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[manxor]

I didn't experience any lag in BTB games last night. Of course, I didn't get started until ~9pm PST. (?)

When Halo 3 ships, I really hope MS/Bungie sets up some dedicated servers for 16-player matches... if only for cases where there's no good host available. I remember many a lagfest BTB in Halo 2, and it would be nice if this 'issue' was resolved for Halo 3.

 

[JdFoX187]

The Carbine and shotgun ar ethe most effective in the base in High Ground unless you can't find the shotgun. If that's the case, grab two spikers and some spike grenades. I've had so many sticks inside because there's not really much area for people to dodge them in. Not to mention there's nothing like sticking a mongoose coming for you

I didn't experience any lag in BTB games last night. Of course, I didn't get started until ~9pm PST. (?)

When Halo 3 ships, I really hope MS/Bungie sets up some dedicated servers for 16-player matches... if only for cases where there's no good host available. I remember many a lagfest BTB in Halo 2, and it would be nice if this 'issue' was resolved for Halo 3.

There aren't going to be any dedicated servers.

 

[cbox]

The needler has fairly short effective range. Someone who grabbed a AR from the beach will kill you before you close the distance if you run out there with just the needler. From inside the base, I usually go grab the ATV thingy and dash for the rocket launcher, then head for the sniper who just grabbed the gun at the entrance of the cave. An easy kill usually.

I love the needler on snowbound, so effective

I still like dual weilding needlers in h2, just feels better.

 

[StUnNeR H2K]

...I really hope MS/Bungie sets up some dedicated servers for 16-player matches... if only for cases where there's no good host available...

Dont count on it...

I've only had a couple BTB training games that were really laggy. I will say that I have seen a very large increase in laggy games in general once the public beta hit Wednesday. Before that, for those in the Friends and Family I had almost zero laggy games. I think this is why though that we are beta testing. More people playing means more work on the system, and more people playing means it has more people to pick host from.

 

[GhaleonEB]

There aren't going to be any dedicated servers.

Which is a shame. Halo 3 is going to be *the* big Live game for years. Having such spotty connectivity for games over 8 players is really going to highlight the contrast in P2P and dedicated servers Sony is running for many of their PSN games. I think MS is making a mistake there.

I probably won't try Big Team Training again for a while. I quit in frustration last night.

 

[StUnNeR H2K]

Which is a shame. Halo 3 is going to be *the* big Live game for years. Having such spotty connectivity for games over 8 players is really going to highlight the contrast in P2P and dedicated servers Sony is running for many of their PSN games. I think MS is making a mistake there.

I probably won't try Big Team Training again for a while. I quit in frustration last night.

The cost and maintenance for dedicated servers would be crazy... I do know some Halo players that would play extra for it, but many folks wouldn't pay extra for dedicated servers.

Edit: Sony can do the dedicated servers for some games... atleast until they have an online game with the population of community the size of Halo's.

 

[GhaleonEB]

The cost and maintenance for dedicated servers would be crazy... I do know some Halo players that would play extra for it, but many folks wouldn't pay extra for dedicated servers.

I realize the cost would be huge for such an undertaking. As someone suggested above, using them for just the big games would be an option. It's not going to happen, so no point my railing on it.

But I'll just point out that we do pay $50 per year for the service - most of the time Live connections are solid but not last night. BTB in Halo 2 was often unplayable, and what I played last night was the same. Hopefully it improves by fall.

 

[JdFoX187]

Resistance: Fall of Man has online dedicated servers and the game plays flawelessly unless there's some guy with a horrible connection, but those are rare. I think we're only seeing some minor problems right now because it's a Beta. Keep in mind, Bungie are doing tests and examinations on the actual network and matchmaking system. I would almost guarantee we'll have a better online experience as far as connections go than Halo 2 when the final game rolls out.

