BOTS...in FORGE...?

Games Halo Infinite
1

So, a long time ago, when Halo: Reach was about to be released, I was talking “Halo” over sushi dinner with one of the original Bungie members who happens to be an acquaintance of mine IRL (Sorry, folks…decided to REDACT the name) .

I remember asking him if we would be getting AI in Forge for Halo Reach, and he was like…“Uh…no, that’s not going to happen. Not with this engine”. When I pressed him as to the reasons, he said “Well, we did look into that possibility, but we couldn’t figure out a way to make the pathing work”.

Apparently, in a hard-scaped environment like a dev-built campaign level, AI pathing was easy to do, as the AI could easily navigate the floor, stairs, etc. because the walkable surfaces were “baked in” , whereas in Forge, the “floor” is made out of whatever the Forger decides to make the floor out of: a block, a wall, a rock, a ramp turned on it’s side, etc.

Fast Forward to NOW, my friend no longer works for Bungie (or 343) and now here comes Halo Infinite, with it’s brand new SLIPSPACE ENGINE, and confirmed AI Bots…
…and of course, it has me wondering yet again:

* WILL AI BOTS BE IN FORGE?

  • Is the issue of “pathing” fixed now that we have a whole new game engine built?
  • Can I make whatever map I want, and simply unleash a bunch of bots onto it, and trust that they will know what to do, and where to go?
  • Will the bots be placeable objects on the Forge map, or just a menu option when setting up the Custom Game?

And a question I can’t seem to shake:

  • If we can have Spartan Bots, that act convincingly like Spartans…CAN WE HAVE COVENANT / BANISHED BOTS IN CUSTOMS?

I have ALWAYS wanted to forge a BTB CTF map where 2 teams of Spartans are trying to get flag caps, as all-the-while, they are being assaulted from all sides by Grunts, Jackals, Elites, Brutes, etc.

Tell me that wouldn’t be epic.

2

It might make sense as to why forge has been delayed so long after release, but I kinda have my doubts about it. I think at most we might get static bots that can be used as target dummys or something. would be sick though.

3

> 2535463263896395;2:
> It might make sense as to why forge has been delayed so long after release, but I kinda have my doubts about it. I think at most we might get static bots that can be used as target dummys or something. would be sick though.

Nah…I think we will AT LEAST be able to call in bots via the customs setup menu. (rather than placeable objects onto the Forge canvas itself).

But in a dream world, we will be able to PLACE them into each map we make, as well as possibly dialing in some scripting for spawn time, aggressiveness, skill level, etc.

4

Basic bot scripting was in Warcraft 3…if the bots have pathing issues…this can be resolved with scripting… If that ancient game can do it…there is no further excuses

5

> 2535458667421433;4:
> Basic bot scripting was in Warcraft 3…if the bots have pathing issues…this can be resolved with scripting… If that ancient game can do it…there is no further excuses

Rad…so Warcraft 3 runs the same Game Engine as Halo Reach?
/end sarcasm

Pathing, scripting, etc., are ALL DEPENDANT UPON THE ABILITIES OF THE GAME ENGINE being used.
And different games run on different engines.

6

> 2784591733887633;5:
> > 2535458667421433;4:
> > Basic bot scripting was in Warcraft 3…if the bots have pathing issues…this can be resolved with scripting… If that ancient game can do it…there is no further excuses
>
> Rad…so Warcraft 3 runs the same Game Engine as Halo Reach?
> /end sarcasm
>
> Pathing, scripting, etc., are ALL DEPENDANT UPON THE ABILITIES OF THE GAME ENGINE being used.
> And different games run on different engines.

So a brand new engine 20 years later should have this capability? yes I agree, there are no excuses.

7

Surely they will have bots since it’s literally getting delayed Six months.
I Hope this is best forge out of any halo game.
Spartans, Banished and Marines AI would revolutionise Forge.
But if this ends up being a average forge just like the previous game’s I’ll be disappointed

8

> 2533274868663477;7:
> …if this ends up being a generic forge just like the previous game I’ll be disappointed

Well, I mean…
I do have a wishlist…I am a dreamer…but I would never call Halo 5’s Forge “Generic”.
Aside from it’s unfortunate lack of an actual terrain editor, H5’s Forge was the best map editor on the market, bar none.
I absolutely expect Infinite’s to be the same. Best Ever, Bar None. [Especially if they finally include terrain editing & Bots]

9

I have really been hoping we could play with bots on custom maps as would be cool to try out some of the crazy good community builds when you don’t have 7 others to play with or if they don’t like your gametypes. Maybe I want to play Hardcore FFA with all the bots on Noobmaster77’s latest creation.

10

They’ve probably delayed Forge to iron out something like this. Just judging by the way bots feel in the game, the AI and combat scripting seem pretty advanced. I’d be interested in just seeing what you can get them to do and playing around with different options.

11

> 2784591733887633;8:
> > 2533274868663477;7:
> > …if this ends up being a generic forge just like the previous game I’ll be disappointed
>
> Well, I mean…
> I do have a wishlist…I am a dreamer…but I would never call Halo 5’s Forge “Generic”.
> Aside from it’s unfortunate lack of an actual terrain editor, H5’s Forge was the best map editor on the market, bar none.
> I absolutely expect Infinite’s to be the same. Best Ever, Bar None. [Especially if they finally include terrain editing & Bots]

You should check out Far Cry’s map editor…it’s been pooping on Forge since 2…

12

> 2784591733887633;3:
> > 2535463263896395;2:
> > It might make sense as to why forge has been delayed so long after release, but I kinda have my doubts about it. I think at most we might get static bots that can be used as target dummys or something. would be sick though.
>
> Nah…I think we will AT LEAST be able to call in bots via the customs setup menu. (rather than placeable objects onto the Forge canvas itself).
>
> But in a dream world, we will be able to PLACE them into each map we make, as well as possibly dialing in some scripting for spawn time, aggressiveness, skill level, etc.

