Daily Archives: 02/02/2012

Halo’s transition from Bungie to 343 (3/31/2012)

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Via HaloWaypoint.com:

What’s next for Halo Waypoint.

Our friends at Bungie recently announced that as part of Halo’s transition to 343, they will no longer update game stats and player service records, host new user-generated content, or operate the Bungie Pro Service after March 31. There has been a lot of discussion and some confusion around this transition, so we wanted to take a moment to tell you what will be affected and what’s next for Halo Waypoint.

Starting on April 1, we will be increasing Halo: Reach File Share capacity from 6 slots to 24 slots at no extra charge. All Halo: Reach files, including films, screenshots, game types, and maps, will continue to be fully accessible in-game, just like they are today. We’re also excited to announce that we are bringing Halo: Reach File Share access to the web version of Halo Waypoint this summer. After March 31, there will be a short period where new Halo: Reach user-generated content will not be accessible from the web.

While the real-time export of Halo 3 and Halo 3: ODST data to the web will not be supported on Waypoint at the time of this transition, data collection is still taking place. In fact, Halo 3 and Halo 3: ODST stats will continue to be reflected in your Halo Waypoint Career. To access your Halo Career, log on to the website, and click the drop-down arrow located to the right of your gamertag at the top of the screen. Then, click the Career Overview panel. There you will see the total number of Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST, Halo Wars, and Halo: Reach Campaign and Multiplayer games you’ve played throughout your entire Halo career. You can also see Games Played, Time Played, Total Kills, and Kill/Death information for each title by selecting it in the Halo Stats Summary column.
Halo Stats
The most noticeable changes will include those features seen exclusively on Bungie.net, such as rendered films, nameplates, and Halo: Reach API keys. Those features are not included in the transition, and we do not have plans to develop similar features at this time.

343’s focus for the near future is ensuring that the Halo: Reach experience is the best it can be, both in-game and on the web, expanding our Halo Waypoint services, and making Halo 4, which you can expect to hear more about in the not-so-distant future. We’re excited about continuing to evolve the Halo franchise, and we thank you for joining us on this ride.

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So this means folks that if you want to capture some Halo 3 or ODST goodness, you better do so in the next two months. After that it’s gone for good. Sadface for that.

February Matchmaking Playlist Update

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Via Halowaypoint.com: http://halo.xbox.com/blogs/Headlines/post/2012/02/02/The-Halo-Bulletin-2112.aspx

February Matchmaking Playlist Update

Speaking of being eternally grateful, the team that designs the Halo: Reach playlists always appreciates the feedback you leave in the Matchmaking section of our forums. They’re looking for additional feedback this month, though, so let’s dip into the specifics of the February Matchmaking playlist update, which is slated to go live on February 7, so you can find out yet another way to make your voice heard.

• Grifball updated.

Map changes include Radiant being removed and Impact Arena (Grifball) and Sierra Vista (Grifball Dash) being added. One additional change to this playlist is that Blargball variants will now appear in voting slot three only. Semi-related, to vote for that choice, you must say “wort wort wort” into your mic while simultaneously selecting that option. Please note that saying “wart wart wart” will render your selection null and void.

• Squad DLC updated.

Squad DLC’s population is dangerously low. To breathe some life into this list, we’re making a few changes. Anniversary maps have been set to optional, and Noble and Defiant maps continue to be required. We have also heard your concerns in regard to a few achievement-friendly game types still being difficult to find. In response to that, we’ve added the following objective game types to voting slot three:

Multiflag on Highlands, 1 Flag on Highlands, 1 Flag on Condemned, Invasion on Breakpoint, Crazy King in Breakpoint, 1 Flag on Breakpoint, 1 Flag on Tempest, Multiflag on Tempest, Crazy King on Tempest, Neutral Bomb on Tempest, Multiflag on Condemned, Crazy King on Condemned, Crazy King on High Noon, 1 Flag on High Noon, Crazy King on Breakneck, 1 Flag on Breakneck, Stockpile on Ridgeline, Neutral Bomb on Ridgeline, and Crazy King on Ridgeline.

• Rumble Pit updated to TU settings.

TU game types are our standard Reach Matchmaking settings with the Title Update changes. Those changes are: damage bleed enabled, modified reticle bloom, sword block removed, Armor Lock modified, and Active Camo modified.

• Infection updated.

