Infection Forge Tips - Ep 3 "Atmosphere"

Writeup:
In this episode we are covering yet another important, yet commonly overlooked aspect of building Infection maps, creating atmosphere. This is something I see screwed up so much, and yet it is a simple skill that anyone can pick up.
As I stressed in previous episodes, through both Equal Access and Line of sight, setting the correct mood and tension can add a whole other layer of immersion. Now, there are several aspects of your map that you should look at before diving into this. This should help you generate certain questions you should be asking yourself:
Does my map have a specific theme?
(For example, is it a broken down home, a dark and damp cave, or even a derelict space cruiser drifting through the stars in eternal damnation?)
How much am I trying to impact my player's ability?
(Is the map supposed to give players a relaxed and easy time, or a stressful and intense confrontation?)
...and most importantly, how do I want my players to feel?
Film makers, composer and video game developers almost always keep this in mind, so that they can evoke certain emotions from there audience.
You could have them feel may different ways.
(Scared, Lost, Joyful, Confident, or unconfident)
Some other things to consider include time of day, and setting.

Now the easiest way to start to create an atmosphere is to simply just look at your map. You should decide if it is at night or day, and what kind of setting it is in, and if I have a theme. From this, you can start to select a color effect, or even begin blending them.

Leaving your map untouched gives it a normal, "midday sun" kind of feel.

Spawn a "next gen" color effect for an evening setting (or just a gloomy setting).

Combine purple with next gen to create a nighttime atmosphere, or for a completely indoors map, a power outage. (Great in combination with Lights, but can negatively affect frame-rate.)

For early morning, I recommend combining nova with purple.

Colorblind and Old Timey can add to the atmosphere if they fit the theme of your map, though I would recommend using them sparingly, as some people do find them a bit annoying. (Old Timey also negatively affects frame-rate.)

Now what a lot of people aren't aware that there are some color effects meant for machinima's and screenshots that don't quite fit well with gameplay.
I recommend staying away from Nova, Pen and Ink, and please, no more Orange and Green, they make my eyes hurt and people sick.

Color effects aren't the only thing that can set an atmosphere. The simple placement of items can leave a more subliminal and subconscious feeling of tension.
It leaves that "Something isn't quite right here" feeling.
If you ever stack two items, like two crates or fusion coils, leave one of them slightly off kilter. Placing down some weapons? Leave irregular gaps between some of them, make sure they have low ammo, and that some of them are a little bit crooked. It shows that someone else has passed through that area and had probably ransacked the place. Leaving signs of a struggle can add a lot more of an eerie feeling. An abandoned military checkpoint in the middle of the street, a destroyed barricade, a crashed falcon, or a toppled pile of crates makes people feel that they are in a place ravaged by disaster. Creating a contrast can also make these things more apparent. When creating a seemingly normal location, like a Home, convenience store, or an old hotel, add these signs of distress to show a normal place, turned into a upside down, twisted, fun house of terror.
Now you may be thinking to yourself, why even do this? I don't think anyone will even notice.
Now you know what they say. You don't know how much you will miss something until it is gone.
If you choose to leave out atmosphere, your map may appear bland, and people will not engage and become immersed as well. Always try to incorporate some atmosphere into your maps.

Good job, you read the whole thing (maybe)!

Category:

Gaming

Tags:

• atmosphere
• mood
• halo
• reach
• forge
• tips
• infection
• zombies
• halloween
• town
• village
• house
• city
• undead
• fun
• custom
• games
• balance
• line
• of
• sight
• how
• to

[in12600]

would you suggest using juicy,purple,and next gen?i think it looks nice

[Insanmiac]

@in12600 I used that combination on my map Neptune's Hangman, so yeah, if it fits the map's style, go ahead.

[06delmomi]

Your armour gets better every time you make a new video!

[gwynnelol]

@Insanmiac If only you could put blood and dead spartan bodys on the map, that would make most maps seem a little more scary in a way.

[SniperAceXIII]

hey insanmiac, wanna team up to make a map? message me if u want to :)

[TheMonsterSkull]

now this advice could be put into machinima planning right or is there more to it for that?

[Herobrine30621]

Great advice dude, thanks! Gotta try next time I make a map.

[kmrst10000]

The tips in this video helped make my map MUCH better... thank you for helping to nudge my forge skills in the right direction.

[wv1323]

Great job and I had never thought of atmosphere before you said

[MyKe808whiteboy]

Thank you. I just found out about your videos and this one is my favorite. I always try to create a creepy atmosphere in my HALO3 maps. I cannot wait to make one tonight. Keep up the good work I hope to show you one of my maps one day. :D

[in12600]

@Insanmiac alright thanks for sharing...and you have a new subber

[theinsaneasylum100]

part 4!

part 4!

part 4!

part 4!