This would be cool! Wanted this since Halo Reach came out, hopefully they bring something to forge like this, would definitely up the game for forge 100% especially after seeing the training on Halo infinite!

13

> 2535458667421433;11:
> > 2784591733887633;8:
> > > 2533274868663477;7:
> > > …if this ends up being a generic forge just like the previous game I’ll be disappointed
> >
> > Well, I mean…
> > I do have a wishlist…I am a dreamer…but I would never call Halo 5’s Forge “Generic”.
> > Aside from it’s unfortunate lack of an actual terrain editor, H5’s Forge was the best map editor on the market, bar none.
> > I absolutely expect Infinite’s to be the same. Best Ever, Bar None. [Especially if they finally include terrain editing & Bots]
>
> You should check out Far Cry’s map editor…it’s been pooping on Forge since 2…

Lmao, not at all my dude. I remember when Far Cry 5 and Doom tried to swing at the king, both missed.

14

Here’s what I would want with bots in forge.

  • Let me unleash Spartan bots to help test the map. - Allow scripting of said bots in the event they don’t know what or how to do something. (pathing, interactions, etc.) - Bonus if we’re allowed to mess with marine, banished, and other AI from the campaign, including being able to modify difficulty level, aggressiveness, pathing, weapons, and other scripting features. Maybe have a trigger for them to respawn in the event enough of them die.There’s a lot of potential with AI in Forge. Imagine a BTB battle map with not just spartans, but with banished harassing players. The potential is immense if we’re allowed the freedom to poke around.
15

I believe it can support bots but i would love if we could put enemies from the campaign in the forge mode. It could allow for so many possibilities.

16

> 2784591733887633;1:
> So, a long time ago, when Halo: Reach was about to be released, I was talking “Halo” over sushi dinner with one of the original Bungie members who happens to be an acquaintance of mine IRL (Paul Bertone Jr.) .
>
> I remember asking him if we would be getting AI in Forge for Halo Reach, and he was like…“Uh…no, that’s not going to happen. Not with this engine”. When I pressed him as to the reasons, he said “Well, we did look into that possibility, but we couldn’t figure out a way to make the pathing work”.
>
> Apparently, in a hard-scaped environment like a dev-built campaign level, AI pathing was easy to do, as the AI could easily navigate the floor, stairs, etc. because the walkable surfaces were “baked in” , whereas in Forge, the “floor” is made out of whatever the Forger decides to make the floor out of: a block, a wall, a rock, a ramp turned on it’s side, etc.
>
> Fast Forward to NOW, my friend no longer works for Bungie (or 343) and now here comes Halo Infinite, with it’s brand new SLIPSPACE ENGINE, and confirmed AI Bots…
> …and of course, it has me wondering yet again:
>
> * WILL AI BOTS BE IN FORGE?* Is the issue of “pathing” fixed now that we have a whole new game engine built?
> * Can I make whatever map I want, and simply unleash a bunch of bots onto it, and trust that they will know what to do, and where to go?
> * Will the bots be placeable objects on the Forge map, or just a menu option when setting up the Custom Game?
>
> And a question I can’t seem to shake:
> * If we can have Spartan Bots, that act convincingly like Spartans…CAN WE HAVE COVENANT / BANISHED BOTS IN CUSTOMS?
>
> I have ALWAYS wanted to forge a BTB CTF map where 2 teams of Spartans are trying to get flag caps, as all-the-while, they are being assaulted from all sides by Grunts, Jackals, Elites, Brutes, etc.
>
> Tell me that wouldn’t be epic.

Hi there…
yes they probs will be spawnable AI’s in forge from what i know

Cheers’ :sunglasses:
Happy Gaming
VAKTRA

> Please don’t DM me on Halo Waypoint… if you have anything to ask please add my discord or my xbox
> DISCORD: Vaktra#1224
> XBOX: NI Darkness

17

Even if you’re not planning on using bots in your Forge map, it’s not a bad idea to consider testing the map with bots. They might accidentally help you find spots on the map you can improve or that need fixing.

18

I hope so

19

> 2533274801924458;13:
> > 2535458667421433;11:
> > > 2784591733887633;8:
> > > > 2533274868663477;7:
> > > > …if this ends up being a generic forge just like the previous game I’ll be disappointed
> > >
> > > Well, I mean…
> > > I do have a wishlist…I am a dreamer…but I would never call Halo 5’s Forge “Generic”.
> > > Aside from it’s unfortunate lack of an actual terrain editor, H5’s Forge was the best map editor on the market, bar none.
> > > I absolutely expect Infinite’s to be the same. Best Ever, Bar None. [Especially if they finally include terrain editing & Bots]
> >
> > You should check out Far Cry’s map editor…it’s been pooping on Forge since 2…
>
> Lmao, not at all my dude. I remember when Far Cry 5 and Doom tried to swing at the king, both missed.

He has a point.
FC5’s map editor was incredible.
In many regards, it was way better than any Halo Forge.
In some regards, it wasn’t as good as H5’s Forge.

But respect: Far Cy 5 has pretty much the most robust map editor on the market.
BUT…
Far Cry’s entire multiplayer shooter experience is ABYSMAL. Seriously…SO bad.
THAT"S why nobody stuck around for it. The game is just not fun to PLAY.
But if you are a creator, it’s super potent.