Bravo brings us this week’s builletin.
The first part talks about his travelling between pro-league events and E3, then on to RTX (Rooster Teeth Expo) coming next week. Of note is during RTX there will be apanel called “What’s Next: Halo 4 SUmmer 2013.” I hope we get some exciting news. Maybe a new DLC? Or Spartan Ops Season 2? I’m crossing my fingers here but not holding my breath.
Up next is an article on Spartan Assault. To be more specific, last week Bravo asked the community to submit questions regarding the upcoming title and he took them to other 343 people in the know who answered several of them.
The one glaring omission was of course would H:SA be coming to XBOX Live Arcade…
Anyway, here are all of the questions asked (and hey what do you know, the pick one of MINE to answer-well, they sort of answered it….cryptic!):
Q: Will there be any new weapons to use in this game or only weapons from previous games? -Cizlin
A: We have a suite of the old Halo favorites whilst adding some new turbocharged versions of existing weapons.
Q: Will our profile for Halo: Spartan Assault carry over between Windows 8 PC and Windows Phone 8? -bfett9
A: Cloud saving is enabled in the game, allowing players to carry their profile over between Windows 8 (Tablet or Desktop) and Windows Phone 8.
Q: How long will it take to complete the main Campaign in Halo: Spartan Assault? -TashiGAF
A: The main campaign contains 25 missions plus mission-specific and weekly challenges, which add to the gameplay duration.
Q: Where does the story fit in the Halo timeline? -jesse7456
A: The story of Halo: Spartan Assault takes place in the hectic time between Halo 3 (where it looked like things were calming down as far as intergalactic warfare was concerned) and the start of Halo 4 (where said hopes were quite thoroughly dashed). Anybody who played Halo 4 met Commander Sarah Palmer and the idea of Spartan Ops, and Spartan Assault lets you go back and see where Palmer and this new Spartan mission structure got started.
Q: How much will the game cost? -monkeyisbest
A: $6.99 USD.
Q: Is 100% of the save data and game progress saved to the cloud? -Falcon 304
A: Games are saved locally and also saved to the cloud when the user is connected to the Internet.
Q: While the Covenant forces seem to be that of the original empire, with Sangheili and Jiralhanae together, the inclusion of the Spartan-IVs and characters such as Parg Vol indicate that this might be a post-war splinter faction. Any clarification on who we’re actually fighting? -Dark Auk
A: It’s a bit too early to head down Spoiler Lane on this one, but you’ll be fighting some familiar faces with interesting new motivations.
Q: Will there be a large difference between the prices for each platform, or will it cost the same regardless of platform choice (PC, phone and tablet)? -SpiritHawk7
A: Price is the same across all platforms.
Q: For the PC platform, will there be a physical disc for the game that one can pre-order and purchase from retailers, or is it download only like on the phone and tablet? -SpiritHawk7
A: Halo: Spartan Assault is available from the Windows 8 Store or the Windows 8 Phone Store; there is no physical disc.
Q: Can we earn awards in-game that will benefit us in Halo 4, such as weapon skins, XP, Emblems and Armor? -a live dinosaur
A: Halo: Spartan Assault players will indeed receive extra content in Halo 4, including an Emblem and some XP.
Q: Will we play Palmer as an ODST at any point in this game? -DecepticonCobra
A: No disrespect to the ODSTs, but once you make it to the Spartans, you stay a Spartan…so no; this story focuses on Commander Palmer’s early days as a Spartan-IV.
Here’s one of the questions of mine that I submitted that they (sort of) answered.
Q: Is there any significance to Palmer’s armor being silver while Spartan Davis’ is gold? -HaloFanForLife1
A: Maaaaabye.
HFFL: Very cryptic response…I’m thinking YES.
Q: Is Halo: Spartan Assault going to become a platform to explore more corners of the vast and rich Halo universe? -erickyboo
A: We’ve definitely thought about visiting other important moments in the Halo storyline in a Spartan Assault kind of way, but all attention right now is on getting this first effort finished and as awesome as we can make it.
Q: When will Halo: Spartan Assault release? -The Little Moa
A: July 2013. We have not yet nailed down the specific date. We’ll announce the date just as soon as the details are finalized.
Q: What’s the story with the Brutes in Halo: Spartan Assault? Are they part of the Covenant Loyalists? Are they allied with Jul’s forces? If so, why? -Toa Freak
A: We’ll have lots more to say about who is or isn’t in Halo: Spartan Assault once the game is out in the wild (and what we have to say will make a lot more sense then, too). On the upside, though, there’s not long to wait!
Lots of good questions. (I like mine the best, but then I’m biased, lol)
Next up we have the weekly Matchmaking Playlist Update and it’s going to make some people very happy!
Big Team Skirmish (YEA!!!!!)
Due to high demand, Big Team Skirmish will be making its Matchmaking premiere in Monday’s update, replacing the current Team Objective playlist. We have chosen to offer 8 vs. 8 objective as a separate offering from Big Team Infinity Slayer so as to not disrupt our most popular playlist. However, we’ll monitor population and trends so that we can react accordingly. The following 8 vs. 8 game modes will be offered when the playlists launches:
Big Team CTF – Longbow, Ragnarok, Complex
Big Team King of the Hill – Exile, Longbow
Big Team Regicide – Complex, Settler
HFFL: The only thing I’m bummed about is that Team Objective keeps getting pushed aside. We MUST have a 4v4 Team Objective playlist. The only reason why the current one doesn’t do so well is that it’s 6v6. Get back to the normal 4v4 team size and I’ll bet we see that playlist rise in population again.
