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[Apath]

I notice it on occasion, but not much. I think the graphics are an enormous leap ahead of Halo 3's iteration, it borders on absurd.

I was skeptical of the difference in graphic fidelity, but I just played Halo 3 again today and holy shit is Reach an improvement. Not only is everything a step up from Halo 3, but the lack of terrible jaggies blanketing the screen makes all the difference. Reach really is a good looking game, and just as brain_stew said -- probably a bigger jump from 3->Reach than from 2->3.

i really need to go back and look at halo 3 then. i can tell you the armor and guns look waaay better in reach, so do the skyboxes. so why doesn't it look 'absurdly' better to me while i'm playing it? this is frustrating.

Go boot up Halo 3. The lack of jagged edges covering the screen would be enough of a difference, let alone the boost in texture quality, poly count in models, shadows, resolution, post-processing effects, etc. It's just difficult to notice if you don't jump straight from one to another due to the near identical art direction (save for Reach's more weathered and dirtier look).

 

[Jex]

Some people need new eyes.

 

[feel]

hey Bungie, in the final game, some playlists without fuckin jetpacks. kthx...

 

[Zomo]

nades are pissing me off

Yeah same but that's because I suck and keep forgetting to use them. If I could get kills with them I'd be fine :lol

 

[Toddler]

Was anyone else having audio issues tonight?

Everything would mute when I died, while I was re-spawning, and right after I spawned. It would also do it when I use an armor ability, and not just Invisibility (I know, it's supposed to), but all of them.

 

[Domino Theory]

hey Bungie, in the final game, some playlists without fuckin jetpacks. kthx...

Come Monday, your wishes will sort of be granted. Arena has Slayer Pro in it (DMR Loadout only, Sprint only, no radar) and I'm voting for it every. motherfucking. time.

BUt I think Bungie should consider not putting Armor Lock and Jetpacks in regular Team Slayer for Arena. Just have Sprint and Camo.

 

[Neverender]

Elite's eyes still look strange to me.

 

[minasodaboy]

http://www.bungie.net/News/content.aspx?type=topnews&cid=24541 is a good comparison.

thats the weird thing, is i know those models are so much better. i think when it comes down to it, the visuals look way better on the outdoor maps. and i think that the art direction comment is spot on. that probably helps confuse things.

bottom line, i don't thinks it looks terrible by any means and I understand that bungie will always pick features and fun over graphics (while doing the best they can to make things look awesome!). that's a philosophy thats kept me playing halo for nearly 10 years now.

 

[feel]

Visuals are much better, anyone who doesn't agree is just blinded by the jaggies, which is understandable.

Come Monday, your wishes will sort of be granted. Arena has Slayer Pro in it (DMR Loadout only, Sprint only, no radar) and I'm voting for it every. motherfucking. time.

BUt I think Bungie should consider not putting Armor Lock and Jetpacks in regular Team Slayer for Arena. Just have Sprint and Camo.

Oh that's right.

I'm not into the very competitive side of the game (since I'm average at Halo), but any place where I don't have the Griefing Abilities busting my balls in the cheapest ways, is the place I will be at. I'd rather be getting beat constantly but fairly (like in halo 3 for thousands of games), than getting frustrated with each defeat like right now in grab bag.

Just checked the beta guide, seems like good stuff.

Anyone not voting for Slayer Pro or Slayer Classic can go die in a fire.

 

[Not a Jellyfish]

Come Monday, your wishes will sort of be granted. Arena has Slayer Pro in it (DMR Loadout only, Sprint only, no radar) and I'm voting for it every. motherfucking. time.

BUt I think Bungie should consider not putting Armor Lock and Jetpacks in regular Team Slayer for Arena. Just have Sprint and Camo.

This x1000000.

 

[JMizzlin]

Am I correct in expecting the beta to go live for Australians in the evening of Monday? I'm just working out whether I will be sick tomorrow or Tuesday.

I calculated that Americas 'mid morning' meant Brisbane, Australia's 2-3am Tuesday morning. Best to take Tuesday off.

 

[UltimaPooh]

Swordbase should only be used for these gametypes:

Slayer
Oddball
Juggernaut.

Objective games feel terrible on the map.

It's a great map for the types I listed above.

 

[GhaleonEB]

Three things.

First, I love the new alternate baseball swing with the flag.

Second, this is why I love Stockpile. I live to steal other people's shit and claim it for my team's. Do not leave your stash unattended if I'm around.

