The first time I looked at Forge in Halo Infinite, I was like "Oh hey, cool that's... oh, holy-- you guys did
what?!”
With November already on the horizon, in just a few short months the Forge Beta will be in your hands to unleash your creativity with, dare we say, infinite possibilities.
In this four-part video series, we’re going to explore the foundational elements of Forge to get you acquainted with its tools, showcase brand new features and improvements from previous games, and provide some direct developer insight into what’s coming.
Here are the topics we’ll be covering in each video of this series:
- Building – what can I make and how do I make it?
- Scripting & Bots – what is scripting, how can I use it, and how can I test my map with bots?
- Polish – what lighting, art, and audio tools can make my maps look and sound great?
- Canvases & File Sharing – where can I build my maps and how can people discover them?
But first, of course, for those of you who may just be joining us on this great journey, or may need a refresher, let us take a moment to look back on what Forge represents as a pillar for
Halo...
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[h2]What is Forge?[/h2]
Once upon a time, matches on
Halo 2’s Colossus would begin with a frenetic rush to collect the various plasma pistols and battle rifles strewn across its lower end, and we would have to impose honor rules.
In those days, the placement of weapons, objectives, spawns, and other details of Halo’s multiplayer spaces were largely fixed – rooted in place, until they were picked up and spent, after which an invisible countdown would bring them back to be fought over once again.
But then, Halo 3 brought with it an exciting new feature. Forge began as an object layout editor, enabling players to rework weapons, vehicles, scenery, and spawns – and you could invite your friends to hop in and test out these changes live, or spend an hour trying to drop tanks on each other.
As with all creative tools, when put in the hands of the community, impossible things happened. You built Scarabs and Pelicans out of crates and scenery items. You used teleporter nodes to keep objects floating in the air. You discovered techniques that allowed blocks to intersect with each other and the environment, creating all-new maps on empty canvases.
From that point, Forge ceased to be a simple layout editor. It became a map maker, and a community of creative cartographers arose from its foundations.
Since then, Forge has been continually upgraded in successive Halo titles with new tools and capabilities to give Forgers more agency and options in what they seek to create. More objects, bigger budgets, new terrain pieces, color editing, magnets, baked lighting, scripting... Forge is
your playground, and in
Halo Infinite we’re giving you more toys to play with than ever before.
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[h2]Part 1 – Building[/h2]
See
Forge Fundamentals – Building to learn how to build in
Halo Infinite's Forge.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAwEbD5qNG8
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[h2]Part 2 – Scripting & Bots[/h2]
In our second video, we’re exploring new and improved features around scripting, node graphs, and Bot support on Forge maps.
Michael Schorr, Forge Lead Designer, and Connor Kennelly, Technical Designer, dive into the fundamentals of scripting: what is it, how can I use it, what sort of things does it enable me to do with my maps, and how has it been made more accessible from how it’s previously appeared in Halo 2: Anniversary and Halo 5? And, most importantly:
how do I use scripting to make my assault rifle shoot rockets?
Of course, as you’re building things, you’re going to want to try them out as well. Michael and Connor detail how you can test your scripts in the newly added Test Mode, and how you can also get a good feel for how your map plays with the addition of Bots—as well as the “nav mesh” which directs how Bots can move around your custom maps.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
These features are just another aspect of how Forge in
Halo Infinite is levelling up to empower you with more options to create maps with more agency than ever before.
Stay tuned for parts 3 and 4 coming soon!
