Finishing a Map (Halo 5 Forge Guide)

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Welcome to another ForgeHub video. Today, we’ll be going over some of the often-overlooked but critically important steps which are required to finish a map. This guide will cover what’s needed to wrap up a forge project and prepare it to be eligible for a map feature or matchmaking integration. We’ll be covering cinematics, weapons, spawns, named locations, player containment, and performance in this video.

First, let’s talk about cinematics. Every map needs an intro, an outro, and a static cam. The thirteen second intro will play at the beginning of a match. The static cam will be viewed for five seconds at the start of each subsequent round and will be defaulted to if a player has no teammates to observe after dying. The outro will be viewed for five seconds after a match. Intro sequences should open with wide shots of a map, then go through two or three mode-specific shots, and end on a team animation. In slayer, the intro should pan over the weapon pads and power-ups. In other modes, these shots should focus on the objectives. Intros should also include a neutral animation which will be used in theater and spectator mode. An outro should include a single neutral animation which will display whichever team wins the match. Static cams can be set to team specific, but if they are they will be defaulted to and play instead of neutral shots in the intro sequence. Feel free to check out our cinematics tutorial for further instructions in this area.

Matchmaking maps follow a specific formula for weapon placement as well. Only tier 3 weapons should be placed on pads. Standard timers for pads are two and three minutes. Staggering pads will create important moments when both timers align at the six minute mark in a match. Sniper weapons are placed on three minute timers while rockets, rail guns, and casters occupy two minute timers. 4v4 maps have two or fewer pads and BTB maps have three or fewer. Weapons in tiers 1 and 2 as well as power ups are never placed on weapon pads. The respawn timer on tier 2 weapons and power ups will not begin counting down until after the weapon despawns, though power ups despawn as they are picked up. Two minutes is the standard respawn timer for all power ups. Tier 1 respawn timers begin counting down as soon as the weapons are acquired by players. Strongholds often includes a unique weapon set and weapons placed near ball spawns are often excluded from Assault. This can be achieved through using include and exclude labels for different game modes.

Spawning is another important area. Placing individual respawn points is often a matter of trial and error, though there are a few guidelines to adhere to. Spawns should be oriented such that players can move forward immediately without running into obstacles or falling. Players must also be able to immediately assess where they are on a map. Generally, spawn points should face towards a map’s center and should be placed in relatively safe locations. There are differing approaches to determining just how many respawn points should be placed on a map. Again, much of this is a matter of trial and error. In CTF and Assault, all maps must have static spawning where each team can respawn exclusively on their own side. Whether this static spawning extends to other modes will depend on a map’s layout and the author’s personal preference. Static respawns can be set either by setting individual respawn points to be owned by a given team or by using spawn volumes to prevent a specific team from using any of the points placed within. Game mode include and exclude labels can again be used to tailor spawns for different modes. The spawn order can be increased on specific points to reduce the likelihood of players spawning there. However, the scale is not very granular and the jump from one number to the next is surprisingly large. It is therefore recommended that only zero and one are used as players will virtually never respawn on points with a higher value.

Named locations are another important addition to any map. These work in tandem with the Spartan chatter system to provide additional information to players, though not every location name has associated VO. The entirety of a map’s playable space should be enclosed in named locations with a unique name assigned to each area. The system handles overlapping volumes rather well, but some fine-tuning may be needed to ensure that the proper name is defaulted to in areas with overlap. Using multiple volumes with the same name to define the boundaries of an oddly shaped area is also fair game. Stronghold territories derive their names from the location volumes they are placed within and ensuring that these objectives are named is very important. A Strongholds object must be fully encapsulated within a location volume to take on its name.

Player containment is the next important element to consider when finishing a map. Containing a map refers to creating boundaries which prevent players from escaping or reaching areas not intended to be playable. Containment is achieved through using a combination of kill volumes, safe volumes, and invisible barriers. Making all boundaries visible in the forge tool settings is helpful for ensuring a map is fully contained. Creating walls, floors, and ceilings with hard kill volumes and invisible barriers to define the boundaries of playable space is a must. With containment, it’s best to operate on a Murphy’s Law philosophy: if it is possible to escape, someone will do it, no matter how difficult it may be. Invisible barriers deflect grenades and other projectiles, so they can cause some unintended side effects when used as walls or ceilings. In Halo 5, safe volumes nullify the effects of all kill volumes within so their use is limited as well. On maps with death pits, the kill “floor” should not be too low beneath a map. Players should not have to fall for long before dying as the suicide respawn penalty will take care of that itself.

Performance is another major consideration when polishing a map. Thanks to Halo 5’s engine optimizations including dynamic resolution scaling and an LoD system, keeping maps performant is much easier than it was in the past. Still, if too many objects are visible at a time or there are too many effects being rendered, performance will drop. Excessive use of glass and lights in particular has the potential to negatively impact performance.

These have been a few of the most important considerations for finishing a map. All of these elements are necessary to turn a good design into a great player experience. Hopefully you’ve found this guide helpful. For a written transcription, head over to ForgeHub.com.