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The Official Halo 3 Thread

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LunaticPuma said:
Mr Vociferous - What are your Halo Wars impressions? I say you playing last night!
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Yeah, I played it for a few hours last night and definitely had fun. I talk briefly about it here. I'll play it more tonight, but I do think it may be a solid $60 purchase for me in March. I should caveat though that I'm considerably more excited about the Mythic Maps and ODST than anything else in the gaming field at this time, Halo Wars included.
 
Hmm, Sandlot seems interesting. Very interesting. I'd have to raise my interest level to 'not so limp' anymore. BUT, the fact that they aren't going to be making anymore maps deserves a big WTF. Aren't they already done with these maps?
 
LunaticPuma said:
Those pictures are getting me pretty pumped up about Sandbox. Hopefully we'll get lots of variants for matchmaking.

Mr Vociferous - What are your Halo Wars impressions? I say you playing last night!
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Voc you got it yesterday too?! :D
CrazedArabMan said:
How did you get the demo already?
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I don't think it would be appropriate for me to say without confirmation otherwise.

I guess it would be best for me to start a Halo Wars demo impressions thread when I get home from school today?
 
OMG OMG ZOMG! BLUE GRID FTW!!!!!!!!!!!! Halo Wars CE pre-order justified? CunfOrmed!!

Seriously... I'm now officially going to check out the maps before playing Halo Wars. I got a remake that hasn't been brought up in a long time, and stoked to get started on it. I knew Sandbox would be the second coming...:D I just hope hope hope that we'll get some worthy variants included into matchmaking.

So what are the odds that we'll have different themes? The name SANDBOX suggests a desert theme...but...it would totally be like Bungie, a clever way to keep this feature secret.
 
OM NOM NOM NOM NOM

33cojfo.jpg


So much to talk about:

First of all, death sphere, hope it can be edited like respawn zones and most of all I hope it can be made rectangular.

Your blue grid is showing, Bungie. If there isn't a full terrain selector than I'm willing to bet those dirt tiles will be able to be replaced by death tiles so maps like ascension can be made. Didn't think of this solution (had the idea of death barriers but not death floors); tricky Bungie.

Nice to see so many variants already. I'm going to have a fucking field day once I get my grubby little hands on this map.
 
Oh lovely. I spend months mocking Voc and Cocop for reading into the Blue Grid on that video. When the campaign elements in MP talk was shot down, I was feeling pretty confident in the level of shit I could give them over the Blue Grid. Bungie is fucking with you, I said. Don't read anything into it, I said.

And what does Bungie do? They put it in the map. You realize this is only going to encourage them, right? Now their crazy theories have been legitimized. The Halo community will look to them for even more insight into reading the teases you put out, and that will only raise expectations accross the board. Eventually expectations will be raised so high Bungie cannot possibly meet them, and the crush of Bungie fans being let down will be so great that widespread depression and mass suicides will ensue. With the economy on the fritz, that will be the straw that breaks societal order, and that order will collapse. Dogs, cats, hysteria by the masses. Nice going Voc and Cocop.

Sandbox looks HAWT. Requiring Mythic in so many playlists = lovely.
 
urk said:
http://www.t3.com/feature/halo-3-mythic-map-pack-exclusive-bungie-interview

You guys see this set yet?
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T3: What was the original idea behind Sandbox?
Lars Bakken: The original idea behind Sandbox was to give players an open map to play around with in Forge (the social map editor in Halo 3). We gave them Foundry as part of the Legendary Map Pack last year, but that was in a dark warehouse. We thought, “what if we give them a big outdoor space to play around in?” From there it was making sure it was possible to open up the space and give players a little more freedom - freedom to build up or down, as the case may be.
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Say what?
GhaleonEB said:
Oh lovely. I spend months mocking Voc and Cocop for reading into the Blue Grid on that video. When the campaign elements in MP talk was shot down, I was feeling pretty confident in the level of shit I could give them over the Blue Grid. Bungie is fucking with you, I said. Don't read anything into it, I said.
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Glad Cocop won me over when he did. Now I too can rejoice as all the naysayers eat crow.

