Forge/Halo 5: Guardians

Not to be confused with Halo 5: Forge, a free standalone PC application.

Forge is a gamemode featured in Halo 5: Guardians. Unlike previous Forge modes, Halo 5 did not ship with Forge on launch, with the mode instead being released as free downloadable content as part of the Cartographer's Gift update on December 16, 2015. Unlike the Forge modes of the previous two entries - Halo 4 and Halo 2: Anniversary - which were both based on the Forge 2.0 introduced in Halo: Reach, the Forge present in Halo 5: Guardians has been rebuilt from the ground-up to more resemble a map creation kit than a simple editor. While Forge can be accessed through the Halo 5: Guardians game for Xbox One, the mode is also playable on Windows 10 PCs due to the release of Halo 5: Forge, a free standalone application for PC players to use to create and edit maps.

Changes from Forge mode featured in Halo 2: Anniversary

Halo 5: Guardians features the most comprehensive overhaul of Forge functionality since the implementation of Forge 2.0, three games prior.

Objects

• Halo 5 has undergone a total rework of objects, featuring thousands of new objects with themes ranging from ancient Sangheili ruins to Forerunner, Covenant, simulated Breakout blocks or Human architecture.
• All objects can be totally recoloured, with options having Primary, Secondary and Tertiary colours.
• Structural objects can now have different textures and materials applied to them, allowing for blocks to resemble bricks, wood, metal, Forerunner metal or Covenant metal; have ice or grime weather effects applied alongside UV tiling options to increase or decrease the wear amount.
• All objects can now be placed on all maps.
• Halo: Reach specific objects such as the Blood Gulch bases are no longer available as preset options.
• Many new object features such as decals, greenscreen, scripting, lighting, interactive scripting and particle physics.
• Object count now replaced budget. Although 1,024 at launch, this was later increased to 1,600.
• No limit for individual object placement.

Object Manipulation

• Ability to select and edit multiple objects.
• Ability to rotate and edit objects via world-space axis or local geometry axis.

Maps

All forge objects can now be placed on all maps regardless of map size, allowing users to Forge on any map. However, Halo 5: Guardians shipped with several designated Forge canvas maps. In addition, new Forge features allow players to customise the skybox and weather of the level, effectively increasing the variety of maps even more (Skybox variations noted in italics).

• Alpine - a terrain similar to Forge World and Forge Island, with green rolling hills and water.
  • Cirrus - a mid-afternoon skyline with neutral lighting.
  • Sunset - an evening skyline with warm lighting and the sun on the horizon.
  • Overcast - a cloudy skyline with no visible sun.
• Breakout Arena - a simulated arena used for the construction of levels used in the Breakout gametype.
• Glacier - a Forge area on the side of a snowy mountain.
  • Midday - a midday sky.
  • Nighttime - a darkened map set at night.
  • Sunrise - an early morning sky.
• Parallax - A map set in space, similar to Nebula.
  • Blue planet - the skybox is dominated by a large celestial body.
  • Halo Ring - The skybox is centred in the middle of Installation 04 with Threshold visible in the background, taken from the skybox of the map Truth.
  • Exosphere - Sanghelios and its moons are visible in the distance.
  • Ascendance - the space skybox is replaced with one of an upper atmosphere, with ground visible below the playable area. This skybox was added in the Hammer Storm update.

In addition to the four base game maps, three additional maps were added into the game for free via content updates.

• Tidal - a coastal area with shallow water similar to Awash, added in the Warzone Firefight update.
  • Clear - like Awash, with a completely clear sky and view.
  • Paradise - a peaceful dusk setting.
  • Stormy - a skybox with stormclouds gathering on the horizon.
  • Meteor Shower - a night setting with meteors seen burning up in the atmosphere.
• Barrens - a desert map set on Sanghelios added in the Monitor's Bounty update.
  • Dust Storm - a dark sky and somewhat neutral lighting.
  • Sunrise - an early morning skybox with a clearer sky.
  • Twilight - this map's skybox resemble's that of Sandbox, with the sun barely peeking over the horizon.
• Depths - an underwater Forge canvas, added in the Monitor's Bounty update.