Before I start, I just wanna say that this is my first ever post. I've been downloading/making maps for a while now without really participating, and about two weeks ago I got the red ring, the night before I had planned to upload my first map. Anyway, in my boredom due to lack of forge, I was messing around in sketchup (http://sketchup.google.com/) when I realized that by using models of forge items saved as components and a virtual model of Foundry, the community could layout maps almost perfectly in 3D before even touching Halo. So, I tried it out. I give you Sketchup forge! It's really crude, since the program doesn't render complex objects well on my compter, but I think it shows the potential of doing something like this. Sketchup is incredibly powerful, and by using components it can simulate perfect merging and geo-merging. It also has a walkthrough tool to allow a virtual walkthrough of a map before its built on foundry. It also has precise rotation tools as well as snapping grids. The program is free as well, and any forger could download object sets and blank maps easily and free of charge. I'm going to work toward developing this more, probably by starting to model blank foundry. I'll update with links to the objects and maps as they're completed. Also, if anyone else has experience with sketchup, feel free to work on it yourself and post it in this thread. I'll put it in the component set along with my items. For reference, I'm scaled so that one single box in foundry is 10 feet by 10 feet by 10 feet. I really think that with some work, this could revolutionize how the community makes maps. Thanks for listening. Peace. Black Dawn
I'm pretty sure the single box isn't a perfect cube, though. However, if someone got perfectly scaled models of everything in forge for this, this could be epic.
I saw someone else do this but with almost perfect detail. Perfect isn't always good though, it was laggy as heck. Something like this would be much better.
I know what you mean. It was a struggle to do anything on my computer besides this. The textures really drag the speed down, but when there arent any textures, the program runs smoothly. And I know its not a perfect square, but I didn't have any way of getting exact measurements. the 10 feet thing is the fact that a spartan cannot jump onto a box, but can only get up to about the top of the box. 7 foot tall spartan +3 foot max jump ( I think it said that in one of the novels) = 10 feet. like I said, not perfect yet.
That is a cool program, i saw another guy that showed his map sidebays from the top and all different angles.
mlgpro has a version of this with precise measurements but it looks like you have modeled more items than they did. They only included single+double boxes and walls, stairs, and bridges.
You are making good progress right now. I was actually thinking about doing this, but decided that it would take up time. I noticed that the fusion coil looks huge compared to your double box, you might want to rescale some things. +rep for effort though.
Whoa, this could be insanely popular. Exact Scale models of each object on Foundry would make this extremely well known, and getting more models of a map like Blackout would be LEGENDARY!! I can't wait to see what happens with this concept next, I'm already bookmarking the page to try out tomorrow.
I'm going to start making foundry tonight. I don't know about blackout though, as I can't see a way of measuring distance. And the coil is the right height, but it isn't perfectly proportioned. but it was the best I could do in 3 hours. Yeah, it takes that long.
That is a really useful template. I downloaded it the other day and putting together maps is quick and easy, no textures actually make it a bit easier to look at, I tried adding some but it just made the whole thing look a bit messy. Its not like you'll be directly transferring the sketchup map to Halo 3 anyway (even though being able to do that would be awesome).
I have seen that before, but he only has basic walls and boxes, plus his scale is wayyyyy off. he has a bridge set to 1 double box length. I'm thinking ALL items modeled to PERFECT SCALE. As for the textures, I only did that for the concept shot. the final set will come in both textured and untextured varieties.