: I truly am loving this forge. It has so many items I have wanted for a long
: time such as moving blocks and control of lights, scripting and moving
: things as 1, Z-fighting movement. I feel this is going to allow us to do
: some creative stuff as well as some matchmaking maps. Once I got used to
: most of the controls I have been making stuff pretty quick, but still have
: a ways to go.

: There are of course some issues, such as removing bases and some other models
: that have been there forever. I am personally fine with the controls, took
: a bit and I am still learning. The save issue could be a big one, but the
: only major issue I have is that it's tied to Network connection! I was
: working on something last night when my internet went out. I lost about
: 30-40 minutes of work. Luckily I had just started, but this is why I
: didn't like this console generations idea of always on, and I was learning
: the controls mainly. I can't make a map when the internet goes out at my
: house?

: D*** this was meant to be a positive thread but the negative is longer. I
: promise I love it. I can't wait for this weekend.
-------------

I'm not surprised, Chris.
It's pretty difficult to stay positive when a very hyped product is proven to be far less then perfect. And I'm right there with you and Gravemind on these issues. So much so that I ended up streaming on Twitch for 20 minutes (or so) just to complain. And that's before I even came close to getting into the big issues. I know there's already another thread about it, but I'm going to list the issues that I've encountered in the first 30 minutes.

1) The controls are switched around for no reason at all. RB & LB use to be moving up and down. But now moved to A & B. Which, greatly, makes it difficult to rotate around a object when moving in those directions.

2) X& Y buttons have been switched around as well. Also for no reason. There is literally zero reason for this, as they are right next to one another.

3) Switching to Spartan mode was moved from pressing UP on the D-pad to pressing DOWN. Also no reason for this change.

4) Camera Controls are not clear at all. Even with the HUD visible. It gets pretty difficult to see that white text when the canvas backdrop is also bright (snow, sun, sky, water, etc).

5) When you spawn a object, the camera should ALWAYS snap to it for rotation. Which it does not do. Instead, the user has to press in a stick. Something that also was not evident from the start.

6) Accidentally selecting a object is way too easy. I like that there's a long draw distance for selecting object, but it's way to easy to selected them. I would have no issue with having to hold in the left trigger before selecting (or deselecting) a object. As of right now, I tend to select way more then I want to. And it's not easy to see that I've done this.

7) That brings me to the next issue. HUD visibility. Like most Forgers, when I'm working on something, I'm focused on it. NOT the hard to see text below the cursor. When I select something, I expect to select the item that's right in front of me. Not the entire grouped map behind it and in the distance!

8) Grouping/Wielding is another issue that need to be brought up. It's broken. Well that or badly implemented. Say I've made my base and wielded it together. It's not suppose to be one large object, right? Okay. Now I've done the same thing for my map. That gives me two large Wielded Objects; right? Good. But now I've realized that I need to move them both, along with other assets (vehicles, spawns, etc) to a better location on the canvas. So I select my wielded objects and then select all of the assets for moving. But because EVERYTHING has their own orientation setup, I can't simply move them. Or the assets will move & rotate in odd directions. How do I get around this? Why, I group them with my wielded objects, to get one set orientation for them all. I get to my entire map to it's new location. All is well. Looks great. But now I want to move one asset. So I ungroup them, but something's not right. I ungrouped my assets from my wielded base and wielded map, just fine. However; NOW my wielded base is no longer wielded together? Nor is my map? WHAT?!?!

9) Speaking of moving objects. They should, by default, be set up to move and rotate based on the world settings, not based on their own orientation. Forge has been set up like this since Halo Custom Edition on the PC. Changing it only adds confusion and frustration. Look. I work in 3D, so I understand the need and importance of moving objects with their individual orientation sets. However, Forge is not set up like Blender, Maya, 3D Max, Zbrush, etc. And most of the users do not know how to move about nor operate in such a manner. Which Halo5's Forge is clearly trying to do. But even when working in 3D programs, if you select more then one object and move them, they move as one, NOT as two or more. Unless, of course, you press a button to tell it to. Oh and the button in the Halo5 Forge, to change this setting does not always work. I've had to quit out, TWICE, quit out the entire game, and THEN it started to work. But later, it would stop again. This needs to be fixed.

10) Speaking of quitting a Forge session, it's a pain in the butt. Not actually doing it, mind you. But doing it only to learn that all of your progress is lost. Sorry, cheapLEY, but the Saving issues are not fixed. Saving the map or saving and quitting forge does not always work. And the "Quick Save" (QS) only seems to save what it wants to. I took some time to build a structure, QSed it, then cloned it, then positioned the clone, then QSed, then made other changes, then QSed and "Saved and Quit". I opened up the save a half our later and the save only took place at the start of building the structure. So I ran a few tests. It did it again. Only this time, it saved at the last QS point but also deleted objects I made before other QS points.

