Halo 4 Forge (the way it should be)

Community General Discussion
1

Forge in Halo 4 needs to be 2 things:

  1. Varying
  2. Productive

What I mean by varying is that it needs to contain enough variety in its objects and background/terrain to keep each map unique, or at least make them not all feel the same.

By productive, I mean that it needs to yield the results people want. If people want to make a map on a flat terrain and be covenant themed, they should be able to. If the want a Human military themed base on a rocky or snowy cliffside, then they should be able to make it without problems.

The Answer
Forge doesn’t need to be greatly advanced in its mechanics compared to Reach’s Forge 2.0 to be better, it just needs to fix the little annoyances. Such as:
Rotation Snap
Lag
Lack of Individuality
Object variety
Limit

Fixes include: the Rotation Snap should work relatively to where you are facing (based on axis relative to object),
Lag based on merged objects could be fixed by implementing a new rendering system (Don’t render objects with their view by the player blocked by another object, don’t render the full object/parts that are inside of other objects.)

Lack of individuality, Object variety, and Limit could be solved with a new approach to forge:
Objects are simple in detail, with an assortment of different themed textures to choose from to change the look color…(UNSC, Covenant, Flood, Forerunner themed, different colors to accent them like in Forge 2.0)
With a heavier focus on the block shapes, a wider variety of building blocks can be made and more focus and power can go into the amount of blocks that can be spawned. Decorative stuff just needs to have more variety in style, but doesn’t necessarily need more amount. This will allow the community maps to have a wider scale of individuality. Add to that a small addition of weather simulation, and possibly background theme (desert, snow, jungle) and you’ve multiplied the individuality by 10.

This will be in the Forge that ships on the disc. A PC editor can be downloaded (optionally) for advanced editing. It could include access to all the textures used on the disc and would require the internet to transfer maps to the XBox via file share. It could even be a small download if all of the assets were to be stored online. This way, custom terrain, objects and a greater ability of customization would be available to those who seek it.
M0aHerder and his post here are responsible for this idea.

You may ask “How will Microsoft make money off of DLC?”

Because the DLC maps would be still more refined than the on Disc Forge, and would have access to new textures, scripted events, and a higher level of detail than the PC editor. Besides, it doesn’t look like it will be technically possible to Forge our own Firefight maps anytime soon, so selling those with the DLC maps would be incentive for most players.

These are just ideas that I think 343 should look at before getting to far into making Halo 4 Forge. If they want to win over the diehard Bungie fans, they are going to need to give them what they’ve been asking for.

2

Updates
For Forge on disc:
Switches and doors would be nice to have in Forge, nothing else too complicated. An undo button would be amazing. Other things like Copy/Paste or save a group of objects to be spawned or moved as a whole would be nice but the other things (mainly undo) are more important.

3

Tl; Dr

Idea:
Forge on disc pretty much same as Forge 2.0 with enhancements (texture change, Object limit…)

Optional PC Forge Editor for advanced map making. (custom terrain, access to all in game textures used on disc, custom objects)

DLC is still an option for several reasons.

On a side note:
The weapon pallet needs to be greatly increased to include most (more like all) of the weapons of past games. In order for this to work, Dual Wielding needs to return. It was great playing with the added dimension of gameplay. This is the only way for the SMG to return alongside the assault rifle, and for the Plasma Rifle to have a true place amongst the Repeater. I think the Focus Rifle needs to be beefed but reduced to a single zoom scope, and the Beam Rifle needs to be brought back. The BR can co-exist with the DMR. The BR is the middle ground between the AR and DMR. Remove the scope from the BR, make it more accurate, add bloom, and it is the weapon of choice for mid-range, while the DMR is pushed slightly to the far-ranged. Some gametypes would have an AR/DMR spawn, while others would have the BR/Magnum spawn.

Return the magnum to the Halo CE version but make it so that when dual wielded, it behaves like the Halo 3 Magnum. Beef up the Spiker, too. Brute Shot could return, with the Concussion Rifle getting a boost but having its range limited. Needle Rifle could be faster but less accurate/shorter range, when full-auto, Covenant Carbine stays same as Halo 3. Needler maybe gets a boost?

Bring back the Chopper and Possibly the Hornet (with tweaks) and this game will be Gold.

4

Sounds GREAT! If 343 does this it will be a Day 1 buy for sure!

Just as long as they add switches and doors and maybe traps to Forge, I’ll be set!

5

I like what your saying in terms of fixing the current issues, but I’m not a fan of additions to the system

6

hey another good idea would be more objects like covenant or purple objects or infinite money anything would suffice especially opening doors!

7

> I like what your saying in terms of fixing the current issues, but I’m not a fan of additions to the system

The additions would be minor and easy to implement, such as switches and doors. Textures would also be fairly easy to implement, in the same vein as changing the colors now, just on a larger scale. As for the “Undo” button, I think many have wanted this since Halo 3, and it would be the only addition that would require an amount of work on 343’s behalf.

The real advancements would be in offering a second editor for the PC (optional) for custom terrain, higher texture pallet, and custom object making in the editor. This would make a lot of people very happy.

DLC would still have: new textures not on disc (and thus not in the editor/in custom maps) and scripted events (think the Zanzibar bridge, Ascension spinning pillars, and the beam thing on Tempest. It would also encourage the developer(s) of the maps to add in more of these types of things into the layout, creating more varied, and unique experiences.

8

There is only one thing I want in the next forge:

Trees

That is all.

9

> There is only one thing I want in the next forge:
>
> Trees
>
> That is all.

More natural objects other than just rocks in general. And more scenery like Foundry had.

10

> > There is only one thing I want in the next forge:
> >
> > Trees
> >
> > That is all.
>
> More natural objects other than just rocks in general. And more scenery like Foundry had.

More maps need scenery like foundry had. Also I think there should be pallets and more destructible items like wood boxes or glass railings or something

11

I want forgable firefight maps and drivable scarabs in forge that is all really

12

> I want forgable firefight maps and drivable scarabs in forge that is all really

Well yeah, but for the Forge feature itself, this should be how it is.

13

YEEEEEESSS!!!

And it would be nice if we could fuse objects into walls (i.e. weapons and vehicles). And it’d be cool if we could set a weapon on the map to ALWAYS have infinite ammo.