• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

A Halogaf Community Thread: The Old Becomes New

22•22

Doesnt need recognition
Well in good news it looks like Bot Bootcamp will be coming back.

ShaoEpO.jpg

#PREGAMECONFIDENCE
 

Naked Lunch

Member
The new map with the side man canon island is great. Finally a map you can breathe in - not tight rooms all over the the place.
I played the new map on the new 1 flag camo vs sensors which was surprisingly fun. Somehow my first game on it I registered a killing frenzy.
THIS is the Halo I know and love - crazy how the entire feel of the game changes with a designs like these alone - theres just not enough of it in the game at the moment.

Im pretty sure the other new map isnt even in matchmaking right now. I never saw it and its in no playlist descriptions.
Ive always hated the 'look' of forge maps in past Halos - but I thought the new forge makes things tolerable after playing it.

I just saw they did some weapon balances. Slightly nerfed BR, buffed Commando (buffed bullet magnetism at mid range?), buffed plasma pistol - a couple more. They also did a blog post talking about the reasons for the desync problems - and some of that stuff sounded insane to me. Stuff about youve reloaded but the server didnt register it and your bullets do no damage. They need that shit fixed asap.

Playing this one new map and mode felt like good fundamental Halo. It felt right. They promised next year more frequent updates and content stream. We'll see if they can turn this around.
 
Last edited:
I tried Infinite again last night, after months on hiatus and just getting my Halo fix out of MCC instead. I wanted to trial the new local region matching.

+kudos for 343 putting player/party choice based filters in our hands. Respect.
+the UI, stability and generally moving between playlists and parties appears to have improved greatly. Happy days.
+found a local Aussie game within 25 seconds in Quick Play. Boom. Enjoyed the first game even though I don't like the map etc.
+the movement, grenades, bullet rego, headshots etc all felt far better than ever before with Infinite. Of course it's 18ms (AUS) vs 170ms (USA). When I won it felt fair, when I lost it felt fair.
+AR + pistol works on these arena maps, any larger or more open sight line maps and it's a crap starting loadout.

-still got shot through walls or rails and the like during that local Aussie game, even with a fibre optic connection 1,000 up and 400 down with 0 loss and 2-5ms ping the game had issues. It's present in all online games but I find Infinite is the worst offender.
-changed to the 1 flag stealth/radar playlist and estimated wait time was 35 seconds. I waited 3mins then backed out and tried again, 45 est. time and waited another 3 minutes. Did not match.
-changed back to Quick Play and est time was again 45 seconds, waited 3 minutes, tried again and did not match.
-still don't like the maps, didn't get to play nor could not select a map filter so I could play new maps I wanted in matchmaking.

A big thanks to 343 on adding in these networking controls. It's still firmly on 343 to drive the console/GP/PC sales, installations and player numbers so there are enough local players. It is a double-edged sword for them, they have to build it for them to come and they have to come for game experiences to work better off what was built. Still as a Halo fan wanting to play the game, it's not on me to be forced to play USA after all these decades or organise parties of friends to be stuck with customs only 100% of the time.

When I sit down to play, none of my Halo friends even want to load Infinite to try these new filters or content out. Perhaps some new Forge customs or a coop legendary campaign run will get us back for a Halo session.

When is the CGB arriving?
 

Naked Lunch

Member
Its pretty insane we waited all year for a measly 2 maps but one apparently is having problems and not even implemented in matchmaking yet.
Hilarious.

They buffed that pulse carbine covie weapon and the plasma pistol - give those a shot.
I was doing well with the new buffed commando.
They also made nade detonation times a bit longer after death so theres not so many cheap kills after you down someone.
These weapon changes - however minor are making a difference imo.
 
Trying a different time of day for Infinite and finding Aussie matches just fine. About 3 games in a row.

- Joint Ops in theory should be good but sucks baa really. Glad they are trying fun and it would have worked but the sword turns it into kiddy Halo for me, so no thanks.