Third, I enjoy the end of a close Stockpile game, when things get crazy. (Note the part just over a minute in where this guy and I are trading fire over his Stockpile, and I disengage to toss his flag over the edge. It's really not about him at all.)

 

[Trasher]

Alright. The DMR is really starting to click for me now. A light bulb must have turned on for me today. It has almost caught up to my Pistol kills. Finally starting to get the feel for this game I think.

Me and Blood hit the cap rank today too. It showed a progress bar that lead up to the Captain rank, but when we got there it still said "Warrant Officer Grade 3" and then had a note next to it saying "Max Rank." Was hoping to see a couple more ranks. Oh well, doesn't really matter anyways.

GG's to everyone we played with today. Was a bunch of fun. No Halo for me tomorrow. Gotta cram for some finals.

One other note: Have logged a whole day's worth of time already. Not bad for one weekend. :lol

 

[Apath]

So why did Bungie think it was a good idea to make it easier for the attackers to get to the flag than it is for the defenders on Sword Base?

 

[Iknos]

I notice it on occasion, but not much. I think the graphics are an enormous leap ahead of Halo 3's iteration, it borders on absurd.

Better in every way except water which was perfection in Halo 3 and is at the same quality here.

I don't even know what this motion blur stuff is. I haven't noticed anything different

What's your sensitivity at?

Online vids where the sens is at only 5 show a lot of the effect which ends up looking like a fisheye thing. I imagine it would get worse at 7 or higher.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEfPc9lMbL0

I'm watching others play at the moment maybe when I'm in control it wouldn't feel as jarring but I do think I'd notice the curvey fisheye effect on doorways still.

 

[Doodis]

I enjoy customizing my spartan. Because it is the only freaking thing in this game that I am good at.

 

[Striker]

So why did Bungie think it was a good idea to make it easier for the attackers to get to the flag than it is for the defenders on Sword Base?

I despise Flag games at Swordbase, minus a little game called 3 Plots, but there's need for flag movement there.

KotH on Powerhouse isn't too bad, either; bunch of interesting chokepoints and parameters. Sprint is key for it, I think.

 

[minasodaboy]

i noticed someone carrying the oddball like a football, ready to stiff-arm somebody. that was awesome. the more you play the more you notice those awesome details like that.

i'm getting there with the rhythm of my shots.

(also why although I may have some things to say about the graphics, ultimately if its fun, i don't care.)

 

[feel]

Second, this is why I love Stockpile. I live to steal other people's shit and claim it for my team's. Do not leave your stash unattended if I'm around.

Third, I enjoy the end of a close Stockpile game, when things get crazy. (Note the part just over a minute in where this guy and I are trading fire over his Stockpile, and I disengage to toss his flag over the edge. It's really not about him at all.)

so good.

I wanted to join your party a couple of times for some good fun, and it was open, but you guys were always in a party of 4, and I didn't want to go in there and start making you guys split up. Some other time.

 

[Ramirez]

Crazy King sucks, the hill usually moves before teams are even done fighting for the hill. :lol

 

[GhaleonEB]

Crazy King sucks, the hill usually moves before teams are even done fighting for the hill. :lol

So true. Sprint is a must on that game.

I do like how every hill is a different shape and size, especially on Powerhouse, each with their own wrinkle. And the shapes are not confined to squares and circles, but are designed around the geometry of the location. My favorite hill has got to be on Sword Base, though. There's one that's a circle about three feet in diameter, right in a doorway. One poor sap at a time has to stand on it and get assploded. :lol

 

[Insaniac]

well i put a lot more time into the beta today and I'm starting to get a groove for it. I still feel the reticule bloom for the DMR is too much, its a marksman rifle damnit! Frags are definitely overpowered. and the melee system still needs to be changed some way. Also the whole double-melee thing is bullshit and completely nullifies the changes they made to the melee shield interaction anyways.

 

[Trasher]

Btw, might have found a little bug. On Swordbase, at the bottom of the yellow lift area, there's that window between the lift area room and that computer room. Some elite was right up at the window, and I went up next to him from the other side and melee'd at him with my Needler. His shields looked like they took some damage, and then he ran away from me haha. I don't really feel like going through my game history trying to find the game though. Maybe I'll test it out when we can make our own custom games.

 

[Cuban Legend]

Dirty bro. The sniper feels amazing. I played against you a couple times today, it was good stuff.

Also, yo Cuban I rendered this for you homes. 30 seconds of fun, extended cut.

Thanks a lot, it's much appreciated bro.

