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[The Librarian]

Playtest began without me. I sacrifice.

Update's up. Thank ya, Urk!
http://www.bungie.net/News/content.aspx?type=topnews&link=BWU_040910

 

[Hydranockz]

More details for gametypes next week!

You just couldn't wait for urk to tell us, could you?

 

[dslgunstar]

BTW, Jetpack isn't useless. From my experience they all have their uses but it's highly contextual based on gametype and map (and in some cases, what your teammates & opponents are doing).

Urk swears by Jetpacks on Powerhouse. Me, not so much, I much prefer Sprint or Armor Lock on that map for most gametypes in the Beta. However, on Swordbase, I loves me some Jetpacks.

Good to hear

Oh, and what're the chances for an AR/DMR/Armor Lock loadout?

 

[Kapura]

Sword Base also features blow-uppable computer monitors, smashable wall-mounted screens, and knee-high destructible glass on some of the small balcony perches. (Sometimes I like to just run around and break stuff. Like after Sketch jumps into one of the online forums and scoops the update. Turns out I find the sound of glass shards tinkling to the floor somewhat soothing.)

I lol'd

 

[FourDoor]

I lol'd

x2 :lol

 

[Zeouterlimits]

:lol

Good update

Spoiler

Swordbase lolwut

, very much liking the tiny glimpse of Overlook.

The new 10-second boundary rule is interesting, wonder how it'll work in practice...

 

[Genesis Knight]

Hmm...so anyone who plays Halo 2 on the final Humpday gets a special emblem in Halo: Reach. Pretty sweet.

 

[wwm0nkey]

Hmm...so anyone who plays Halo 2 on the final Humpday gets a special emblem in Halo: Reach. Pretty sweet.

People kept saying it was just if you played Halo 2. Guess I was right though

 

[Not a Jellyfish]

Ok my bad, he wasn't MIA playing games. He was trying to get a quicktimeVR 3d screenshot working for the update. But it didn't work. Point is, he was actually hard at work for our loving, loyal community (THIS TIME).

But yeah, playing as an Elite was pretty sweet. Though, on defense as a Spartan, I rolled with the Shotgun/Armor Lock load-out which was pretty ridiculous

More details for gametypes next week!

Glad to see you guys are having fun over there.

 

[Striker]

:lol

Good update

Spoiler

Swordbase lolwut

, very much liking the tiny glimpse of Overlook.

The new 10-second boundary rule is interesting, wonder how it'll work in practice...

Sounds to me just like Battlefield: BC2. It beats the invisible walls for sure.

 

[Darkflight]

If they’re really unfortunate, they’ll find themselves a victim of an air-to-air assassination, which is just about the most awesomest thing I have ever laid eyes on. Maybe even more awesomer than the air-to-ground assassination, but I haven’t made up my mind just yet.

Oh my, I never thought anything other than ground-to-ground would exist.

Fake Edit:

I did see a really great Saved Film he made on Sword Base where his opponent tried to flee by hurling himself over one of the upper floor’s many edges. Stosh wasn’t having it. Just as this poor Spartan made lift off, Stosh initiated an assassination, grabbed him by the nape of the neck, pulled him back up, and put a very violent end to his escape plan.

Sweeeet! Now to find my copy of H2.

 

[Thagomizer]

Mass Halo: Reach for the Lost

Spoiler

I mean this in a good way

 

[The Librarian]

That was some nice Jurky, Urk! The most interesting bits were the section about the textures and how the warning is implemented when you go beyond the barrier.

 

[NH Apache]

Great update, Urk. So frag and plasmas only. I'm guessing that the other grenades from Halo 3 were nixed?

Also, I will so be dusting off Halo 2 on the 14th. I wonder what kind of prizes are in store?

 

[Thermite]

Awesome update. Glad to see there's plenty of DMRs for pickup on Swordbase and Powerhouse.

Edit: Also, thanks for the clarification about the Needle Rifle, Urk. Sounds pretty beastly. 6 shots to take down a Spartan's shields - 7 for an Elite's - and one shot to someone's unshielded face to kill (or three to the body for an explosion). While it takes more bullets to kill someone than the DMR/Pistol does, due to the fact that you don't have to continuously pull the trigger to fire, I'm guessing it'll have a slightly faster firing rate?

2nd Edit: Goddamn, these screenshots are beautiful.

 

[Kapura]

Great update, Urk. So frag and plasmas only. I'm guessing that the other grenades from Halo 3 were nixed?

Confirmed out a long time ago.

 

[dilatedmuscle]

Ok my bad, he wasn't MIA playing games. He was trying to get a quicktimeVR 3d screenshot working for the update. But it didn't work. Point is, he was actually hard at work for our loving, loyal community (THIS TIME).

But yeah, playing as an Elite was pretty sweet. Though, on defense as a Spartan, I rolled with the Shotgun/Armor Lock load-out which was pretty ridiculous

More details for gametypes next week!

awesome!!! i hope we get to see one soon. I been looking for the Halo 3 3d shots but i cant find them.

