• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Halo |OT15| Beta-tested, GAF approved

S

Subitai

Member
Anastacio said:
Guys, back in the days I loved playing Halo: Combat Evolved either with LAN or online multiplayer on the Xbox. I bought Halo 2 and weren't the biggest fan and then skipped Halo 3, Halo: Wars, Halo 3: ODST and now Halo 4. I bought the novels but I couldn't get myself into the universe or story-telling.

I haven't subscribed to Xbox Live for years but I got 2 weeks free Gold subscription with my Tomb Raider copy and would like to try out a great online game, preferably a shooter - also, I absolutely love MAG on PlayStation 3.

I see the 2 huge ones on Xbox 360 are Halo 4 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 but they both seem to be very competitive with a lot of little details, perks, upgrades, customisations and what not.

Is Halo 4 worth getting for online multiplayer?
Click to expand...
I skipped Reach so, I'm coming from a perspective not as devoted to map control and player balance. I enjoy the multiplayer for the most part. I'm lvl 75 now and unlocked Pathfinder and Pioneer. Going for the weekly challenges for the bonus xp has kept the journey interesting. It forced me to play more small maps with modes I don't prefer, but that gave me a better feel for what weapons and armor abilities you want to use where.

Anyway, since I didn't play as much in the past versions, I don't have a problem with things like the new weapons, people sniping with cloak, being able to EMP vehicles, or one shot people with the Boltshot. It has made the game less chess and more poker and I guess it would have been nice for the devoted players to keep chess modes. In any case, I think you should play the game to decide for yourself. I mean they relented and returned the scope to the magnum and took out dual wielding to return more to the original trinity mechanics. Also, the one hit OP wpns also have weaknesses that can be exploited. Like the BR lays out an orange beam that gives away your position and the Incineration Cannon has an uncomfortable cooldown after one shot. Unskilled players cannot take full advantage of them. Really, one of my favorite moments in all of multiplayer gaming was getting a good gausshog driver and rolling up 30 kills on Exile. Edit: I've also had the good, but less fun fortune of being that driver 2 or 3 times that facilitated someone getting 20-25 kills.

All that said, if you loved MAG (more than Halo CE), BF3 might be more to your liking.
 
N

Nowise10

Member
Shadders said:
Snyder's blog, whilst very interesting, will definitely have gotten people's heckles up at 343.

He doesn't call people out by name, but the people he's talking about will know who they are and he doesn't paint them in a good light.

We don't often get a peak behind the curtain like this (for good reason), I'm certain he's breached his NDA with that post, you're not allowed to discuss the politics of development like this.
Click to expand...

Its a story though. No where does it say 343, or any names whatsoever.

And I honestly think people are taking a little bit out of context.
 
I

IHaveIce

Banned
Nowise10 said:
Its a story though. No where does it say 343, or any names whatsoever.

And I honestly think people are taking a little bit out of context.
Click to expand...

It's like a live journal, it mentions Seattle and the grunt food thing.

Wile it is probably a dick move I found this quite interesting.


I really want a behind the scenes for Halo 4, sounds like there were also many problems at developement.
 
M

Madness

Member
Kamikaze Ghazi said:
So guys, basically microtransactions for CoD were announced today. I hope they don't do this in Halo 5.
Click to expand...

The audacity of hope... lol

Of course they will probably have microtransactions, it was just a matter of setting it up, which they've sort of done with Halo 4. I mean pre-ordering the game in Europe meant you get to unlock specializations early months in advance, specializations that DIRECTLY affect the game. So whereas you had to wait months getting donged on by guys who had stability, you could probably pay to get it as quick as possible in Halo 5.

I wouldn't be surprised if Halo 5 had certain stances, weapon skins, emblems and visors made for purchase.

Gears 3, Black Ops II, etc.

It's only a matter of time, when you're in the business of making money and profit, nothing sounds better than more money and profit.
 
N

Nowise10

Member
IHaveIce said:
It's like a live journal, it mentions Seattle and the grunt food thing.

Wile it is probably a dick move I found this quite interesting.


