Halo: Reach

[Flawless]

Re: Halo: Reach

Exclusive Interview On The Halo: Reach Sandbox

As the Halo Reach beta sneaks ever closer, we corner the guys at Bungie on what to expect in terms of weapons, vehicles, assassinations, and armor abilities.

May 3rd is a big day for Halo fans. The Reach beta kicks off, and anyone who picked up Halo 3: ODST is eligible to participate. Bungie has remained silent on many of the multiplayer features, but sandbox design lead Sage Merrill, sandbox designer Josh Hamrick, and community Brian Jarrard deliver a wealth of new information about the game in this exclusive Q&A.

Read on to learn about all the new weapons, assassinations, vehicles, and armor abilities – the biggest change to the core combat experience. In addition check out our media gallery that showcases all the new features. Enjoy!

[Flawless]

Re: Halo: Reach

HD links on B.net

http://www.bungie.net/News/content.aspx?type=topnews&cid=25354

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New plasma pistol effect looks awesome.

[Antec]

Re: Halo: Reach

Poor Elite in that bottom pic. Nut shot kill. The new teabag for halo?

[Steel5]

Re: Halo: Reach

Appears to be a significant graphical upgrade between this build (beta), and what we've previously seen (alpha).

[Flawless]

Re: Halo: Reach

This short interview with Marcus Lehto confirms they will be increasing the player count to allow a "few more players". I'm guessing this is for the new Invasion gametype.

[Steel5]

Re: Halo: Reach

This short interview with Marcus Lehto confirms they will be increasing the player count to allow a "few more players". I'm guessing this is for the new Invasion gametype.

I've been suspecting that they will raise the player cap to 20 or 24 players in this game. With all there talk about massive open environments, I think were going to get a couple of multiplayer spaces that are MASSIVE.

[Flawless]

Re: Halo: Reach

I guess not...

Brian Jarrard:

Earlier in the project there were discussions and some playtests done around supporting slightly larger player counts for some specific gametypes that were being prototyped. At the time it was believed that would carry over into something that shipped in the final game but ultimately it didn't work out as planned (for far too many reasons to get into). Reach will continue to support a maximum total of 16 players.

[Steel5]

Re: Halo: Reach

Oh haha that was smooth.

Curious Flawless, where do you get the posts that Brian makes?

[Flawless]

Re: Halo: Reach

Oh haha that was smooth.

Curious Flawless, where do you get the posts that Brian makes?

NeoGaf

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost...ostcount=21844

[Flawless]

Re: Halo: Reach

Awesome update this week. Lots of good stuff.


Bungie Weekly Update

...

[Flawless]

Re: Halo: Reach

Halo: Reach -- The Beta Maps

I had the opportunity to chat with Chris Carney and Lars Bakken, Multiplayer Design Leads at Bungie, about the four maps which will serve as the killing grounds for the Beta. There's Swordbase and Powerhouse, two maps that will feature "party" game types like Headhunter and Slayer in the Beta. Backing them up is Overlook, a space pulled from the campaign that will feature the Generator Defense test situation. And then there's Boneyard, a map that Bungie is staying relatively quiet about for now.

Jetpack balancing, design choices, fall damage, game modes, the man cannon and more -- this huge interview is chock full of brand new info.

Screens

[Flawless]

Re: Halo: Reach

A more in-depth look at 2 of the 4 beta maps in this week's update - screens, descriptions, weapons pallete on each.


Bungie Weekly Update

The force of the blow, coupled with the burst of speed provided by Sprint actually lifts the target off the ground, sending them reeling backwards after the impact. The first few times I saw it I was too amazed to do much of anything about it, but after the initial shock wore off I found it fun (and effective) to switch to my sidearm and put a round into their face after sending a unsuspecting sucker a-flying.

One of Sword Base’s defining visual features sits in a small pool of water, right smack in the middle of the marble ensconced lower level. This curiously goniochromatic Covenant mechanism not only looks a bit out of place here, it actually displaces anything that happens to wander into its electric blue upward energy thrust. Savvy players will learn to utilize this oddity to quickly maneuver to a number of vertical perches. Others will lift off only to flounder about in midair, eventually falling back down to the ground floor, exposing themselves to a hail of enemy fire.

If they’re really unfortunate, they’ll find themselves a victim of an air-to-air assassination, which is just about the most awesomest thing I have ever laid eyes on. Maybe even more awesomer than the air-to-ground assassination, but I haven’t made up my mind just yet.

In previous Halo titles, the stable of multiplayer maps relied heavily on a system of invisible barriers and volumes to keep players corralled within the playable space. While we’re not scrapping those methods altogether, we’ve devised a new way to keep players hemmed in without being as overtly restrictive.

