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Halo |OT15| Beta-tested, GAF approved

JHall

Member
The frustrating thing is that all these designers try so hard to force teamwork or force variety or force fairness. If they just opened up the skill-gap, variety and strategy will exponentially increase organically and dynamically. It's like an overbearing government medling in an economy; the economy will fix itself if you open it up and let it work.

You're absolutely right. Teamwork and strategy should be encouraged, not forced down your throat.
 

matthieuC

Member
Right, Giveaway time.

Gears of War 1 Games on Demand

How to "Win"
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  • Post why you should have it (pictures help but are not needed)
  • If you have not played GoW then you stand a higher chance of getting the code
  • Get chosen by me

If your a thread regular you are more likely to get it but its not a compulsory

Ill post this message once more and 24 hours from now the winner will be chosen
Well I've never played Gears of War, but I've always been interested. I'd really love the chance to play supposedly the best game of the series.

Thanks for the consideration bro.
 
I'm not a engineer by any stretch, but allowing custom terrain deformation is a pretty big technical hurdle in our engine. Some engines obviously are built around such things.

However, there are some new forge pieces (not hills per se, but natural stuff) that weren't shown in the demo from the panel. I assume you'll be hearing more about those in the coming weeks.

Good, I'm guessing something along the lines of Ridgeline's tree and some new big rocky formations hopefully.

Maybe even some 2D bushes to add some scenification, we'll see...
 
The frustrating thing is that all these designers try so hard to force teamwork or force variety or force fairness. If they just opened up the skill-gap, variety and strategy will exponentially increase organically and dynamically. It's like an overbearing government medling in an economy; the economy will fix itself if you open it up and let it work.
slow base movement, slow strafing, long kill times, and high aim assist/magnetism are all concrete facets of Halo's design and I sincerely doubt that anyone employed by Microsoft/343 thinks that those characteristics are not inherently good

basically the only way there's ever going to be another good arena FPS that's similar to CE is if myself and a handful of others from here make it (or make a mod for Halo 3 PC)

image.php
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Gears 2 was the worst of the series. It was so slow and dumbed down it was just embarrassing.

A smoke grenade that knocks you down for 10 seconds! What an awful addition.

How about getting hit with a Smoke at the top of the Blood Drive staircases? LOL you'd literally just tumble all the way down..
 

JHall

Member
I thought the engine they built for Halo 4 was developed with next-gen expansion in mind?
(i could be wrong)

It will likely be the same game engine, just tweaked to take advantage of the extra processing power.

hopefully they have the engine use that extra power for improved performance (splitscreen), not graphics updates

They have been using the same engine since Halo CE. They need to build a new one for next gen.
 

Karl2177

Member
Seriously? That's fucked up:

http://www.theomegaorder.com/HALO-4-Original-Soundtrack-Limited-Numbered-Special-Edition-Boxset

I hope it means people who ordered the LE of the OST will get vol 2 for free, too. If not, I am going to be pissed. That's some shady business...

So here's the official press release.
Album: ‘Halo 4 Original Soundtrack Volume 2’
Release: April 8th 2013
Label: 7Hz Productions Ltd / Microsoft / 343

Following the huge critical and commercial success of the record-breaking 2012 release ‘Halo 4 Original Soundtrack’ by the award-winning producer and composer Neil Davidge, Microsoft, 7Hz Productions and 343 Industries are pleased to announce the release of ‘Halo 4 Original Soundtrack Volume 2’, available on April 8th 2013.

‘Halo 4 Original Soundtrack Volume 2’ features more stunning, expansive orchestral- electronic opuses which comprise a 20-track digital release, containing all the key themes from the game that we weren’t able to include on the first volume.

11 of the tracks are composed and produced by Neil Davidge with a further 8 by 343 in-house composer Kazuma Jinnouchi. The soundtrack also includes Kazuma’s new interpretation of Martin O’Donnell and Michael Salvatori’s iconic “Never Forget” from Halo 3. The tracks on Halo 4 Original Soundtrack Volume 2 are presented in chronological order as they appear in the game, to help bring the listener right into the heart of the Halo 4 experience.

