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Halo 4 |OT2| TURBO

belushy

Banned
There was this one map in the Crypt on Sandbox that had sloped sides for Grifball. You'd spawn in the sky and then fall down. I think that was like the only non-flat court I played of Griffball in Halo 3 and I thought it was pretty fun.
 

Booshka

Member
It appears this post angered it.

250px-T-Patrick.jpg
 
The BR and SMG both look a lot like their Halo 3 iterations but they're clearly new models, with much, much higher polycounts.
But hold on a sec. Frankie did say that they admit using some assets and tweaking them when asked by IGN during that interview with Dan and him yesterday.

Edit: RandyRoflStomp is a PasteBinLeakerBot that got accepted into Gaf accidentally.
 

Woorloog

Banned
But hold on a sec. Frankie did say that they admit using some assets and tweaking them when asked by IGN during that interview with Dan and him yesterday.

Ah.
Oh.
Wait. What?

So are the assets Halo 3 versions that are touched up? Pretty sure mere high-rez texture is not enough to make H3 BR to look like the BR in Halo 2 Anniversary.

EDIT i checked a first person BR pic from Halo 3 and compared it to Halo 2 Anniversary. Similar but there is so much difference in detail, more than mere texture would give it, i think. Halo 3 weapons don't have that high polycounts, the H2A weapons look more like Reach or H4 weapons in terms of polycounts to me.
 

Madness

Member
Who hates Ricochet? I thought it was one of the best game types 343 did and with good teams you can literally play for hours.

As for the "combat" sports, or whatever, I'm fine with lore behind the MP or no lore. I never really once thought about why I'm on this forerunner planet fighting other Spartans. All I did was play or look around at the graphics/skyboxes.

Besides, we know literally nothing about Halo 5. It's like a 10 second cinematic of what appear to be Spartans fighting in some converted orbital landing platform. That's it. Could just be a training exercise who knows.
 

Woorloog

Banned
Ricochet is an interesting gametype but not one i like. Not with randoms... and it doesn't, as i explained, fit Halo really. (Of course, arguably Grifball and many others don't fit either so that's kind of a moot point. But i've always been rather vanilla player, never been a big fan of odd, customized or modified game types, a couple of exceptions aside. Just give me Assault, CTF and Slayer, the rest can go to hell for all i care)
As for that H5 trailer, Frankie noted it used in-game assets though it was pre-rendered.
 
I'm only bitter at Grifball. It seemed like when that was included as a standard gametype was right when the game took a turn from being competitive to casual-friendly.

What about infection customs in Halo 3 or social playlists in 2/3? What about campaign only players? What about BTB teams? The spectrum of gamer styles has always been present since day one CE on OG Xbox.
 
Ah.
Oh.
Wait. What?

So are the assets Halo 3 versions that are touched up? Pretty sure mere high-rez texture is not enough to make H3 BR to look like the BR in Halo 2 Anniversary.

EDIT i checked a first person BR pic from Halo 3 and compared it to Halo 2 Anniversary. Similar but there is so much difference in detail, more than mere texture would give it, i think. Halo 3 weapons don't have that high polycounts, the H2A weapons look more like Reach or H4 weapons in terms of polycounts to me.

Halo 3 weapons look way bad in retrospect outside first-person. I remember looking up the Halo 3 BR for my BR redesign thingy and basically assuming I was looking at a Halo 2 BR by accident at first. They look like new assets from the ground up to me.
 

Madness

Member
I just hope we get game play video and information soon. Don't know why, I've been searching and searching and reading all kinds of sites. Very impatient right now. I couldn't handle if they just don't talk about it at all or don't show much until summer is over.

I need interviews, ViDoc's, game play videos, etc. Hearing about it all come together is interesting. Hell I'm even excited to see how 1080p and 60 fps impacts Halo 4 especially on maps like Vortex and Wreckage.
 

Woorloog

Banned
Halo 3 weapons look way bad in retrospect outside first-person. I remember looking up the Halo 3 BR for my BR redesign thingy and basically assuming I was looking at a Halo 2 BR by accident at first. They look like new assets from the ground up to me.

Some of them don't look that great in first person either, though Halo 3's low resolution kinda hides that. High res first person image of the H3 BR? Low resolution texture, and the weapon looks very... flat.
http://www.halopedia.org/images/9/92/BR55HB_Battle_Rifle.png
 
Ah.
Oh.
Wait. What?

