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[GrizzNKev]

I got a call from Microsoft User Research today. They want me to come in for a "usability test," specifically in the gaming department.

hmmm

I called back to for more info, but the guy didn't pick up so I left a message. Hoping I get a call back soon, though I'll probably have to sign an NDA. Mite b cool.

 

[ElRenoRaven]

To be honest Halo 2 was probably only development hell because Bungie were so ahead of the time and ambitious. Getting all the stuff they wanted in there would have been crazy.

That was part of it sure but they even admit they grew too fast and didn't know how to adapt to that. When you combine everything that went on it's easy to see why Halo 2 had the trouble it did.

Honestly I wouldn't be shocked to hear that 343 went through the same issues Bungie did growth wise. In their case they had to build an entire studio while doing their game. I'd hope that is why so much of it was outsourced and that maybe with their next game more of it would be in house and it would go a lot smoother.

 

[FyreWulff]

To be honest Halo 2 was probably only development hell because Bungie were so ahead of the time and ambitious. Getting all the stuff they wanted in there would have been crazy.

Having to restart the game's development halfway through probably also had to do something with it

 

[Toa TAK]

Having to restart the game's development halfway through probably also had to do something with it

Especially this, I'm amazed Halo 2 came out as well as it did now that I really think about it.

 

[YourExWife]

Join-in-Progress to a game of Regicide in Majestic FFA. First thing that happens?

Triple Kill to unlock Flash of Light

 

[Toa TAK]

Join-in-Progress to a game of Regicide in Majestic FFA. First thing that happens?

Triple Kill to unlock Flash of Light

I'm amazed the Boltshot guy didn't get you. I know I would've been a goner at that point.

And the shotgun works beautifully on that map, too. Awesome stuff man.

 

[Deadly Cyclone]

Well, I was going to try and get all the terminals finally. Got the first one and the achievement popped. Guess I found more than I thought I had.

I'm on if anyone has a big party going.

 

[Tashi]

Podcast over. Was awesome. Thanks everyone. Should be up tomorrow

 

[Fracas]

Well, I was going to try and get all the terminals finally. Got the first one and the achievement popped. Guess I found more than I thought I had.

I'm on if anyone has a big party going.

I might get on soon-ish; playing earlier kind of dented my enthusiasm though

 

[YourExWife]

Well, I was going to try and get all the terminals finally. Got the first one and the achievement popped. Guess I found more than I thought I had.

I'm on if anyone has a big party going.

I'm rolling through FFA right now if you want to join...

I'm amazed the Boltshot guy didn't get you. I know I would've been a goner at that point.

And the shotgun works beautifully on that map, too. Awesome stuff man.

Yeah - I was juking to the best of my ability. Suffice to say I ended up winning the game.

 

[Mix]

Podcast over. Was awesome. Thanks everyone. Should be up tomorrow

hype

 

[ElRenoRaven]

Especially this, I'm amazed Halo 2 came out as well as it did now that I really think about it.

Yea. Halo 2 grew on me through the years. You have look and be amazed with what they did pull off after restarting midway through. I mean 18 months is not a lot of real time and they pulled off an amazing game. It wasn't perfect but it was damn good.

 

[Duji]

Join-in-Progress to a game of Regicide in Majestic FFA. First thing that happens?

Triple Kill to unlock Flash of Light

Weird how I matched up with you again.

 

[Deadly Cyclone]

I'm rolling through FFA right now if you want to join...



Yeah - I was juking to the best of my ability. Suffice to say I ended up winning the game.

Give me like 5 min. Getting the hammer achievement quick.

 

[Toa TAK]

Yeah - I was juking to the best of my ability. Suffice to say I ended up winning the game.

Obviously! A killing frenzy should put anyone to the top like that.

Yea. Halo 2 grew on me through the years. You have look and be amazed with what they did pull off after restarting midway through. I mean 18 months is not a lot of real time and they pulled off an amazing game. It wasn't perfect but it was damn good.

Which bring up the question of what Destiny will be. Now that they have the backing from Activision and now that the whole team is on it, I hope that this will exceed what everyone is expecting it to be.

 

[YourExWife]

Weird how I matched up with you again.

Yeah - I didn't see the invite until later because my notifications were turned off. That game was pretty pointless for me (*cough*Fuckin Canadian host!*cough*).

 

[Syphon Filter]

Join-in-Progress to a game of Regicide in Majestic FFA. First thing that happens?

Triple Kill to unlock Flash of Light

wtf is that all about?lol.

