You WISH you had've known

[emeraldriver]

Hi guys and girls, ladies and sirs, dinosaurs and ponies, and all manner of FORGERS.

 

I'm looking at breaking in to the Forge scene, having never, ever actually pressed that option, and I was wondering;

What do you wish you had've done first?

What do you wish you had've known sooner?

What tools/templates have worked best for you, and what should I avoid or not bother with?

What did you imagine YOUR first map/game type to look like, and how did that turn out for you?

 

Any other tips or tricks that you can compress and digest would be greatly appreciated!

[Admiral Ackbar]

Personally I think you decided to break into the Forge on a good game. The Forge in Halo 4 has been improved in a lot of ways. Again this is just my personal opinion. There are a lot of people who would disagree with me. Here's some basic advice, I'm no Forge expert but I enjoy tinkering with it from time to time.

 

1) The best way to learn is to jump into it. Dive head first and have fun.

2) It's best to go into the Forge with a general idea of what you are trying to accomplish. Are you working on a specific map for a custom game type? Or are you just trying to improve a map for a general Slayer?

3) Patience. It can be really frustrating to use the Forge. To line up all the pieces can be a pain in the butt. But worth it when the map is finished.

4) Forge with a friend. Someone who won't just delete your items, and who can build off your creative designs.

 

I know it's not a lot, but those guidelines have really helped me. Happy Forging!

[emeraldriver]

Cheers Adam!

 

I play with a few friends who build and play all sorts of customs, so I reckon I'll jump in with them.

One kiwi in particular makes really, really fun game types, originality seems to be key and I was so impressed I decided I had to get involved.

I was worried about diving in, due to not having ANY clue, but if you suggest it, I just might have a dip at it!

[Admiral Ackbar]

It's Admiral.. not Adam. haha. No harm done.

 

Like I said before, diving in is the best way to learn. If you have some friends who are into it already, even better. They can show you the ropes. Teach you all the tricks the Forge has to offer. I'll have to keep my eye out for some of your maps!

[emeraldriver]

Admiral. That's embarrassing... Lol.

[Admiral Ackbar]

It's all good. My friends and I play some custom games quite a bit. So if you're ever looking for someone to try out a map or gametype. You can add my GT and I should be able to get some people to play it.

[zeman97]

Congrats on going into forge! I first started forging in Halo 3 and I remember my first map being a kind of "Defend the Hill" Type on Valhalla and although it was very basic in both forge and gameplay, I recall me and my brothers having tons of fun on it. The point is that even basic maps have the potential to be very fun maps.

 

One tip I have for you is this - don't be afraid to look at other peoples work and see how they did things, you might discover a new way to make a hallway that you would have never tried before. Also don't be afraid to dive in, I remember on Halo: Reach one of the first things I did was gawk at the new features (Phasing was a breakthrough, as well as coordinates) and then I built random maps with my family that had no other purpose than to be fun to mess around on, as I slowly figured out more and more of the ways of doing things, i began to create actual competitive maps.

 

Send me an invite if you want help with anything and as always, Happy Forging!

[emeraldriver]

Ok guys, help caps on!

 

I added you both by the way, come race.

 

Yeah, race! My first map is a variation of Ravine.

It's called Wild 'Goose Chase.

 

The concept is based off the Rocket Hog Race that you could find in Multi Team on Reach.

2v2, 4v4, 2v2v2v2

First to 15 caps (random spawns, instant and non delayed or overlapped), in the ring for 1 sec.

Mongooses are indestructible, Spartans invincible whilst on them.**1

Loadout is a rail gun and a plasma pistol.

 

I've edited Ravine a little, both for the pleasure, and the 'race' feel I'm going for.

One half of the map is tight, hectic racing, the other half more open and built for the courageous who dare to speed and take shortcuts.

It also ventures into that forerunner structure up top, I built a 2 lane bridge that has a better option going up, which is the worse option going down, and on the other side of the map I have a teleport setup.**2

 

I'm really not confident with the spawns, or a few other technical bits, and I'd really like some help if you could join me at some stage. I don't have a microphone, but I do have a headset, so I can follow instructions... Lol.

 

1** although this is how it was in the Reach version, I couldn't actually find an option for this.. There is an option to set vehicles to indestructible, but would that make the Spartans on them invincible as well? Or is this not possible?

