The Next Generation of Forge

Games Other Halo
1

First off, let me thank 343 for finally giving me TREES as useable objects in Forge World. This forger’s dream come true. Forge World has finally gotten me into forging in Halo 4, something I really hadn’t been able to do since launch due to the lack of innovations. I’ve gotta say though, with trees and magnets, Halo 4’s forge definitely feels like a marked improvement over Reach’s now. It’s got me thinking about what would really make the next forge truly 3.0. There are a few things I’d just flip out over if they came to be (like trees).

-Undo Button. Single most important feature for the advancement of forge.

-Grouping. I want to group together a structure I’ve made so that I can move the whole thing at the same time. Think of it as a step up from locking. You can group two items together so that if you move one, the other moves with it in the same way. You can ungroup at any time just like with locking.

-Style/Theme Change. Hear me out on this. So far, Forerunner has been the dominant theme in forge. In Halo 4, we got a UNSC style for certain maps. What I want is for the idea of style/themes to become an object option that you can change in any map at any time. You have a 5x5 flat block, and you can select the theme in the same way you can select its team color. Go between Forerunner/UNSC/Covenant/Natural.

-Day/Night Option. The magic purple color ball doesn’t cut it. I want to be able to select the time of day for my map. Day/Night/Dusk options, changing shadow positions and switching out heavenly spheres of light (sun/moon for those of you with no humor).

-Fine-Tuned Magnets Options. Magnets are great. They can also be horrifyingly annoying. Let us enable/disable each magnet point on any object, and place our own magnet points, so that we can be 100% confident of where our objects are being magnetized to.

-Bots. Last but not least, and probably the most far-fetched. I want to be able to place a bot (spartan/elite/promethean/etc) and select its health, weapon, intelligence, respawn time, team assignment, etc. I also want to place enemy spawn-closets. Obviously there would be a major cap on how many you could place (at least on current gen). While the Undo Button is my most important desire, Bots are the most important factor in pushing forge into the real 3.0 stage.

I guess this is sort of a Halo 5 topic, so maybe it doesn’t belong here, but I’m interested in seeing what else my fellow forgers are looking for.

2

Nicely said. Also, when you duplicate an item, its coordinates should be the same.

3

Once again, forge bots are impossible to implement in any Halo game.

Undo button, Precision forging, more pieces, possibility to scale/colour every piece are a must though.

4

> Once again, forge bots are impossible to implement in any Halo game.

Okay, I’ll bite - why are Bots impossible?

In multiple Spartan Ops missions, for example in last Apex mission or even the first one Land Grab, I equip some marines with weapons (in Land grab, I give the passenger in my hog a Fuel Rod gun and in Apex I equip them with Rocket launchers), load them into my Hog and they kill things while I drive.

In Halo Reach campaign, we have Kat, Jorg and the other AI team players whom are essentially bots and are there to “help” us (although its hard to say if Kat was really that help full). Same applies to the Arbiter and Elites in Halo 2 or Halo 3.

So all of the Halo games had some form of helpful bots.

It would seem to me that they basically have a directive (either help or kill a “team”) and you should be able to just set a button indicating which team colour they are to help - and all others they attack. They die, then they respawn.

COD II Black Ops already has Bots in Maps and I use them for training missions - trying out weapons and perks and other things. Sure helps one learn a map.

Milton

5

Hardlight bridges and buttons

6

I’d love to have a real map editor in Halo 5 similar to Far Cry 3’s. Halo is lagging very far behind in that regard. Forge just doesn’t cut it anymore.

7

Lets just hope the processing power of the next gen xbox allows for a massive reach like forge world, possibly even 10 times as big. We will also (if 343 pulls their heads out of their -Yoinks!- and does something right) be able to put down a nearly unlimited number of items, with 10 times the pro pwr of the xbox the next gen console will give no excuses for limiting the size of our creations.

8

  • Terrain editor. None of this predetermined terrain that stifles creativity. A large blank slate with raise/lower/smooth tools, terrain paint and foliage options. Different background options would be nice, but not necessary.

  • Fine adjustments and camera zoom. They unquestionably should not have been removed.

