BUTTONS / ELEVATORS / DOORS for Halo 4

Community General Discussion
1

i dont know about you guys, but ive always enjoyed the button gameplay in the old halo 2 map ‘containment’. in this map you could press a button outside the bases to open a door to enable more movement.

is it just me, or would this functionality be INCREDIBLE for halo 4?

the following things would be ideally added:
1.) buttons. these would include 1 press ‘timer buttons’ that have an effect that lasts for a certain amount of time (set in options of the piece), and an on/off button with a ‘cooldown’ in between turning it on and off (cooldown set in options of the piece). there should also be a button to turn off/on teleporters so they can be used like the halo 2 map ‘relic’. make sure this teleporter opening button has a cooldown option for ‘defenders’ to prevent them from closing the teleporter right away, or even making it so they cannot use it if they are not on a certain team (or just make it one use lol).

2.) doors. doors of every size. ideally they would open and look SUPER COOL like those 3 piece doors that spiral out to reveal the passageway (best way i can describe this lol). at the very least we need 1 small door that fits 4 spartans across, then 4 different medium sized doors, and 1 SUPER LARGE door. the doors would work with the buttons. if you press the button, the door will open (will be linked the same way teleporters are, on channels). doors using the ‘timer button’ would stay open till the ‘timer’ expires, then close. doors using the ‘on/off’ buttons would be open/closed depending on the button.

3.) elevators! how cool would it be to have an elevator that you dont have to make out of 40 forge pieces that only… kinda… works?!? im thinking 5 sizes of elevators, from small to very large, but 4 of them are small to medium size in height, then the 5th is a really tall one. elevators would have an option to default to starting at the top (to go down) or starting at the bottom (to go up). elevators would be hooked up to the buttons and would work in the same way the doors would. with the ‘timer button’ the elevator would go up, then go back down when the ‘timer’ ran out. with the on/off buttons the elevator would be either up or down depending on which way the button was currently. heck, maybe even add an additional button for FLOORS like in a tall building so you could press 2 to go to second floor, etc.

what do you guys think? BEST IDEA EVAR?!

2

yes yes and yes. two thumbs up man.

3

Good idea. I like buttons in multiplayer. They add an extra dynamic.

What about part of a map in space that has an airlock control. If one unlucky player gets trapped in there, maybe a countdown could ensue before they’re lost… out into space.

4

> Good idea. I like buttons in multiplayer. They add an extra dynamic.
>
> What about part of a map in space that has an airlock control. If one unlucky player gets trapped in there, maybe a countdown could ensue before they’re lost… out into space.

thats another cool idea!

maybe something like an area that you choose the same way you place kill zones and soft kill zones that becomes engulfed in flames after a timer runs out (you can tweak the time on the timer). the timer starts once you press a button or something, then counts down till BOOM!

5

Switch-activated doors?

Hm, a fan suggestion that’s actually plausible. In fact, all it might take (assuming that they keep parts of Reach’s engine when making H4) would be gametype labels and scripting.

Give any object a DESPAWN_TRIG label and a Spawn Sequence value; that’s your button. Give other objects DESPAWN_TARG labels and the same Spawn Sequence. Touch the DESPAWN_TRIG, and the associated DESPAWN_TARGs vanish.

Simple.

6

For elevators with buttons in them, they’d have to be formatted like H3s Elephant.

I’ve been suggesting all 3 since Halo 3. I was dissapointed when it wasnt in Reach. So yes, openable/closable doors, teleporter switches, and ELEVATORS, PLEASE.

7

Instead of different sized elevators, have elevator doors and elevator shafts. An elevator shaft wouldn’t be very tall, but you could always spawn more and stack them on top of each other to achieve the desired height.