 

[GhaleonEB]

Resistance: Fall of Man has online dedicated servers and the game plays flawelessly unless there's some guy with a horrible connection, but those are rare. I think we're only seeing some minor problems right now because it's a Beta. Keep in mind, Bungie are doing tests and examinations on the actual network and matchmaking system. I would almost guarantee we'll have a better online experience as far as connections go than Halo 2 when the final game rolls out.

The 8-player games have nearly all been rock-solid, and much better than my Halo 2 experience. So I'm hopeful. It just got my hopes up for BTB, which was my favorite playlist despite the lag in Halo 2, so last night was sobering. I do realize it's in Beta and that's why they are testing it, so I continue to be hopeful it will get better.

 

[TDG]

Which is a shame. Halo 3 is going to be *the* big Live game for years. Having such spotty connectivity for games over 8 players is really going to highlight the contrast in P2P and dedicated servers Sony is running for many of their PSN games. I think MS is making a mistake there.

I probably won't try Big Team Training again for a while. I quit in frustration last night.

To tell you the truth, I can think of a Microsoft game that needs dedicated servers more. Gears of War 2. Halo 3 is not ruined by lag in BTB. GOW was ruined by lag, host advantage, etc.

 

[AgentOtaku]

To tell you the truth, I can think of a Microsoft game that needs dedicated servers more. Gears of War 2. Halo 3 is not ruined by lag in BTB. GOW was ruined by lag, host advantage, etc.

QFT!

 

[Tieno]

The cost and maintenance for dedicated servers would be crazy... I do know some Halo players that would play extra for it, but many folks wouldn't pay extra for dedicated servers.

Edit: Sony can do the dedicated servers for some games... atleast until they have an online game with the population of community the size of Halo's.

I would counter that with the following
-Halo 3 makes a shitton of money as a 60$ game
-Halo 3 sells consoles
-Halo 3 sells XBL subscriptions.
-spin-offs and marketting, merchandising etc.
==>Halo is a big money-maker.

I do think it's a travesty that MS won't do dedicated servers for Halo 3. With that said I don't seem to have much problems during BTB. Still doesn't mean I don't want them, cause I'm paying money (35euro) for XBL and I find it annoying we have to complain about lag in this day and age. Like you I wonder if Sony is still going to keep doing them once their userbase grows, but I'd bet they'll start to charge money for dedicated servers (and not P2P)...which is reasonable. In the mean while I appreciate anything free.

 

[manxor]

The cost and maintenance for dedicated servers would be crazy... I do know some Halo players that would play extra for it, but many folks wouldn't pay extra for dedicated servers.

No, actually it wouldn't be that bad in practice:

4 -vs- 4 = P2P
6 -vs- 6 = P2P if a good host is found (most likely), otherwise DS
8 -vs- 8 = P2P if a good host is found (somewhat likely), otherwise DS

and http://www.bungie.net/News/content.aspx?type=topnews&cid=8358


The large majority of games would still be handled P2P. Since the majority of games are 4 -vs- 4, the amount of dedicated servers shouldn't be ridiculous. The Dedicated Servers would just be there as a safeguard for the larger games.

 

[JdFoX187]

To tell you the truth, I can think of a Microsoft game that needs dedicated servers more. Gears of War 2. Halo 3 is not ruined by lag in BTB. GOW was ruined by lag, host advantage, etc.

QFMFT!

I quit playing Gears of War online until the new maps become free simply because of the immense host advantage. And the worst thing is, EVERYBODY wants host and the Series of Tubes achievments. So it not only takes forever to get a full game, it also takes forever to even get a decent connection game, especially if you try to host. CliffyB, Epic and Co. need to look at some solutions for the online for the next Gears game.

Halo 3's lag hasn't been too bad on BTB for me. Mainly because I ride in the warthog the entire game and shoot people. But I have seen SOME lag but not a lot as far as people glitching all over the place.

