Halo: Reach Forum
This topic has moved here: Subject: Forge Lessons - Lesson 49-51 (1/19/12)
  • Subject: Forge Lessons - Lesson 49-51 (1/19/12)
Subject: Forge Lessons - Lesson 49-51 (1/19/12)

Check out my personal game/level design blog at:
http://www.reachingperfection.com

Want to get better at forging maps? Check out my
Forge Lessons.

Looking for a quality map to play with your friends? Then check out: Affinity and Think Twice.

Download PDF w/ Lessons 1-51 [LAST UPDATED: 11/22/11]

Join like minded level designers on my game/level design blog @ ReachingPerfection.com where I fill you in on many things in the level design world. You can also join our forums to meet other people that enjoy game/level design just as much as you do. ;)


Forge Lesson Index

Lesson 1: First Impressions
Lesson 2: Knowledge is Power
Lesson 3: Path Manipulation
Lesson 4: Perspectives
Lesson 5: Deterrents
Lesson 6: Incentives
Lesson 7: Combat Congestion and Traffic
Lesson 8: Eye Catching
Lesson 9: Perspective Variance
Lesson 10: Spawn Perspectives
Lesson 11: Smooth Spawning
Lesson 12: Path Maps
Lesson 13: Area Introduction
Lesson 14: Essence
Lesson 15: Purpose
Lesson 16: Innovation
Lesson 17: Color Contrast
Lesson 18: Patience
Lesson 19: Threat Zones
Lesson 20: Safe Spawning
Lesson 21: Incentive Weighting
Lesson 22: Rule of Thirds
Lesson 23: Static Perspectives
Lesson 24: Advertising
Lesson 25: Investment
Lesson 26: Nurturing
Lesson 27: Reputation
Lesson 28: Perspective Direction
Lesson 29: Degree of Focus
Lesson 30: Application
Lesson 31: Immersion
Lesson 32: Cohesion
Lesson 33: Continuity
Lesson 34: Peer Review
Lesson 35: Failure
Lesson 36: Simplicity
Lesson 37: Orientation
Lesson 38: Dance Floor
Lesson 39: Dedication
Lesson 40: Foreshadowing
Lesson 41: Consistency
Lesson 42: Polish
Lesson 43: Lasting Impression
Lesson 44: Aesthetic Noise
Lesson 45: Pacing
Lesson 46: Active Engagement
Lesson 47: Kleenex Testing
Lesson 48: Veteran Testing
Lesson 49: Exposure
Lesson 50: Navigation
Lesson 51: Audience


The Short Version... for us lazy folk ;)

The short and skinny of it is that all of the above lessons are level design theories that are used by level designers in order to make their maps play better. Sure anyone can make a map now in Reach, but can you make a map that will get into matchmaking and be better than everyone else's? These lessons cover advanced design techniques that aren't your normal forging tutorials. They will actually improve your map's spawns (Smooth Spawning and Spawn Perspectives), weapon placement (Incentives), and gameplay. I will be updating as I release each of the BNet threads. Use this one as a reference and save it somewhere.

Original Source



The Longer Version for more info

Are you ready to jump into the powerful tool that is Forge 2.0 to start making maps for you and your friends? Did Halo 3's system frustrate you too much to even try it? Do you aspire to get your map into matchmaking? This will get you prepared for all of those.


Let's all admit that with the new Forge system anyone can build a map. No more geomerging, no more interlocking, or any other painful methods. But just because anyone can make a map easily now doesn't mean that the map is going to play well and people are going to enjoy it. I want to help all of you make your maps and gametypes better. I want to help make your maps play well enough to get into matchmaking. You can't even find this much quality map design help at Forgehub, I guarantee it.


I write this series of level design theory lessons called "Forge Lessons" to help all designers make their maps play the best that they can. They will teach you about how to make your spawns smooth, how to place your weapons (and other incentives), how to get your map noticed, how to fully control every step that your player takes, etc. I cover advanced level design topics used by professional level designers in all games... though I may name the techniques differently ;). Eye catching, perspectives, incentives, deterrents, path manipulation, color contrast, innovation, and area introduction are just some of the topics I cover. I write a new lesson about once a week, sometimes slower.