8

> Instead of different sized elevators, have elevator doors and elevator shafts. An elevator shaft wouldn’t be very tall, but you could always spawn more and stack them on top of each other to achieve the desired height.

ahh… good idea. this would make them easier to use :stuck_out_tongue:

9

> > Instead of different sized elevators, have elevator doors and elevator shafts. An elevator shaft wouldn’t be very tall, but you could always spawn more and stack them on top of each other to achieve the desired height.
>
> ahh… good idea. this would make them easier to use :stuck_out_tongue:

or make them like hills/zones from reach, hieght/width/lenght. an option for up/down elevator (also make this link to switches maybe to invert the movement of the elevator). an option for it to be a grav lift/ mechanical. an option for how fast/slow the lift moves you. and if you make it big enough whever or not it affect vehicles(grav lifts only).

the only problem with my idea is skins, how would you make it look, would a small lift look fine while a large lift looks like its just been stretched. or would the pattern be the same but you only see X amount of the pattern depending how the quantity you entered for that dimension.

as for doors/switches etc. i place a switch on my map in forge,

Switch - human (human covenant ect are just cosmetic they all work the same)
switch channel - 1
switch cooldown - 5 seconds(duration, how long the switch stays on/off after you used it before you can use it again)

make the switches like teleporters, be on channels and those channels can be linked to any item that could concievably be used with a switch. (teleporter,door,lift,manconnon,energy shields)

teleporter - sender node
teleporter channel - 1
switch channel - 1
switch effect - toggle teleporter channel 1/2
switch effect duration - untill changed

so by activating the switch the teleporter toggles between channels 1 and 2 so the two receiver nodes (one being channel 1 the other being channel 2) one is active the other is inactive, and when the switch is activated the they switch making the teleporter send you somewhere else, untill the switch is changed back.

but now add this- the room with teleporter receiver 2 has a door…

door - human, small
defaullt state - open
switch channel - 1
switch effect - open/close door
switch effect duration - untill changed

so the teleporter sends you one place while this room is open, and when the switch is used it sends you into the now closed room, which will remain closed untill the switch is used again and the door opens, reverting the teleporter to its original destination.

or simply the switch could enable/disable a teleporter or lock/unlock a door

so the same door mentioned above is linked to two switches now looks like this in the options of forge.

door - human, small
default state - open, unlocked
switch channel 1 + 2
switch effect 1 - open/close door
switch duration 1 - untill changed
switch effect 2 - lock/unlock door
switch durration 2 - untill changed

making the door lock/unlock is important as switch one will open/close an unlocked door when used, but if you make the door locked using another switch, swich one no longer opens/closes the door untill it is unlocked, when it is unlocked the doors default stat is now that of when it was unlocked. i close the door using the teleporter/door switch then lock the door with the lock/unlock switch now when i use the teleporter switch the door remains shut when i unlock the door it wont open till i use the teleporter/door switch again which can now resume opening/closing the unlocked door. think how intricate puzzle maps would be with multiple switches controlling multiple objects in different ways!

or if you like things simple on switch/function (probably good for MM - switch A only opens/closes door A, switch B only opens/closes door B)
edit
NOW I NEED SOMEONE TO TELL ME WHY, FROM A DESIGN POINT OF VIEW, THIS IS NOT POSSIBLE, BECAUSE ITS A VERY SIMPLE IDEA, WITH UNTOLD POSSIBILITIES. AND IF YOU CANT TELL ME WHY ITS NOT POSSIBLE I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHY IT WOULDNT BE DONE!

10

I love you…

11

I will find the creator of this post, and I will give you the Medal of Honor for this post. We need this in Halo 4 Forge. I’m so done making my own doors and such. Please put this in, guys!

12

> I will find the creator of this post, and I will give you the Medal of Honor for this post. We need this in Halo 4 Forge. I’m so done making my own doors and such. Please put this in, guys!

yea, its such a pain to make them in forge. it takes so many pieces you have to get just right. a lot of the ideal functionality is also lost too :C

13

Yes i would like that.
Switches you can activate to open doors, and it would be cool if you could set up an timer for shield doors in Forge, when they open and close.

