Orbital

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Orbital, also known by its former names, Moonbase Alpha and Space Camp, is a map that was revealed in the December 2008 issue of Game Informer.^[1]. It is one of three maps to be in the Mythic Map Pack designed for Halo 3. Orbital, along with Assembly and Sandbox, has been confirmed to ship with the Limited Edition of Halo Wars February 27 - March 3, 2009, depending on world region^[2].

Design

Orbital takes place inside the docking-station for Quito Space Tether, a huge tower that transports cargo and people in and 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". It's essentially two overlapping hallways, so each team can see the other one's spawn, but they are separated by some well-placed windows. Both bases of the map have openable doors that are crucial for objective games^[3]. It's a multi-level map, so there are many stairways. The map is located on an "empty UNSC space platform"^[4], 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.^[5]. It was reported in a Bungie Weekly Update that one part of the map has a deadly chasm, which can be easily traversed once it is "unlocked". However, this may have changed since that information was released long before the map was ever shown. 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. This symbol can be seen on the walls in several of the screen shots from the level. It has also been interpreted as the general shape of the station itself, which resembles other orbital stations in Halo canon, such as the Tiara Space Elevator or the Orbital Defense Platforms seen in Halo: Contact Harvest and Halo 2, respectively.

Location: In forge, go to this room: [1]. On the upper wall, where there are 2 "highways" next to each other, fly all the way to the top. When you reach the dark area, on your left, under a small ledge, should be the skull. To obtain the skull, go right next to the skull, go out of forge mode, crouch in mid-air, and quickly nab it.

Trivia

A battle on Orbital.

This map's codename was originally "Moonbase Alpha", then later changed to "Space Camp". The map's official name was confirmed to be "Orbital".
There is an achievement called Post Mortem, which is to score 2 Death from the Grave medals in a single match online.
This map was first shown in Game Informers story on Halo 3: ODST.
On the new Orbital picture in Bungie.net weekly update of 12/19/08, there are several different images on the screens. The farthest to the right is the base of the Quito Space Elevator. The next screen shows a map, which may be the layout of the level. The next two screens both show Earth, but uses the image from the Halo 2 theatrical trailer, and the final screen shows the UNSC emblem.
Bungie released new Orbital screen shots on 12/23/08. These pictures show that Orbital may be slightly bigger than one might expect, as a Ghost and Mongoose have been spotted on the map.
Orbital is the first map in Halo 3 to be set in space.

Gallery

An escalator leading towards another chamber, and on the wall is the tribute to Tobias Fleming Shaw.
A loading dock with Sniper Rifle in sight.
Another hallway with 2 Mongooses in sight.
A hallway with vegetation on the wall, as well as two information tubes displaying "Welcome" in several languages.
The main control station.
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Orbital Heatmap