Halo Infinite News

Forge continues to evolve in Content Update 29 (“CU29”), which arrives on January 30.

Ever since Halo Infinite’s Forge arrived, we have been continually blown away by the creativity of the community-made maps, modes, and experiences that have been crafted. Our goal is to continue supporting Halo’s community cartographers as much as possible, and CU29 aims to deliver some of the most highly requested features—new toys and enhanced tools that will help to further unlock and unleash Forgers’ creative potential.

CU29 brings with it the addition of the Covenant object palette, the new Mode Creator feature, AI Toolkit enhancements, along with additional quality of life updates, and more!

Read on below to learn more about the latest update to Forge, and check out some of it in action from our stream last week.

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[h2]Covenant Dance[/h2]
“When we joined the Covenant, we took an oath…”

Since Forge’s arrival in Halo Infinite, we’ve continued to build on making the object palettes and aesthetics of the Halo universe available to the player—from the UNSC, to the Forerunners, to the Banished… and now, CU29 will update that list once more with some fashionable purple pieces.

The Covenant palette is coming to Halo Infinite!



Over 70 new structures pieces, primitives, accents, and decals will be available for Forgers to create exciting experiences that harken back to Halo’s roots. Let’s take a look at some pretty pictures of those objects…



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[h2]Forge Mode Creator[/h2]
The Forge Mode Creator is a new functionality that lets players script modes in the Node Graph, then save, share, and play those experiences—just like you’d share a mode created in the Custom Game menu.

Our goal with the Forge Mode Creator was threefold:

• Make it easier for modes to be shared and played
  
• Make it easier for modes to hook up to community maps (and vice-versa)
  
• Free up map budget, as mode logic will no longer come with a map budget cost

We have created new assets in Forge to enable this: the Mode Brain and Mode Prefab.

[h3]Mode Brain[/h3]Similar to a Script Brain, but this is specifically used for Forge Modes. This can be accessed in the Scripting section of the Object Browser

[h3]Mode Prefab[/h3]A Prefab dedicated to holding Mode Brains

[h3]Mode Brain[/h3]



Here’s how the Forge Mode Creator works:

1. Create a Mode Prefab Out of Mode Brains: To create a Forge Mode, the first thing players should do is place two or more Mode Brains and then create their mode in Node Graph with them—players will need to create a Mode Prefab out of the Mode Brains that contain the scripting for your mode. With multiple Mode Brains selected, bring up the Action Menu and select “CREATE MODE PREFAB.”
   
   
   
   Mode Prefabs function similarly to object prefabs, but these can only consist of Mode Brains. Conversely, regular object prefabs cannot use Mode Brains.
   
   
2. Mode Prefab Settings: You can cycle the parent Mode Brain in the Object Properties menu after selecting a Mode Prefab. Since the Node Graph loads the parent Mode Brain when going into it with a Mode Prefab selected, this will allow you to control which Mode Brain scripts you want to edit after you have created a Mode Prefab.
   
   The Mode Variant value is important as it tells the game if you want to create a mode based on existing official mode logic or want to build all the logic from scratch by selecting Minigame.
   
   
   
   
3. How to Save Mode Prefab to My Files: After creating a Mode Prefab, there is one more step to actually create the Forge Mode. With the Mode Prefab selected, open the Action Menu and select “SAVE MODE PREFAB.”
   
   Saving a Mode Prefab does two things:
   
   • Saves the Mode Prefab (the Mode Brains)
   
   Saved Mode Prefabs can be found in the Object Browser – Modes category, where you can place them in a map and then edit in the Node Graph.
   
   
   
   
   • Saves a Forge Mode based on the logic in the Mode Prefab’s Mode Brains
   
   Saved Forge Modes can be found in My Files and the Custom Game Editor Mode List. After saving a Forge Mode, you can then publish and/or play your Forge Mode.

NOTE: If you want to create a NEW Mode Prefab from an existing Mode Prefab, break apart the Mode Prefab FIRST and then create a new Mode Prefab from the ungrouped Mode Prefab. Ungrouping a Mode Prefab breaks its connection to the saved Forge Mode and Mode Prefab.



With this approach to mode creation, we can’t wait to see what the community is going to create with this new addition to Forge!

