[The Real Napsta]

I expect you to drive down to lan a few weeks after:)

I'm down.

[Mik2121]

Do we know until what time is the server maintenance?

[Demoncarnotaur]

?

I never liked FF in Reach as much as I did ODST.

wtf Tunavi And fuck you all for writing 800 new posts in the past 18 hours - I could have made this post a LONG time ago if I didn't have to catch up. Unfortunately, I don't have time for a full writeup today - I'm headed out of town in a couple of hours, and will be pretty much without internet until Sunday night. (I guess that gives me time to polish something, though, right?) Quick overview: There were two maps in rotation, Warhouse and Wraparound (both of which have been renamed, but new names aren't final/public yet) - so nothing new there. The build was dated March 28 - but Frank said it was pretty much a polished-up version of what Devo and Domino played back at the Spring Showcase. Sounds were all over the map (hmm... bad choice of words) - some were simply awesome (PLASMA PISTOL OMG), some were missing altogether, others had placeholder versions. (The multiplayer announcer was clearly some guy from the studio. Pretty funny, actually... but I'm glad he's not final.) I had some trouble getting used to finding Sprint on my left analog stick. (There are a million button layouts now, so you can pretty much set things up any way you want; I went with my normal (for me) Southpaw/Southpaw/Inverted setup, and that's where Sprint is. Crouch is on the B button, which is bizarre.) Because of this, I felt really slow sometimes. This was exacerbated by the fact that I'd cranked my sensitivity way down; at the start, I couldn't hold the reticle on my opponents (felt like the equivalent of a 6 or 7 in Reach, so I turned it down from the default 4 to 3), but this made everything else feel... slower. Things were definitely better by the end of the night, and for people less ancient than me, the adaption will almost certainly happen faster. Loadouts have a couple more slots than Reach loadouts. (In Reach, you get primary weapon, secondary weapon, grenade, AA - in H4, you get two more slots - I forget what they were called, but they hold things like increased regen and more ammo.) I primarily stuck with the first two loadouts - the first was BR/Plasma Pistol/Plas Grenade, while the second was DMR/pistol/frag. The DMR is a BEAST at range... but much harder to handle up close. The BR is a pretty fast killer up close, but at any real distance, you'll get beaten by a good DMR. The plasma pistol rocks. I don't know if it's just the sound... but DAMN. I was killing people with regular pepper shots (which aren't pepper at all in H4 - they're little mini balls of fire, it seems), and the noob combo is still a reliable annhilator. Overcharged shot seems to track, at least a little bit. (Not as much as Halo 1. :) ) Promethean Vision is actually pretty useful in very limited situations. It DOES let you see through walls (at least a limited number of walls; you can see people sort of near you) - but 1) you don't have very much of it (it runs out really quickly) and 2) it doesn't help you figure out where someone is if the geometry is really complicated. I guess this will become less relevant when we know the maps inside and out. It's really useful when someone dips behind a wall and then tries to fake you out... you can tell where they're going. It also screws up colors, so if you're in the middle of a multi-person firefight, it adds more confusion than it removes. I'd say used judiciously, it's pretty cool - but as Frank said, a good player won't really need it. Dammit. That's what I have time for. I'll try and come back in a little while to see if there are questions, but a full writeup needs to wait. Sorry!

Wow, great writeup! I feel like this made more sense of things than the GI article, haha.

Anyways, while I know you probably wont have time to answer, Im still gonna post the general questions it leave me with-

-Are sprint and AA's on separate buttons?
-Were there any new weapons? (missile pistol, Assault Carbine)
-Was Jetpack useable? If so, how does it operate?
-What about other AA's?

Hopefully some of those questions may get answers as others post impressions.. Its kinda crazy that we are gonna get these details from random people who played it rather than the press or 343 haha.

Oh, one more:
-How do weapon spawns work? Are there a lot less weapons in play now with the ordinance system?

[Tha Robbertster]

Do we know until what time is the server maintenance?

I don't think they actually gave a specific time, but I think in about 1/2 hours.

[Hypertrooper]

No one noticed the Forerunner-like AI or Hologram in the Bulletin? Or at least I think it looks like it.

Edit.: I'm talking about this:

[daedalius]

No. Like tuning your car for handling versus swapping out the engine. More deets at a later time.