+ the new map with 2 flag is the best Infinite has played to date. Making my friends jump on. Hopefully we can find matches in Aus later at night too.
 

Lasha

Member
Network co-op needs a bit more time in the oven. I experienced multiple instances of desync, lag, and issues triggering events when trying to beat the first level. The game hung and crashed when I completed the level while my kid on xbox was moved along to the next cut scene. I am a bit let down since I have been waiting for coop to do the campaign.
 

Naked Lunch

Member
+ the new map with 2 flag is the best Infinite has played to date. Making my friends jump on. Hopefully we can find matches in Aus later at night too.
I had a feeling you would like the new map, Ozzy - especially for CTF.
Definitely that classic - only in Halo - feel and flow.
We just need more and lots of it.

The new mode is casual for sure - but I had fun with it. Not as sweaty serious.
 
Last edited:
I had a feeling you would like the new map, Ozzy - especially for CTF.
Definitely that classic - only in Halo - feel and flow.
We just need more and lots of it.

The new mode is casual for sure - but I had fun with it. Not as sweaty serious.

You picked it mate. Solid 2 flag map, probably close to one of the best from 343 IMO. I hope it doesn't become spawn controlled as HCS/sweat teams learn the new map etc. The abilities to go rogue, stealth or stick with your team while not being locked down to tight team comms, overlapping fire and spawn trap play is that really sweet spot for me. I'm not out to be the next Snipedown or Royborg with a coach we hire but I do want to be competitive and have fun too. This feels right on the money in terms of who I matched with, how the teams went (for social anyhow) and generally isn't built around the hyper esports arena style. It's classic Halo baby and it's fucking great!

Casual competitive is a tough line for any dev to walk but that's where Halo really needs to be. Bring on more of these sorts of maps and play. This far cleaner style map over the BTB cluttered and too vertical ones from launch is the same treatment 343 needs to apply to their future BTB map roster. It would do wonders. A mate of my was playing Aussie region games on his own when I was playing the other night from posts above, he had a pretty average reaction but only played BTB playlist with Aussie region and found the game much the same as always and wasn't interested. So, the next night we jump on together and boom, hella fun and I drop hints how I feel like all those little parts that sum up to be a greater game than the launch product is there now. Honestly those games felt like a breath of fresh air. Perhaps the connection quality is giving us a honeymoon period but after dragging that mate on he totally agreed the new map and tweaks etc have delivered a far better playing and feeling Halo Infinite. The menus are smooth and fast, the store and customisations are quick loading and logically laid out etc. The post game carnage depth of stats from the scoreboard tab and using the left/right d-pad is a thing of beauty, solid stats on any style of player e.g. slayer vs objective, time held, offence vs defense plays etc. All of these are starting to move out of behind old Halo games or on par with them to now exceeding what we used to have. Menus are faster, tweaks are balancing, content is coming, bugs and desync feel far less (it's never going to be perfect online) and more than I care to list at the moment.

So, we played some MM games and then jumped on for some online coop. He's in Sydney and I'm in Melbourne, he travels down once a year for our paintball weekend and crashes at my joint. It was the best coop experience purely based on the fact of butter smooth campaign performance; I had 16-17ms rock solid the entire first intro and early open world few targets/quests etc. Super clean experience in terms of networking and game experience quality. I heap praise on 343 for this achievement, it is the best in all of Halo games coop performance for frame rate, visuals, sync, responsiveness across grenades, teamshooting, strafe etc All lovely. Some of my deaths during coop looked like carefully curated merchandising shots, the game looks fucking great in campaign, I was getting shitty at nothing new for the coop release but again this feels like behind the scenes 343 worker bees have been making that sweet game honey. I found myself calling over Sarge, my friend, to look at Forerunner textures, just like we used to do in Halo 2 with Covie textures for example. The quality is in the detail and this update feels like 343 are turning the corner from technical issues to that love and care brimming in their game world and experience for fans to enjoy.

