I always wondered what certain things were when looking around in Forge, the spikes in the ground and disc's on the floor, The instructions that came with the game have only one page dedicated to Forge & searching on the net can at times become a chore. This tutorial will briefly show you how to select the different game mode's in Forge and what each item is and how it works.
In the past I had to ask Toastman how to get to these options, then I forgot - so thought a tutorial would give myself and others the info we might need and also this can act as a reference point to come back to, incase any of us forget in the future. I also copied and pased the Bungie information on Advanced Forced Options at the end of the tutorial (which I found at their site) so you can take the pictures and descriptions of each item which we have, then look at Bungie's explanation of how they work. A lot of the items can be found in Different Game Mode's and they show up under Goals which is on Page 7/7 of Forge when looking through the items on offer. Some items if deleted might re-spawn back on the map when it is started/opened, this is because that specific mode could require a set amount of items for it to work properly. Read the explanation towards the bottom of the tutorial for more info.
The best thing is to just play around and familiarise yourself with the items and the game modes, then think how you can best use them in your own Forge map, whether it be creating your own unique game mode or simply just moving some pieces around in an existing map. Now get Forging.
STEP 1
First you need to select Forge and then select a map, now click UP on the D-Pad to go into the Forge Hud.
STEP 2
Now press START & go to Change Game Type and press (A) This only works from the Forge Hud.
STEP 3
Now select the Game Type you require from the following.
Oddball / Capture The Flag / Slayer / Infection / Territories / VIP / Juggernaut / Assault / King Of The Hill / All Gametypes.
Just press (A) and the round will end and Forge will start again in the selected mode. This is how you find the items which are required for set gamemodes.
Player Respawn Point's
In Forge there are 3 different types of Spawn Point. You need to know the differences to get people or teams spawning right where you want them to be.
STANDARD RESPAWN
You can have up to 100 of these in any map, they have a pointer so you know which way a player will face when spawning. If you press X while highlighting a spawn you can then alter it's properties, press X again for info on how many are placed on the map and cost etc.
STARTING POINT
You can have up to 20 of these on any one map. They look similar except for the bright blue plasma rings above them. To know about these see the explanation towards the bottom of the tutorial, in Bungie's own words.
RESPAWN AREA
This looks like a spike in the ground, It allows a whole team to spawn in it's area, By pressing X when the item is highlighted you can determine which team spawns in this area, the area can also be made bigger/smaller. The shape can be changed from Cylinder to Box.
Capture The Flag
When you select Capture The Flag modeand go to goals you see Flag Spawn Point and Flag Return Point, these are usually found together like in the picture. They can however be seperated. You can have Home & Away flags or just one for an Assault the Flag custom game, or multiple for more then 2 teams.
Flag Return Point
This is where you take the flag back to when returning it. These types of disc are also used for other things in other modes. Again the item has it's own properties just like every other item selectable in Forge.
Flag Spawn Point
This is where you will pick up a flag when in Capture The Flag mode, use X when selecting the item to change it's properties, you can set these up for multiple teams.
Hill Marker
This is found in King Of The Hill Mode, it looks similar to the spike which is used for a Spawn Zone. This also works in the same way, in the item's properties you can dictate how large the area is by altering the radius, you can also select box or cylinder as the shape.
Territory Marker
Again this works in a similar way to the Spawn Zone & Hill Marker, except it looks the same as the Flag Spawn Point item. This is found in the game mode called Territories, you can select it's properties to alter the size/shape and order in which it spawns.
Go To Point
This will look familiar as it is used for different purposes in different modes. Here it is a Go To Point for VIP mode, this is where the VIP has to head for to score. The item has a field around it which can be changed in size and shape similar to items in other modes.
Bomb Spawn Point
This item also looks the same as items in other modes for different uses, This time it is for Assault Mode and this is where you would pick up the Bomb, use the properties to alter settings.
Bomb Plant Point
This is where you take the bomb to in Assault Mode, you plant it here. Again the item looks familiar with other items from other modes.
Ball Spawn Point
When playing a game in Oddball mode this is where the Ball will spawn, You can place these at different locations on the map. You can even dictate which order they start in from the items own options
Teleporters - Sender Node
This is an entry point into a teleportation link, it is one way - you can oly exit through this point, you never return through it. In properties you can set channels, even having different teleporters working on different channels.
Teleporters - Receiver Node
This is the opposite of the Sender Node, you can only ever exit a teleportation link through this point never enter through it, again the item has it's own properties. The pointer/facer on the Reciever is the direction the player will be facing when passing through.
Teleporters - Two-Way Node
This node can function as both a Sender and Receiver, experiment with multiple items & alter the channels to see what happens when teleporting. This item also looks the same as the sender node.
