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A Halogaf Community Thread: The Old Becomes New
- Thread starter Deputy Moonman
- Start date
- Games
Havoc2049
Member
I need to get back into MCC. Some of the cosmetics look cool. I haven't played since maxing everything out in Season 1.
This popped up in my YouTube feed. I've played through this level in Halo CE 20+ times and I've never seen this awesomeness play out.
The Most Badass Marine in the UNSC!
Edit: Wait, that is from Halo 4. Still awesome... Lol
This popped up in my YouTube feed. I've played through this level in Halo CE 20+ times and I've never seen this awesomeness play out.
The Most Badass Marine in the UNSC!
Edit: Wait, that is from Halo 4. Still awesome... Lol
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Deputy Moonman
Member
A new community update is out, but still no new info related to Infinite or flighting. 
www.halowaypoint.com
Sniper rifle is so op lol. I used to argue that it was too strong for a power weapon post-Halo CE. Probably the one reason I've always felt the magnum 3 shot kill was more than appropriate. It's really the only counter to players running around maps with essentially unlimited sniper ammo. Sniper multi kills are still super impressive though and not something just anyone can pull off. The sniper rifle is THE quintessential power weapon in Halo. Can't get rid of it without making Halo completely unHalo.
Sunny Summary
<p>Happy Thursday, Spartans! There’s been a lot going on in the Halo-verse and if you don’t know where to start, luckily there’s a great Community Update for you to check out. It covers all things Halo from the past month or so. If you want a recap of Halo Infinite news, MCC Season 7, Halo 5’s...
Sniper rifle is so op lol. I used to argue that it was too strong for a power weapon post-Halo CE. Probably the one reason I've always felt the magnum 3 shot kill was more than appropriate. It's really the only counter to players running around maps with essentially unlimited sniper ammo. Sniper multi kills are still super impressive though and not something just anyone can pull off. The sniper rifle is THE quintessential power weapon in Halo. Can't get rid of it without making Halo completely unHalo.
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Ozzy Onya A2Z
Member
Hmmm. Halo 5 art, Infinite toys and community clips. It's really not the marketing blitz or info dumps fans are looking for IMO.
Dr. Samuel Hayden
Member
Sigh.
The fact they're pushing so heavily to sign up for the insider thing makes me think the beta's gonna be soon, but at this point who the fuck knows.
I'll just say now that if we haven't played it or seen/heard anything substantial about the game in general by the end of August, I think it's getting delayed again.
The fact they're pushing so heavily to sign up for the insider thing makes me think the beta's gonna be soon, but at this point who the fuck knows.
I'll just say now that if we haven't played it or seen/heard anything substantial about the game in general by the end of August, I think it's getting delayed again.
Deputy Moonman
Member
Haha totally agree.
Well I'd like to think so but they have been really quiet about saying when flighting will happen. And youre right about the August thing. If I were to guess I'd expect flighting to start at the end of July but I have nothing to base that guess off of.
Ozzy Onya A2Z
Member
Due Holiday 2021 currently, no firm date as yet. When Infinite releases it will be 6 years since Halo 5 released. As for how long it's actually been in dev I'd guess plus or minus 1 year of that date.
Dr. Samuel Hayden
Member
There's no way the Infinite that exists now has been in development since H5 released. There's pretty heavy rumors it got rebooted *at least* once around 2017/2018 due to the shit reception 5 got, thus the utterly fucked up state of the demo last year. Allegedly they were originally making a straight sequel to 5 with all the same gameplay mechanics and stuff.
Ozzy Onya A2Z
Member
Yeah it also sounds like they had the Series S/X dropped on them too.
Deputy Moonman
Member
Halo Creator Shows Off Unused Weapons From Combat Evolved
The Covenant almost had a microwave gun to cook Master Chief with.
www.gamespot.com
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Ozzy Onya A2Z
Member
Finally some bombs games. 3v4 Isolation neutral bomb on southeast Asia servers...no problemo. The ol' counter arm to shift the game momentum.
Also this was so close to the final cap on either team. Tons of fun, cannot be angry at the loss.
Also this was so close to the final cap on either team. Tons of fun, cannot be angry at the loss.
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Deputy Moonman
Member
Master Class
<p>ISSUE 117 So, I’m pretty excited. And not just because the Tampa Bay Lightning just won back-to-back Stanley Cups. I’m excited about today’s edition of Canon Fodder—particularly with that legendary number we’ve now reached. In case you thought that rad seasonal content for Halo: The Master...
Dr. Samuel Hayden
Member
Looks like a new updated render of Infinite Chief in that Cannon Fodder too. This design is so. Unbelievably. Fucking. Good.
Naked Lunch
Member
New Chief was looking too clean before that new render - love the war torn look.
Im all about that new Halo Encyclopedia. Now with a cover where the sniper rifle isnt as small as a pistol. Love that new Sparth art.
I still read the first encyclopedia all time - and Mythos. Such cool books to own.
Im all about that new Halo Encyclopedia. Now with a cover where the sniper rifle isnt as small as a pistol. Love that new Sparth art.
I still read the first encyclopedia all time - and Mythos. Such cool books to own.