 

[ElectricBlue187]

man I hate terrortories, especially when the teams are ungodly unbalanced

 

[Tieno]

No, actually it wouldn't be that bad in practice:

4 -vs- 4 = P2P
6 -vs- 6 = P2P if a good host is found (most likely), otherwise DS
8 -vs- 8 = P2P if a good host is found (somewhat likely), otherwise DS

and http://www.bungie.net/News/content.aspx?type=topnews&cid=8358


The large majority of games would still be handled P2P. Since the majority of games are 4 -vs- 4, the amount of dedicated servers shouldn't be ridiculous. The Dedicated Servers would just be there as a safeguard for the larger games.

Do realise that a possible factor for less BTB games in that diagram is because of bigger lag...if the performance would be better I'd bet more people would play BTB.

 

[JdFoX187]

I think it'd be a fairly complicated process to go through if you're going to switch between P2P and DS for a single playlist. Ignoring the fact it'd probably take even longer to get into games, it'd just be a pain. I'm not saying it couldn't be done, I could be wrong here, but I think it's more trouble than it's worth. Bungie needs to look at what Rare did for Perfect Dark Zero. I never had a laggy game on there and I played with 31 other people in games before.

 

[manxor]

Do realise that a possible factor for less BTB games in that diagram is because of bigger lag...if the performance would be better I'd bet more people would play BTB.

:lol Yeah, that's why I italicized shouldn't in my original post.

I also understand that Halo has too large of a player base for dedicated servers to become the norm. PDZ's netcode handled 32 players pretty well, but that game didn't have much y-axis translation data (english: jumping) to transfer, among other things.

 

[GhaleonEB]

To tell you the truth, I can think of a Microsoft game that needs dedicated servers more. Gears of War 2. Halo 3 is not ruined by lag in BTB. GOW was ruined by lag, host advantage, etc.

Experience seems to be all over the place. My first two games last night were a bit laggy, but playable. The last two were unplayable. I'm assuming things will get better as development continues. Even if most games are like my first two, I'll be happy. I just got frustrated at the latter two. Clearly, this is a smalll sample of matches from a game not yet done. So I'll chill and try again.

And agreed on Gears. Though, Gears 2 won't have dedicated servers for the same reason as Halo - too huge an undertaking.

 

[JB1981]

Experience seems to be all over the place. My first two games last night were a bit laggy, but playable. The last two were unplayable. I'm assuming things will get better as development continues. Even if most games are like my first two, I'll be happy. I just got frustrated at the latter two. Clearly, this is a smalll sample of matches from a game not yet done. So I'll chill and try again.

And agreed on Gears. Though, Gears 2 won't have dedicated servers for the same reason as Halo - too huge an undertaking.

Before starting matchmaking, do you set your search to 'Prefer Good Connection'? It seems to help actually. I'm not sure what Bungie's matchmaking system considers a good connection, but every time I search with that option enabled I have smoother games.

 

[REV 09]

I love the needler on snowbound, so effective

I still like dual weilding needlers in h2, just feels better.

the needler in H3 is perfectly balanced and very effective, my only complaint is that it looks too small to be a non duel wieldable weapon...it's fine for it to be a that, but they need to make it bigger and meaner looking.

 

[vumpler]

I did a search and couldn't find the definitive answer here... What is the Field of View in Halo 3? Did they go with the 90 degrees from Halo or with 60 from halo 2? I just can't see myself buying the game if they use the 60 degrees again... Halo 2 in 1080i on the 360 looks like you're viewing through a toilet paper roll.

"The Dude minds. This will not stand, ya know, this aggression will not stand, man."

 

[Eric WK]

I did a search and couldn't find the definitive answer here... What is the Field of View in Halo 3? Did they go with the 90 degrees from Halo or with 60 from halo 2? I just can't see myself buying the game if they use the 60 degrees again... Halo 2 in 1080i on the 360 looks like you're viewing through a toilet paper roll.

"The Dude minds. This will not stand, ya know, this aggression will not stand, man."

I believe it's a little bit more than 60 degrees, but not nearly 90.