Goal Objects
Gametypes, like Oddball or CTF, have a couple of special objects, which only show up in those gametypes. These are things like flag spawns, or hill markers. These are called Goal objects. When you load a map in the Forge, Goal objects do not show up immediately. You may have noticed that the object creation palette for Goals is empty at first. This is because, by default, the Forge only shows objects, which show up in ALL gametypes.
To show objects specific to a particular gametype, you can switch Forge over to that gametype. To do this:
- Switch into Editor Mode.
- Press Start to bring up the Forge menu.
- Choose “Change Game Type”, and select the gametype you wish to edit.
The round will end, and when the next round starts, objects specific to the gametype you selected will be present on the map, and in the Goal object palette. Halo 3 needs certain objects to be on each map in order to function properly. If you accidentally delete such an object, and forget to replace it, it will be automatically restored when you save the map. So relax, you won’t break your map if you do something wrong, but you might see a goal object return after you thought you had deleted it.
Common Goal Object Properties
Goal objects have two common properties that are usually not found in normal objects, like weapons or vehicles. As with normal object properties, you edit these by placing your crosshair on the goal object, and pressing X.
- Team: This is the team, which owns this goal object. This is critical for some gametypes, like CTF, where you need to place a flag stand for each team.
- Shape, Radius, Top, Bottom, et cetera: Some goal objects have an area, like a hill in King of the Hill. These properties control the shape and size of this area.
- Spawn Order: This property is used to control the order in which certain goals are used. For example, in VIP Escort, the goal point with the lowest Spawn Order value is the first destination, followed by the point with the next lowest value, and so on.
Assault
Assault has two types of special goal objects:
- Bomb Spawn Points, which are where a team’s bomb will spawn. Each team must have at least one. Also, one must be placed for the Neutral team, for Neutral Bomb Assault variants.
- Bomb Plant Points, which are the points a team must defend from enemy bombers. Each team must have at least one. You can place more than one per team too, making their job more difficult as they will have more points to defend.
CTF
Capture the Flag has two special types of goal objects, similar to Assault:
- Flag Spawn Points, which are where a team’s flag will spawn, which they must defend. Each team must have at least one.
- Flag Return Points, which are the points a team must return the flag to after they have stolen it from an enemy team. Each team must have at least one.
Juggernaut
Juggernaut only has one special goal object:
- Go To Points, which are points that a VIP must reach to score points in some VIP game variants. There must be at least one of these on the map. The Spawn Order property determines the order in which these points will be used, from lowest to highest.
King of the Hill
King of the Hill has only one special goal object:
- Hill Marker, which is the center of a hill, and around which is the boundary of the hill. There must be at least one of these on the map. The Shape and size properties define the boundary of the hill, and the Spawn Order property is used to determine the order in which the hills move (when the game variant is set to Sequential movement.)
Oddball
Oddball has only one special goal object:
- Ball Spawn Point, which is where the Oddball will spawn. There must be at least one of these on the map.
Territories
Territories has only one special goal object:
- Territory Marker, which is the center of a territory, and around which is the boundary of the territory. There must be at least one of these on the map. The Shape and size properties define the boundary of the territory. The Spawn Order is used to determine the numbering of territories, with the lowest one being labeled “Territory 1”, and so on.
*Note that you can place more than 8 territory markers on a map, but only 8 will be used at a time. The extras are there in case you want to set a map up with different symmetric and asymmetric layouts (for example, like Valhalla.)
VIP
Like Juggernaut, VIP only has one special goal object:
- Go To Points, which are points that a Juggernaut must reach to score points in some Juggernaut game variants. There must be at least one of these on the map. The Spawn Order property determines the order in which these points will be used, from lowest to highest.
Spawn Points
When you load the Forge, you may notice glowing blue disks littered around the map, objects you don’t see when playing a Custom Game. These are Spawn Points, and are the spots where players spawn. Spawn Points of all stripes are found in the Spawners palette, and can be placed free of charge.
Respawn Points
By far the most common type of spawn point is a humble Respawn Point. These are the blue disks you see littered about. The disk has an obvious forward facing, and when a player spawns, he will be facing in this direction. It is considered good form to not point a player at a wall when he spawns. When Halo 3 needs to spawn a player, it takes into account a lot of invisible things, and chooses one of these points. You want to have a lot of these points. If you don’t, then there are limited choices for respawning, and you could end up spawning on top of a live grenade, or in the path of an onrushing Warthog. Finally, respawn points have a Team property, which defaults to Neutral. You can restrict respawn points to a specific team by changing this, but you should Not Do this—there is a Better Way, and that’s with Respawn Zones. More about those later.
