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The Official Halo 3 Thread

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So since the folks at Microsoft and Bungie haven't shown or said anything regarding ODST aside from the CG trailer, I needed to get my ODST fix.

The folks at AJ have "hooked me up". Their huge dissection of the CG trailer back in October of 2008 is some amazing work. When they first posted it, I just skimmed through it very quickly, only looking at the pictures (being the 'I hate reading' that I am), but tonight, I took the the time to read it in-depth, all the way through. I'm still not done, but my God, they've done an amazing job. All the little things I've missed in the trailer and so much more have shed light in my mind.

All the little quotes they use to describe how 'different, yet familiar' ODST will feel gave me goosebumps, such as:

The confirmation of a new and central hero seems to fuel speculation about the curious “Where are you, Maddie?” text seen in the teaser and the possibility that this story may be far more personal than its predecessors.

His posture and actions already differentiate him from the Master Chief: it is not often that the Chief’s first reaction upon seeing an enemy is to hide - and even less often that he is taken by surprise.

It quickly becomes obvious, however, that this ODST sees things very different than what we’re used to as the Chief or an Elite.

and my favorite:

And the ODST does something unlike anything we’ve ever seen the Chief do. As the pack of Brutes pass by - led by two Stalkers - he does what any non-Spartan would likely do: he steps backward and fades into darkness.

I'm going to re-read the ODST GameInformer again; especially just for that quote where Staten compares Chief vs Chieftan and ODST vs Chieftan.

Seriously, anyone who hasn't read this analysis or has read it, but needs their fix, read through it found here: http://blog.ascendantjustice.com/the-golden-hour-part-1/

I love it. Fucking love the work the folks at AJ do and the subtle work that Bungie does on every teaser they offer us, be it on their site, in a trailer, a large block of text, whatever. Those frame-by-frame hints put in these pieces of media allow fine folks such as AJ to do these literate works of art.

Good fucking night.
 
And the ODST does something unlike anything we’ve ever seen the Chief do. As the pack of Brutes pass by - led by two Stalkers - he does what any non-Spartan would likely do: he steps backward and fades into darkness.

It's as if Tolstoy himself rose from the dead and wrote this magnificent piece.
 
You know, I'm doubtful that there will be a Maddie in ODST. Given all the bullshit the British tabloids like to stir up, I would not be surprised in the least if Bungie had changed her name.
 
Some of you guys were really bored last night, huh?

StarFoxLOL.gif
 
Anyone here on GAF play Squad Battle? I've been trying to build up some people on my friends list that consistenly play and enjoy the Squad Battle playlist. I know it's not the most favorable playlist, but it's much more enjoyable when you work as a team with the same people.
 
I love Squad Battle. Its one of my favorite playlists. I'd be down for some SB but be warned I'm a level 24 and it makes finding matches a little difficult.
 
And the ODST does something unlike anything we’ve ever seen the Chief do. As the pack of Brutes pass by - led by two Stalkers - he does what any non-Spartan would likely do: he steps backward and fades into darkness.

:lol
 
backflip10019 said:
EazyB, prepare to gimme all your lovin', all your hugs and kisses too.

http://www.bungie.net/Online/Halo3UserContentDetails.aspx?h3fileid=77236698

FINALLY got my Extermination and then I went on to get a Running Riot and eventually was stuck and died with a 17 kill streak.

TOLD YOU I'd get it vhfive.
what i heard during this clip.

"holy shit i got a double splatter"

"shit i got a triple"

"HOLY FUCK I GOT AN OVER KILL EXTERMINATION. THIS HAS TO BE THE GREATEST THING I HAVE EVERY DONE IN HALO."
 
StUnNeR H2K said:
Anyone here on GAF play Squad Battle? I've been trying to build up some people on my friends list that consistenly play and enjoy the Squad Battle playlist. I know it's not the most favorable playlist, but it's much more enjoyable when you work as a team with the same people.

I'd love to play more Squad Battle, especially since aside from MLG, it's the only playlist that has BR starts with a mix of Slayer and Objective gametypes, but every time I've went in there with more than 4 people, it takes forever to find a match.. :(

Cocopjojo said:

Dun b4.
 
