Halo Infinite News

Fracture: FIREWALL returns from June 13-20!



The final Fracture: FIREWALL week is here, giving you another opportunity to outfit your Executor’s CHIMERA Armor Core with a variety of free limited-time customization rewards.

Just like last time, there is no event-specific playlist that players have to dive into – play what you want, complete FIREWALL-themed Event Challenges, and progress (or finish) your free Event Pass.

For those of you who have already been progressing that free 20-tier Event Pass, this week is your first opportunity to finish the fight and complete all twenty tiers. Doing so will make you eligible for Season 3’s Halo Gear Reward: the FIREWALL Logo Pin.

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The Fracture: FIREWALL Event Pass is free and offers players themed, limited-time rewards for playing multiplayer matches and completing Event Challenges while the event is live.

During FIREWALL event weeks, the Event Pass will appear in your Season 3 progress menu between the Battle Pass and your Challenges. Each week, players can unlock up to 10 tiers of their 20-tier Event Pass.

FIREWALL event weeks are scheduled for the following dates:

• Week 1: March 21-28
• Week 2: April 11-18
• Week 3: May 23-30
• Week 4: June 13-20

Let’s take a look at some of the customization items you’ll be unlocking…



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[h2]Precipice, Part 4[/h2]

As FIREWALL concludes, so too does the Story Shard series Precipice.

We’ve learned more about the state of the Created in the wake of Cortana’s final sacrifice at Zeta Halo, with High Auxiliary Sloan stepping in to forge a new future for the faction in the form of the Executor.

We’ve tested your Executor’s strength against a Spartan on a mission to recover a critical artifact from Carinae Station. We’ve discovered that another coalition of AIs known as the Assembly existed, an element of the past which could shape the future of infolife.

And now, we come to the end of this phase of Sloan’s FIREWALL agendum. The time has come to learn more about who the Executor once was, and for them to awaken at last...

Read part 4 of Precipice now!

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[h2]Halo Gear Rewards[/h2]
Halo Gear Rewards are back for Season 3 and Fracture: FIREWALL!

Halo Gear Rewards are exclusive limited-edition products in the Halo Gear Shop that players can earn access to purchase after completing specific in-game accomplishments.

In Season 3: Echoes Within, players will have the opportunity to earn access to four collectible Halo Infinite pins, each tied to a specific event in Season 3.

Next up, players can earn access to the FIREWALL Logo Pin by completing the full Fracture event and making their purchase from the Halo Gear Shop by July 4 to secure the reward.



[h3]How does it work?[/h3]

Upon completion of each qualifying event, the player will receive a reward code via their Halo Waypoint Profile.

When you complete each event, simply visit Halo Waypoint online or via mobile and sign into your account to trigger your reward. The reward code will be delivered to you via Waypoint notifications.

Please note that it may take up to 24 hours for the code to be delivered after completion of an event.

Once you receive the reward code, visit the Halo Gear Shop and hop to the respective Pin product page to proceed with your purchase. The price will look REALLY high, but don’t worry!

• Add the pin to your cart and proceed to checkout
  
• In checkout you will enter the code in the “Gift card or discount code” field. Click apply
  
• The cost will update to the pin’s actual retail price
  
• Finish your transaction by entering your shipping and billing details and selected your shipping option
  
• This is a pre-order item that will ship in Q3/Q4 2023
  
• The Halo Gear Rewards items are available for purchase until the dates specified

Note: This is not the real price of the collectible pin. This is a Halo Gear Rewards item, exclusively for Halo Infinite players that have completed one of the qualifying Season 3 events. Qualifying players will receive a code to reduce the price to the intended retail cost.

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Now then, Executor, it’s time for you to combine mind and machine by donning your CHIMERA and showing those rogue biologics how it’s done.

To keep up to date on all Halo news, check out our official social channels (Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube) and join the community over on Discord.

Suit up and set fire to the rain.

Forge will be getting a slew of new updates when Season 4: Infection lands on June 20.