Initial Starting Spawn Points
Initial Spawn Points are special. They are game specific (like Goal objects), so you need to switch to the desired gametype to edit them. They appear similar to respawn points, but they have bright blue plasma rings above them. You’ll know it when you see it. What makes them special is that they can only be used on the first spawn in a round. On top of that, a player is guaranteed to spawn there, unless it is blocked (for example, by another player). Like respawn points, initial spawn points have a Team property. Unlike respawn points, you should always set this to the appropriate team. When Bungie’s designers set up a map, they place one initial spawn point per team, and place several ordinary respawn points nearby. That way, when a round starts, one player from each team starts off at these points. And then, because of the way Halo 3 prefers to spawn players near their teammates, the rest of their team automatically prefers to spawn at the nearby respawn points.
Respawn Zones
When Halo 3 tries to spawn (or respawn) a player, it takes a lot of things into account, like where teammates or enemies are standing, if there are dangerous things nearby, and so on. We call these influences. When it is done doing so, it then chooses a respawn point for the player, based on these influences. There’s a little tiny bit of randomness, but that only really comes into play when all points are otherwise equal.
Now, when Halo 3 does this, it looks at ALL respawn points on the map. But in setting up your map, maybe you don’t want Attackers spawning in the Defender’s base. Or you want one team to only spawn on one side of the map. To do that, you want to restrict the search to only certain respawn points. And to do that, you use Respawn Zones.
A Respawn Zone is an object, which belongs to a team, and defines an area. All respawn points inside that area are strongly preferred when Halo 3 needs to spawn a member of that team. Very, extremely strongly preferred, so much so that a player will virtually never spawn outside of his team’s respawn zone (unless there is literally no choice).
Respawn zones are gametype specific objects, like goal objects, so you need to switch to the desired gametype to edit them. They look similar to King of the Hill markers, a small object stuck into the ground, with a blue plasma field, which defines their boundary. These zones have a Team property, which controls which team uses this respawn zone. You should always set this to the appropriate team. When Bungie’s designers set up a map, we often place a single large respawn zone for each team, making sure that it encloses many respawn points. Note that a respawn zone never prohibits an enemy player from spawning inside of it—they only affect the team they belong to. But if that enemy player has his own respawn zone on the other side of the map, you can be sure he won’t spawn in yours.
Make absolutely sure your respawn zone covers at least a couple of respawn points! If you don’t, respawning will be very predictable and unsafe. And if your respawn zones contain no respawn points at all, then they will have no effect whatsoever. Respawn Zones are powerful tools. Use them wisely.
CTF Respawn Zones
Capture the Flag has two special types of respawn zone, in addition to the normal one.
- Respawn, Flag Home: This is a respawn zone, which is only active when your team’s flag is safely on its stand. As soon as an enemy player grabs your flag, even if he’s killed a second later, this respawn zone shuts off until the flag is reset.
- Respawn, Flag Away: This is the opposite, a respawn zone which is only active when your team’s flag is not on its stand.
When Bungie’s designers set up a map, they might prefer to have a team spawn near their flag when it is at home, but spawn somewhere else if the flag is stolen, so that the thieves don’t have defenders respawning all around them. Last Resort is a good example of this.
Territories Respawn Zones
Territories is a special case worth noting. The territories themselves have a built in respawn zone which belongs to the team that currently controls the territory. It is invisible, and about 10 meters in radius. So if there are respawn points nearby, you can in fact spawn at a territory you control, even if your team’s respawn zone is on the other side of the map.
Teleporters
Teleporters are great. You can use them to bypass walls, cover great distances quickly, and teleport your friends into the minefield on Sandtrap. Teleporters are objects, and can be found in the object creation palette. There are three types of teleporter objects:
- Sender Node: This is the entry point to a teleportation link. You can only enter via this point, never return.
- Receiver Node: This is the exit point to a teleportation link. You can only exit via this point, never enter.
- Two-Way Node: This node can function both as a sender and as a receiver.
Each type of node has a clear forward facing. The facing is ignored for sender nodes, but used to determine the facing of the player when he arrives at a receiver node. It is considered poor form to point your receivers at walls. When you first place a teleporter node, you may notice that it is dark and lifeless. That is because there is no other node for it to link up to. For a node to activate, there must be a valid sender and receiver (either of which could be a two-way node.) Once you place the missing node, they will automatically link up and flare to life. If you want to have more than one separate teleporter link on your map, you will want them to be on different channels. Channel is a property of teleporter objects, and you can change it by placing your crosshair on the teleporter object, and pressing X. Teleporter nodes on different channels don’t link up, and in this way you can keep your links separate. You might be wondering what happens when there’s more than one valid receiver on the same channel. Simple: your destination will be randomly selected from the valid locations.
