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[GhaleonEB]

It took me a while, but I finally got around to putting together some summary thoughts on Forge and Forge World. Working on updating map #2 after a hiatus on map making, as well. I'm curious what you guys think about Forge World; I've had a really hard time finding places to work on, as none of them fit in with the kind of maps I like to make (symmetrical BTB).

I'm doing and Invasion one for 3rd effort, which will fit with the asymmetric Forge World geometry better.

 

[NullPointer]

Pretending this doesn't exist won't make it go away, Letters.

Thanks Gui. That's the one

 

[Zeouterlimits]

So haven't been playing/posting due to numerous moves around Ireland, and haven't 360 & PC set up back at college yet.

Did finally finish the game on Legendary. Boy it can be really frustrating. But I did enjoy it on the whole. Sprinting past difficult bits is oddly satisfying. And hey, 275G has put me over the 1000 on Reach.

 

[electricpirate]

It took me a while, but I finally got around to putting together some summary thoughts on Forge and Forge World. Working on updating map #2 after a hiatus on map making, as well. I'm curious what you guys think about Forge World; I've had a really hard time finding places to work on, as none of them fit in with the kind of maps I like to make (symmetrical BTB).

I'm doing and Invasion one for 3rd effort, which will fit with the asymmetric Forge World geometry better.

Nice piece.

Interesting stuff, I think I agree with most of it, but I would add some more downsides, and some other pieces of praise. I think any piece on forge needs to mention the engine limits regarding object density, as that performance can be a major killer to any map. I also think that some more color diversity when changing colors would be nice. Right now there are a few pieces that can have a really dramatic visual effect when the color changes, but they are far and few between.

One thing I like about the spaces they have in Forge world is the interstitial spaces, the areas that weren't desgigned as part of a map, but have been used as such. For example, the waterfall where Urk was building his map, or that little connection between the Island and Blood gulch. Those areas provide some nice oppurtunities I think.

I actually like the structures that are there. My second map design has been heavily influenced by the Alaska/Montana/Beach space (it's also been stalled up as I grapple with whether it's going to end up a BTB or 4vs4 map), so I see some value in those oddly shaped areas. Some of the random detritus goes too far, but the irregular shapes and cliffs can provide a lot to a map. That doesn't excuse the lack of a flat grassy expanse for large scale combat, without having to set down a huge floor of unreliable colliseum walls though. I wonder if that lack was one of oversight, or an engine limitation posed by the size of ForgeWorld?

 

[squidhands]

It took me a while, but I finally got around to putting together some summary thoughts on Forge and Forge World. Working on updating map #2 after a hiatus on map making, as well. I'm curious what you guys think about Forge World; I've had a really hard time finding places to work on, as none of them fit in with the kind of maps I like to make (symmetrical BTB).

I'm doing and Invasion one for 3rd effort, which will fit with the asymmetric Forge World geometry better.

This pretty much hits the nail right on the head for me:

The end result is less a blank canvas and more a used one.

When you factor in having to use as much of the natural geometry as possible to make a map acceptable for matchmaking (which is not necessarily the be-all, end-all reason to forge), options are few and far between when you want to make a symmetrical map, especially for Big Team Battle. Spending lots of time looking for a place to start a map is a really good way to make me lose interest in forging at all, which is something I spent more time doing in H3 than actually playing the game. The new UI for Forge is brilliant, the palette for it considerably less so.

In H3, Sandbox was the answer to all the limitations that Foundry gave us. I really hope that if there is going to be something similar in Reach (and Tempest is NOT the answer I was looking for), Bungie really pays close attention to the missteps of Forge World.

 

[vhfive]

It took me a while, but I finally got around to putting together some summary thoughts on Forge and Forge World. Working on updating map #2 after a hiatus on map making, as well. I'm curious what you guys think about Forge World; I've had a really hard time finding places to work on, as none of them fit in with the kind of maps I like to make (symmetrical BTB).