So are the assets Halo 3 versions that are touched up? Pretty sure mere high-rez texture is not enough to make H3 BR to look like the BR in Halo 2 Anniversary.

EDIT i checked a first person BR pic from Halo 3 and compared it to Halo 2 Anniversary. Similar but there is so much difference in detail, more than mere texture would give it, i think. Halo 3 weapons don't have that high polycounts, the H2A weapons look more like Reach or H4 weapons in terms of polycounts to me.
I only meant the SMG's. Don't think the BR was taken from H3, if it was or not, which I don't think they did.
 
I just hope we get game play video and information soon. Don't know why, I've been searching and searching and reading all kinds of sites. Very impatient right now. I couldn't handle if they just don't talk about it at all or don't show much until summer is over.

I need interviews, ViDoc's, game play videos, etc. Hearing about it all come together is interesting. Hell I'm even excited to see how 1080p and 60 fps impacts Halo 4 especially on maps like Vortex and Wreckage.

Good points on 3 and 4 frame rates. I'm hoping for a bulletin blow out tomorrow.

I'm super interested to see how live matchmaking dedis affect the gameplay/mechanics of the differing game versions e.g. strafe dodging a melee in H2, sniper headshots registering in H3, target leading in Halo 3, region matching in Reach/4, network prediction of player movement etc.
 

Woorloog

Banned
I only meant the SMG's. Don't think the BR was taken from H3, if it was or not, which I don't think they did.

The SMG was considerably bulkier than either the original Halo 2 or 3 versions, i think... Trying to recall how it looked in that one vid... It did look a lot like Halo 3 version but bulkier. IIRC. Need a good pic.

EDIT are we talking about that remastered MP or campaign? Because the SMG looks different in them... the former is more like high-poly version of H3 SMG, and the latter was, IIRC, bulkier than any other SMG so far.
 
Zanzibar and Interactive Map Elements

The Gate on Zanzibar is the one most people probably remember. Opening the gate, by activating the Gate Switch, was a crucial step in successfully pulling the flag from the Defender’s base. Even in Slayer gametypes, Halo has always been about securing “mini objectives”. Off spawn you rush to secure a power weapon then rush to secure a power position. Giving players an optional mini objective, like a gate to open, allowed for more depth in gameplay by letting players make choices that affected their available strategies later in the round.

Unlike Zanzibar’s Gate, Containment’s Ramped Gate allowed players to exit from inside the base but did not allow players to enter from outside the base. Another difference is the impermanent effects of Containment’s Gate Switch. Once Zanzibar’s Gate was opened, it remained open for the remainder of the round. If Containment’s Gate Switch was activated, the Ramped Gate only remained open for a limited time before closing again.

Zanzibar’s Gate and Gate Switch, which opened a new path into the Defender’s base, and Relic’s One Way Teleporter and Teleporter Switch served a similar function. Unlike Zanzibar’s Gate, which opened both an entrance into and an exit out of the Defender’s base, Relic’s One Way Teleporter only opened an entrance into the Defender’s base. Similar to Zanzibar’s Gate Switch, Relic’s Teleporter Switch is located inside the Defender’s base. Unlike Zanzibar’s Gate, which is located on one of the base’s outer walls, the entrance to Relic’s One Way Teleporter is in a separate, away from the base, location.

The Spinning Fan on Zanzibar could be ridden on by infantry to move from bottom wheel to mid wheel. Different lines of sight were presented to the player as he was gradually pushed upwards by the fan blade. Vehicles had to time their jumps through the wheel in order to avoid colliding with the fan blades. The sword room could only be accessed when the fan was in one, of three, specific orientations. Aside from gameplay related reasons, the giant fan gave the map a unique feel. It gave the map character.

Like Zanzibar’s Spinning Fan, which pushed players upward, Elongation’s Conveyor Belts also moved players but pushed them horizontally rather than vertically. Crates were also pushed by the Conveyor Belts. These moving crates could be used as mobile cover or as temporary platforms to make jumps off of. Since these Conveyor Belts terminated in death pits, it allowed for a continuous stream of crates to enter the map because they had an exit as well. The death pits also forced players to be aware of their position in order to avoid falling to their doom.

