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Halo |OT6| I will not allow you to leave this thread!

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Nutduster

Neo Member
Dare I say, I'm actually kind of enthused about the hardlight shield. It seems like what armor lock should have been to begin with - not a get-out-of-jail-free card, but a way to play a little defense that can still be countered by smart offense.
 
Anyone ever make Spherical Planet Panoramas in Reach?

Like, for example this Skyrim one:



I imagine it might be difficult to stitch with Reach's HDR system automatically controlling the exposure.
I'm probably going to have to do a lot of editing in curves...


This one is cool too:

Its funny you posted this, because I was just thinking how a small round 'planet' about the size of forgeworld but completely flat and round like a small moon (think SMG) would make an interesting forgemap. Then I realized while that would make for interesting scenarios it would make too many maps play weird and is more of a novelty thing that would be cool for only a little bit.

But I do think a moon themed map, flat sandy/dirt with small craters in the shape of an very large circle would make the basis of a good forge map. Just give large natural structural pieces like mountains, stones, hills and cliffs to help shape the map and possibly Human themed pieces. I know the colors have to remain more simplistic, so the grey/brown moon look would work, with maybe a very beautiful space filled skybox casting blue and orange lights on the playing field with certain notable standout directional points. Possibly give the forge pieces a human look, but make them have a range of white to green, with different custom lighting options and other natural things like trees or is possible 'water' to put in craters. Kinda like sandbox, but on a moon theme and a tonnnnn bigger with all the new options and then some.

This may be disjointed sounding, so too my defense Im on pain meds right now =P



"We are releasing a number of new modes, but there will be no Invasion." - Josh Holmes Twitter

Nooooooooooo. Sad face...

I guess I'm the only one who liked Invasion. :(

I had a lot of fun with friends in that.

Damn, I was really hoping there would be an evolution of Invasion.. That gametype could have been so much better, but I really think it is a loss. Halo needs more progressive and unique gametypes IMO.. Bring invasion + BF3 gametypes together and I bet the results would be really nice. I hope they have something as unique as Invasion.
 

senador

Banned
You would. hahaha

But really, I don't see what 343 is doing with this lobby.
Halo 2:
959261-270952608_large.jpg

Halo 3:
1180503848.jpg

ODST:
lobby.jpg

Halo: Reach
Halo-Reach----Personalize-Your-Game-Lobby-Nameplates.jpg


And now this?
B2RPu.png


Halo 2 pioneered a great console party/lobby system and now you are going to completely change one of the most iconic UIs ever?

This style UI has been copied many times simply because it works.
Modern Warfare:
0.jpg

Gears of War:
7343d1315649597-gears-war-3-discussion-leaks-pre-orders-menu.jpg



This new UI looks like waypoint, which is not a good thing.

Also, sorry for all of different sizes and variations in quality of the images. They were the best I could find quickly.

Pretty sure Dave Candland did all the Halo UIs. He is a UI god. I'm glad Bungie still has him for Destiny, 343 could really use a lesson or 10 from him. I hope that UI is not final, that's some pretty bad usability. Actions you do over and over like view party and change setting will be quite cumbersome and annoying. Fix for simplicity please.
 
And Certain Affinity did it right? If so, that's certainly a happy medium. Extended Forge features without draining resources(tm) from 343.

If 343 has more resources, the campaign is better going to be longer than 8 hours. They're working at campaign, spartan ops, multiplayer and theatre for this game where Bungie was doing a pretty big forge overhaul at the same time. I hope they'll spend their extra time wisely.
 
Better not see a dozen Forge maps per playlist in Halo 4 then. It's not a map maker, don't treat it like one.

This, please. A part of me wants Forge to be worse just so I'm not subjected to the same environments over and over and over again.

I'm hopeful that the different forge environments will be vastly different from each other in the way that Sandbox, Foundry, and Forge World have all been.
 

GhaleonEB

Member
FIs this the case? From what I've seen they only snap together easily, didn't see anything about being able to actually move objects as a group.

I may have misread, in my dead tired state. Looks like I read what I wanted to read. :\

Is there a round up of today's news around? I was on the road all day and just got online a bit ago.
David Candland is my hero. Guy's a stud.

Yup. Bungie's UI is top class, his work is incredible. He keeps raising the bar.
 

Nutduster

Neo Member
Better not see a dozen Forge maps per playlist in Halo 4 then. It's not a map maker, don't treat it like one.

Like I said before, if they fix the framerate nightmare, Reach forge would already be a halfway reasonable map-maker. You could make some pretty complicated and aesthetically attractive maps. Not Far Cry-style stuff, not as good as the maps on the disc, but worthy of being in matchmaking and visually memorable. Framerate tied our hands behind our backs though.

So that's my #1 priority for them to fix in 4. I understand why they didn't bring it up in that demo, because out of that crowd I doubt most of them know or care. Nonetheless it's the main thing I need to know. Literally every other new feature is secondary to that. All the palettes they can squeeze on a disc won't mean shit if the framerate problems are back.
 

