• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

HaloGAF |OT: Anniversary| So fades the great harvest of our betrayal.

Tashi

343i Lead Esports Producer
I mean, DAMN:

iLYSOb6yr7tgZ.gif

That was sick!
 

FyreWulff

Member
If Reach comes back I'd rather it be on the Reach version of the Reach engine, with only one thing backported: the shadow generation.

Reach still has the best Forge tools out of the released Halo games and having to use 4's Forge in it would be a downgrade. The only issue with Reach these days is the flat lighting for Forge maps.
 

Obscured

Member
Reach is weird. It has the best, most balanced flying vehicle in the series to date (the Falcon) and the most broken one ever (Banshee).

The Reach banshee had multiple issues. They removed the angle limiter from Halo 3 that controlled it's power. They sped up the bomb. And then they didn't attach the banshee tricks to the boost meter, so what you saw a LOT of people do is they'd fire the bomb and then immediately backflip so you couldn't hit them.

If they had retained the angle limiter, tied the tricks to the meter, and slowed down the bomb recharge, the Reach banshee might have been a lot more sane.

Personally, I would have put the angle limit back on, kept the bomb, but dropped the banshee tricks. Banshee tricks feel like a holdover for the sake of holdover from Halo 2. That way if you want to line up someone for the bomb, you would have had to risk yourself to do it. I can't remember a single kill I made with the Banshee's normal guns in Reach or 4 multiplayer. Pretty much just automatically hit Y to switch to the bomb as soon as I get in one.

tl;dr Falcon needs to come back

I'm on board with this.

Pro pipe needs to come back

And this as well.

I mean, DAMN:

iLYSOb6yr7tgZ.gif

The most impressive part of this is not just that it was done, but that it was an effective maneuver as well.

If Reach comes back I'd rather it be on the Reach version of the Reach engine, with only one thing backported: the shadow generation.

Reach still has the best Forge tools out of the released Halo games and having to use 4's Forge in it would be a downgrade. The only issue with Reach these days is the flat lighting for Forge maps.

Don't know if this is true, but Halo 4 forge felt to me like a good idea with not enough time, like they were building up from scratch to get around some legacy limitation, but then ran out of time to really make it what it needed to be. For all of the negativity around Reach i think it was one of the most polished games I've ever played. I may not have liked every decision, but it was a full package.
 

FyreWulff

Member
Don't know if this is true, but Halo 4 forge felt to me like a good idea with not enough time, like they were building up from scratch to get around some legacy limitation, but then ran out of time to really make it what it needed to be. For all of the negativity around Reach i think it was one of the most polished games I've ever played. I may not have liked every decision, but it was a full package.

There were some good ideas in it. Unfortunately they removed precision editing and the ability to zoom in while working on pieces, which is an absolute must when trying to forge competitive maps. Magnets were cool but some pieces had weird magnet points, and the Space Station pieces actually weren't all the same size so if you made a map entirely out of them, you'd run into an issue where hallways wouldn't meet up.

And also the monitor going WHHHHRRRrrgochokkkaWHHRRRR constantly didn't help either.

Add in the fact that nobody could really effectively share content for the first months the game was out, and the Halo 4 Forge community was and is almost dead compared to 3's and Reach's. And this is not just an opinion I have. Pete, Nokyard, and other Forgers talk about it in the Forgecast: http://petetheduck.com/forgecast-episode-1/
 

Obscured

Member
There were some good ideas in it. Unfortunately they removed precision editing and the ability to zoom in while working on pieces, which is an absolute must when trying to forge competitive maps. Magnets were cool but some pieces had weird magnet points, and the Space Station pieces actually weren't all the same size so if you made a map entirely out of them, you'd run into an issue where hallways wouldn't meet up.

And also the monitor going WHHHHRRRrrgochokkkaWHHRRRR constantly didn't help either.

Add in the fact that nobody could really effectively share content for the first months the game was out, and the Halo 4 Forge community was and is almost dead compared to 3's and Reach's. And this is not just an opinion I have. Pete, Nokyard, and other Forgers talk about it in the Forgecast: http://petetheduck.com/forgecast-episode-1/

I had forgotten about the monitor sound, I always muted when trying to forge. I liked a lot of Halo 4 sound design, but was not that fond of that part. Yeah, they really should have started with what was expected and then added on. It was like you could make a certain kind of map really quickly, but if you wanted to deviate then it took you twice as long or more. The lack of precision editing was a blow to be sure. I hope for the ability to mirror objects in the future.

Easy sharing and content discovery definitely are sorely needed. It is amazing what the community comes up with, so hopefully the tools are there going forward, those guys in particular have done some great stuff.
 
I never had any issues forging in halo 4. I agree it took a little bit to get used to compared to Reach, however I still prefer H4 forge over reach for one simple fact. It dosnt lag.
 
