Remember when the Xbox 360 was making its debut, and J Allard was waxing philosophical about how gamers were like a colony? At the time, when that propaganda was fresh, this gamer found portions of the boast to be a bit lofty – perhaps even a bit inaccessible.

What was it he said…?

“You’ve found your way into the center, and you are in control.”

We are in control? It seemed like a nice enough thought. I thought the developers were in control. If the gamers were in control, many things about Halo 2 would have been drastically different – and, in most cases, not for the better.

Having had a couple of weeks to scratch the surface of the control that Halo 3 affords the gamer, I can say that those promises have been kept. The finest example of this, of course, is Forge! As an “Overlord” [if we can still call ourselves that] of a recreational “clan” [if we can still call ourselves that], delving into Forge was not the first item of business on my mind as I tore the shrink-wrap from my [street legal] copy of Halo 3. I was far more eager to form up a posse of Gunslingers and ride out into the renewed fray of matchmaking.

Then, someone asked me: “Have you played ‘Rocket Race’ yet?”

Race? What? “Race” did you say?

Don’t let the name fool you… Among the Gunslingers, we LOVE a good race. As far back as Halo CE, this blogger spent hours chasing waypoints across Blood Gulch in a bouncy Warthog. During our exploits in Halo 2, we plotted our own courses for a racing tournament. Since learning that Halo 3 had enabled us to build a racetrack into a VIP Match, this matchmaking hound has been spending a mockable amount of time monkeying around in Forge. Consider me seduced.

Tied the Leader has always been about control over one’s gaming experience. We have provided our community with control over their roster of teammates… control over their opponents… and control over the games they play. We take matchmaking into our own hands. With Forge, those options are almost limitless.

Here is one example of custom gaming forgery, submitted for you approval…

Step One: Download a blank canvass for your racetrack on the map of your choosing. Love, Bungie.

Step Two: Set your starting points to load your drivers in on the starting line. Drop a vehicle onto the map to accommodate each horse in the running. Make sure each team has one VIP – a horse of a different color.

Step Three: Plot a course of waypoints that appear in sequential order. Set the scoring for the match to rely on VIPs reaching goals. You may wish to drop obstacles in the path of your participants. Why not? You are, after all, in control.

Step Four: Gentlemen, start your engines!

We have been having an out and out blast playing this game. Selfishly, this gamer loads the race program every time he is promoted to Party Leader. But, don’t take my word for it! Download this racetrack from my FileShare and experience it for yourself.

All of the work is done for you. Download the “Sandtrap Race” map and the “Race” game variant. Your drivers will be invincible. Your vehicles will be indestructible. This forgery was designed with racing as the sole objective. If you have a better idea, you can add it to the matrix on your own.

The possibilities are staggering. Any gamer who has ever said “I would have made the game differently” is able to spin their own brand of magic. What’s more, we can share our ideas with each other…

…Just like a colony should.

Posted by XerxdeeJ