Forge

Forge is a Halo 3 gameplay mode that allows for both playing and designing multiplayer maps.

Background
Forge allows players to customize maps for custom game (online or offline) use. Options include changing and resetting spawn points, weapon spawns, weapon timers, vehicle spawns and timers, vehicle spawn points, and add existing geometry to the map’s existing structure in the form of crates, boxes, fusion coils, lifts, teleporters, turrets, etc. However, you can only use certain weapons, vehicles, scenery, and equipment on certain maps, so this way you can't spawn a Hornet or a Scorpion in The Pit, for example.

The amount of items you can drop is regulated by an economy budget system. Different objects are assigned to different values. This is to keep you from overloading a map and using an excessive amount of memory. By deleting existing things off of a given map, you can actually place more things. The spending limit is merely a counter to help the player gauge how much they can place on the map at a given time; no real currency is used. Players can modify and create their versions of maps, save them and share them with their friends, but that’s only half or so of what Forge allows.

In addition to functioning as creation-driven tool, Forge is also a playspace. Up to eight players can be on a given map at a time, shifting back and forth between their chosen multiplayer model and the Forge model: a Monitor, much like 343 Guilty Spark. Players can play actual games in Forge, goof around, kill each other, play Slayer where each team designates a Monitor to supply weapons, vehicles, equipment and cover on the fly. While in Forge mode, the player can press up on the D-Pad to cycle through Monitor or Player modes. Note this feature can be changed so only the party leader is able to become a Monitor and edit the map. Once you're done with the editing you can start a party over System Link or Xbox Live and test it for flaws.

As revealed in Bungie's 8/27/07 Podcast, you can add items in Forge that aren't available in a regular match. One example is the Yellow Powerup, the alternative to the Overshield or the Active Camouflage. The Yellow Power up is completely customizable in its effects; it can cause the interacting player to run faster, jump higher, grow an overshield/active camouflage, and even change the player's color. Effects aren't limited to one or two at a time, but rather a number of effects can occur simultaneously. The hosts described it as equivalent to an "instant juggernaut." You can only change the actual properties of this custom power up via game settings.

While playing as a Monitor, a health bar is shown at the top, having about the same amount as a Spartan or Elite's. This can be tweaked as well to allow the Monitor to have damage resistance, Overshields or be invulnerable.

In the 11/2/07 update, Bungie said that an eventual Forge update will allow users to create player spaces and make someone spawn somewhere with a specific item. These will all be part of the advanced Forge options, including vehicle customization and "zones" for controlling gameplay.

Instant respawn
To set an object to instantly respawn without any wait time, set the objects minimum and maximum counts (under the object summary page) to the same number. The minimum count must be as high as it can go for this to work. The object will now instantly respawn when disturbed. Weapons are an exception, for when you pick them up, they still exist on the map. You can make an infinite fusion coil shower using this technique, or a massive pile of Trip Mines.

Remote control of fusion core bombs
With the infinite respawn tool comes a trick that allows you to remotely turn on and off fusion coil bombs, which are groups of fusion coils set to continually explode. When you have one running on infinite respawn, and it keeps blowing up, if you wish to turn it off, select the fusion coils in the scenery object list, hit X, and then set the minimum number to 0. The infinite respawn will be turned off.

Teleporter Maze
1. Make eight rooms that look as similar to each other as possible (the looks of First and Last rooms don't matter.)

2. Place teleporters and channels in all rooms in this order: (R - Receiver Node || S - Sender Node || T - Two-way Node || Numbers - Channel)

* First room: R8 S4 T4 S1   * Second room: R1 T2 S4    * Third room: R2 R2 T3 S4    * Fourth room: R3 T4 S4    * Fifth room: R4 T8 S5    * Sixth room: R5 T6 S4    * Seventh room: R6 T4 S7    * Last room: T7

3. Last room can be a good place to shoot each other, contain power weapons / powerups / equipment, or anything that puts anyone controlling it in a powerful position.

Floating Objects
In Heroic Map Pack maps, many objects will stay in air when placed there, but in other maps they need a teleporter under to not fall. (Weapon holders will also stay in air, but they aren't greatest to be used for making massive floating bases or stuff) So teleporters aren't always needed in Heroic Map Pack maps. Placing objects to form bases over the cliffs of Standoff can make for a fun rumble with your friends... just watch your step.