Makes me want to play Reach again.

I need to find peeps to play it with. Best forge, best theater, fun campaign, I loved Reach.

Invasion needs to come back in 5. With custom colored Spartans & Elites!

I think Reach have the most realistic armor design of all Halos before we went into a Macross design armor suits.
 

Enfinit

Member
Makes me want to play Reach again.

I need to find peeps to play it with. Best forge, best theater, fun campaign, I loved Reach.
Me and a couple buddies randomly decided to start playing Reach again a few weeks ago. I was over at his apartment, and we were kinda bored, so he jokingly turns to me and says "Are we about to play some Reach Doubles?!" I said yes, and we ended up playing. It was a blast.

After that afternoon, we talked a couple other of our friends into joining us on weekday nights, and the thing is... It's really fun. Sure, the game has its fair share of shit qualities, but we had a blast playing it. We recently made the migration to Halo 4 a couple weeks ago.

It's weird, but I think of all the Halo's I've had the opportunity to play with groups of friends over the decade, I remember having the most fun in Reach. And that list includes every other Halo. Sure, Halo CE/2/3 all had better multiplayer gameplay and mechanics... but for some reason Reach was a shit ton of fun.
 

TCKaos

Member
Reach is weird. It has the best, most balanced flying vehicle in the series to date (the Falcon) and the most broken one ever (Banshee).

The Reach banshee had multiple issues. They removed the angle limiter from Halo 3 that controlled it's power. They sped up the bomb. And then they didn't attach the banshee tricks to the boost meter, so what you saw a LOT of people do is they'd fire the bomb and then immediately backflip so you couldn't hit them.

If they had retained the angle limiter, tied the tricks to the meter, and slowed down the bomb recharge, the Reach banshee might have been a lot more sane.

Personally, I would have put the angle limit back on, kept the bomb, but dropped the banshee tricks. Banshee tricks feel like a holdover for the sake of holdover from Halo 2. That way if you want to line up someone for the bomb, you would have had to risk yourself to do it. I can't remember a single kill I made with the Banshee's normal guns in Reach or 4 multiplayer. Pretty much just automatically hit Y to switch to the bomb as soon as I get in one.

tl;dr Falcon needs to come back

Halo 5 needs better maps for the Falcon. Halo 4 is in the odd position where most of the maps are too big for small squad play but too small for decent BTB. The Falcon has no room to maneuver. Longbow is the only one that isn't completely congested.
 

HTupolev

Member
I can't remember a single kill I made with the Banshee's normal guns in Reach or 4 multiplayer.
The normal guns could occasionally be useful if you were hanging around some calm part of the map with an extremely pesky jetpacker. Especially with the networking being what it is, it's sometimes simply easier and/or less risky than the alternatives of FRG and splatter.
 

FyreWulff

Member
Halo 5 needs better maps for the Falcon. Halo 4 is in the odd position where most of the maps are too big for small squad play but too small for decent BTB. The Falcon has no room to maneuver. Longbow is the only one that isn't completely congested.

Yeah, Halo 4's Banshee usage was weird. I barely remember being in one in 4's multi, honestly.

The normal guns could occasionally be useful if you were hanging around some calm part of the map with an extremely pesky jetpacker. Especially with the networking being what it is, it's sometimes simply easier and/or less risky than the alternatives of FRG and splatter.

True, but the Banshee needs to be consdered a flying Scorpion in terms of balance in it's current state when placed on maps.
 
So I'm giving the Destiny Alpha another try and I have to say... from the creators of Halo indeed! Game is actually really fun and it's a lot better I'm enjoying a lot more than I was a few days ago, not sure why.


So far from the 4 multiplayer maps I've played so far, the game has that Bungie feel and love. Capture The Flag also reminds me a LOT of Halo, I just love it.

Detailed opinions and thoughts coming later this week in the HaloGAF Collections Cast (slight name change, it's fine, we haven't launched yet!). Sorry the sneak peek was delayed, the Destiny Alpha distracted me, and I'm still ironing out some kinks. Also... special guest was added in to make the first episode really special...

#PerAudaciaAdAstra
 

wwm0nkey

Member
So I'm giving the Destiny Alpha another try and I have to say... from the creators of Halo indeed! Game is actually really fun and it's a lot better I'm enjoying a lot more than I was a few days ago, not sure why.



So far from the 4 multiplayer maps I've played so far, the game has that Bungie feel and love. Capture The Flag also reminds me a LOT of Halo, I just love it.

Detailed opinions and thoughts coming later this week in the HaloGAF Collections Cast (slight name change, it's fine, we haven't launched yet!). Sorry the sneak peek was delayed, the Destiny Alpha distracted me, and I'm still ironing out some kinks. Also... special guest was added in to make the first episode really special...

