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Halo |OT| HaloGAF Evolved

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Kuroyume

Banned
What exactly are these insane things that happen in BTB? I prefer BTB too (although not in Reach) and I don't see how gameplay is any different other than the annoying vehicles being in there.
 
Success
TTyMJ.gif

Are you still thinking of adding some forerunner designs to it down the road? I think it could look pretty decent while also allowing it to stand out as unique compared to the previous logos.

Man, I need to learn how to properly use photoshop and other tools of the such.
 

Tawpgun

Member
What exactly are these insane things that happen in BTB? I prefer BTB too (although not in Reach) and I don't see how gameplay is any different other than the annoying vehicles being in there.

The epic scale, vehicular gameplay interplaying with infantry. Things like vehicle wrecks splattering people, flag runs, vehicle chases...

These are a few examples of the insane fun BTB can have that I recorded.

Plowing through hell w/ Tunavi (got on IGN's top plays)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbjJ8_56b94

Falcon dodging
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3qA-ixhzyg

Random UNSCRIPTED silliness in Invasion (This happened in the Beta, it was the most ridiculous, unscripted thing I have ever experienced in MP.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZdKNn7HeMA

Hog Crash
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNaOjvzZ-00

Clutch teamwork save
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xe70q9TOrX8

H3 BTB
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykb8WYEJOqc

Halo PC BTB Montage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0umM2_d7DKY

There are also those famous H3 BTB montages floating around.

To me, BTB is the essence of Halo. It's the entire sandbox being utilized. Shame Reach BTB is fucking terrible.

Then again you hate fun.
 
Yea no. SWAT is competitive as shit at levels 48-50 in H3. I could name about twenty five players just dominating up there.
this. SWAT gets fucking insane at high levels. If you aren't really good, and running a full team, you get destroyed. And Spartan vs. Elite wasn't that big of a deal. I got to 47 playing Spartan, and had more than one friend make 50 without going to Elite.

also a lot of it came down to host, but that's kinda halo in general
 
Totally, all I play is Invasion and BTB.

Many people may think Invasion is a silly gametype but it is really competitive, there's a lot of tacticd involved.
I keep discovering new paths, jumps... even after all this time.

Can't to see some crazy action once heavy maps are deployed into matchmaking.
 
Are you still thinking of adding some forerunner designs to it down the road? I think it could look pretty decent while also allowing it to stand out as unique compared to the previous logos.

Man, I need to learn how to properly use photoshop and other tools of the such.

Yeah of course, nothing wrong with exploring more options when I don't have a deadline.

I can do a tutorial series if you want?
 

Hey You

Member
Why do people want Infection to be a weekend playlist? It can hold a decent population most of the time, why get rid of it? Hoping suddenly everyone flocks to other playlists?

everything :( I just prefer to have fun and laugh when something stupid like a piece of a broken ghost kills me than to play a competitive 4v4 MLG

Your my favorite HaloGaffer.
 

Fracas

#fuckonami
Shame Reach BTB is fucking terrible.

What's so horrible about Reach Big Team Battle? I mean, I know it's not nearly as good as 3's, but its still fun in its own right most of the time. My only real complaint with it is I dislike a few of the maps, and that there are a few more vehicles than there should be at times
 

Overdoziz

Banned
I've said it many times but I'll say it again; Reach BTB is so boring. And it's not just because 99% of the time we win by a large margin. Something about Reach BTB just feels wrong. Give me a good 4v4 and I'm set.
 
Yeah of course, nothing wrong with exploring more options when I don't have a deadline.

I can do a tutorial series if you want?
Can't wait to see what else you can do once you have time.

Also, yes, that would be awesome if you wouldn't mind and can find the time at some point. I was going to take a photoshop course this semester, but due to a death in the family I had to drop that, so I would love for any pointers. Im sure a lot of people here wouldn't mind either.
 

Tawpgun

Member
What's so horrible about Reach Big Team Battle? I mean, I know it's not nearly as good as 3's, but its still fun in its own right most of the time. My only real complaint with it is I dislike a few of the maps, and that there are a few more vehicles than there should be at times

Maps suck. Vehicles suck. DMR sucks (in BTB) Slow.
 
The epic scale, vehicular gameplay interplaying with infantry. Things like vehicle wrecks splattering people, flag runs, vehicle chases...

These are a few examples of the insane fun BTB can have that I recorded.