That is an interesting analogy, because there is a lot of tuning you can do to the handling/suspension in a game like Forza ;)

No one noticed the Forerunner-like AI or Hologram in the Bulletin? Or at least I think it looks like it. Edit.: I'm talking about this:

Looks like Cortana investigating Forerunner terminals, at least I think that vaguely looks like her shape up top; could totally be a different AI.

[Demoncarnotaur]

No one noticed the Forerunner-like AI or Hologram in the Bulletin? Or at least I think it looks like it.

huh? where?

[Bregmann Roche]

What exactly does the MS creative services group do?

I was going to go with "They figure out ways to service us creatively" but Ellis beat me to it. Doesn't that kind of humor violate Microsoft's standards and practices?

Increased ammo only sounds bad for power weapons, i rarely run out of ammo for guns like the BR, AR, DMR, etc. I feel like it would be pointless for to use in a loadout.

More ammo sounds like you spawn with more ammo for your loadout weapons, which could be useful in some circumstances, but it's certainly not game-breaking. Something like faster shield regeneration doesn't bother me because it doesn't interrupt the flow of an encounter (the disruption happens when I'm nowhere near the guy with the perk/bees or after he's defeated me--in which case I don't care that he gets his shields back). Compare those two abilities to something like armor lock which absolutely interrupts an encounter and directly affects my enjoyment of the game.

So far so good 343.

[Tha Robbertster]

No one noticed the Forerunner-like AI or Hologram in the Bulletin? Or at least I think it looks like it. Edit.: I'm talking about this:

I didn't actually click on the images, but there are actually new concept art pieces in there.

I thought the image you linked looked like some kind of control room.

More ammo sounds like you spawn with more ammo for your loadout weapons, which could be useful in some circumstances, but it's certainly not game-breaking. Something like faster shield regeneration doesn't bother me because it doesn't interrupt the flow of an encounter (the disruption happens when I'm nowhere near the guy with the perk/bees or after he's defeated me--in which case I don't care that he gets his shields back). Compare those two abilities to something like armor lock which absolutely interrupts an encounter and directly affects my enjoyment of the game. So far so good 343.

Faster shield regeneration could actually influence the battle. Your opponent with the ''perk'' for faster shield regen has an edge over you when you guys are both waiting for your shield to recharge after a 1v1. His shields will be fully charged while you're still waiting. That'll result in him getting to you and probably kill you while you are still recharging your shields.

Of course, we don't know what the difference will be so this is all exaggerated speculation.

[Calm Killer]

Has this been posted yet?

https://twitter.com/#!/KGoldieNY

https://twitter.com/#!/KGoldieNY/sta...804032/photo/1

This guy is playing it and tweeting about it.

https://twitter.com/#!/killa_kc

[TheOddOne]

Popa Wu dropping that knowledge. Big thanks!

No one noticed the Forerunner-like AI or Hologram in the Bulletin? Or at least I think it looks like it. Edit.: I'm talking about this:

Holy shit, I did not even notice that.

[StalkerUKCG]

Halo 4 better be playable at PAX or am cry

[monome]

I'm not trying to be a dick monome, but I really do not see what you're trying to say. Often your posts seem like a miss match of random thoughts, without really making a solid point.

certainly no offense taken.

I'm not technically efficient enough in FPS to discuss matters of BR/DMR all the time, although I take notice of people's technical posts to try and improve my game.

I post from phone during work breaks mostly, so don't bother looking for a refined analysis, I'm mostly venting...sorry.

Yet Halo gets me "giddy", it's a series I want to talk about, it's not so big in France, pretty hard to have a Halo conversation in a bar...so here I'm Halogaf. Don't mind you don't care, just don't hate.

To sum up entirely, I'm pretty used to game reveals now, and Halo 4 should not go counter-current, but I wished its marketing would be bolder, more exquisite and reaching beyond the business motivations of getting first look at the n°1 US publication etc...

No one noticed the Forerunner-like AI or Hologram in the Bulletin? Or at least I think it looks like it. Edit.: I'm talking about this:

never thought I would get a boner from looking at the inside of a structure...disturbing.
A bit big to hold a Forerunner AI? thought they didn't have the problem of transfering a chip to get an AI, but the whole Mantle thing is not clear to me, excpet it is not working properly even before Forerunners are bye bye.