Three 3 ways to make a things float:

Floating objects, type 1:
* Hold a teleporter in air as high as you want. * Save the map (while still holding it.) * Come back to the map and the teleporter floats where you left it!

Floating objects, type 2:
* Stack any objects to make as high a tower as you want. * Place a teleporter on top of it. * Delete the tower below it and the teleporter floats where you put it!

Floating objects, type 3:
* Have your friend keep an object that is larger than a teleporter in air. * Place a teleporter on it. * When you have placed the teleporter, have your friend delete the object below. * Now the teleporter floats where you placed it!

Once you have placed a teleporter in the air, place whatever you want on top of it, and delete the teleporter. There you go! Floating objects!

Cool Things to Try

 * Man-Cannon anywhere - On maps with man-cannons, go into a man-cannon. Immediately after you've entered it, go into Editor mode. Fly around anywhere you want. And when you're done, go into Player mode. The game will think you're still in the man-cannon, so you'll go flying! Some players have reported being able to get out of the confines of the level boundaries with this technique, but this is still unconfirmed.


 * Warthog Launch - (See picture) [[Image:447190-Full.jpg|right|thumb|170px|Piled like this, with fusion coils and plasma batteries under it, a Warthog can be launched across Sandtrap. You may want to make the vehicles indestructible first. You can also try making yourself invulnerable and sitting in the vehicle while someone else detonates the explosives.]]


 * Elephant Flipping - Use all possible explosives on 1 side of an elephant and blow them up. Alternatively, you can simply push a Scorpion tank into the Elephant and lift it up, but the latter method can get a little frustrating. Let's face it, Elephant flipping isn't easy.


 * Magic Carpet Ride - Spawn a crate, and have another player ride on top as you move it around.


 * Explosion Mania - Create a never ending explosion of fusion coils all over the map, then play the map against some friends and see how long you can survive.


 * Monitor of Death - Be the monitor and deploy a tank, then throw it around the level and try to splatter the other players. This can also be done by spawning a radio antennae and using it like a bat. This can provide hours of amusement (or, if you're getting whacked with stuff, hours of frustration.)


 * Grenade Hold - While not in monitor mode throw a grenade, but right after pressing the left trigger press up on the D-pad to go into Monitor mode. If done correctly, the grenade shouldn't have been thrown. Then, when you see an opponent, go back into Player mode and the grenade will be thrown. It works really well with Plasma/Spike grenades, but any kind works. If you're just trying to be funny, use an Incendiary grenade.
 * Flying Vehicles - Normally if a player is driving a vehicle and a Monitor picks it up, the player is removed, but if the player is in the side/passenger/gunner seat of the vehicle they will stay in it, able to shoot as usual as the vehicle is moved around the map. This can also be done with machine gun turrets.


 * Unreachable Items - It is easy to place items in places where players cannot normally reach. This makes taunt "power weapons," power ups, equipment and vehicles an easy and fun thing to place.


 * Flying Elephant - By setting up large numbers of fusion cores and other explosives to spawn inside of elephants, it is possible to have them fly into the air, dropping explosives at random as they travel high above the map. You will need a little luck to get the explosives to continually explode. Try driving over some trip mines.


 * Obstacle Course - If you have good (cooperative) friends, it's fun to make obstacle courses. Simply construct a path that requires teamwork to travel through (like steps that require stacking to get on top of, objects that need to be in one place and need to be moved to another along a narrow path, a wall of objects that needs the force of multiple players to move, etc.) and make the starting area a bomb spawn point and the ending area a bomb plant pad. This can easily be turned into a two team race.


 * Obstruct the Windmill on Last Resort - This can be done by simply flooding the trench with large items, although it is impossible to stop the mill, the result is entertaining more often than not. If you want to get a bunch of stuff into place at once, try spawning it next to the trench and then using gravity lifts to move it into place. Use the instant respawn technique that was mentioned earlier and place some propane tanks. The mill will send them raining down, and when they hit the ground, they go berserk for a few seconds and explode. This makes the mill an extremely dangerous place.


 * Environment Battles - By making a game variant where the players' damage is 0%, "environment battles" become strategic war games. Since players can still affect the environment (such as blowing up fusion coils, lighting propane tanks, flipping large objects, etc.,) the environment is a viable weapon.


 * Block Gravity Lifts - Blocking gravity lifts such as the one on Guardian with large objects like crates is hilarious. Whether the map is used for King of the Hill or Slayer, the obstruction is either a dangerous waypoint or a trap.