Dr. Samuel Hayden
Member
Think they made the green darker too, I know it being too light was a complaint going around when it first got revealed.
Ozzy Onya A2Z
Member
Looks like Halo 3. Tis a good thing.
Deputy Moonman
Member
Yeah it almost made the armor look like plastic. I love this new render too.
II_JumPeR_I
Member
Kinda sad that 343 went silent again. I just dont get it at this point.
All this weird behavior screams development hell and maybe another delay incoming
All this weird behavior screams development hell and maybe another delay incoming
Deputy Moonman
Member
Well there is this, but I almost stop reading as soon as they ask for pronouns.
www.343industries.com
Some quotes from the interview in no particular order:
"My team also gets to work on awesome MP systems like Weapon Spawners, voice over messaging systems such as the Classic Halo Announcer and new Personal AI, and the Mark System, which is a feature where players can mark a spot in the world that lets their teammates know vital information, like an enemy position or weapon location. Essentially, I work collaboratively on the vision of Halo Infinite’s multiplayer with Tom French (Multiplayer Associate Creative Director) and then work with my design team to bring that vision to life for our players."
"Mode-wise, I am really excited for players to jump into Big Team Battle. BTB is BACK! I mean, who wouldn’t have fun designing that? I remember after our first playtest for BTB, there was a resounding “Hell yeah!” that emanated from a late-night playtest. That was an incredible moment on this team – where we were gaining confidence in our big bets for the mode."
"When I'm designing something, it helps me come up with what the button presses on the pad are. What am I searching for when I'm building something? If I really want people to feel like, in the case of Halo, I’m a super soldier who can use anything to my advantage at a moment’s notice, then I want you to feel you’re Neo from the lobby scene in The Matrix. When I'm designing, I think about what happens when someone presses forward on the thumb stick. Does the movement of the player make them feel like a walking battle tank or a floaty astronaut? And there's a bunch of things that guide that process. I might want the animation of walking to be very robotic and tank-like. But it isn’t the look that means everything: it’s a super soldier in a suit."
"We've done a lot of things to bring iconic Halo campaign moments into multiplayer. When we were designing anything, we were asking ourselves how this could be a treat for people who know Halo’s history. An example is in Big Team Battle, we have weapon pods that fall from the sky just like the Halo 2 mission Delta Halo. As we were describing what the “feel” of these things dropping into the world should feel like, we referenced the satisfying weight of the Ordnance Pods from Halo 4. They had the very crunchy, awesome, weighty sound when they smashed into the environment, and so we added a little bit of that in terms of how they land.
Then we looked at a Halo 2 mission. Delta Halo is one of my favorite missions, as well as that of many members of the MP design team. Over the course of the mission, pelicans fly overhead and they drop weapon pods that land in the environment, so, as you're walking through the environment, you see weapon pods -- boom, boom, boom, boom, boom -- land throughout a combat space, and that's usually when you know the Covenant comes around the corner and then you have an engagement with them and you’ll have to use the weapon pods to your advantage. We wanted people to play BTB and see those weapon pods incoming and hear that crunching crash in the ground with a Halo 4 impact but have the excitement of combat of the Halo 2 mission. That's just one example of the kinds of things that we've tried to put into multiplayer. There are tons of references to past Halos, including how we go inside the player’s helmet in the match intro like the opening cutscene from Halo: CE, to the designs for Eagle and Cobra Team’s logos like past Halos, to maintaining certain design language of our game mode objects like the Flag has a Skull on top and the Oddball is this sci-fi skull from hell."
Employee Spotlight: Andrew Witts
Andrew Witts discusses how Halo Infinite honors Halo's history, the value of team shenanigans, and his love for the Halo community.
www.343industries.com
Some quotes from the interview in no particular order:
"My team also gets to work on awesome MP systems like Weapon Spawners, voice over messaging systems such as the Classic Halo Announcer and new Personal AI, and the Mark System, which is a feature where players can mark a spot in the world that lets their teammates know vital information, like an enemy position or weapon location. Essentially, I work collaboratively on the vision of Halo Infinite’s multiplayer with Tom French (Multiplayer Associate Creative Director) and then work with my design team to bring that vision to life for our players."
"Mode-wise, I am really excited for players to jump into Big Team Battle. BTB is BACK! I mean, who wouldn’t have fun designing that? I remember after our first playtest for BTB, there was a resounding “Hell yeah!” that emanated from a late-night playtest. That was an incredible moment on this team – where we were gaining confidence in our big bets for the mode."
"When I'm designing something, it helps me come up with what the button presses on the pad are. What am I searching for when I'm building something? If I really want people to feel like, in the case of Halo, I’m a super soldier who can use anything to my advantage at a moment’s notice, then I want you to feel you’re Neo from the lobby scene in The Matrix. When I'm designing, I think about what happens when someone presses forward on the thumb stick. Does the movement of the player make them feel like a walking battle tank or a floaty astronaut? And there's a bunch of things that guide that process. I might want the animation of walking to be very robotic and tank-like. But it isn’t the look that means everything: it’s a super soldier in a suit."