Let’s see what building blocks are coming into play this season!

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[h2]New Objects[/h2]
[h3]Static Water Plane[/h3]

For the first time in Halo’s history, Forge will be receiving a placeable and scalable water object. This static water plane, which is meant to help Forgers art up their creations, will provide an entirely new way to add detail and character to every map.

Chasm, no water:



Chasm water object:



Chasm, with water:



Beyond Season 4, we plan on continuing to expand Forge’s water objects with a dynamic volume as well.

[h3]Forerunner Object Palette Additions[/h3]

The visually stunning Forerunner object palette will be getting even more pieces with Season 4. A plethora of new objects and decals – of varying shapes and use cases – will be available for Forgers to use however they see fit. Whether you want to build structures that would reflect the power of the Forerunner ecumene at its peak or create fun-filled custom games, these beautiful objects will now be in your hands in short order.


[h3]Universal Blocker Object[/h3]

We currently have very specific types of blocker objects such as Player Blockers, Projectile Blockers, Vehicle Blockers, One Way Blockers, and Team Blockers in Halo Infinite. While this granularity has been extremely valuable, players have had to use multiple blocker objects to smooth out surfaces or add containment on their maps. With Season 4, we’ll be adding a new set of Universal Blockers which will block Players, Vehicles, and Projectiles. This new object type should help speed up a map’s polish phase while also reducing the budget overhead in those situations.

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[h2]Minigame Mode[/h2]

Minigame, a brand-new game mode in Halo Infinite, will allow creators to build modes from scratch. Much like Halo 5’s Minigame mode, this mode contains no underlying game logic and gives Forgers complete control of making the mode they desire.

Along with Minigame’s release, we are excited to be introducing Generic Game Mode Objects to Forge. These objects are decoupled from any mode logic, meaning players will be able to place and script experiences without being tied to a particular mode. Want to capture a hill in a CTF game? Want to gain vampire traits whenever you hit someone with an Oddball in a Slayer match? Want to score points for hurling a ball through an Area Monitor in Last Spartan Standing? We’ve got you covered.

The three objects you’ll have access to in Season 4 are:

• Generic Capture Zone
  
• Generic Skull
  
• Generic Ball

To complement the new mode and Forge objects, scripting via Node Graph will receive a few quality-of-life nodes to make common scripting tasks a little easier. Many of these nodes were requested by members of the Forge community and we were happy to get them included with the launch of Minigame.

In addition to the ~25 nodes associated with the Generic Game Mode objects, here are the new quality of life nodes being added to Node Graph:

• “Get Object By Label” – Make Object Lists without using Object References
  
• “Get Is Game Mode” – Run logic only in certain game modes
  
• “Increment Number Variable” – An easier way to Get, Add, and Set advanced number variables
  
• “Toggle Boolean Variable” – An easer way to Get, Branch, and Set advanced boolean variables
  
• “Boolean NOT” – Negate a boolean variable. By popular demand.
  
• “Global Custom Event, Async” – Run custom events asynchronously
  
• “Stopwatch” nodes – the ability to create, start, pause, and reset timers from any point in script. Stopwatches will be able to trigger other scripts based on how much time has elapsed.

All of these additions combined mean that when Season 4 launches, Forge will be able to build entirely new modes that combine multiple mode objectives into a single cohesive and entirely unique experience.

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[h2]Budget Improvements[/h2]

We’ve also heard the community feedback about wanting to have the various aspects of a map’s budget communicated effectively. We want to ensure creators can take full advantage of each system’s budget, understand it more clearly, and ultimately maximize Forge’s potential.



As seen in the image above, the new budget categories will be broken down as follows:

[h3]Global Simulation[/h3]

• The overall cost of entities networked by the game, including dynamic objects, projectiles, units, actions, etc.
  
• Dev Note: Some global systems like Audio, Stats, and Player Networking will reserve simulation memory when the game starts so they always have bandwidth regardless of what’s happening on the map.