[Munish23]

Has this been posted yet? https://twitter.com/#!/KGoldieNY https://twitter.com/#!/KGoldieNY/sta...804032/photo/1 This guy is playing it and tweeting about it. https://twitter.com/#!/killa_kc

Yeah, those were last night.

We're waiting for impressions from some of them, Wu has some posted already.

[Homeboyd]

Were videos not allowed to be taken or something? What is WRONG with you people!?!

[Bregmann Roche]

Halo 4 better be playable at PAX or am cry

Halo 4 will be playable at PAX. It's a great venue for 343 to show it off, the timing is good, and it's in 343's backyard.

[Steelyuhas]

Thanks for the impressions Wu!

Totally called right stick sprint and B button crouch as the default control scheme.

[Demoncarnotaur]

Were videos not allowed to be taken or something? What is WRONG with you people!?!

:lol awful, I know

Its killing me that the details that we are waiting for are out there..we just need to wait til they are posted.

[TheOddOne]

Might as well post the full thing:

[Louis Wu]

-Are sprint and AA's on separate buttons?

Yes. Sprint is ALWAYS available, AA is on the same button as on Reach (Right bumper, for me).

-Were there any new weapons? (missile pistol, Assault Carbine)

I saw no new weapons in multi. Frank showed off a short campaign demo (10 minutes of an early level in the game), and there was some sort of energy-based covenant rifle that looks pretty cool. (Didn't get to see it in very much action; it came pretty late in the demo, and depending on who was running through, there often wasn't much left alive by the time it showed up.)

-Was Jetpack useable? If so, how does it operate? -What about other AA's?

I didn't experiment with any of the loadouts that used anything but Promethean Vision - sorry. (Both of the first two loadouts had that as the AA)

-How do weapon spawns work? Are there a lot less weapons in play now with the ordinance system?

There were almost no weapons on the map at all in the games we played. (I'd say there were none, but I seem to remember a needler or two lying around - I guess maybe a deady guy could have dropped it, not sure.)

Ordinance drops are pretty cool. When you earn one (I don't know what I did to earn them), you get a little thingy in your UI that pops up - three choices, mapped to three buttons on your D-Pad. Pick your drop, and it'll appear in the default location for that power weapon soon after. That is: Let's say we're talking about Powerhouse. When the game starts, there are no Rockets in the outlet under the station... but as soon as someone earns a drop, and picks Rockets, they'll pop in there. Everyone gets notified that they're about to drop - but the dropper obviously knows a little sooner. So you can either get there first, and snag 'em... or get there and set up a trap. :)

WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING STILL TYPING? I'M SUPPOSED TO BE PACKING!

[Shadders]

I doubt we'll see a video, considering what Wu said about the placeholder announcer guy. As hilarious as it would be, I can't imagine marketing letting that out in an official capacity.

[WJD]

Might as well post the full thing:

Just looks like a control panel to me. Something like at the end of Two Betrayal's. Or the beginning? I don't remember.

[FyreWulff]

There is indeed. I still haven't figured out my default.

Legacy sticks are in, right?

[TheOddOne]

I saw no new weapons in multi. Frank showed off a short campaign demo (10 minutes of an early level in the game), and there was some sort of energy-based covenant rifle that looks pretty cool. (Didn't get to see it in very much action; it came pretty late in the demo, and depending on who was running through, there often wasn't much left alive by the time it showed up.)

Was it the opening level on the Forward at Dawn?

[Karl2177]

Yes. Sprint is ALWAYS available, AA is on the same button as on Reach (Right bumper, for me). I saw no new weapons in multi. Frank showed off a short campaign demo (10 minutes of an early level in the game), and there was some sort of energy-based covenant rifle that looks pretty cool. (Didn't get to see it in very much action; it came pretty late in the demo, and depending on who was running through, there often wasn't much left alive by the time it showed up.) I didn't experiment with any of the loadouts that used anything but Promethean Vision - sorry. (Both of the first two loadouts had that as the AA) There were almost no weapons on the map at all in the games we played. (I'd say there were none, but I seem to remember a needler or two lying around - I guess maybe a deady guy could have dropped it, not sure.) Ordinance drops are pretty cool. When you earn one (I don't know what I did to earn them), you get a little thingy in your UI that pops up - three choices, mapped to three buttons on your D-Pad. Pick your drop, and it'll appear in the default location for that power weapon soon after. That is: Let's say we're talking about Powerhouse. When the game starts, there are no Rockets in the outlet under the station... but as soon as someone earns a drop, and picks Rockets, they'll pop in there. Everyone gets notified that they're about to drop - but the dropper obviously knows a little sooner. So you can either get there first, and snag 'em... or get there and set up a trap. :) WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING STILL TYPING? I'M SUPPOSED TO BE PACKING!