"We've done a lot of things to bring iconic Halo campaign moments into multiplayer. When we were designing anything, we were asking ourselves how this could be a treat for people who know Halo’s history. An example is in Big Team Battle, we have weapon pods that fall from the sky just like the Halo 2 mission Delta Halo. As we were describing what the “feel” of these things dropping into the world should feel like, we referenced the satisfying weight of the Ordnance Pods from Halo 4. They had the very crunchy, awesome, weighty sound when they smashed into the environment, and so we added a little bit of that in terms of how they land.
Then we looked at a Halo 2 mission. Delta Halo is one of my favorite missions, as well as that of many members of the MP design team. Over the course of the mission, pelicans fly overhead and they drop weapon pods that land in the environment, so, as you're walking through the environment, you see weapon pods -- boom, boom, boom, boom, boom -- land throughout a combat space, and that's usually when you know the Covenant comes around the corner and then you have an engagement with them and you’ll have to use the weapon pods to your advantage. We wanted people to play BTB and see those weapon pods incoming and hear that crunching crash in the ground with a Halo 4 impact but have the excitement of combat of the Halo 2 mission. That's just one example of the kinds of things that we've tried to put into multiplayer. There are tons of references to past Halos, including how we go inside the player’s helmet in the match intro like the opening cutscene from Halo: CE, to the designs for Eagle and Cobra Team’s logos like past Halos, to maintaining certain design language of our game mode objects like the Flag has a Skull on top and the Oddball is this sci-fi skull from hell."
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Havoc2049
Member
Well there is this, but I almost stop reading as soon as they ask for pronouns.
Employee Spotlight: Andrew Witts
Andrew Witts discusses how Halo Infinite honors Halo's history, the value of team shenanigans, and his love for the Halo community.
Some quotes from the interview in no particular order:
"My team also gets to work on awesome MP systems like Weapon Spawners, voice over messaging systems such as the Classic Halo Announcer and new Personal AI, and the Mark System, which is a feature where players can mark a spot in the world that lets their teammates know vital information, like an enemy position or weapon location. Essentially, I work collaboratively on the vision of Halo Infinite’s multiplayer with Tom French (Multiplayer Associate Creative Director) and then work with my design team to bring that vision to life for our players."
"Mode-wise, I am really excited for players to jump into Big Team Battle. BTB is BACK! I mean, who wouldn’t have fun designing that? I remember after our first playtest for BTB, there was a resounding “Hell yeah!” that emanated from a late-night playtest. That was an incredible moment on this team – where we were gaining confidence in our big bets for the mode."
"When I'm designing something, it helps me come up with what the button presses on the pad are. What am I searching for when I'm building something? If I really want people to feel like, in the case of Halo, I’m a super soldier who can use anything to my advantage at a moment’s notice, then I want you to feel you’re Neo from the lobby scene in The Matrix. When I'm designing, I think about what happens when someone presses forward on the thumb stick. Does the movement of the player make them feel like a walking battle tank or a floaty astronaut? And there's a bunch of things that guide that process. I might want the animation of walking to be very robotic and tank-like. But it isn’t the look that means everything: it’s a super soldier in a suit."
"We've done a lot of things to bring iconic Halo campaign moments into multiplayer. When we were designing anything, we were asking ourselves how this could be a treat for people who know Halo’s history. An example is in Big Team Battle, we have weapon pods that fall from the sky just like the Halo 2 mission Delta Halo. As we were describing what the “feel” of these things dropping into the world should feel like, we referenced the satisfying weight of the Ordnance Pods from Halo 4. They had the very crunchy, awesome, weighty sound when they smashed into the environment, and so we added a little bit of that in terms of how they land.
Then we looked at a Halo 2 mission. Delta Halo is one of my favorite missions, as well as that of many members of the MP design team. Over the course of the mission, pelicans fly overhead and they drop weapon pods that land in the environment, so, as you're walking through the environment, you see weapon pods -- boom, boom, boom, boom, boom -- land throughout a combat space, and that's usually when you know the Covenant comes around the corner and then you have an engagement with them and you’ll have to use the weapon pods to your advantage. We wanted people to play BTB and see those weapon pods incoming and hear that crunching crash in the ground with a Halo 4 impact but have the excitement of combat of the Halo 2 mission. That's just one example of the kinds of things that we've tried to put into multiplayer. There are tons of references to past Halos, including how we go inside the player’s helmet in the match intro like the opening cutscene from Halo: CE, to the designs for Eagle and Cobra Team’s logos like past Halos, to maintaining certain design language of our game mode objects like the Flag has a Skull on top and the Oddball is this sci-fi skull from hell."
LOL... Good thing he cleared that up, because you know, you use subject and personal pronouns like crazy in a one on one interview.
Deputy Moonman
Member
Dr. Samuel Hayden
Member
Xbox, Ubisoft, Activision, EA, and More Confirmed for Gamescom 2021
Previously confirmed as an all-digital show, Gamescom 2021 – which kicks off on August 25 – features several industry giants in its list of partners.
Maybe this is where we'll finally get some substantial news.
Please.
I'm begging you.
