Editing Ivory Tower

{{Status|Gameplay}}
{{Multiplayer map infobox
|image=[[File:Itowerlayout.jpg|300px]]
|name=Ivory Tower
|game=''[[Halo 2]]''
|devname=<code>cyclotron</code>{{Ref/File|Id=H2EK|H2EK|H2EK\tags\scenarios\multi\cyclotron\cyclotron.scenario}}
|map=War Games Map_Set/: 950-9<ref name="mombasa waypoint">[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/universe/locations/new-mombasa ''Halo Waypoint'': New Mombasa]</ref>
|location=[[Ivory Tower (location)|Ivory Tower]], [[New Mombasa]]
|terrain=Park, human building
|symmetry=Asymmetrical
|playernumber=2-12
|gametypes=*[[Slayer]]
*[[1 Flag CTF]]
*[[Assault|One Bomb]]
|pagegamelabel=H2
}}

{{Center|{{Article quote|Once home to the famous socialite [[Lance O'Donnell]], the top floor of this building is now a public park.}}}}

'''Ivory Tower''', is a ''[[Halo 2]]'' [[multiplayer]] map available in all versions of the game. The map is located in a somewhat tropical indoor park in [[New Mombasa]]. The map was remade as [[Reflection]] in ''[[Halo: Reach]]''.

==Universe and lore==
Once home of a [[Lance O'Donnell|wealthy socialite]], [[Ivory Tower (location)|Ivory Tower]] was later converted into a “public” park<ref>''Halo 2'', Ivory Tower map description</ref> visited only by the upper echelon of New Mombasa society. Intended to be conducive to solitary contemplation and repose, the architecture for this site was fancied by [[War Games]] analysts for its unique verticality and vague symmetry, making it a compelling scenario for close-quarters combat simulations.{{Ref/Reuse|mombasa waypoint}} The Ivory Tower War Games map was used for training by [[Blue Team]].<ref>''[[Halo: Lone Wolf]]'', [[Halo: Lone Wolf Issue 1|Issue #1]]</ref>

==Overview==
===Layout===
In the middle of Ivory Tower there is an alley that leads to a drainage grate where you will find the [[M41 SPNKR|rocket launcher]] in most game types. This alley leads to a circular area with a palm tree sitting at the base of a set of giant stone steps inlaid with grass. These steps lead up to an elevator and two hallways. One hallway leads to a dark room and the other leads to a lighter room that bears the [[overshield]]. The elevator can either take you to the upper part of the map that has the [[SRS99C-S2 AM sniper rifle|sniper rifle]] or the lower part of the map where you can acquire the [[Type-1 energy sword|energy sword]].

To take the elevator up would place one in the middle of a long hallway. One direction leads to a dark room with air vent lifters and a [[M90 shotgun|shotgun]], and the other direction leads to a ramp that contains an overshield. To take the elevator down from the main circular room brings you to the middle of another long hallway. Left and right directions have a small room housing an [[M6C magnum]] before the hallways turn back towards the center of the map. One direction leads you to the lower portion of the dark room, while the other direction will bring you out at the room that houses the ramp that holds the overshield.

To get off the elevator and turn around would lead you past a flag spawn point and then to a T-junction with the energy sword right in front of you. This weapon is under the drainage grate mentioned earlier. To turn one direction at the energy sword leads you to the dark room, while turning the other direction leads you to the small room containing the ramp and overshield.

The dark room has a door on the side opposite the hallway with the magnums; it leads to the main circular room and also to a small section behind it where the flag spawn point is. This back section has staircases on either end that lead to a catwalk section that can be used to view the center, overshield, and dark rooms. This catwalk winds around above the perimeter of the center room and ends up back at the elevator at the top of the stone steps (a favorite for the custom [[Juggernaut]] game type "Hide and Go Seek").

===Territories===
*Walkway
*Elevators
*Tunnel
*Crossroads
*Air Lifts

===Strategies===
*In the upper level of the map, there are planter boxes that can be used as efficient sniper posts, but the boxes can be shot down easily.
'''Slayer'''
*The sniper rifle spawn on the third floor near the elevator is generally hot and players in or near it should defend the area against attacks from all sides, including below.
**Retrieving the energy sword before attempting to occupy the area normally makes an occupation successful; the sniper rifle is effective for sniping players in the main room and coming through the side corridors, while the energy sword will work well for killing anyone coming up the elevator.
***To counter the strategy above, two players armed with [[BR55 battle rifle|battle rifles]] can simultaneously attack from the side corridors or one player can take the shotgun on the second floor elevator room and ride up to the third floor.
*The area surrounding the rocket launcher is very exposed and attempts to retrieve it normally fail.
*The best hiding places are often the cul-de-sac rooms off of the lower corridors (the magnum spawns).