I'm doing and Invasion one for 3rd effort, which will fit with the asymmetric Forge World geometry better.

Great read. I fully agree on the lack of a good BTB space to forge. I have started at least 4 different maps and gave up on all of them because there just wasn't a good place to build them.

 

[Sikamikanico]

That's a great read Ghal, you've hit the nail on the head. I have also struggled with BTB designs on Forgeworld, and ended up trying to reimagine Paradiso instead.

 

[NullPointer]

Waitasec, did Bungie remove Firefight Arcade from the playlists and replace it with Griffball? If so, boo this, man...

 

[GhaleonEB]

Waitasec, did Bungie remove Firefight Arcade from the playlists and replace it with Griffball? If so, boo this, man...

It was a temporary Grab Bag playlist. Next week the Limited one goes up on Tuesday (hopefully that's detailed in the BWU today). I'm hoping Limited and Arcade eventually become the permanent Firefight playlists.

Grifball is apparently getting a 2-week run, after which they'll decide whether it will be permanent or recurring.

 

[NullPointer]

It was a temporary Grab Bag playlist.

:'(

And just as my brother got his xbox back from repairs. Lucky for him, it still had his Reach disk in the drive ;P Thought we could celebrate with some weirdo Firefight, but I guess we'll have to wait.

 

[Blue Ninja]

I didn't get the chance to play Firefight Arcade, either. Though I'm pretty happy with Grifball too, lag issues notwithstanding.

 

[squidhands]

Arcade was a blast (lol), hopefully Lars will tighten up the gametypes when it

Spoiler

hopefully

takes it's rightful place in a permanent playlist.

 

[xxjuicesxx]

I liked Arcade cause it went faster than normal Firefight. Firefight one game for 25-30 minutes is too much.

 

[Striker]

In H3, Sandbox was the answer to all the limitations that Foundry gave us. I really hope that if there is going to be something similar in Reach (and Tempest is NOT the answer I was looking for), Bungie really pays close attention to the missteps of Forge World.

This would be easy if Bungie can create another Forge World style map variant that is built in an urban setting, similar to Metropolis in Halo 2. Think of buildings, roads, or whatnot from Turf, Terminal, and Headlong.

 

[The Librarian]

It was a temporary Grab Bag playlist. Next week the Limited one goes up on Tuesday (hopefully that's detailed in the BWU today). I'm hoping Limited and Arcade eventually become the permanent Firefight playlists.

Grifball is apparently getting a 2-week run, after which they'll decide whether it will be permanent or recurring.

I agree with the hope that Arcade was a temporary temporary playlist. So fun.

 

[NullPointer]

I agree with the hope that Arcade was a temporary temporary playlist. So fun.

I did like my own version of fistfight just a little better though. Unlimited Hammer/Drop Shield or Sword/Invisibility 200% player speed, 200% jump height, no shields, slow health regen.

Just not a fan of overshields I guess, and the extra player speed makes things feel more... predatory.
Firefight Predator Fileshare

 

[Blue Ninja]

All right, I'm finally happy with the look of my armor. I think.


(clicky)

 

[Plywood]

I knew someone would disagree with this part. As far as I can tell (google) the standard for movies pretty much is 24FPS (23.somethingsomething). Cut scenes in games with 60FPS (CoD) for example look really silly because cut scenes try to emulate movies. It's akin to when you see a movie being played on a 120hz TV on a show room floor and everything is too smooth. Just looks wrong. I guess if I were a PC gamer that were used to higher frame rate games this might not matter to me but I'm not because I can't really afford a high end PC.

I'm actually curious as to what your opinion on the matter is instead of just garble of disapproving letters. Care to share?