Map changes include Sword Base being removed and The Cage replacing Uncaged. Also, we’ve noticed some feedback coming from both matchmaking and internal playtests about players getting betrayed by teammates at the beginning of games. Since that sometimes results in a less advantageous respawn position, we’ve removed friendly fire in an attempt to cut down on that particular form of griefing.

P.S. One final effort is all that remaaaaaaains, so please, dear players, just focus on the braaaaaains.

• Banshee replaced with Revenant on Breakneck.

The classic Gauss ’Hog vs. Banshee battle on Headlong will continue. We bid adieu to the flying purple thing on Breakneck, though, and welcome its hovering brethren in its place!

• Rocket ’Hog Race weighting reduced in Multi Team.

I think this game type should be renamed “Spawn in the Passenger Seat Every -Yoinking- Time.” That has absolutely nothing to do with the reweighting, by the way. I just don’t want the impending name change to take you by surprise.

• Zero Bloom moved to Competitive category, and Beta category hidden.

Zero Bloom Slayer is popular enough to be moved to the Competitive category. We’re working on what will be in the Beta category next, but it needs a little more time to marinate in order to reach its maximum important status. Keep an eye out for its return in the near future.

• Classic game types removed from Anniversary Squad, and One Bomb Damnation moved to Anniversary Classic.

Classic game types are being removed from Anniversary Squad, and One Bomb Damnation is moving to Anniversary Classic. What? I already said that? Fine then. Moving on.

• Team Slayer changes. Make your voice heard!

We are in the process of deciding if the Team Slayer playlist will be updated to TU settings. This continues to be one of the most popular playlists, so we are not taking this decision lightly. In an effort to get player feedback that’s as accurate as possible, we are going to pull voting data over a two-week period.

Team Slayer Voting Screen

To do that, we’re removing one of the voting choices. That will leave you with one vanilla choice and one TU choice. We realize that ties default to the highest voting option, so in order to balance the results, vanilla will be the top selection for the first week, and TU will be the top selection for the second week. Once the results are in, we’ll analyze the data and make an informed decision.

So, participate in the Team Slayer playlist starting on February 7, and make your voice heard! Because the other option, of course, is forever holding your peace….

• Team Hotshot added to Action Sack.

Right about now you’re probably asking yourself, what is Team Hotshot? To answer that question, I grabbed the playlist designer that created this game type, and asked him a few questions.

Team Hotshot

Mr. L, I’d like to ask you, on behalf of both people reading the Bulletin this week, what exactly is Team Hotshot?

Team Hotshot is a new game type in which a player’s damage output is tied to the number of successive kills the player has achieved. When you spawn, you’re at level zero. One kill progresses you to level one, the next kill progresses you to level two, and the third kill progresses you to the third and final level. We call this the player’s “heat.” The twist is that players will notice their speed is tied to their heat level.

Congratulations on doubling your readership, by the way.

Why, thank you! Back to business, though. How did you come up with this game type?

My original idea for Team Hotshot was to have the person get stronger with every successive DMR bullet that hits a target. What it eventually morphed into was players getting stronger as they get kills. So it’s not every shot you land, but every kill you get. The tricky part was that you have this rich-keep-getting-richer economy, and there needs to be a balance for all the players who are suddenly stronger than their opponents. So, the idea was much like working your way up the weight classes of boxing; the stronger you are, the slower you are. The heavyweights in a boxing match don’t throw 120 punches per round like the featherweights do. But when you get hit with a haymaker from a heavyweight, it puts you out. They throw fewer punches but have more power behind them. Hotshots are similar. They can’t move around as quickly, but they can do more damage.

What is a good strategy when playing Team Hotshot?

You want to work with your team to protect the slower players who are putting out more damage. You also want to get those people power weapons. Here’s why: when you’re at the third level of heat, you are doing significantly more damage than a player who just spawned. For instance, one sniper shot anywhere on an enemy player will kill them. That brings up another point. Players who are ascending through the heat levels need to be more careful about their ordnance output. When one grenade can kill an enemy player, it can betray a teammate just as easily.

Rockets Chart

I wanted to help illustrate your point, so I made this rocket damage chart. I was attempting to show the radius being the same but the damage output increasing. I think I just ended up drawing a rainbow, though.

I would say A for effort, but that’s really bad. To make up for that, here are the specifics for each heat level.