 

[zumphry]

To me it seems like Swordbase isn't just a mixture of Prisoner and Boarding Action, but some bits of Headlong as well (the interior sections).

Oh, and the Blame Stosh section:

I did see a really great Saved Film he made on Sword Base where his opponent tried to flee by hurling himself over one of the upper floor’s many edges. Stosh wasn’t having it. Just as this poor Spartan made lift off, Stosh initiated an assassination, grabbed him by the nape of the neck, pulled him back up, and put a very violent end to his escape plan.

Awesome.

 

[InvincibleAgent]

Sword Base is so pretty:

How could anyone not forget any problems with the name after seeing that?

 

[Thagomizer]

Dear Bungie, your site is broken in Chrome fix plz

 

[Deputy Moonman]

I'm pretty excited for the beta. Only a couple of things right now.

First, I really am curious about vehicle durability, or to be more precise, damage taken while in a vehicle. I wonder if it's on par with the current Halo3 system, more, or less? Still annoys me that you can stick the turret of a warthog and as long it's not actually on the gunner, that person takes very little damage. Never mind that there was enough force to send the warthog flipping into the air. I don't have to destroy a vehicle, but I want the riders to take damage when a sticky is stuck right next to them.

Additionally, the shield mechanic has me slightly disconcerted. It's something I'll just have to see for myself in the beta, but I don't know if I like the shield having to be completely popped to prevent death. I want to know what the vibe has been from the internal play testers. Has anyone complained about it being tedious to melee someone down (not talking about assassinations)? As for weapons taking down a shield, I guess it doesn't bother me as much. But I think melee's in Halo3 already take too long. I don't want to see people just sitting there beating on each other. I still painfully miss the double melee in Halo:CE. That was a thing a beauty.

 

[Kapura]

Dear Bungie, your site is broken in Chrome fix plz

Dear Thagomizer, I use Chrome plz esplain

 

[Merguson]

For anyone complaining about stairs..

You can also stow the bellyaching about “textures” interfering with your grenade tosses from here on out. There’s a new layer of invisible love being applied to all the nooks, crannies, and yup, stairs you’ll find distributed throughout the multiplayer maps you’ll throw down on – a layer that’ll ensure your grenades bounce in the perfectly predictable way you expect them to.

That doesn’t mean the world is flat, though. If there’s a particular piece of geometry we deem worthy to run interference, we’ll make sure there’s just the right bounce to the ounce. Shishka tells me it’s actually based on “biped collision,” which is a fancy way to say that if you don’t get caught up on it, your grenades probably won’t either.

I like.

The maps look nice as well, Swordbase seems to have some Mass Effect influence there, any comment on that?

 

[Domino Theory]

Awesome update.

And wow @ invisible slopes on certain pieces of geometry for nade bouncing. That is too good.

 

[Popeck]

The maps look nice as well, Swordbase seems to have some Mass Effect influence there, any comment on that?

Yeah, kinda reminds me of Orbital with all those sleek surfaces. Hopefully the map won't be as bad. =P

 

[Thagomizer]

Dear Thagomizer, I use Chrome plz esplain

clicking on thumbnails in the screenshots/renders/etc. sections just refreshes the page, even if I try to make a new tab or window.


and I already pointed out the Mass Effect similarity, biters.

 

[KidA Seven]

Great Great update.

I was worried that Reach would have maps like Orbital where nades bounce back, especially on Swordbase. The invisible layer on the geometry is just sweet. Oh man, swordbase is looking like it's going to be a favorite of mine. Now if only weapon weight was lighter like in CE and they were able to be naded...

 

[CrazedArabMan]

Mass Halo: Reach for the Lost

Spoiler

I mean this in a good way

Easily my favorite screenshot out of the bunch.

 

[kylej]

Sword Base is so pretty:

I'm glad Bungie is restraining its desire to slap rust all over the walls or stack debris in every corner. I'm still suffering from PTSD after playing Rat's Nest.

 

[InvincibleAgent]

I'm glad Bungie is restraining its desire to slap rust all over the walls or stack debris in every corner. I'm still suffering from PTSD after playing Rat's Nest.

It seems like almost all human maps are brown. I'm glad to see some pristine-looking stuff in more cool colors.

 

[timetokill]

Overlook looks damn pretty

You mentioned weather effects again. Any chance they will change during multiplayer matches, or maybe randomly choose them? Can we set them in custom games?

CAN WE USE THEM IN FORGE?

 

[GhaleonEB]

For anyone complaining about stairs..

I like.

The maps look nice as well, Swordbase seems to have some Mass Effect influence there, any comment on that?

The pattern of Eazy's complaints getting swatted down continues unabated. :lol

Sweet update. The comment about acquiring weapons in a unique way on Overlook is tantalizing, to put it mildly.

 

[Kibbles]

Awesome update.

And wow @ invisible slopes on certain pieces of geometry for nade bouncing. That is too good.