Games are not movies nor real life and a lower framerate doesn't make it seem "realistic" or "cinematic" to me, if anything it looks assy. If movies were filmed at 60fps we'd actually receive a lot of benefits such as being able to see action sequences a lot more clearly. As for cut scenes in games running at 60fps, they look fine. I don't know where this thought spawned that a lower frame rate makes something not so much a slide show as much as its now claimed to be some kind of chosen Preference/Style. Honestly play the Castlevania: LoS demo and tell me you feel that game which runs at an average of 25fps feels cinematic at all times, cause it just doesn't.

 

[Gui_PT]

Honestly play the Castlevania: LoS demo and tell me you feel that game which runs at an average of 25fps feels cinematic at all times, cause it just doesn't.

I actually just did today. Felt fine.

 

[Domino Theory]

What's with all the Multi-kill dailies this week while there's a Multi-kill weekly?

Variety, please.

 

[GhaleonEB]

They compliment the rollout of the Grifball playlist.

 

[Plywood]

I actually just did today. Felt fine.

Your eyes are broken Gui.

 

[Gui_PT]

Your eyes are broken Gui.

Well to be honest, I only watched 1 cutscene and skipped the rest =P

 

[Domino Theory]

I want Halo 4, Halo Wars 2 - new stories, new content.

Same here, but honestly, how many people do you think it'd take to remake Halo: CE? I can't imagine much of the team. The last time we heard about a solid number from 343i regarding how many employees work there was a long time ago and it was around 80. I'm sure they've grown by now.

Back when Bungie first announced their independence and that they were working on 3 projects at once was when they were less than 150 people.

Also, Microsoft has stated that a Halo release every 3 years isn't going to cut it this generation anymore, although I don't see them going the Halo 4 --> Halo 5 --> Halo 6 route. More like small Halo side-project --> Halo 4 --> another side Halo project --> Halo 5, etc.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Toddler]

Same here, but honestly, how many people do you think it'd take to remake Halo: CE?

Whoa, that's not just a rumor? Are there any details that's know about it?

 

[Domino Theory]

Whoa, that's not just a rumor? Are there any details that's know about it?

It is just a rumor (and wishes from a few people). I'm just saying that IF 343i were to remake Halo: CE, how many people would it take?

 

[MrBig]

It is just a rumor (and wishes from a few people). I'm just saying that IF 343i were to remake Halo: CE, how many people would it take?

It wouldn't take more than a couple people in each department. I'd say 20 people and 6 months to a year.
Mod teams have done more with less.

Who knows what we'll see for the 10 year anniversary

e: I think ODST was 30 people right?

 

[Barrow Roll]

Games are not movies nor real life and a lower framerate doesn't make it seem "realistic" or "cinematic" to me, if anything it looks assy. If movies were filmed at 60fps we'd actually receive a lot of benefits such as being able to see action sequences a lot more clearly. As for cut scenes in games running at 60fps, they look fine. I don't know where this thought spawned that a lower frame rate makes something not so much a slide show as much as its now claimed to be some kind of chosen Preference/Style. Honestly play the Castlevania: LoS demo and tell me you feel that game which runs at an average of 25fps feels cinematic at all times, cause it just doesn't.

I'm not saying that playing games at a lower frame rate is fun or good at all. I'm merely talking about cut scenes. I can only speak for myself and my own experiences but when you live your entire life watching movies filmed at their standard fps it just makes it jarring to watch a cut scene in a video game look all super smooth. If video games are not movies then perhaps developers should start telling their stories in a way that actually takes advantage of the medium instead of "gameplay" STOP "cut scene that's directed like movie" ad nauseum. There are a fair amount of games that already do mind you. But there are also other games that intentionally try to be more like film. Mass Effect even has a film grain option. I don't have a problem with the cut scene approach to video game story telling because it's not broken at all, my eyes just don't lie to me when a higher fps cut scene looks funny that's all.

And if movies at a higher framerate are gonna look like a movie playing on a 120hz TV then no thanks, it looks ridiculous. If some ballsy director wants to make a movie that will show the world the benefits of a higher framerate in film, like Jame's Cameron seemingly did with 3D and Avatar (debatable of course), then perhaps film can move forward in that direction and in time smoother cut scenes and movies won't look so weird to me.

