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Halo |OT15| Beta-tested, GAF approved

TheOddOne

Member
No1 curr.
Time to say goodbye.

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TU, as it stands currently, is pretty underwhelming. You don't waste resources nerfing the Gauss Hog you simply remove it from MM. And it only affects one map in total... that garish and semi-servicable UI is staring back at you after every game of Halo 4 you play.

The fact that the active camo AA has required title update intervention for two seperate games in a row now tells you what a fundamentally unworkable feature it is for MM. You can only make token nerfs to it otherwise it becomes completely useless as a starting ability, at which point you might as well make it an on map pickup - which it should have been all along. Huge, huge mistake in bringing that back as an AA.

Still no flag option settings being added? No juggling? No auto-pickup disable? No flagnum toggle? No waypoint option?

Still no waypoint markers for your teammates which are off-screen?

Still no descoping option?

Still no sniper headshot medal, perfection medal et al?

I'm still hoping for back end fixes like the flag getting stuck in geometry and the flagnum/boltshot jamming when shot rapidly.

The weapon adjuster sounds interesting and I'm looking forward to finding out what it's capable of. If it's simply a Reach style 'download this gametype off a 343 fileshare, it's got a four shot BR on it' type deal then it's middling. Hopefully we can see aim assist levels altered (I'm looking at you Beam Rifle and DMR!) and scope reduction - 3x to 2x for the DMR (unlikely, I know). And didn't Fyre say the flag is considered a weapon by the engine? Maybe they can alter its properties with this weapon adjuster to make it behave like a normal weapon - hold B to pick up and no waypoint would be possible with that.

Majestic maps coming to team throwdown is good news. Glad they're ditching the convoluted and unnecessary Deluxe settings. Very disappointed at Haven's Extraction removal though; some of the closest and most intense games I've had in Halo 4 have been on that map/gametype combo. So many opportunities for last ditch comebacks. Extraction on Adrift sounds awful but I'll wait to see how it plays.

Nice screnshot spotlight in the bulletin this week btw.
 
TU, as it stands currently, is pretty underwhelming. You don't waste resources nerfing the Gauss Hog you simply remove it from MM. And it only affects one map in total... that garish and semi-servicable UI is staring back at you after every game of Halo 4 you play.

The fact that the active camo AA has required title update intervention for two seperate games in a row now tells you what a fundamentally unworkable feature it is for MM. You can only make token nerfs to it otherwise it becomes completely useless as a starting ability, at which point you might as well make it an on map pickup - which it should have been all along. Huge, huge mistake in bringing that back as an AA.

Still no flag option settings being added? No juggling? No auto-pickup disable? No flagnum toggle? No waypoint option?

Still no waypoint markers for your teammates which are off-screen?

Still no descoping option?

Still no sniper headshot medal, perfection medal et al?

I'm still hoping for back end fixes like the flag getting stuck in geometry and the flagnum/boltshot jamming when shot rapidly.

The weapon adjuster sounds interesting and I'm looking forward to finding out what it's capable of. If it's simply a Reach style 'download this gametype off a 343 fileshare, it's got a four shot BR on it' type deal then it's middling. Hopefully we can see aim assist levels altered (I'm looking at you Beam Rifle and DMR!) and scope reduction - 3x to 2x for the DMR (unlikely, I know). And didn't Fyre say the flag is considered a weapon by the engine? Maybe they can alter its properties with this weapon adjuster to make it behave like a normal weapon - hold B to pick up and no waypoint would be possible with that.

Majestic maps coming to team throwdown is good news. Glad they're ditching the convoluted and unnecessary Deluxe settings. Very disappointed at Haven's Extraction removal though; some of the closest and most intense games I've had in Halo 4 have been on that map/gametype combo. So many opportunities for last ditch comebacks. Extraction on Adrift sounds awful but I'll wait to see how it plays.

Nice screnshot spotlight in the bulletin this week btw.

Ya im underwhelmed too. 2 of the things i was looking forward too, the Xs and more customization options, should have been there at launch! By the time this game is where they intended it to be, we'll be on next gen.
 

m23

Member
So I have now completed all tracks in both Trials HD and Evolution on platinum. Such great games.

Halo

Impossible for me, I get way to frustrated at those games on the tougher tracks. Great games though.

TU details are a bit underwhelming. Camo thing doesn't really seem like a nerf at all, doesn't really address the issue with it. Weapon balance on the fly is good news, but tbh I thought they could have done that already.

Red Xs back are a great thing though, can't wait to have it back. Although I wonder if the team mate shooting or getting shot at indicators are included.
 

