Halo 2 Anniversary Forge: Scripting

Posted on November 22, 2014 by Dust Storm

IGN AwashThe fine folks over at Certain Affinity have put together a video showing forgers how scripting works in the new Forge for Halo 2 Anniversary included in The Master Chief Collection.  Scripting adds a whole new dynamic and interactive element available to forgers like we’ve seen in Halo 2 and Halo 3 multiplayer.  See how switches interact with gadgets, channels and spawning to give forgers more options and control over their creations.  Also, as you’ll note in the credits, our friends over at ForgeCast pete the duck and Ducain23 helped contribute to this video.  Well done guys!

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Master Chief Collection Update Goes Live Tomorrow

Posted on November 19, 2014 by Dust Storm

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343 Industries has just announced that the content update that should fix most of the issues people are having with Halo: The Master Chief Collection will go live tomorrow evening.  They have included a list of fixes in their update, which are caused by some larger issues addressed in this update.

Matchmaking

  • Addressed a number of issues that resulted in extended matchmaking times and low matchmaking success rates.
  • Made a number of updates to how matchmaking progress is communicated to the player. With this update, you’ll see better, more frequent and more informative status updates throughout the matchmaking flow – so “Players Found” for example, will be displayed to let players know where they are in the matchmaking process instead of simply wondering if it’s going to connect.
  • The improved matchmaking flow is as follows:
    • Searching
    • Searching for more players
    • Players found
    • Finalizing matchmaking process
    • Connecting session
  • Made an update to ensure that parties stick together when returning from the post-game carnage report
  • Prevented the ability for players “kick” other players from matchmaking games
  • Made an update to ensure that the Roster correctly displays the “searching” UI rather than “My Game Session” while searching for players
  • Removed the possibility to boost ranking through a custom games exploit
  • Made an update to ensure that players cannot get stuck in the matchmaking screen during map voting
  • Made an update to ensure that the “Connecting to your game” message no longer incorrectly displays in the lower right of the screen during gameplay
  • Made an update to the “team creation” phase that allows players to be grouped by team
  • Made an update to prevent players from seeing the “connection failed” dialogue if disconnected during the map voting screen
  • Improved roster / matchmaking lobby stability
  • Made improvements to the accuracy and stability of the “Game Session Details” UI
  • Improved version compatibility

UI

  • Improved emblem and nameplate behavior to ensure that they do not reset to default (especially after game sessions)
  • Corrected career stats that did not update uniformly across different profiles in multiple titles
  • Improved Forge map display names in Theater
  • Corrected various medal inconsistencies across titles

Campaign

  • Made updates to the attainability of various achievements, including “Goat Roped,” “Monopolized,” “You’re Joking,” and “Devastating.”
  • Improved Halo: CE career stat tracking
  • Resolved scoring and time HUD reset and display issues
  • Made an update to ensure that rival emblems are displayed correctly

Halo: CE

  • Improved consistency and reliability of shot registration
  • Improved headshot hitboxes
  • Fixed an issue where respawning players could momentarily appear at their death location
  • Made an update to ensure that the match ends when the entire opposing team quits
  • Improved fall damage consistency (specifically in regards to uneven surfaces)
  • Improved Halo: CE menu and loading screen stability
  • Improved consistency with multikill rewards
  • Made an update to improve post-game carnage report accuracy for Halo: CE FFA games
  • Updated default language settings

Halo 2

  • Made an update to ensure that the team color shown in pre-game lobby matches in-game
  • Improved a variety of networking issues to allow for improved consistency between host and clients in peer to peer matches
  • Improved a variety of networking issues to allow for improved gameplay consistency
  • Made an update to service tag functionality, allowing for service tags to appear for all players
  • Improved the post-game carnage report to correctly display team color
  • Made an update to ensure that the match ends when the entire opposing team quits
  • Improved “original” medal icon functionality in split-screen
  • Improved host migration functionality
  • Corrected “headshot” stat tracking
  • Addressed a crash that occurred with the Scarab skull
  • Addressed art errors that occurred on the opening cinematics for “Uprising” and “High Charity”

