Forging new maps
Elephants aren't even the big new coming out of Bungie HQ during our visit. "We were looking for some ways to address some of the customizability gaps in previous Halo games," says Green. "And we were also really excited about giving the community something that they could sink their teeth into...to make things, collaborate on things, share things with each other." Enter: Forge. It's not a map editor in the traditional sense: You don't create any new stages from scratch, you don't alter any terrain or geometry, and you don't color everything bubblegum pink to match your new Volkswagen Beetle. What you do is run around a level and place objects.
Sounds incredibly boring and unambitious, doesn't it? We thought so, too, but what's on paper is very different from what's on the screen. When you boot up Forge, (à ) you assume the role of a monitor, those goofy floating-camera-ball AI who are always trying to start up trouble by getting someone to fire up a Halo - like 343 Guilty Spark. Your intentions are more innocuous, though - no all-life-ending notions here - just more for multiplayer. You fly around the map from within (like you're actually playing the game) and place objects, grab or move them around, or delete them. The items range from crates, barricades, and spawn/capture points to any weapon, equipment, or vehicle in the game (except, sadly, the Elephant) and can be modified as far as ammo count, respawn times, and other simple parameters. You only have a certain spending limit before you can't "buy" any more objects for the level, though.
At any time, you can push up on the D-pad and turn your Monitor into your normal multiplayer character model and start playing in the level you're modifying. This allows you to virtually test out your creations. And you can do all this simultaneously with your friends over Xbox Live, system link, or splitscreen. We tested this with seven players over system link, but the final headcount for Forge has yet to be made official.
Did you just yawn again? We admit it is difficult to describe why exactly Forge is fun. It's just something you have to try yourself to appreciate. But a lot of fun (and funny) things happen when you give people this playground to mess around in. It can be a simple, impromptu shootout: While your buddy's busy building that 50-foot tower of explosive fusion coils, why not transform into a Spartan, lob a grenade at the pile, and watch his work (and him) go boom? And when he respawns and comes after you for revenge, just become a Monitor again and zip away in the air to safety. Oh, did we mention Forge will keep score and keep track of the kills for you?
The Bungie developers found creative ways to play their own game within Forge. "One of the first things that happened on the first night that we had a playtest," says Bakken, "was theses two guys just started playing Jenga. They were making fusion coils, then they would stack a big crate on them, then they would stack more. If you screwed up and dropped it improperly, the entire thing blew up in your face." Other ad-libbed games at Bungie include Grab the Mongoose (one guy drives around the map; the other Monitors try to snag the ATV out from underneath him). Magic Carpet Ride (pick up a crate with a teammate on it and race him around the map without spilling him) and a real-time strategy way of playing Team Slayer (each team of normal players has one Monitor to create weapons and vehicles for them on the fly, reacting to what you see the other team equipping - or the Monitor can just fly over and delete the other team's gear!) You won't see any of these "modes" in the final game; you'll just have to recreate them if you want - or create your own. "It's more than a map editor," says Green. "It's also a place where you can play these honor-rules games."
ing anything.
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