 * Disable Door Shields and Turrets on Snowbound - Load the big underground entrance (the one near the Shotgun) with all the explosives on the map (use a canvas version of the map preferably) then set instant respawning Trip Mines (with minimum runtime maxed out) near the pile, throw a bunch on and let it rip, it should disable the entire shield network and even shut off the turrets! Don't linger out there too long, for they are prone to reactivating themselves.


 * Trip Mine Launch - Make instant respawning Trip Mines near a vehicle (within Trip Mine throwing range) have a friend sit in the vehicle and not move. Plant as many trip mines as possible (when the game cant handle any more, the first ones you place will disappear in a small flash of blue light). After setting all the mines you can, blow them up. This is a quick way to launch something without a difficult-to-build explosives pile.


 * Race Track - Create a race track on any map, set the waypoints sequentially and add interesting obstacles, some cool things to do include making a waypoint in midair and a gravlift jump leading to it, and making a run through a wall of explosives.


 * Target Practice - set up fusion cores above a man-cannon and have them fall at set intervals, works well on Valhalla when the trainee stands in the middle of the map with a sniper.


 * Mid-air spawning - Stack crates, or spawn an especially tall object to reach the desired height, place any objects you want to spawn in mid-air on top of the pile, then delete the objects underneath. Works perfectly to create an artillery effect on D-day maps


 * Secret Rooms - Block off a section with a tall sturdy wall, add a teleporter inside and place another one in some difficult to reach place on the map. Normally these rooms contain power weapons or multiple power ups making it a valuable room to control.


 * Outside of Last Resort - In the main room of the power plant (the biggest one) fly up to the invisible barrier and force the monitor onto a ledge high above the power drainer spawn, once up there fly towards the turbine in the back of the base, once you cannot move anymore, lower yourself off the ledge and you should be behind the fence separating the main base from the turbine. USE BOOST THE ENTIRE TIME it makes the process alot easier. It also helps to add a teleporter back there so that other players can get to it without any hassle.


 * Party Hog - It is possible to drive the transport warthog in The Pit by using forge. First set up a teleporter on the other side of the fence (if you set it on the ground it will disappear, so set it on one of the support bars on the fence) and then move the transport warthog against the fence with a large object (barriers work well) and then blow it up. When it respawns it will be drivable. It is possible to get the warthog across the fence. Be careful while in player mode on the outside of the fence since standing on the ground here for 5 seconds will cause you to suicide, this does not include standing on top of objects like the warthog, although it does include being in a vehicle on the ground.


 * Outside of all maps - Fly to the barrier and spawn a receiver or two way node, once you get it placed where it stays put, spawn another two way node inside the map and go through it in monitor mode to avoid deadly falls


 * Rocket Racing - Spawn each 2-man team near a mongoose and a Rocket launcher on Sandtrap.Make the gametype king of the hill where the hill moves [ or territories, whichever you prefer]and have fun blowing each-other up!


 * Pirate ships - have each team spawn on a different elephants on Sandtrap. Put 3-4 portable grav lifts on each elephant. Have the two teams parallel each other's elephants and use the grav lifts to board each other's elephants.


 * Baseball - have a player make as many Rockets as possible and a grav hammer not too far away (this works best on Valhalla), then have 1 player get a rocket and the other get the grav hammer. Now shoot a rocket at the player with the gravity hammer and at the last second get the player with the hammer to hit the rocket and after a few attempts you should get it out of the map.


 * Death pits - meaning placing all the explosive scenery in one spot and put it on unlimited respawns and place a respawn point over it and set it off. the result big boom and instant death (it works best in the back of High Ground). HAVE LOTS OF FUN!!!


 * Overloading a map - Place 2 Trip mines at your feet and set it so it respawns instantly. Next, get an SMG and a pistol (no dual wield) and press X and Y very fast. You will keep throwing Trip Mines. You know the map is overloaded when the Gravity Lifts don't work, certain things like the main gate on High Ground begin to disappear and the mines on Sandtrap and the cannons on Snowbound are not working either. Wierd stuff begins to happen when you overload a map...


 * Kamikaze Chief - when in Player Mode have someone stick you with either a plasma grenade or a spike grenade. Quickly turn into Monitor Mode and the grenade will disappear. While being a monitor, fly next to a player you want to give your nasty surprise to and turn back into Player mode again. The grenade will reappear with just as much time left on the fuse. NOTE: this trick does NOT work in reverse as the monitor when stuck and you change into a human and back the grenade is gone forever... Have fun with this trick.


