Halo 3 Webcomics

FORGIN’ FTW.

Without further ado, the moment most likely everyone will be waiting for: SET DESIGN! Halo 3 comes with the coolest feature they could ever put in a game since Theatre Mode… Oh wait. Anyway, said coolest feature is FORGE MODE.

Forge allows you to make your own custom variants of maps Bungie made for Halo 3. It’s like you’re hammering on something nice and hot on an anvil, hence the name forge. (Don’t think on that) The default maps count up to nine maps altogether. Add the Heroic Map Pack, Legendary Map Pack, Cold Storage, and the upcoming Mythic Map Pack, you’ll get about 22 maps to choose from. In fact, I already have plans for a number of the maps in the Mythic Pack for my own comics!

That’s not quite as high as the number of maps out for Halo 2, but Bungie has confirmed that they’ll end up making more maps in Halo 3 than there are in Halo 2. One can only hope they remake some other awesome Halo CE maps. I’m not talking Blood Gulch though. They already said multiple times that they’re not planning on a remake. Point is: we can expect more maps in the making than just Mythic.

Lets see… five paragraphs in, and I’ve yet to talk about set design. Apologies, Reclaimers. The quality of set design really depends on your tastes. If you don’t want to make any sets, that’s fine. If you want to use custom-made maps that were made by dudes and dudettes from Forgehub, that’s also fine. I make my own sets for comics, and I find that it tends to work best that way. I also enjoy making cool stuff in Forge. You may not feel the same, but who can blame you?

Just be sure to thank whoever made the custom map you’re using as a set. Or as Adam from Chaos Theory said, “Thank the general community because it’s rather difficult to determine who the true creator of maps are when people tend to try to rip it off.” Actually, he doesn’t say that word-for-word, but he does thank the general community and whoever made the maps “knows whom they are.”

Okay, here’s an example. Pretty pictures for the feeble mind to ogle at and comic artist-to-be’s to study and think “Hey, this HolyJunkie guy is a nitwit!”

You’ll notice that the character design there cannot be bad, and cannot be good either. You really can’t say anything about the character unless you know who and what it is.

You’ll also notice that the set there is completely empty.

Now check this screenshot

You’ll most likely enjoy looking at this one some more. If not, then you’re a minimalist… Not like there’s anything wrong with being one. I personally don’t see anything wrong.

But to those who aren’t, you’ll figure that “The more blam! I put in, the cooler a screenshot is going to be! TIME TO SPAM CRATES!!ONEELEVEN”

That doesn’t work that way. It’s not about wasting Forge-Bucks, and it’s not about filling an entire place with -blam!… Unless the scene you’re making is in a warehouse. In which I’d recommend using Foundry, the garage in High Ground, The Pit, or other maps I may have forgotten about.

But here’s the question you’ll probably be asking: How do I make cool stuff without blowin’ all the dough? The people ask, and HolyJunkie (the ignoramus) will answer!

First off, you need to know what the set is actually representing. If you’re making a comic that’s based in Halo 3 Multiplayer… well, that just signifies that you’re too lazy to make maps, as the only sets you will have to use will be the default maps.

If you’re making a comic based in some alternate dimension where everyone is addicted to cheese and there’s an evil corporation attempting to buy out the Cheddar factory, to build Cheddar ICBMs armed with the power to melt every piece of cheese on the planet, thus causing a mass flood of cheese that will either burn, suffocate, feed, or drown billions, and it’s up to the Main Character the only one who doesn’t like cheddar- to stop the evil corporation… well, you’ll need a lot of image editing skill and cheese.

But anyway, whatever setting you’re making the set resemble really depends on what you had in mind. Here’s an actually good example:

If you want to build a human supply cache and outpost in a Forerunner-origin base, then here’s what I did for my set in Epitaph, which I used as an earlier example.

In order to make the outpost look temporary, start off by placing pallets where appropriate: corners and right against the walls. Then put the biggest stuff in said outpost on top of the pallets. Crates, large barrels, large drums work nicely.<

(Also noticed that I only have one pallet there, but it works) Add some smaller props with the grouping and then put some in areas off the pallets, but still fitting.

You should also add some weapons and equipment. You wouldn’t expect a supply cache like this one to be without any means for humans to defend it at a moment’s notice. (I didn’t put any weapons in this one, but if you look closely, you’ll see a tripmine. In a different cache not shown here, I put a Battle Rifle and grenades. Always add grenades, because everybody loves grenades, and you never know when you suddenly need explosions.)

Lastly, add a Mongoose (Or Warthog, if possible) just for the sake of having a vehicle there for scouting around. SUPPLY CACHES IN-A-BOX! Comes with a free Mongoose! (Sorry, a joke.)

But yeah, that’s the general idea for human outposts in a Forerunner-based place. You can do the same thing with Covenant equipment, but all you really have are Covvie crates and weapon holders. For Fore… Let me try again: For Forerunner bases in a… Forerunner base… Ehm… Just make it seem like the Forerunner-based objects blend perfectly with the map itself.

But if you’re like every other original person and their dog, you’ll most likely make a story that stars at least humanity. Therefore, the Human Outpost idea is the big cheese you’ll probably need.

If you’re planning to do some sort of chase scene, use a map that allows vehicles of the sort. Set an area that you wouldn’t put vehicles in that also allows you to get the vehicles out. Example: In High Ground, I placed vehicles inside the base itself, and positioned them to allow them to be driven out of the base easily. Either that or I hide them on the shore, where a chase scene will almost never end up (Because lets face it: unless the vehicles used also serve as boats, there’s no way a character would drive to a dead-end).

Just make the place look… natural. Like something that would be set up if you, a person with a mind, would have an entire twenty-four hours to do nothing but set things up in a way that you find works. I, for one, didn’t take twenty-four hours to build a single set- but I was a monitor, so that’s how I can make stuff so fast.

Also, when making comics, be sure to get at least one screenshot of your totally awesome set to establish the fact that it’s there. Otherwise, it’ll be like you built that amazing pile of awesome just to realize that no one even gets to see it because you messed up in screenshot-gathering.

Also, another thing: If you want to make a cool A.I. thing using powerups, it’s actually pretty easy.<

Step 1: Place a weapon holder where you want the AI to float at.
Step 2: Spawn a powerup and place it on the weapon holder.

Holy blam! That’s so difficult!

The colors you have with the three available powerups are red, blue, and yellow. Any artist who’s ever tried painting will know that those are the three primary colors in painting. In designing with lights, the color spectrum is a little different. That’s irrelevant though. If you place two powerups in the same position, they combine and make an altogether different color.

Overshield: Red
Active Camouflage: Blue
Custom Powerup: Yellow

Red + Blue = Purple
Red + Yellow = Orange
Blue + Yellow = Green

Red + Blue + Yellow = Something very, very bright- like white, except not quite white.

You start off with four of each powerup, which is enough to make one of every single color. Awesome, eh?

Well, H.J. signing off. By the time I make a tutorial thing for this awesome site again, I’ll hopefully have something more useful to talk about. Peace!

-HolyJunkie.