Halo 4 Forge as I imagine it

Games Other Halo
1

Some of you probably entered this thread thinking “Great, another Forge thread. It probably has the same unlikely things as all the other ones.” Well, that’s where you would be wrong. A lot of the Forge threads I see on here are requesting thing sthat are either unlikely, or impossible with current technology. Because of this I’ve collected all of the features that might actually be in Forge in a well thought out and logical post.

All I ask from you is that you reply with what you think, that way I can improve and edit as necessary and the thread is kept alive.

The Monitor
As many of you know, Halo 4 multiplayer will take place on the UNSC ship Infinity. Because of this we are less likely to see our little monitor buddy back, just like with the Elites. Instead I think that 343i will replace it with a UNSC equivalent that has been developed recently due to the Forerunner technology that is integrated with Infinity. This new monitor will likely act similarly to the current one, and may even have a weapon. This new monitor might even be customizable, or more so than now at least. I expect this new monitor to look similar to the Camera drones as seen in the first cutscene of Halo 2, but more futuristic. Link to pic: Camera Drone

Objects
Just because multiplayer takes place on a UNSC ship, doesn’t mean that 343i won’t let us have a little fun. Expect weapons/vehicles from both the Covenant and the UNSC, as well as the new enemy. I would love to see vehicles to actually be able to be phased through each other and other objects when set to the phased setting.

As far as scenery items and blocks go, I say more variety is likely. As far a scenery goes, we have very little variety in Reach, I say that’s it’s safe to expect at least a little more. Blocks will likely be more or less the same, with a few old ones no longer there and a few new ones to take their place. It’s probably likely that we will be able to change the color of blocks, if not skins for the different factions (UNSC, Covenant, ect.). I would love to see decals for things like bullet holes and logo’s, but I’m not to sure about the likeliness of that. Also, I really hope that the normal setting is fixed to act normal in game, that would open up too many map possibilities to count.

Tools
Obviously we will have the same tools as in Reach, but a few additions are more than likely. We might see things like undo, redo, copy, paste, mirror, group (groups multiple objects together), and save grouped objects as new part(least likely of them all). These simple additions, combined with the features listed in the Objects section above, would allow many maps that are not possible in Reach. More customization of weapon and vehicle stats might happen, but might not.

Switches
Switches have been long wanted, and so far 343i seems to be acknowledging the community more so than Bungie. Switches, like the ones found in certain Halo 3 maps, would allow for many currently impossible maps. They would work similar to teleporters, with different channels that linked certain ones together. Switches could do things like open doors, activate certain events, ect.

Forge world(s)
Forge World was a great map, but not for all situations. Bigger maps, or maps with many objects, were very susceptible to lag due to the size of Forge World. I think that 343i will make multiple forge dedicated maps, and add some new FX options to allow greater diversity in the time of day. Each forge map will likely have a different climate than the others.

That’s all for now! Like I said earlier, please comment with your comments/concerns/constructive criticism so that I can improve my post and so that this thread is kept alive. Thanks for reading!

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Didn’t 343 Guilty Spark get taken aboard the Infinity? If so, he could be used as the Monitor.

3

> Didn’t 343 Guilty Spark get taken aboard the Infinity? If so, he could be used as the Monitor.

Where’d you hear that? 343 Guilty Spark was destroyed by the Master Chief, and then was OBLITERATED when the Ark was destroyed.

4

> Didn’t 343 Guilty Spark get taken aboard the Infinity? If so, he could be used as the Monitor.

I enclosed my post in Spoilers just in case anyone currently reading the Forerunner series is reading this thread.

Very good point. I have not read any of Greg Bear’s books (at least, not to the end anyway), but from what I’ve heard a clone of Guilty Spark steals a UNSC ship and heads towards the Librarians last known location. It is unknown if this is Infinity or not, as for as I’ve heard.

5

> > Didn’t 343 Guilty Spark get taken aboard the Infinity? If so, he could be used as the Monitor.
>
> Very good point. I have not read any of Greg Bear’s books (at least, not to the end anyway), but from what I’ve heard a clone of Guilty Spark steals a UNSC ship and heads towards the Librarians last known location. It is unknown if this is Infinity or not, as for as I’ve heard.

Thanks for clearing that up (somewhat)… But then again, how could they clone 343 if there was nothing left of him?

Oh, and what book are you referring to?

6

> > > Didn’t 343 Guilty Spark get taken aboard the Infinity? If so, he could be used as the Monitor.
> >
> > Very good point. I have not read any of Greg Bear’s books (at least, not to the end anyway), but from what I’ve heard a clone of Guilty Spark steals a UNSC ship and heads towards the Librarians last known location. It is unknown if this is Infinity or not, as for as I’ve heard.
>
> Thanks for clearing that up (somewhat)… But then again, how could they clone 343 if there was nothing left of him?
>
> Oh, and what book are you referring to?

Primordium.