 

[SpudBud]

I did a search and couldn't find the definitive answer here... What is the Field of View in Halo 3? Did they go with the 90 degrees from Halo or with 60 from halo 2? I just can't see myself buying the game if they use the 60 degrees again... Halo 2 in 1080i on the 360 looks like you're viewing through a toilet paper roll.

"The Dude minds. This will not stand, ya know, this aggression will not stand, man."

I read somewhere its 72 degrees, but i'm not sure.

 

[Tieno]

I read somewhere its 72 degrees, but i'm not sure.

It is 72

 

[JdFoX187]

I never saw the big thing about POV. I don't really pay that much attention to it myself.

 

[Xenon]

I played some BTB last night and had no problems with lag, except for a couple jerky death animations. The biggest problem for me was that the more people in a game = greater chance of playing with idiots. Team killers, quiters, and people just saying stupid shit into the mic. I have a feeling once Halo 3 is released its going to be much worse. But so far Im loving it.


I skipped Halo 2 online for the most part. I was always a R6:3 player. Halo 2's match making killed it for me. Things seem better with H3. I do wish they could put in a simple rematch button.


I shared a couple videos if anyone is interested(XEN0N - 0=zero). The solo match was when I first starting playing, then Snowbound team Slayer, and finally CTF High Ground. I am getting better but just suck with the precise weapons.

edit: =\ I was close

 

[manxor]

I never saw the big thing about POV. I don't really pay that much attention to it myself.

If you switch back between Halo:CE and Halo 2 you'll notice.
The difference is quite striking, especially when enemies are in close at your 2 & 10.

When I look at Halo 3 Beta in 16:9, it looks like the Halo 2 FOV is sitting inside it, in a 4:3 window in the middle of the screen and set down low. (The way the crosshair sits low in the screen) Due to the widescreen aspect ratio, the FOV would be different for vertical and horizontal. The actual FOV could be something like 104.5 x 72 degrees or 72 x 44.5... (?)

I'm sure this was originally taken down from Halo:CE to Halo 2 for performance reasons.

 

[NJ Shlice]

Snowblind team Slayer, and finally CTF Higher Ground.

hrmm ??

 

[JdFoX187]

If you switch back between Halo:CE and Halo 2 you'll notice.
The difference is quite striking, especially when enemies are in close at your 2 & 10.

When I look at Halo 3 Beta in 16:9, it looks like the Halo 2 FOV is sitting inside it, in a 4:3 window in the middle of the screen and set down low. (The way the crosshair sits low in the screen) Due to the widescreen aspect ratio, the FOV would be different for vertical and horizontal. The actual FOV could be something like 104.5 x 72 degrees or 72 x 44.5... (?)

I'm sure this was originally taken down from Halo:CE to Halo 2 for performance reasons.

I've played both extensively and it still doesn't really bother me too much. I was good at both Halo and Halo 2 and the FOV never effected my vision. Maybe I just rely on the radar too much.

 

[JdFoX187]

hrmm ??

:lol :lol

 

[Smokey]

I also never noticed the FOV deal. In fact I didn't even know there was a difference until people were railing about it on here.

Also my last post came at the end of the page a few pages ago but this needs to be said again. SMG + Brute Spike duel wielded is as deadly a combination as any. It mows down people VERY quickly once you get in range.

 

[Uncle AJ]

Alright, what's the deal with matchmaking? /seinfeld

- The screen says it's finding "games," but games aren't actually made until every player has been selected. By "games," does it just mean groups of players with similar skill levels?

- How come the number of Possible Matches can say "2" at one moment, then say "0" just a few seconds later? Just pick one!

- As the skill range becomes less restrictive as the search process continues (say it stops at range 3-7), how come once players start being added to the group, it says something like "Looking for more players within the skill range of 1-16?" Granted, I've never actually ended up with players outside of the original range (3-7), so I'm really just arguing semantics here, but it's annoying nonetheless.