Blueblur1 said:
I love Squad Battle. Its one of my favorite playlists. I'd be down for some SB but be warned I'm a level 24 and it makes finding matches a little difficult.

It's usually not bad finding games, but I'm generally patient enough to way a few minutes to find a game. I'm currently level 26 in it. The playlist had a little over 6,000 people in it last night... I was shocked it's usually around 3-4k.
 
Stepping away from Halo 3 for a bit, though I'll be on for GAF customs. I had an idea for a new map, and after tinkering a bit in Forge with concepts realized I'm utterly Forged out right now. Four maps through to completion did it for me, for now. I desperately wanted to submit one to Atlas, but the two best are BTB, and I can't meet the saved film submission requirement. So my motivation to get another one done is less. The BTB matchmaking has grown stale as well. I've given up on some of the more interesting gametypes ever hitting matchmaking, or being weighted heavily, though I'm interested to see if any Sandbox maps make it in. Back to my Phantasy Star series play through. I'm sure I'll come back and dabble along the way.

One thought in general on DLC. I have to say, in the final analysis, I'm quite disappointed with the DLC approach to Halo 3. The maps have generally been excellent, and experiments like Sandbox and the forthcoming matchmaking integration are giving the game quite the renaissance. I'm just disappointed that the real DLC was limited to just maps. No new armor permutations, no new game types. Just as big an issue, the game types that needed fixing or adjustments or additional options did not receive them. I'm looking at you, Territories. One of my favorite gametypes in Halo 2 is now among the worst in Halo 3. Mêlée was broken when the game shipped, but it has been amended now. I would argue stuff like Territories is just as broken, but it was never touched. New armor seemed like a no-brainier when the permutations were announced, but it sounds like the way maps are built precludes it.

The game updates added some good fixes and tweaks. Each of the three map packs have had excellent, and some sure-to-be-classic maps. But by limiting the DLC to just maps I think there was a big missed opportunity.
 
GhaleonEB said:
The game updates added some good fixes and tweaks. Each of the three map packs have had excellent, and some sure-to-be-classic maps. But by limiting the DLC to just maps I think there was a big missed opportunity.
Yeah, you'd think they'd have included hooks within the game so that adding content beyond maps would be feasible. The DLC released is nice but I wouldn't feel confident in saying that it's been anything greater than what Halo 2 saw years ago. Perhaps we'd have seen more maps released in a more timely fashion if there wasn't a Bunge/MS split and whatever behind the scene drama surrounding it. But even then, Halo being one of the biggest MP franchises, I'd have hoped for more than just releasing more maps.

Halo 3 has definitely been on par with (if not leading) all other console shooters and their respective post-release additions but Bungie and Halo are not where they are now by simple staying with the pack, it's always been about blowing the competition away. Forge has been a great unexpected addition and it looks like its functionality will finally achieve something through Atlas but map editors have been done before. The PC space has had great map editors for more than a decade and while it is a different thing translating that to the consoles, games like Far Cry 2 show that you can do very similar things if you go all out.

Now that PC developers like IW and Epic are deep into the console space the competition's been stiffer, but does seem like Bungie could've done more regardless of who's sharing the space. Perhaps developing a game with their own IP will give them the motivation to step back up and really create not only a game, but a platform to continually support at unprecedented levels (or to the degree Valve supports TF2 :P).


Edit: And a bit more forge-rant. I know forge is the way it is because Bungie wanted it to be an intuitive tool that every 13 year old Halo player can use but that's forge's biggest mistake. Sure it may be easier to throw some boxes around a pre-set canvas in forge than it would be in Far Cry's editor but that's not what map creation is about. I know forge wasn't intended to make full maps but I fear there's a mentality at Bungie that the function should, first and foremost, be incredibly easy to jump into. Not everyone needs to be able to use a map creator. Unreal's map editor has been used to create amazing things not because a 13 year old wasn't overwhelmed by it the first time he jumped in, but because past all its intricacies there's a very fully-functional map editor. I don't want to waste my time elaborating any further but I just want it known that Bungie's next non-Halo shooter better have a map creator that's complex as fuck.
 