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[h2]Material Swap[/h2]
Another highly requested feature from the community is material swapping for foliage and decals, which is another improvement added to Forge in CU29.
[h3]Foliage[/h3]
Players will be able to adjust up to three colors on select foliage objects to add a greater variety of visual flair for their creative vision.
[h3]Decals[/h3]
Players will be able to mimic stains, foliage overgrowth, and other forms of discoloration to add more set dressing to their creations.

[h3]Halo Infinite Material Swaps[/h3]



This opens up even more artistic options for Forgers when adding layers of detail to a map.

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[h2]Forge AI Toolkit[/h2]
The Forge AI Toolkit made its debut with Season 5, and in CU29 we are continuing to update and enhance this feature to help build the best experiences possible with Halo Infinite’s AI units.

[h3]New Squad Behavior – Wander When Idle[/h3]
Wander When Idle is a new squad behavior available on the AI Spawner object. When set to ON, AI units in this spawned squad will wander around their assigned AI Move Zone when idle, which will make them seem a bit livelier.

I don’t know about you, but I could spend hours watching Grunts waddle around!

[h3]New AI Trait Nodes[/h3]
Players will have the ability to give AI units certain traits which can help to spice up those campaign-style and PvE experiences you have been building.

AI Traits include:

• Bonus Health
  
• Bottomless Clip
  
• Damage Resistance
  
• Health Recharge
  
• Movement Speed
  
• Movement Speed With Turret
  
• Prevent Weapon Firing
  
• Vampirism
  
• Weapon Damage

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[h2]Quality of Life Improvements[/h2]
[h3]Improvements to single axis selection on both the scale and transform widgets[/h3]
It’s now easier to grab a selection axis of the movement and scaling widgets when using a mouse
[h3]Added "On Player Infected" node to Node Graph[/h3]
This event node fires when a player is infected and returns both who got infected and who did the infecting
[h3]Added “On Repair Field Heal” node to Node Graph[/h3]
This event node fires when a player or object is repaired. Returns the Repair Field Object, Healed Object, Healed Amount, and Full Regen Completed
[h3]Added Infected Energy Sword and Mythic Sandwich as weapons[/h3]
Some weapons are just too powerful, too terrible, and indeed too delicious to even contemplate letting folks use them. The Mythic Sandwich in the wrong hands could spell doom for the entire galaxy, a weapon more devastating than the Halo Array itself… but do you know what these are? The wrong hands!



The Infected Energy Sword and Mythic Sandwich will be available in the power spawner, weapon pads, weapon trunks, and as individually placed weapon objects.

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[h2]Future Forge Updates[/h2]
As we have said, we are committed to the continued improvement of Forge and we’ve got more to come on that front this year. Of course, we can’t just tease you like that and stay quiet—how uncivilized that would be!

Coming in future Halo Infinite updates will be a Flood-themed palette and an alien-themed palette for you to play around with. Let’s take a look!



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That brings us to the end of this Forge Overview for CU29, which is just days away from launch on January 30!

We can’t wait to see what you make this year. We’re coming up on almost thirty issues of Forge Features, which has showcased and spotlighted what is ultimately just a tiny fraction of what you’ve been building—so don’t forget to share your maps by tagging them with “343ask” in-game.

Happy Forging, we’ll see you next week!

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For more on CU29 of Halo Infinite, check out our other blogs:

• LIVESTREAM RECAP – Catch up on our livestream about all things Halo Infinite in 2024
  
• MAP OVERVIEW – Take a guided tour of Illusion, the new Arena map coming in CU29
  
• CUSTOMIZATION OVERVIEW – Get a closer look at the Mark IV Armor Core, customization improvements, and upcoming Operations

Coming to Halo Infinite when CU29 lands on January 30 is a new map: Illusion.



Illusion takes place within an abandoned and forgotten ONI black site where old experiments with recovered (and familiar) Covenant technology still remain, evoking the feeling and design of maps from Halo: Combat Evolved. Let’s take a look...

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We’re joined by multiplayer designer Cliff Schuldt to delve into the depths of this abandoned facility and explore how it came together.

Halo Infinite’s latest update brings an awesome new map to the game—Illusion. What can you tell us about it?