Halo 4 Soundtrack Volume 2: £9.99
http://halo4soundtrack.spinshop.com/Home/details/191260

Halo 4 Limited Edition Box set & Digital Volume 2: £35.99
http://halo4soundtrack.spinshop.com/Home/details/190610


Halo 4 Soundtrack Volume 2 Tracklisting

1. Atonement (3:16)
Composed by Kazuma Jinnouchi
2. Gravity (2:09)
Composed by Kazuma Jinnouchi
3. Wreckage (3:24)
Composed by Kazuma Jinnouchi
4. Aliens (5:31)
Composed and Produced by Neil Davidge
5. Kantele Bow (4:04)
Composed and Produced by Neil Davidge
6. Pylons (5:39)
Composed and Produced by Neil Davidge
7. Escape (3:57)
Composed and Produced by Neil Davidge
8. Swamp (2:49)
Composed and Produced by Neil Davidge
9. Push Through (4:44)
Composed and Produced by Neil Davidge
10. Convoy (4:44)
Composed and Produced by Neil Davidge
11. To Galaxy (Extended) (7:04)
Composed and Produced by Neil Davidge
12. Lasky’s Theme (3:55)
Composed by Kazuma Jinnouchi
13. Foreshadow (3:34)
Composed and Produced by Neil Davidge
14. Cloud City (4:35)
Composed and Produced by Neil Davidge
15. This Armour (4:47)
Composed and Produced by Neil Davidge
16. Intruders (3:39)
Composed by Kazuma Jinnouchi
17. Mantis (4:02)
Composed by Kazuma Jinnouchi
18. Sacrifice (3:02)
Composed by Kazuma Jinnouchi
19. Never Forget (Midnight Version) (4:37)
Composed by Martin O Donnell and Michael Salvatori
20. Majestic (2:12)
Composed by Kazuma Jinnouchi


About Halo
The Halo franchise is an award-winning collection of properties that has grown into a global entertainment phenomenon. Beginning with the original Halo: Combat Evolved (2001), the critically acclaimed and record-shattering series of games has since inspired multiple New York Times bestselling novels, comic books, action figures, apparel and more.

Published by Microsoft Studios, the Halo franchise of games is exclusive to the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system and the Xbox LIVE online entertainment network. To date, more than 50 million copies of ‘Halo’ games have been sold worldwide, driving more than 5 billion hours of gameplay by people connected to Xbox LIVE.

About 343 Industries
343 Industries is the publisher and developer of the blockbuster Halo series of videogames and, as part of Microsoft Studios, oversees the Halo franchise, including novels, comics, licensed collectibles, apparel and more. 343 Industries is home to world-class developers working on the Reclaimer Saga, which launched with the arrival of Halo 4 on Nov. 6, 2012, exclusively on Xbox 360.


For all UK media enquiries contact Duncan Clark and Rhianon Davies at 9PR
duncan@9pr.co.uk / rhianon@9pr.co.uk / 0207 833 9303

www.halo4soundtrack.com

It really sounds like we(those who ordered the original LE) would have to order a CD/download version. While the people who order the LE now (at a cheaper rate) get it included. :/
 

Duji

Member
slow base movement, slow strafing, long kill times, and high aim assist/magnetism are all concrete facets of Halo's design and I sincerely doubt that anyone employed by Microsoft/343 thinks that those characteristics are not inherently good

basically the only way there's ever going to be another good arena FPS that's similar to CE is if myself and a handful of others from here make it (or make a mod for Halo 3 PC)
step 1. remove BR spread
step 2. increase movement speed and acceleration
step 3. Make BR 3sk
profit.

You're absolutely right. Teamwork and strategy should be encouraged, not forced down your throat.
BUT MORE TEAMSHOT = MORE TEAMWORK = BETTER GAME. How dare you?
 

