|
Advanced Forge
Editing
.:
Part 1 "Basics"
:. .: Part 2
"Object
Editing" :.
Special
Objects
At some point,
players stop making piles of fusion coils, and get serious
about setting up their maps. It is usually around this time
that they realize that you can’t turn Guardian into
an awesome CTF map just by changing where the weapons spawn.
Fortunately, more control is provided. A multiplayer map in
Halo 3 is configured almost entirely using objects, and the
overwhelming majority of these objects are editable in the
Forge.
Goal
Objects
Gametypes, like
Oddball or CTF, have a couple of special objects which only
show up in those gametypes. These are things like flag spawns,
or hill markers. These are called Goal objects.
When you load
a map in the Forge, Goal objects do not show up immediately.
You may have noticed that the object creation palette for
Goals is empty at first. This is because, by default, the
Forge only shows objects which show up in ALL gametypes.
To show objects
specific to a particular gametype, you can switch Forge over
to that gametype. To do this:
- Switch into Editor Mode.
- Press Start to bring up the Forge menu.
- Choose “Change Game Type”, and select the gametype
you wish to edit.
The round will
end, and when the next round starts, objects specific to the
gametype you selected will be present on the map, and in the
Goal object palette.
Halo 3 needs
certain objects to be on each map in order to function properly.
If you accidentally delete such an object, and forget to replace
it, it will be automatically restored when you save the map.
So relax, you won’t break your map if you do something
wrong, but you might see a goal object return after you thought
you had deleted it.
Common
Goal Object Properties
Goal objects
have two common properties that are usually not found in normal
objects, like weapons or vehicles. As with normal object properties,
you edit these by placing your crosshair on the goal object,
and pressing X.
-
Team: This is the team which owns this goal
object. This is critical for some gametypes, like CTF, where
you need to place a flag stand for each team.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
Shape, Radius, Top, Bottom, et cetera:
Some goal objects have an area, like a hill in King
of the Hill. These properties control the shape and size of
this area.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
Spawn Order: This property is used to control
the order in which certain goals are used. For example, in
VIP Escort, the goal point with the lowest Spawn Order value
is the first destination, followed by the point with the next
lowest value, and so on.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Assault
Assault has two types of special goal objects:
- Bomb Spawn Points, which are where a team’s bomb will
spawn. Each team must have at least one. Also, one must be
placed for the Neutral team, for Neutral Bomb Assault variants.
- Bomb Plant Points, which are the points a team must defend
from enemy bombers. Each team must have at least one. You
can place more than one per team too, making their job more
difficult as they will have more points to defend.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CTF
Capture the Flag has two special types of goal objects, similar
to Assault:
- Flag Spawn Points, which are where a team’s flag will
spawn, which they must defend. Each team must have at least
one.
- Flag Return Points, which are the points a team must return
the flag to after they have stolen it from an enemy team.
Each team must have at least one.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Juggernaut
Juggernaut only has one special goal object:
- Go To Points, which are points that a VIP must reach to
score points in some VIP game variants. There must be at least
one of these on the map. The Spawn Order property determines
the order in which these points will be used, from lowest
to highest.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
King
of the Hill
King of the Hill has only one special goal object:
- Hill Marker, which is the center of a hill, and around which
is the boundary of the hill. There must be at least one of
these on the map. The Shape and size properties define the
boundary of the hill, and the Spawn Order property is used
to determine the order in which the hills move (when the game
variant is set to Sequential movement.)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oddball
Oddball has only one special goal object:
- Ball Spawn Point, which is where the Oddball will spawn.
There must be at least one of these on the map.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Territories
Territories has only one special goal object:
- Territory Marker, which is the center of a territory, and
around which is the boundary of the territory. There must
be at least one of these on the map. The Shape and size properties
define the boundary of the territory. The Spawn Order is used
to determine the numbering of territories, with the lowest
one being labeled “Territory 1”, and so on.
Note that you can place more than 8 territory markers on a
map, but only 8 will be used at a time. The extras are there
in case you want to set a map up with different symmetric
and asymmetric layouts (for example, like Valhalla.)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VIP
Like Juggernaut, VIP only has one special goal object:
- Go To Points, which are points that a Juggernaut must reach
to score points in some Juggernaut game variants. There must
be at least one of these on the map. The Spawn Order property
determines the order in which these points will be used, from
lowest to highest.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spawn
Points
When you load
the Forge, you may notice glowing blue disks littered around
the map, objects you don’t see when playing a Custom
Game.
These are Spawn
Points, and are the spots where players spawn.
Spawn Points
of all stripes are found in the Spawners palette, and can
be placed free of charge. Just mind your Inventory.
Respawn
Points
By far the most
common type of spawn point is a humble Respawn Point. These
are the blue disks you see littered about.
The disk has
an obvious forward facing, and when a player spawns, he will
be facing in this direction. It is considered good form to
not point a player at a wall when he spawns.
When Halo 3 needs
to spawn a player, it takes into account a lot of invisible
things, and chooses one of these points. You want to have
a lot of these points. If you don’t, then there are
limited choices for respawning, and you could end up spawning
on top of a live grenade, or in the path of an onrushing Warthog.