OM NOM NOM NOM

Could just be an easier way for forgers to make sure their lines are straight but I want to believe!
 
I assume when you get your LE Halo Wars, there'll be a code to download the maps?
Or are the maps on a disk, like Oblvion GOTY has the Shivering Isles/KoTN expansions?

For people without XBL, how do they get the Heroic, Legendary and beyond maps?
Will there be a retail disk at some point, like Halo2 had?
(Shame that disk didn't include Tomstone and Desolation, btw.)
 
EazyB said:
Could just be an easier way for forgers to make sure their lines are straight but I want to believe!
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And I'm sure that this is definitely part of the equation, but if the blue grid sequence from the "thank you" video represents an event in Forge, then there are a whole slew of possibilities that could be at work. Even despite my rampant speculation, I continue to be surprised by some of the new things they've come up with here.

Hopefully we'll get more words directly from Bungie on the matter to end all of the speculation.
 
xDEILGYREx said:
I assume when you get your LE Halo Wars, there'll be a code to download the maps?
Or are the maps on a disk, like Oblvion GOTY has the Shivering Isles/KoTN expansions?

For people without XBL, how do they get the Heroic, Legendary and beyond maps?
Will there be a retail disk at some point, like Halo2 had?
(Shame that disk didn't include Tomstone and Desolation, btw.)
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Halo 3: ODSTD will have every Halo 3 MP map as well as the current DLC and its 3 exclusive maps.
 
Lars Bakken said:
We gave them Foundry as part of the Legendary Map Pack last year...
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...noob :P

But seriously, I'm really glad I'm getting the special edition of Halo Wars. These maps are gonna be sick. And thanks to Bungie for making a playlist for these new maps at Halo Wars launch.

wow just read this...
Lars Bakken said:
...there are now a couple dynamic lights to throw around.
Click to expand...

holy shit
 
At this point, I've started to temper my expectation of "multiple terrains." And I've never thought that we'll get a "terrain editor" or anything of the sort. I think that, based on the screenshots we got today, Sandbox is it, and that playspace is what you get, except for the ethereal blue grid world, which I am pretty convinced now that we've seen the grid, is accessible by deleting or "removing" the Sandbox arena. Maybe an X-option, or even something you choose from the main menu before you load the map (like a map variant). But I am still fully convinced that we'll be able to play in the area we saw in the video and walk around on that grid.
 
Mr Vociferous said:
Hopefully we'll get more words directly from Bungie on the matter to end all of the speculation.
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If there is no true blue grid they should definitely say so in Friday's update. A Q&A isn't really a place to address rumors, especially if the questioner doesn't ask. It seems this was Sandbox's big reveal so there shouldn't be anything left to hide except skull info. They'll either dispel it Friday if it's untrue but if they don't mention it it's gotta be true. I can't see why they wouldn't address it after this full-reveal unless they wanted to surprise us with it.

Hope my logic makes sense.
 
I think people are reading into the "blue grid" a bit much. It seems to me that it's just there to help with placing objects in Forge (lining things up evenly, etc.). That would be helpful to make perfectly symmetric maps.

*edit* Saw this comment made on last page, but I'm leaving it here to reiterate my opinion.
 
LunaticPuma said:
I think people are reading into the "blue grid" a bit much. It seems to me that it's just there to help with placing objects in Forge (lining things up evenly, etc.). That would be helpful to make perfectly symmetric maps.

*edit* Saw this comment made on last page, but I'm leaving it here to reiterate my opinion.
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That's what I get from seeing it in the pictures, especially telling it's only visible in the Forge editor.

To hell with common sense, let's delete that sand!
 
Sai-kun said:
context?
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"Some men are longer than others."