Trey

Member
The frustrating thing is that all these designers try so hard to force teamwork or force variety or force fairness. If they just opened up the skill-gap, variety and strategy will exponentially increase organically and dynamically. It's like an overbearing government medling in an economy; the economy will fix itself if you open it up and let it work.

I was with you until your free market analogy.
 

Duji

Member
Might as well just have "always on" damage boost lol

Fast kill times scare the hell out a lot of people here. Most of those people are under the false impression that fast kill times automatically = who-sees-who-first. If only they knew that it can make the game have less of an emphasis on first shot when done right. Those people probably have never played a fast-paced arena shooter before.
 
I think some of this concept art may be 'new':


A lot more here: http://conceptartworld.com/?p=20803


I'm not a engineer by any stretch, but allowing custom terrain deformation is a pretty big technical hurdle in our engine. Some engines obviously are built around such things.

However, there are some new forge pieces (not hills per se, but natural stuff) that weren't shown in the demo from the panel. I assume you'll be hearing more about those in the coming weeks.

In the future, I would love to see numerous natural pieces that are connectable and stack-able so we can create hills, cliffs, etc. Strangely, the vertical cliffs in Exile look like they would work really well for this if they were made smaller.

What I really want to see from Forge in the future is Color/Palette/Texture swaps being possible.
 

orznge

Banned
Fast kill times scare the hell out a lot of people here. Most of those people are under the false impression that fast kill times automatically = who-sees-who-first. If only they knew that it can make the game have less of an emphasis on first shot when done right. Those people probably have never played a fast-paced arena shooter before.

they played it, it was called Halo CE and they constantly 3-shotted people across Blood Gulch all day and so they realized that basically Halo CE was for mountain dew chugging ADD-addled neanderthals
 

Duji

Member
they played it, it was called Halo CE and they constantly 3-shotted people across Blood Gulch all day and so they realized that basically Halo CE was for mountain dew chugging ADD-addled neanderthals

Yep. That game was who-sees-who-first just like CoD. Fast kill times = CoD. Long kill times = real skill = post CE Halo.
 

Rev3rb

Member
Fast kill times scare the hell out a lot of people here. Most of those people are under the false impression that fast kill times automatically = who-sees-who-first. If only they knew that it can make the game have less of an emphasis on first shot when done right. Those people probably have never played a fast-paced arena shooter before.

I'd be cool with 4sk, but 3sk seems like it would be crazy...

It would be fun to test it out if we could.
 

Computron

Member
Right, Giveaway time.

Gears of War 1 Games on Demand

How to "Win"
  • Quote this post

K

  • Post why you should have it (pictures help but are not needed)

ikMZHWXOx5Uuc.png
i562kmBPObfDz.gif
...

...also, I liked Gears 3 a lot and I've been playing the judgement demo a ton lately,
but not sure I should get it until they get more maps and maybe lower the price.

  • If you have not played GoW then you stand a higher chance of getting the code
  • Get chosen by me

If your a thread regular you are more likely to get it but its not a compulsory

Ill post this message once more and 24 hours from now the winner will be chosen

Only ever played the PC version's campaign co-op years ago at a friends house.

Is there still a population for the xbox multiplayer? Is it laggy?

I would definitely like to play some of it since by all accounts I seem to have missed some seminal moment in gaming by not playing Gears 1 multi.
 

Duji

Member
I'd be cool with 4sk, but 3sk seems like it would be crazy...

It would be fun to test it out if we could.

It would only be crazy if we bumped it up to 3sk without increasing the movement speed. And yea, it would be cool to test out, lol. What are the odds of H3 coming to PC anyway? Sorry, I haven't been paying much attention to that.
 
step 1. remove BR spread
step 2. increase movement speed and acceleration
step 3. Make BR 3sk
profit.