In plenty of cases, you can actually step outside what we’ll consider the playable space, going beyond the barrier. While you’re out there feel free to explore the space, but don’t dawdle for too long – you’re only given ten seconds to smell any roses you happen to come across. And if, in that limited window of time, you fail to comply with our polite reminder to “Return to the Battlefield,” we’ll just drop you dead right in your tracks, sending you straight into respawn.

But since it’s a little more liberal than a kill volume or a soft ceiling, we won’t mind if you actually use it to your advantage. Stepping outside the zone will not kill you instantly, so if you find a roost or a quick shortcut you can make use of, you should go for it. Just make sure you’re quick about it.

Oh, and if you think you’re going to poke in and out of a particularly sweet spot again and again, reminiscent of the good old super-bouncing ups and downs from Halo 2, you might note that your ten second taste of freedom doesn’t reset each and every time you set foot outside the designated boundary. Take five outside the arena proper and the next time you return, you’ll find that you only have five seconds left on the clock.

So, go ahead and push the limits. Just don’t come crying to us if you get yourself killed out there.

You can also stow the bellyaching about “textures” interfering with your grenade tosses from here on out. There’s a new layer of invisible love being applied to all the nooks, crannies, and yup, stairs you’ll find distributed throughout the multiplayer maps you’ll throw down on – a layer that’ll ensure your grenades bounce in the perfectly predictable way you expect them to.

That doesn’t mean the world is flat, though. If there’s a particular piece of geometry we deem worthy to run interference, we’ll make sure there’s just the right bounce to the ounce. Shishka tells me it’s actually based on “biped collision,” which is a fancy way to say that if you don’t get caught up on it, your grenades probably won’t either.

The Needler is back and for the most part, you should already know what to do with it. Line up your target, fill ‘em full of crystal, and watch ‘em pop inside a cloud of deadly pink mist. There are some small differences, though. Needles will no longer track your target if your reticule isn’t red and just like the Needle Rifle’s projectiles, you won’t be rewarded with a super-combine until after your opponent’s shields have dropped.

Don’t worry too much, as long as you have someone lined up proper it’s still a quick kill and it works wonders against airborne enemies. Hamrick calls it your own personal SAM site. Six needles to take down a Spartan’s shields (seven for an Elite), six more to make them asplode.

Might sound like a lot, but trust me, it’s nice ‘n’ speedy and you’ll have plenty of pink needles in the clip.

The Needle Rifle is the Covenant’s answer to the DMR. You’ll want to use it at mid to long range and begin by aiming for the body until you see the shields pop. Just like the Needler, it takes six rounds to tear through a Spartan’s shielding and seven to eat through an Elite’s.

Unlike the DMR, you can hold the trigger down if you choose, though you’ll suffer significant bloom with each new shot fired and your ammunition will actually super-combine if you stick just three needles into an unshielded opponent. None of your shots will track, however.

If you go for the brainpan, you won’t need to worry about counting if you’ve already removed the shields from the equation. One needle to the dome will get the job done (and make your foe look like a pretty, pretty unicorn if you pop ‘em right between the eyes).

[Steel5]

Re: Halo: Reach

All good things come to an end and Halo 2’s days are now numbered. If you haven’t yet heard, Xbox LIVE support for Xbox Originals will be a thing of the past on April 15th, 2010. Sad times, but we’re planning on sending our baby out with a bang.

As thanks for throwing down, we’re committed to granting everyone who plays with us on the 14th a piece of visual flair for use in Halo: Reach multiplayer as a symbol of our gratitude. We’ll also be collecting a plethora of relevant stats and gifting plenty of other sweet prizes for players who take the time to throw down with us.

So, see you there (be gentle), and if it’s been a while since you’ve played Halo 2, or you’ve recently switched consoles or gamertags, make sure you fire up Halo 2 before you’re ready to play so you can re-download the title updates and free map packs you need to make the most of it. We’re hearing the full process takes a while and we wouldn’t want you stuck downloading while the rest of us are having fun.

Special piece of "visual flair" for Reach if you play Halo 2 tomorrow (My guess is an emblem).

Bungie also posted new comments in the "Did you know" section on Halo 2 for the last week. Some are quite humorous:

[sportsdude]

Re: Halo: Reach

so we can still play Halo 2 online through Thursday? I thought that went out the window a month or so ago. Either way, I'll be doing some digging to find my copy of Halo 2 for a few games tomorrow. Some of my favorite maps, Headlong and Terminal, were in Halo 2.

[Steel5]

Re: Halo: Reach

so we can still play Halo 2 online through Thursday? I thought that went out the window a month or so ago. Either way, I'll be doing some digging to find my copy of Halo 2 for a few games tomorrow. Some of my favorite maps, Headlong and Terminal, were in Halo 2.

Tomorrow is the last day.