More options like these is a good thing

14

I was partitioning for this for Reach but Halo 4 we may have hope.

Ways in this thread seem a little complicated.

The way I thought of was just:
-Have a object called “Button” which you hold RB to activate.
-Have objects like “Doors” “Elevators” “Bridges” when activated they move.
-To activate the “Doors” you press RB on the buttons.
-To choose what buttons activate which objects you set the “Buttons” and “Doors” to a Channel (like teleporters in Reach Alpha Bravo Delta)

So in Forge you place a button and a door next to each other set them both to channel alpha then hold RB at door it opens and Hold RB again to close it.

But you can be more fancy and have more buttons to the one door or more doors set the the one button.

15

that is a very simple way of saying what isisco explained, nad i think you are both right.

16

Definately. But let’s try and not make it too much like Garry’s Mod.

17

i agree with all of that :slight_smile:

18

To sum up this post, I think what you might want is the ability to write ‘Macros’.

This is a brilliant idea, I remember discussing this on the Bungie forums, and it really is something that would come in handy, particularly for a Forger like myself.

I think the way it would work, would be if you selected an object, and then select an option called “Write Macro”, and then whatever you do after selecting this, would be what the object will do. For example, say you selected a block, then clicked “Write Macro” then moved the block to a different point in the map, then selected “Complete Macro”, the object would then repeat what action you did, whether it be a straight path, or a curvy path. Then you could change the speed at which the object moves, and whether it is activated/deactivated by a switch and whether it loops.

This would solve both the ‘elevator’ and possibly the ‘door’ idea you have, but will also allow more experienced Forgers to move an entire selection of objects, maybe even making a moving ship that flies around the map. Although this would probably destroy the framerate issue!

But great thinking man, stay forging :slight_smile:

19

Sorry, guys, but I’m not sure any of us wants our classic, frenetic Halo gameplay to become a stale, slow, RPG-esque clusterfudge of switches, buttons and elevators.

Halo is not that - Halo is high-octane action of pure competitiveness joy, even if we’re talking about Infection or HaloBall or anything else!

If everyone hates Armor Lock because of the incredible decrease in the game’s pacing and flow, then imagine a map full of switches and doors and elevators and teleporters that only work if you press a certain combination of switches in the right order.
Hell no - Halo is about already open doors and elevators made out of gravity lifts or one-way-shields, that elevate you almost instantaneously!

I wouldn’t mind those objects for some ultra-gimmicky custom games, but that’s pretty much it.

20

> Sorry, guys, but I’m not sure any of us wants our classic, frenetic Halo gameplay to become a stale, slow, RPG-esque clusterfudge of switches, buttons and elevators.
>
> Halo is not that - Halo is high-octane action of pure competitiveness joy, even if we’re talking about Infection or HaloBall or anything else!
>
>
>
> If everyone hates Armor Lock because of the incredible decrease in the game’s pacing and flow, then imagine a map full of switches and doors and elevators and teleporters that only work if you press a certain combination of switches in the right order.
> Hell no - Halo is about already open doors and elevators made out of gravity lifts or one-way-shields, that elevate you almost instantaneously!
>
>
>
> I wouldn’t mind those objects for some ultra-gimmicky custom games, but that’s pretty much it.

you see, he obviously hasn’t played containment on H2. those two switches didnt seriously affect gameplay, and having them actualy improved gameplay as this was generaly an assault/ctf map in BTB. whats tthe harm in requiring a little tactical coordination in an objective game?

and he completely missed my point, was my post too long? didn’t you read it?

yes, we would like the ability to make all sorts of crazy stuff with doors/elevators/switches. but for MM its best to not include them beyond one switchs opens/closes one door, and have at most 2 on the map (like the gates on containment). but for custom games, i would like an infection gametype where i can shut a door behind me for 20seconds to give myself a little more time to breath, or being able to herd/isolate humans by cutting off areas of the map.