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Halo 5’s Forge came to us as the most expansive update to the Forge system since the jump from Halo 3 to Reach, with one of the most notably expanded features being the ability to Script objects and breathe life into the levels we create. Scripting was first introduced as a full feature in the Master Chief Collection via Halo 2 Anniversary’s Forge, though some could argue that some similar functions could be approximated using the Invasion Game Type in Reach. One of the problems with such a large expansion of a feature as this is that the introduction of so many options can be intimidating, or, at least, introduce a sharp learning curve and make it difficult for many to take advantage of. This article, and those that follow, should help to lessen the slope of that curve and help those who have stayed away from Scripting in Halo 5’s Forge be more comfortable using it in their designs. The best place to start, of course, would be at the beginning.

LESSON 1: Intro to Scripting, Part 1 - The Basics
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This Lesson is written for those who are new to Scripting, but may contain information that even those that use it regularly might not know. Even if it seems mundane, it could help solidify your understanding of Scripting and fill in gaps in your knowledge that you didn’t even know were there.

The Lesson itself is located in a Google Doc so that it can be more easily edited should changes be made to Forge and so that it can be longer and have more images attached than would be allowed here on the forums. This was written before the content of Monitor's Bounty was made public and will be updated to reflect any and all changes as soon as possible. Thankfully, enough remained the same that the information included in Lesson 1 - Part 1 is still relevant. All following lessons will be up to date.

LINK TO GOOGLE DOC

Spoiler: Credits

There’s so much to cover with all of this that I couldn’t do it all on my own, so I have a small list of groups and individuals to thank for helping to compile information, test hypothesis, confirm rumors, double check assumptions, and to proof read these Lessons.


The Scripters Guild
Data Compilation, R&D, Testing, Proofreading
Yumudas Beegbut, Egggnog, AgentZero85, Havoc, HeroicJkroy, & RPAL


Data Compilation, R&D, Testing, & Syntax Consulting
Ray Benefield, Sn1p3r C, Nitro, Randy 355, Black Picture, Darkprince909, TheSlammerss, xMalevolution, AlexVan123, MythicFritz, Whos Blaze, & GagCrush3r

Nokyard & PsychoDuck - For figuring out Respawn/Despawn Delay Timers to create the True Start Timer Circuit and laying the groundwork for many more complex projects

Cookies4You - For his Scripting InfoDump Thread here on ForgeHub. His thought to create a syntax for representing scripts via text inspired the Scripting Syntax & Style Guide that comprises Lesson 2 and is the glue that holds most of the subsequent Lessons together.