I loved that firefight, at one point I do some parkour, stepping on Cuban's face and walk away to get a better angle. :lol

I'll be getting on Reach tonight and up through all of Sunday, hopefully we get some games in.

Reposting this from last night since it got kinda lost:
I whipped up a quick Java app to calculate the Arena rating. I messed around with it a little and found some weird things:

App:
http://sharebee.com/f2857c60

Source:
http://sharebee.com/d488009c
If it doesn't work for you, then that is proof that I don't know what I'm doing lol.

I'm a java noob, how can I get this to run on Windows, Do I have to compile it?

Is the .jar supposed to pen itself up with Winrar?

 

[Cuban Legend]

damn double post. nm

 

[LunaticPuma]

How do you get the flag to vent up to the top level in Swordbase?

 

[feel]

In the beginning of a TS match earlier today, the game decides to spawn a red guy right on top of us............V

Cool Spawn Bro

 

[Trasher]

In the beginning of a TS match earlier today, the game decides to spawn a red guy right on top of us............V

Cool Spawn Bro

That always happens to me there too. -_-

 

[EazyB]

What's with assists not registering like EVER for me? I'll shoot a dude like three times and a teammate will kill him, but I will get no assist medal. Wtf!

You only get an assist if you take down 40% of their health. If you take down down 100% of their shield with a melee of gunfire you won't get a assist. If you pop off two pistol body shots on an unshielded opponent and someone else finishes them off, well done, you got your assist.

 

[Trasher]

You only get an assist if you take down 40% of their health. If you take down down 100% of their shield with a melee of gunfire you won't get a assist. If you pop off two pistol body shots on an unshielded opponent and someone else finishes them off, well done, you got your assist.

And Ram's always saying how I never get any assists...apparently I'm just doing the easy part of taking his SHIELDS down. Then Ram tries to jack the kill, but ends up shooting the dude in his foot or something because he's old and can't see anything, and Nutter/Blood will finish the guy off. Then at the end of the game Ram makes fun of me for having zero assists. Yup, that's how it goes pretty much every game.

 

[EazyB]

And Ram's always saying how I never get any assists...apparently I'm just doing the easy part of taking his SHIELDS down. Then Ram tries to jack the kill, but ends up shooting the dude in his foot or something because he's old and can't see anything, and Nutter/Blood will finish the guy off. Then at the end of the game Ram makes fun of me for having zero assists. Yup, that's how it goes pretty much every game.

Yeah, the assists in the game are broken. Pretty useless stat the way it registers right now. And that'd be fine if it weren't just as important as a kill as far as arena ranking is concerned. It's funny, I'll pop of 5 or so pistol shots to drop some dudes shield, have to reload and someone else will finish the kill, no luck. I look across the map and see some unshileded dude, pop two rounds into him, then a full minute later get an assist because he never picked up a health pack.

 

[Trasher]

Yeah, the assists in the game are broken. Pretty useless stat the way it registers right now. And that'd be fine if it weren't just as important as a kill as far as arena ranking is concerned.

Also, now this explains why I get an assist medal at the most random times. Never knew it was based solely on someone's health. So if someone gets a healthpack I'm guessing that will prevent you from getting an assist off of their future death?

 

[Deputy Moonman]

I had a blast playing the beta today, despite a lot of things that I don't necessarily like about it. Gui, no need to worry about the mic thing. It's worse for you. You were probably wanting to tell me to shut up during most matches. In fact, I'm guessing most people I played with were thinking that. :lol Also, it's hilarious playing with so many gaffers and not being able to match their gamertags with their gaf names. It's just nice to have people to play with (Anders, Zayne, Gui MUCHO Thanks!). Who is Ihn Jury? I played with him and woogieboogy?? (rofl can't remember his name, but he has a sick jetpack mid-air hammer kill clip I want to see) for a good chunk of time and we were having a blast. If nothing else, they were making me laugh with their in-game commentary

And issue I'm starting to have with the game is the fact that there are methods in which the game is actually fighting against its own logic. For example, power weapons all feel too damn powerful, and I think this is mostly because they bypass the "pop shields then kill" flow that all other weapons abide by. With any other gun, you need to pop an opponents shields before you can worry about taking down their health... but if you have rockets, the pro pipe, a hammer/sword, or the plasma launcher, you completely bypass a core aspect of the gameplay. As a result, the weapon sandbox feels really weird.