Similar to Zanzibar’s Spinning Fan, Ascension’s Rotating Antenna created a dynamic environment where sightlines were opening and closing based on the antenna’s orientation. Zanzibar’s Spinning Fan opened new sightlines for the player by physically moving him upwards. Ascension’s Rotating Antenna opened new sightlines by modifying the structure of the map itself. A map that modifies itself is capable of shifting the relative power of different positions through the opening and closing of sightlines, the addition or removal of cover, and the addition or removal of traversable paths. A map with shifting power positions encourages players to move in order to remain in control of the current power position or to avoid being in the killzone of the current power position. Promethean weapons assembling themselves and Forerunner structures modifying themselves, like the structure above top mid on Monolith, mesh well with the concept of self modifying maps.

Terminal’s Train was similar to Zanzibar’s Fan in that it was a moving element on the map that could affect players. Terminal’s Train is unlike Zanzibar’s Fan in that it does not assist players in traversing the map, rather the opposite. Terminal’s Train, speeding through the map at lethal speeds, acted to disincentivize players from traversing one particular portion of the map: the train’s tracks. Power Ups, located on the tracks, acted as incentive items, drawing players into the dangerous area. The train tracks pushed and pulled player movement depending on the current situation. The train could be improved by giving it a consistent cadence. Instead of speeding through the map at random intervals, the time between trains should be predictable (not necessarily the same interval between each pass e.g. long interval, short interval, long interval, short interval...). This predictability would allow players to plan for the arrival of the train and use that to their advantage.

Similar to the vertical beams above Turf’s streets, that could act as traversable walkways once they were knocked down to lie horizontally, Zanzibar’s Draw Bridge could be accessed by destroying the mount holding it upright but enemies were alerted to the bridge’s deployment by an audible emission.

Once the Glass Panes, located on the roofs/ceilings of Beaver Creek’s bases, were destroyed through damage, they could not be rebuilt. Similarly, once Zanzibar’s Window Shutter Supports were destroyed, through damage, they could not be rebuilt. Unlike the destruction of the glass panes, which opened new paths, the destruction of the shutter supports closed existing sightlines.

The ground level of the Defender’s base on Zanzibar had four columns that could have large chunks broken off through damage, creating a more open area. Unlike Waterworks’ Stalactites, damaging Zanzibar’s Columns did not cause any additional effect beyond the reduction of available cover. Dealing enough damage to Waterworks’ Stalactites would cause the massive rock formations to break from the ceiling and come plummeting down to the ground, dealing high damage to any players caught underneath.

On Zanzibar, players could modify the base which modifies the map as a whole. On Sandtrap, the player can move his base which modifies the map as a whole. Where Zanzibar’s Fan moves the player, Sandtrap’s Elephant requires the player to move it. On Zanzibar, a part of the map moves the player. On Sandtrap, the player moves a part of the map.

Interactive Map Elements do not need to be overly complex. IMEs can be as simple as the doors that automatically opened for proximate players on Turf or Gemini. Tilting platforms, like top mid on Midship or the hanging joist on Headlong, are simple examples. Providing the player with the ability to push an explosive item into a lift, like on Colossus, gave him everything he needed to assemble a futuristic catapult.
 

heckfu

Banned
What about infection customs in Halo 3 or social playlists in 2/3? What about campaign only players? What about BTB teams? The spectrum of gamer styles has always been present since day one CE on OG Xbox.

customs? fine. campaign only players? doesn't affect MP. BTB? Can be competitive, don't see how that fits in with making the game more casual.

my point wasn't that they gave players options for customs, it's that they focused on making it a MP hopper and appealed to their 'non-core' game stuff.
 

Karl2177

Member
customs? fine. campaign only players? doesn't affect MP. BTB? Can be competitive, don't see how that fits in with making the game more casual.

my point wasn't that they gave players options for customs, it's that they focused on making it a MP hopper and appealed to their 'non-core' game stuff.

So how do you feel about it being a rotational playlist, like in Halo 3?
 

heckfu

Banned
So how do you feel about it being a rotational playlist, like in Halo 3?

meh. still don't like it.

that compounded with challenges, etc pulled me away from good hoppers to grind out kills for reach and got swindled into playing it in halo 3 because it was new and exciting.

i just want slayer and actual objective gametypes.


oh? i'm getting a chance to play halo 2 again?

neat.
 

Karl2177

Member
meh. still don't like it.

that compounded with challenges, etc pulled me away from good hoppers to grind out kills for reach and got swindled into playing it in halo 3 because it was new and exciting.

i just want slayer and actual objective gametypes.

Fair enough.

Also, I want to remind people that high-res stuff does exist for Terminal. Terminal was supposed to be in the Anniversary map pack, but it got cut. Then for the 3rd Halo 4 map pack, they talked about using some assets from it for the city looking map. Expect Terminal to be one of the 6 remade maps.
 

