Forge World

Forge World is a new map in Halo: Reach, and is the largest map in the Halo series. Set on a Halo installation, Forge World allows for the most flexible Forge editing; allowing players to create entire maps, within the larger map itself.

Description
Forge World was first revealed to the public through a Red vs. Blue Public service announcement requested by Bungie in celebration of Bungie Day 2010. This video led fans to believe that the map was a remake of Blood Gulch, but teased fans with "Go outside the Canyon". The true nature of Forge World was revealed in the Forge World ViDoc on July 22, 2010.

Forge World began development as five separate maps designed to be forged by fans. To cut development time it was decided that each map would take place inside the same skybox, allowing fans to see hints of the other maps in the distance. To make artistic development easier, a version of the map existed which allowed movement between and throughout the five levels. Because of a new system in Halo: Reach's game engine called "impostering" which allows distant objects to be drawn cheaply it was decided that it was feasible to actually allow players to play across the entire expanse of the development map. At this point, the five maps were combined into one super map later dubbed "Forge World". Forge World is a giant map - the biggest multiplayer map in the series - consisting of nine distinct areas. Five separate maps which were then combined: the Canyon, the Island, the Quarry, the Coliseum and the Pillar, and four new areas were added between the original spaces: the Coastline, the Lagoon, Alaska and Montana.

Locations
The following are locations around Forge World as seen in players HUD.

The Canyon
The "Canyon" is a semi-enclosed, symmetrical canyon in the south of the map, with a large open field and a drying river in its center. Along the edges of the canyon are several walkways and caves. One end of the canyon opens up onto the lake while the other can be ascended into Alaska. The Canyon is designed for vehicular carnage and is recommended for larger team based games. Other than an increase in size and some environmental changes this area of the map is very faithful to the original Blood Gulch, with even the simplest nooks in the canyon walls being remade.

The Island
The "Island" is a large area in the center of the map. The Island is roughly symmetrical, with a large rock formation at the center and a small bay on one side that molds this area into a horse-shoe shape. There is a small tunnel that cuts through the center rock. The Island is a designed for vehicular combat and is recommended for larger team based games. The Island was designed to be vaguely reminiscent of Sidewinder, thus the horse-shoe shape of the map.

The Quarry
The "Quarry" pocket is a small roughly rectangular grassy patch enclosed on three sides by rock cliffs with a view overlooking the entirety of the map on the fourth side. The Quarry is positioned directly above the Coliseum section of the map. The Quarry is described as about the same size as Sanctuary, with a remake of Sanctuary appearing in the Forge World ViDoc.

The Coliseum
The "Coliseum" is an enclosed area reminiscent of the Crypt from Sandbox and appears to be made of Forerunner alloys. The entrance to this area is located directly under the Quarry on the side of the cliff in the far north corner of the map. This area of the map was designed to give forgers a traditional area to forge. The entrance side of the Coliseum can be blocked off with a forge piece designed specifically with this in mind or left open to give players a view of the lake.

The Pillar
The "Pillar" is a tall spiraling column of rock stretching out of the lake in the same general vicinity of the map as the Quarry and the Coliseum. The Pillar has been refered to by Bungie as "The Rock", despite the fact that this location is named "Pillar" in players' HUDs. It was modeled after the map Ascension level in Halo 2.

The Coastline
The "Coastline" area applys to all locations along the coast where another area does not intersect with itself; because of this the majority of the Coastline area is on top of water from the lake. The majority of playable space (actual land) in the Coastline area is a stretch of beach positioned in between Alaska and the Island; this area of the Coastline features a large cave at one end and multiple spots to ford across a small inlet to reach the island.

The Lagoon
The "Lagoon" is a large sea cave positioned along from the end of the Coastline area of the map, and is located below and to one side of the Coliseum's cliff entrance. The Lagoon features three cascading waterfalls, and a large cliff face with a half-dome hollow cave reaching in. It is also adjacent to the Island, which can be seen clearly from the area. The Lagoon is also the site of Bungie Representative Urk's first Forging attempt, first entitled Jurkout, then Riptide, featuring several platforms just below the surface of the water. The Lagoon is the only area of Forge World with no traversable land (aside from the top of the cliff).

Alaska
"Alaska" is a grassy area surrounded by cliff faces on all sides. It is positioned in between the Coastline and the Canyon. A small gully leads down into the Canyon from one side of the map. Alaska and Montana are similar in their classic Halo terrain appearance. Notable differences, however, are Alaska's lack of visible terrain cliffs or edges, instead having only rolling hills (although cliffs could, no doubt, be added in via Forge). It also features scattered trees, which cannot be moved or deleted due to technical constraints on the part of Bungie. Alaska is also one of the areas of Forge World located on the edge of the immoveable map boundary, which prevents any players from truly 'leaving' the level (aside from the obvious attempts at glitching).

Montana
"Montana" is a rocky, mountainous area of the map taking place on top of a plateau. Montana is positioned in between the lake and the Canyon, forming one of the Canyons walls. Montana and Alaska are similar in their classic Halo terrain appearance. Montana differs from Alaska in appearance in that its terrain is generally more rough, rugged, and varied with fewer flat sections. The terrain is heavily populated by rocks and similar environmental pieces. It is likely that one will be able to alter or delete these items.

Map variants
The following map variants are built in map variants to be shipped with Halo: Reach. :

Forge World
Forge World is the original, empty canvas version of Forge World, ready to be edited by players. Forge World will not appear in Matchmaking as it is a blank map, not designed as a traditional playspace. Forge World is notably the only official Bungie map shipped with a game to never appear in matchmaking. Some Halo 3 maps were removed from its matchmaking after being replaced with revised versions.

Hemorrhage
Hemorrhage is a remake of the popular Blood Gulch from Halo: Combat Evolved with elements from Coagulation from Halo 2. Hemorrage is situated in the Canyon area of the map. Many interesting sections of popular Halo maps were repurposed as forge items. Forge items from the Forge World pallete are combined to recreate bases from Blood Gulch for Hemorrhage. New Forge 2.0 features allow the bases to be coloured to represent their respective teams. Hemorrhage will appear in matchmaking.

Pinnacle
Pinnacle is a remake of Ascension from Halo 2, built into the Pillar area of the map. Forge items in the shape of several pieces of Ascension were utilised to create Pinnacle, the remake of Ascension which takes place here. Pinnacle is expected to appear in matchmaking.

The Cage
The Cage is an asymetrical map reminiscent of Lockout from Halo 2. The Cage is built into the Lagoon area of the map. The Cage is unique in that it is the only built in map in Halo: Reach known to be entirely created using Forge 2.0 tools, rather than the traditional development tools used by Bungie to craft maps. The Cage is expected to appear in matchmaking.

Asylum
Asylum is a remake of Sanctuary from Halo 2, built into the Quarry area of the map. Asylum is expected to appear in matchmaking.

Trivia

 * Bungie confirmed that the events of Halo: Reach take place solely on and around the planet Reach, and thus, this map will not be integrated into the Campaign.
 * Forge World has a maximum budget of 10,000 credits; nearly seven times as much as the highest budget in Halo 3.
 * It has been confirmed that Halo: Reach's Grifball court will be placed inside Forge World's Coliseum.