[h3]Forge Simulation[/h3]

• The overall cost of Forge specific entities, including dynamic and static objects, prefabs, user strings, Node Graph elements, etc.

[h3]Object Limits[/h3]

• Dynamic
  
• Total
  
• Vehicles
  
• FX Count
  
• Reflection Volumes
  
• Movers
• 
  
• Animations
  
• Physics
  
• Collision
  
• Static
  
• Total

*Dev Note: These are specially marked objects that animate/move before all other objects and can have specialized physics interactions with players. Mover objects will be added to Forge in a future update.

[h3]Node Graph[/h3]

• Total: The total % of Node Graph content currently contributing to Simulation Memory

[h3]Scripting Budget[/h3]

• Each script brain has limits on how many nodes and node connections it can contain (128 Nodes, 512 connections)

[h3]Run Time Budget[/h3]
The Run Time Budget, shown in Forge Play mode, will switch to showing the runtime budget that is the fullest at any given moment. When runtime budgets are exceeded, the engine stops creating more instances of that type of entity.

Run Time Budget Categories:

• Navpoints
  
• Objectives
  
• Managed Objects (objects spawned during play but not part of the map, like weapons, equipment, grenades, etc.)

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[h2]VFX Improvements[/h2]

As hinted at in our recent Spartan Chatter episode with Forge Lead Designer, Michael Schorr, the VFX system will also see improvements.

In Season 4, VFX objects – such as placeable fires and explosions – will be able to be scaled to your desired size. These VFX objects are also getting two high-requested toggles to help ensure Forgers can use them in various ways. The new Damage and Audio output options for these VFX objects mean that they don’t always need to deal damage or play sound effects, that can now be determined directly by the map maker themselves.

Original Size:



10x Scaled:



300x Scaled:



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[h2]Quality of Life Updates[/h2]

We’ve also been working hard to bring additional quality of life (QoL) updates to your existing workflows. One update that will help players art up their maps even faster is that material changes will now affect all objects within a prefab. Previously, only the parent of the prefab would have its material changed, but now this bulk change should help convert a prefab into the desired look even faster.

Another QoL improvement is tied to the asset management side of Forge. Now, when saving a new version of a Forge map in the pause menu, players will be able to add a custom note for that version. This is extremely helpful for documenting changes made during a Forge session, especially when looking at a map’s version history. We expect this to help with personal projects as well as larger group efforts that have multiple collaborators.

Beyond these core additions, improvements, and quality of life updates though, there will also be many bug fixes coming with Season 4. Issues reported to the team via the Halo Support site are shared directly with the Forge team and prioritized based on severity and frequency. If you run into any issues, be sure to submit a ticket so that the team can investigate appropriately.

The full list of bug fixes will be provided in our Season 4 Patch Notes, which will be found at aka.ms/HaloInfiniteUpdate, when the update goes live on June 20.

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Thank you for your continued support and constructive feedback on all things Forge. Please do not stop sharing your feature requests and bug reports (and everything in between) with us. We built this tool for you, and we want to make sure it’s something you can enjoy—whether you’re Forging or playing experiences created in Forge.

We’re excited to place all of these new and improved Forge tools in your hands shortly and we look forward to seeing what you can create in Season 4 on June 20.

Rusted gray and gold, ideal for combat!



Complete all of your Weekly Challenges and the Ultimate Challenge to earn this week’s Ultimate Reward – the Tankwalker Skorpios vehicle coating for your M808 Scorpion.

A new Ultimate Reward will become available every week, so be sure to keep an eye on your Challenges and take advantage of these free rewards.

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You are a PEACEWEAVER-class Executor. The FIREWALL agendum has a new mission for you...



The Peaceweaver Bundle includes the following CHIMERA customization items:

• Peaceweaver helmet
  
• Gravehound Adaptation helmet attachment
  
• Shroudshot Augmentor shoulders
  
• Serene Manipulars gloves
  
• Defiance Protocol chest attachment
  
• Threat Shift armor coating

You have your directive, Executor. Head to the Shop and become a PEACEWEAVER today.