Some of you may need to ensure that I am actually qualified to teach people. My old GT was AZN FTW. I was one of the original 6 members of Forgehub that turned it from a wordpress blog to a vbulletin forum. I created one of the most popular and iconic gametypes in Halo 3, Conquest. I am one of the two designers of Ravinia, one of the 50+ community maps that got into matchmaking. I am also the designer of Affinity in Halo: Reach's matchmaking system. I have taught many forgers and aspiring designers.


These lessons have been used by teachers to teach high school and college game design classes. Several of them have been featured on Gamasutra and various other game/level design sites. But I'm not going to tell you how good they are. I'll let those who support these lessons tell you. Keep an eye on this thread for testimonials of the lessons from all that read them. Many well known figures amongst the Halo community will take their time to stop by here to let you know what they think about these lessons. If you don't want to trust me, then trust what others have to say for them.


I will update the top of this thread with a link to all of the lessons as I post them and reply to this thread when I post a new one, so save this thread somewhere. You can find all of the original postings with summaries of the lessons on my blog @ ReachingPerfection.com:

Forge Lessons

I hope these lessons help you as much as they have helped everyone who has read them. Enjoy my fellow Halo fans!

[Edited on 01.19.2012 11:02 AM PST]

  • 09.08.2010 7:52 PM PDT
Subject: Are you waiting to make maps in Forge 2.0? This will help you wait...

Love to write? Need a piece critiqued? Visit Writers' Corner.

I'm going to wing it.

  • 09.08.2010 7:53 PM PDT

oh death was never enemy of our
we laughed knowing better men would come
when each proud fighter brags
he wars on death,for lives,for flags
no mercy

cant wait to see the posts on these!
HI FIVE :)

  • 09.08.2010 7:59 PM PDT

Join Halo Haven for all things related to Halo 4


Tell her that If you jingle my bells, Ill promise you a white Christmas - Call Me Venom
The world can't end next month. My yogurt expires in 2013 - Princess Cadence
If Apple invented a car, would it have windows? - Xxembers

Awesome compilation!

I'm so excited for Forge. Can't wait to see this develop.

  • 09.08.2010 7:59 PM PDT

Glad to see this thread leave the confines of The Guardian Gate and make a public debut. For anyone wondering, Godly is one of the premier H3 forgers. This guy is brilliant, creative and has invaluable insight. Listen to him.

  • 09.08.2010 8:00 PM PDT

Check out my personal game/level design blog at:
http://www.reachingperfection.com

Want to get better at forging maps? Check out my
Forge Lessons.

Looking for a quality map to play with your friends? Then check out: Affinity and Think Twice.

Posted by: Ramen 6378
I'm going to wing it.


Well I wish you the best of luck with that my friend. Maybe save this thread for future references. If you plan on getting into game design or level design in the game industry this will be quite helpful to you.

Also Lesson 1 is up my friends here is the lesson and synopsis:



Lesson 1: First Impressions

* A bad first impression could mean the death of your map
* Every detail (from thread organization to actual gameplay) can have an effect on your map's fans
* Having at least one good first impression will increase your credibility





EDIT: Alright I'm off to work on Lesson 2 now... give it like 20 minutes or so... ;)

[Edited on 09.08.2010 8:03 PM PDT]

  • 09.08.2010 8:01 PM PDT

-blam!- amazing content here guys. If anyone is interested in forge, but hasn't really thought too much into it yet, this is THE best place to start. 10/10.

  • 09.08.2010 8:53 PM PDT

gamertag : firedune22

avid forger, love vehicle gameplay

i'm saving this thread. it really does help, as my map is strting to get more plays now that i re-arranged it. (if you are wondering the map is called KillBallJumpCTF) try it.

  • 09.08.2010 9:07 PM PDT

Check out my personal game/level design blog at:
http://www.reachingperfection.com

Want to get better at forging maps? Check out my
Forge Lessons.