Cocopjojo said:
At this point, I've started to temper my expectation of "multiple terrains." And I've never thought that we'll get a "terrain editor" or anything of the sort. I think that, based on the screenshots we got today, Sandbox is it, and that playspace is what you get, except for the ethereal blue grid world, which I am pretty convinced now that we've seen the grid, is accessible by deleting or "removing" the Sandbox arena. Maybe an X-option, or even something you choose from the main menu before you load the map (like a map variant). But I am still fully convinced that we'll be able to play in the area we saw in the video and walk around on that grid.
Click to expand...
I agree with your first sentence, but I'm not sure I completely follow you on the rest.

I think there's a misunderstanding, possibly on my end, what a "terrain editor" is by definition. From my perspective, it's a manipulation of the core geometry which was not a part of the original Forge implementation. For example, you can't delete High Ground's ground or base because it's the core geometry of that level. You can edit objects by creating, deleting or removing them -- just not the core geometry.

That being said, if the video we saw is accurate, then it is a terrain editor, because the terrain is no longer the default Sandbox core geometry. Now how far down the rabbit hole Sandbox goes, there's really no way to tell at this point. I do not believe you're going to have different texture skins for landscape or that you're going to be able to craft, one-by-one, dunes and other elements which have, up till now, been core geometry.

I do believe that there's got to be some scalable measure of creative influence between the blue grid we saw in the video and the blue grid we see here. How much that is, in fact, remains to be seen. Even if Sandbox is just all that we've seen so far, I don't think there's any arguing that its potential has just engulfed Foundry like plankton in the mouth of a whale. I remain enamored.
 
Falagard said:
Now that we see more of the Forge geometry, I think it's clear that players will be able to come up with some good recreations of Sanctuary, Warlock and other favorites in Sandbox.

My guess on the unannounced features of Sandbox:

The ability to build maps in the air - like Ascension, for example. This would require the ability to raise the soft ceiling to a specific height (so you don't jump and hit an invisible barrier) and add a kill plane - when you fall below a certain height you die.

I know others are still holding on to the idea of modifying the terrain and skybox. Get over it.
Click to expand...

Winner, winner, chicken dinner?
That sounds likely to me, perhaps the blue grid's are representative of the ground level / sky level, and raising the bottom level allows you to build on that plane without having to stack and delete?

(also : Sandbox combines large-scale vehicular combat with a limitless amount of Forge customization. Boasting a tiered, open-world layout, “Halo 3” players will be able to build their own unique game experiences using the Forge map editor. Sandbox is a map unlike any Bungie has ever created.) hmmmmmmm
 
Aww, craptastic! The temptation to buy Halo Wars CE grows ever stronger. I have already played the game and I'll get it for free anyway, but I have to get those maps :(
 
In regards to the blue grid in the original videos, what about just the plain possibility that the current tiled floor in Sandbox can be removed so you now have a an instant pit area where the tiled floor does not exist?

Don't you find it a little curious that Lars recommended adding things to the default layout as opposed to starting from the complete bare bones?
 
Dirtbag said:
Winner, winner, chicken dinner?
That sounds likely to me, perhaps the blue grid's are representative of the ground level / sky level, and raising the bottom level allows you to build on that plane without having to stack and delete?
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That's the way Boom Blox works, but I don't think forge is capable of holding up to Boom Blox :P

In order to make a floating map that kills players who fall off there's a number of things Sandbox may do:

My dream: Start with the blue grid, if you leave a hole in it than players will fall through. There exists geometry below the tiles seen in the images so that when a player falls through it looks decent and not just like they've glitched and fell through the bottom of a map.

Scale that back a notch: You can't make holes in the geometry but you can replace a normal tile with a flamming death tile so stepping on it would be the equivalent of falling off a map. We've already seen the "death sphere" but if you can't create death tiles then hopefully you can creat "death rectangles" which would fulfill the same purpose.

