Forge overview | Winter Update 2024 | halo

The Winter 2024 Update for Halo Infinite As we get closer and closer, we want to give you a look at Forge's updates and improvements, including third-person camera options, improved Forger attribution for player-created maps and modes, and more.

Once upon a time, before there was an original Xbox launch title, halo looked completely different…

Before the series became the first-person shooter we knew and loved for nearly a quarter of a century, halo Previously, the game saw a period of exploration as a third-person action game.

Of course, there are third-person elements that have been part of it for a long time halo Gaming experience, for example when the player gets into a vehicle. Taking a third-person perspective was also possible in Theater Mode, where players could watch, record, and take screenshots of their previous matches, but there has never been a true third-person experience outside of modding halo.

That changes with the winter update 2024.

The ability to switch between first and third person perspectives will be available at the mode level in the Custom Game options and as a script node in Forge.

When the third-person firefight playlist starts, players will be able to try it out for themselves in matchmaking, giving you a better understanding of what it's all about halo feels like this new way to play.

Since Forge was launched as part of Halo InfiniteWe've continued to build this feature with continuous updates and improvements to the experience. We've also tried to improve Forge creator highlighting, which is another element of the Winter 2024 Update.

To increase the visibility of the counterfeiters who created the maps and modes you love, we've updated several areas of the game to highlight gamertags and make it easier for players to bookmark their creations.

Starting next week, you'll be able to see these updates on the following screens:

Additionally, we've also added the ability to bookmark maps and modes on several of these screens.

In Halo InfiniteWe were introduced to Spartan Commander Laurette Agryna, head of the Avery J. Johnson Academy, where the multiplayer aspect of the game is the focus.

Agryna also acts as one of the multiplayer announcers Halo Infiniteand Forgers will be able to use their voiceover in the same way as when we added Jeff Steitzer's voice lines to Forge.

And to provide maximum control with this new feature, you can also ensure that only the intended players or team hear each line set up in Forge's nodegraph:

These nodes will have Agryna's lines for the following categories:

You can find these new lines alongside the existing Steitzer lines in the Play Announcer Voicer nodes mentioned above. Make sure to use the Announcer Voice custom game option for better control over communication in the mode.

Lifepool systems (or respawn ticket systems) are an integral part of many breathtaking gaming experiences. To bring the intensity of this victory condition to all of our modes, we've now made it a global custom play option.

This means players can now create modes with two different victory conditions. When applied to Capture the Flag, the conditions could now be: “Capture the flag or destroy the opposing team’s forces to win.”

Additionally, we combined this lifepool system with global respawn systems that players may be familiar with from Firefight and Attrition.

The new custom game options are:

Health & Damage > Lifepool

New nodes added to make it even easier for counterfeiters to control these systems include:

The mode possibilities with these settings are pretty exciting and we can't wait to see what players can do with them.

As Forge brings more mode features online, we're also aiming to improve the way mode information can be communicated to players during gameplay. In our Fleetcom update we added a lot of improvements to Nav Markers, but we knew there was more to do.

The next improvement we wanted to make was “docking” navigation markers, which helps someone who is actively working on an objective, such as securing a fortress. This will move a navigation marker displayed in a capture zone to a “docked” position on a player's HUD when they enter it. An example of this can be seen in our Winter Update community livestream.

To support this functionality, we've added over a dozen new nodes to Forge's scripting nodegraph.

We've also added four new nodes to support volume visibility and improve modes that could benefit from the additional controls.

In addition to these new features, we've also made some additional improvements to Forge. These are the result of community feedback as people look to further expand their range of ways to build in Forge at an increasingly granular level.

Mode creators now have the ability to disable each mode's default music in custom games, allowing them to take full advantage of the Campaign Music feature added earlier this year.

Accompanying this addition, new music control nodes are also being added to the Forge node graph:

GET THE GENERAL ZONE PROGRESS NODE

The default navigation markers provided by Generic Zones are valuable in providing players with basic functionality. The biggest limitation to creating your own generic zone markers is that there is no way for players to track the progress of the generic zones themselves.

We added a new node called Get Generic Zone Progress. The result is that it shows the conquest progress of a specific zone and works in any generic zone game mode template.

When we previously released the mini-game variants, we received feedback from the community that they did not have specific mode names. Based on this feedback, we've added some new mode names:

If an object is labeled “Include,” it should only appear in that mode variant. If an object is labeled Exclude, it should be available in all modes except the selected one.

That's everything Forge expects for the Winter 2024 Update Halo Infinite. We're always looking for more feedback to expand the options available to players and can't wait to see what you do!