Halo 4 Forge Improvements

I'm new here, and I'm sure that this has been posted over and over again, but I do want to see newer and better things in Forge 3.0. I'm a game developer and designer, and got a lot of inspiration from playing and watching Halo's Forge. But, after getting my hands on UDK and Cry-Engine 3, I can see that there are a lot of improvements to be made. But first, let's see how forge improved from 1.0 to 2.0

Version 1.0, from Halo 3, had quite a basic, but easy to use, layout. Everything was displayed in a neat "box", though minute movements and large-scale construction were rather hard to do. This, of course, didn't stop good forge maps and redesigning of older map templates, though it was rather hard to make. Maps like Foundry and Sandbox (If I can remember right.) made this easier, and provided an easier and more clean slate on which to draw on. However, even with a blank slate and easy to use layout, there were 2 problems -- clunky and slow movement, and a somewhat limited amount of object placement. Even so, one of my favorite features of Halo 3's Forge, was Sandtrap, which allowed use of the 2 Elephants, as well, as a wide range of Vehicles, giving a sense of a mass-scale war. this was a feature that could be taken complete advantage of, and plenty of private forge maps captured this image. This has been something that has been rather difficult to do in Halo: Reach, regardless of the huge map.

Halo: Reach's Version 2.0 of Forge saw major improvements, with easier object rotating, a 3-dimensional grid that would allow for both minute movements, AND a base for building seamless (Literally, seamless.) maps that could be placed just about anywhere in a vast sandbox, Forge World. As well, the layout had evolved into something a little easier to use, with a quick layout for getting the object that the forger wants. This was truly, the best version of forge world.

But, of course, these aren't the only 2 map development tools. I currently use the UDK, a development tool for building mobile and console games. To start off, the layout is simple enough, though the learning curve for it would throw off most developers. However, there are features within this that aren't in Forge 1/2.0, but are actually really basic, such as --

*Cut, Copy, and Paste tools for Objects/Actors.
*Object Scaling/Object Scaling on 1 axis (X, Y, Z)
*The ability to edit and create terrain.
*Absolutely no limit in the amount of objects placeable
*Occlusion Culling (Not rendering what the player can't see.)
*Much, Much, MUCH more.

Of course there are more of better features in a program like this, but this is designed for game creation. However, this doesn't mean that features like the ones shown above should be neutered or not be available at all to a forger. After all, there are plenty of amazing forgers on this site, most of whom can do much better than the Forge's targeted audience. All we need, are better, stringer, and faster tools.

As well, forged firefight missions, don't have any reason to not be. There is something, known as Nav-Mesh, which is everywhere that an A.I. can walk on. This was a feature used in Fallout 3, where there was just so much area, they couldn't even begin to make all the A.I. Nodes. Of course, this meant that numerous glitches occurred. Even so, imagine if Bungie applied Nav-mesh for, say, Forge World. Even if Reach used A.I. nodes, the Nav-mesh could easily be converted into A.I. Nodes, and still have the same effect. Even better, the Nav-mesh (and, subsequently, the A.I. Nodes.) would change and bend to whatever the player places, without the player having to change them manually.
But, what about locations where enemies could be dropped off? Where would we place snipers? Where can we place an enemy Vehicle? if we want an enemy vehicle? All of these would have to be answered with manually added way-points and markers, much like we do with spawn points in both Halo 3 and Reach. As well, what spawns can be controlled using either out of game setting, (Like we do in Halo: Reach's Firefight.) and with customize-able features, which would decide the range of fire, weapon, and enemy. If we really wanted to, we could manipulate the health or damage of the character, though difficulty levels could be changed as well. Unless, of course, we could tie in Firefight with Multi-Player for whatever reason.

As well, different skins should be added in the next installation of Halo's Forge. Of course, there is the Forerunner skin, though there could be so much more. If we could add Ambient Occlusion, a shading feature, and a primitive, but universal "Normal Map" (a map that affects how light interacts with the object.), We could easily make every piece have it's own unique look, but still be able to adapt to whatever the forger desires. As well, on-texture painting would help a lot, with the ability to add stow to the top of a forge object.

And what about different lighting techniques? a way to manipulate vehicles to change speed, weaponry or something else? Why not add a water line, so that we can give our custom maps oceans and lakes? All of this can be completely possible, and can be mapped perfectly unto a controller, giving us the best we can possibly have to forge. We CAN have these features, and a lot more. What we need to to, is ask.

The features I'd like to see in Halo 4's Forge 3.0, are --

*Cut, Copy and Paste.
*Scaling for ANY Object.
*Editable, Carve-able terrain.
*No limit to the amount of objects place-able. (Lag be damned, we have...)
*Occlusive Culling. (Not really a forging feature, though it helps with lag.)
*A "Water-Line". (So that we can have water and terrain.)

*A texture editor. (For applying snow, sand, earth, grass, and other textures directly unto a surface. To avoid tessellation in the textures, we can apply a randomized generator, so that multiple textures are blended randomly.)

*More Objects. (I'd like to see a wider variety of covenant buildings, as well as other scenery that wouldn't have every map look the same.)

*Vehicle Manipulation. (For example, changing the turret on a Warthog, or placing AA turrets on a Wraith.)

*Forge-able Firefight. (Seriously, why not?)

*Scarab. (The Scarab, having a terrain and items that can be tuned to fit with it, would be a very, very interesting addition to the multiplayer and firefight experiences.

-A.D.

 

Thanks for the reply. Bump.

 

Pyro, thanks for directing me to the wishlist. Though, none of my improvements are on that page.