Heat 0/3: 100% D.M. 100% Speed
Heat 1/3: 115% D.M. 90% Speed
Heat 2/3: 130% D.M. 85% Speed
Heat 3/3: 145% D.M. 80% Speed

Another fun thing about this game type is that players will be able to adjust heat level traits in custom games.

So, if people want to mess around with the settings themselves, they should grab the game type when they see it in Action Sack?

Yup. I’ll also upload it to the Halo Waypoint File Share shortly after the update goes live on February 7.

 

Cortana available as costume for female avatars!

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The uber cool AI is available if you’re sporting a female avatar. This is one time I’m changing my avatar to female.

You can buy the costume through the Marketplace on LIVE or go to XBOX.com and buy her here: http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/Product/Cortana-Costume/00000ffc-64ea-f262-c5ec-8d634d5309cf?cid=SLink

She’ll run you 320MSP, so it’s up to you to decide if she’s worth it for that price.

Do you want Halo 4 to be like Halo 3 or Reach?

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This is a topic of much debate over at HaloWaypoint.com. I chimed in with my thoughts and decided to post them here for the record as well.

It’s not that I want Halo 4 to be like Reach. However I would expect at least some aspects of Reach to spill over into H4.

What I don’t want is a repeat of OLD games.

I DO want cooler tech to game with. I want to learn NEW technics for killing, strategies for map control (without camping!), etc.

People complain about AAs being in Reach and not in the other games. Let’s look at that for a moment.

Reach happens before the main trology, yet it stars Spartan III’s with the exception of Jorge. So we know that the Spartan III program got upgraded armor/abilities. Why? Well to make up for the fact that they weren’t as tough as Spartan IIs. Jorge just happened to benefit from this as well. Also, let’s not forget that the Spartan III program was Army, NOT Navy like the SII’s. It was Ackerson’s project not Halsey’s so the armor/abilities would be different and coexist at the same time.

In the meantime, Halo CE, 2, 3 all happen within just a few months after Reach. We’re NOT talking years folks. Just a few months. Spartan IIs had been using Mark V armor for some time and only in H2 did MC get Mk VI armor. Since he got it from the Navy.

Mark VII armor has been introduced in the novels and only SII’s have it. IN fact just a scant few do.

I mentioned in another thread that I have a theory that Master Chief’s armor won’t even be Mk VII, but rather a hybrid of his existing armor and Forerunner upgrades. So that would fully explain any new abilities, new hud, etc. Even if it’s not due to Forerunner tech, getting a new suit of Mk VII would explain it all away.

Personally I do NOT want the same old Halo. Just look at the title of the original…Combat Evolved. So why can’t the game continue to evolve and have new and/or better things in it?

We’re talking about 500 years in the future. These are Super Soldiers. They SHOULD have abilities like jet packing. Due to the fact that their armor is also mechanical armature, this enables the spartans to run a fast speeds. Not just sprint for short distances like in Reach, but RUN and for miles. (This taken from a paraphrased excerpt of [i]Glasslands[/i].)

I’ll play Halo 4 no matter the style of play, upgrade, abilities or not because I’m a fan of the franchise. Each game has changed a bit from the next one. Yet each one is VERY playable and fun. If you’re a fan of Halo and not having fun with the games, then what is the point for you? You may want to consider adapting to new styles of play. I did from H3 to Reach and I immensely enjoy the game. I had to practically reinvent my own style of play to d so. That is okay though. I’ve become a much better player, specifically slayer.

So if Halo 4 emulates reach more than it does Halo 3 or it’s predecessors I’ll be quite happy. If it emulates Halo 3, well I’ll be a little disappointed as I think it’s a step backwards and will ruin the franchise. But, I’ll still play it.

Realistically you have to consider how other franchises are doing things. What are they doing right that gamers like/love? This is the kind of thing Frank O’Conner was referring to, when referencing CoD. If 343i were to ignore the ridiculously high sales of Modern Warfare 3, then indeed Halo may be doomed to be a second tier FPS series behind CoD/MW.

While I’m nervous of the lack of info about the new game not coming out, I am confident that 343i is out to make an outstanding game. No it won’t appeal to ALL Halo gamers. How can it? We are a fickle bunch. Just look at these forums and you can see the proof in that statement.

If Halo 4 becomes more like other first-rate, high selling franchises, yet keeps much of it’s core game style, then I think it will last through the other two games in the Reclaimer trilogy.