In the least: Depending on how many "death spheres" the budget allows one to create, you could build an elevated map with a bunch of death spheres bellow. Kind of like an egg carton mattress cushion. I'd find it strange if the sphere's weren't editable like the respawn zones but if for any reason they aren't, at the very least one should be able to do this.

I'm fucking amped to start creating Sandbox maps.
 
Mr Vociferous said:
"Some men are longer than others."


I agree with your first sentence, but I'm not sure I completely follow you on the rest.

I think there's a misunderstanding, possibly on my end, what a "terrain editor" is by definition. From my perspective, it's a manipulation of the core geometry which was not a part of the original Forge implementation. For example, you can't delete High Ground's ground or base because it's the core geometry of that level. You can edit objects by creating, deleting or removing them -- just not the core geometry.

That being said, if the video we saw is accurate, then it is a terrain editor, because the terrain is no longer the default Sandbox core geometry. Now how far down the rabbit hole Sandbox goes, there's really no way to tell at this point. I do not believe you're going to have different texture skins for landscape or that you're going to be able to craft, one-by-one, dunes and other elements which have, up till now, been core geometry.

I do believe that there's got to be some scalable measure of creative influence between the blue grid we saw in the video and the blue grid we see here. How much that is, in fact, remains to be seen. Even if Sandbox is just all that we've seen so far, I don't think there's any arguing that its potential has just engulfed Foundry like plankton in the mouth of a whale. I remain enamored.
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Yeah, we are basically saying the same thing, I think. I just don't think of it as a terrain editor... more like an option that you choose that alters the world as a whole. And I'm not even convinced that this is how it will work. I am just positive that we'll see the blue grid in the same incarnation that we saw it in the video, and reconciling that with the pictures we've seen is... difficult. So I have to come up with crazy theories like ultimate nullifiers and world deleters. Hopefully it will be something simpler, but... I honestly can't think of any other way it could work.
 
Dirtbag said:
Winner, winner, chicken dinner?
That sounds likely to me, perhaps the blue grid's are representative of the ground level / sky level, and raising the bottom level allows you to build on that plane without having to stack and delete?

(also : Sandbox combines large-scale vehicular combat with a limitless amount of Forge customization. Boasting a tiered, open-world layout, “Halo 3” players will be able to build their own unique game experiences using the Forge map editor. Sandbox is a map unlike any Bungie has ever created.) hmmmmmmm
Click to expand...
Let me add to that. I've just seized on this line from Lars in the T3 interview:

Lars Bakken: The original idea behind Sandbox was to give players an open map to play around with in Forge (the social map editor in Halo 3). We gave them Foundry as part of the Legendary Map Pack last year, but that was in a dark warehouse. We thought, “what if we give them a big outdoor space to play around in?” From there it was making sure it was possible to open up the space and give players a little more freedom - freedom to build up or down, as the case may be.​
 
EazyB said:
In the least: Depending on how many "death spheres" the budget allows one to create, you could build an elevated map with a bunch of death spheres bellow. Kind of like an egg carton mattress cushion. I'd find it strange if the sphere's weren't editable like the respawn zones but if for any reason they aren't, at the very least one should be able to do this.

I'm fucking amped to start creating Sandbox maps.
Click to expand...
The second I download Sandbox, I'm going to create two bases blocked off from each other by a massive death sphere in the middle. The only way across is a symmetric ramp/mancannon in the middle front of each base.

Depending on how the death sphere can be modified, I think Halo has found its own version of lava.
 
BenjaminBirdie said:
When they say Mythic Maps will be available for everyone else "Soon After" Halo Wars CE, how soon is that?
Click to expand...
No one has said. It's up to Microsoft, and they probably won't announce the Marketplace date until Halo Wars is out, so as to maximize up front Halo Wars LE sales.
 
