Forge
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
Forge is a gameplay mode introduced to the Halo games starting with Halo 3 which allows for both playing and editing multiplayer maps. While originally intended as a simple map editor in Halo 3, it has gotten more complex and in-depth in subsequent releases, allowing players to create custom geometry, script custom encounters, add NPCs to fight, and create entirely original minigames within the Halo engine.
The mode was named after the Forge editor in Marathon. a game series produced by Bungie before Halo.
Background[edit]
Halo, and Bungie's prior games, have a long history of user-generated content (UGC) creation tools. The third Marathon game, Marathon: Infinity, had a map editor tool called Forge, and was the source for Halo's Forge tool being named as it is. This is one of many allusions to Marathon found in Halo.[1] Unlike Halo, Marathon: Infinity's Forge was an external application used for creating full modded maps, and could be used in conjunction with another editor named "Anvil" which handled physics, sounds, and shape files. By contrast, Forge in Halo is an in-game editor with less functionality, but more suited for casual players to easily create new map variants.
Modded map editing continued in the Halo series with the release of Halo Custom Edition for PC in 2003. Custom Edition came bundled with the Halo Editing Kit, a suite of tools derived from the ones used by Bungie and Gearbox to develop the game itself, and was used to spur an active modding scene that created custom maps, vehicles, weapons, and levels. This tradition continued into Halo 2 with the release of Halo 2 Vista and the Vista Map Editor toolkit.
The same year as Halo 2 Vista, Halo 3 launched on Xbox 360 and with it the first iteration of Forge - the first time such a UGC toolkit was made available on console.
Overview[edit]
Halo 3[edit]
- Main article: H3:Forge
2007's Halo 3 was the first Halo game to feature Forge mode. The mode was designed for players to be able to do simple alterations to multiplayer maps; changing how and which weapons and vehicles spawn, objectives, simple scenery and cover, and similar. The mode was first revealed in August 2007 shortly before the game's launch as a facet of the Halo 3 Epsilon build,[2] and later featured in a dedicated ViDoc: Cinema Paradiso.[1]
Unlike the editing kit used by developers and modders, Forge can not be used to make original maps, but instead map variants. The original BSP geometry and lighting are left intact, and specific elements can be placed and moved as desired. Players can quickly switch from a standard player mode to edit mode, in which players play as a monitor and can freely fly around.[2][3] In this first version of Forge, maps came with dozens of objects pre-placed that had to be manually deleted by players, with each object costing a part of the map's "budget" to spawn in. Each map itself had a limited palette of objects, with some weapons (such as the Flamethrower or Fuel Rod Gun) only available on a very small selection of maps. In addition, Forge objects were physics objects, meaning that they responded to gravity and forces such as explosions.
These restrictions limited the kinds of maps that could be made in the mode, though tricks on the part of the community allowed players to overcome these issues to an extent and create experiences beyond what Bungie ever expected, including "Forge art" and minigames like Grifball. In response to this time and effort put into Forge by the players, two "Forge canvas" maps were released for the game, consisting of mostly-blank slates which allowed for greater creativity for mapmakers. The first was Foundry, released as part of the Heroic Map Pack, and later Sandbox, released as part of the Mythic Map Pack.
Halo: Reach[edit]
- Main article: Reach:Forge
Halo: Reach came with the introduction of Forge 2.0, a revamped map editor with greater functionality based on observations of how players used Forge in Halo 3. The mode was first revealed in a dedicated ViDoc, "Forge World". One of the biggest changes for Reach was the ability for players to change the physics state of an object, now allowing them to be phased into BSP terrain and unaffected by physics interactions. The ability to delete all objects on the map was also added, to make working with the default maps less frustrating. The other key feature of Reach's Forge was a new Forge canvas map, Forge World, which was the then-largest map in the entire series. Forge World was a massive map that had a large variety of environments allowing for maps to be built inside it using the vastly expanded toolset and object palette of Reach, with several example map variants included on the disc.
Reach's downloadable content expanded the Forge offerings further, with an additional canvas map Tempest, and a number of maps in the Anniversary Map Pack specifically built with objects included that allowed players to block off certain passageways or tunnels to restore the map layouts to the iterations found in Halo: Combat Evolved in 2001.
Halo 4[edit]
- Main article: H4:Forge
Forge returned in Halo 4 with several improvements from its previous iteration in Halo: Reach, though not to the same extent as the changes experienced going into Reach. The duplication tool has returned from Halo 3, and selected objects now glow green depending on what type of object is selected for better precision, preventing players from accidentally deleting objects they did not intend. The feature now supports dynamic lighting on Forge objects, enabling each individual pieces to cast shadows. It features additional tools for user for map-making such as the ability to link Forge objects seamlessly through the use of the magnet utility and adding trait zones (such as enhanced movement and gravity). Objects can be locked, preventing being grabbed/moved. More Forge objects have been added to the sandbox to provide variety to the map-making experience.[4]
Halo 4 launched with three Forge canvas maps: Erosion, Impact, and Ravine. Each map features a different environment and unique palette elements.[5] A fourth, Forge Island, was released as a free DLC later on.
Halo: The Master Chief Collection[edit]
Halo: The Master Chief Collection launched in 2014 with the Forge editors for Halo 3 and Halo 4 included, alongside a new Forge mode, that of Halo 2: Anniversary.[6] For the earlier games, the Forge modes were mostly unchanged, save for some bugfixes in the Halo 4 Forge that restored functionality like the ability to zoom the camera in edit mode. The Forge from Halo: Reach was added in a 2020 update after the game's launch on PC, with a number of updates made to the Forge modes codenamed "Thorage" (detailed below).
Halo 2: Anniversary[edit]
- Main article: H2AMP:Forge
Halo 2: Anniversary features a Forge mode, the first available on the Xbox One, though only in the reimagined multiplayer component based on the Halo 4 engine. The new Forge features several bug fixes from Halo 4, including menu polishing and adding magnet location consistency. Precision control and zoom have also been added. New features include "Snap to Ground", "Align to Ground", and "Movement Snap". Tool settings are now stored between Forge sessions. The Forge "Structure" palette is now cleaner and smoother, along with new mirrored versions of objects. Additional natural and terrain structure pieces—including cliffs and large pieces of land—have also been added to the Structure palette.[7] Three Skybox-only maps—Awash, Nebula, and