Here’s the thing about Forge in Halo – It’s just so simple. But who says we can’t diversify what can happen in Forge without complicating it, as a whole, to a point of it becoming a complex map designer only suited for only those who devote enough time to master the thing?
Here’s how I envision making Forge 3.0 the best it could possibly be without aggravating the simplicity behind it all:
It starts off regularly; You select “Forge” from the main menu. Instead of it then proceeding to the Forge lobby, three boxes pop up in the middle of your screen. Box #1 reads “Map Editing”, Box #2 reads “Object Editor”, and Box #3 reads “Map Modifier”.
Box #1 will be your basic Forging experience. You have a diverse set of pieces and objects (though, hopefully more than we have now in Reach) and you can scatter, phase, set, etc. these pieces all over the map. Again, hopefully this aspect will receive some love and be updated and refined from Reach. All in all, with this function, the simplicity has been preserved.
Box #2 is a whole new beast. This will be exactly what it’s described as – an object editor. You click on the box and your session with the Object Editor starts. Immediately, another box pops up and it asks if you’d like to edit an existing object or create a new one. All of Basic Editing’s pre-made pieces will be available to load up in the Object Editor. Here, you will be able to do various things to these already existing pieces, ie. color editing, stretching and size modifying, etc. These will all contribute to the simplicity by being presented in a simple, uncluttered way.
That being said, you could otherwise choose the “create new object” option. Now, I’m no game designer and I have no experience with other, more complex map editors from other games, so I can say with all honesty that I wouldn’t know how the “create new object” option would work. Taking a shot in the dark, I think you could, again, present it in a uncluttered and very simple way. Perhaps it could start off with “choose a basic shape”, then progress to more and more detailed aspects in a very logical and simple order that practically walks you through the entire process.
Box #3 would perhaps be the most complicated of the three options. This box is designed for things like terrain modifying and atmosphere changing. Again, as a very ignorant being to formal and complex map editors, I will say honestly that I have no idea how this would work. I’m not going to make random crap up in an attempt to show off skills and knowledge that I don’t have. The only suggestions/ideas that I have for this area is to A.) Include many in-game tutorials. B.) Make sure the process is as simple as it can be (which, obviously won’t be too simple).
Do you think this, as a basic idea or guideline, could work? More importantly, would it be better for the game and forgers overall? I think so. It keeps what we have (a simple and easy to use map editor) while improving upon that, and it also includes more in-depth abilities outside of the basic editor, and at that, it still tries to keep things simple.