Looking for a quality map to play with your friends? Then check out: Affinity and Think Twice.

Thanks for the testimonial Phaazoid. And glad this helps firedune. This is a pain because for some reason it won't let me just copy and paste so I have to re-type every single one. But it is worth it for the community.

Anyways I have just finished Lesson 2, 3, and 4... here are the synopsis for all of them and their links:


Lesson 2: Knowledge is Power

* A map should teach players about it's most important features
* Teaching players the map allows them to give an accurate assessment of it's gameplay
* Players have a more enjoyable experience when they are taught the map and are put on even ground with their competitors


Lesson 3: Path Manipulation

* Path Manipulation is the ability to control a player's movement
* Using Path Manipulation allows us to craft the experience that we want our players to have
* The golden rule of Path Manipulation is that players will always take the shortest route to their current goal


Lesson 4: Perspectives

* A perspective is essentially a screenshot in time of a player's current view
* Crafting perspectives to your liking can help create the decisions and experience that you want your players to have
* Utilizing art theory is a big part of analyzing a perspective



Time to go type up lesson 5 now... phew!!! lol ;) remember to post your testimonials for the series here.

  • 09.08.2010 9:15 PM PDT

Posted by: zapzap09
"If you could describe that map in one word, what would it be?"
"Does the word, ClusterF**k count?"

The Guardianz: playtesting and forgers group for Reach

Godly, great work, once again. Seriously if anybody hasn't read these at all and they wanna succeed at Forge 2.0, read them, great content. Its good to see this branching out from The Guardian Gate and ReachingPerfection.

  • 09.08.2010 10:08 PM PDT
  •  | 
  • Honorable Member
  • gamertag: Yoaks
  • user homepage:

Do you know the muffin man???
(I don't)

Win

  • 09.08.2010 10:10 PM PDT

I wish there was a way to earn credits at a stupidly fast pace.

kinda obvious stuff.

  • 09.08.2010 10:21 PM PDT

I wish there was a way to earn credits at a stupidly fast pace.

but it had some good useful tips

  • 09.08.2010 10:22 PM PDT

"Except we, we're the zebras. All fenced in...and ready for the slaughter!"

||S-fen Knee-cheh
||19th Shock Troops Battalion


Posted by: immortal6
Godly, great work, once again. Seriously if anybody hasn't read these at all and they wanna succeed at Forge 2.0, read them, great content. Its good to see this branching out from The Guardian Gate and ReachingPerfection.

  • 09.08.2010 10:22 PM PDT
  • gamertag: [none]
  • user homepage:

Can't wait to make a new infection map!!
I guess i'll make a little town.... with zombies starting on the outside of teh map. and no jetpacks and such, just like halo3 :P.
Would be a bad idea though... zombies with armor lock and jetpacks...

  • 09.08.2010 10:34 PM PDT

Check out my personal game/level design blog at:
http://www.reachingperfection.com

Want to get better at forging maps? Check out my
Forge Lessons.

Looking for a quality map to play with your friends? Then check out: Affinity and Think Twice.


Posted by: CR0XLEY

kinda obvious stuff.

but it had some good useful tips


Well I am glad that it had some useful tips for you. And the reason I've compiled all of these is to show people every little detail no matter how obvious. If something is obvious for us it may not be obvious for the rest of the community.


And thanks Yoaks ;). Also immortal and Sven thank you very much for your testimonies. It means a lot peepz. Hopefully this gets to all of those hoping to build maps in Reach.


Posted by: De Meesterchef
Can't wait to make a new infection map!!
I guess i'll make a little town.... with zombies starting on the outside of teh map. and no jetpacks and such, just like halo3 :P.
Would be a bad idea though... zombies with armor lock and jetpacks...


Good luck with that bro. A lot of these lessons can help you build your map. I hope you've taken the time to read them bro. I look forward to seeing everyone's crazy maps.



