Orbital

Orbital, also known by its former names, Moonbase Alpha and Space Camp is a map that was revealed in Game Informer magazine of December 2008.. It will be available for download on Xbox Live Marketplace in a future DLC release; however, Orbital along with Assembly and Sandbox have been confirmed to be shipped with the Limited Edition of Halo Wars. Bungie has confirmed they are working to get these maps available on Marketplace as soon as possible after Halo Wars' release in February 2009, but a specific date is unknown. The release date for the other three maps is also unknown.

Orbital takes place on Quito Space Tether, a huge tower that transports cargo and people in out out of the atmosphere easily.

It is said to be best for asymmetrical objective games, like CTF and Assault, but also has some natural deadlocks that makes Slayer interesting and Infection "terrifying". The map consists of two hallways overlapping each other. Both bases of the map have openable doors that are crucial for objective games.. There also appears to be at least one stairway.

The map is located on an "empty UNSC space platform", more specifically, the station atop the Quito Space Tether. The map contains plaques dedicated to Doctors Tobias Fleming Shaw and Wallace Fujikawa, the creators of the Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine.. One part of the map has a deadly chasm, which can be easily traversed once it is "unlocked". This could mean that part of the map is in the vacuum of space. Orbital has several such locks and "switches to disable and enable access to various parts of the map". Orbital has been described as cleanly beautiful, yet haunting and having signs of abrupt abandonment.

Skull

File:OrbitalSkull.jpg

The logo of the hidden skull on this level appears to have a symbol that looks like a giant fan which could refer to be a Orbital Defense Platform or a Mobile Station like the UNSC Cradle or the Station Delphi.

Trivia

• This will be the first map featured in Space for Halo 3, including Campaign levels.
• This map's codename was originally "Moonbase Alpha", then later changed to "Space Camp". The map's official name was confirmed to be "Orbital".
• This map contains a hidden skull. Locating the skull earns the player the 'Orbital Skull' achievement. The crest of the hidden skull on this level appears to have a symbol that looks like a giant fan which could be referring to a Orbital Defense Platform or a Mobile Station like the UNSC Cradle or the Station Delphi. The skull also resembles the Cylon Base Stars from the television series Battlestar Galactica. The symbol on the Orbital Skull also looks somewhat like the Forerunner Dreadnaught.
• The fact that there is an achievement to score 2 Death from the Grave medals in a single match online suggests that the map will have tight quarters and small rooms.
• According to Bungie, they stated that "...when Orbital and Sandbox peak behind the curtains, that day won't likely be a Friday." indicating that like the previous DLC maps which were revealed on a day that wasn't a Friday, it is possible to assume that Orbital's first official appearance may be on a Tuesday somewhere in December or January.
• This map was first shown in Game Informers story on Halo 3: ODST.
• On Bungie.net there is a sketch in the concept art section with a striking resemblance to the screenshots released in the recent issue of Game Informer.
• An image that was thought to be a screenshot from within the map was on this page but removed (Also removed on the page it was on on Bungie.net), along with a possible level description: Meaning Bungie may be trying to contain hidden leaks. The topic image scanned from a Gameinformer article was also removed.
• However, OXM(Offical Xbox Magazine) released 3 pictures of Orbital in their January 2009 issue, on newstands now.