'''Capture the Flag'''<br />
On Ivory Tower, the only type of [[Capture the Flag]] game suitable is [[One Flag CTF Fast]]. In this game the team on defense defends the flag that is found in the small section behind the center room. The team on offense starts at the bottom of the elevator near the energy sword. There is often a race between the player on offense to grab the Sniper Rifle at the top of the elevator and the player on defense to grab the rocket launcher in the alley off of the main room. Both of these weapons are critical to being successful on both offense and defense. Offensive strategies involve either taking the flag up the middle through the main room and moving little by little with each life or making a dash for the lower portion of the map by way of the energy sword hallway. Both are equally successful.
[[File:IvorySniper.jpg|thumb|A player using the [[Type-50 particle beam rifle|Beam Rifle]] to snipe other players.|right|204px]]

'''Assault'''<br />
On Ivory Tower, the only type of [[Assault]] game suitable is [[Rapid Assault]]. In this game type offense and defense spawn in the same locations as the [[Capture the Flag]] game type. For offense it works best if the bomb carrier grabs the overshield. This will ensure that he is able to make it to one of the bomb-arming points (each is at the base of the staircases in the back section behind the main room). Even if the bomb carrier dies, as long as the bomb is dropped in the arming circle the team has a good chance of winning. Because [[Sticky Arming]] is enabled in Rapid Assault a team can continue to drop off the catwalk and pick up the bomb and arm it little by little until it is completely armed. To thwart this strategy, the defense team must attempt to kill the offensive player before they are able to pick the bomb up or they must use a Rocket Launcher and grenades to cause the bomb to fly out of the arming circle.

==Production notes==
Ivory Tower's working title was "Cyclotron". The name was changed after the map received its final visual design, as the luxurious penthouse environment "looked nothing like a cyclotron".<ref name="HMCC RTX">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQQbGq8TnR8&list=UU7NCg0venpKJg3kuJojKlbQ&index=3 ''YouTube'': Halo: The Master Chief Collection Panel - RTX 2014]</ref> The map is still called cyclotron.map in the game files, and on Bungie.net the images for Ivory Tower are in the /cyclotron/ directory.

== Trivia ==
===Easter eggs===
*Ivory Tower was the name of [[Martin O'Donnell]]'s sound studio at Bungie.
**The owner's name is deliberate reference to him.
*Hard to hear, but if you go by the steel door behind the elevators and turn your sound up pretty loud, you should hear the [[Siege of Madrigal]] from [[Bungie]]'s older series Myth. Hitting the gate has no major effects, and this may take a good amount of time. You can also hear banging (Which is due to the forked lifts), rattling, and shaking sounds. A sound or song is heard about every ten minutes.
**The [[Siege of Madrigal]] easter egg is also in ''[[Halo: Combat Evolved]]'', ''[[Halo 3]]'', and ''[[Halo Reach]]''.
===Glitches===
*There is a [[glitch]] that allows you to get out of the Ivory Tower. In order to do this, you need two people. Position one person on the overshield ramp in the garden box on the right side. Walk into the corner. The second person needs to line up with the two bold dots on the floor right in front of the first person. The second person needs to crouch. [[melee]] the first player, and walk right. This will break the barrier and send you down below the level.
**This can be done on any ramp with a nearby ledge on any map; the ramp must be thin though. Also if you have at least three people and get two people outside the map you can [[Butterflying]]/Sword Climb on top of the map. There is more to do and see on top of the map than in the place you first get out. On occasion, you fall through the white rapids when killed, breaking the barrier.

===Miscellaneous===
*The [[List of food and drinks|coconuts]] in the trees can be shot down.
*If you get outside of the map, and look down when you are over the main room with Rocket spawn behind you, and the stairs to the upper catwalk in front of you, you can see the room appears to be shaped like the Marathon symbol.
*Ivory Tower's level design is used in its ''[[Halo: Reach]]'' remake, [[Reflection]] which also appears in the campaign level [[New Alexandria]]  as the top floor of the [[Sinoviet Center]], one of the three landing points during the mission. Also, the description of Reflection clearly makes reference to Ivory Tower.
*In literature, an Ivory Tower is a place where people reside when they are out of touch with reality. The map may be a reference to this, as the level takes place on one of the floors of one of a tall skyscraper in [[New Mombasa]], and [[Lance O'Donnell]] was a very prominent character in the city's society.

==Gallery==
{{Linkbox|gallery=yes}}
<gallery>
File:HMCC H2 Ivory Tower Map.png|Ivory Tower Map.
File:H2MP Beta IvoryCage.jpg|A free for all battle on the map.
File:H2_Cyclotron_Sketch_1.jpg|The first sketch for Ivory Tower, then-named Cyclotron.
File:H2_Cyclotron_Sketch_2.png|The Cyclotron sketch having been brought into Adobe Illustrator.
File:H2_Cyclotron_Sketch_3.png|The Cyclotron sketch having been brought into Adobe Illustrator.
File:H2_Cyclotron_Sketch_4.png|The Cyclotron sketch having been brought into Adobe Illustrator.
File:H2_Cyclotron_Sketch_5.jpg|The final sketch of Cyclotron.
File:H2_IvoryTower_Perspective_Concept.jpg|Perspective concept art of Ivory Tower.
File:H2 IvoryTower DesignDoc.png|Ivory Tower design document, then-called Cyclotron.
</gallery>

==Sources==
{{Ref/Sources}}

{{Levels|H2|mode=yes}}