HALO Online: Perfected Forge Mode

The basics behind HALO Online would be a perfected Custom Games, Forge and Theater mode, where the Forge can be done in either Basic, which is exactly what we have now with Foundry, and it also has a new tool: Campaign Cutout, which is explained later. The other Forge Mode is Advanced. Advanced must be done on the PC, and its vast options are explained below.

HALO Online's Advanced Forge would have several different panels for different tools, making interlocking and geomerging flawless, using themes to give your map a unique look, adding responsive AI, and more.

The Freeplace Tool
When selecting the Freeplace Tool, a menu will come up. It will first have two options that you can pick from:

• Freeplace Mode


• Smart Interlocking

The first option, Freeplace Mode, upon selection will give you four more options, and you can select any one, two, three or all of them:

• Through Objects


• Stay in Air


• Through Ground


• Item Dimming

The first one, Through Objects, if selected, will automatically allow you to place one item directly through another. Instant interlocking. The second one, Stay in Air, means that if you place an item in mid-air, it will stay there. No more save and quit. Through ground is simply that if you try to drag an item through the ground, it will stay wherever you put it, so now geomerging is simplified. The final option, Item Dimming, is a little more complicated. If you try to use "Through Objects" to interlock a single box into a double box, when holding the single box, the double box will dim out a little to make it easier to see what you are doing.

So that is Freeplace Mode. But what if you want another technique that isn't as easy to slip up, and not get an item straight? Picture a Foundry Door for a minute. The edges easily go right through other items and surfaces to make interlocking easy. With Smart Interlocking, there is a bar that you can adjust: from one to 100. The bigger the number, the bigger the area of the item that will go right through other items. For instance, if you want to horizontally interlock two double boxes, put smart interlocking on, and about one crate-length of the box will seamlessly interlock into the other.

The Landscape Tool
A much-desired feature of forge: the ability to edit your own landscape. The huge grid you have to work with is ideal for this feature. When selecting the Landscape Tool, your cursor (Keep in mind this is PC) turns into a grab tool.
There are a few options you can select to make it easier and more customizable.

• Grab Mode


• Drag Mode


• Radius

You must pick between grab mode and drag mode. In drag mode, click once, and the hand will grab that area. Pull with your mouse, and you can easily create hills and gorges. In grab mode, you also need to select a height. You simply hold down your mouse and move it around, and it will create a steady hill, or river/gorge if you select a negative number for the height.

The AI Tool
The ability to create AI and add them to forge maps might be the most desired thing by the Bungie community. In this AI Mode, you have vast control over them. When creating enemy AI, you fill out the following details. So far, creating allied AI isn't do-able.

• Who the creatures will attack


• One team at random


• Both teams


• A selected team


• Everyone in a Free-for-all


• Humans in Infection


• Only those that attack it


• Those that enter its spawn zone


• Level of Difficulty


• Easy


• Normal


• Heroic


• Legendary


• Type of Creature (Any type of Covenant/Flood)


• Respawn Time


• Respawn Type


• Spawn anywhere in a set respawn zone. (Can then choose if they can leave the zone after)


• Spawn anywhere on the map


• Spawn with other AI


• Use player respawn points


• Weapon


• Grenades/Equipment if any


• Movement speed


• EasyID: Pick a number, from 1 to 100. Then whenever you enter that ID, you can quickly click and add that AI again.

The Themes Tool
Themes let you take all those other tools and put them together into one unique-looking map. For instance, pick the Blackout theme, and the map will look very industrial, with boxes and crates matching the blackout theme. Because Blackout is hanging high above an ocean, and falling is death, if you make a gorge with the landscape tool, it is a death pit. In maps like Valhalla and Last Resort that have water, gorges become rivers. You can also customize your own theme, so you can have a Standoff-esque map, but have rivers, and have boxes and crates that look like they're from Valhalla.

In addition to customizing gorges, the map terrain, and the map objects, filters are back and better than ever. You can customize the area of the map, and use multiple of the same filter. There are also color filters that are tints of every color, like blue and green, so you can give red base a red color tint, and give blue base a blue color.

The Campaign Cutout
This tool is the only one that does not go with the Advanced Forge Mode, it goes with the Basic. All campaign levels, along with being playable like in Halo 3, can now be used in Forge. Basically, you use small items that look like weapon holders, and connect the dots to select one area of a level. It will cut out that one part (For instance, the final building on the level Halo) and you can save it then go edit it in Basic Mode.

New Items

• Bigger Versions


• Triple box


• Triple Wall


• Double Stair (Double width, not length)


• One way Single (Single box only open on one side)


• One way Double (See above)


• Single Fence Box


• Double Fence Wall


• Freeplace Items: Items that are for decoration that are always in freeplace mode for a smooth look.


• Several Crashed Pelicans


• Several Crashed Phantoms


• Vegetation: bushes and trees.


• Rocks


• New Twists


• Red shield Door: can shoot through, can't walk through.


• Green shield Door: can't shoot or walk through, just see through..


• Breakable Wall, breakable door, breakable Double Wall.


• A second custom powerup for different effect.


• Stationery equipment. You know how there's a grav lift equipment, and a scenery one? Now there would be stationery bubble shields, trip mines, regenerators, and more. Every type of equipment short of flares.


• New Power Items (Weapons/Vehicles)


• Power Prowler: a prowler with no turret, but the two passenger sides are equipped with stationery missile pods.


• Stationery Missile Pod


• Ghost V2: In addition to regular ghost. Easier to turn, but no boost function. Fires fuel rod gun bullets, two at a time, slower than regular fire rate.


• P Grenade Turret: a cannon that looks similar to plasma cannon, but fires plasma grenades. More of a line-drive than throwing them, infinite ammo when attached like other turrets. Lines below the main reticule to help aiming. When detached you have 10 nades to fire.

Other Big Tools

• Ability to have an item despawn after a certain amount of time.


• A 90 degree rotate & straighten tool.


• An undo button.


• Ability to make an item either moveable or immovable.

Tools also in Basic
Although you can't edit the landscape of The Pit or place AI on the default Standoff (You'd need the advanced editor on a blank map), a few new tools are available on good old basic.

- All the new items are available.
- The advanced filters (Area selectable, new colors) are available.
- Freeplace Mode is available on DLC Maps with immovable objects.

So, even with all these vast tools, Foundry still isn't dead for those who want a simpler editor. Just don't expect those maps to compete with something that has its own custom landscape, AI and turns from day to night.