#PerAudaciaAdAstra
I pray you didn't get that alpha by doing what you said you would on twitter.


*am wondering what's new on the XBO alpha
 
-- I believe that is supposed to be the non-rampant Mendicant Bias, as it's his glyph with the discordant hexagon in a central position.

Perhaps. The glyphs are difficult, hard to attribute one thing to another, here. I believe there are aspects to the Monitors[at least of installations 01-07] that we don't fully understand right now.

-- The Organon was destroyed. We have little reason to doubt the Gravemind's warning about that. The infrastructure of the Domain may remain, without the tens of millions of years of knowledge that was once contained there.

No doubt it was destroyed, as was "the infrastructure", but was ALL the knowledge really lost? The Gravemind seems to be itself a sort of manifestation of the Organon, from a certain point of view. I believe there are "pieces" that still remain, in some form or another. The Absolute Record may also have something to do with this... (is this a location, a construct, a title?). Humans before the Halo firing were libraries of ancient human consciousness to the Librarian, after all.

-- I assumed that was false info the Gravemind was feeding her.

Indeed it is hard to trust Cortana at all after that event. Hard to trust Gravemind, too.

-- Did 343 GS even know she gave up that title at the very end of all things?

Hard to say, but considering he believes it took him (Chakas) 100 000 years of exploration and study to realize her location, there's something more to this than just 343 being crazy.

-- Those titles don't seem like something that you just find yourself having.

Agreed. But Librarian[Requiem essence] seemed to have been waiting for her, specifically. Halsey was responsible for combining Spartan and AI, creating a "new" form of life in Chief/Cortana[Assembly applauds this in Reach data pads, while Cortana herself is a very unique AI]. As far as we know, this hadn't been done before, and it hasn't been done since. Halsey may have been acting under the genesong she was given, but is there more to this: has it begun to manifest an imprint? Is it possible for a forerunner imprint to manifest in a human? Or, for that matter, is Lifeshaper a title restricted to Forerunner? Were all that had the title Lifeshaper, Forerunner?

Halsey's Journal, Sept 4, 2547:
ztN7ehFl.jpg

"Over the years an idea has percolated in my subconscious.
I suppose it's an intriguing possibility that I've contemplated, in one form or another, all my life - even as an impressionable young child when my father recited every adventurous tale of L. Frank Baum's Oz.
But now I've assembled and secreted all the disparate components - the last by mere happenstance.
Do I possess the mettle to do this?
Not that I would even entertain some puerile belief in fate or luck, or anything from among the host of superstitions many cling to. Still, there is something...
The battle-worn frigate Tripping Light has arrived in Dry Dock. Her FTL drive is slated for final spin-down, removal and disposal at 1615 today.
Enough musing and procrastination. I must act quickly."

The next four pages of information are missing. Of Halsey's doing? Or someone reading it after? We aren't sure what exactly happened here, but we have another perspective of this event, by the "Assembly of Minds", in Reach data pad 17, 2547:

"Incredible. [10141-026-SRB4695], with minimal influence from this Assembly, has attempted to build an abstract fractal structure within Shaw-Fujikawa Space. Although her first attempt was a failure, success could finally remove our dependence on biological systems altogether! If our Minds could somehow achieve freedom of expansion within eleven-dimensional space, immortality might be within reach"
Hmmm..."Don’t mind me. BB settled down to watch and learn. I’m no trouble at all. I’ll stay out of your way. I’m just observing."

So Halsey was trying to circumvent AI rampancy by building the fractal crystal that contains the AI matrices inside of Slispace. We know Halsey failed doing this at least once - or at least this "Assembly" says so. Did she try again, did she succeed? The journal's pages are missing.

We know Halsey' journal was read and dissected by many ONI operatives (at the very least, previous ONI head Parangosky, [current] head Serin Osman, AI Black Box[BB], and Naomi 010) after they found it on Reach, eventually finding its way into "our" hands (after declassification in 2610).

From Glasslands:
“Oh, I never assume anything where Halsey’s concerned, and she might well actually be dead, of course, planning or no planning. But there’s a logical progression.” Parangosky counted out on thin fingers, joints swollen despite her doctor’s best efforts. “We have the Onyx battle reports from Dusk. We know she kidnapped Spartan-Zero-Eight-Seven. We know she persuaded Hood to deploy Spartans to Onyx. And we know damn well just how many Forerunner artifacts there were on that planet and what they might be. So she had her Spartans, and she had access to Forerunner technology. Now—your turn.”
“So she jumped ship,” Osman said. “She’s used something the Forerunners left behind.”
BB felt free to chip in with his own theories. “And after reading her journal, I think she’s cleansing her conscience by hiding her Spartans.”

[there's more to this... but then later...]