11) H5 Forge does not like grouped decals one bit. There's no Spider emblem for player to use, nor is there a decal for it. So as a way to mark my map, I created a pretty simple custom Spider decal. Naturally, I grouped it so I could use it when needed. I made changed to my map, did a number of Saves, and quit Forge. When I came back to it, EVERY LAST CUSTOM DECAL WAS MISSING!! All while some items I had made after creating the decals, remained. That's not the only issue with the decals. Apart from not being able to change their colors AT ALL, some are darker then others. By a shade or two, but very noticeable. Although they have magnet points (no idea why), their central point (pivot points) are not in the center. I had to flip a few decals to get unison for the spider decal, but they just would not line up onto the same plane. Even when the position markers claimed they were. There was always a clear cap or two between them, no matter how you move them. And by default decals are set to "Fixed" and not "Phased" as they should be. This makes working with them a bit of a pain. All Decals also cast shadows. That's right. A item that should not cast shadows, does. Receiving shadows is fine, but they should not cast them. When's the last time you saw a wall decal cast a shadow, while on the wall? Oh, and in case you were wondering, you can not set up a lamp to cast your custom decal onto a wall.

12) Speaking of items casting shadows, that shouldn't; lets take a look at the chroma key blocks. The entire point of them is to place them anywhere on a map, so the background of a object can be keyed out in post. Primarily for Machinima, these Chroma blocks have been very useful in Halo4. The issue is that, for them to work, effectively, they should not cast nor receive shadows. A lot of time is taken, in real life, to get the lighting right, to get the shadeless effect on green screens. But in the digital world, it's a simple button (literally) marked "Shadeless". It's a feature often used for light-boxes and mate-paintings in games, just like Halo 5. But in the new Forge, you are limited to wither always have it facing the sun (not always a option) or placing a ton of lamps against it, to remove shadows. And even then, players and other objects can not be anywhere near it, without running the risk of unwanted shadows or light casting.

13) The Scripting set up reminds me, a bit, or Project Spark's. Except, when you set it up to move something, it's not seamless. Item's flat out stop before continuing. And if you're in a vehicle, then the driver does not experience it at all. In fact, if a player gets into the driver seat, it often cancels the script for that player. http://xboxclips.com/SEspider/2eca9767-ec6a-4d25-aa8b-dc89c3922d19.
But scripting doors and elevators is pretty useless without a switch to activate them. But now, the switches will automatically jump back to their original spawn location. To counter this, the Forger must lock the switch before saving the map (that is if it saves at all). Scripting has a LOT of potential. Especially if these issues are addressed and fixed. I can already visualize PeteTheDuck, or someone else scripting a entire map to fall into place, right in front of the players' eyes. But I do find it disappointing that we can't forge the map's lighting changes.

14) Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't 343i specifically say that the past Forge items would all be returning? Because I haven't spotted the first one, outside of vehicles and weapons. Where are the buildings? Where are the platforms? Where are the Large Blocks from Halo2A? Where is the spartan model we were promised for size reference, when forging? Someone suggested using 343i maps as a template for bases. That's all well and good, but what if I want that base on another canvas? Why should I be limited to using them? Why not allow me to use the structures, that I'm use to using, to quickly make my bases? Instead, I have to take a hour to make the exact same structure from past Forges. And if I want it on another canvas, I then have to re-create it all over again?? That's not progress.

15) The menu system needs work, BAD. I'm a very organized person. Well, digitally that is. When I'm in the Forge menu, I have a hard time locating anything. In past Forge menus, everything was in categories and labeled in a way they were easy to read. In this Forge, I have to get close to my HDTV and almost squint just to read what size something is. And even then, it's not clear what it is. Items are showing up in more then one location. Which only adds to the confusion. When I'm building something, I don't want to nor should have to scroll though a endless list of items and squint to locate what I want.

There are other issues I've encountered. But they have slipped my mind at this point. I'll share them as I remember them, or encounter new ones. Bottom line is this:
This Forge is suppose to speed up the process. But all I see it doing is slowing it down to a crawl. I made a Proof Of Concept in Halo2A's Forge in less time it has taken me to remake 1/3 of it in Halo 5's. And that's not including the structures, but just the natural elements. Of course, this is in large part due to the Save glitches. However, it does not include relearning how to navigate the camera.