Deputy Moonman
Member
Haha I feel the same way. We are halfway through July already. The beta could come out in August, which is still Summer, but not typically what I think of when a company states a Summer release of something.Xbox, Ubisoft, Activision, EA, and More Confirmed for Gamescom 2021
Previously confirmed as an all-digital show, Gamescom 2021 – which kicks off on August 25 – features several industry giants in its list of partners.gamingbolt.com
Maybe this is where we'll finally get some substantial news.
Please.
I'm begging you.
Deputy Moonman
Member
Nearly a one and a half hour long interview with Marcus Lehto and HiddenXperia. Very very cool that Marcus agreed to do it.
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Dr. Samuel Hayden
Member
Nearly a one and a half hour long interview with Marcus Lehto and HiddenXperia. Very very cool that Marcus agreed to do it.
Watched it, pretty good, though not much I didn't already know.
He's one of those guys I think really needs to be at 343, though. He even seems open to it in the interview. Contact him FFS.
Deputy Moonman
Member
Haha 343 keeps telling people on Twitter to be ready for the flighting whenever it happens and some of the reactions are great 
Naked Lunch
Member
Nearly a one and a half hour long interview with Marcus Lehto and HiddenXperia. Very very cool that Marcus agreed to do it.
Interesting how he says Bungie probably wouldnt have flat out revealed and detailed the Forerunners how 343 did. They would have kept them more of a mystery.
I was never a huge fan of revealing all that stuff myself. Luckily theres still plenty of mystery in the Halo universe overall. Especially with the apparent timejump of Infinite from 5.
Deputy Moonman
Member
Agree that the mystery is one or the things that makes the halo story so great. But I also want answers to questions too. I guess there is a balance that has to be found between revealing things and keeping some things unanswered. I have a very high level of interest in the precursors right now and the primordial. I want to know about John and whether or not he was purposed by the forerunner or librarian to save humanity. It's sort of insinuated but I don't know if it is actually true.
Deputy Moonman
Member
This article is from the beginning of last month but I hadn't really been following along with the progress or development of the Halo tv series. I'm glad to know it's still happening at least
www.pcgamer.com
Halo TV series: Everything you need to know about season 1
The Halo TV series is bringing the war with the Covenant to Paramout+.
Dr. Samuel Hayden
Member
Didn't surprise me to hear that, Bungie always seemed to like keeping the Forerunners as a mysterious background thing. Although it does make me wonder what the enemies would've been because the Covenant was gone and the Flood was defeated. I guess it probably would've been something like the Promethean bots but without actual Forerunners like the Didact or the Librarian getting directly involved.
Naked Lunch
Member
Deputy Moonman
Yeah the Precursors basically took the place of the Forerunners in the mystery department of Halo. So in the end im sorta Ok with the 343 Forerunner reveals if they have another element to fall back on. Im sure theres plenty more too.
Dr. Samuel Hayden
He does mention they would have created a brand new enemy - would have been interesting to see Bungie's take. Beyond that and the Forerunner reveals, he said things pretty much lined up with where 343 took it. From what I understand the core overall Halo bible and entire history of the timeline was done a long time ago, even when Bungie was in charge. Im sure details change but they seem to always stick to that timeline. I always found it wild how every piece of Halo fiction out there from the games, books, anime, shows, arcade game, toys - it all fits into the overall story - it all matters. I remember reading, I think in Game Informer, years ago that 343 hired a company for the sole purpose of archiving the Halo bible and story arc.
Ozzy Onya A2Z
Member
I really enjoyed the Halo 4 terminals and answering a ton of the lore in that way. What sucked is all that was thrown out the window for yet another Cortana story. Infinite better not just be another Cortana chase story FFS. What a waste the Didact turn out to be, same as the Janus Key etc. All this crap around Cortana needs to completely go away within the 1st act of Infinite.
Deputy Moonman
Member
Are you saying get rid of Cortana entirely or the current story/drama? I'd be okay with the Chief getting a new AI, honestly. If 343 could come up with something really awesome, especially if they were somehow able to do it organically, but I also think fans would riot. The chemistry between Cortana and the Master Chief is so strong.
Ozzy Onya A2Z
Member
I should have clarified, not getting rid of Cortana entirely, looks like they have Jen Taylor voicing a possible AI replacement just in case anyhow. I refer to the just the drama and similar Cortana stories that have been done to death IMO. I want fresh stories, extensions of the lore I've come to love. It's like recycled content, I'm sick of Cortana main stories I suppose. Sidekick Cortana and Chief is gold but having her be the whole story is just tiresome now.
EDIT: There are so many cool things to be done e.g. Halo 4 with the 3 forerunner enemies and mechanics was awesome, just turned into bullet sponge and lack of ammo hell on legendary which ruined the perception of them (same as the Warden reuse overshadowing a cool design and character). Less is more, something even the 343 multi-geometry could learn about too. When I think of all the game and story possibilities around Forerunner/Precursor tech why are we dwindling around with a Cortana story still? That mission running down the side of a Guardian was brilliant. Just extend that sort of innovation. How about the machines that basically factory production line spat out entire species to populate a fresh Halo ring. Imagine that in game, imagine attacking that, taking it over with AI and spawning Halo AI battles so you can achieve your objective.