Continuing on is a new gametype within an existing playlist. HIVEMIND….ooohhh SCARY!
Flood Updates
Also coming next week is an infectiously fun Flood update. We’ve teamed up with the Community Cartographers and Flood fanatics to deliver a new game type and accompanying maps. The new game type, Hivemind, adds a brand-new experience to the playlist. To give you some insight into the development of this game type, I figured it’d be best to talk to the Cartographers themselves and allow them to explain the settings and project overall. Below is a note from Alzarahn and a few others who assisted in the development of Hivemind.
“I started by looking for a subsection of the community that focused on Flood content. This search led me to The Halo Forge Epidemic, The MK25 Clan, and various independent Flood forgers. I gathered together a group with a firm knowledge of Flood’s gameplay balances and core concepts, with the goal of creating a singular, fresh new game type for the Flood playlist.
We endeavored together to create a Flood game type in which a player did not feel disadvantaged for spawning as either Flood or human; a balance between the two was crucial. The idea of a Flood player killing in two hits was adopted early on, along with the removal of Armor Abilities and the choice of every human’s starting weapon, the beloved MA5D Assault Rifle. Concepts such as Initial and Random Ordnance as on-map weapon pick-ups, along with smaller changes to base player settings, were continually adjusted as we proceeded with community map testing.
Many great community Flood maps were polished to compliment the game type, which we eventually dubbed “Hivemind” in honor of how it was developed. I could spend hours describing the setup and core concepts of this particular game type, but I’ll allow some of these community Flood developers to share what they believe makes Hivemind great:
“Hivemind gives humans a second chance to stay alive, while the default Flood is a one-lunge kill. This change increases the amount of time players get to spend on each map. Overall, it’s a very balanced experience for the humans and Flood.” – NARB GUY
“I truly enjoy the strategic aspects that this game type adds by allowing players to gather their own weapons throughout the map, not to mention that a two-hit Flood game type makes for a survivable and enjoyable environment for players.” – Robius5991
I hope in the days to come that you can see the fruits of our labor and that the community is pleased with both what we’ve tried to create, and how we chose to create it. I’ll see you in the playlist, dead or alive.”
– Alzarahn
HFFL: Want to check out the maps for this new gametype? Click the links below to download!
Payload by Narb Guy
Drillsite by Pa1nts
Temple by Mr Pokephile
Repression by Auxi Klutch
Dominion
We’ve also been working on an update to the Dominion playlist. For starters, we have modified the resupply of the bases to provide mostly Loadout weapons and grenades rather than a large number of power weapons. Also, we’ve added a brand-new game type named Lockdown. This new mode focuses the action on one central base that both teams must fight to control. The scoring settings are as follows:
• Score to win: 100
• Capture Points: 0
• Standard Capture Time: 1
• Fortified Capture Time: 5
• Fortify Points: 0
• Fortify Time: 15
• Resupply Points: 10
• Resupply Frequency: 25
• Last Stand: False
HFFL: Okay, this sounds cool. Certainly lots of intense fighting over ONE location! I can see this coming to a standstill on more than one occasion though.
Updated weapon and power-up respawns across the following maps in Dominion:
Exile
Overshield near Blue spawn
• Repawns in 90 sec (86 in Forge)
Sticky Detonator above Red spawn
• Respawns in 120 sec (116 in Forge)
Longbow
Shotgun near each spawn
• Respawns in 120 sec (116 in Forge)
Rocket Launcher on back beach in between Alpha and Charlie
• Respawns in 120 sec (116 in Forge)
Meltdown
Needlers in each teleporter bunker
• Respawns in 60 sec (56 in Forge)
Fuel Rod Cannon on main bridge
• Respawns in 120 sec (116 in Forge)
Vortex
Concussion Rifle near Red spawn
• Respawns in 120 sec (116 in Forge)
Sniper Rifle near Blue spawn
• Respawns in 120 sec (116 in Forge)
Energy Sword underneath Bravo
• Respawns in 120 sec (116 in Forge)
Additionally, we’ve optimized spawns on Haven (removed the “ditch” spawns on bottom Open Ramp), fixed a rotating ordnance issue on Simplex, and updated voting options in Infinity Slayer, SWAT and Big Team Infinity Slayer to include an on-disk map in the first slot to allow for the best experiences for split-screen players and optimized overall map variety.
Action Sack’s Mini Slayer will also be receiving a new map on Monday. The map, appropriately named Napoleon, uses a blocked-off section of Complex’s central cliff-side base and provides compact, arena-esque chaos to tickle your Mini Slayer fancy.
HFFL: I submitted four mini-slayer maps to 343. Hopefully, they’ll add one or more of these into rotation at some point. I didn’t expect them to be put in so soon as I’m sure they want to play test them first and fix any issue that might arise. Here’s hoping though that they pick one of mine. I’d be extremely honored and excited to see one of my maps in official matchmaking rotation!
And finally, the bulletin ends with the weekly Screenshot Spotlight. This week’s subject: MANTIS!
To read the full bulletin (though this week I included much of it here) and to see the gallery of Mantis images, go to the official site.
-Sal