Honestly, I am feeling very surprised by the quality of matches solo and with a local Aussie buddy. Colour me impressed 343. Keep it up, great maps and modes based on what you have right now is all you need to do. Also can we please get some campaign regular content drops going? I know you're busy but it would have my Ol' Halo buds and I playing Destiny 2 launch levels of hours. The lore/campaign based side of your audience is crying out for GaaS content, if you brought a seasons pass or added to your season pass that sort of content it's going nowhere but blowing up.
 
Last edited:
Trying a different time of day for Infinite and finding Aussie matches just fine. About 3 games in a row.

- Joint Ops in theory should be good but sucks baa really. Glad they are trying fun and it would have worked but the sword turns it into kiddy Halo for me, so no thanks.

+ the new map with 2 flag is the best Infinite has played to date. Making my friends jump on. Hopefully we can find matches in Aus later at night too.
I had a feeling you would like the new map, Ozzy - especially for CTF.
Definitely that classic - only in Halo - feel and flow.
We just need more and lots of it.

The new mode is casual for sure - but I had fun with it. Not as sweaty serious.
Alright what is the name of this map? I can't play Halo right now but I want to check it out on youtube.
 
Buddy and I wanted to run Infinite's coop on legendary for campaign. We got to the dropship factory room near the end of that first escape mission and the door won't open. So, we flushed our cache and restart the level after trying everything we could think of for that door opening trigger, it never triggered. We ran the mission from a brand new game save, fresh start and the same thing happened at the same spot. We cannot progress past that room and the waypoint is behind a door that won't open. First mission failure. Fun times. Either we're morons or again this bugged fuckery happens every damned time with a 343 release. FFS.

 
Last edited:

Naked Lunch

Member
The other new Infinite map is now in matchmaking.
I played a BR slayer match on it and it was very solid - super close match on it.
Both new maps are in the Halo 2/3 design style - and both are better than any other map in the game so far. Very welcome and hopeful for the future.
Its a bummer getting stuck on the originals now.
 
Last edited:
Haha this one is cracking me up but it needs music. I just decided that Forge needs a music suite where you can create beats to play in the background of games lol. Players have option to mute.
 
Haha this one is cracking me up but it needs music. I just decided that Forge needs a music suite where you can create beats to play in the background of games lol. Players have option to mute.

Nice idea mate, I like it. It would be a nice little feature to be able to attach different sounds, beats, snippets/layers etc to objects or events e.g. change a weapon play this clip #1 I made or drive a warthog at top speed for 5 seconds and play Highway to the Danger Zone. You get it.

After a few more nights jumping on Infinite it seems they've really pushed the old content again. Whoever is in charge of the playlist sustain isn't doing the updates justice. This game sorely needs map and/or mode filters for players to choose. I loved the new update, want to play a specific map/mode and I cannot. After 3 nights of thinking I'm back and loving the new update and love the new map but find out the maps/modes weighting for Quick Play is once again shite. You hardly ever get the good map and it really feels like I'm back playing launch content for most games under developer sustained playlists and selection pools.

Fuck all that 343. Give it back to players or do what Apex does and saturate your new content then taper if off, then iterate it and release, then change it up and rerelease it again next cycle etc. I hate this game on modes like slayer on Argyle. Love it slayer or 2 flag or 1 flag on Detachment. Cannot stand strongholds etc. Enough of shite control based games. Flag and bomb shit on those others, strongholds and oddball etc are more hardcore squad/HCS type stuff. They should stay in ranked. Social flag and bomb allow for those solo/duo runs and crazy shit to happen away from strict HCS maps or teamwork with a coach required. Also you don't get locked down to a tiny box while you grenade, sprint, shoot, die, stand in box and repeat.
 