They have this wonderful world of lore and a shitton of plot devices and game mechanics just beckoning to be used creatively. This is why I SMH at yet another Cortana story.
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Deputy Moonman
Member
Yep totally agree. Something else that I was thinking about is why haven't there been smaller spinoff games similar to ODST? Id love to play through a game that explores the Spartans of black team or green team. Sign me up for those stories please.
Ozzy Onya A2Z
Member
I'd enjoy a stealth Halo game, where things go wrong and it's all out Halo FPS in parts but generally more stealthy and coop focused. It would be interesting to sort of have a Love, Death + Robots approach and go something different for each mission or say a couple of missions. I really miss the days of games like Contra where there was side scrolling, top down, behind perspective etc. Seeing the Halo Legends sort of cemented this idea for me. It would be cool to be a rogue AI and inflitrate Spartan suits and take them over for varied missions/genres of play throughout a Halo spinoff game. You could even reverse the roles of AI controlling and the Spartan in the suit would become the voice over sidekick, some angry and uncooperative and others friendly and enabling.
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Dr. Samuel Hayden
Member
I agree they need to move away from the Cortana drama. Ever since Halo 3 over a decade ago, a large chunk of the story has revolved around her. I'd like for her to just go back to being an AI chatting in your ear as you're doing other stuff.
Ozzy Onya A2Z
Member
Playing some 4v4 MCC with 2 mates tonight and we were browsing the maps/gametypes in the playlist only to discover glaring objective omissions such as
Valhalla flag
Valhalla bomb
High ground bomb
Last resort bomb
Standoff bomb
Ghost town flag
Exile flag
Exile bomb
Boardwalk bomb
Forge world bomb
Ascension bomb
There are others like orbital missing flag etc.
WTF!
Valhalla flag
Valhalla bomb
High ground bomb
Last resort bomb
Standoff bomb
Ghost town flag
Exile flag
Exile bomb
Boardwalk bomb
Forge world bomb
Ascension bomb
There are others like orbital missing flag etc.
WTF!
Deputy Moonman
Member
Halo TMCC playlist update and hotfix scheduled tomorrow: [Link] Appears to be some info about the custom games browser.
This is interesting:
Testing CGB with Bots
"Earlier this week, some players noticed a UI image that was in the game files over in a modding Discord. It quickly got picked up on Reddit and was discussed a bit over on Twitter, so we wanted to discuss it a bit today as mentioned in my response over on Reddit HERE.Bots can be a useful tool for testing some of our features such as CGB and they have a ton of potential, but we are not ready to talk about any future plans for them yet. We are encouraged by the discussions online from the community and taking that into consideration when discussing them internally. I can personally confirm that in their current form you do NOT want to play against them in SWAT."
This is interesting:
Testing CGB with Bots
"Earlier this week, some players noticed a UI image that was in the game files over in a modding Discord. It quickly got picked up on Reddit and was discussed a bit over on Twitter, so we wanted to discuss it a bit today as mentioned in my response over on Reddit HERE.Bots can be a useful tool for testing some of our features such as CGB and they have a ton of potential, but we are not ready to talk about any future plans for them yet. We are encouraged by the discussions online from the community and taking that into consideration when discussing them internally. I can personally confirm that in their current form you do NOT want to play against them in SWAT."
Dr. Samuel Hayden
Member
Wow, I completely missed this. I would lose my fucking mind if bots got added to MCC, it'd basically be a dream come true.
Havoc2049
Member
I loved the dark noir vibe in ODST. I would totally love a Team Black or Grey Team spin off, with a heavy dose of ONI super secret spy stuff.
The Halo Battle Born books features Owen, an ONI Spartan, who was one of the Beta Company Spartan IIIs trained on Onyx, from The Ghosts of Onyx novel. He graduated near the top of his class and ONI quietly recruited him for secret missions. At the end of the second Battle Born book, there is an ONI secret squirrel WTF moment twist near the end, regarding the battle of Meridian, which I thought was cool. Stuff like that in a Halo game would be awesome.
Deputy Moonman
Member
Yes I would love that. Speaking of the Battle Born books I still need to read those. I had that spurt where I was reading everything I could get my hands on and then I took a break. I'm about ready to get back into Halo novels.
Dr. Samuel Hayden
Member
Well folks, looks like we may be finally getting some info soon.
gamingbolt.com
Halo Infinite – Technical Preview Flighting Details Coming This Month
Invites for the preview have not been sent out yet as per 343 Industries' John Junyszek. Detailed info will be revealed in the next Inside Infinite.
Deputy Moonman
Member
Latest Insider is out. Lots of information, a ton really, but still no date for when flighting will begin. I posted a lot of info below, but there is more in the article from different devs and from the Joseph Staten.
www.halowaypoint.com
PLAYER FEEDBACK
Gathering input from our players during a technical preview is critical to our success at launch and beyond. The sooner we receive feedback, the sooner we can plan and action on that feedback. On that note, we want to clarify that with this technical preview we are entering the next step in what’s been a multi-year process and journey where the team has been regularly getting critical feedback via user research and private flights. Naturally, the scale of the technical preview is greater than anything we’ve done to date – and that brings unique value and opportunities to capture even more perspectives – but just know that community feedback has been at the core of development since the very beginning. And, it will continue to remain a critical pillar going forward beyond launch.
