MEGALITH! Another kind of Halo.

The initial Stonehenge reconstruction effort is over! For your viewing pleasure I give you MEGALITH!

The last push saw the completion of the Bluestone horseshoe set of stones and the Altar Stone. The innermost set of Bluestones are 20 in number and in the shape of a horseshoe similar to the five Trilithons that surround them. Similar yes, but not all the same. First I had to measure and experiment on a print of the scaled plan and then I had do some trial and error in Forge. The stones on the open end of the horseshoe appear to have used the same vertex as the Trilithon next to them but with a reduced radius. This arc carries over to the edge of next Trilithon where a new arc begins using the centre of the whole structure. At least that is what I came up with. I guess you could say it was "close enough for horseshoes". Groan. According to what I've read, the number of this set of Bluestones varies from 15 to 20. Again I measured what was on the plan and it sure seems to me that the spacing easily allows for 20. So I put in 20. This is where the trial and error came in. I used different blocks for spacers and put in 10 stones until I got the spacing correct. It only took about three tries. After I got one side done I just mirrored the process on the other side.

The Altar Stone was the last piece and I specifically saved it to last. It just seemed fitting to save the spiritual centre to last. I managed to free up one "Building block" for this last stone. Near as I can tell and measure, it is a near perfect match. The current position of the real world Altar Stone is laying flat almost flush to the ground and under fallen Trilithon orthostat 55. Documentation here and there suggest the Altar Stone stood vertically but I've read nothing definitive. They are probably correct but I like the idea of it being horizontal. It makes more sense. If you place people inside the structure listening to a spiritual leader why would they need one more monumental foci? I imagine the Trilithons and the Bluestones would be more than enough to inspire wonderment in the congregation. If there is a leader standing there yakking away, accepting and making offerings, wouldn't he need a place to do this? Seems to me a large horizontal stone Altar is where you'd put all of this stuff. So this is why I chose to put it in horizontal. I raised it up as if it were just put there new. It was the last piece of this reconstruction.

The next phase is already underway. The team bases and gametype objects. Actually I am jumping the gun. I haven't fixed those doggone floors which are not quite flat. The bumps at the joins aren't horrible but it's unacceptable if I can find a solution. I get bored easy and impatient. So I am excited to show you this early team base concept. Overlapping curved walls. It's similar in concept to my Halo 3 bases but I think it works even better. Getting in and out of these bases is a dream and the cover is nearly perfect. It's kind of like airport washrooms. As with my Stonehenge map, one of my tenants is that no other feature on the map shall compete with the grandeur of MEGALITH. So I am endeavouring to keep MEGALITH in view as much as possible. The only exception might be some below grade passageways which I have yet to build.

I should have a playable setup for Slayer any day now. It is temporary but I can learn a lot from watching how people play on it with what I've got currently planned.

I still owe you people a geometry lesson.

After that the MEGALITH Blog will slowly wind down as I spend as much time as I can getting this map into fighting shape.