Offering more than just competitive and cooperative multiplayer, Halo 4 is set to see the return of Forge, the game's built-in mapmaking tool. 343 Industries has sourced the development of Forge to Certain Affinity, which previously worked on the Defiant Map Pack for Halo Reach and the remake of Halo: Combat Evolved. Needless to say, the developers have plenty of experience when it comes to knowing what works with the Halo series.
According to details revealed by Certain Affinity and 343 Industries in a new interview, Forge in Halo 4 will see the addition of new tools to its feature set. Two of the ones they've revealed thus far are Magnets and Duplicate Object. Here's how they work:
Magnets – All structure pieces now have “magnets” attached to them. When the magnet system is turned on, this will cause pieces to automatically attract to each other. This makes it significantly easier to line objects up correctly.
Duplicate Object – You can now duplicate the object you are targeting at the press of a button. Combining this with magnets makes it super quick to build out objects that use the same piece (for example, bridges).
This time around, map makers will be able to designate special zones called Player Trait Zones, which change the basic elements of characters within those zones. Zones can modify damage resistance, shield multiplier, recharge rate, and everything else associated to player health. Jump height and movement speed can also be altered, and so too can player visibility, allowing map makers to create some very interesting maps.
Players new to the Forge tool will now find it easier than ever to get involved with map creation thanks to the tool's new D-pad menu system. The menu is contextual and changes based on objects the player is targeting. The addition of the menu system alleviates the need for players to jump through hurdles to make minor (or even major) modifications to individual objects. Likewise, selecting an object will be made easier than ever with targeting enhancements. Highlighting an object will cause a small window to open up containing the object's name and details.
Finally, there are now three Forge environments instead of a single Forge World map for players to tinker around with. According to the developers, each of these environments will contain a different aesthetic and geographical theme. There will be ways to alter the lighting, special effects, and players will have a huge palette of Forge building pieces to play around with.
