Hello everyone, and welcome to Halo Spotlight. This piece is a content creator Q&A. As the name implies, we have a sit down with a Halo content creator and ask some questions.
In this Content Creator Q&A we’re talking with a Forger who loves to create maps based on real places.
This Q&A wasn’t done via Discord, so sadly there’s no awesome video to accompany it. That means this article is the one and only place to be for this Q&A.
The Writing Spartan asked Ricardootino some questions, and these are the responses. Please enjoy.
Question: For those who may not know you, can you tell us a bit about yourself?
Hello, my name is Ricardo Arturo Hernández Pacheco, I am Mexican, I am 22 years old and I am an architecture student, about to graduate as an architect this year.
I am a gamer and as a hobby I drive race cars. I love making maps in forge, especially recreations of real places.
Question: When did you first begin forging?
My passion for forge started from halo 3 in 2008, thanks to an old friend named Siulix, (his Xbox gamertag). I helped him erase the halo 3 foundry map in forge so we could create our maps. When Halo Reach arrived, I went further into the world of forge.
I started experimenting with their tools and creating clan maps that my friends asked me to do. I remember making a map of an aircraft carrier for my own clan, called Flyboys, where every weekend we gather ourselves playing, flying, and having air battles, as well as flying in formation. Also make the same map in infection mode.
Halo 4 arrived where I recreated the maps that I had made in Halo Reach with the help of my best friends Gaelix5000, Devil Luis and Thekevin117.
Then Halo 5 Guardians arrived, where everything changed for the halo community and for me. Halo 5 helped me show the potential and love of building my own maps in a thousand ways and without limits.
It was there where in mid-2016 I met Brusky in some custom games, we became very good friends and he introduced me to the iforge group and HALO SPARK FORGE NETWORK, where I met very good people and they joined my list of friends, sharing experiences of the world of forge and collaborating with 343 industries.
Question: What made you want to start creating Forge maps based off real life locations?
As an architecture student, I am inspired to know more about the pre-Hispanic architecture of Mexico, I like my culture. I really like the realism and attention to detail in my maps. I want to create an experience for players to be able to recreate and live historical moments of their country in their favourite video game.
In addition to making sites considered as wonders of the world, with Halo 5 forge you can visit each map and the place speaks for itself, in addition to being playable in various game modes in Halo 5, such as Slayer, capture the flag, Stronghold among others.
Question: How do you get the sizes and scaling correct compared to its real life counterpart?
For the creation of the maps, I rely on real photographs, plans, tourist guides, videos, in addition to having visited the places.
I make each map as much as possible at the scale of the Halo lore. Since there is no measurement ruler in Halo 5 forge, I use objects such as vehicles and rely on their measurements to make the maps.
I use the Warthog vehicle, since it tells me that it is 6 meters long (Agreed on halo lore), with these measurements I make the maps among other techniques.
Question: What forge projects or communities are you currently involved in?
Going into the history of the community to which I belong. We are a group of some of the best forgers in the community and their customs pals.
Founders: ImDahUnicorn, JA50N 0 and INFINUT.
Admins-Brusky0086, Raptor086, The222v, DC Valorstrike, N3gat1veZer0, xXBarthXx, b0b is here, Shooty Person, And TheRoflzDude.
iForge is The Forging Spartan Company and we pride ourselves on positivity, encouragement, and being great ambassadors for this thing called Forge and the Halo Community.
Some of the achievements iForge has (some self awarded) include Most Bookmarks in Halo 5 (Team), Most Maps in Matchmaking, Most active in the community, 200+ years of combined experience and Most Rad Forgers you have ever met!
Our most recent collaboration on iforge and Halo Spark Forge Network were working and collaborating on multiplayer map content in the Halo: The Master Chief Collection, giving feedback on the maps from other forgers and 343 Industries that were selected in a Forgehub contest for the Halo 3 FORGE update. THE FIGHT.
We have future plans in Halo Infinite to continue expanding the halo community and continue to make quality maps for the people.
Right now, I plan to make two more maps, these are the Aztec underworld called Mictlán, it will be for infection game mode.
The other map I am working on is the recreation of the Angel of Independence, an urban map located in Mexico City surrounded by skyscrapers, it will be an urban and tactical combat map, and I will also include vehicles.
Question: Can you tell us a little about your maps?
I have created remake maps set in real places and well scaled according to the lore of halo and the real world. I also create go kart racing maps and motorsport maps. I create history telling maps. I also create aesthetic and infection maps.
