I've been composing ideas along this line for a while. Really glad to see I'm not the first one to have these thoughts, though almost disappointed in myself for not getting to posting it faster. Though, I'm glad it was you, ExDeuce. This is a very well written paice, and I can see you've put even more though it to it than even I have.
I really liked Reach's Forge World, but it seemed like such a waste of assests to me. If you were playing a game on, let's say Pinnacle, the game and servers still had had to render the land around every other area of FW, like that in the Hemorrhage Canyon. I've always thought, to break things up, smaller maps would be better. Not necessarily smaller work places (I do like coming up with BTB maps), but there is no need to have the shear amount of space Forge World had. The only eimes I ever saw it whole map used was in a few racetracks or horse competitions. While cool, these things never made it into multiplayer playlists, so they should take second seat to features that actually improve gameplay.
I'd like to think back for a second to the primitive level editor in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2. The original series, before all that "Underground" crap. You could design your level however you wanted, and with a simple menu option, change the entire feel of the level by choosing a different theme. I think there were four themes, School, Park, Warehouse, and... I forget the last one. It's been, what, 12 to 15 years now? I'm lucky to have remembered as much as I did. lol.
Anyway, You could take a smaller level, something about the size of FW's canyon, and apply the same basic concept to it. You (and by "you", I mean 343i's programmers) wouldn't have to change the basic frame of the individual pieces, the physics, or anything insanely complicated. Just the external skins. And maybe the angle the dynamic lighting came from, if you really wanted to.
I really like your concepts as to what the themes could be, too. I had pretty much only though up:
Human (like Foundry)
Forerunner (like Forge World)
Standard Covenant (in the style of Heretic)
Brute Homeworld (Like Sandbox)
Now, on a note to 343i: I understand that this could potentially be a very hard task to undertake. It would take a lot of artists and a lot of time to fully render everything that would be required for such a feature, and time is getting short to get the game finished and shipped. However, I think those of us, like myself, that think Forge is one of the most impressive features about the game, would be willing to wait an extra month or two for some DLC that could feature this. I, as a so-broke-I'm-barely-scraping-by lower class citizen, would even be willing to find a way to produce an extra $20 bucks or so to purchase an whole separate program a few months after H4's release that could contain ALL these features, and possibly more. It would be a separate disc, sold stand alone to those interested in creating truly unique looking content. The support for other players would, of course, come as a free title update, adding in the ability to show the different skins. I mean, in the long run ( and I'm sorry for dropping a competitor's name in here), look at the support the gaming community showed Bethesda in releasing the Developer's Tool Kit for Skyrim, and look at the absolutely amazing stuff that has been made with it. Including Energy Swords. lol.
I don't know, I'm no programmer. But I think, with the amazing staff and team at 343i, something could be achieved. I think it would greatly increase player support for community made maps if we didn't have to look at the same old stuff on every one of them. And I'm also aware that the word "themes" has been floating around in a few different places related to H4's forge mode. So these ideas might already be underway. But again, i just don't know.
Please, if anyone can bring this little thread to the attention of someone important at 343, I really think we can greatly improve the quality of this under-used mode, and therefore overall customer satisfaction with the game.