Now, let’s take a look at what areas of the game we’ll specifically be focusing on for feedback during the technical preview.
FEEDBACK FOCUS AREAS
Core gameplay: We want to know how you feel about the core combat experience. How do you feel about player movement, weapon balance, equipment, etc.? How fun is it to engage in a battle in Halo Infinite?
Maps & Modes: How did you feel about the design and flow of the maps? Are the maps and mode both fun and fair?
Academy’s Weapon Drills: Did Weapon Drills give you a good understanding of how a weapon functions? How fun were the various Weapon Drills?
Menu & Battle Pass UI: How intuitive was the menu navigation? Were you able to understand your progression through the Battle Pass? Were you able to find and equip customization items easily?
The Xbox UR team gathers measurable, quantifiable data through surveys that will be sent out at the end of a flight. These surveys ask detailed questions that drive deep into the core of a player’s experience in a flight – and turn that experience into measurable data. Since we have survey data from the entire history of Halo, they help us compare our current scores to the best scores from across all games. We can also compare scores from different times (or flights) of the game to see how specific aspects are progressing over time. They put together some of the most helpful reports we can read, and it’s all coming straight from what you – the players – are saying about the game.
The Community Team dives into the amorphous realm of online interactions mentioned above. We set up focused feedback threads here on the Waypoint forums, listen to players on Twitter, check the Halo subreddit multiple times a day, watch videos and streams from Halo players, etc. We take all those posts and videos, and distill their messages into positive, neutral, and negative themes. When doing so, it isn’t just about volume though – anyone can send a lot of tweets. Our team focuses on the severity (how much does it affect an individual) and scope (how many players), when reporting on these themes.
More often than not, even though we use different ways to collect player feedback, the Xbox User Research and 343 Community teams see similar themes emerge. These two inputs help the team compare Halo Infinite’s current state with its own previous scores, previous Halo titles, as well as the development team and player expectations. Using these comparisons, we can recognize which areas need improvement, which areas are performing as expected, and which are exceeding targets. After reviewing this feedback, we identify opportunities and prioritize the areas we want to go after.
As part of this commitment to transparency, the team will meet to go over hot topics and common pieces of player feedback that emerged during the flights, which we call “themes.” After reviewing these themes, the team will spend time investigating, figuring out if they agree and want to act on it, and when in the schedule we can take action on them. Again, there will be things we can’t act on before launch this holiday – and that’s okay – we plan on supporting Halo Infinite for years to come and this feedback will all be captured to help inform future priorities.
Once we’ve done the due diligence on our side, we then work on putting together an “outcomes” report that outlines our plans for each and every one of those key feedback themes. From there, we’ll work to surface that information to you, our players, likely through a post here on Halo Waypoint.
This technical preview is intentionally focused on these specific areas to help us gather some scale data as we bring these new experiences to Halo for the first time. As we look further ahead, we plan for future flights to expand into more content including traditional PVP Arena and Big Team Battle.
With this and our higher-level feedback goals noted up above, we land on the following specific focal points. With this in mind, the focus areas for our technical preview are:
For this technical preview, the Bot Arena experience will feature Slayer across three maps in this build:
Bot Arena is a great place to familiarize yourself with Halo Infinite’s gameplay and maps in a stress-free environment. The Bots still have their quirks, which is why we’re flighting them, but they certainly aren’t pushovers. Be prepared.
In this upcoming technical preview, we’re planning to include the following subset of Weapon Drills:
In order to allow Halo Insiders to unlock their Battle Passes and unlock various customization options, we’ll be granting invited accounts a set amount of in-game credits (cR). Players will be free to use their cR how they see fit, but customization items unlocked during technical previews will not carry over when the game releases later this year.
Similar to how we’re only flighting with a subset of Arena maps and modes, this technical preview will feature a truncated Battle Pass and a small fraction of the Customization options planned for launch. The key focus is to ensure the Battle Pass and Challenge unlocking systems and customization equipping systems are both functioning properly, and hold up at scale. The reasoning for having these Battle Pass, Challenges, and Customization systems in the flight is purely technical, and isn’t meant to be a showcase of our launch content - so please don’t read into it that much.
Plus, wouldn’t you want us to save some of the super cool content for launch?
We’ll be hosting hundreds of thousands of Halo Insiders during the first technical preview and then, if all goes well, we’ll invite even more eligible Halo Insiders for the next flight. We want to start at a reasonable number of participants before potentially going to a much larger player pool, but our goal is to eventually get every eligible Halo Insider a chance to go hands-on and help us achieve our goals on the road to launch. Remember, if you don’t get in this time, please don’t despair – more opportunities will come.
The most important thing now is to make sure you’re a Halo Insider. You will need to be a verified Halo Insider (see instructions at the top of this article) to ensure you can be invited to any and all Halo Infinite flights.