This map is really a love letter to the map design of Halo: Combat Evolved, where every map in that game has a kind of unique element to it—whether that’s in the layout, the location, and so on. Illusion is set at an ONI black site facility, and we really wanted to give it a unique hook to give it a strong sense of identity.

The main point of interest in this map is that its middle section has an active camouflage effect, so players who go into the center will turn invisible—we originally played around with having that area obscured by lots of smoke, but impacting the player’s vision in such a way just didn’t really translate to a fun time in gameplay.



Once we transitioned to the active camo hallway, the lore of the map really grew out of that. On one side of the map, you’ll see an active camo pyramid from Halo: CE and Halo 2 which is hooked up to still-functioning machinery, a remnant of ONI’s attempts to reverse engineer its effects. On the other side of the map, there’s an overshield cube also hooked up to the ONI machines, but that side is damaged and inactive with error messages.

Just as the Season 5 map Prism tells a story about the crystals being mined on Suban for the Needler, Illusion really showcases the secret experiments ONI was conducting around these power-ups from Halo: CE and Halo 2. It shows how this Covenant technology transitioned to the form it takes as portable equipment, which we see in how the camo and overshield modules appear in Halo 5 and Halo Infinite.

What are some of the unique features and locations of this map?

The camo hallway is the central feature, which harkens back to some of that Halo: CE design philosophy. And the ONI aesthetic, too, is something that feels unique. We have felt the “UNSC fatigue” as well at times, but—like with Cliffhanger in Season 3—there are some really cool new visual and design elements that ONI has which breaks away a bit from the more straightforwardly industrial design of the UNSC. This looks and feels like an abandoned and forgotten black site, the past is buried here.

The way we think of this map is that it has “roles” you can take on to suit your kind of playstyle. Do you want to be the person who ventures into the camo hallway to try to take advantage of the center of the map, or are you somebody who prefers to hang back and be the spotter for the team if an enemy is encroaching on your base while you play defense with the sniper? Those long-range plays can really swing the direction of a match. And you can play offensively, going around the side areas of the map or using kinetic launchers to get the jump on the enemy team.



What modes play well with this map?

This map was originally designed with CTF in mind. As a bit of a peek behind the curtain: maps are typically built with a particular mode in mind, and usually you can get a couple of modes that work well... but Illusion ended up surprising us because every mode we tested on it felt like it could have been the “origin mode” for the map.

Strongholds, King of the Hill, and Extraction were modes we particularly loved playing on this, zone control modes in general really brought out that depth in gameplay I mentioned earlier. But Oddball might have been one of my personal favorites—the camo hallway adds a whole new dynamic to how you play. If you take the Oddball into the camo hallway, you run a risky gambit of putting yourself in a vulnerable position but you’re also able to bait the enemy team if your own team is on top of their game.

And Infection... I think people are going to have a good time with that mode on Illusion. Lots of jumpscares!

I remember when you first showed me this map and I literally said “This feels like a map straight out of Halo: CE,” which you then said was very much the intent!

I’ve been a fan of the series since Halo: CE. We used to have LAN parties every weekend with over thirty people coming over, epic high school rivalries emerged from these experiences, and we really carried that feeling through to Illusion as a love letter to the game that started it all.

That’s in the design as well. Like I said about the difference between the “traditional” UNSC aesthetic and what ONI brings to the table, you have more of an eerie vibe to this abandoned space, brutalist designs with those unnaturally tall hallways, this pervading sense that your eyes might be playing tricks on you as you wonder what mysteries were buried here...

And then, in a gameplay sense, there’s a healthy verticality to it as well. Halo: CE had a lot of that when you look at maps like Prisoner, Hang ‘em High, Damnation, Chill Out, and so on. Those all had these strong characteristics, unique hooks in visuals and gameplay (especially when you think of mind-bending maps like Chiron TL-34!)

Do you think Illusion is a map geared towards a particular kind of Halo player?

During testing, one person actually said that they were having a good time on Illusion even though their team was losing! This is not a common response to that kind of situation, but hearing it was great because we want players to enjoy what they are experiencing. Winning is fun, but playing should feel fun.

