, Link Gun
Energy Shield, Jump Boots
2 Fury
1 Nemesis
1 Hellbender
1 Scavenger

Mycopian Temple
Rockets, Shock, Link Gun
EMP, Invisibility
2 Dark Walker
1 Paladin
1 Fury

The Cusp
Rockets, Flak, Avril
Shaped Charge
1 Cicada
2 Raptor

Sol
Stinger, Shock, Avril
Spider Mine
2 Nightshade
1 Viper

Ragnarok Survival Kits
Once again, I have made locations where you can get all four pieces of armor (Thigh Pads, Torso, Helmet, and Shield Belt) as well as a Big Keg of Health. There are two such locations at the very edge of the map outwards from either Core.

Holy Mountain
There are some items at the summit of the mountain, I pretty much just put them there so that I could say that I had all the weapons and powerups in the map.

	Known Bugs:
Trying to right a capsized Scorpion doesn't seem to work very well in low-grav. If you can't get it to land back on it's wheels, then try to get in it while it's still spinning in the air, press forwards, and hit the boost. It might work.

I couldn't get bots to handle Sol well so I took out the spawn points there.

I know the jump pads are a little dodgy but I gave you increased air control so that you can land in the correct location even if the jump pad kicks you way too far.

I can't guarantee that the vortex is 100% foolproof but it seems to work

	FAQ:

Q: How long did it take you to make?
A: I began working on it in August but then took a break on it for September. At the beginning of October I released what I had done back in August as a beta. All the additions since the beta were done in the two weeks between the beta and the Phase 2 deadline.

Q: What's with that crazy music?
A: I chose this track because it sounds like a remix of that drum song from Akira with the Transformers' transformation sounds. I hadn't realized that Jesper Kyd did the music in UT3 until only recently.

Q: Do you have any tips?
A: The Sol standalone node is open right from the start, but you'll need a flyer to get up there and these are only available at the prime nodes and The Cusp.

Q: What else?
A: I made deployables more centrally located to the bases. They can be of great use to infantry in such a vehicle dominant environment.

Q: Any other advice?
A: The Cusp is fairly out of the way, but if your team can afford your absence, they'll appreciate the air support as well as the strategic advantage it will give them in the node layout.

Q: OMG, why can I see so well in this map!?
A: I guess you can count me in the crowd that prefers minimal or no post processing.

Q: Avrils in the weapon lockers?
A: They can be located at the Powercores and The Cusp for defensive purposes but I also put them up at Sol for use with Spider Mines.

Q: Why are there no Orb Spawners?
A: Orbs play horribly with this node layout.

	Moral:

Warring over religion is actually more insane than my map. Teach peace to the babies.

	Thanks:

my mom - for introducing me to mythology as a child
Mak the Mortal - per-poly static mesh help
GOW_Nootsac - PS3 cook and hosting
John - chance occurences
Jesus - Nebula
Black Gandalf - loyal ally (R.I.P.)
Lee Scratch Perry - inspirational music

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