First let me say that I like this because you create a more consistent BR that takes more skill to use because of the increased movement speed and acceleration. That 3sk may look scary, but in reality that's a consistent 4-6sk from your above average player. Then..

step 4. Lower auto aim/magnetism on DMR
step 5. Remove bloom
step 6. Make DMR 4sk
profit.

The same applies here with the DMR. Also, I wonder how the DMR would feel online if you had to lead your shots like the H1 Pistol.. Would be interesting to try out if steps 4-6 were actual changes. Saving Halo, little pieces at a time.
 

Trey

Member
Then you should read up.

There are objective differences between competitive game design and economic influence from the government. Also, far too much political ideology for me to engage in depth in a Halo thread.

While I do not overtly object to your assertion that movement speed should increase as aim assist decreases (I do agree that movement speed should increase), I find that my preferences would be more focused on the melee system and weapons sandbox.

I'm not convinced that all they have to do is make another CE, however.
 

Duji

Member
First let me say that I like this because you create a more consistent BR that takes more skill to use because of the increased movement speed and acceleration. That 3sk may look scary, but in reality that's a consistent 4-6sk from your above average player. Then..

step 4. Lower auto aim/magnetism on DMR
step 5. Remove bloom
step 6. Make DMR 4sk
profit.

The same applies here with the DMR. Also, I wonder how the DMR would feel online if you had to lead your shots like the H1 Pistol.. Would be interesting to try out if steps 4-6 were actual changes. Saving Halo, little pieces at a time.

Well, step 4 is unnecessary since multiplayer PC FPS games usually don't have auto aim to begin with. But yea, I would prefer a single shot weapon over a burst when it comes to Halo (due to how the shield/headshot mechanic works).
 

BigShow36

Member
There are objective differences between competitive game design and economic influence from the government.

True, but the comparison of over-meddling obstructing the natural growth of a system is warranted. I agree though, that this is not the place to get into that side of things. In other words, create a framework that facilitates the system but doesn’t attempt to replace the system. The system in this case being two competing sides
placed in an arena using their unique, individual skills to complete an objective.

While I do not overtly object to your assertion that movement speed should increase as aim assist decreases (I do agree that movement speed should increase), I find that my preferences would be more focused on the melee system and weapons sandbox.

I'm not convinced that all they have to do is make another CE, however.

I'm not asking for another CE. They can keep all their new bells and whistles, and I think they would actually work much better if we increased the player speed, strafe and potential kill times. A larger skill-gap in the foundation of the gameplay would enhance the other aspects as well.
 

Rev3rb

Member
It would only be crazy if we bumped it up to 3sk without increasing the movement speed. And yea, it would be cool to test out, lol. What are the odds of H3 coming to PC anyway? Sorry, I haven't been paying much attention to that.

Are there options in custom games to increase movement speed and maybe apply a constant stream of damage boost to all players?

I'd like to try a few customs of only BRs with this if it's possible.
 

BigShow36

Member
Are there options in custom games to increase movement speed and maybe apply a constant stream of damage boost to all players?

I'd like to try a few customs of only BRs with this if it's possible.

It wont work simply because the strafe is too slow for that kind of power. It will be way too easy to land 3 shot kills and it will destroy the weapon sandbox (I hit kill sniper body shots, nuke nades, etc). We've tried a lot of different combinations of custom options over the past 5 years trying to get a faster base movement speed that, at the very least, doesn't make the strafe even worse. It doesn't work. I've been begging for an option to increase player acceleration as well as movement speed so we can have a good strafe but, like every other request, it's to no avail.
 
Are there options in custom games to increase movement speed and maybe apply a constant stream of damage boost to all players?

I'd like to try a few customs of only BRs with this if it's possible.

That's called upping player damage, dude. :p

High kill times are balanced as long as movement speeds are equally high.
 