Ryaaan14

Banned
The Halo 4 lobby UI wouldn't bother me if it wasn't a Halo game, I guess. This is about as close as I can get to acceptance right now. Seriously depressing seeing that timeline of lobbies. -_-
 

CyReN

Member
What happened to MLG? I'm leading my team every time and I haven't been playing Halo consistently for months now.

There are a lot of newer or non-mlg players in the playlist now with the Jackpot, along with lack of a ranking system it can make more experienced players not have the appropriate competition they desire.

edit: beat 5 times.
 

senador

Banned
Like I said before, if they fix the framerate nightmare, Reach forge would already be a halfway reasonable map-maker. You could make some pretty complicated and aesthetically attractive maps. Not Far Cry-style stuff, not as good as the maps on the disc, but worthy of being in matchmaking and visually memorable. Framerate tied our hands behind our backs though.

So that's my #1 priority for them to fix in 4. I understand why they didn't bring it up in that demo, because out of that crowd I doubt most of them know or care. Nonetheless it's the main thing I need to know. Literally every other new feature is secondary to that. All the palettes they can squeeze on a disc won't mean shit if the framerate problems are back.

I don't agree, but who cares. In terms of knowing if it has framerate issues or not, I doubt you'll know til launch.
 

zap

Member
Just watched the forge video... I'm a big fan of highlighting what is selected. But you guys weren't kidding when you said it was the same forge pieces. :(

I hope the dynamic lighting will make enough difference so maps don't all look the same. It's pretty impressive and goes a long way to making forged maps fit in with the environment.

Also noticed return to the battlefield is back...
 

kylej

Banned
I forget who said the UI is designed for tablets, but you nailed it. Looks like it's ready for that weird Smart Glass gimmick.
 

Nutduster

Neo Member
I don't agree, but who cares. In terms of knowing if it has framerate issues or not, I doubt you'll know til launch.

I'm quite sure you're right unless 343 lets somebody who knows their shit get hands-on with forge and report back to us. Most Halo players don't forge, and out of those who do, most of them don't understand the scope of the framerate problem if they even realize it exists at all. 343 has zero incentive to talk about this stuff to the general fanbase - it doesn't sell games.
 

zap

Member
I forget who said the UI is designed for tablets, but you nailed it. Looks like it's ready for that weird Smart Glass gimmick.

MS wants all its products to look like Win 8... Including its games it seems.

But the thing is, those buttons would be too big for even a tablet, given what information they convey (next to none).
 

Tashi

343i Lead Esports Producer
Zune PC Software >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Zune HD UI>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Zune >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
 

senador

Banned
I forget who said the UI is designed for tablets, but you nailed it. Looks like it's ready for that weird Smart Glass gimmick.

Wow yeah. Looks totally touch based. I can just imagine flipping through the player in lobby with my finger. Not going to be good for far away TV and joystick though.

It's super weird to see the main action (start game) in the mid upper right. It's like the designer of this part of the UI is a designer, but not for UI. They aren't the same.
 
Just watched the forge video... I'm a big fan of highlighting what is selected. But you guys weren't kidding when you said it was the same forge pieces. :(

I hope the dynamic lighting will make enough difference so maps don't all look the same. It's pretty impressive and goes a long way to making forged maps fit in with the environment.

Also noticed return to the battlefield is back...

I can't help but feel they should have shown a Halo 4 forge trailer first to show off all the cool stuff in a better light before the live demo, so we had a better idea of things. I really kept expecting them to show something phenomenal and it never came. The new features looked really nice, but what they showed wasn't anything too special, still I expect there to be really cool things to come from it.


Anyways, 10 MP maps + 3 forge environments? So are those 3 separate maps or 3 variations of the same..and..are they on the disc?
 
K

kittens

Unconfirmed Member
If you shoot out a grenade using the Sticky Detonator, will switching to your other weapon make the grenade explode? That would be kind of awesome if you switch without detonating, but that might be too over powered.
 
Dare I say, I'm actually kind of enthused about the hardlight shield. It seems like what armor lock should have been to begin with - not a get-out-of-jail-free card, but a way to play a little defense that can still be countered by smart offense.

While I agree with most everything you're saying, my big problem with Armor Lock is that it suddenly slows or stops the game. If you don't have nades or aren't in melee range in Halo 4, the engadgement is over and you either run off or wait. It's definitely not game breaking like Armor lock, but some of the worst encounter traits make a return.
 

senador

Banned
I'm quite sure you're right unless 343 lets somebody who knows their shit get hands-on with forge and report back to us. Most Halo players don't forge, and out of those who do, most of them don't understand the scope of the framerate problem if they even realize it exists at all. 343 has zero incentive to talk about this stuff to the general fanbase - it doesn't sell games.

Yup, and if it does have issues, 343 won't want to say or may not even know. Remember launch of Reach with Brian Jarrard denying issues? I think even Urk said he didn't notice any.

I can't help but feel they should have shown a Halo 4 forge trailer first to show off all the cool stuff in a better light before the live demo, so we had a better idea of things. I really kept expecting them to show something phenomenal and it never came. The new features looked really nice, but what they showed wasn't anything too special, still I expect there to be really cool things to come from it.


