Functional Artillery in Halo 2A Forge

ShockBolt21

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Feb 1, 2013
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Since Halo 3, forgers have tried many different ways to use the forge pieces to build complex mechanisms that would propel projectiles, such as fusion coils or golf balls. Forgers have created numerous contraptions that used man cannons, explosives, or other means in attempt to accomplish this, but rarely have they ever managed to launch their object with any amount of force. The best forge cannons could only ever muster a slight lob, and they never really found any practical use in an actual map.

However, things have changed. Using some of the new objects in Halo 2 Anniversary's forge, I have developed a system that, when activated by a switch, can propel an object to unprecedented speeds and distances. Said object can be almost anything that functions with normal physics, including crates, explosives, or even players. Check out this video that demonstrates the system.


The cannons shown were set up to fire explosive golf balls that, upon impact, could annihilate a scorpion and anything else within a sizable radius (see 0:52). The landscape in the video was a modified version of Entrenched.

Setting up this system is surprisingly simple, much more so than the destruction trick I showed earlier. Read on to find out how to build it yourself, or just follow the instructions in this video (by Zandril) ...


Artillery Setup Instructions (Halo 2: Anniversary Forge)

-Using the 'Movement Snap' tool or coordinate editing, place several "Explosion Volume: Large Inv" objects so that they all occupy the exact same position. The more explosion volumes you place, the more force the projectile will launch with. In the video, 10 volumes were used in each cannon. Make sure Broadcast Channel = 1 for each of them.

-Enclose the explosion volume cluster in a chamber that's just large enough to fit the projectile. Make sure it's open on the end you want it to fire from. In the video, "1x3 Flat" building blocks were used to make the chamber.

-Create a platform that your projectile will rest on. The platform will lie between the projectile and the explosion cluster in the chamber, so make sure there's a hole in it so the explosion can influence the projectile. In the video, four "1x1 Flat" building blocks were used to make the four sides of the platform, with a hole in the middle. You could choose a different object instead, such as an "antenna, small" or "trim"piece, to hold the projectile over the explosive.

-Place a "Switch, Toggle" where you'd like the system to be activated from. Set Broadcast Channel = 1. You could also use some other scripting mechanism to fire it instead.


For Explosive Projectiles

-Place a "Trait Zone" and set its dimensions so that it will encompass the player when he activates the cannon. Set Trait Zone Channel = Alpha. Go to tools, select "Trait Zone Properties", and set Damage Modifier = 0% for the Alpha channel. This will prevent the explosion from detonating the projectile inside the cannon, as it won't do any damage when triggered by a player in the trait zone.

-Before the projectile makes impact, the player needs to move out of the trait zone so the projectile explodes when it strikes the ground or a target. The amount of damage the explosive inflicts, as well as its blast radius, is dependent on the damage modifier settings immediately affecting the player that triggered the launch when it makes impact. In the video, the player moved into another trait zone after firing (channel Bravo) that was set to provide a damage modifier of 500% to inflict maximum damage over the largest possible radius.

Now you're ready to fire! This trick can be used to create a functional and practical general-purpose launcher for custom maps.
 
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