And yes, the technical preview will be all good to stream and create content around. Feel free to share your experience with us and with others!
We’ll have even more specifics to share about the technical preview as soon as we’re locked, so be sure to follow @Halo on Twitter for the latest news and info. Until then, stay frosty and thank you for your continued support, we can’t wait to take this next step together!
That's gotta be ray tracing in the visor reflection right?
Inside Infinite – July 2021
<p>Welcome to our latest Inside Infinite, our monthly blog series that provides a closer look at the development of Halo Infinite. This month, we’re diving into efforts supporting the upcoming multiplayer technical preview, often referred to as “flighting”, to share insights into our goals...
PLAYER FEEDBACK
Gathering input from our players during a technical preview is critical to our success at launch and beyond. The sooner we receive feedback, the sooner we can plan and action on that feedback. On that note, we want to clarify that with this technical preview we are entering the next step in what’s been a multi-year process and journey where the team has been regularly getting critical feedback via user research and private flights. Naturally, the scale of the technical preview is greater than anything we’ve done to date – and that brings unique value and opportunities to capture even more perspectives – but just know that community feedback has been at the core of development since the very beginning. And, it will continue to remain a critical pillar going forward beyond launch.
Now, let’s take a look at what areas of the game we’ll specifically be focusing on for feedback during the technical preview.
FEEDBACK FOCUS AREAS
Core gameplay: We want to know how you feel about the core combat experience. How do you feel about player movement, weapon balance, equipment, etc.? How fun is it to engage in a battle in Halo Infinite?
Maps & Modes: How did you feel about the design and flow of the maps? Are the maps and mode both fun and fair?
Academy’s Weapon Drills: Did Weapon Drills give you a good understanding of how a weapon functions? How fun were the various Weapon Drills?
Menu & Battle Pass UI: How intuitive was the menu navigation? Were you able to understand your progression through the Battle Pass? Were you able to find and equip customization items easily?
MEASURING FEEDBACK
While it is critical, player feedback can be a bit of a nebulous cloud of forum posts, tweets, and YouTube videos - which can make it hard to measure in some cases. Luckily, we have a two-pronged approach to gather this information, measure it, and then share it with the team. The two prongs in this case are the Xbox User Research team and the 343 Community Team.The Xbox UR team gathers measurable, quantifiable data through surveys that will be sent out at the end of a flight. These surveys ask detailed questions that drive deep into the core of a player’s experience in a flight – and turn that experience into measurable data. Since we have survey data from the entire history of Halo, they help us compare our current scores to the best scores from across all games. We can also compare scores from different times (or flights) of the game to see how specific aspects are progressing over time. They put together some of the most helpful reports we can read, and it’s all coming straight from what you – the players – are saying about the game.
The Community Team dives into the amorphous realm of online interactions mentioned above. We set up focused feedback threads here on the Waypoint forums, listen to players on Twitter, check the Halo subreddit multiple times a day, watch videos and streams from Halo players, etc. We take all those posts and videos, and distill their messages into positive, neutral, and negative themes. When doing so, it isn’t just about volume though – anyone can send a lot of tweets. Our team focuses on the severity (how much does it affect an individual) and scope (how many players), when reporting on these themes.
More often than not, even though we use different ways to collect player feedback, the Xbox User Research and 343 Community teams see similar themes emerge. These two inputs help the team compare Halo Infinite’s current state with its own previous scores, previous Halo titles, as well as the development team and player expectations. Using these comparisons, we can recognize which areas need improvement, which areas are performing as expected, and which are exceeding targets. After reviewing this feedback, we identify opportunities and prioritize the areas we want to go after.
TRANSPARENCY
It’s important to note that while we are going to be listening closely, there will be some feedback that we can act on before launch, some feedback we’ll have to fit into the game’s roadmap, and additional feedback we won’t or cannot take action on. That said, we will communicate what will and won’t be changing in the game as a result of the technical preview – and why.As part of this commitment to transparency, the team will meet to go over hot topics and common pieces of player feedback that emerged during the flights, which we call “themes.” After reviewing these themes, the team will spend time investigating, figuring out if they agree and want to act on it, and when in the schedule we can take action on them. Again, there will be things we can’t act on before launch this holiday – and that’s okay – we plan on supporting Halo Infinite for years to come and this feedback will all be captured to help inform future priorities.
Once we’ve done the due diligence on our side, we then work on putting together an “outcomes” report that outlines our plans for each and every one of those key feedback themes. From there, we’ll work to surface that information to you, our players, likely through a post here on Halo Waypoint.
UPCOMING TECHNICAL PREVIEW
Now, with the foundation of flighting set, let’s talk about the content and goals of our first upcoming technical preview, which will focus on Bots and a slice of the new Academy experience.This technical preview is intentionally focused on these specific areas to help us gather some scale data as we bring these new experiences to Halo for the first time. As we look further ahead, we plan for future flights to expand into more content including traditional PVP Arena and Big Team Battle.