I was excited until I read that. It sounds... odd.

[Blueblur1]

Thank you for the impressions, Wu.

[Dax01]

No one noticed the Forerunner-like AI or Hologram in the Bulletin? Or at least I think it looks like it. Edit.: I'm talking about this:

Doesn't look like either to me (judging from what we know Forerunner AIs look like), and a hologram? Erm. To be honest, I have no idea what the hell that is.

...

Anyway, about Wu's write up. You know, the more I hear about news for Halo 4 (the multiplayer side at least), it's always mixed with good and bad (or stuff to worry about). From Wu's write up, it's the "regen" and ammo perks. The two have never been tried before, so I'm wary to say the least. My biggest concern out of what Wu posted was the potential for a PP+headshot weapon combo. I'm not too excited at the potential of everyone starting off with that combo, but the follow for the overcharge may have been nerfed so it doesn't matter. I do wonder, however, if the PP+headshot combo will extend to BTB. If it does, and if the PP still has the EMP effect on vehicles, that'll ruin vehicle combat.

Edit: Wait. You have to earn the power weapons? Um...

[TheOddOne]

Those drops really sound COD-esq.

Cue Kyle.

[Tha Robbertster]

Ordinance drops are pretty cool. When you earn one (I don't know what I did to earn them), you get a little thingy in your UI that pops up - three choices, mapped to three buttons on your D-Pad. Pick your drop, and it'll appear in the default location for that power weapon soon after. That is: Let's say we're talking about Powerhouse. When the game starts, there are no Rockets in the outlet under the station... but as soon as someone earns a drop, and picks Rockets, they'll pop in there. Everyone gets notified that they're about to drop - but the dropper obviously knows a little sooner. So you can either get there first, and snag 'em... or get there and set up a trap. :) WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING STILL TYPING? I'M SUPPOSED TO BE PACKING!

Uuuuh, this sounds like kills/points treaks to me...

yeah.....

[Hypertrooper]

It looks like a lot like Halo Legends "Didact". (According to Halopedian) (I'm talking about the eye position. Looks very familiar)

[WJD]

Ordinance drops are pretty cool. When you earn one (I don't know what I did to earn them), you get a little thingy in your UI that pops up - three choices, mapped to three buttons on your D-Pad. Pick your drop, and it'll appear in the default location for that power weapon soon after. That is: Let's say we're talking about Powerhouse. When the game starts, there are no Rockets in the outlet under the station... but as soon as someone earns a drop, and picks Rockets, they'll pop in there. Everyone gets notified that they're about to drop - but the dropper obviously knows a little sooner. So you can either get there first, and snag 'em... or get there and set up a trap. :) WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING STILL TYPING? I'M SUPPOSED TO BE PACKING!

[OverHeat]

Weapon drop sound awesome it will mix thing up :)

[Demoncarnotaur]

Yes. Sprint is ALWAYS available, AA is on the same button as on Reach (Right bumper, for me). I saw no new weapons in multi. Frank showed off a short campaign demo (10 minutes of an early level in the game), and there was some sort of energy-based covenant rifle that looks pretty cool. (Didn't get to see it in very much action; it came pretty late in the demo, and depending on who was running through, there often wasn't much left alive by the time it showed up.) I didn't experiment with any of the loadouts that used anything but Promethean Vision - sorry. (Both of the first two loadouts had that as the AA) There were almost no weapons on the map at all in the games we played. (I'd say there were none, but I seem to remember a needler or two lying around - I guess maybe a deady guy could have dropped it, not sure.) Ordinance drops are pretty cool. When you earn one (I don't know what I did to earn them), you get a little thingy in your UI that pops up - three choices, mapped to three buttons on your D-Pad. Pick your drop, and it'll appear in the default location for that power weapon soon after. That is: Let's say we're talking about Powerhouse. When the game starts, there are no Rockets in the outlet under the station... but as soon as someone earns a drop, and picks Rockets, they'll pop in there. Everyone gets notified that they're about to drop - but the dropper obviously knows a little sooner. So you can either get there first, and snag 'em... or get there and set up a trap. :) WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING STILL TYPING? I'M SUPPOSED TO BE PACKING!