And it's not like having an option for "24-30fps for cut scenes" as a menu option would be hard to implement anyways for those that want it.

 

[GhaleonEB]

BWU is up, and contains these words:

I do have it on good authority, however, that Firefight Arcade will be resurrected as a full time Firefight playlist, pending the analysis previously mentioned in this space surrounding the upcoming Limited affair. While we definitely won’t see its triumphant return next week, it should be along shortly. Again, when everything starts to cement, we’ll make more noise.

This news makes me happy. Thank you for making me happy, Lars/Urk. I like to be happy.

 

[Hey You]

beaten.

 

[Zeouterlimits]

OY! Urk-lton!

Could I get a sit-rep on International Shipping for the Bungie Store, please? Is it even still being pursued? Brutal honesty would be accepted.

 

[ElRenoRaven]

BWU is up, and contains these words:


This news makes me happy. Thank you for making me happy, Lars/Urk. I like to be happy.

That's great to hear. I'm saddened by the update this week and last. I get the feeling that these contests are ways to add filler to the updates that would otherwise be about 3 paragraphs in length at most. Their reveal of the new franchise can't come soon enough.

 

[NullPointer]

 

[Arnie]

Unlike last week, this weeks winner definitely deserved it. Amazing artwork, and a great concept too.

 

[Gui_PT]

OY! Urk-lton!

Could I get a sit-rep on International Shipping for the Bungie Store, please? Is it even still being pursued? Brutal honesty would be accepted.

I second this request

 

[urk]

OY! Urk-lton!

Could I get a sit-rep on International Shipping for the Bungie Store, please? Is it even still being pursued? Brutal honesty would be accepted.

Yeah, we're still interested. Prob won't be any short term solutions, though.

 

[feel]

Some amazing Moa drawings there. Wow. The winner deserved it, but he should've given stars to some of the other incredible submissions too.

 

[Zeouterlimits]

Yeah, we're still interested. Prob won't be any short term solutions, though.

I see.
Thanks for replying .

 

[The Librarian]

Cool art, and I'm glad to hear that Arcade is being given a permanent home.

 

[CozMick]

If it wasn't for LBP2 and KZ3 my PS3 would be sold to cover the cost of a 360 HDD.

Played FireFight at a friends house tonight, great fun!

I get home, Click FireFight, played a game and see it doesn't count towards my Cr and Commendations.

So I take it I have to be matchmaking for any of those stats to count?

 

[GhaleonEB]

In case anyone didn't click on the image of the Prophet, there's some crazy, crazy art in that dude's file share. The last one I saw was the Brute Chieftain, but he's been busy.

http://www.bungie.net/Stats/Reach/FileShare.aspx?player=xSoGx Grim

Like this, for instance.

 

[Zeouterlimits]

So I take it I have to be matchmaking for any of those stats to count?

Pretty much, would be way too easy to exploit otherwise.

 

[Tashi]

Stream is up. HOT MLG on MLG Action!!!!

http://www.justin.tv/tashiii

 

[NullPointer]

Pretty much, would be way too easy to exploit otherwise.

Don't you still get a very measly helping of cR, along with commendation progress (and any cR from those commendations)?

 

[The Librarian]

Stream is up. HOT MLG on MLG Action!!!!

http://www.justin.tv/tashiii

Not seductive enough.

 

[Tashi]

Not seductive enough.

I'm playing with Sophie Ellis Bextor....

 

[ElRenoRaven]

It's moment's like this that make me love this game.

 

[The Librarian]

I'm playing with Sophie Ellis Bextor....

By god and country, you have my viewership.

 

[Kuroyume]

Is Sniper Fight a part of Firefight Arcade?

 

[MrBig]

Is Sniper Fight a part of Firefight Arcade?

And normal Firefight, yes.