Plowing through hell w/ Tunavi (got on IGN's top plays)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbjJ8_56b94

Falcon dodging
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3qA-ixhzyg

Random UNSCRIPTED silliness in Invasion (This happened in the Beta, it was the most ridiculous, unscripted thing I have ever experienced in MP.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZdKNn7HeMA

Hog Crash
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNaOjvzZ-00

Clutch teamwork save
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xe70q9TOrX8

H3 BTB
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykb8WYEJOqc

Halo PC BTB Montage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0umM2_d7DKY

There are also those famous H3 BTB montages floating around.

To me, BTB is the essence of Halo. It's the entire sandbox being utilized. Shame Reach BTB is fucking terrible.

Then again you hate fun.

in all honesty, none of that made seemed that great to me.
i understand btb has its place in halo, but i just prefer my halo 4v4 and without vehicles.


Why do people want Infection to be a weekend playlist? It can hold a decent population most of the time, why get rid of it? Hoping suddenly everyone flocks to other playlists?

to me it has nothing to do with population and more to do with the fact i think gimmicky playlists like infection, grifball, race, rocket race, ... should either be a weekend playlist or go straight into action sack. maybe an exception can be made for infection. i can go into more of a reason on why i feel this way but cant think of how to write it.
 
The Elephant and the Chopper needs to return in Halo 4, I'll be pretty dissapointed if they don't show up there.

Also, make the Elephant a forge piece.
 
I've said it many times but I'll say it again; Reach BTB is so boring. And it's not just because 99% of the time we win by a large margin. Something about Reach BTB just feels wrong. Give me a good 4v4 and I'm set.
I'd say that BTB Anniversary isn't boring but it is plagued with the most difficult problem to deal with: Quitters. It's no fun to win against a team of 4 guys. But still BTB will never be able to replace the feeling of a good 4vs4 game in Halo 2, Halo 3 or Halo: Reach. BTB is about the fun, but the competitive part of Halo will be always in 4vs4 imo.
 

Overdoziz

Banned
I'd say that BTB Anniversary isn't boring but it is plagued with the most difficult problem to deal with: Quitters. It's no fun to win against a team of 4 guys. But still BTB will never be able to replace the feeling of a good 4vs4 game in Halo 2, Halo 3 or Halo: Reach. BTB is about the fun, but the competitive part of Halo will be always in 4vs4 imo.
Nothing more fun than getting bored after 2 minutes to start betraying people with your warthog.
 

Fracas

#fuckonami
I'd say that BTB Anniversary isn't boring but it is plagued with the most difficult problem to deal with: Quitters. It's no fun to win against a team of 4 guys.


How does HaloGaf feel about the idea of being able to matchmake into games already in progress?
 
Can't wait to see what else you can do once you have time.

Also, yes, that would be awesome if you wouldn't mind and can find the time at some point. I was going to take a photoshop course this semester, but due to a death in the family I had to drop that, so I would love for any pointers. Im sure a lot of people here wouldn't mind either.

I'm sorry for your loss, and no worries, I'll give HaloGaf free tutorials, and I'll teach photoshop, zbrush, 3ds max, Motionbuilder, Maya, After Effects, Nuke, Mari, and whatever else people want.
 

heckfu

Banned
How does HaloGaf feel about the idea of being able to matchmake into games already in progress?

The problem with that is in how halo players TYPICALLY play. That system works with CoD because once you join you just hang out with those same players until you get tired of them, or vice versa, and once you start a new game it's almost always in the middle of someone else game.

Halo players (from my experience) start games, finish games, and return to lobby to match up with new people every time. Not to mention the fact that I've been dropped many times into CoD games where there was 1 kill remaining or 10 seconds left and my team was getting demolished. Not too many people on here would be keen to dropping into a match like that and having a bullshit loss on their record.

I just don't see it happening unless they revamp the system completely.
 

Fracas

#fuckonami
Not to mention the fact that I've been dropped many times into CoD games where there was 1 kill remaining or 10 seconds left and my team was getting demolished. Not too many people on here would be keen to dropping into a match like that and having a bullshit loss on their record.

I completely agree with you there. Can't even count how many times in BF3 where I get into a game literally as it ends with me losing.
Maybe allow a game browser that indicates the score of each game? Although I'm sure some people would exploit it to hell and back just to get easy wins
 

Fuchsdh

Member
UMrfo.jpg


I think part of the reason it doesn't look good to me is the harsh and ugly drop shadow and edge treatment, the scale of the hexagon texture, and the fact that it does not have a recognizeable silhouette like Halo 2 or Halo 3's condensed logo.

