objective questions and some general ones

Objective settings:
1. Anything is an oddball spawn, you just need to adjust the gametype label which is under advanced settings. These labels are dependant on which gametype you load in forge.
2. See above. You need to set the flag stand to 'attackers/defenders' and then the label to 'flag_spawn'
3. See above. Gametype label to 'ball_spawn'.

General Questions:
4. Phased objects will go through other objects, fixed won't. When placed however they act the same, eg, do not fall but stay in place.
5. This is complex and requires a lot of explanation of which im not that familiar with myself. However, this guide is still relevant as the mechanics are basically the same: Spawning Guide
6. See above.
7. Shape simply refers the area of effect an object would have if it were an objective, eg hill, capture zone, etc. like i mentioned before, by changing the gametype label, anything can be an objective.

Advanced options:
8. Think of how hills can spawn in a fixed order. This is what that setting accomplishes.
9. No idea. I dont believe it affects anything in game.
10. Symmetry and assymtrey defines a maps layout. Symmetry, such as in Haven, means that their are two halves the same in layout. Same weapon spawns, respawns, objectives, etc the same. Assymetry, such as in Blackout (Halo 3), dont have the same layout either side.
11. Maximum is how many objects of that kind can spawn. Minimum is how many have to be on the map. They increase as you place more of that kind.
12. You need to set the respawn time to a set amount. This is located under the advanced settings.
13. Does not work. Everything from the 'structure' palette are fixed in place when to spawn them.
14. See 12.

Just let me know if something still doesn't make sense and Ill shall expand in further detail. Also to anyone who is still answering the questions, you just got Halo'd!

 

10. I don't think he meant what is an assymetric and a symetric map. I think he meant the symetric-assymetric option that is in the advanced options (I'm not sure if it is in this section) of each object. Me too I would like to know what it is ;P

 

My bad. I think that has to with the gametype and whether or not its an asymmetric gametype or a symmetric gametype (2-Flag). It just defines if that object will spawn or not depending on the gametype.

 

It seems logical. Thank you for this quick answer!

 

I would suggest that you do not follow that guide. Here is a brief summary of the zones.

The spawn zones are static influences that encourage spawning. If you use a Weak Respawn Zone to cover a set of Respawn Points, those Respawn Points will be favored when a person is spawning. A Respawn Zone will provide 14 times more favoring.

The Weak Anti Respawn Zone will discourage spawning on the Respawn Points in its volume by the same amount as the Weak Respawn Zone encourages.

The Anti Respawn Zone will discourage spawning twice as much as the Weak Anti Respawn Zone.

These zones are used to tell the Spawn Engine which Respawn Points are safer/desirable to spawn at, or more dangerous/undesirable to spawn at. For example, if a Respawn Point is in a team base, it will be safer (because it is inside the base) or more desirable (because it is in the team's base) to use it than a Respawn Point in the open. A zone can be assigned to a specific team and thus only affect that team's spawning.

If you look at the maps that came with the game, you will see that Respawn Zones are used to surround a team's flag and assigned CTF game type labels and team assignments. For example, the red flag is surrounded by a red team assigned Respawn Zone with a CTF related game type label that is active when the flag is on the stand. There is another that is active when the flag is off the stand.

There are also Anti Respawn Zones that surround the flag to discourage enemy players from spawning near your flag, or anyone from spawning in a Dominion base. These are examples of how to use them. There is a flaw in the game, and I won't go into it. If you want to design for CTF, there is more I would go into than this.

It turns out that the Spawning Engine for Halo 4 works exactly as it does for Reach (it is the same spawn engine). But that the zone weights have been dramatically altered. Instead of the Respawn Zone being so large that nothing can overcome it, its weight is reduced to a mere 14 times stronger than the Weak Respawn Zone. This new weighting introduces a problem seen in match making CTF games where you can spawn at the enemy flag - a spawning behavior that should NEVER happen in CTF.

 

so it basically just increase or decrease the probability to spawn in a specific zone.

how could the enemy spawn in your base unless you put spawnpoints for them there??

 

It's because if you place any object down when set to normal physics, that object will be moveable for a few seconds after it is placed. Wherever the object is moved to in these few seconds is where it will spawn from then on. To fix this, set the object to Fixed or Phased physics whilst placing it, let go when done and then set it to normal physics.

 

Let's simplify the map so that the answer is easier to follow... Let's say red team has Respawn Point A covered by the red team Respawn Zone, blue team has Respawn Point B covered by a blue team Respawn Zone (yes, there will be many points on the map, but let's just say there are two for now). Let's say this is CTF 1v1 to simplify the dynamic influences to only one enemy proximity.

If blue is in red zone within 10 units of A, red will not spawn at A, since its weight will be about -6 compared to B's weight of 0.

In other words, Respawn Zone = 14, enemy proximity = -20, so A will have a weight of -6, but B will have no influences applied to it for red team, so it will be 0, the higher weight. Remember, blue team Respawn Zone applies a +14 to B only for blue team. For red team, B has a weight of 0.

All of this implies that the Respawn Points are neutral team assigned and can be used by anyone.

If A were assigned to red team and B were assigned to blue team, then red would have no where to spawn but A regardless of its weight, because there would be no other Respawn Point to choose from - no other Respawn Point available to red team would be available to be higher weight. If you assigned teams to Respawn Points, you never need zones to define where the team spawns, but only for favoring (nudging, feathering, etc.).

none of the 343i maps that I know of use team assigned Respawn Points. This is why CTF breaks - the Respawn Zone is not strong enough to keep a team spawning on their end of the map, and the points on the other side can be used under extreme conditions. these extreme conditions are actually known and I heard there are articles written on how to spawn your team mate at the enemy base in CTF.

 

then that's fine since I use colors for team modes. I set the label for neutral spawns to free for all. and I set it to team for color spawns.