Illusion is designed for both social and competitive play, we hope that every type of Halo player will find elements of this map that really grab them. It’s super rewarding when you find someone in the camo hallway and take them down with that feeling of “I got you!”, and on the other side of it you feel empowered as a player when you get to be invisible—there's just something about being stealthy and sneaky which adds a lot of fun, but it’s in a controlled area so you have to think about your positioning.

We wanted players to think about this map differently when they’re in those heat of the moment situations and make interesting choices with plentiful opportunities for risky gambits and exciting counter-plays.



We’re quite accustomed to there being fun Easter eggs on new Halo Infinite maps at this point, are there any that players should look out for on Illusion?

Every time people started exploring, we would hear “Oh, cool!” There are lots of little things we put in there that really felt like we were celebrating Halo, remembering our time with the series.

There’s a break room with some fun memorabilia. Let’s say that there are also some more... colorful elements that may prove to be key to discovering something...

And the location of this map is a bit of an Easter egg in itself, as it’s actually underneath another map in the game.

Thank you for joining us again, Cliff—it's always a joy to talk about map design and fun Halo memories with you! Do you have any parting words to share?

It’s been over twenty-two years since Halo: CE released and we are still so excited about leaning into the original DNA of that game’s design—strong identities, approachable depth, and great fun!

That’s really the heart and soul of the team’s love and passion for Halo. We’re all fans, we want to build maps which facilitate players getting to share their crazy moments at the water cooler, whether you’re just running around with your friends and punching each other or if you’re sweating with the team.

It’s been a huge honor to work on this game, but the blessing I didn’t expect was all about the people—from art, design, sandbox, community, and beyond. Getting to work with so many kind and passionate folks who deeply care about what they’re creating has been amazing, and it's been such a privilege to share these things with the fans. We hope you enjoy the map, and (as always) can’t wait to see the gameplay clips you share online!

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For more on CU29, stay tuned for the following blogs to come:

• CU29 OVERVIEW – Catch up on our January 19 community livestream which outlines the content coming in CU29 and our approach to Halo Infinite going forwards this year
  
• FORGE OVERVIEW – Learn more about the new features and improvements coming to Forge, including the Covenant palette, Mode Creator, and more
  
• CUSTOMIZATION OVERVIEW – Get a closer look at the Mark IV Armor Core, customization improvements, and upcoming Operations

Today, during our first Community Livestream of the year, we pulled back the curtain on what’s next for Halo Infinite and shared details on what’s in store for year three of the Halo Championship Series (HCS).



If you missed the stream, we highly recommend giving it a watch to get up to speed on what you can expect with Infinite’s next update, how the studio is approaching the game going forward, a few longer lead features in active development, and what’s cooking for HCS.

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[h2]Content Update 29[/h2]

Halo Infinite’s next free update, Content Update 29 (“CU29”) arrives on January 30, bringing a new Arena map, a Covenant object palette and new Forge features, a new armor core and customization rewards, and the first of three free Operations—starting with the Halo Wars-themed “Spirit of Fire.”

Stay tuned to Halo Waypoint in the coming days as we’ll take a closer look at some of the key components of this latest update:

• MAP OVERVIEW – Take a guided tour of Illusion, the new Arena map coming in CU29
  
• FORGE OVERVIEW – Learn more about the new features and improvements coming to Forge, including the Covenant palette, Mode Creator, and more
  
• CUSTOMIZATION OVERVIEW – Get a closer look at the Mark IV Armor Core, customization improvements, and upcoming Operations

Looking further ahead, we also confirmed several player-requested features in active development including “Match Composer” functionality for matchmaking, new ways to earn past customization content, updated networking model, and a new anti-cheat initiative.



We’ll have plenty more to share on these fronts as they get nearer to release but for now, we’re excited to let the team cook and look forward to these marquee updates landing later this year.

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[h2]HCS 2024[/h2]
Year three of HCS is upon us! New events, ranked updates, and new team cosmetics are on the horizon, and you can get the full scoop via the latest HCS blog.

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Stay tuned to Halo.gg and be sure to follow @HCS for the latest competitive Halo news.

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That’s all for now, but we’re excited to have much more to share with you next week as we get closer to the release of CU29 on January 30!

Until then, may you have sweet dreams of Mjolnir Mark IV armor...