Hey everybody and welcome back to another installment of our Creators Spotlight series! We've got another long one for you today, as usual, you will be able to find all of the articles in this thread through the links on the page. Hope everyone enjoys meeting Kyle! This is the transcript, if you'd like to see it is on our YouTube Channel and here below on this article



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Crush (C): Hey everybody, and welcome back to another episode of Creators Spotlight on the ForgeHub YouTube channel. This is Crush and today I am joined by a very special guest. I've been friends with him for a while actually, his name is Kyle, Gamertag IKYLEIZBEASTLY, Introduce yourself Kyle!
Kyle (K): Hello, I'm IKYLEIZBEASTLY I’m a Forger You've never heard of because I don't do anything productive.

C: As some of us all do Haha, we’ve all had our non-productive Forge routes.

K: Sabotage the whole interview, right there, done Haha.

C: Haha uh, Nah, it's all good. But uhm, yeah Kyle you and I have known each other for quite some time all the way since honestly back in the Halo 4 days I think is the farthest back we have known each other, but uh, how long have you been in the Community as a whole?
K: That's kind of a selective right there, right? Because in the community, I do not think I actually really ever got involved in it until H2A. 'cause I mean, I've been playing since Combat Evolved, you know Halo wise, and when it comes to Forge, I haven't taken it too seriously involving myself and meeting other forgers till like... maybe Reach, but Halo 4 is really where I started actually like meeting people you know, especially Squally. You know he told me Hey, your map needs more Y button Haha. Keep that interview by the way hehehe! But but uhm, so I was kind of bad at Forge because I haven’t really grasped the concept, I mean I grasped the concept I just wasn't too good at it until H2A; I think H2A was where I started actually being able to kind of take what was in my mind and actually put it in a decent playable space, and that's when I started actually going in custom game lobbies and really kind of getting myself out there.

C: Nice, what what would you say overall would be like what was your greatest hurdle when it came to that would be like taking like feedback? Would it be just like getting out there into those custom game lobbies, 'cause of course like no one advertises these lobbies necessarily back in the day it was more or less you just kind of joined up and there you were.

K: Uhm, taking feedback, 'cause joining lobbies honestly wasn't that difficult. If you had a lot of connections, a lot of friends back at the prime time of Halo, and we will probably see in Infinite when it Forge comes out, people are constantly playing something. I mean, Halo 5 was that way too you could never miss a custom game. But feedback it still is right? It's like I know a lot of people probably suffer from this, but I definitely do where it's like, like when someone gives me feedback, right like okay, hey this pathing is a little bit awkward, or maybe you should change this angle of this approach and I know what they are saying is right and true, and the problem is, right, in my head I gotta go, I gotta I gotta kind of tell myself, “Hey, they are not shiting on your map they are not, you know, talking crap about it they are giving you constructive feedback. They know they do this all the time.” This is the community, we are always constantly doing something, we are always constantly criticizing and it's never malicious, right, it is always meant to...



C: Help each other out.

K: ...Yeah well, it is maybe it's not met with the best intentions, but people typically have what they think is good, like, this is what they think is good, and they are giving you what they think is good, so it is definitely not something that is meant to be rude or mean.

C: Since you said that feedback was ultimately like your biggest hurdle, what would you say was like the most challenging part of feedback for you? Because like you said of course, like you got kind of like picking and choosing throughout the feedback, you get to see what would be best applicable and then also like what's just like, good general feedback to just add or subtract from the map. Uhm, what would you say was your hardest, uh, thing in general when it comes to feedback to like, accept and how would you recommend for newer Forgers to like learn to accept that feedback or learn to adapt it into their Forge style?
K: So it is hard to accept really early on, especially as a kid too. because one thing I really want to add on is I am 21 right now. Back when these games were out, I was a shithead in high school or middle school, so it was definitely a maturity aspect as well, but even still, it's ego. So what really comes down to it is if you are talking with somebody that you visibly can see “Hey, they output some pretty good ****”. Can I cuss?