Halo 2: Anniversary

  • Made an update to prevent players from gaining achievements in Forge
  • Improved Forge item display names
  • Resolved text overlapping issues
  • Improved split screen stability
  • Made an update to resolve the notorious “-1th” scoreboard text
  • Improved lobby functionality to address players not being able to reconnect to the party leader after completing a match
  • Improved host migration functionality
  • Corrected vehicle and weapon thumbnails in the “Tools of destruction” table in the post-game carnage report
  • Addressed a dedicated server issue that caused gameplay physics issues on Stonetown
  • Improved split-screen party functionality to ensure that players are not directed to a broken lobby screen after completing a game session
  • Improved Forge mode stability
  • Made an update to King of the Hill scoring to prevent multiple hills from counting down at the same time
  • Improved Shrine objective spawn points
  • Improved King of the Hill and Ninjanaut mode stability
  • Addressed an issue where controller vibration could persist during the pause menu
  • Improved Race mode respawn zones

There will be more updates to come but this mountain of an update should address many of the issues that people are having with The Master Chief Collection.  Granted everything goes well, we will migrate our game nights over to the Master Chief Collection starting next week.  Let us know in the forums how the update fairs for you.

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Content Update Delayed for The Master Chief Collection

Posted on November 18, 2014 by Dust Storm

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The content updated slated to be released tomorrow that is supposed to fix a majority of the issues currently plaguing the Master Chief Collection has been delayed allowing for a few more additional fixes and for certification to be completed for the update.  This update is, what many Halo players are hoping, the solution that will get the Master Chief Collection back on track and be the experience we are all hoping for.  From 343 Industries:

This content update includes a variety of fixes across the title, including Matchmaking performance issues, general UI and game stability improvements, as well as fixes for game-game specific issues in Halo: CE, Halo 2, and Halo 2: Anniversary, and more.

Full patch notes will be released soon before the update goes live.  To keep up to date on the efforts 343 Industries are making to address the game’s issue, visit their bug investigation thread on their forums and follow them on Twitter.

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Podtacular 452: The Master Bug Collection

Posted on November 16, 2014 by Dust Storm

The Master Chief Collection has had a very problematic launch with many bugs and issues affecting almost every part of the game and it seems to be different for every person. Achievements aren’t unlocking for campaign, lobbies are crashing post game for customs and campaign, matchmaking rarely works, and people are rightfully frustrated.  However, the silver lining on the story is 343 Industries is actively trying to fix the issues plaguing the game so Halo fans can get their game on and enjoy everything the Master Chief Collection has to offer.  Despite the launch problems, this past weekend had a lot going on from the Launch Invitational tournament and the release party in Hollywood, which we were privileged enough to be a part of.  Taking the walk down memory lane with us this episode is Alfredo Diaz from IGN and VoRLiN also sharing our Halo 5: Guardians experience.

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The Prophet’s Bane Legendary Weapon in Halo 5: Guardians Multiplayer

Posted on November 13, 2014 by Dust Storm

Halo-5-Guardians-Multiplayer-Beta-Truth-Establishing-Revelations

Among the additions that have been introduced to Halo 5: Guardians, there is a new class of weapons you’ll get to use and the first among the legendary weapons you’ll get to use is the Prophet’s Bane.  It is basically a modified energy sword forged by the Prophets and has some unique qualities.  When you are wielding the Prophet’s Bane, it gives you greater melee distance and increased movement speed.  When you’re sprinting at terminal velocity, you’ll notice that your Spartan will turn the sword over and instead of the typical lunge swish, you’ll perform a charging stab.  While they didn’t mention any other “legendary weapons”, the way it was stated implies we will see more of these class of weapons either in the beta or with the final game.

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Halo 5: Guardians Multiplayer Beta: Josh Holmes Interview

Posted on November 13, 2014 by Dust Storm

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Following up with our previous interview, with Quinn DelHoyo, this time we talk with Josh Holmes, Studio Head for Internal Development for Halo. During this discussion, we talk about the new Spectator Mode that will be available in basic form for the beta, go into a little more detail with the ranking system for Halo 5, and discuss how the pro team has benefitted development and the changes that have already been made from their input.

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Halo 5: Guardians Multiplayer Beta: Quinn DelHoyo Interview

Posted on November 13, 2014 by Dust Storm

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Last week we got to talk to Quinn DelHoyo, Multiplayer Designer for Halo 5: Guardians after getting hands-on with the game. In this interview, we talk about the new Spartan Abilities and how they play to the Halo 5 sandbox, the three maps they were showing off that will be available at the beginning of the beta and how CSR is being revamped as the new Skill XP ranking system for Halo 5: Guardians.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (16.3MB)

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