 * Turrets and Vehicles- On Sandtrap put all the turrets and really good weapons (Spartan Lasers, Snipers, Shotguns, etc.) on one end and all the vehicles on the other end with only a few weapons. Then make all the respawn times 10 seconds.


 * Laser Tag- Delete all the weapons, respawn places, scenery, and vehicles and put in only Spartan Lasers. This may seem plain but trust me, its hard The Pit.


 * Mazes- Easier to do in Foundry than any other map, due to the amount of createable objects at your disposal, Its fun to make hugely complicated mazes that, on the outside, may seem like an unimaginable amount of objects stacked randomly, but once inside, they can be quite impressive and some of the more well done mazes can go on for hours. However, to make a maze, you must have at least a basic understanding of floating objects, stability and direction, or else your map might all fall apart if someone throws a grenade out of frustration.


 * Sky Bases- Patience and an understanding of floating objects is required in order to construct vast aerial fortresses. You can use all those ways of floating objects explained above in "Tips and Tricks. When done enough, you should have a floating fortress.  Try making multiple sky bases and add turrets, weapons, and even vehicles. Make cover ports for players to exchange fire from.  This could add up to become a supreme multiplayer match if given enough effort.


 * Flying Frenzy- Using teleporters and grav lifts, create an aerial array of objects scattered across open skies. If made correctly, a player could boost off of a grav lift, hitting a floating teleporter in mid air.  Then he could be teleported high above the map, overlooking a series of floating lifts and nodes.  You and your friends could spend hours soaring above the clouds. It would also be entertaining to delete a key grav lift directly before a player uses it, sending him hurtling towards the ground.  Some may call this "sky diving", as you can instantly dive from the highest point of an open map.


 * Reverse the Field on High Ground- Start by taking the turret that sits atop the bridge and place it so that it faces the other direction. Then complete the process by adding various crates and walls inside the base.  This may change the flow so that it may seem the outsiders are holding the defenders prisoner, controlling the outdoors and terrorizing the base.


 * Desert dogfight-On sandtrap spawn everyone without the ability to pick up weapons,but next to a banshee or hornet.The players instinct would be to get to the nearest armed vehicle.So everybody would be in an aerial dogfight, then use the "caves" on the map to pick them off from the ground.


 * Sandtrap mosaics - Go on sandtrap and put weapons in places on the sand when you think its time, go straight up and look down on your creation. (note this takes extroadinary skill and precision)


 * Put yourself in a loop- on narrows, put a gravity lift in front of each man cannon and get in one. You'll be able to attack the bridge from the air or have jousts in mid air with energy swords, shotguns, gravity hammers, maulers, or any weapons with a meele attack.
 * Trap players- on sand trap, put a sender node in the middle of the map and put the receiver node somewhere in the minefeild, preferibaly somewhere far away so players don't see it. It's assured to make people hate you.


 * automatic warthog launch-do warthog launch,only with infinite respawns


 * Elephant Rodeo- After you've loaded your Elephant with spawning explosives, (Flying Elephant) put a receiving node (teleporter) in the cockpit. Then put a sending node (teleporter) somewhere on the ground. After that, shoot the explosives that make the Elephant fly, and climb in the sending node. How long can you survive?

Trivia

 * You take the form of a Monitor (like 343 Guilty Spark) while you are in Forge mode.
 * The Elephant can not be spawned due to its size and specific purpose on maps.
 * Forge keeps track of stats and kills.
 * Created map variants can be saved and shared with the community. Also, if your creation is liked by Bungie, they will put it up to be downloaded by other players for use.
 * You are able to create teleporters with more than one destination portal; where an "IN" portal could send you to either a power-weapon spawn or a bottomless pit.
 * The idea of Forge was taken from Marathon:Infinity, which also has a map editor named Forge.
 * In the monitor form you can become invincible or almost invincible and so kill players by spawning weapons and using your human form or using the object spawning and grappling to splatter players. A player can also change into the monitor form and be used as a mobile resupplying dock or super weapon, making forge an amusing combat game.
 * Some weapons may be purchased at no cost if they were originally on the map and are not deleted. However this will leave you with a penalty making it so that you need to sell the same amount you have spent under zero to reach zero again and make money again.
 * Even when the editing mode is set to "Party Leader Only", other players may enter forge mode through the start menu.

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