- Sometimes after all players have been found, they'll all suddenly dissappear a few moments later, and the entire matchmaking process restarts. WTF

I appreciate the efforts to match evenly-skilled players with one another, but when it takes 5 minutes to get one match going, I don't think it's worth the trouble.

 

[JdFoX187]

Also my last post came at the end of the page a few pages ago but this needs to be said again. SMG + Brute Spike duel wielded is as deadly a combination as any. It mows down people VERY quickly once you get in range.

Amen.

I find it funny people are still bashing the SMG, but most haven't even used it. It's actually a very good weapon up close. I've taken out BRs and Carbines with it in High Ground.

 

[Smokey]

Amen.

I find it funny people are still bashing the SMG, but most haven't even used it. It's actually a very good weapon up close. I've taken out BRs and Carbines with it in High Ground.

Yeah alot of times when I run into it I'll drop the AR for it. Last night though I was thinking how the Brute spiker + SMG combo might work so I went for it and was like OH SHIT:lol :lol

 

[pj]

The reason FOV is an issue is because if someone jumps over you, it's really easy to lose track of them. You end up frantically looking around for 1 or 2 seconds, which usually means you die.

 

[JdFoX187]

The reason FOV is an issue is because if someone jumps over you, it's really easy to lose track of them. You end up frantically looking around for 1 or 2 seconds, which usually means you die.

That's happened to me a few times. I just chalk it up to the other player getting the upper hand in that engagement. I don't really care what the FOV is. Like I said, it doesn't bother me too much. It could be 90 degrees if they wanted to make it that way.

 

[raYne]

The reason FOV is an issue is because if someone jumps over you, it's really easy to lose track of them. You end up frantically looking around for 1 or 2 seconds, which usually means you die.

Radar FTW.

I got pretty frustrated on High Ground last night. I kept getting it game after game on as far as Team Slayer goes, whichever team spawns on the beach has the advantage. They get the Sniper Rifle, and the Rockets. The other team gets the Laser, but can easily be picked off by the Sniper. So if a team is smart they just camp the beach where they spawn, control their weapons and win the game.

I disagree. There's no way the beach team will get both of those weapons unless your team isn't paying attention. The sniper is a given, but I've never had them get the RL at the beginning of any game I've played.

On the defensive left side of the map there are 3 Carbines, a BR and a Brute Shot (plus various grenades). With a coordinated team, you'll all grab that stuff and be in position to take out whoever's going after the RL way before he/they get to it. Or at least get there quick enough (if he uses the Mongoose to speed up there) to take him out before he does any real damage.

 

[Tieno]

Just found out brute pistol shots ricochet off of walls when you shoot at an angle, cool effect at Valhalla.

 

[NJ Shlice]

Alright, what's the deal with matchmaking? /seinfeld

- The screen says it's finding "games," but games aren't actually made until every player has been selected. By "games," does it just mean groups of players with similar skill levels?

- How come the number of Possible Matches can say "2" at one moment, then say "0" just a few seconds later? Just pick one!

- As the skill range becomes less restrictive as the search process continues (say it stops at range 3-7), how come once players start being added to the group, it says something like "Looking for more players within the skill range of 1-16?" Granted, I've never actually ended up with players outside of the original range (3-7), so I'm really just arguing semantics here, but it's annoying nonetheless.

- Sometimes after all players have been found, they'll all suddenly dissappear a few moments later, and the entire matchmaking process restarts. WTF

I appreciate the efforts to match evenly-skilled players with one another, but when it takes 5 minutes to get one match going, I don't think it's worth the trouble.

- I think GAMES are gametypes (i.e. Team Slayer High Ground, CTF High Ground). I think Possible Matches are PEOPLE. the number of people can drop from 2 to 0 when people back out of matchmaking.

-I think that after it finds at least two (or 3) equivelant players, it just searches for any range 1-16 to fill the remaining slots.