I really want a behind the scenes for Halo 4, sounds like there were also many problems at developement.
Click to expand...

I think you would be surprised.
Remember Team Bondi? Spent 5 years making LA Noire, once the game was released employees spoke out saying how bad the work management was? A few months later they were shut down.
Bungie hinted at rough development also with Halo 2. That game seemed depressing to make, seemed no one was really happy with it.

Just saying, I doubt most games are built with everyone happy.
 
S

squidhands

Member
Kamikaze Ghazi said:
So guys, basically microtransactions for CoD were announced today. I hope they don't do this in Halo 5.
Click to expand...
Obvious jokes aside, when an genre-leading company makes this kind of deal happen, you can expect everyone else who makes the same types of games to eventually follow suit. For multiplayer games that intend to have a long life span, it really seems like a no-brainer to keep the revenue coming in even in smaller doses.


At this point, I'm half expecting the retailer exclusive armor and emblems to show up on the marketplace any day now.

Nowise10 said:
I think you would be surprised.
Remember Team Bondi? Spent 5 years making LA Noire, once the game was released employees spoke out saying how bad the work management was? A few months later they were shut down.
Bungie hinted at rough development also with Halo 2. That game seemed depressing to make, seemed no one was really happy with it.

Just saying, I doubt most games are built with everyone happy.
Click to expand...
Of course not. You've got loads of people with a wide range of egos and attitudes cooped up together for relatively brief, but extremely long periods of time. I used to work 12-14 hour days 6 days a week building sets for films, and by the end of a 5 month shoot I wanted nothing more than to be away from everyone else involved (to put it mildly). I can totally sympathize with folks who have to do that for an even more extended period. Doesn't make me any less sad that he's gone, because Halo 4's campaign left a shitload to be desired, personally.
 
B

Booties

Banned
IHaveIce said:
It's like a live journal, it mentions Seattle and the grunt food thing.

Wile it is probably a dick move I found this quite interesting.


I really want a behind the scenes for Halo 4, sounds like there were also many problems at developement.
Click to expand...

It can be part of the MLG/adderall addiction documentary I'm working on right now. Think king of kong but halo.
 
U

User 73706

Banned
Rev3rb said:
Was this the one we heard about last night?
Click to expand...

Bingo. I've been trying to keep the other weapons pretty simplistic or at least reserved (Oscillator is for sentinel use, Huntshot is the Brute Shot and Fuel Rod Gun merged to save space dollars), so I figured the most powerful one gets to go full retard.

TCKaos said:
This gave me a sci-fi boner. It reminds me of the end of Gurren Lagann where they're fighting the anti-spirals in space and time and have weapons firing in the past, present and future simultaneously.
Click to expand...

Just wait until you see the vidoc.
 
M

Madness

Member
In 343's defense, reading interviews, it seems at one points, they had close to 500+ workers on Halo 4, I don't know if this includes the outsourced workers or not.

I'm guessing with the open call for devs to work on Halo 4, they got a shitload of people, and hired as many as possible.

You have basically an unproven studio, made up of hodge-podge groups of devs from various games/backgrounds, be put in charge of one of the most successful IP's in gaming.

Didn't a few key people leave as well during development? This is why I'll give them the benefit of the doubt for Halo 5. They now know who is talented and capable or not, what works in Halo FPS, what doesn't.

Compare Treyarch's version of Call of Duty 3, with how polished World at War was, even if Infinity Ward did a lot of the engine work and set the base standard.
 
F

Fuchsdh

Member
Madness said:
In 343's defense, reading interviews, it seems at one points, they had close to 500+ workers on Halo 4, I don't know if this includes the outsourced workers or not.

I'm guessing with the open call for devs to work on Halo 4, they got a shitload of people, and hired as many as possible.

You have basically an unproven studio, made up of hodge-podge groups of devs from various games/backgrounds, be put in charge of one of the most successful IP's in gaming.

Didn't a few key people leave as well during development? This is why I'll give them the benefit of the doubt for Halo 5. They now know who is talented and capable or not, what works in Halo FPS, what doesn't.