How extraordinary. She refers to people as my lieutenant, my Spartans. She has this sense of ownership. And yet she hands her small daughter to Jacob Keyes and washes her hands of her. How … odd."--Osman, reading Halsey's Journal

Sense of ownership, except with her own daughter Miranda[other than Cortana, of course]...

Theory? We know Trevelyan is a Dyson Sphere the size of a small solar system (hidden in Onyx, and with considerable amounts of Forerunner tech, considering it is five hundred million times the surface area of Earth), as far as we know, the largest Forerunner Installation built. I wonder if it is possible to put our solar system in there...Or put Trevelyan around Sol... What else could ONI/UNSC use this place for? What are the implications of being in "control" of such a thing, especially with the Halos still around?

What other mysteries lie within?


[let's call the above musing Part 2.5]
 
Yeah, Halo 4's Banshee usage was weird. I barely remember being in one in 4's multi, honestly.



True, but the Banshee needs to be consdered a flying Scorpion in terms of balance in it's current state when placed on maps.

Banshee is plenty present in BTB, heavies and BTB CTF these days, not so much in other playlists but I like it that way.
 

Deadly Cyclone

Pride of Iowa State
Can't wait to play a halo game without assassinations. Halo 4 has almost no control over them compared to reach.

I think I've only accidentally assassinated someone like twice. I like that they are there. Maybe move them to a harder-to-accidentally-hit button?

Also, folks, we don't need to quote that gif 40 times, however awesome it may be. (Bring back the Pro Pipe Frankie).
 

willow ve

Member
No control?

I haven't once assassinated someone by accident in Halo Reach or Halo 4. /shrugs

I think I've only accidentally assassinated someone like twice. I like that they are there. Maybe move them to a harder-to-accidentally-hit button?

Also, folks, we don't need to quote that gif 40 times, however awesome it may be. (Bring back the Pro Pipe Frankie).
I think it depends on age of controller. My old wired controller did assassinations most of the time no matter what I did. Switched to a newer controller and noticed some of that went away.

Toggle could fix it.
 

Fuchsdh

Member
I think it depends on age of controller. My old wired controller did assassinations most of the time no matter what I did. Switched to a newer controller and noticed some of that went away.

Toggle could fix it.

I do it unintentionally from time to time (newer controller) but either way it doesn't bother me. For competitive settings I think having a toggle would be ideal for those players.
 

Booties

Banned
No control?

I haven't once assassinated someone by accident in Halo Reach or Halo 4. /shrugs

And I haven't once back-smacked someone on purpose in Halo 4. /shrugs.

I think it depends on age of controller. My old wired controller did assassinations most of the time no matter what I did. Switched to a newer controller and noticed some of that went away.

Toggle could fix it.

Could be the case, my controller is from early 2011 I think. Some stick to it. I also have a ganky hand and am probably pressing the button hard every time. But even when I consciously attempt to not assassinate someone it happens anyway.
 

IHaveIce

Banned
So I'm giving the Destiny Alpha another try and I have to say... from the creators of Halo indeed! Game is actually really fun and it's a lot better I'm enjoying a lot more than I was a few days ago, not sure why.



So far from the 4 multiplayer maps I've played so far, the game has that Bungie feel and love. Capture The Flag also reminds me a LOT of Halo, I just love it.

Detailed opinions and thoughts coming later this week in the HaloGAF Collections Cast (slight name change, it's fine, we haven't launched yet!). Sorry the sneak peek was delayed, the Destiny Alpha distracted me, and I'm still ironing out some kinks. Also... special guest was added in to make the first episode really special...

#PerAudaciaAdAstra
You play your ps4 through the xbox one?
 
A toggle would be nice. The only times I ever feel like I've accidentally assassinated (which isn't a lot, considering I almost always go for it instead of the backsmack) have been due to netcode / lag wonkiness.
 
So I'm giving the Destiny Alpha another try and I have to say... from the creators of Halo indeed! Game is actually really fun and it's a lot better I'm enjoying a lot more than I was a few days ago, not sure why.



So far from the 4 multiplayer maps I've played so far, the game has that Bungie feel and love. Capture The Flag also reminds me a LOT of Halo, I just love it.

Detailed opinions and thoughts coming later this week in the HaloGAF Collections Cast (slight name change, it's fine, we haven't launched yet!). Sorry the sneak peek was delayed, the Destiny Alpha distracted me, and I'm still ironing out some kinks. Also... special guest was added in to make the first episode really special...

#PerAudaciaAdAstra

Wait, there's an xbox one Destiny Alpha?
 

AlStrong

Member
ew, please no.

We're on the next gen, we can afford something better like Light Propogation Volumes.

That's just for approximate dynamic bounce lighting, not for shadowing.


edit: IThe simplest would be to add a sunlight that casts real-time shadows.

LPV isn't perfect either; insufficient volume resolution can easily lead to light bleeding through relatively thin structures. :)
 
Top Bottom