2** I have the framework for a teleport, but it doesn't have any sort of slip space in it, it doesn't do anything, I need that fixed, and can mongooses go through teleports anyway?

 

I've tested it myself, and I had fun. By myself. I really think I've come close to setting up a map that positively compliments the mongooses driving style, and to add the carnage of a rail gun, racing, and indestructibility is something I can only hope eventually becomes reality.

 

Join me soon!!

 

[Admiral Ackbar]

Sorry I didn't get on until just now. When you're ready to try it out. Let me know. I have a game variation you might like. It's called king of hog or King of the Goose. My friend made it. It's a variation of king of the hill but the vehicle is the hill. The vehicle can't be destroyed. And if you're in the vehicle you get overshields. Everyone else has either a Hammer, Rocket Launches, or sticky detonator. It's a lot of fun.

[emeraldriver]

Sticky Detanator for me, that sounds ****** awesome.

[Admiral Ackbar]

Yeah the sticky detonator made it intense!

[OMD Cookie]

indestructible vehicles only makes the vehicle indestructible. Making the spartan invincible is the only way to give him/her indestructibility. Oddly enough, player traits carry over to vehicle traits as well, so their damage resistance is reflected by the vehicle, and their damage setting is the splatter damage setting O.o

[emeraldriver]

It's getting closer to exactly what I had in mind now...

 

The map is getting better, and better, to the point that I think I can't edit it anymore, it's done. The points are perfect, they all spawn randomly perfectly now, they ALL spawn at some point or another, I've removed the teleports and replaced them with a large leap from the structure, over the ravine, on to the other side. There are now 3 ways down from the structure, but only 1 way up. The starting loadout can now choose between a rail gun, a sticky detanator and an incineration cannon, as well as requisite plasma pistol and frags.

 

Everyone IS invulnerable, as are the vehicles, but the points are designed to be perilously close to the edge in some places, and the track itself is likely to catch you off guard and throw you off the edge anyway if you're not careful. The inclusion of the Railgun and sticky detonator will allow passengers to effectively, have caused the opposition suicide, which in my opinion is some of the funniest **** I've seen. There is also the option of the incineration cannon, which lacks the displacement power of the others, but enjoys greater stopping power from head on, and is perfect for holding the bridge.

 

I currently have the map, the game type, and 1 short video from a game I played with a friend of mine last night, loaded on to Fileshare. In this case it was 1v1, and there are a few really funny points in this video, but ideally the game is built for 4v4, or 2v2v2v2. You are able to leave your mongoose, and I've not been able to find an option that makes it out of bounds to be off the vehicle, which is originally what I had intended, but I've managed to create a map that will allow strategic use of both options:

-having a driver with no passenger who races solo for the points, while his partner stands somewhere and runs interference on the other drivers, is not OP due to the heavily reduced movement speed of anyone not on a mongoose, and the lack of a rocket launcher on the map.

-having a passenger allows a driver to have interference with him regardless of where he is on the map, and is also afforded protection from those who aren't on a mongoose.

 

A hotly contested 'interference' point is going to be the bridge. 2 lanes, it is the only way up to the structure, but there are ways down on both sides of the map. A talented (or maybe just one who created the map) non mongoose riding foe will be able to switch his plasma pistol for a rail gun at the spawn points (after taking a sticky det. In the loadout screen), and cover 1 lane with a sticky ready to blow, and the other with a Railgun.

 

Having not been able to play anything more than 1v1 so far, I'm not sure if this whole 'man off mongoose' thing is going to work or not, or whether it will subtract too much from the race. I need players, and more of them, to join me on XBL, so I can further refine this, coz **** I'm pleased with it. It's even fun to just buzz around on by yourself, capturing 20 points before the time runs out on this twisted, huge, technical race map.

 

I'll be online in about 2 hours, hope to see you there, or some time close in the future!

[Admiral Ackbar]

Time differences suck. I wanna try out your map but you're never on when I am! I have a custom gametype I wanna try out to. It's a variation of flood. The flood have the Mantis and the humans don't. The humans have to try to take down the flood with whatever weapons they can find. The map looks like a city. It's hard to describe. But it's a lot of fun.