Compare Treyarch's version of Call of Duty 3, with how polished World at War was, even if Infinity Ward did a lot of the engine work and set the base standard.
Click to expand...

I think another point is that given how much of Reach is in Halo 4, they seemed to have started with the final or near-final version of that engine... Which means a lot of development wasn't happening until late 2010.
 
W

willow ve

Member
BlueScrote said:
What is the bolded even supposed to mean?
Click to expand...
It means that unless you live in a popular American time zone and play in peak times you will have trouble finding games in some/most playlists in average weekday play. Ergo, multiplayer will feel "dead" as you have long search times and run into the same players.

By "trouble" I mean it can take 5+ minutes to find a match. Not having full teams and never getting new players to join when players quit, etc. To be fair this even happens now at peak population hours.
 
S

Shadders

Member
I know I shouldn't say this, especially not here when Frank might be watching, but I'd pony up for cosmetic junk in Halo. I'd have paid to have specialisations early, I'd have paid for double XP.

I'm sorry.
 
FUNKNOWN iXi

FUNKNOWN iXi

Member
Nowise10 said:
Bungie hinted at rough development also with Halo 2. That game seemed depressing to make, seemed no one was really happy with it.
Click to expand...

The two best Halo games were an accident (Halo 1) and had a metric shit ton of problems both during and after development of the game (Halo 2).

Just give the fans what they want, refer to the checklists and produce the greatest Halo game ever..
Combat Evolved 2.
 
J

J10

Banned
Shadders said:
I know I shouldn't say this, especially not here when Frank might be watching, but I'd pony up for cosmetic junk in Halo. I'd have paid to have specialisations early, I'd have paid for double XP.

I'm sorry.
Click to expand...

Nah, speak up. We get the shitty incomplete games and artificial inconveniences we deserve.
 
C

CyReN

Member
Shadders said:
I know I shouldn't say this, especially not here when Frank might be watching, but I'd pony up for cosmetic junk in Halo. I'd have paid to have specialisations early, I'd have paid for double XP.

I'm sorry.
Click to expand...

I will pay $100 right now for in-game ranks.

and my Sol emblem back.
 
F

FyreWulff

Member
CyReN said:
I will pay $100 right now for in-game ranks.
Click to expand...

People generally only paid about 20$ for their 50s, you're wasting your money

edit: the CoD stuff is basically Bungie Pro and Gears of War's weapon skins. If it's a start of a trend, people have been asleep
 
G

Ghazi

Member
Madness said:
The audacity of hope... lol

Of course they will probably have microtransactions, it was just a matter of setting it up, which they've sort of done with Halo 4. I mean pre-ordering the game in Europe meant you get to unlock specializations early months in advance, specializations that DIRECTLY affect the game. So whereas you had to wait months getting donged on by guys who had stability, you could probably pay to get it as quick as possible in Halo 5.

I wouldn't be surprised if Halo 5 had certain stances, weapon skins, emblems and visors made for purchase.

Gears 3, Black Ops II, etc.

It's only a matter of time, when you're in the business of making money and profit, nothing sounds better than more money and profit.
Click to expand...

motherofgod.jpg all the possibilities they have right now. I can't even imagine the shit they could do with all that and new stuff in H5.
 
FUNKNOWN iXi

FUNKNOWN iXi

Member
Booties said:
Someone send that kid a grunt plushie so he stops making all this stupid stuff.
Click to expand...

heckfu said:
Speaking of grunt plushie, you wanna play Fifa?
Click to expand...

i-like-turtles.jpg
 
O

orznge

Banned
UNKNOWN iXi said:
The two best Halo games were an accident (Halo 1) and had a metric shit ton of problems both during and after development of the game (Halo 2).

Just give the fans what they want, refer to the checklists and produce the greatest Halo game ever..
Combat Evolved 2.
Click to expand...

.
 
T

thezerofire

Banned
this Jesse Snyder guy sounds like he has a serious chip on his shoulders. I can't say I'll be sad to see him gone.