C: I believe it is fine

K: Okay, they output some pretty ****ing banger ass maps, and, uh, it's like, okay, this guy, this guy knows what he is doing, He knows level design, his play spacing is good, he clearly reiterates on his map; It could be intimidating 'cause you as an inexperienced Forger, as a younger Forger coming into this, not having that level of dedication yet or haven't had that level of practice yet and then they give you his feedback and it's kind of callous; and when you first go in, my mistake was getting attached to stuff and you would hear Forgers just talk about all the times getting attached stuff when you start arting something up, even though it's like a play space that you still need to test to validate to make sure it's okay and you start putting those little aesthetics in there, little details and someone tells you, “Hey, that area, It's **** it’s dogshit, change it” 'cause some people word it that way I’m looking at uh INeedMoreBleach. His map sucks by the way, he just makes a Longbowripoffs Hahahaha / Hehehehe.

C: No, nothing, nothing wrong with Longbow haha.

K: No, no it is a running joke between me and him. And by running joke, I say it and It pisses him off. But uhm and then he tells me, “Oh well, my map’s never got taken off matchmaking” and I just cry to myself but, but yeah, it is taking that feedback that callous feedback and understanding that they're saying that be in a mature professional way and not meaning to be rude; but on top of that, it's being able to accept that you have your own vision for a map, and they have their own vision of your map. Like someone will go onto there, they will play it and in their mind, they are like, “What if there was a connection over here or there” they are thinking of your map in a completely different state because when you go into It and you have your vision...that is it, you are, you are kind of tunnel visioned to that.





C: So so of course, like a lot of forgers deal with struggling with getting feedback or not struggling with getting feedback but struggling with dealing with feedback like you just said, you have struggled in some areas yourself over time, but it's all about picking and choosing a lot. Especially with feedback that you get on a consistent notion. Then you want to try to implement it the best way you caninto your map. How would you recommend for new forgers to it? Like get into accepting that feedback and hearing it, and then? Also, how has that affected you as a whole?

K: So the biggest trick when we're getting feedback from maps is to, differentiate your view of your map from the feedback. Because a lot of times people can potentially take it as a personal attack when getting feedback, because maybe in your mind when you are building a map, this area is the **** 'cause you probably put in a lot of detail to some sort of corner, some sort of strut, and whatever it may be, you are hyper fixated on it because you built it and you have priority in that area 'cause you put a lot of attention to it and someone else when they give feedback, they don't know that they don't have that same view. They are coming in, they are playing the map, and as they are playing, they are going to have their own view, their own perspective on your map, and when they are playing it, they are going to be doing stuff like how we all do when we play Multiplayer maps. “Awe man imagine, just imagine if there was a route over here, and oh what is over here?” “What is this route” and, “Awe that could have been better, or that could have been that” 'cause if they're a better Forger, if there is someone that has a lot of experience to they're dissecting everything, 'cause their brain’s constantly, usually on kind of a reevaluation and evaluation mode, where they're constantly thinking about something and then, later on, later on in that area and think about it again like they are constantly thinking constantly think about iterations. It is kind of the funniest thing about forgers is that nothing is sacred, everything is always up for reiteration.

C: I...I definitely can agree there, yeah.

K: And so, yeah, trust me, you want to know like Commander Colson for instance dude, he's reiterated Scavenger so many times that map, I wouldn't say...drastically changed, but it changed quite a bit.

C: Oh, I understand.

K: Same with a lot of big forgers.



