Site Update: 8/11/13 Welcome to August, everybody. Everyone playing some Halo? No? Well, why aren't you? I've heard that it's a fun game. Now that we've covered the obligatory small talk, time for forum news. Prefixes. Prefixes. Prefixes. The prefix genie is supposed to appear when I do that. One of the most significant changes to the forum structure so far as been the de-emphasizing of sub-boards in favor of putting a much stronger focus on the use of prefixes to differentiate content. The end result is less places to look for the content that interests you, while making it simple to find the content you want to look at. This system is still a work-in-progress and we're still testing out new prefixes, removing bad ones, and trying to make the system as intuitive as possible. I'll give a quick run-down of the current crop of prefixes for use around the site. First up is the Halo 4 Maps & Gametypes and WIP boards. When members create a new thread, they should see this dropdown. [l-col][/l-col] [r-col]Testing is for testing lobby threads. Use this prefix whenever you want to get a lobby going to test out your or other's maps. 2-4, 4-8, 8-12, and 12-16 are pretty self-explanatory. Use these prefixes for your competitive, or casual maps that support player counts of each respective range. These are not written in stone but it should be apparent in the map design of your map what amount of players it could comfortably support. 1v1 maps would fit in with 2-4. If there is confusion about which range best satisfies your map conditions, feel free to ask many of the forging experts that frequent this staff or feel free to ask in our forge discussion forum. We're all here to help you. Remake is to be used for map remakes. Use this prefix if your map is a remake of any classic Halo map or if you're remaking another member's map or a map you made in a past game.[/r-col] [l-col]Infection is to be used for Flood gametype based maps. Use this prefix for maps that are based on the Flood gametype within Halo 4. Mini-games that utilize Flood settings do not need to be labeled as Infection (this will be changed to Flood in the not-to-distant future). Speaking of mini-games, use the mini-game prefix for mini-game maps and gametypes. Grif-ball gametypes and maps are a special subset of a mini-game and as such have their own prefix. Make sure your Grif-ball arenas are labeled appropriately with this prefix. Even though race is no longer an official gametype, that doesn't stop people's creativity and will power. Label any racetrack maps with the Race prefix. Gametypes like battle tracks should also be prefixed as "Race".[/l-col] [r-col]The Aesthetic prefix is another self-explanatory one. If your map is just meant for show and not actual gameplay then prefix it as Aesthetic. The Conversion prefix is to be used with maps that use the Conversion gametype. See how the gametype works HERE, and try it out. Dominion should be used for Dominion gametype based maps. Lastly, Gametype should be used for any gametypes that you want to publish to the forum. Whether it is for a mini-game, infection, competitive, whatever the specific gametype is, prefix it as a gametype so it can be easily differentiated from map submissions.[/r-col] In the Feedback and Suggestions board, when a thread is created, the prefix options are "Question" and "Suggestion". Use Question when you want to ask something of us staff. This can be questions about forging, site policy, anything you want within reason and we will answer it as soon as we are able. Use Suggestion when you have a suggestion for how to improve the forum or if you want to suggest a new feature or a different way of doing something that we do. The second aspect of these prefixes is that it makes filtering much simpler. As you can see in this image, selecting by prefix will filter the thousands of posts into just what you want to see. It is for this reason that it is important that all map submissions be prefixed correctly. Events Another contest? Yep, if Dominion isn't your style, why don't you look into the Free Roam Flood Forge-Off to get your fix on Flood based awesomeness. You have until August 31st to submit your maps. First prize gets: A Halo 4 Champions Bundle code OR 1600 MS points OR 3 months Xbox Live code Map Feature on The Halo Forge Epidemic's YouTube channel AND Mr Pokephile's YouTube channel Your choice of concept art of Erosion, Impact OR Ravine signed by Certain Affinity Submit your maps HERE. Do you like Dominion? Do you like making Dominion maps? Do you like winning awesome prizes? Check out the details HERE. You can submit your dominion maps HERE. Best of luck to everyone who takes part in the contest. Remember, the submission date for maps is September 6th. The date is fast approaching so get your final submissions in by then. Remember, we want your feedback here. If you have an event idea don't feel shy to suggest it here. We also aren't against members running their own contests. We'll even plug it here if your competition keeps within reasonable standards of professionalism. Community Fated's Competitive Forge Testing Lobby Our new staffer Fated is bringing his Halo Forge Lobby from The Halo Council here for the benefit of all of our members. Drop by his thread HERE and sign up for a testing session today! Still going strong is The Circle of Jerks. This group holds lobbies to test your maps and will give you some of the most honest feedback you'll ever hear (whether you want to hear it or not). Check them out in the custom games board or visit TCOJ here. Elliot has set up a service to test your Free Roam Flood Forge-Off map submissions so that they can be at their best when they are finally judged for the contest. Check it out HERE and get going playing some great flood maps. These lobbies are not the only groups in town. Feel free to schedule your own games here. We'd love to see you out there and play on your maps. Maybe your creation will be the next hit. Social Media We have big plans for our social media outlets as well. Follow us on Twitter or like us on Facebook. We will have more news about this soon but check out our Youtube Channel and subscribe to it because we will start churning out content there as well like map features, weekly shows, and more. Caption Contest [l-col]Unfortunately the caption contest is being suspended while we re-evaluate the contest and improve it. For those that will miss the laughs, don't worry, it is not going away for long. It will return and be much better. However, there is the matter of the first contest with a particular bad *** cone. Even though there were not many submissions, all of them were great, but only one could win. And that winner is Zandril! Congratulations Zandril, please pm oVR the custom title you want (please keep it appropriate) and it will be changed to that for 1 month. So no caption contest means I'll be doing another hidden gem![/l-col] [r-col][/r-col] Hidden Gem Perplex by Remember Isao Here is a map that was built from the ground up for FFA and in that respect it plays wonderfully . Give the map a download HERE. Didn't like what you read? Feel free to give feedback about this article in the front page feedback thread