Booshka

Member
Fair enough.

Also, I want to remind people that high-res stuff does exist for Terminal. Terminal was supposed to be in the Anniversary map pack, but it got cut. Then for the 3rd Halo 4 map pack, they talked about using some assets from it for the city looking map. Expect Terminal to be one of the 6 remade maps.

Hi res train deaths are a next gen feature. Hopefully I can still pick up OS and be invulnerable as I launch into the base.
 
customs? fine. campaign only players? doesn't affect MP. BTB? Can be competitive, don't see how that fits in with making the game more casual.

my point wasn't that they gave players options for customs, it's that they focused on making it a MP hopper and appealed to their 'non-core' game stuff.

That makes your intention clearer, the developer choosing to go more casual. On that note I'd still say Halo 3 overall started that during development years before release, rather than grifball being added months/years post release.

I do agree with your intention behind reducing player pools for core playlists like Slayer & Objective. I thought the same things about Infection as you do Grifball, I guess the masses have spoken as both playlists enjoy higher populations than the hardcore MLG/AGL in late H3, Reach & 4. Here's hoping the collection or H5 can redeem players to want to play in game ranked slayer/obj over infection/grifball.
 

NOKYARD

Member
There was this one map in the Crypt on Sandbox that had sloped sides for Grifball. You'd spawn in the sky and then fall down. I think that was like the only non-flat court I played of Griffball in Halo 3 and I thought it was pretty fun.
That was Chichen Itzá a map MM players loved but the Grifball community hated.

I made the map specifically to allow players to get Golf Club kills MM.

Since there was no way to spawn with the Golf Club in the game settings, and you could only place 8 of them in forge, i had to come up with a devious method to allow grabbing it without affecting the standard Grifball rules of no weapon pickup. Oddly enough, you could swap a Hammer for a dropped Golf Club in MM, even though weapon pickup was turned off.

The 28 degree floating floor on that map took months to complete so there is no effin' way i am rebuilding it.
 

heckfu

Banned
That makes your intention clearer, the developer choosing to go more casual. On that note I'd still say Halo 3 overall started that during development years before release, rather than grifball being added months/years post release.

I do agree with your intention behind reducing player pools for core playlists like Slayer & Objective. I thought the same things about Infection as you do Grifball, I guess the masses have spoken as both playlists enjoy higher populations than the hardcore MLG/AGL in late H3, Reach & 4. Here's hoping the collection or H5 can redeem players to want to play in game ranked slayer/obj over infection/grifball.

I think the issue with 4 is that there wasn't that hardcore itch scratching playlist right off the bat, you know? I kept playing because my friends did and it was a good social time, but I really didnt enjoy the random/casualish experience that Halo 4 offered at launch. I assume a lot of other people didn't either as the population seemed to drop like a brick in water.

I can't attest to Reach hoppers having that many players (mostly because I can't remember what the numbers were like) but I DO think the ign article about the MCC being a giant info-grabber to see what players like could be pretty accurate.

I don't want to take playlists away from people that genuinely enjoy it mostly because I don't want them in the competitive side lol (kidding, mostly). I just want a healthy enough population to satisfy both sides of the coin and for people to just have a good time again.

edit: sorry, i didn't proofread any of my last posts because I'm doing this at work and just spitting out a stream of consciousness. apologies in advance if i'm making no sense.
 

Madness

Member
Special retailer pre-order exclusive skulls... Why frank, why?!?

Seems like two steps forward, one step back. I hate having something fun/cool like content locked behind pre-ordering from certain retailers. At least allow everyone the option to buy it then. I mean I'd love to play with grunt birthday party, unlimited ammo and grenades, grunts drop grenades etc. Why do people have to miss out based solely on where they buy from?
 
I think the issue with 4 is that there wasn't that hardcore itch scratching playlist right off the bat, you know? I kept playing because my friends did and it was a good social time, but I really didnt enjoy the random/casualish experience that Halo 4 offered at launch. I assume a lot of other people didn't either as the population seemed to drop like a brick in water.

I can't attest to Reach hoppers having that many players (mostly because I can't remember what the numbers were like) but I DO think the ign article about the MCC being a giant info-grabber to see what players like could be pretty accurate.