In terms of alternative surface treatments, I think DcLevartho's second option has some good elements, although it still feels too uniformly smooth. I think Halo 3's texture was the best of the trilogy, although I kind of like the overwrought Halo 2 one in some cases. It just doesn't scale as well as 3's.
 
I completely agree with you there. Can't even count how many times in BF3 where I get into a game literally as it ends with me losing.
Maybe allow a game browser that indicates the score of each game? Although I'm sure some people would exploit it to hell and back just to get easy wins

Well 9 times out of 10, the losing team is the one with slots on it so it won't be a problem.
 

Striker

Member
I'd say that BTB Anniversary isn't boring but it is plagued with the most difficult problem to deal with: Quitters. It's no fun to win against a team of 4 guys. But still BTB will never be able to replace the feeling of a good 4vs4 game in Halo 2, Halo 3 or Halo: Reach. BTB is about the fun, but the competitive part of Halo will be always in 4vs4 imo.
BTB obviously isn't competitive in Reach BTB and Halo 3's Social BTB because of guests, and the god-awful matching of trueskill. Pit teams of seven or eight against a bunch of randoms, half the time they are guests, that's what happens. Reach BTB and Social BTB in Halo 3 were exactly the same in the premise - you had your slaughterhouses, your games that end in 3-4 minutes because they cannot defend or run course with the flag, but you rarely found competitive nature in those games because of the circumstances.

To make it better, you steer clear of guests in the playlist, and have a more convenient skill matching.
 
BTB in Reach is bad for a lot of reasons but walking like a turtle across the map is probably the worst thing for me. It takes forever to get anywhere without a vehicle.
 
UMrfo.jpg


I think part of the reason it doesn't look good to me is the harsh and ugly drop shadow and edge treatment, the scale of the hexagon texture, and the fact that it does not have a recognizeable silhouette like Halo 2 or Halo 3's condensed logo.

In terms of alternative surface treatments, I think DcLevartho's second option has some good elements, although it still feels too uniformly smooth. I think Halo 3's texture was the best of the trilogy, although I kind of like the overwrought Halo 2 one in some cases. It just doesn't scale as well as 3's.

The four does look just as good like that than outside the "o". Whatever that thing is.
 
BTB obviously isn't competitive in Reach BTB and Halo 3's Social BTB because of guests, and the god-awful matching of trueskill. Pit teams of seven or eight against a bunch of randoms, half the time they are guests, that's what happens. Reach BTB and Social BTB in Halo 3 were exactly the same in the premise - you had your slaughterhouses, your games that end in 3-4 minutes because they cannot defend or run course with the flag, but you rarely found competitive nature in those games because of the circumstances.

To make it better, you steer clear of guests in the playlist, and have a more convenient skill matching.
If this happens, BTB will be a graveyard like TO is right now in Reach.
 

FyreWulff

Member
To make it better, you steer clear of guests in the playlist, and have a more convenient skill matching.

And then it'd crash and burn like Ranked BTB in Halo 3, which they even tried to save with double EXP. And that didn't do much to help it after the first week.
 

FyreWulff

Member
Didn't Halo 2's BTB allowed guests?

Depends on which version. If I remember correctly, the game launched or had near launch Big Team Battle, which was ranked and no guests. Then they split it into BTB Skirmish (objective only) which was ranked and no guests and BTB Slayer which was unranked and had guests.

Then when BTB Skirmish started to die, they consolidated BTB back together again into an unranked playlists that allowed guests. It was a quitfest even when your team was winning. The launch variant was also the playlist that I lost rank for winning in..
 
Depends on which version. If I remember correctly, the game launched or had near launch Big Team Battle, which was ranked and no guests. Then they split it into BTB Skirmish (objective only) which was ranked and no guests and BTB Slayer which was unranked and had guests.

Then when BTB Skirmish started to die, they consolidated BTB back together again into an unranked playlists that allowed guests. It was a quitfest even when your team was winning. It was also the playlist that I lost rank for winning in..

Yeah, I remember BTB having guests near the end of its lifetime. But I guess guests weren't a problem because it was Halo 2.
 