Last edited:

MadPanda

Member
How many ranks in ranked are there? I got to platinum, what's after that? Diamond? I wish there were more people playing ranked. Waiting is too long most of the time so you can play it only during the specific times of a day. I played warzone 2 for few days and found it to be very frustrating (because of other players) so I went back to halo. What a relief. Can't believe how much I'm enjoying it.
 
lol


How many ranks in ranked are there? I got to platinum, what's after that? Diamond? I wish there were more people playing ranked. Waiting is too long most of the time so you can play it only during the specific times of a day. I played warzone 2 for few days and found it to be very frustrating (because of other players) so I went back to halo. What a relief. Can't believe how much I'm enjoying it.

The tiers are as follows:
  • BRONZE (1-6)
  • SILVER (1-6)
  • GOLD (1-6)
  • PLATINUM (1-6)
  • DIAMOND (1-6)
  • ONYX
 
Considering how much you lose on platinum 1 can't imagine how it's in diamond or Onyx. Thank you.
I got to Diamond 3 when it was a lot easier to rank up. I think I probably could have reached Onyx if I had had a dedicated group. Now though? Probably not lol.

This is a pretty sick coat of paint on a classic map.


Holy crap that map looks exquisite. I mean you can tell it's a forge map, but the effort put into making the surrounding environment is fantastic. The banished theme is well done. I could see this playing really really well in matchmaking.

@343 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Make It So Star Trek GIF


EDIT: Haha I haven't played halo in months and i'm having a ball just seeing these new forge creations on youtube. Really makes me wanna get a series x :messenger_open_mouth:
 
Last edited:

MadPanda

Member
I got to Diamond 3 when it was a lot easier to rank up. I think I probably could have reached Onyx if I had had a dedicated group. Now though? Probably not lol.

Congrats. Last night I got frustrated playing ranked survivors as my team mates weren't good enough and I was. I guess that's how others feel when I don't have good games :)
 
Slow start going randy Quick Play, then pulled it back for the win as a rando team. Things just fell into place.






Also, I have to somewhat eat crow about Infinite's coop. The first going through with a buddy on legendary has been a total fucking joy. All elements of the game banging on song from the graphics and loving details to the action and laughs while grappling, flipping, fighting, getting lost and joking throughout the campaign. I wish this had of been in at launch. What a difference this and Forge would have been at launch. I know it's not going to last for my mate and I though. I know when we get to that third act in the campaign it really gets repetitive, perhaps it will be different this time...about 30% through the coop campaign now.
 
Last edited:
Here's another forge remake. Looks good too.


Can't wait to see these classic map remakes rotate into matchmaking
Yep. 343 needs that Forge playlists right now. I'd be okay with a voting system on the halowaypoint forums. People could check out the maps that others put up for review, download them and test them out, and then vote on whether they are added to the playlist. Say all it takes is a 70% approval vote to automatically get swapped into the rotation with a minimum required number of actual votes to become valid. I mean why not? Let's get this party started already. Then insert an optional feedback score post matches for players to give further insight on the maps. Are people satisfied? Wanna recommend improvements? Go for it. Then 343 can be a final moderator of maps with the authority to remove maps from playlists, but only under highly warranted circumstances (ie map is broken in some way and needs a fix, or the feedback on the map is terrible, etc).

EDIT: Before the end of the year we'll get the taco pit map added to the playlists and another drop pod. Hope it's good.
 
Last edited:
A new Forge Features bit from 343. Still no update on getting forge creations into a playlist or playlists asap. They need to be crunching on that right now. I hope they are.


Can leave feedback here:
 
I visited hallowed ground on the Microsoft Walk of Fame this past weekend.

Halo CE
0WAFLKf.jpeg


Halo 2
V7P1Vc0.jpeg


I wanted a pic of Halo 3, but my "friends" called me out as a nerd and kept on walking. 🤣
That's awesome! I didn't know there was a Halo Walk of Fame lol. You got the most important two Halos :pie_smirking:. Also, nice Sambas!
 
Top Bottom