A few competitive maps too, but my specialty is creating real historic sites. My last creation of this type was the zocalo in Mexico City. Where every September 16 a military march is held.
Question: How many maps have you created?
I have created about 40 maps of all kinds, including recreations of historical sites and I have tested a few maps with iforge and 343 industries. Great experience playing with them.
Question: Do you work alone, with friends or with the community?
Sometimes I work alone and sometimes I work together with the community, which give me feedback on my maps. From time to time my friends help me find bugs or errors in the maps so that I can fix them.
Question: Do you have a favourite location that you’ve created a Forge map for, or would like to create one for?
Of course, my favourite map that I have created has been Chichen Itza, since I fell in love with that place when I was able to visit it on a vacation with my family, as well as being the map that put me in the eyes of 343 industries and the entire halo community thanks to iforge and Halo spark forge network. Another of my favourite maps are the ruins of Tulum and Tenochtitlan.
Question: What other types of maps do you make besides to recreations of real historical sites?
I like creating race maps, real race maps where I used to race when I was younger, as well as creating other tracks in the world.
I also like to recreate remakes of other video games, such as the Tomb raider reboot saga, where I have made an inspirational map of Yamatai Island, of the Sun Queen Himiko from Tomb Raider 2013, I have recreated Lara Croft’s Mansion for infection mode and a few other video game scenarios.
I like to create aesthetic maps. My most recent map in this category was: (Room) where I make an inspirational room for the famous movie Passengers is a 2016 American science fiction romance film directed by Morten Tyldum and written by Jon Spaihts, which is partially based on the 1950s EC Comics story ’50 Girls 50 ‘.
The film stars Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt. I base myself on the architecture of the film to create this map.
Question: Do you plan to continue creating Forge maps based on real locations in Halo Infinite?
Of course, if I have plans to create all the maps that I have made in Halo 5 to Halo Infinite. This is in gratitude to the entire community that has been supporting me in recent years.
I plan to create many more historical sites, not only of the Mexican culture, but of the entire world. I also plan to focus on making competitive maps in Halo Infinite with the help of iforge, halo spark forge network and continuing to collaborate with 343 industries.
Question: Where would people go if they want to find your maps or see updates from yourself?
Finding and playing my maps in Halo 5 is very easy! In fact, I made a video of how to find and play custom maps on my YouTube channel. There everyone can see a step-by-step tutorial on how to play on these maps.
The basic steps are: Go to Halo 5 menu, In the forge menu select the option on the right where it says Search and then click on custom search.
You then have two options: (You put the name of the map you are looking for) or (You put my Gamertag, where you can find all my files and maps that I have made).
Once you find the map you want to play, select it and click on markers. In automatic mode, the map will be saved to be able to play in personalized games.
Finally, from the Halo 5 menu go to custom games and search the map from marker files, from there you select play and that’s it. You can now play maps in Halo 5 Guardians.
To know more about me, you can follow me on my social networks. I upload content from the world of Halo as well as progress of my projects and Halo news. Where I am most active is on Facebook. In my other networks like: @ricardootino.
Question: Do you have anything else to say to the readers before we go?
Thank you very much to the entire Halo community for all the support you have been giving me in recent years. I couldn’t be here if it weren’t for you.
Thank you very much really. Big projects are coming to Halo Infinite. Thank you so much. I would like to thank the iforge family and halo spark forge network for allowing me to be part of them and helping each other grow the forge community.
Finally, I want to thank my family and friends for all the support they have given me in my passion for the forge and the world of Halo. I want to thank the entire Halo Spotlight staff for allowing me to be here today. Thanks a lot.
You can find me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Twitch, YouTube and Xbox (GT: ricardootino).
Thank you very much Spartans! I appreciate you all! Until next time. Good Bye!
A huge thank you to Ricardootino for talking with The Writing Spartan. This was the most extensive Q&A on Halo Spotlight to date, so we really appreciate Ricardootino sharing some information and backstory about his creations.
For more awesome fan made Halo creations, do be sure to check out our new spotlights section of the site. You can also check our Twitter account and Facebook Page for updates relating to the site, our Instagram account for some awesome Halo artwork, and our YouTube channel for the latest Q&As and videos.
Want to see your Halo content or creation on the site? Check out the post submissions section, which outlines what you’ll need to do to get your piece in front of the spotlight. That’s all for now folks, so I’ll see you all next time.