What's so horrible about Reach Big Team Battle? I mean, I know it's not nearly as good as 3's, but its still fun in its own right most of the time. My only real complaint with it is I dislike a few of the maps, and that there are a few more vehicles than there should be at times

hemorrhage its horrible and comes up too much for my liking
 

Havok

Member
hemorrhage its horrible and comes up too much for my liking
Are you saying you would rather play Boneyard, Spire, Renegade, Temptation, Paradiso, or Utopie more than it? Because those maps are far and away worse than Hemorrhage. What about base-to-base snipe-fest Trident? Having to deal with the terrible framerate on Wayont?

I don't have anything bad to say about Abridged. It's okay.
Yeah, I remember BTB having guests near the end of its lifetime. But I guess guests weren't a problem because it was Halo 2.
There was a ranked BTB playlist up until April 2007. I know I sure as shit didn't play BTB Slayer.

I don't know that a no-guest BTB could survive today, but it was great while it lasted.
 

FyreWulff

Member
Yeah, I remember BTB having guests near the end of its lifetime. But I guess guests weren't a problem because it was Halo 2.

Makes one wonder what's going to happen here in the future. None of the Halos were able to support two separate BTB lists for very long. Halo 2 as we just talked about, Halo 3 (Ranked died, BTB Mythic died). At some point you have to think one of the BTBs in Reach has to go.

Unless they're doing a 1.2 that will let disc maps be selected if everyone has them in the lobby, it seemsAnniversary BTB is going probably to bite it, and then base BTB becomes All DLC Required. This time around. Then you'd regularly have Highlands, Tempest, Breakpoint, Ridgeline, High Noon and Headlong as regular selections to play on. Then you'd just toss the only unique gametype of Anniversary Slayer into BTB and actually make use of it on all those disc and Heroic/Defiant maps it was patched into.
 
Are you saying you would rather play Boneyard, Spire, Renegade, Temptation, Paradiso, or Utopie more than it? Because those maps are far and away worse than Hemorrhage. What about base-to-base snipe-fest Trident? Having to deal with the terrible framerate on Wayont?

I don't have anything bad to say about Abridged. It's okay.
There was a ranked BTB playlist up until April 2007. I know I sure a shit didn't play BTB Slayer.

at this point after a year of constant hemorrhage yes
 

TheOddOne

Member
This has been floating around the interwebs.
Fresh Halo 4 Information: Mutiplayer Bots Yikes!

We might have just stumbled onto information regarding one of the biggest releases this year. Halo’s multiplayer has always been legendary, every sequel comes out with modes and gameplay styles that suits its burgeoning audiences.

With 343 industries helming the new project, rabid fans wonder what could they be doing different from Bungie. We might just be able to throw a bit of meat to satiate their unnerving hunger.

From what we have sourced it could be the presence of multiplayer bots which might be used to simulate maps before jumping onto the vicious playground that often devour new entrants.

This information comes from a developer who has been working on the game since July 2011. His duties and responsibilities in the game seek to include the following listed points

1. Wrote automation in C# that used in-game C++ hooks to create bots that fought each other to stress multiplayer.

2. Created automated bots using C# to systematically test multiplayer/campaign environments.

3. Custom made tool allowed anyone on team to run bots on their console overnight. Used SQL database to allow bots to run concurrently.

4. Maintained and upgraded existing out-of-game tools and bug collection tools based on team and personal requests.

5. Added data mining events in C++ to collect game data for test purposes.

6. Created test specs, test cases, and oversaw all testing for several areas of the game.

7. Worked with test lead to establish naming conventions and general standards for how to use internal tools.

8. Adhered to coding standards for both C# and C++ (Code Analysis, StyleCop).

9. Participated in working groups to help steer future tool development.

Out of all the points listed in his resume, the first three are of interest to us and here’s why...

Bots have never been a part of the multiplayer scene in Halo.

This is the first time we hear about the presence of bots, which have been used to test multiplayer environments.

Most people might find it a regular feature to be used in development; however we would argue that the custom made tool to run bots on the dev console, might just be prep for a new feature to be introduced in the final version of the game.

Most high profile multiplayer games ship with bots these days, to give players a sense of what the battlefield might end up looking like when the finally go online, so it would not be much of a surprise that this feature might ship with the next game.

This might also enhance the playtime of the entire game by opening up a virtual door of possibilities for those who prefer a quiet match without stepping into the murky online LIVE universe.
Picture of resume.
 
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