GhaleonEB said:
Let me add to that. I've just seized on this line from Lars in the T3 interview:

Lars Bakken: The original idea behind Sandbox was to give players an open map to play around with in Forge (the social map editor in Halo 3). We gave them Foundry as part of the Legendary Map Pack last year, but that was in a dark warehouse. We thought, “what if we give them a big outdoor space to play around in?” From there it was making sure it was possible to open up the space and give players a little more freedom - freedom to build up or down, as the case may be.​
Click to expand...
Yup

I also hope the red and blue aren't the only light spheres. It'd be awesome if there was a healthy variety so, much like on guardian, people can call out spots based on their color and know immediately where they are once they spawn.
And they make the map look tight as hell.

BenjaminBirdie said:
When they say Mythic Maps will be available for everyone else "Soon After" Halo Wars CE, how soon is that?
Click to expand...
"Early Spring" has been floating around IIRC.
Self Induced said:
The second I download Sandbox, I'm going to create two bases blocked off from each other by a massive death sphere in the middle. The only way across is a symmetric ramp/mancannon in the middle front of each base.

Depending on how the death sphere can be modified, I think Halo has found its own version of lava.
Click to expand...
Boarding Action amirite?
 
Dirtbag said:
That sounds likely to me, perhaps the blue grid's are representative of the ground level / sky level, and raising the bottom level allows you to build on that plane without having to stack and delete?
Click to expand...
I think that's the best explanation for the use of terms "multi-tiered" / "building up or down" yet. That the grid might represent some manner of being able to create geometry at different levels without stacking it ontop of placeholder objects.

As for the Edge video, I was as clueless as everyone else when they first showed it. At this point, I do believe its a Forge area. How we get there, like you said Cocop, I'm completely lost on. When we are there, though, I think that we'll be able to take the object palette and place objects on the grid. There's a lot of geometry here which suggests that we can have flooring placed that will piece together (like in the video) to form the map's base geometry.

When this map is played in a normal gameplay setting (outside of Forge), the blue grid is gone and players who leave this "base geometry" will fall -- making the playable area only the flooring established by the objects placed during Forge (like Blackout's "Snipe 12" and its use of the soft-ceiling). Maybe the Sandbox skybox is larger than we can see from these shots too, continuing down to the very bottom of the environment like many maps from Halo 2 and Halo 3. Pan caming out of the existing campaign/multiplayer maps usually reveals as much anyways.
 
Dirtbag said:
Winner, winner, chicken dinner?
That sounds likely to me, perhaps the blue grid's are representative of the ground level / sky level, and raising the bottom level allows you to build on that plane without having to stack and delete?
Click to expand...

Yeah, I think the Grid is only visible in edit mode and represents the build plane you're building on.

I don't think we'll ever see a blue background with white grid overlaid like we saw in the Edge video.

I think the Sandbox world geometry (sand dunes, etc.) will stay as it is and not be editable. I think we'll have an option for setting the build plane at a few different presets. Right on the ground, up in the air at a certain height, etc. It's possible that we can arbitrarily set the build plane as well while you're building.

You'll notice in the shots that the grid is only visible when there is also a Monitor in the screenshot, meaning it probably only shows up while editing as Voc suggested.

So yeah - my thought is that the original press release said open world tiered editing, that the tiers are different heights you can build at and the grid shows you visually what you're editing on.

Also - it may represent the kill plane. If a player falls XX distance below the build plane they die, so when building in the air you build upwards and the grid represents where the player dies if they fall below it.
 
GhaleonEB said:
No one has said. It's up to Microsoft, and they probably won't announce the Marketplace date until Halo Wars is out, so as to maximize up front Halo Wars LE sales.
Click to expand...

I'd say that's a very spot-on assessment of the current situation.
 
Dax01 said:
That ball right there, that is the "death sphere" everyone is talking about, correct? Looks cool for whatever it does.:lol
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Yeah, hopefully Bungie reveals what the death sphere does, cause I'm dying to find out.
 
I think the blue grid is just a way to "snap" objects into place. Like in Forge, you can't seem to get that wall set straight. I'm going to say that the blue grid, somehow, is a way to place objects on a map with ease.
 
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