  • Undo, obviously, but also a “group select” function for duplication, relocation and deletion. Hold down A instead of just tapping it over an object, which opens “group select” at which point you tap A over each item in the series of items you wish to duplicate or delete.

  • Fix the sizes of objects like the Coliseum Wall and bridges, which no longer align with ANY other objects because their dimensions were inexplicably changed to an odd fraction of a unit. The shapes should also be fixed, as the rounded corners and superfluous designs on objects creates ugly gaps between them.

  • Fix the magnet system so that objects align properly(with the grid). As of right now the magnets are ever so slightly misplaced, which causes a series of connected objects to not line up with the grid or each other.

  • When your game is a sequel, it is supposed to have MORE content than the last one. The vehicle list should include things like Pelicans and Elephants, along with civilian vehicles.

  • ALL of the gametypes previously included in the series. The notion of removing Infection, Hockey and assault is truly mind boggling.

9

terrain editor possibly the ability to upload custom textures ( though I could see people being immature and uploading inappropriate things)

10

> - Terrain editor. None of this predetermined terrain that stifles creativity. A large blank slate with raise/lower/smooth tools, terrain paint and foliage options. Different background options would be nice, but not necessary.

Add in adjustable water levels, and I’ll be sold on this point.

11

Yep, your list is a good start for where Forge can improve

A couple more things:

-Reduce buildings into smaller components i.e. instead of ONLY premade buildings i.e. towers, allow the towers to be separated into smaller components so more complex building varieties can be made if people want. Make sense?

-Terrain deformation. Even if only an option on forge-only maps (not official maps)

-A materials list which lists the current items on the level, and an option to delete all items from that list

12

> Once again, forge bots are impossible to implement in any Halo game.

> > Once again, forge bots are impossible to implement in any Halo game.
>
> Okay, I’ll bite - why are Bots impossible?

The examples you (mja calg) cited are all examples of pre-built environments with a series of protocols within the maps themselves that are specifically for telling the AI where and how to navigate the area.

In forge, everything is variable <mark>on the fly</mark>. The fact that we even have an in-game editing tool that you don’t have to compile, build (code wise), and switch from editing engine to game engine (all of which is very time consuming) is nothing short of awesome.

I agree with just about all of what the OP sead and I like this one too:

> Hardlight bridges and buttons

… but I would like to see something more like movable objects the way UnrealEd worked, where you place an object (like a 2x2flat block) and a button, attach the button to the block (like a tag name) and select the start/finish segments defining the movement and finally adjust the speed at which it moves (object tag traits). Just an idea.

13

Forge Island is awesome so far. I can’t wait to see what they will do with forge in Halo 5. I’d like to see
-Day/Night Effects
-Weather effects
-Palette swaps between UNSC, Covenant, Forerunner, and Flood
-Better altitude controls while moving objects
-An even more precise coordiniate system
-More pieces, old and new, I miss some Halo 3 pieces
-Increased budget
-Bigger gravity zones
-Sound effects
-Undo button
-A giant flat open space where you can just grab the ground and drag it up and down to edit the terrain

14

Undo and grouping are surely needed.

15

> First off, let me thank 343 for finally giving me TREES as useable objects in Forge World.

both of those were in Reach.

16

I’m sorry, but…

Halo’s forge will never top this.

17

> Hardlight bridges and buttons

Hardlight architecture, vehicles, and deathtraps. Gravity switches would be awesome as well.

Just to hijack a bit… as with any game, customizability strongly correlates with longetivity. If you want something to last long, I would suggest that beyond ranks and progression, it needs a system to channel creativity and expression. The fact that forge has not made any significant gains over the last 5 years is a travesty. All of the op’s brainstormed ideas should have already been implemented. Forge not only needs to be a factor in the next gen. halo, it needs to be the focus now that it’s been ignored for so long.

18

> > First off, let me thank 343 for finally giving me TREES as useable objects in Forge World.
>
> both of those were in Reach.

Trees were in Reach, but were implemented by 343 as part of the anniversary map pack, where you couldn’t really forge and yes, Reach had Forge World, but it was covered with bumpy terrain that you couldn’t really work on well, whereas Forge Island has 3 flat pieces of land, all differing in size. So far, seems just a slight bit better.