7

> > > Didn’t 343 Guilty Spark get taken aboard the Infinity? If so, he could be used as the Monitor.
> >
> > Very good point. I have not read any of Greg Bear’s books (at least, not to the end anyway), but from what I’ve heard a clone of Guilty Spark steals a UNSC ship and heads towards the Librarians last known location. It is unknown if this is Infinity or not, as for as I’ve heard.
>
> Thanks for clearing that up (somewhat)… But then again, how could they clone 343 if there was nothing left of him?
>
> Oh, and what book are you referring to?

You can learn more here: http://www.halopedian.com/Chakas

8

The matchmaking is on the infinity, the forge mode doesn’t necessarily have to change at all in terms of characters used.

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> The matchmaking is on the infinity, the forge mode doesn’t necessarily have to change at all in terms of characters used.

I realize that the monitor doesn’t necesarily have to change, but with the direction 343i is going so far I think that it’s definitely a possibility. Sure we might see our old monitor friend back for another round, but we might not. Forge is basically multiplayer with the ability to edit objects. We don’t know much about custom games yet, but I assume that they’ll take place on Infinity as well.

10

Eh, I really hate the infinity just because they used the lame holodeck thing, plus it gave them an excuse to remove elites from MP, I really hope it gets destroyed in halo 4… preferably soon.

Back on topic I really hope they have a ground changer like Far cry.

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> Eh, I really hate the infinity just because they used the lame holodeck thing, plus it gave them an excuse to remove elites from MP, I really hope it gets destroyed in halo 4… preferably soon.
>
> Back on topic I really hope they have a ground changer like Far cry.

Terrain editor, trees, water manipulation, weather changing, time controls… :3

12

I would like to add to your list and say trip wires.

Trip Wires: They have the same functionality as switches but work a bit more in King of The Hill objective form. Meaning, when you enter an area set by the forger, something happens, or the forger could set it up as just a line someone would need to walk/drive through. The forger could make it so that it requires a person to walk through, or a vehicle to drive through, or either. Trip Wires are invisible to the player and actually have no physical embodiment in the game. Trip wires could cause objects to spawn, despawn, move, explode (if combustable like a vehicle or a fusion coil), or even change game rules if you wanted.

13

> Eh, I really hate the infinity just because they used the lame holodeck thing, plus it gave them an excuse to remove elites from MP, I really hope it gets destroyed in halo 4… preferably soon.
>
> Back on topic I really hope they have a ground changer like Far cry.

I personally like the idea, but everyone has their opinions. Also, I’m pretty sure it’s not getting destroyed in Halo 4. If you watch the Conan O’Brien Halo 4 segment you’ll see why.

Although a ground changer like in Far Cry 2 would be really useful, it’s not amazingly likely. But I could be dead wrong, and I hope that I am.

> > Eh, I really hate the infinity just because they used the lame holodeck thing, plus it gave them an excuse to remove elites from MP, I really hope it gets destroyed in halo 4… preferably soon.
> >
> > Back on topic I really hope they have a ground changer like Far cry.
>
> Terrain editor, trees, water manipulation, weather changing, time controls… :3

Trees are actually probably going to be included now that I think about it, I’ll add that to the OP.

> I would like to add to your list and say trip wires.
>
> Trip Wires: They have the same functionality as switches but work a bit more in King of The Hill objective form. Meaning, when you enter an area set by the forger, something happens, or the forger could set it up as just a line someone would need to walk/drive through. The forger could make it so that it requires a person to walk through, or a vehicle to drive through, or either. Trip Wires are invisible to the player and actually have no physical embodiment in the game. Trip wires could cause objects to spawn, despawn, move, explode (if combustable like a vehicle or a fusion coil), or even change game rules if you wanted.

That would be really cool and useful, but this thread is for things that are likely to be in Forge, not a wishlist. Unfortunately Trip Wires don’t have a great chance, but then again, I have no idea what will and will not be included in the final game, so we’ll see.

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M0aHerder, I think you have to think bigger. MUCH bigger for Forge. Unrealistic or not to you or me or the rest of the community, it may be attainable by 343.

It’s likely too late in the development now to offer ideas that could be implemented in Forge. However, it doesn’t hurt to ask. If anything, those ideas could translate into Halo 5’s forge if not into Halo 4.

The one thing you mentioned I liked (among a few others) was “mirror.” I feel Reach would have benefitted greatly if it’s Forge had a mirror option. Some of those buildings would have looked great mirrored. Having interaction in the form of Switched in another aspect I’d like to see. However, only if it means that you can switch ON/OFF the switch and not just a one time switch, ala High Ground’s gate or Last Resort’s bridge.

So too do I hope for lighting that will affect the look of the time of day. At the least I’d like to see each map have a daytime and nighttime setting. Dusk/Dawn would be fine too.

One thing I’d REALLY like to see in forge is the ability to scale objects. Imagine if we’d have had this ability with say the rock formations in Reach? We could have built mountains or at least large hills with just one item. Mind you, certain object shouldn’t be scale such as vehicles/weapons.