Rev3rb

Member
It wont work simply because the strafe is too slow for that kind of power. It will be way too easy to land 3 shot kills and it will destroy the weapon sandbox (I hit kill sniper body shots, nuke nades, etc). We've tried a lot of different combinations of custom options over the past 5 years trying to get a faster base movement speed that, at the very least, doesn't make the strafe even worse. It doesn't work. I've been begging for an option to increase player acceleration as well as movement speed so we can have a good strafe but, like every other request, it's to no avail.

Unlimited thruster pack.

i guess i'm not surprised...

That's called upping player damage, dude. :p

I haven't messed with the custom game options in H4.
Wasn't sure if that was an option that got cut from the previous games.
 

Duji

Member
Are there options in custom games to increase movement speed and maybe apply a constant stream of damage boost to all players?

I'd like to try a few customs of only BRs with this if it's possible.

Yeah, there's the damage multiplier option and we do have speed options. The problem is that we don't have movement acceleration and auto-aim options, though. Without those, I don't see how it's possible to make a 3sk BRs only gametype work well in H3/H4.

I guess the first thing to do is set the damage multiplier to a 3sk BR. Second thing would be to increase the movement speed until a 5-shot becomes the most common kill time. The problem in Halo when you increase the speed is that you get an insane amount of inertia and it makes it feel like you're on ice. Movement becomes super frustrating.

An auto-aim option would be great because we could turn that down by a ton so we don't have to resort to increasing the movement speed and consequently having super slippery movement. In summary we need more options if we want fast kill time Halo to be fun. Either an auto aim option OR a movement acceleration/inertia option would suffice. Having both would be perfect.
 

BigShow36

Member
I swear Bungie and 343 tried very, very hard to make sure all the custom options wouldn't allow players to increase damage or player speed in a realistic manner. I don't know how else they managed to prevent it despite a myriad of seemingly useful options if not by design.

Strafing is momentum based, so increasing movement speed creates an even slower strafe and ice-skating.

Increasing weapon damage to get a faster killing utility weapon ruins all the other weapons in the sandbox.

You can't control player shields independently from their health (this would allow you to "unbreak" the sandbox by increasing player health and encourage headshots).

Seriously, all we need (and I've been asking for these options since Halo 3) is 1) a player acceleration slider and 2) a health slider independet of the shield strength. Sure, there are other options that would be fantastic (an aim assist slider, for example), but those two are the big ones.

You give us those two options and we can fix a lot of our complaints with the game. Instead we get the option to have a flaming helmet when a player with 25 kills enters a certain area of the map.
 
So here's the official press release.


It really sounds like we(those who ordered the original LE) would have to order a CD/download version. While the people who order the LE now (at a cheaper rate) get it included. :/
I hope 343i will clarify it. Does 343i have anything to do with the OST?

It would be the biggest bullshit if I didn't get the second vol for free. Hell I paid about 30 bucks more than the price now and I have to buy the second vol? WTF. Bullshit.
 
I swear Bungie and 343 tried very, very hard to make sure all the custom options wouldn't allow players to increase damage or player speed in a realistic manner. I don't know how else they managed to prevent it despite a myriad of seemingly useful options if not by design.

Strafing is momentum based, so increasing movement speed creates an even slower strafe and ice-skating.

Increasing weapon damage to get a faster killing utility weapon ruins all the other weapons in the sandbox.

You can't control player shields independently from their health (this would allow you to "unbreak" the sandbox by increasing player health and encourage headshots).

Seriously, all we need (and I've been asking for these options since Halo 3) is 1) a player acceleration slider and 2) a health slider independet of the shield strength. Sure, there are other options that would be fantastic (an aim assist slider, for example), but those two are the big ones.

You give us those two options and we can fix a lot of our complaints with the game. Instead we get the option to have a flaming helmet when a player with 25 kills enters a certain area of the map.

Discs will be 50 GB instead of 2 GB next gen and Frankie's not so subtly suggested we may have community control over individual weapons in the future so you may be in luck.

Real talk though: would people be okay if all the AAs and Sprint got scrapped, but everyone spawned with Thruster, used it in first-person, and could shoot during its use to compensate? It'd still have its current stats and charge times.
 