I don't want to take playlists away from people that genuinely enjoy it mostly because I don't want them in the competitive side lol (kidding, mostly). I just want a healthy enough population to satisfy both sides of the coin and for people to just have a good time again.

edit: sorry, i didn't proofread any of my last posts because I'm doing this at work and just spitting out a stream of consciousness. apologies in advance if i'm making no sense.

Too right, Reach's arena ranking failed as no one wants to always have to achieve your rank over and over again. Keep highest AND current rank in game where current can go up and down based on your skill/performance.

I complete agree about 4's lack of the hardcore at launch and to a large extent even now. CSR being external to the game sucks but what is worse even to current day is guests, quitting and host migration. Forgetting about randoms vs. teams for a moment who cares about rank when guests are allowed in every playlist and stats are borked almost every game due to black screen/host migration and quitting.

Dedis fix an awful lot of these issues and I can't wait for a real in game rank to return, especially at launch.

The days of H3 making infection a weekend ranked playlist were pretty funny indeed.
 

Fuchsdh

Member
Too right, Reach's arena ranking failed as no one wants to always have to achieve your rank over and over again. Keep highest AND current rank in game where current can go up and down based on your skill/performance.

I complete agree about 4's lack of the hardcore at launch and to a large extent even now. CSR being external to the game sucks but what is worse even to current day is guests, quitting and host migration. Forgetting about randoms vs. teams for a moment who cares about rank when guests are allowed in every playlist and stats are borked almost every game due to black screen/host migration and quitting.

Dedis fix an awful lot of these issues and I can't wait for a real in game rank to return, especially at launch.

The days of H3 making infection a weekend ranked playlist were pretty funny indeed.

Judging by Starcraft 2, the issue isn't necessarily making people "regrind" their ranks, it's that Bungie.net really was bad at showing your career legacy, and seasons were super-short. Reseting ranks month after month is going to wear down everyone but the super-competitive types, and I don't honestly think there's enough of those people to sustain a playlist let alone Halo. Talking with Strongside about Halo 2's matchming, I think he made a good point--you have to inspire people to be competitive, and Halo 2's system did that. So you got a lot of people who might not be MLG material still working on their ranks.
 

FatMarshall

Neo Member
Yes, b'cuz halo 4 is a direct port to the collection.
I was actually kidding, because I thought the obvious answer would be no.

There is absolutely no reason to make the feature online exclusive, much less a Gold exclusive. The only reason it was done to begin with was because the episodes were technically downloadable content, considering they weren't all released at once.

Now they will be, so they can't just include everything on-disc without that online Gold barrier? Again, I don't see the point.
 
Hey, I just realized

http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080630180100/halo/images/thumb/6/66/Backwash.jpg/500px-Backwash.jpg[img]

The King has returned

Serious though: I wonder if they'll let you spawn with grenades on it now.[/QUOTE]

Ooooh that reminds me, I wonder if fire grenades and the flame thrower can now be matchmaking for H3? I always loved the fire grenade arc.

[img]http://cdn.staticneo.com/w/halo/thumb/9/90/Fire_Bomb.JPG/300px-Fire_Bomb.JPG

halo-3-20070810044503823.jpg
 
Arena sucked because I went 49/49 one season and got Gold. The next season I went like 18/22 and got Onyx.

Thing was a piece of shit that was ruined by fucking terrible playlist settings in the beginning to the point "Arena" quickly meant nothing more than "Bungiefunlandterribleplaylist 3.4 Now with 1000 free hours"

Total Morans over there running things. Give me control of playlists.
 

TheOddOne

Member
Arena sucked because I went 49/49 one season and got Gold. The next season I went like 18/22 and got Onyx.

Thing was a piece of shit that was ruined by fucking terrible playlist settings in the beginning to the point "Arena" quickly meant nothing more than "Bungiefunlandterribleplaylist 3.4 Now with 1000 free hours"

Total Morans over there running things. Give me control of playlists.
#HireJuices
 

Blueblur1

Member
I'll be cool with them contextualizing MP as a sport as long as they have way better UI for it, let me see stats in-game and make it a better visual experience. At the moment I'm really digging Destiny's MP UI and would love to see similarly stylized UI in future Halo games (and not the ALL CAPS, squared stuff in Halo 4).
 
I'll be cool with them contextualizing MP as a sport as long as they have way better UI for it, let me see stats in-game and make it a better visual experience. At the moment I'm really digging Destiny's MP UI and would love to see similarly stylized UI in future Halo games (and not the ALL CAPS, squared stuff in Halo 4).

Smartglass fast loading stats of all players I just matched with please, pre and post game.
 
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