Anyways, 10 MP maps + 3 forge environments? So are those 3 separate maps or 3 variations of the same..and..are they on the disc?

Agreed. It looked more tech demo than reveal. It may have been perfect for a little convention room, but the whole world is watching.
 

Nutduster

Neo Member
While I agree with most everything you're saying, my big problem with Armor Lock is that it suddenly slows or stops the game. If you don't have nades or aren't in melee range in Halo 4, the engadgement is over and you either run off or wait. It's definitely not game breaking like Armor lock, but some of the worst encounter traits make a return.

It seemed like you might still be able to shoot exposed feet, though I'm not sure on that - I actually haven't watched all the videos super-carefully. But on the positive side, ordnance will still hurt/kill them if placed properly, as will shots from behind or to the side. These are all huge, huge improvements over the mega-annoyance known as armor lock.
 

Noricart

Member
I can't help but feel they should have shown a Halo 4 forge trailer first to show off all the cool stuff in a better light before the live demo, so we had a better idea of things. I really kept expecting them to show something phenomenal and it never came. The new features looked really nice, but what they showed wasn't anything too special, still I expect there to be really cool things to come from it.


Anyways, 10 MP maps + 3 forge ? So are those 3 separate maps or 3 variations of the same..and..are they on the disc?

Frankie also said something about different environments AND palettes!
 
K

kittens

Unconfirmed Member
Agreed. It looked more tech demo than reveal. It may have been perfect for a little convention room, but the whole world is watching.
Remember the Reach Forge World trailer? That thing got me hyped beyond belief. It succinctly showed off a ton of really awesome possibilities.

Overall, I think Bungie handled reveals a lot better than 343. The one majorly smart thing 343 did is wait till March 2012 to show off gameplay. I think a shorter, more dense hype train is the way to go.
 

Computron

Member
Its funny you posted this, because I was just thinking how a small round 'planet' about the size of forgeworld but completely flat and round like a small moon (think SMG) would make an interesting forgemap. Then I realized while that would make for interesting scenarios it would make too many maps play weird and is more of a novelty thing that would be cool for only a little bit.

But I do think a moon themed map, flat sandy/dirt with small craters in the shape of an very large circle would make the basis of a good forge map. Just give large natural structural pieces like mountains, stones, hills and cliffs to help shape the map and possibly Human themed pieces. I know the colors have to remain more simplistic, so the grey/brown moon look would work, with maybe a very beautiful space filled skybox casting blue and orange lights on the playing field with certain notable standout directional points. Possibly give the forge pieces a human look, but make them have a range of white to green, with different custom lighting options and other natural things like trees or is possible 'water' to put in craters. Kinda like sandbox, but on a moon theme and a tonnnnn bigger with all the new options and then some.

That actually a cool idea. Have you ever played the game Prey? They had one of them super mario galaxy planets in their FPS.

So, you guys know how franky said there was something cool about the water other than it's shader? Did anything look off about the placement of that river to you guys?
 

Computron

Member
With dynamic lighting in halo 4's forge, if you make a fully enclosed box will there be no light inside it????

With Spherical Harmonics being calculated, the idea is you could get a lot better indirect lighting.
The shadows aren't the things that take time to prerender, from the looks of them they aren't baked in.
 

Noricart

Member
Remember the Reach Forge World trailer? That thing got me hyped beyond belief. It succinctly showed off a ton of really awesome possibilities.

Overall, I think Bungie handled reveals a lot better than 343. The one majorly smart thing 343 did is wait till March 2012 to show off gameplay. I think a shorter, more dense hype train is the way to go.

The Forge World Vidoc was hype, but so was the Beta Vidoc. Looking at it now, after these ideas have been executed, it seems a little masturbatory on the devs part. But yes, the Vidocs have always built up massive hype.
 
Frankie and/or David- Will there be any official HD footage of the forge demo, or a trailer to accompany it? I wanna see that stuff in its true glory!

Agreed. It looked more tech demo than reveal. It may have been perfect for a little convention room, but the whole world is watching.

Yeah, though it felt more of a tech demo for the forger and less for the player. Also, why they chose to show a muted looking green/grey/blue color palette that looked just like Forgeworld leaves me flabbergasted.. The new forge tricks are awesome, but show us how the visuals wont leaves us disoriented and tired of the look!

Frankie also said stuff about environments AND pallets!

Yup, and I'm excited to see what that means, but without actually knowing Im gonna avoid getting my hopes up. It stung when they said weather/time of day is not in forge.
 
Remember the Reach Forge World trailer? That thing got me hyped beyond belief. It succinctly showed off a ton of really awesome possibilities.

Overall, I think Bungie handled reveals a lot better than 343. The one majorly smart thing 343 did is wait till March 2012 to show off gameplay. I think a shorter, more dense hype train is the way to go.
Bungie are the masters of selling their game. While I would rank what I've played of Halo 4 to be of superb quality by Halo standards, 343 hasn't done a great job of "selling" it to the public.
 
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