Oh, damn, I forgot that you don't have an Xbox now Eazy. The film clip that I linked to a few posts ago was of me getting an Overkill/Exterm on Sandbox by splattering 4 guys with a chopper. I then went on to get a Running Riot and finally died at a 17 kill streak.
 
backflip10019 said:
Oh, damn, I forgot that you don't have an Xbox now Eazy. The film clip that I linked to a few posts ago was of me getting an Overkill/Exterm on Sandbox by splattering 4 guys with a chopper. I then went on to get a Running Riot and finally died at a 17 kill streak.
Tashi, upload, now.
 
Thermite said:
Nah, both links gave me the "403 Forbidden" message.

Edit: 403, not 430. :lol
I think you have to save-as movies from bungie.org. Took 10 seconds for me to download. Even fewer to try save-as. :p

Edit: and it's an awesome clip. Gawd. Choppers. <3
 
GhaleonEB said:
I think you have to save-as movies from bungie.org. Took 10 seconds for me to download. Even fewer to try save-as. :p

Edit: and it's an awesome clip. Gawd. Choppers. <3

Ah, there we go. Took me roughly about the same time to download.

Some awesome driving there, Backflip. I'm lucky to kill a few dudes while I'm in a Chopper, let alone get an extermination.
 
Thermite said:
Ah, there we go. Took me roughly about the same time to download.

Some awesome driving there, Backflip. I'm lucky to kill a few dudes while I'm in a Chopper, let alone get an extermination.
Haha, me too usually. I guess I've gotten better with it lately. It really is the BR of vehicles.

I feel like I got really lucky with the last splatter in that video. I was turned sideways for a little bit and didn't think I'd get him.
 
What would you guess the average length of a matchmaking game is? 5mins? 8mins? 10mins?

I'm in another discussion about video game addiction and noted I have about 2600match made games for H3. If it's 8mins, thats 346 hours or equivelent of playing for 14 days straight non stop. I'm kind of dissaponted. It feels like I've played way more games than that... :lol
 
FourDoor said:
What would you guess the average length of a matchmaking game is? 5mins? 8mins? 10mins?

I'm in another discussion about video game addiction and noted I have about 2600match made games for H3. If it's 8mins, thats 346 hours or equivelent of playing for 14 days straight non stop. I'm kind of dissaponted. It feels like I've played way more games than that... :lol
You know, I've always loved game time in games, mostly because I'm a big RPG fan, I used halo3. junk for awhile, but it's fucked up at the moment! I've played something like 500 hours of Halo 3:lol counting singleplayer. Maybe I should listen to Eazy's post!
 
There has to be a tool somewhere that lets you tally up your gameplay hours. Isn't halo3.junk not collecting stats anymore?

And I'm stepping away from H3 a little bit now too... ahhh who am I kidding. I'll be back online in the next week. :lol
 
Ohhh and I almost forgot. I got a party invite from someone that I've never seen or heard from before. Curious, I joined and this kid no older than 13 asked me "TJ Ram, on your friends list...does he work for Bungie or something?" I lol'd and said, "yea, he's the president" "What??" says the boy. I say, "yea, he's the president and CEO of bungie, but that's all I can say now" Then I leave the party. I was gonna run with it some more but I was about to start a match. I really hope that kid didn't take me seriously lol.
 
Tashi0106 said:
Ohhh and I almost forgot. I got a party invite from someone that I've never seen or heard from before. Curious, I joined and this kid no older than 13 asked me "TJ Ram, on your friends list...does he work for Bungie or something?" I lol'd and said, "yea, he's the president" "What??" says the boy. I say, "yea, he's the president and CEO of bungie, but that's all I can say now" Then I leave the party. I was gonna run with it some more but I was about to start a match. I really hope that kid didn't take me seriously lol.

Ask him if the kid sends him a F/R or a message, which he probably will after you jizzed him up. :lol
 
Tashi0106 said:
Ohhh and I almost forgot. I got a party invite from someone that I've never seen or heard from before. Curious, I joined and this kid no older than 13 asked me "TJ Ram, on your friends list...does he work for Bungie or something?" I lol'd and said, "yea, he's the president" "What??" says the boy. I say, "yea, he's the president and CEO of bungie, but that's all I can say now" Then I leave the party. I was gonna run with it some more but I was about to start a match. I really hope that kid didn't take me seriously lol.

Yeeeeeeees.
 
