Forge Union faces down their Phobia.


For the second week of Forge Union's spotlight, we sat down with admin H3C x Nevz to talk about his new doubles creation, Phobia.  If you're not afraid of a little bit of Q&A, scroll down and dig right in.

Q. Where did the idea for Phobia come from?

A. Phobia has elements of MLG Onslaught (very loosely) in the fact that you have some immediate contact upon spawning and then you have multiple pathways to get to your destination. I wanted to make a truly tactical map for Doubles and use the sky bubble effectively.

Q. How long did it take to come to fruition?

A. The ideas flowed pretty quickly once I got down to Forging. The project took about one short week, but then another few days went into revising the map based on testing and retesting.

Q. What aspect took you the longest to nail down?

A. One of the most common flaws of most sky bubble maps is the problem with falling to your death way too easily. I tried to add plenty of barriers to prevent falling too easily, yet at the same time maintain the map's lines of sight and make sure it wasn't too sloppy. Another main focus was the balancing of the three paths from base to base. One contains the sniper rifle, another has rockets, and the path right down the middle does not have a weapon. It was difficult to balance risk versus reward so that players utilize all three paths.

Q. How could The Forge be better utilized?

A. Many close friends at Forge Union have dreamed about some huge expansion disc for Forge and custom gametype creation. On a more realistic level, a few tools for customizing the theme of your map would be great. Tools to customize the look and color scheme of each item and the map as a whole would be phenomenal

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Well, that's about as expansive as we're going to get with Forge Union for now.  If you want to check out their customized content to see if they're up to speed on the tools they've had to work with, check out their week two offerings in Bungie Favorites.  They are live.

Looking for some ODST screenshot love.


Since the current crop of Halo 3: ODST Favorites are comprised of our own placeholders, we're going to be looking for some replacements to slap up and show off in their place.  We know you're pretty busy playing games right now, but if you have some sweet screens you want us to consider, you should upload them to your File Share. 

If you're looking for more File Share room, check out Bungie Pro.

There's a discussion link attached if you want to talk about techniques or just share your own shots amongst yourselves.  Don't forget to tag and rate your own favorites.  Happy Hunting.

We've got contact.


We might be a bit drowsy from last night's ODST launch festivities, but we'd never dream of letting this Average Joe drop until later in the week.  If you've done an Annual run or two, you may already know Contact ango.  If you still need to complete one on your Road to Recon, you should get to know him a little bit better.

Q. Who are you and what do you do?

A. My name is Marc and I’m the Director of Operations/Training Director for a Close Quarter Combatives , Law Enforcement and Military training company. Basically what that means is my company does unarmed, close quarter training for the good guys. We give them the fighting tools they need to stay alive in some of the most dangerous places in the world, so they can do there job and keep us safe. We also have exclusive training contracts with many top level UFC & WEC fighters, so frequent trips to Vegas is a burden I must bear.

Aside from being an avid gamer, I’m big into outdoor sports and anything that involves hitting other people really hard. But I’ve also got a soft side. I’m a pushover when it comes to my kids. They can drag me to pretty much anything. Who doesn’t love a good Pixar movie right?

Q. Whoa.  Close Quarters Combatives.  Sounds militaristic.  I assume that's where the gamertag comes from?

A. Well, when I got my first LIVE account, I used my real name as my GT. It was quickly and bluntly brought to my attention, that no one ever does that. So, I had to change it, but didn’t want some nonsense with random letters and numbers. I was playing RSV2 (for shame, I know) at the time and after hearing my squad yell "Contact Tango" every night it was kinda stuck in my head. Plus it sounded cool and wasn’t taken so I went with it.

Q. What forums do you go with when you're not training people to help keep us safe or spending time with your kids?

A. The majority of my time on B.net is spent fulfilling my role as Administrator of The Spartan I Project (SIP). We are currently the largest group in the community with over 6600 members. SIP exists to help Halo players with achievements and unlocking armor perms. We’ll offer tips, tricks, support and help in any way we can as long as it’s legit. Boosters are dealt with swiftly and mercilessly.