MLG wannabes: WTF look at all these textures!
Bungie: Ah but watch! *throws nade with bounce* Magic.

I might throw down some Halo 2 tonight. Anyone know if the prices on gamestop for used games are accurate for all stores? $12.99 is a bit much for such an old game but I guess it's worth it. Hopefully they have it in stock too.

Seriously, why wait until Wednesday, I'll be playing every day up to end, this is the last time we'll be able to play H2 online. Hopefully I can find some good ole Waterworks games. They were so frequent back at launch.

 

[Slightly Live]

Sweet update, nice to know about the various ways of getting around in Sword Base. The grenade bouncing is a fantastic bonus too.

Hopefully we'll have the Quicktime 3D things work for next week. I've been asking about seeing stuff using that 3D viewer for months, so glad to know it's being put to use.

Disappointed by the lack of information about Overlook, guess we'll have a better look at it next week.

Overall, good stuff!

 

[Kapura]

clicking on thumbnails in the screenshots/renders/etc. sections just refreshes the page, even if I try to make a new tab or window.


and I already pointed out the Mass Effect similarity, biters.

wat. I dunno what's going on with you, but I can thumbnail fine. Maybe Bnet just haets you.

 

[Wizman23]

The pattern of Eazy's complaints getting swatted down continues unabated. :lol

Sweet update. The comment about acquiring weapons in a unique way on Overlook is tantalizing, to put it mildly.

My guess is that as the Elite team passes each barrier or map section or even blows up a generator the Spartan loadouts change in a way to give them more of an advantage.

In regards to the update I can't wait to Sprint melee someone and then put a bullet in them. Sounds fantastic.

 

[feel]

Good update. Can't wait to run around these maps not helping my team at all during the first few hours into the beta.

 

[Tashi]

Holy balls at my grenades not getting caught in any geometry(cool detailing on the walls on Construct comes to mind) on the maps. Thank you so much! <3

 

[Deadly Cyclone]

So anyone who plays at all Wednesday gets some goodies? Or just those who get in a game with Urk and the like?

I'll be there no matter what. I put 4000+ games and 36,000+ kills in Halo 2, gotta give it a big sendoff.

Swordbase looks amazing, I loved Boarding Action in H1 and seeing the vertical component here makes me happy. It looks like a cross of Mass Effect 2 and Mirror's Edge to me.

 

[RebornYeti]

Very good update. Swordbase reminds me of Orbital/Ivory Tower/Oni Alpha Site. Looking good!

 

[Presco]

Swordbase looks great but the pic with the shotgun (I think it's a shotgun - maybe grenade launcher?) is giving me Orbital flashes. Low ceilings + Halo = no fun at all. Might just be a perspective thing in the pic and nothing to worry about, but any map that has even the slightest resemblance to Orbital is terrifying.

 

[Hydranockz]

Swordbase looks great but the pic with the shotgun (I think it's a shotgun - maybe grenade launcher?) is giving me Orbital flashes. Low ceilings + Halo = no fun at all. Might just be a perspective thing in the pic and nothing to worry about, but any map that has even the slightest resemblance to Orbital is terrifying.

Massive 5 floor atrium.

 

[Presco]

Massive 5 floor atrium.

Point taken, and the majority of combat will likely take place in the open space. Doesn't mean the (possibly) low ceilings in the adjoining rooms will make for fun times. Not going to complain about things I won't experience for another 576 hours, give or take, just making an observation.

 

[Kibbles]

Dammit they don't sell xbox 1 games, even Halo 2... Just got back. Bah! My local game crazy closed down, they were the only ones nearby who sold used xbox games. Looks like I'm screwed. =(

 

[bobs...onGaf]

So who wants to party up on wednesday and try and take down Bungie - Seriusly the odds seem pretty good considering the population is fairly low.

 

[gibration]

So who wants to party up on wednesday and try and take down Bungie - Seriusly the odds seem pretty good considering the population is fairly low.

Im down. I'll probably start playing the second I get home from school and pull an all nighter.

 

[Hydranockz]

So who wants to party up on wednesday and try and take down Bungie - Seriusly the odds seem pretty good considering the population is fairly low.

FFFFUUUUUUUUU!!!!! I won't be home! Neither will my bro.... Oh shit I even have a copy of Halo 2 to taunt me while I am gone from home for that damn day. Blarg. Real downer on my part.

 

[wwm0nkey]

So who wants to party up on wednesday and try and take down Bungie - Seriusly the odds seem pretty good considering the population is fairly low.

Im in, should be a fun last day of Halo 2

 

[Ramirez]

Nades not getting stuck in geometry=win.

 

[Devin Olsen]

So.... I am having my girl friend ship me Halo 2 Fed-Ex to Ft McMurray... Lets hope it makes it up here in time.

If that doesn't work I have explained to her how to set up my xbox 1 and then recover my GT, she will have to play a game on the 14th on my behalf!

Update was amazing, the 'grab' assassination sounds amazing, and I really like what they have done with the boundary timer.