It's just kind of odd that standing a good distance away from a grenade is a guaranteed kill, but if I punch an opponent in the face when they have next to no shields, it won't kill them. It's really inconsistent.

I really really think you nail a big issue right on the head with your post. The power of the grenades really does not bother me at all. But the requirement of popping someone's shields with the lesser weapons completely makes power weapons and grenades even more powerful. I think the game would flow better if the need to pop a shield before dying was removed. And holy crap at how dangerous the hammer is when combined with sprint. I'm kind of wanting bungie to put a use-limit on it, similar to the sword in halo2.

Alright. The DMR is really starting to click for me now. A light bulb must have turned on for me today. It has almost caught up to my Pistol kills. Finally starting to get the feel for this game I think.

I'm starting to appreciate the DMR myself. The pistol has a faster rate of fire, but I've found that it's much easier to get carried away with pressing the trigger on the pistol and ultimately not getting many of my shots to hit. When I pick up the DMR, the slower rate of fire makes the shots feel more controlled and I probably make more of the bullets count.

 

[minasodaboy]

Also, now this explains why I get an assist medal at the most random times. Never knew it was based solely on someone's health. So if someone gets a healthpack I'm guessing that will prevent you from getting an assist off of their future death?

and thus further confusing me as to why health packs even exist in multiplayer. i seriously don't get it.

 

[Tashi]

I had my worst game of the beta today. 1 flag on swordbase. I went 3 and 19...19assists

 

[InvincibleAgent]

I had my worst game of the beta today. 1 flag on swordbase. I went 3 and 19...19assists

1 flag is the only game I prefer on PH over SB.

 

[LukeSmith]

Yeah, the assists in the game are broken. Pretty useless stat the way it registers right now. And that'd be fine if it weren't just as important as a kill as far as arena ranking is concerned. It's funny, I'll pop of 5 or so pistol shots to drop some dudes shield, have to reload and someone else will finish the kill, no luck. I look across the map and see some unshileded dude, pop two rounds into him, then a full minute later get an assist because he never picked up a health pack.

Assists are fixed already in the main branch of the game.

 

[Trasher]

I had my worst game of the beta today. 1 flag on swordbase. I went 3 and 19...19assists

1 Flag on Swordbase is ZERO fun. Pretty much the same goes for 1 Flag on Powerhouse too. Those are easily my least favorite gametypes out of what we have so far. Hopefully it will work better on some future maps. Speaking of 1 Flag on Powerhouse, the Rockets should not be a given for one side... Maybe a better spot for them would be in the center circle down in the water. There should always be a battle for a power weapon like that.

Stockpile is beginning to become one of my favorite gametypes. I was very skeptical of this mode before going in to the beta, but I must say that after having played it for a few days now that I like it quite a bit. Just had a really fun match of it earlier tonight. I might have to go back and render a couple parts of it. There were some pretty intense battles up at the enemy's stockpile area. :lol

Edit: Here we go. Rendered up.

 

[Team Klimt]

Ef. Em. Elle.

My 360 just died while I was playing Halo 3 ^$#*#&^!!!

I must have been a total dick in a past life. This beta is gonna cost me $200. Jesus Christ.

 

[Neverender]

can't wait for invasion, really looking forward to seeing how this plays in a more btb-esque environment.

 

[JMizzlin]

Damn the people lying and cheating Twitter users. I can't believe I fell for some of the shit online.

 

[KevinRo]

My roomate, whom is a very casual player, saw me playing the Beta and he didn't believe me how hard it was to shoot and aim.

I let him play 2 games and all he kept on saying was 'wtf is this bullshit?', 'yeah it's much harder', 'wtf is this super shield crap?'

We both agreed though, ARMOUR LOCK IS TOO STRONG

 

[Ultimatum]

Is there going to be more stuff to play with tomorrow? Or is this the content of the whole beta?

It's really fun, I just want more x_x

 

[Tashi]

1 Flag on Swordbase is ZERO fun. Pretty much the same goes for 1 Flag on Powerhouse too. Those are easily my least favorite gametypes out of what we have so far. Hopefully it will work better on some future maps. Speaking of 1 Flag on Powerhouse, the Rockets should not be a given for one side... Maybe a better spot for them would be in the center circle down in the water. There should always be a battle for a power weapon like that.