Our specialty is the Vidmaster: Annual achievement. I (along with my buddy VenomCharger) started an eight-man team of "Annualists" dedicated solely to helping conquer that achievement. To date I have over 180 successfully completed Annual runs. Our current best time stand at 13 minutes, 10 seconds. Currently three members of our group have over 100 successful Annual runs.

We also have an "Alpha Squad" in training in preparation for the upcoming ODST VMs. Bring it on guys, we’re ready. :)

Q. Sounds like you have a great job and an awesome family.  What's gaming got to do with it?

A. I game for the camaraderie and the challenge. I’m very competitive by nature so playing games is a great outlet for me. When I not out playing sports with my three young boys, there’s nothing I like better that grabbing an adult beverage and teaming up with my buds to blow stuff up.

My two eldest boys love gaming with me. We spend a lot of time on the Wii, but as a treat I’ll load up some Halo and play some 1v1 with them. Don’t worry, I’m a good Dad, I keep it close or let them win.

Q. What was the first Bungie title you played?

A. Ahhh, the memories. Halo:CE was my first experience. My nephew used to play with his buddies. I was over at the house for a BBQ, when he invited me to "get pwned." He beat me bad. My ego was so bruised and I was so motivated to get better that I went out and bought an Xbox and Halo:CE the next day. I’ve been hooked ever since. Oh, and my punk nephew is lucky to get a kill off me now.

Q. Looking back over your community memories are you taken back by the time you've spent with us online?

A. Absolutely. I would never have imagined I’d become so totally involved and end up helping to run a group along side our founder, Frakjoy (Mahdi on B.net). It got to the point where I got an iPhone just so I could have online access anywhere and be able to check in on the forums. It’s bad, I know.

Q. It's not bad, it's good.  What about other community haunts? Do you get involved in other spots?

Not really. I’ve tried – but you everyone else’s feeble attempt at a "community" pales in comparison. No other game offers its users the ability to track their stats and interact with the rest of the community so effortlessly. B.net is truly the standard all others fail so epically to duplicate.

Q. Anything you wanna say before you head off into the sunset? Wanna make some shout-outs?

A. I’d like to thank Bungie first and foremost. Without you guys, none of this would be possible. You guys continue to put out a superior quality product and give back to those that support you. Thanks for everything you do.

I’d like to thank my teammates on the SIP Annual Team. You guys have been patient and dedicated and together we’ve made it easy to get the ‘impossible’ achievement. Annualists FTW!

To The Spartan I Project: I’m honored to be a member of this group. We are the biggest and the very best and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Alpha Squad: Your time is coming. ODST is about to drop and you’re the ones who will be called on to handle the new Vidmasters. Keep practicing, cause I have a feeling it’s going to be a long fight.

Finally, my buddy Paul. You founded SIP and have entrusted me to help you lead it into the future. We've got big plans and I’ll be by your side through the firefight brother.

ContactTango (Marc)

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Big thanks to ContactTango for being above average (and helping so many players complete their Annual runs).  If you partook (or want to), make sure you drop into the discussion and drop him a line.  He's ready, willing, and more than able.

The cake is real.


This couple tied the knot and then celebrated with an ultra Limited Edition Halo 3 Xbox 360 console.  As far as we know, there's only one of these in existence.  Well, was.  They ate this delicious hardware.

Halo 3 Special Edition Xbox 360 Wedding Cake

Well, not mine...


...Hawty McBloggy's the one putting her free PAX stuff up for grabs.  Me, I covet.  You keep your hands off!

Most of these items are general gaming paraphernalia, but there is one Halo-related gem and it's loaded with Bungie signatures.  If you want it, hit the jump below and sound off.

Win My PAX ‘09 Swag Bag!