Tashi

343i Lead Esports Producer
Gratz to our own Shifty Kiwi for being a finalist in the FFA contest. Opus is an awesome map.

Hold the pitchforks until after Friday on the TU stuff.
 

Havok

Member
I know I joke (is it?) about FIFA 13 being game of the year, but if Halo had the caliber of matchmaking this game did I would feel so much better about Halo 4.

I'm consistently getting competitive matches but at people with my same skill level - I hardly ever get matched with noobs and I hardly ever get matched with pros. It's really a wonderful system that provides competitive matches virtually 100% of the time.
I know almost nothing about FIFA, but it's 1v1, right? If so, that's probably a pretty big part of it. Starcraft 1v1s are really competitive once you're on the ladder because the game only has to find one other player who is super close to your MMR for you to have a good experience. Something like Halo, where it needs to find between four and fifteen more people to make a lobby is gonna have a lot of trouble doing so (in my experience Doubles is pretty decent about finding close games once you get enough games in for it to know how good you are, so that might be the lone exception).

Hold the pitchforks until after Friday on the TU stuff.
I agree. I'd be pretty surprised if they didn't already have a bunch of balance changes lined up that they want to save for the panel (which I still hope is going to be streamed, but word from bsangel is that they don't know yet). I hope it's significant. If they put in enough knobs for them to do a H2 1.1 style sweeping change then that's what I'd love to see.

That isn't to say that the list doesn't seem to be kinda short given the high expectations surrounding it, but I don't think we've heard quite everything in store yet. Who knows, maybe there's a descope toggle in there somewhere. Of course, even if they rebalance it all, they have a serious gametype problem on their hands that they need to be addressing.
 

Tawpgun

Member
I know almost nothing about FIFA, but it's 1v1, right? If so, that's probably a pretty big part of it. Starcraft 1v1s are really competitive once you're on the ladder because the game only has to find one other player who is super close to your MMR for you to have a good experience. Something like Halo, where it needs to find between four and fifteen more people to make a lobby is gonna have a lot of trouble doing so (in my experience Doubles is pretty decent about finding close games once you get enough games in for it to know how good you are, so that might be the lone exception).

I agree. I'd be pretty surprised if they didn't already have a bunch of balance changes lined up that they want to save for the panel (which I still hope is going to be streamed, but word from bsangel is that they don't know yet). I hope it's significant. If they put in enough knobs for them to do a H2 1.1 style sweeping change then that's what I'd love to see.

That isn't to say that the list doesn't seem to be kinda short given the high expectations surrounding it, but I don't think we've heard quite everything in store yet. Who knows, maybe there's a descope toggle in there somewhere.
I think 1 v 1 is the most popular but you can do multiple people. Not sure what the limit is locally off the top of my head, but online you can literally have a real player playing one position, so like 11 vs 11.
 

IHaveIce

Banned
SO bringing this up again.


I know this will be hard speculation and I'm reaching but what is if they show off their weapon modifier with a video where they show all weapons altered to Halo 2 settings or anything like this.

Because just a classic playlist won't work....


And before 343 does the same mistake again.. PLEASE do not have even more different settings in MM.. remove the old one.

Reach really suffered because in the end it had 4 different game settings - Vanilla, TU, MLG and Anniversary
 
This is the part that most dumbfounds me, directly from Bravo in the bulletin: "One thing to keep in mind is that even the tiniest of changes affects the sandbox as a whole, so these adjustments will be closely scrutinized and carefully tested before being released."

Earth to 343! You don't need to worry about weapon tweaks breaking your sandbox. It's an absolute train wreck as-is. Put away the scalpel and grab a hatchet already. You've got nothing to lose here.
More like a chainsaw, amirite?

Anyway, looking forward to hearing more about the TU. Had some extremely unfun games of CTF last night; Was about to score a flag when an enemy came racing up to me with a hammer and ended up preventing anyone from capturing it. We lost the match, too.

Fuck you, Infinity CTF. Seriously.
 

m23

Member
Anyone with Forza 4 interested in a code for a Dodge Challenger? Not exactly sure if it still works but worth a try.
 
Happy birthday, steely.


Also, everyone who's not watching Justified is missing out on some incredible television. Do yourselves a favor and watch it.
 

m23

Member
Happy birthday, steely.


Also, everyone who's not watching Justified is missing out on some incredible television. Do yourselves a favor and watch it.

Great show, I have yet to watch the new season though. As soon as I finish up with Oz I have to catch up on Justified and Spartacus.
 