Also, I’d love more items to use for the natural setting of the map. Trees! Why can’t we have a small forest?

Above all as has been mentioned in many Forge threads in a Terrain Editor. Can it be done? YES. As also mentioned, Far Cry 2 was an example of this. I’m betting that 343 could do a much better job than that.

So why not think big and then let 343 work down from there. If you start small, you may just end up with small or smaller. Start BIG and yes you may end up smaller that big, but still get a lot of features that you wouldn’t have by come to had you started out small. (make sense? LOL)

15

Sounds awesome, especially some of the tools features you listed.

I also like the idea of multiple small forge worlds, as to reduce lag and not let people make ugly looking maps but mismatching colors.

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> M0aHerder, I think you have to think bigger. MUCH bigger for Forge. Unrealistic or not to you or me or the rest of the community, it may be attainable by 343.
>
> It’s likely too late in the development now to offer ideas that could be implemented in Forge. However, it doesn’t hurt to ask. If anything, those ideas could translate into Halo 5’s forge if not into Halo 4.
>
> The one thing you mentioned I liked (among a few others) was “mirror.” I feel Reach would have benefitted greatly if it’s Forge had a mirror option. Some of those buildings would have looked great mirrored. Having interaction in the form of Switched in another aspect I’d like to see. However, only if it means that you can switch ON/OFF the switch and not just a one time switch, ala High Ground’s gate or Last Resort’s bridge.
>
> So too do I hope for lighting that will affect the look of the time of day. At the least I’d like to see each map have a daytime and nighttime setting. Dusk/Dawn would be fine too.
>
> One thing I’d REALLY like to see in forge is the ability to scale objects. Imagine if we’d have had this ability with say the rock formations in Reach? We could have built mountains or at least large hills with just one item. Mind you, certain object shouldn’t be scale such as vehicles/weapons.
>
> Also, I’d love more items to use for the natural setting of the map. Trees! Why can’t we have a small forest?
>
> Above all as has been mentioned in many Forge threads in a Terrain Editor. Can it be done? YES. As also mentioned, Far Cry 2 was an example of this. I’m betting that 343 could do a much better job than that.
>
> So why not think big and then let 343 work down from there. If you start small, you may just end up with small or smaller. Start BIG and yes you may end up smaller that big, but still get a lot of features that you wouldn’t have by come to had you started out small. (make sense? LOL)

You seem to misinterpret the purpose of this thread. I am not suggesting new features, but predicting what Forge will likely be like in Halo 4. Bungie could have done much more with Reach’s Forge, but certain limitations and Microsoft prevented them from doing too much. There has to be new features to add in future games.

The community is not to be underestimated. Many of the current maps on Reach, and Halo 3, are beyond anything that Bungie imagined would be created. With the simple additions listed in the OP many, many, many more map opportunities open up. There weren’t too many major changes to Forge in Reach with the exception of the phased setting, other than that it was mostly just improved upon. The same will probably happen with most future Halo games.

I am adding trees to the OP (I thought I already did actually), but I don’t think a terrain editor will happen. This is because Microsoft likely won’t allow it because DLC would be less effective, I think it’s more likely in Halo 5/6.

> Sounds awesome, especially some of the tools features you listed.
>
> I also like the idea of multiple small forge worlds, as to reduce lag and not let people make ugly looking maps but mismatching colors.

Thanks!

17

I think a good idea to forge and the game would be destroyable enviorments. like for example the player highlites what part of building he or she wants to be destroyable.

18

As far as the Forge location(s), I would assume they would just use another Halo like HR’s. It would be nice if it were on the same Halo, maybe even be able to see HR’s Forge area from the new Forge area.

If it were to be on the UNSC Infinity’s Combat Deck, another assumption would be the ability to do terrain manipulation. But then again you know what assuming does…

So we’ll just have to wait and see.

19

It’s crucial that 343i make good maps in Halo 4 with a good variety of good forge objects on each one. This is if they want the games replay value to sky-rocket like Halo 3’s and just look how successful that was compared to Halo Reach.

20

> As far as the Forge location(s), I would assume they would just use another Halo like HR’s. It would be nice if it were on the same Halo, maybe even be able to see HR’s Forge area from the new Forge area.
>
> If it were to be on the UNSC Infinity’s Combat Deck, another assumption would be the ability to do terrain manipulation. But then again you know what assuming does…
>
> So we’ll just have to wait and see.

I think that if there are indeed multiple that they will all be on different planets/structures. Terrain manipulation would make sense, but I personally think that it will be saved until at least Halo 5. Judging by the Conan O’Brian clip the Infinity isn’t going anywhere.

Destructible environments would be really cool, but, just like with the suggestion to cut through objects with a monitor beam, it would require the objects to be solid. Doing this sounds easy on paper, but video games are more complicated than real life in situations like solid objects.