One of Halo Infinite’s anticipated features, Forge, the game’s internal map editor is coming to the next title update. Forge will be released as a beta version, and November 8 is the date where fans can get their hands on it. 343 Industries has released a series of videos called “Forge Fundamentals” displaying some of the map editor’s capabilities on YouTube.
These videos are fairly lengthy, but here is a list of five highlighted features that Halo fans should know when the map editor arrives on November 8. There were certainly many exciting features to choose from, but these should be the ones that’ll convince you why you should be interested in Forge whether you’re a longtime user or a newbie.
Scaling Objects
This one may be a simple thing to notice, but it is easily a powerful tool for a map maker can take advantage. During the video series, the developers have definitely shown off some of the capabilities that one can use this tool to their advantage. From making them look like floor textures to looking like a mountain as long the user is being creative.
It also seems like the user can take advantage of the scaling feature towards any of the available objects from Forge. Multiplayer level designer Cliff Schuldt recommends player to think outside of the box when polishing a map.
“Don’t use objects as they are intended and use them in a unique, interesting way,” Schuldt said.
Someone already made a map based on Toy Story.
A Logic System
This is not the first time Halo has allowed some sort of scripting in their Forge component, but 343 Industries is pushing it to the next level since Halo 5. During their second video of the “Forge Fundamental” series, they showed some examples of what a player can do with it. One of them was to make a player throwing a grenade to receive a certain weapon when they do so. Players can also modify existing weapons like allowing an assault rifle that shoots the same ammo from a rocket launcher.
These are some interesting samples the developers have shown, and one can easily think of all the crazy sorts of ideas for custom games. Perhaps, the day Forge is available; we might see a very interesting and different take on Halo multiplayer like how Defense of the Ancients (DoTa) was formed from Warcraft III.
Different Canvases
Old school Forge users will definitely appreciate this, but if you’re a forger from Halo 5, this should feel like home. 343 Industries is promising to have different canvases a map designer can choose from. There will be six of them, and one of them is a blank canvas which means the user have complete control over the aesthetics of their map. The other remaining five are grass-driven settings, a space-themed one, an underwater environment, and a desert-like locale for the prefabricated canvases. Every canvas will include a large square flat texture that is full of “necessary” things placed on the map. The developers also promised the canvas maps will be larger than the ones in Halo 5.
Players can also adjust the many lighting options of their world to.
Halo fans will be able to keep up to what the community is into with the community file share component. This allows the player to see what are the popular maps and modes that fans are enjoying or they can simply browse for other content like remakes of maps from other video games. Despite the file share feature is coming with the Forge map editor; there will be no custom game browser. The custom game browser will be included for season 3 stated from the developers. Players are going to have to find alternative ways to be able to play their own unique maps and modes they have crafted.
Playable Bots!
This should easily the most exciting one for Forge fanatics. For once, players will not have to play test their map with other players; they can simply do it by themselves! The way they work is they included a nav mesh (navigation mesh) feature within Forge. If you aren’t familiar with game design term, navigation mesh is basically a feature that allows the bots to play a map. This means the bots will be able to read how they are supposed to play the map by placing various nav mesh markers. The developers also stated a lot of these features are something similar they do for the official maps of the game, so players should be able to make the bots behave similarly from the official maps.
That’s what the nav mesh is going to look like inside the editor.