Im a Gears fan and didn't bought the game after I learned about only 4 multiplayer maps, I even mentioned that here, and some poster made fun of me because of it. Looking at those number I guess Im not the only one that was upset about it.

Thats what happens when developers try to mess too much with a game original formula, i wonder how Judgement did on Sales, and if this could be a lesson for the next Halo title, as MS cant expect to only ride the game on name only.
This is their biggest problem right now as far as software goes, they rely and end up hurting a franchise doing this.

Forza Horizon (amazing game) already bomba'd, seems like Gears of War Judgment bomba'd, Halo 4 is a semi-bomba, yes it sold millions, but the damage MS and 343 did to the franchise is huge. The Halo fanbase is probably done with Halo now, so Halo 5 probably won't sell as much.

Microsoft needs to make some new IPs instead of relying on Gears, Halo, Fable, and Forza.

SaveUsDestiny?
 
Given that Halo 4 is Halo 2 + Halo Reach through and through, I'm expecting TU2 to be Halo 2 1.1 all over again, but stuck behind a paywall. Or a paymoat, if they stick to Castle.
 
Did I glaze over toggle sprint option or is that really not in the TU?

They can remove sprint via Megalo, which is how they can change weapon settings.


I highly doubt they will actually get rid of it. Why won't they just admit that sprint and loadouts do not belong in Halo? I'm tired of playing fiesta. I want predictability back in Halo.
 

Pop

Member
WOW look at that TU, it's everything we ever asked for.

343i
/CA/Virgin Gaming
knows how to deliver

barf...good god I wouldn't call that a TU. Thank god I didn't have high hopes of this fixing halo
 
Great show, I have yet to watch the new season though. As soon as I finish up with Oz I have to catch up on Justified and Spartacus.

Was so sad they removed it from Hulu after the second season. Ill have to catch up one day.
It's either coming soon to Amazon instant or is already there. I've been trying to get friends to watch this show, but they won't because it's not on Netflix. :-|


I hope some quality questions are asked at the PAX panel this weekend. The one that thehenery brought up a few days ago is a must.

You leave sprint alone. You can take out loadouts, AAs, and global ordinance, but I refuse to walk around maps again dammit.
It will never go away, but I would love to see it gone like all the other AA's. Nothing more frustrating than putting shots on a guy only to have him sprint around a corner.
 
You leave sprint alone. You can take out loadouts, AAs, and global ordinance, but I refuse to walk around maps again dammit.

I'd be happy if they have us Quake 3 levels of movement speed, but somehow managed to keep track of the right stick sensitivity so that genuinely "walking" gives you a Halo 3-style animation while running into battle or whatever gives you a Sprint animation (but without lowering your weapon to become unusable).

I just realized that ODST, Reach, and 4's gameplay had been coddling to the lower players... but games where you play as Spartan IIs don't have as significant changes. Hmmmmm.
 
And the thing is, if they're going to dedicate so many resources to BTB maps then they have to make some key, brave changes in order for BTB to become playable for the average Halo player again.

If they can't reduce the scope to 2x then the DMR has to become a map pick up only and players spawn with the BR.

If they have to keep infinity then the personal ordnance has to be dilited so it's only SAW's, sticky dets, scatter shots and needlers that are available; rocket and sniper based weapons are on map pick ups only, on 3 minute timers.

And the Plasma Pistol has to be banned from loadouts for BTB to become playable again for the average Halo player. Plasma Pistol on spawn is quite possibly one of the most numbskulled, brain dead, utterly idiotic decisions in the history of the franchise. People called it out on the internet the second it was announced. It didn't make sense on paper and it doesn't make sense in practise.

Why would anybody use rock (a vehicle) when everybody already has paper (Plasma Pistol)?
 
And the thing is, if they're going to dedicate so many resources to BTB maps then they have to make some key, brave changes in order for BTB to become playable for the average Halo player again.

If they can't reduce the scope to 2x then the DMR has to become a map pick up only and players spawn with the BR.

If they have to keep infinity then the personal ordnance has to be dilited so it's only SAW's, sticky dets, scatter shots and needlers that are available; rocket and sniper based weapons are on map pick ups only, on 3 minute timers.

And the Plasma Pistol has to be banned from loadouts for BTB to become playable again for the average Halo player. Plasma Pistol on spawn is quite possibly one of the most numbskulled, brain dead, utterly idiotic decisions in the history of the franchise. People called it out on the internet the second it was announced. It didn't make sense on paper and it doesn't make sense in practise.

Why would anybody use rock (a vehicle) when everybody already has paper (Plasma Pistol)?

I love you Louis.
 
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