Stockpile is beginning to become one of my favorite gametypes. I was very skeptical of this mode before going in to the beta, but I must say that after having played it for a few days now that I like it quite a bit. Just had a really fun match of it earlier tonight. I might have to go back and render a couple parts of it. There were some pretty intense battles up at the enemy's stockpile area. :lol

I completely agree. The worst part is that they always get the first default slot on the voting list so if people aren't paying attention and it ties 4-4, it'll play that. For Powerhouse I think the flag is in a bad spot. It's way too easy to defend. If the other team has rockets and camo, it's a wrap. They can just post up in there and you can't really get great of angles for grenades to lob in either. I think a good spot would be at the top of the stairs in the first floor of the flag base. Like, the outside. Either way, I'm more of a 2 flag guy anyway so I won't be playing much of that in the final game either.

I found myself today playing really passive. I like to grab the DMR or Magnum and just sit back and put shots. I won't get a ton of kills but I'll get a decent amount of assists and very few deaths as well.

Also, every scrub ass player that sprints straight at me to get the double beatdown and gets 4 shot beat down with a magnum or DMR is getting the tea-bag, I can't stand that nooby cheap ass play.

I'm really enjoying the beta so far though. I can't wait until arena so I don't have to suffer through gametypes I don't like. I also will only be playing Arena with a group of 4. Worst case scenario 3. A little coordination with people you've played with in the past goes along way.

 

[UltimaPooh]

We both agreed though, ARMOUR LOCK IS TOO STRONG

I don't think it is. That COULD change when vehicles come into play...

If you go up against someone with Armor Lock you can still easily kill them. Just back away and wait for them to come out. Time the grenade right.

 

[Deputy Moonman]

1 Flag on Swordbase is ZERO fun. Pretty much the same goes for 1 Flag on Powerhouse too. Those are easily my least favorite gametypes out of what we have so far. Hopefully it will work better on some future maps. Speaking of 1 Flag on Powerhouse, the Rockets should not be a given for one side... Maybe a better spot for them would be in the center circle down in the water. There should always be a battle for a power weapon like that.

Stockpile is beginning to become one of my favorite gametypes. I was very skeptical of this mode before going in to the beta, but I must say that after having played it for a few days now that I like it quite a bit. Just had a really fun match of it earlier tonight. I might have to go back and render a couple parts of it. There were some pretty intense battles up at the enemy's stockpile area. :lol

I rather enjoy the 1 flag games. It's semi-reminiscent of Halo2. Personally, I don't think sword base is really a 1flag type of map, even though it's serviceable for the beta. That is probably a big reason for the complaints. Powerhose is better suited for that gametype, but I and some others have noted that it would have been nice if the flag room had more than just two entrances. There is the stair case, but that basically comes out right where one of only two doorways are located. A team in possession of any combination of the rocket launcher, focus rifle, shotgun, or hammer make the flag room nearly unnassaultable.

Stock pile is a lot of fun. There is no real focused area for teams or players to camp. You are pretty much forced to run all over the map, and I think that makes for much better gameplay. In that regard, Head hunter allows for people to just sit by turn in-points and steal skulls from other people's battles, which makes it not as much fun in my opinion.

A gametype that is surprisingly enjoyable, at least for me, is 3 plots on sword base. I think it works well on that map.

I don't think it is. That COULD change when vehicles come into play...

If you go up against someone with Armor Lock you can still easily kill them. Just back away and wait for them to come out. Time the grenade right.

Ooh gonna have to disagree on that one. In the games that I've played, the person with armor lock gets away just as often as not because they either get a shield recharge, or other players come and kill you while you're sitting there. You can't time when to throw grenades to kill the person and it's spammable. You can get away with all kinds of crap using armor lock while defending the flag in powerhouse, too. I witnessed this today. And I don't mean that in a bad way. I'm just saying that it's not as simple as waiting for it to go off. In a 1v1 game, armor lock would not be overpowered, but throw in a bunch of players and I think it slows the game down and becomes a nuisance. I had a couple of encounters today where the person started armor lock, so I would start the waiting game, then they broke it off to run closer to me. Surprised, I would start trying to finish the kill again, but then the person would start armor lock again. I was like this is retarded lol. The person did that 2-3 times in a short span of time. How do you combat that lol?

 

[EazyB]

Assists are fixed already in the main branch of the game.

Thank you sir.

 

[InvincibleAgent]

I thought one could only enter Arena solo?

 

[Diablohead]

Woah wait wait! Am I Reading this right on my touch, that arina is dmr only game? Fuck that shit why can't we have arena using stuff like slayer classic, you know like with ar and pistol starts and all weapons around the map
like normal?

If arena is just slayer pro I'm not even going to bother with it. Fuck.