Site Update - Friday 21st November
Forge Hub jiggery pokery
The site has undergone a few subtle changes of late, a few of which will have slipped under many members' radar. First and foremost is the expansion of the Testers Guild into a three-fold TRC Guild. Residing in it's comfortable spot within the Halo Forge Discussion section, the new and improved TRC has broadened its horizons beyond map testing alone whilst keeping its dedication in that area as strong as ever. Now you can not only utilise this branch of Forge Hub for all your testing needs, but alsp plan the downfall of your foes with the new custom scheduling sub-forum. The newly revitalised Review Hub completes this new section, it's currently being completed and all the pieces brought together, but keep an eye on it and get in there early, it's a fantastic resource. You can find the TRC Guild Here, be sure to check it out and take advantage of this new organisational space.
You may also have noticed that post count has magically disappeared from the mini-profile beside each post. Your post count is still there, easily viewable from your Profile page, but it will no longer be visible around the forums. With the growing nature of Forge Hub we feel that post count should be less of a focus, especially with our rapidly growing base of new users.
Less obvious additions are the new video embedding features implemented throughout the forums recently. Anyone who uses Gamevee, favoured by many for its handy Grab feature, will welcome the first of these new tags. The BBCode uses 000000 tags, and you simply replace the 0's with the unique 6 digit identifier for each Gamevee video, which can be found at the end of the video's URL. The other new tag is a similar implementation, but for Vimeo video hosting. Vimeo is lesser used than many other hosting sites but has certain advantages over its competitors, great video quality being a clear plus for the serious video maker. The tags are 0000000, and you also use the video ID from the end of the URL instead of the full address, but in this case the ID is 7 digits. Be sure to check out these video hosting websites, you might find them more to your liking than Youtube, and we continue to expand the embedding options here on Forge Hub so that you can present your creation to the masses the way you intended it.
Further BBCode improvements come in the form of and tags. The first of these is used for the solid horizontal rules you see classily showcased in this very post and you can use them to tidy up posts by simply inserting where you want the horizontal rule to appear. The table tags are a little more complicated but prove very useful when constructing lists or placing multiple images in a table form. The table function is comprised of , (Table Row tags) and (Table Divide/Column tags) tags.
Here's an example of the code in action:
BR3Sniper Rifle1Flare2
Becomes:
BR3Sniper Rifle1Flare2
Promotions
Our most recent promotion sees Vorpal Saint joining the ranks of the Event Staff Team and he's keen to get stuck in, look out for him around the forums. You've probably seen this next new staff member hanging around the vicinity of the front page, but for those who don't know,LIGHTSOUT225 has given up the moderating game and decided to apply his talents to the role of Journalist. As an established Staff member he's settled right in and taken to front page work like a duck to any aquatic environment you'd care to name. Running Chron has taken up the banhammer in Lights' stead though, moving from Event Staff to Moderator and nicely completing this happy triangle.
There comes a time for all of us when must hang up the brightly coloured garbs and don the grey threads of Retired Staff, moderators Asper49, Biggles2, FBU, Orangeremi and Penguinish have decided to pass on the torch. We thank them for all the work they put in to help Forge Hub become what it is today, and hope they continue to enjoy the forums.
Photographers Inc. winner
Photographers Inc. is our local contest for all you Halo artistes out there to showcase your finest screenshots. The theme for this round was 343 Guilty Spark and the prize goes to Vorpal Saint for his eerie rendition of The Oracle:
The Ghosts of Onyx vs Forge Hub Montage
The Ghosts of Onyx versus Forge Hub Montage is an idea that came about back in late July. Tex has been working with many editing programs for quite some time, and has been doing his best to work up experience in said programs and make the best montage in his realm of possibilities. The Ghosts have whipped up a great amount of footage for the montage, and now it is up to you. All you have to do is provide some of your most epic footage during Halo 3 Matchmaking (less preferably Custom Games), and submit the footage here. More detailed information is provided in the link.
Again, just submit your footage for the montage here.
Forge Rube Goldberg reminder
Our offering to all you Forge tinkerers out there, the Forge Rub Goldberg contest rewards ingenuity, mechanics and long-winded entertainment. We have challenged you to build the most extravagant contraption that your mind can conceive within the confines of T' Forge and the deadline is drawing near. The announcement thread including rules can be found Here, and submissions can be made Here. All entries must be submitted by 5:00 PM (EST) on the 28th of November so hop to it.
ATLAS submissions for Matchmaking Forge Maps now open
Shishka's ATLAS group has been open for a while, established solely for the purpose of taking submissions for user created Forge maps to be adopted in to Halo 3's matchmaking. The rules for consideration are very defined, and Budget Glitches are strictly disallowed, but feel free to merge or interlock to your heart's content. The standards for forging are also pretty strict, and no render flickers will be tolerated, so you'd better take a quick look over your prospective submissions to see if there's anything you can touch up. You can find the Bungie.net group Here, check it out if you think your creation would sit well in MM play, show 'em what Forge Hub has got.
To leave on a similar, Forge related note, here's a little something to mull over from our shiny new Journalist:
LIGHTS'S Forge Tip: Try not to focus on the geometry you place, but rather focus more on the spaces between them, and how they allow players to move fluidly throughout your map.