C: I, I mean the Colson method is deleting the entire map and rebuilding it again, which I can say with my most recent map definitely does help make the layout the best it can be, but it can definitely be a pain in the ass if you arted it up.
K: Yeah, and that's kind of another thing too is if you go into building a map and your only vision for that map is like an aesthetic piece, that is what I do right, I will sit down, I will look at some concept arts, and I would see some cool Forerunner tower or this really cool UNSC base or whatever, and I'll be like, “That! I'm making that! I am going to find a way somehow to make that playable” and already it's a bad approach, right? because you are not going in there...It's not a bad approach, but you would think that would be the easiest approach, right? because you are going in there completely ****ing open. But then you start getting attached to stuff because since you went in there, into building that map from an art perspective. Everything is subject to change layout wise for the layouts not perfected you didn't think of some cool arena styled layout to go into that you may be thought of some ideas, some engagements that you wanted to incorporate into this map, but you didn't quite nail it out right? That’s, that is what the Forging process was as you are going on, you are probably building it, figuring out how to work the layout and so when you start it up and someone comes around and they give you feedback. Just don't argue. Right? Because like I said before, they have their own perspective, you have your own perspective. Yes, it is a ***** because one thing all of us hate is having to make something look so pretty and then someone coming through and pointing out something that you know is right, it's like, “awe this hallway sucks or this could be better” and you are like “Yeaahhh but I don't want to ****ing reforge all that.” Nooo and that **** ****ing sucks, done it multiple times; matter of fact, with some of my maps in Halo 5, I don't consider any of them to look good, I do not, because a lot of times I'm starting out I'll build something like a really cool Forerunner structure, and it would be mint detail. 500 pieces invested in one tower, and I know that is bad, everyone knows, that is bad, and I'm like, “Dude, this looks ****ing clean. I got to shine perfectly. The lights that beams emitting perfectly on this thing. This looks amazing.” and then I go...I got to make this playable and I delete all that goes down to like maybe 2 or 300 pieces. And now I'm like, well, crap, now I do not get too many pieces to, you know, do the rest of the map and then I got to keep reallocating resources pieces get lost inside of pieces, and it is a freaking mess. So, the best thing to do, and one thing I am definitely trying to do is block outs. You do not, 'cause you know about block outs that I am starting to kind of learn, and I've never done before, 'cause I've always just kind of Forged everything as I went like I consider almost all of my maps to all be block outs because they are not the level of detail that I can and want to put into them. They are just rough edits, but they could be better, right? You can always go in there, rough out the layout, and slowly but surely, you could still have the aesthetic nuances there you can still have certain geometry there, which is one thing I love. I love geometry. Geometry sells stuff more, I mean look at three 343’s Forerunner Architecture, I mean hate it hate it or not there was something extremely lacking in 4 and 5. Like yes, it looked like this really cool pop in sci-fi but when they went to Hale Infinite, they reevaluated it, they went back on the drawing board with a lot of geometry and that, I mainly think, comes down to the playable spaces, the block outs, right? Well, they have really fixated and focused on making clean routes. That should definitely be your priority when you are Forging, now is this off topic from the original question absolutely, but I did answer it somehow. I did say you learn to differentiate it, learn to take it with a grain of salt, uhm, take feedback, do not argue; that is the biggest thing. Do not argue. Now...you could press people a little bit, you know, have a discussion with them asking, “what do you think about This? What do you think about that.”

C: The discussion and argument are definitely something that is like 2 separate things that people get mixed up a lot. Sometimes a lot of like debating a certain aspect of a map overall, like whether that just be with the person giving the feedback or giving a like, just debating it with the lobby in general seeing how the lobby feels about that feedback can definitely help you clear up and see what specifics are actually affecting that part of the feedback in that part of the map.

K: Right like one guy could give you feedback, and he might make the greatest maps in the world, but then everyone else in the lobby might disagree with what he is saying, or other people might like what he hates, or he dislikes. And so, there is also the aspect of perspective entirely.

C: Everybody has their own tastes.

K: Right, yeah, like for instance, if you asked me what my favorite Big Team Battle map is, I am going to tell you I do not ****ing know, and then I am going to bullshit my answer and say district from Halo 2 Vista and everyone going to be like “Why? That map sucks..” and then I am like “Because it felt like I was actually fighting in a ****ing city and that **** was cool. And vehicle content that was viable there was infantry choke points in the middle and you're playing Big Team Battle.” I'm not one of those people who think Big Team Battle is supposed to be constant chaos I am one of those people are that believes Big Team Battle is supposed to feel like you were doing an operation constantly. If one player has one good weapon and they are in a position and they can dominate an entire road and an entire field, that person becomes a side objective. That is how I think Big Team Battle always played at the prime. Now is an opinion. I think of Big Team Battle very differently; a lot of people think very differently, a lot of people like more squad-orientated style maps where it is a lot more intimate or close quarters vehicles have a significant role, but they are very much restricted. That kind of stuff and that stuff has a place, I think all of that exists and it should coexist, right? Like every map, you should have a plethora, because of the fact that so many people have different tastes, and at the end of the day, as long as it fits the core gameplay of Halo, as long as it has good playable space in that nature it should work. For me, I think as long as the map can feel like you are playing Big Team Battle, for instance, it can feel like a war zone. You can feel like you are actually fighting in an engaging battle, rather than just “Hey, I am on this platform. I have a height advantage.” I mean, you should have that that is a properly balanced design but for the player, they should feel more than that, right?

C: Yeah, it should feel more like an actual like world space rather than just like a level.

K: Yeah, and I think that is the trick, right? The trick is to make everything feel believable, to feel natural.

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This was Part 1 of a 5 part article, the link to part 2 is below

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