With this and our higher-level feedback goals noted up above, we land on the following specific focal points. With this in mind, the focus areas for our technical preview are:
- Arena gameplay vs. Bots
- Arena Maps
- Academy’s Weapon Drills
- Menu & Battle Pass UI
- New Waypoint experiences on web, iOS, and Android
BOT ARENA
Halo Infinite is the franchise’s first foray into the world of multiplayer Bots. To provide a totally new multiplayer experience for players and to gather feedback on Bot behavior and online performance, we’ll be debuting the Bot Arena playlist, which puts 4 players against 4 Bots on Arena maps.For this technical preview, the Bot Arena experience will feature Slayer across three maps in this build:
- Bot Slayer on Bazaar, Recharge, and Live Fire
Bot Arena is a great place to familiarize yourself with Halo Infinite’s gameplay and maps in a stress-free environment. The Bots still have their quirks, which is why we’re flighting them, but they certainly aren’t pushovers. Be prepared.
ACADEMY WEAPON DRILLS
As part of the Academy experience, another first for Halo, Weapon Drills offer players a brand-new way to learn how each weapon functions before entering the heat of battle. Dropping you into a firing range area, that features moving and strafing Bots for target practice, Weapon Drills feature different levels of difficulty and a star rating system. The more damage you deal to the Bots, the higher you’ll score.In this upcoming technical preview, we’re planning to include the following subset of Weapon Drills:
- MA40 AR
- BR75
- MK50 Sidekick
- CQS48 Bulldog
- Needler
- VK78 Commando
- S7 Sniper
- Plasma Pistol
- Pulse Carbine
- Ravager
- Heatwave
- Skewer
BATTLE PASS, CHALLENGES, MENUS, CUSTOMIZATION
On top of the gameplay-focused experiences above, we also want to make sure that the game’s menu navigation feels intuitive. We’re especially interested in seeing how players move through the UI to unlock their Battle Passes, check their Challenges, use the Store, and apply their earned customization elements in the Armor Hall.In order to allow Halo Insiders to unlock their Battle Passes and unlock various customization options, we’ll be granting invited accounts a set amount of in-game credits (cR). Players will be free to use their cR how they see fit, but customization items unlocked during technical previews will not carry over when the game releases later this year.
Similar to how we’re only flighting with a subset of Arena maps and modes, this technical preview will feature a truncated Battle Pass and a small fraction of the Customization options planned for launch. The key focus is to ensure the Battle Pass and Challenge unlocking systems and customization equipping systems are both functioning properly, and hold up at scale. The reasoning for having these Battle Pass, Challenges, and Customization systems in the flight is purely technical, and isn’t meant to be a showcase of our launch content - so please don’t read into it that much.
Plus, wouldn’t you want us to save some of the super cool content for launch?
TAXIING TO THE TARMAC
We know the largest question now is, “When is the technical preview!?” The release of this blog means we’re getting very close but flighting itself is a fluid process, we need to ensure we’ve successfully cleared our final gate before we’re officially a go. That said, we’ve been given the okay to say our first Bot-focused technical preview could happen as soon as next weekend. Prior to the flight starting, we’re planning a live stream where we’ll dive into the actual build and walk through nearly every facet of the technical preview. Stay tuned.We’ll be hosting hundreds of thousands of Halo Insiders during the first technical preview and then, if all goes well, we’ll invite even more eligible Halo Insiders for the next flight. We want to start at a reasonable number of participants before potentially going to a much larger player pool, but our goal is to eventually get every eligible Halo Insider a chance to go hands-on and help us achieve our goals on the road to launch. Remember, if you don’t get in this time, please don’t despair – more opportunities will come.
The most important thing now is to make sure you’re a Halo Insider. You will need to be a verified Halo Insider (see instructions at the top of this article) to ensure you can be invited to any and all Halo Infinite flights.
And yes, the technical preview will be all good to stream and create content around. Feel free to share your experience with us and with others!
We’ll have even more specifics to share about the technical preview as soon as we’re locked, so be sure to follow @Halo on Twitter for the latest news and info. Until then, stay frosty and thank you for your continued support, we can’t wait to take this next step together!
That's gotta be ray tracing in the visor reflection right?
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Dr. Samuel Hayden
Member
It says the bot-focused previews could start as soon as next weekend. Could. I mean it sounds cool and all but the fact they still can't give a solid date is really making me raise an eyebrow...
Deputy Moonman
Member
Yeah I don't know what to expect anymore but hoping bots are really good. There are a lot of new weapon names listed in the article. I have reservations about the threat detector, which probably works like equipment. Still, it sounds an awful lot like promethean vision, which was a terrible idea for H4. Players don't like cheap ways of being discovered during a game. It's not fun.
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Dr. Samuel Hayden
Member
There's also interesting quotes like these:
And it just makes me remember that this game was originally supposed to release LAST YEAR. I'm almost morbidly curious to see what it would've been like.
And it just makes me remember that this game was originally supposed to release LAST YEAR. I'm almost morbidly curious to see what it would've been like.
Deputy Moonman
Member
haha yeah. My thoughts on that are basically that after E3 last year MS/343 embraced that a lot needed to be reworked or improved and they aren't going to rush anything. It's the - people have waited this long already, better off waiting longer to make sure the game is well received, argument.