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Hey guys so this has been in the works since like the end of April but a lot of time was taken with finals and then sheer laziness got the best of me at times. But I think posting this today has a lot more purpose in it than if I were to post it at the end of last month. So here's @Maestro: DD: "MAESTRO! Glad you agreed to this! Let's start with a little background here: What's your experience with Forge in Halo?" M: "Oh boy, you're starting off with the tough questions, aren't you? Anyways, I started tinkering around in forge back in the days of Halo 3. I didn't make anything worthwhile; all I did was hide power weapons in places that cannot be reached or add teleporters to areas that are otherwise inaccessible via the turret glitch. When I did try to make a map on Sandbox, it was usually an obscenely difficult racetrack. Keep in mind I was only 14 at the time, so map design was not my forte. And designing minigames...? Pfft, forget about it! When Reach came along, I actually tried to make something cool. There's a plateau war map sitting on my Xbox hard drive right now, where you have to shell the other plateau using tanks or sneak over to the other side. I also tried making maps where you had to explore all of Forge World to find power weapons and opponents. But again, none of this stuff was ever released. And then Halo 4 appeared. This game, in conjunction with seeing some of the cool things that THFE showed off, convinced me to make something and actually release it. Although my very first map is long gone (the remake was the subject of my 500th post), it's still the first game where I released my finished products. And... well, you can see where pursuing the art of forge got me. " DD: "That's great stuff! I've been following your work for some time actually and I've even featured one of your map packs in the old WSW. Switching up, Locke or Chief and why?" M: "I think it was Fort Leonard and Synergetic RS that got featured, right? Anyways, I'd pick the Chief. His dialogue in the trailer had a lot of power, and you could also hear a bit of the traditional Halo choir theme we're all familiar with. Locke... I can't quite put my finger on it, but his trailer just didn't have the same impact. I blame nostalgia." DD: "Yes it was exactly those two that were featured. I think a Fort Leonard remake is in order when you get an Xbox One. But I gotta agree with you I'm a Team Chief guy as well but I really like what 343 is doing with this campaign. Have you been following Hunt the Truth? Do you think that story will be telling of Halo 5 at all or do you think it's a waste of time?" M: "I haven't been following Hunt the Truth. But I think it will fill in some plot holes that Bungie left behind in Halo 2 and perhaps Halo 3 (which there are a lot of if you didn't read the books) and shed some light on what humanity thinks of the UNSC's actions. And obviously, it will also build up a lot of hype and anticipation for Halo 5." DD: "I think it's already doing a good job of that to be honest. So which Halo would you say had the best Forge?" M: "I haven't tried forge mode out in MCC yet, so my current favourite is Halo 4's forge. It introduced magnets, which made lining pieces up easier for the most part, and also had a variety of mods available. Were it not for a modded King of the Hill gametype that enabled the parent-child attachment feature, the remake of Halo Gear Solid would not have been possible." DD: "I think Halo 4's Forge was very user-friendly. It wasn't perfect but I played the best customs I've ever played on including any minigame by Charles Stoot or competitive maps from the Meet Your Maker Contest Infinity Slayer Forge Contest along with other maps by Forgers. It is arguable that Reach actually had better customs I've heard. Which game had better custom games in your opinion?" M: "Excluding mods, I would say Reach had the better custom games, since there were more built-in options to alter gametype settings and the like. Including mods, Halo 4 wins. Prior to the release of MCC, 0iah did a great job of showcasing what the modding community was up to." DD: "0lah is someone I've played with and talked to before, he makes really good videos. It's good to get your insight on these kinds of things Maestro. Are there any Forgers whose work you especially admire?" M: "I would say Charles Stoot and my fellow forge group member Zandril. Charles makes great minigames and Zandril makes amazing competitive maps. Delpen's work is also pretty good! He's made some interesting competitive maps as well. Other than those three, most creators of interesting maps tend to not release anything else and are one-hit wonders as a result. It's unfortunate, since they have the potential to make more great maps. But there's nothing we can do as a community other than give feedback and wait patiently for their next map." DD: "I totally agree and I actually didn't know Delpen Forged! So as a member of our Forge Group, do you have any interesting plans to execute in the future when you get MCC that you're willing to share a little info on?" M: "Sorry Dan, that's classified." DD: "Maestroooo ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°). Ok then could you fill in some readers on how the Teleforge 2.0 works? I think people have seen it but might not know exactly what it is." M: "For full details on Teleforge 2.0, I'd recommend checking out the thread. But basically, it's a Halo 4 community forge project where everyone puts a few pieces in at a time. For example, I would place 10 blocks, then Zandril would place 10 walls, and RSR would place 10 bridges. The three of us would keep placing pieces down (structure, scenery, gadgets, weapons, and spawn points and objectives in that order) until we have a finished map. You can put any combination of whichever type of object is being worked with at a given time, as long as you do not place more than 10 pieces down." DD: "The TeleForge has always been a great idea in my opinion since it started as Slik's CFP because it's like a Community Event on a different level. You're working together on a project but not in each other's presence. The collection of additions is a nice surprise when it comes back to your turn. So if you've noticed, your name was the first to officially be listed in the candidate for nomination in the upcoming USF so congrats on being in the race! What do you think of the USF Elections as a whole?" M: "It's all good fun so long as no one gets hurt... by that, I mean it's fun so long as there's no moderator intervention because people act childish and insult each other." DD: "Spyro's actually had to implement rule and policy updates because of things like that occurring in the past. He makes them a point by capitalizing them in the beginning of each thread. Unfortunately it's necessary. Glad I got your two sense on that topic Maestro but it's time to wrap up and post for the community. So what are some words of wisdom for our enthusiastic and involved readers?" M: "Live long and ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°), and... this world is made of LOVE and PEACE!" Thank you Maestro, thank you readers, thank you . Maestro is up for United States of the Forum Presidential nomination against USF General Fishy and Ash the Strong. Keep an eye out for your Forge Group members on the site. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°).