Bungie's taken the lid off of the last details of the Mythic Map Pack for Halo 3. If you don't know, the Mythic Map pack will be included with all copies of the Halo Wars Collectors Edition, starting this March with the game's release.

They will not be available immediately on marketplace. However, in the latest Bungie Update (This is where it gets nerdy folks), we got this little nugget:

After Halo Wars LCE hits retailers, your wait won't be too much longer than the span of time between the Gettysburg's departure for Earth to warn of the Covenant invasion and Regret's slipspace jump out of the skies above New Mombasa.  Afterwards, you'll be able to plunk down 800 Marketplace Points for your very own copy of the Mythic Map Pack for Halo 3.

1. The grid- This is simply a blue grid that appears on the map in Forge mode to make lining up objects easier.
2. The killball- A dome shaped object which can be placed anywhere on the map and will instantly kill anything that enters the perimeter. Could allow for some interesting gametypes.
3. The skybubble- This is the gem. Essentially, in addition to Sandbox's basic plane- the Desert floor- there is a second tier, WAY high up in the sky. Buildings and structures can be placed up on the second tier, and anyone who jumps off will die. This makes it easier for forgers to recreate "floating" maps like Ascension and Lockout. The Sky Bubble also makes it so you don't have to waste resources boxing in a certain section of the level, as if a player steps off the path, they'll fall to their death. Fire can be traded between the two tiers of the map as well- for example, a guy with a sniper rifle in the sky could kill dudes on the desert floor. Still not getting it? IGN has your back. (I also put some pictures below demonstrating the killbox and sky bubble)

Halo 3 looks fucking awesome all over again.
WANT.

that's cool stuff.  except the part about having to wait for it to come on the market place.  screw you halo wars!

I have always stayed faithful to Halo, even amongst the throngs of dissenters. 

It is about time that faith is rewarded.

Where is Smug to comment on this?  lol

Okay I totally resized those pics. Sorry they're cut off. GB is being all glitchy like.

I can't wait to see some of the awesome maps that people come up with. Hopefully someone makes a superior re-make of Lockout, since Blackout is a huge disappointment.

yay Halo

6 weeks!? What the heck?

Oh man. Looks like Sandbox has a third tier underground.

There's a hole in the heatmap for the desert floor, and someone over on HBO dug up this image, which appears to be a heatmap for the smaller underground section. Several other clues corroborate this, but I won't go into them.

Man this map just keeps getting better and better.

The underground part is there for Griffball matches and what not.

Just as a heads-up:

There's a video-walkthrough of the maps on the Xbox Dashboard.  Sandbox looks cool, but I'm not quite sold on them.  Not the maps' fault, really, just that I've seriously lessened my Halo play-time.

I love the way it looks, but I probably won't buy it. I have bought all of the other map packs and never play them. Maybe this will make me, perhaps.

God dammit. I want these maps...but not that much. Plus they are esscially charging you 20 dollars for them. The limited editon cost 80$

"God dammit. I want these maps...but not that much. Plus they are esscially charging you 20 dollars for them. The limited editon cost 80$"