 

[ElRenoRaven]

Obviously! A killing frenzy should put anyone to the top like that.



Which bring up the question of what Destiny will be. Now that they have the backing from Activision and now that the whole team is on it, I hope that this will exceed what everyone is expecting it to be.

Well seeing as how I've never hated a single Bungie game I'll love it. At the end of the day that's all that matters to me. Reading that mail bag today you can tell they're excited. It's going to be fun as hell to explore the game without a doubt.

 

[Toa TAK]

Well seeing as how I've never hated a single Bungie game I'll love it. At the end of the day that's all that matters to me. Reading that mail bag today you can tell they're excited. It's going to be fun as hell to explore the game without a doubt.

That's one aspect I hope they nail, the exploration. I wonder how big the environments will be.

As long as "RETURN TO THE BATTLEFIELD" doesn't come back, I'll be happy. Which I doubt they will.

 

[Gui_PT]

Join-in-Progress to a game of Regicide in Majestic FFA. First thing that happens?

Triple Kill to unlock Flash of Light

*Gets killed by an AR*

 

[ElRenoRaven]

That's one aspect I hope they nail, the exploration. I wonder how big the environments will be.

As long as "RETURN TO THE BATTLEFIELD" doesn't come back, I'll be happy. Which I doubt they will.

Yea that's the one thing that did annoy me in the single player of Reach. I understand what they were going for but it got annoying. It was overused a lot. I'm hoping that they found other methods for confining you into the play space. Course I'd even take invisible walls personally.

 

[FyreWulff]

Never really understood the complaints. There's 3 solutions to keeping players from leaving the playspace:

- soft kill devices like RTB , Sandtrap's death towers, etc
- hard barriers, by putting the player in a canyon, or fences/high walls
- invisible barriers

It just seems when a developer does one, people complain about it and want the others.

I mean you look at Halo 1 and you could technically call it the Definitive Canyon Based First Person Shooter

 

[Toa TAK]

Yea that's the one thing that did annoy me in the single player of Reach. I understand what they were going for but it got annoying. It was overused a lot. I'm hoping that they found other methods for confining you into the play space. Course I'd even take invisible walls personally.

That's what I said! Even with invisible walls, it's fun to see people find a way past them (a la Halo 3).

I don't need something as obnoxious as that again.

Never really understood the complaints. There's 3 solutions to keeping players from leaving the playspace:

- soft kill devices like RTB , Sandtrap's death towers, etc
- hard barriers, by putting the player in a canyon, or fences/high walls
- invisible barriers

It just seems when a developer does one, people complain about it and want the others.

I personally don't have a problem with any of those. The soft kill devices are awesome, though, when they're not RETURN TO THE BATTLEFIELD.

 

[YourExWife]

*Gets killed by a grenade from the grave*

fixed that for you...

 

[Deadly Cyclone]

Ex and I are on if anyone else is getting on.

 

[Gui_PT]

fixed that for you...

You can lie to yourself all you want if it makes you feel better

 

[Fracas]

Darksiders II or Halo 4, that is the question.

 

[Toa TAK]

Darksiders II or Halo 4, that is the question.

Halo 4!

...Right?

 

[StalkerUKCG]

For those interested the new version of "Open Sauce" the PC extension created to enhance Halo CE's engine functionality is out.

This is the newer additions (note many things are already implemented by older versions and so not shown in this video)

Open Sauce V3.1 Trailer

 

[JHall]

Darksiders II or Halo 4, that is the question.

Darksiders II.

 

[YourExWife]

You can lie to yourself all you want if it makes you feel better

"You killed Derp"
"Derp killed you"

Yeah - was toooooootally an AR.

 

[Gui_PT]

"You killed Derp"
"Derp killed you"

Yeah - was toooooootally an AR.

Yeah.

 

[ElRenoRaven]

Never really understood the complaints. There's 3 solutions to keeping players from leaving the playspace:

- soft kill devices like RTB , Sandtrap's death towers, etc
- hard barriers, by putting the player in a canyon, or fences/high walls
- invisible barriers

It just seems when a developer does one, people complain about it and want the others.

I mean you look at Halo 1 and you could technically call it the Definitive Canyon Based First Person Shooter

You know I never had an issue with Hard barriers or even the soft kill devices like the death towers etc. For me what annoyed me about the soft kill barriers was that it would take me out of the world. You'd be exploring and up on your screen popped up this big warning to return to battlefield in 10 seconds. Then as it went your screen would get more red till bam your time ran out and died. That's what annoyed me about it along with where it was placed. There were some spots that it was put that made no sense like on top of some of the silos in Overlook or even on some light posts. But that was the biggest thing for me.