Duji

Member
I swear Bungie and 343 tried very, very hard to make sure all the custom options wouldn't allow players to increase damage or player speed in a realistic manner. I don't know how else they managed to prevent it despite a myriad of seemingly useful options if not by design.

Strafing is momentum based, so increasing movement speed creates an even slower strafe and ice-skating.

Increasing weapon damage to get a faster killing utility weapon ruins all the other weapons in the sandbox.

You can't control player shields independently from their health (this would allow you to "unbreak" the sandbox by increasing player health and encourage headshots).

Seriously, all we need (and I've been asking for these options since Halo 3) is 1) a player acceleration slider and 2) a health slider independet of the shield strength. Sure, there are other options that would be fantastic (an aim assist slider, for example), but those two are the big ones.

You give us those two options and we can fix a lot of our complaints with the game. Instead we get the option to have a flaming helmet when a player with 25 kills enters a certain area of the map.
It is the #1 thing that bothers me the most about the past Halo games. And I think my top two would be an auto-aim slider and a movement acceleration slider. I'd rather have aim assist options instead of health ones. The health option is a great idea, btw.
 

m23

Member
Gears 1 campaign was best campaign. Can't count how many times I've replayed it. A friend and I played through campaign split screen in one day, good times. I remember seeing that game for the first time on my TV, it was definitely the first real next gen game for me.

They need to bring back the survival horror aspect back.
 

Trey

Member
That's called upping player damage, dude. :p

High kill times are balanced as long as movement speeds are equally high.

Not quite that simple. There's a fine line both ways. For example, I wouldn't find everyone flying around under golden gun rules particularly interesting.
 
Real talk though: would people be okay if all the AAs and Sprint got scrapped, but everyone spawned with Thruster, used it in first-person, and could shoot during its use to compensate? It'd still have its current stats and charge times.
I had a post about this earlier in the thread after watching a stream of Binary Slayer that Reverb was playing, but I'd like this as well as having no cooldown. I want Spartans to be Mega Man X. Dashin' all day erryday.
 

BigShow36

Member
It is the #1 thing that bothers me the most about the past Halo games. And I think my top two would be an auto-aim slider and a movement acceleration slider. I'd rather have aim assist options instead of health ones. The health option is a great idea, btw.

Ideally we'd get all three, but I just don't ever see 343 giving players control of the aim assists. If we can control the player acceleration, we can at least mitigate some of the overbearing aim assists with a faster strafe.

The beauty of the health slider is that you can basically get the utility weapons to whatever you want them to be without breaking everything else in the sandbox. Since a headshot kills in one hit to an unshielded opponent with precision weapons, you can bump up the health to not only control how many shots to kill it takes, but also to reward headshots even more.

I think they actually had a player health option in Halo CE and Halo 2 (I don't recall though, I may be mistaken), but then they inexplicably removed it.
 
K

kittens

Unconfirmed Member
Please, never put a map made on Erosion in matchmaking ever again.
 

willow ve

Member
Real talk though: would people be okay if all the AAs and Sprint got scrapped, but everyone spawned with Thruster, used it in first-person, and could shoot during its use to compensate? It'd still have its current stats and charge times.

Nah. Kill thruster too. If anything should stay it should be sprint. Just shorten the time lag between sprinting animation and firing animation. Make it basically instantaneous.
 
Gears 1 campaign was best campaign. Can't count how many times I've replayed it. A friend and I played through campaign split screen in one day, good times. I remember seeing that game for the first time on my TV, it was definitely the first real next gen game for me.

They need to bring back the survival horror aspect back.
Yeah after playing through Gears 1 with a friend all I could think was "wow more games need to do this." A lot have since then, but few have captured the true feeling of coop that Gears brought.
 
So whats new in matchmaking today? I did try and check on Waypoint, but that site is terrible and doesnt seem to have an easy way to find last weeks bulletin.
 
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