Captain Blood said:
Are they working for anyone else?
GOSDFISDFasdfwe45sd7ug!#$%#*%$#@

It's been so long since I used files5, I hadn't realized that neogaf wasn't on the approved list... and I've been gone for the last 4 hours. :(

Fixed now. Not that it matters.
 
Got this from the Bnet forums about the recent changes to Heavies. The fucking Laser in each base on Standoff Heavy used to respawn every 20 seconds. 20 fucking seconds.

Standoff Heavy
Spartan Laser: In Base Laser Respawn Increased from 20 to 180.
Sniper Rifle: Respawn Increased from 60 to 180.
Rockets: Above Gate Respawn Increased from 90 to 120.
Gauss: Respawn Increased from 90 to 150.


Edit
Sandtrap Heavy
Spartan Laser: Base Lasers are still 180, but the Side Lasers (Death Valley and Territory 2) have been set to NEVER RESPAWN.
-Not sure about the previous spawn timers of any of the vehicles. Gauss is now 30, Tanks are 45, Banshees are 90. I have no idea how this corresponds to the previous version.


Edit 2
Valhalla Heavy
Teleporters - Moved slightly closer to wall with orientation fixed.
Lasers - Side Lasers no longer respawn. Base lasers respawn every 3 minutes.
Banshee- Not sure of the previous timer, but it is 120 seconds now.
Tanks are 90, Warthogs are still 60.
Rockets- The Rockets at top mid respawn every 1 minute, with a runtime maximum of 1.
 
Thanks for uploading Wu, and awesome clip Backflip, almost motivated me to call 4MyXbox :P


And no chopper on Valhalla Heavies is the biggest oversight in the history of oversights. Someone at Bungie doesn't know what fun is.
 
wth? I just won 3-4 games in squad battle and finally leveled up from 7 to 8. Yeah i know. You'd think it shouldn't take long to level up when you're that low. Then I lose a stupid game on Rat's nest of slayer where all but two of my teammates quit out and the other team won't stop using their lame vehicles. Yup, back to 7. woot!
 
Deputy Moonman said:
wth? I just won 3-4 games in squad battle and finally leveled up from 7 to 8. Yeah i know. You'd think it shouldn't take long to level up when you're that low. Then I lose a stupid game on Rat's nest of slayer where all but two of my teammates quit out and the other team won't stop using their lame vehicles. Yup, back to 7. woot!
Can't speak to the leveling, but where some see cause for despair, I find joy.

kaboom.jpg


I love it when Rat's Nest Slayer comes up. I specialize in destroying Warthogs. One of my most memorable games was when all but one person on my team was booted/quit. Myself and this other guy went on to win by a few kills, by sticking to the shadows and toasting 'Hogs as they drove by.
 
Deputy Moonman said:
wth? I just won 3-4 games in squad battle and finally leveled up from 7 to 8. Yeah i know. You'd think it shouldn't take long to level up when you're that low. Then I lose a stupid game on Rat's nest of slayer where all but two of my teammates quit out and the other team won't stop using their lame vehicles. Yup, back to 7. woot!
Could be a mixed blessing, get too high a level and you wind up not finding any games at all in that playlist.
 
Domino Theory said:
Got this from the Bnet forums about the recent changes to Heavies. The fucking Laser in each base on Standoff Heavy used to respawn every 20 seconds. 20 fucking seconds.
I posted that months ago pre-ban. Not for all the weapons but for the Sniper and Laser.
 
Why is it that I win 4/5 Team Slayer matches but only win like 1/5 Social Slayer matches? Am I not trying as hard when I'm playing with guests (who rarely do worse than -5), or is it because I've seen more Generals on Social than on Ranked?

Edit: AVATAR PRIVILEGES HAVE BEEN RESTORED! FREE AT LAST!
 
GhaleonEB said:
Can't speak to the leveling, but where some see cause for despair, I find joy.

I love it when Rat's Nest Slayer comes up. I specialize in destroying Warthogs. One of my most memorable games was when all but one person on my team was booted/quit. Myself and this other guy went on to win by a few kills, by sticking to the shadows and toasting 'Hogs as they drove by.

It's not always bad having vehicles around, but they're against my religion lol. If my other 2 teammates would have stuck to the shadows, it might have worked out. But we weren't using a lot of coordination.
 
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