 

[Fuchsdh]

You know I never had an issue with Hard barriers or even the soft kill devices like the death towers etc. For me what annoyed me about the soft kill barriers was that it would take me out of the world. You'd be exploring and up on your screen popped up this big warning to return to battlefield in 10 seconds. Then as it went your screen would get more red till bam your time ran out and died. That's what annoyed me about it along with where it was placed. There were some spots that it was put that made no sense like on top of some of the silos in Overlook or even on some light posts. But that was the biggest thing for me.

Yeah, that's my issue too. It doesn't make any sense that you get magically killed by the guardians. Firstly, you should be designing your levels so the actual ability to get outside where you want is limited (even if it appears more expansive). Invisible barriers are irksome, but they're far better than being killed for trying to explore.

I think 343 used the Return to the Battlefield softkills in part because of the limits of the engine--you'll get a softkill warning if you're left behind by the Mammoth, for example, which I presume is to stop the Xbox from killing itself when trying to load zones. I'm not sure if they were partially in place for the same reason in Reach.

 

[The Real Napsta]

If Microsoft had gotten their way, Reach would have been a new campaign and multiplayer in the Halo 3 engine.

Bungie also shipped 5-6 new gametypes for Reach, for free, after they were done with DLC. None of them were behind a paywall. And they were actually new gametypes. They had a Team Classic that you could play with no DLC required.

343 released the Halo 1 gametype and it's STILL only available behind a paywall to this day. The lone free gametype they made, Team Hotshot, is no longer available in matchmaking. Their Team Classic had LESS maps than the Bungie version.


With Halo 4, we ended up with a disc gametype being put behind a paywall for it's matchmaking debut. We have not gotten a new gametype yet.

It's not behind a paywall. You can download the game type from anyone's file share and play it on the old maps.

Stop being such a drama queen.

 

[Rickenslacker]

Never really understood the complaints. There's 3 solutions to keeping players from leaving the playspace:

- soft kill devices like RTB , Sandtrap's death towers, etc
- hard barriers, by putting the player in a canyon, or fences/high walls
- invisible barriers

It just seems when a developer does one, people complain about it and want the others.

I mean you look at Halo 1 and you could technically call it the Definitive Canyon Based First Person Shooter

My complaints with RTB are mostly campaign/co-op related, it kills any sense of meta exploration. Though I have absolutely 0 issues with every other method of retaining the player in a space. Outside of invisible walls, the other solutions are at least diegetic implementations and as such give some fairness or at least outline as to what the limits are and where you should attempt to subvert them. Invisible walls are fine too, they're just a regular part of most games but at least rubbing up against nothing doesn't annoy me as much as being alerted of my impending death.

I think the worst part about RTB is just how arbitrary it sometimes felt. Maybe you would use jetpack to stand on a innocuous roof for a better vantage point OH HEY HAVE FUN FOR 10 SECONDS BUT I'MA WARN YOU THAT YOU DEAD IF YOU KEEP IT UP. I think the most egregious one was in Overlook, where wedging yourself between two rocks next to the fencing would RTB you, I mean are you fucking kidding me?

And while there was never an overt confirmation of it being the case I always imagined jetpack being the culprit for that implementation, so as much as I hate jetpack normally, I double hate it for that.

 

[Poker Face]

anyone know why the pax east schedule isn't available yet?

 

[malfcn]

Join-in-Progress to a game of Regicide in Majestic FFA. First thing that happens?

Triple Kill to unlock Flash of Light

Damn, that clip made me want to buy the map pack. May break down soon.

 

[FyreWulff]

It's not behind a paywall. You can download the game type from anyone's file share and play it on the old maps.

Stop being such a drama queen.

Can you play it in matchmaking without owning the DLC?

No?

It's behind a paywall. It was added in Reach's TU, and was sat on for two months. It's compatible with every single map in Reach, but only appears on the Anniversary DLC maps in matchmaking.

It's completely possible to have Halo 1 Slayer on Blood Gulch in Reach matchmaking. We have the map. We have the gametype. Why can't we play the definitive Halo 1 map in matchmaking with the Halo 1 gametype?

Oh, probably because it's behind a paywall that doesn't support using Reach disc maps

 

[YourExWife]

We just played against Elumnite in FFA. Good stuff.

