By Jonathan Charles | Oct 10, 2012 12:15 PM EDT
When Halo 4's developers 343 Industries revealed Forge for Halo 4, it showed off just the Forerunner aesthetic (used in Halo: Reach). Now the second environment, space, is known.
The environment was revealed in a 10-minute walkthrough from GameSpot on a map called Impact, and is the second of the three Forge environments. The first is a Forerunner environment. Map creation takes place on a rock surrounded by planets, asteroid fields, stars, and the sun. The second environment should provide variation to Forge, ensuring matchmaking does not become saturated with a single environment.
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The developers also revealed new tools for map creators. The first is the ability to duplicate pieces by highlighting an object and pressing the button, increasing efficiency. Second, users can employ Magnets to stick pieces together, which means that an accidental movement of the analog stick cannot ruin maps with hundreds of pieces. Also, the shadows were touched on and now pieces generate shadows when in human mode, rather than Forge mode where the player controls a Monitor.
The third new tool for map creators, which is not related to forge objects per se, is trait zones. The feature was revealed back at the Rooster Teeth Expo, where Forge debuted, but was covered again in the GameSpot video. Basically trait zones provide an area that creates zone-changing mechanics, whether reducing gravity or removing fall damage from very long falls. The zone sizes can be increased, though whether one zone can cover a single map is unconfirmed. Building a low gravity map in space seemed like an obvious collocation.
The third, and final, Forge environment is not yet known. Space may not have been expected, so perhaps predicted environments like Covenant-themed designs will not make an appearance. How 343 Industries manages introducing Forge maps into matchmaking will be known over time. However, less Forge-made maps may mean only the best get selected. In Halo: Reach a large quantity of maps were picked, meaning a large amount of gray maps appeared, resulting in repetition.
Halo 4's developers have previously said Maps will be built for playlists, not shoehorned into multiple modes. Halo 4 will release on Nov. 6 for Xbox 360.
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