Also someone brought up that 343 wanted consistent sandboxes over single player and multiplayer. I don't really understand why. CE had inconsistent sandboxes (namely the pistol) and that was great.
 
S

squidhands

Member
What kind of fucking sociopath DOESN'T like The Beach Boys? The only argument to be made should be whether mono or stereo is the way to listen to them.
 
B

bobs...onGaf

Member
Jesse's blog post honestly isn't that bad and it is pretty believable, I just find it annoying how through his blog he has a VERY high opinion on his work on CoD. He makes Halo seem like second fiddle to CoD however he worked on World of War and he was a campaign guy...

CoD is known for its multiplayer and CoD4 was known for being innovative. WaW was going to sell shitloads no matter what just from riding off the coat tails of Infinity Wards success.

Also the way he talks about ignoring people on the internet... the people on the internet are the hardcore fans, that said I dont think Jesse did a bad job so I cant say much really.
 
G

Garrett 2U

Member
bobs...onGaf said:
CoD is known for its multiplayer and CoD4 was known for being innovative. WaW was going to sell shitloads no matter what just from riding off the coat tails of Infinity Wards success.
Click to expand...

But wasn't he the lead designer on Zombies? Zombies, itself, was a hugely successful innovation for COD, and has been in every Treyarch COD since.
So I guess he does deserve some major creds for that.

Not saying that justifies his blog post though. But it is really interesting to hear behind the scenes stories. Want to hear more.
 
T

TheOddOne

Member
I AM FROM THE FUTURE. GUI HAS TURNED INTO A FRENCH ROBOT, ELZAR MARRIED ZAPP BRANNIGAN, HECKU MARRIED PAUL MCCARTNEY, AND SOMETHING HAPPEND TO PLYWOOD (DON'T ASK).
 
J

J10

Banned
thezerofire said:
this Jesse Snyder guy sounds like he has a serious chip on his shoulders. I can't say I'll be sad to see him gone.

Also someone brought up that 343 wanted consistent sandboxes over single player and multiplayer. I don't really understand why. CE had inconsistent sandboxes (namely the pistol) and that was great.
Click to expand...

Probably because players would expect weapons and shit to behave the same way across all modes.
 
H

HTupolev

Member
thezerofire said:
CE had inconsistent sandboxes (namely the pistol) and that was great.
Click to expand...
CE's pistol does basically the same amount of damage in campaign as in MP. It varies slightly depending on difficulty level, however, such that it takes 4 shots to penetrate shields rather than the usual 3 by the time you crank it up to legendary. On normal the pistol is basically the MP pistol.

It probably feels a lot weaker because the pistol isn't super effective against shields, and elites are very shield-heavy. It's also arguable that adjusting health and health type tables is pretty much the same thing as adjusting damage tables, which is why the whole discussion is sort of weird; as long as you have a variety of campaign enemies that aren't exactly the same as multiplayer players, you're effectively rebalancing *something,* regardless of where the balances are located.
 
S

Steelyuhas

Member
Just saw the Castle map pack stuff (on vaca in Arizona watching some Cactus League this week), and I know this has probably been beat to death, but I'm going to say it anyways: 16 playlists in the game, 14 of them use the "small" set of maps, and 2 of them use the "large" set of maps. So how does it make any sense that we get more large maps in the DLC?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Xbox announces that future Halo games will be developed on Unreal Engine 5
4 5 6 7 8
369
15K
King Dazzar replied
Halo Infinite Firefight Announced - December 5th
News 2
98
9K
twilo99 replied
[Digital Foundry] PlayStation 5 Pro Hands-On: 11 Games Tested, PSSR and RT Upgrades Revealed, Developers Interviewed!
News Analysis Hardware 8 9 10 11 12
585
40K
James Sawyer Ford replied
PlayStation Plus Monthly Games for December: It Takes Two, Aliens: Dark Descent, Temtem
News Platform
41
2K
nial replied
  • Locked
Jason Schreier: The Microsoft Studio Behind Halo Franchise 343 Is All But Starting From Scratch
Opinion Game Dev
6
2K
Thebonehead replied
Top Bottom