Ever since my last reply I have posted Lesson 5 and 6. I can't post Lesson 7 til tomorrow due to daily thread posting limits. So come back tomorrow peepz. Here are the synopsis and links for lesson 5 and 6:


Lesson 5: Deterrents

* Deterrents are things that discourage the act of proceeding
* Deterrents are not very widely used due to them being "discouraging" and not always effective, however with the right tweaks they can be very effective
* In level design the theory of deterrents is under-researched and there is still a long way to go to understand the concepts and differences of static and dynamic deterrents


Lesson 6: Incentives

* Weapons and powerups are not the only incentives that exist
* Most incentives are not permanent, sometimes they are there and sometimes they aren't
* Don't forget that you are giving your players an advantage and make sure you account for it and balance that advantage out

  • 09.08.2010 10:37 PM PDT

These lessons were amazing! I am really looking forward to the ones in the future. So far, the points that helped me most were:

1) From spawn, players should be able to see two or more obvious paths of travel.
2) Never place a spawn pointing off a cliff
3) Provide more than one route to each location.

Thank you for your awesome tips!

  • 09.08.2010 10:41 PM PDT
  •  | 
  • Honorable Heroic Member
  • gamertag: Aeoss
  • user homepage:

Its our nature to kill one another. its also in our nature to refuse to accept that.

with these lessons, ive metaphorically gotten laid over and over!

I use these to re-arranged my Forge maps, my room, and even my clothes! now all the chicks dig me!

Seriously.

  • 09.08.2010 11:18 PM PDT

nice lessons! It's nice to know a bit more about map design before going into forgeworld

  • 09.08.2010 11:24 PM PDT

Gamertag: LoKi zL

*Saved*

should be a nice read when im waiting for the delivery guy.

  • 09.08.2010 11:38 PM PDT

This is great
thanks

  • 09.08.2010 11:49 PM PDT

Check out my personal game/level design blog at:
http://www.reachingperfection.com

Want to get better at forging maps? Check out my
Forge Lessons.

Looking for a quality map to play with your friends? Then check out: Affinity and Think Twice.

Posted by: GI James 42
These lessons were amazing! I am really looking forward to the ones in the future. So far, the points that helped me most were:

1) From spawn, players should be able to see two or more obvious paths of travel.
2) Never place a spawn pointing off a cliff
3) Provide more than one route to each location.

Thank you for your awesome tips!


I see that you read on to the actual Forge Lessons page on my blog. I hope you enjoyed all 19 of them. Remember that I post a new one every other day so the next one comes out on Friday.

Posted by: Aeoss_
with these lessons, ive metaphorically gotten laid over and over!

I use these to re-arranged my Forge maps, my room, and even my clothes! now all the chicks dig me!

Seriously.


Lol best testimonial every Aeoss... I approve of this msg.

Posted by: The 0 Samurai
nice lessons! It's nice to know a bit more about map design before going into forgeworld


That was definitely the point. I felt that people needed something to keep them pre-occupied for a little bit and thinking before Reach comes out... it will definitely help the wait. lol...

Posted by: A1RxSQUARED
*Saved*

should be a nice read when im waiting for the delivery guy.


Again I made it to help the wait. I hope they make for more than just a nice read bro... good luck with your future creations and I hope you check your saved threads often. lol...

  • 09.09.2010 12:13 AM PDT

Thank you, Godly, for posting these lessons. I kept hoping for more info from the Incompetent Cartographer, but that well seems to have run dry. Now I don't need it. I'm especially interested in what you have to say on spawning, since I have zero experience messing with it and only the shadow of an idea of how it should work. I've saved this thread and eagerly await your coming installments. With a little luck I may just have a shot at building something worth playing...

  • 09.09.2010 12:51 AM PDT

I intend to live forever, or die trying,

so far, so good.

I made one really good map, which I can't wait to use Forge 2.0. I will look at some of your lessons. I've had many players paly from noobs to generals, and everyone likes it. Couple of glitches, but that is because I could not be bothered spending an extra few hours lining things up.

I wanted to add more, but didn't have the time. Forge 2.0 should be much easier and give me plenty of time.

  • 09.09.2010 1:02 AM PDT