 

[Deadly Cyclone]

We just played against Elumnite in FFA. Good stuff.

I got last. But it was a SOLID last.

 

[Duji]

Can you play it in matchmaking without owning the DLC?

No?

It's behind a paywall. It was added in Reach's TU, and was sat on for two months. It's compatible with every single map in Reach, but only appears on the Anniversary DLC maps in matchmaking.

It's completely possible to have Halo 1 Slayer on Blood Gulch in Reach matchmaking. We have the map. We have the gametype. Why can't we play the definitive Halo 1 map in matchmaking with the Halo 1 gametype?

Oh, probably because it's behind a paywall that doesn't support using Reach disc maps

You know what? I've never even thought about this. You bring up a great point. Talk about shady business.

 

[ElRenoRaven]

Can you play it in matchmaking without owning the DLC?

No?

It's behind a paywall. It was added in Reach's TU, and was sat on for two months. It's compatible with every single map in Reach, but only appears on the Anniversary DLC maps in matchmaking.

It's completely possible to have Halo 1 Slayer on Blood Gulch in Reach matchmaking. We have the map. We have the gametype. Why can't we play the definitive Halo 1 map in matchmaking with the Halo 1 gametype?

Oh, probably because it's behind a paywall that doesn't support using Reach disc maps

He's right when you think about it.

 

[ncsuDuncan]

anyone know why the pax east schedule isn't available yet?

No idea. Really anxious to see what's being offered this year. I hope 343 has a panel; Silentium will have just come out and Castle maps will be just around the corner.

 

[CreateNowSleepLater]

FINALLY got to play Majestic. It's a pretty decent map pack. Infinity kills it though. I got matched up with some guys and came running around blue spawn and my entire team was crouched and cloaked.

Jetpackers on Skyline really suck, the one thing I would like to see is more open areas in smaller maps. Seems like there are a lot of tall walls all over the place and its a campers heaven.

WTF is swat doing in a new DLC playlist? I'm trying to figure out where I'm going here.

High hopes once this hits TTD although that playlist has a woeful population.

 

[Steelyuhas]

FINALLY got to play Majestic. It's a pretty decent map pack. Infinity kills it though. I got matched up with some guys and came running around blue spawn and my entire team was crouched and cloaked.

Jetpackers on Skyline really suck, the one thing I would like to see is more open areas in smaller maps. Seems like there are a lot of tall walls all over the place and its a campers heaven.

WTF is swat doing in a new DLC playlist? I'm trying to figure out where I'm going here.

High hopes once this hits TTD although that playlist has a woeful population.

Frank

 

[Madness]

The problem is, Bungie's new vision of competitive PVP doesn't sit well with a lot of folks in HaloGaF. They still scream bloody murder about how bloom was the worst thing in their lives and yet 95% of the time, they learned to use bloom effectively.

I didn't like bloom or Reach and now Halo 4, because I believe Halo was about equal starts and nothing was random. Whatever happened on the map was natural halo game play.

But for Destiny, I don't expect it to be like Halo, and so I'll probably enjoy their new vision of competitive play, precisely because it's not Halo. I'm curious to see how it all plays out.

 

[DeadNames]

Why is personal ordnance even a thing? Why is ordnance in general a thing? Man, this game can sure be frustrating at times...

 

[Madness]

Madness: Is everything in Destiny made so "lone wolves" like me can enjoy the game as much as the guys who like to play cooperatively?

You won’t be required to partner with strangers to achieve your goals in Destiny.  You’ll have all the freedom you need to blaze your own trail. 

I'm glad they answered my question. Sure it's fun to play with friends sometimes, but I like to always play the campaign by myself first. I would hate if there were areas in Destiny you couldn't do alone.

 

[HTupolev]

Never really understood the complaints. There's 3 solutions to keeping players from leaving the playspace:

- soft kill devices like RTB , Sandtrap's death towers, etc
- hard barriers, by putting the player in a canyon, or fences/high walls
- invisible barriers

It just seems when a developer does one, people complain about it and want the others.

I mean you look at Halo 1 and you could technically call it the Definitive Canyon Based First Person Shooter

I'm not familiar with the shitstorm that was supposedly lobbed at Halo 1 on account of those cliffs and canyons.

When really restrictively-shaped environments start screwing with the core level design, sure. People complain about that, and for good reason. Halo 1's weird approach to boundaries did restrict its design in certain ways, but even in the crazier cases if anything it compelled Bungie to make some really interesting environments (i.e. AotCR's canyons).