Finally, respawn
points have a Team property, which defaults to Neutral. You
can restrict respawn points to a specific team by changing
this, but you Should Not Do this—there is a Better Way,
and that’s with Respawn Zones. More about those later.
Initial
Spawn Points
Initial Spawn
Points are special. They are game specific (like Goal objects),
so you need to switch to the desired gametype to edit them.
They appear similar to respawn points, but they have bright
blue plasma rings above them. You’ll know it when you
see it.
What makes them special is that they can only be used on the
first spawn in a round. On top of that, a player is guaranteed
to spawn there, unless it is blocked (for example, by another
player.)
Like respawn
points, initial spawn points have a Team property. Unlike
respawn points, you should always set this to the appropriate
team.
When Bungie’s
designers set up a map, we place one initial spawn point per
team, and place several ordinary respawn points nearby. That
way, when a round starts, one player from each team starts
off at these points. And then, because of the way Halo 3 prefers
to spawn players near their teammates, the rest of their team
automatically prefers to spawn at the nearby respawn points.
Respawn
Zones
When Halo 3 tries
to spawn (or respawn) a player, it takes a lot of things into
account, like where teammates or enemies are standing, if
there are dangerous things nearby, and so on. We call these
influences.
When it is done
doing so, it then chooses a respawn point for the player,
based on these influences. There’s a little tiny bit
of randomness, but that only really comes into play when all
points are otherwise equal.
Now, when Halo
3 does this, it looks at ALL respawn points on the map. But
in setting up your map, maybe you don’t want Attackers
spawning in the Defender’s base. Or you want one team
to only spawn on one side of the map. To do that, you want
to restrict the search to only certain respawn points. And
to do that, you use Respawn Zones.
Normal
Respawn Zones
A Respawn Zone
is an object which belongs to a team, and defines an area.
All respawn points inside that area are strongly preferred
when Halo 3 needs to spawn a member of that team. Very, extremely
strongly preferred, so much so that a player will virtually
never spawn outside of his team’s respawn zone (unless
there is literally no choice.)
Respawn zones
are gametype specific objects, like goal objects, so you need
to switch to the desired gametype to edit them. They look
similar to King of the Hill markers, a small object stuck
into the ground, with a blue plasma field which defines their
boundary.
These zones have
a Team property, which controls which team uses this respawn
zone. You should always set this to the appropriate team.
When Bungie’s
designers set up a map, we often place a single large respawn
zone for each team, making sure that it encloses many respawn
points. Note that a respawn zone never prohibits an enemy
player from spawning inside of it—they only affect the
team they belong to. But if that enemy player has his own
respawn zone on the other side of the map, you can be sure
he won’t spawn in yours.
Make absolutely sure your respawn zone covers at least a couple
of respawn points! If you don’t, respawning will be
very predictable and unsafe. And if your respawn zones contain
no respawn points at all, then they will have no effect whatsoever.
Respawn Zones are powerful tools. Use them wisely.
CTF Respawn
Zones
Capture the Flag
has two special types of respawn zone, in addition to the
normal one.
- Respawn, Flag Home: This is a respawn zone
which is only active when your team’s flag is safely
on its stand. As soon as an enemy player grabs your flag,
even if he’s killed a second later, this respawn zone
shuts off until the flag is reset.
- Respawn, Flag Away: This is the opposite,
a respawn zone which is only active when your team’s
flag is not on its stand.
When Bungie’s designers set up a map, we might prefer
to have a team spawn near their flag when it is at home, but
spawn somewhere else if the flag is stolen, so that the thieves
don’t have defenders respawning all around them. Last
Resort is a good example of this.
Territories Respawn Zones
Territories is a special case worth noting. The territories
themselves have a built in respawn zone which belongs to the
team that currently controls the territory. It is invisible,
and about 10 meters in radius.
So if there are respawn points nearby, you can in fact spawn
at a territory you control, even if your team’s respawn
zone is on the other side of the map.
Teleporters
Teleporters are
great. You can use them to bypass walls, cover great distances
quickly, and teleport your friends into the minefield on Sandtrap.
Teleporters are objects, and can be found in the object creation
palette.
There
are three types of teleporter objects:
-
Sender Node: This is the entry point to a
teleportation link. You can only enter via this point, never
return.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Receiver Node:
This is the exit point to a teleportation link. You can only
exit via this point, never enter.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
Two-Way Node: This node can function both
as a sender and as a receiver.
Each type of node has a clear forward facing. The facing is
ignored for sender nodes, but used to determine the facing
of the player when he arrives at a receiver node. It is considered
poor form to point your receivers at walls.
When you first place a teleporter node, you may notice that
it is dark and lifeless. That is because there is no other
node for it to link up to. For a node to activate, there must
be a valid sender and receiver (either of which could be a
two-way node.) Once you place the missing node, they will
automatically link up and flare to life.
If you want to have more than one separate teleporter link
on your map, you will want them to be on different channels.
Channel is a property of teleporter objects, and you can change
it by placing your crosshair on the teleporter object, and
pressing X. Teleporter nodes on different channels don’t
link up, and in this way you can keep your links separate.
You might be wondering what happens when there’s more
than one valid receiver on the same channel. Simple: your
destination will be randomly selected from the valid locations,
and your evil twin will appear at the other one.
Oh, wait, we cut the evil twin thing. Something about the
goatee shader. Never mind.
|
