Editing Orbital

{{Status|Gameplay}}  

{{Center|'''Orbital''' redirects here. For the Mjolnir variant, see [[ORBITAL-class Mjolnir]].}}

{{Multiplayer map infobox

{{Article quote|With a lot of situational awareness, and a little luck, hopefully the only thing you will lose is your luggage.}}

Orbital takes place inside the docking-station for the [[Quito Space Tether]], a [[space elevator]] above South America that transports cargo and people in and out of the [[Earth]]'s atmosphere easily. The map is the setting of the [[Epilogue]] in ''[[Halo 3: ODST]]''. The map contains plaques dedicated to Doctors [[Tobias Fleming Shaw]] and [[Wallace Fujikawa]], the creators of the [[Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine]]. Orbital also contains many aesthetic elements, such as windows showing the Earth, electronic devices like display screens, escalators, and even a video phone. Overall the map has a feel of advanced technology.{{Ref/Reuse|gameinformer}}

It is said to be best for asymmetrical objective games, like [[Capture the Flag]] and [[Assault]], but also has some natural deadlocks that makes [[Slayer]] interesting and [[Infection]] "terrifying". It's essentially two overlapping hallways in horseshoe shaped levels, so each team can see the other one's spawn through a window above or below them, but they are separated. Both bases of the map have operable doors that are important for objective games.{{Ref/Reuse|gameinformer}} It's a two-story map, and one base is located at the end of the second level hallway. The middle of the connecting horseshoes features a chasm which separates both sides, effectively forming a choke point that is crucial to hold.

[[BR55HB battle rifle|Battle Rifles]] are common throughout the level with two spawning on the starting bases of each side and another two near the middle of each side. [[Type-25 plasma pistol|plasma pistols]] are located on the bottom of the two escalators, [[Type-52 Mauler|Maulers]] are next to the equipment on the junctions, [[Anskum-pattern plasma grenade|plasma grenades]] come in pairs scattered around the map, and a pair of [[Paegaas Workshop Spiker|Spikers]] are found in both hallways which connect the bases to the middle. There are also two [[Okarda'phaa-pattern plasma rifle|plasma rifles]] located just next to the [[M41 SPNKR|rocket launcher]] spawn. The two main power weapons on this map are the [[Sniper_Rifle#Halo_3_and_Halo_3:_ODST|sniper rifle]] (on the lower side of the pit) and a rocket launcher (on the higher side), though it should be noted that both weapons have had their ammo decreased for balance.

There are two [[M274 Mongoose|Mongooses]] on each base facing the operational doors (only closed in objective games), and a [[Karo'etba-pattern Ghost|Ghost]] spawns at the attacking base during asymmetrical gametypes.

While playing on Orbital, a female and male voice can be heard every once in a while announcing things over a speaker (much like [[The Pit]] and [[Terminal (map)#Male Announcer|Terminal]]). Note that these messages will play randomly even if the game is paused in theatre mode. All of these lines are:

**"The Quito Orbital Elevator Authority asks all customers to be aware of their surroundings. If you see any suspicious activity or unattended packages, please call the Quito Orbital Elevator Security Hotline." ''(Ironic, since players are mainly concentrated on killing each other).''

**"Children must be monitored at all times. Do not leave children unattended."

**""Upon request, all customers are required to present their valid national identification papers to Orbital Elevator authority personnel."

**"Transporting hazardous material onto orbital facilities is strictly prohibited." ''(Ironic, since all players carry weapons, live ammunition, and explosives).''

*Orbital, then known as "Moonbase Alpha", was in production as early as October 2007, and was later mentioned again in January 2008.<ref>[http://halo.bungie.net/News/content.aspx?type=topnews&cid=12857 '''Bungie.net''': ''Bungie Weekly Update : 10/12/07''] - '' My favorites are what I have already nicknamed Jodrell Bank and Moonbase Alpha.''</ref><ref>[http://halo.bungie.net/news/content.aspx?type=topnews&cid=13160 '''Bungie.net''': ''Bungie Weekly Update: 1/11/08''] - ''“Moon Base Alpha” – a codename only -  is definitely still being worked on. It’s received some new lighting and different switches to enable and disable access to various parts of the map. We’re still playing it pretty often. It is a brutal map to play on, that may appeal to fans of Elongation, but is absolutely NOT a remake.''</ref> At this time, it was said to be something that would appeal to fans of the map [[Elongation]]. The map was later teased under the codename "Space Camp" in the 14/02/2008 Bungie Humpday Challenge,<ref>[http://halo.bungie.net/News/content.aspx?cid=13262 '''Bungie.net''': ''Humpday Challenge: Toying With Macfarlane''] - ''While it’s not the prettiest map in all of Halo history (seriously, the upcoming map nicknamed Spacecamp very well might be, IMHO)''</ref> before later being confirmed to be the same map as "Moonbase Alpha".<ref>[http://halo.bungie.net/news/content.aspx?type=topnews&cid=13264 '''Bungie.net''': ''Bungie Weekly Update: 2/15/08''] - ''In this week’s Humpday Challenge we mentioned a map called "Spacecamp" and its aesthetic beauty. Folks saw that and thought we were mentioning a brand new, never-before-talked-about map. We weren’t, the map we called Spacecamp is actually the map we’ve been talking about for a while now: Moonbase Alpha. While there are undoubtedly other maps in production, we didn’t just give away mention of a new one, we’re at least somewhat careful, sometimes. Moonbase Alpha’s lighting, decorators and general aesthetic continues to impress each time a new build pops up on my dev kit. A small garden of Ivy embraces a shrine in memory of the creators of the Shaw Fujikawa warp drive. And there are crates, oh yes, there are handsome crates.''</ref> More details were later revealed in May 2008 alongside "[[Assembly|Purple Reign]]" and "[[Cold Storage|Smuggler]]", confirming the map's setting of a UNSC space station.<ref>[http://halo.bungie.net/News/content.aspx?type=topnews&cid=13824 '''Bungie.net''': ''Bungie Weekly Update 05/23/08'']</ref> The first screenshot of the map was revealed in November 2008.<ref>[http://halo.bungie.net/News/content.aspx?cid=16551 '''Bungie.net''': ''Bungie Weekly Update 11/21/08'']</ref>

File:H3 MP Orbital ENV-02.jpg|A loading dock with [[Sniper_Rifle#Halo_3_and_Halo_3:_ODST|Sniper Rifle]] in sight.

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