[b]The following was taken from my post on HBO[/b]:

If you could look back at my past Halo 2 custom games (under my old GT thePheonix9), you would see that almost half of all custom games were Zombies on Foundation. I loved that game type. There were so many different ways to play it, there was suspense, and there was fear (watching a teammate struggle to crouch jump back into the base as the zombies strike him down). In Halo 3, one of my first goals was to recreate that game as best as I could.

My first thought was to barricade one of the underground rooms on Isolation, but after the Living Dead playlist's zombie games on The Pit, I realized the Ops Center (or sword room) was almost identical to Room 2 from Foundation. Seeing this, I began planning out how I would create that same experience from Halo 2.

I had a few issues though. For one, with Halo 3's physics engine, you can't melee a barricade into or out of place. Also, since zombies do not carry magnums any more, there was no way for you to refill your ammo as you held out in your base. Another problem was that I couldn't spawn a gauss warthog on the Pit. I used to place one on Foundation or Backwash in case the humans needed a quick way to get from one point to another, but had an honor rule that it couldn't be brought into the base.

To solve these issues, I tried what is possibly my favorite feature in the Forge, timed spawns. To replace that rush to move items into the opening to the base to create a barricade, I set different pieces of scenery to spawn at preset times and create a progressively stronger barricade. However, just like in Halo 2, this barricade would not be invincible, but I'll get to that later. To solve the problem of losing magnum ammo, I recreated the scattered dropped magnums outside of the barricade (those that the zombies would drop after being killed) by setting timed spawns of magnums right where the zombies will try and get into the room. The magnums do not spawn until 30 seconds into the game, which is about 10 seconds after the first zombie arrives at the base. You can dual wield your magnums, but just like in Halo 2, you have to risk your neck to get that second gun. Finally, to replace the gauss warthog, I set four mongooses to respawn every 2 minutes in the center of the map (they do spawn at the beginning though). I was worried that people could just endlessly drive the mongoose around as zombies tried to cut them off, so I placed a few crates and barricades around the level, not only to provide alternate bases (ala, Room 1, 3, or 4, which were never as effective as Room 2, but still did the job of keeping you far enough from the zombie), but to keep the mongoose at a far speed.

I don't think I described it so well, so I took a few screenshots to help demonstrate.

Here is the base at the start of the game. No barricades have spawned yet.

After 20 seconds, a weak barricade of roadblocks and one generator spawn.

After 90 seconds, a barricade spawns atop these roadblocks and it becomes harder to enter the base. At 180 seconds, another barricade spawns as well as a pallet. This is the barricade in its strongest form. Even now, zombies can still destroy the pallet and jump in through that side, in the same way there was typically a weak spot in the barricade at Room 2, and zombies can still crouch jump over the entire barricade with good timing.

Although the barricade may be strong, there are propane tanks set right outside of the it that will spawn at 60 seconds into the game (another pair spawn right in the barricade at 180 seconds, these can be set off by a chain reaction of propane tanks). These replace the fusion coils that zombies would roll to Room 2 in the hopes of destroying the barricade. I tried using fusion coils instead, but they were too weak to do any real damage to the barricade. Also, their explosions killed shieldless humans and zombies too often.

Here you can see the spawn point for the four mongooses.

These are the barricades that are set around the map. They are symmetrical and never respawn. Grav lifts are also strategically placed to allow easier access into the Ops Center as the ramps proved to be too slow. The grav lifts will respawn instantly if destroyed.

Humans and zombies should spawn on opposite ends of the map so a trek to the base must be made in the same way it was in Halo 2. Occasionally, a human spawns too close to a zombie, but that only happens in big parties and it helps the game move along. 15 vs 1 isn't very fun.

To go with this map, I made a variation of Infection that mimics Halo 2 Zombies as best as I could make it. Humans are the color red and zombies are green. Humans spawn with a shotgun and a magnum, zombies with a sword. Zombies have infinite ammo and can not pick anything up or drive vehicles. There are no grenades on the map and neither humans or zombies spawn with them. Like in Halo 2, both humans and zombies are shieldless. Team killing is also off because you don't accidentally shoot someone with a shotgun (unless you're Stuntmutt. I kid, I've never played the King of Corn, but from the stories I've heard, I wouldn't let him near the rockets if he was on my team). I've also set weapons on map as map default instead of shotguns so that the magnums will spawn. Two shotguns do spawn inside of the base every 30 seconds.

Now to put this wall of a thread to rest, here are the links if you're interested in trying the map or game type, thanks that need to be given out, and some cool pictures :D.

If you would like to try the map "Room 2" or the game type "Zombies-Room 2, the link to my file share is here. The map is in the first slot in my file share and the game type is in the second.

Next, I need to thank all of the people who played Zombies with me in Halo 2. Noskillz, Srgnt Sprinkles, and Deadeye Inc are just a few of the dozens of friends I've made over Live who've been playing shenanigans filled games with me since last December.

I also have to thank Kapowaz for introducing me to Flickr in one of his earlier threads. No longer will I clutter a page with 800x600 images, but thumbnails shall keep things readable and keep your scroll fingers safe.

Thanks also to Ar-Isildur of *WP*, who's HTML guide allows me to hide my lack of HTML skillz from the intrewebz whenever hyperlinking is needed.

Also, a big thanks to Bungie for the Forge which made this all possible.

Ok, now, cool pictures... also, I lied about your scroll finger.