Thanks for the info again!

Oh, wow! That thing about you earning the weapon drops is new news entirely, I had no idea. Thats interesting.. i hope the maps wont be too weaponless, I always like knowing there are weapons to switch things up. That said... I really like the idea of earning weapons like that, but I hope it isn't too difficult or abuseable. Also, I hope it doesn't ruin the flow of spawning weapons.

One more question, you have no obligation to answer of course, lol
-Did you see Jackals, and if so what did they look like? (Im attempting to draw one)

[Stinkles]

Was it the opening level on the Forward at Dawn?

Yesh.

[FyreWulff]

Might as well post the full thing:

Paid themes? In 2012?

[Demoncarnotaur]

Yesh.

Out of curiosity, it seems that there is a lot of new information coming from this playtest event.. can we expect specific details about the gameplay mechanics coming from something official soon(ish)?

[TheOddOne]

Yesh.

Thanks :)

[Blueblur1]

Uuuuh, this sounds like kills/points treaks to me... yeah.....

I hope you're wrong. Very very wrong. :(

[Overdoziz]

Ordinance drops are pretty cool. When you earn one (I don't know what I did to earn them), you get a little thingy in your UI that pops up - three choices, mapped to three buttons on your D-Pad. Pick your drop, and it'll appear in the default location for that power weapon soon after. That is: Let's say we're talking about Powerhouse. When the game starts, there are no Rockets in the outlet under the station... but as soon as someone earns a drop, and picks Rockets, they'll pop in there. Everyone gets notified that they're about to drop - but the dropper obviously knows a little sooner. So you can either get there first, and snag 'em... or get there and set up a trap. :)

Wait just one fucking minute. What do you mean "earn" an ordinance drop? Point/killstreaks?

[Steelyuhas]

"Earn" power weapons? Killstreaks confirmed! COD transformation is 100% complete!

Anyway, about Wu's write up. You know, the more I hear about news for Halo 4 (the multiplayer side at least), it's always mixed with good and bad (or stuff to worry about). From Wu's write up, it's the "regen" and ammo perks. The two have never been tried before, so I'm wary to say the least. My biggest concern out of what Wu posted was the potential for a PP+headshot weapon combo. I'm not too excited at the potential of everyone starting off with that combo, but the follow for the overcharge may have been nerfed so it doesn't matter. I do wonder, however, if the PP+headshot combo will extend to BTB. If it does, and if the PP still has the EMP effect on vehicles, that'll ruin vehicle combat. Edit: Wait. You have to earn the power weapons? Um...

I am quite wary about a lot of this stuff as well, but you've got to think that if the Plasma Pistol is a starting weapon that the overcharge won't be incredibly good. I got to have faith in 343 in that regard at least.

Wu did say he was killing people using single shot function of the gun, so maybe it has been refocused a bit to make the single shot function quite good and the overcharge still a reliable function, but perhaps no Halo 2 PP here.

[Hypertrooper]

I'm excited to read your full write-up of the event, Louis. :) Especially the impression of the singleplayer stuff.

[daedalius]

When they were talking about drops in the podcast they didn't mention anything like that at all.

[Letters]

Thanks Wu!!

Damn that is all sounding bad though, we need a new BR gif stat to make things better.

[Tawpgun]

There is one condition where I will welcome these changes.

They are apart of some experience and there will be an equal experience of classical halo golden formula of fairness and skill.

I'd love to play Halo gameplay with these new systems in place. Could be a cool change of pace. But I want to be able to play classic Halo at launch also. And not just in custom games.

[EdibleExplosives]

Wait, you earn ordinance drops...the fuck?

[Shadders]

When they were talking about drops in the podcast they didn't mention anything like that at all.

You're right, they mentioned timer systems..

Perhaps it's actually a vote? Or everyone gets to pick one throughout the course of the match?

[Hypertrooper]

Shit. Why is the 343-only apparel so sexy? Open a store already 343i. Please.

[Homeboyd]

I'm pickin dat GL urry time!

[Overdoziz]

Perks, killstreaks, unlocks, loadouts.

Hey 343, nice innovating right there.

[WJD]

Yeah, definitely going to need some clarification on those weapon drops.