-Disappear= Problem with matchmaking system.

To be completely honest with yah, I think all of these numbers and processes that they show us dont mean jack. I think they are there to just look cooler and blow smoke up our Hiney Holes.
Nor do I think that there are actually XX,XXX people online when it tells me.

 

[NJ Shlice]

I disagree. There's no way the beach team will get both of those weapons unless your team isn't paying attention. The sniper is a given, but I've never had them get the RL at the beginning of any game I've played.

On the defensive left side of the map there are 3 Carbines, a BR and a Brute Shot (plus various grenades). With a coordinated team, you'll all grab that stuff and be in position to take out whoever's going after the RL way before he/they get to it. Or at least get there quick enough (if he uses the Mongoose to speed up there) to take him out before he does any real damage.

Defensive guy who is going for laser automatically has Carbine (right next to the steps) anyways. He tosses nade towards rockets right before going up for laser.

Other guy who picks up brute shot and other carbine (or BR) finishes off guy going for rockets. (if there even is a guy from the beach going for rockets.)

When I spawn in the base I always get rockets.

p.s. The laser guy should never get sniped, he should run up the stairs with his head down and as soon as he picks it up he needs to be jumping off of the back side

 

[Sullichin]

I never saw the big thing about POV. I don't really pay that much attention to it myself.

Can someone please explain to me the significance of FOV?

 

[GhaleonEB]

Can someone please explain to me the significance of FOV?

I'm not an expert, but I did notice that Halo 2 felt more "crowded" in that I couldn't see nearly as much of the action as I could in the first Halo. The wider your FOV, the more space you see on screen. (ie your vision is wider)

I think Halo 3 feels better than Halo 2 did, though I can't put my finger on why.

 

[NJ Shlice]

Can someone please explain to me the significance of FOV?

Comparison

It's basically how much you can see on the screen.

halo 2 was very "Tunnel-vision-like"

Take a look, look how much more you can see in Halo 3

 

[DeadCell]

Games: 19
Last Played: 18/05/2007 21:14:19

* Total Kills: 259
* Total Deaths: 164
* Kill/Death Ratio: 1.5793
* Total Assists: 80

Wow, I really need to get more games in. I haven't even played since Friday night because of this damn cold/flu I have. Ah, what the hell... I'll get some games going today. I just know that I'll be regretting it come June 10th if I don't.

I'm going to stick with using my secondary account after hearing all this nonsense about players leaving negative feedback because they lost the game.

http://www.bungie.net/Stats/PlayerStatsHalo3.aspx?player=x%20ThrownAway

Also, anyone care to share where the bubble shield is located on High Ground? I've found it on the other two maps but still have yet to track it down on HG.

 

[Sullichin]

Ah, thanks. I never had a problem with Halo 2 so i'm fine with the FOV in 3 i guess.

 

[urk]

Also, anyone care to share where the bubble shield is located on High Ground? I've found it on the other two maps but still have yet to track it down on HG.

If you start at the beach, it's beneath the small rock outcropping as you approach the wall door, in the middle, just in front of the bunker entrance.

 

[DeadCell]

If you start at the beach, it's beneath the small rock outcropping as you approach the wall door, in the middle, just in front of the bunker entrance.

Ah, okay thanks.

 

[JdFoX187]

Played a quick rumble training game while I was on my lunch break. Got stuck in a room with these four people in a party. Then there was me and this other guy. We were killing people and we heard nothing but bitching and whining from the four guys because they were trying to glitch outside the map. I kept killing them every time they'd try and all I heard was "Fox, you're a f'n ***got you f'n piece of shit! I bet your f'n mom's real f'n proud of you because you can f'n kill people on Halo! You've taken all the f'n fun out of Halo you f'n son of a bitch! All you know how to f'n do is f'n kill you f'n ***got!"

A whole game of listening to that shit. Then, they all leave me bad feedback.

 

[OverHeat]

Major grade 2