Halo 3: ODST - Prepare To Drop (Out Tuesday)

FyreWulff

Arg. Just got an email that he might make me re-do the runs if I beat #1 because I had one too many gold and silver skulls on ;_; (one more skull in each category than he wanted)

Hopefully he doesn't. I pointed out to him that his post was vaguely worded and that Fog and IWHBYD don't really affect my campaign runs since I always play campaign with fog on (such an easy skull to add). And of course all IWHBYD affects is the dialogue.

Spartan 0092

Is this contest actually offering Recon as a reward?

FyreWulff

Also screenies of District reflecting Turf

Sup Turf trucks


sup turf sniper spawn



sup turf bridge thingies

FyreWulff

I am good at pointing things out. Huzzah!

You know what? I don't have a problem with it. You can go ahead. I mean, come on, the contest is over. The time to be a rule Nazi is over. So you're cool. As long as you don't stand still without good reason, you're okay with me.

FyreWulff

Spartan 0092 wrote: »

Is this contest actually offering Recon as a reward?

All signs point to yes.

It seems Bungie is latching onto any contests that have been publically posted.. kinda like how they latched onto mine and let me give someone Recon, they might be doing this to sort of start giving it away before the great ODST unlocking.. and it's obvious they want people to keep the recon award on the down-low so that the contests don't explode just from recon seekers. Right now all this contest has is me and two other entrants. I'm apparently only an hour off (not sure if that was counting my re-run of Covenant) the leader. I have this shit in my sights.

DekuStick

Elite players don't deserve the Recon.

FyreWulff

DekuStick wrote: »

Elite players don't deserve the Recon.

You're just jealous because elites can wear the recon helmet like a beret

Spoiler:

Actually what I mostly want is that ODST LE so I can possibly move the money on my preorder over to B:RB..

DogEight

So does the contest pretty much entail doing the entire campaign extremely inefficiently in perpetual crouch mode? I think that would drive me insane faster than my mythic runs.

Willeth

Chris Redfield wrote: »

But yeah, I can get a picture for the OP today or tomorrow, would you be able to slot it in for me?

If you get it to me tomorrow, maybe. Tomorrow is busytime.

FyreWulff

DogEight wrote: »

So does the contest pretty much entail doing the entire campaign extremely inefficiently in perpetual crouch mode? I think that would drive me insane faster than my mythic runs.

Pretty much. My cov re-run includes moving just enough to move forward.

However, to get in under the deadline, I just normalruned Ark, so I'm actually just moving normal speed in that.

Whenever I have to get up and walk normal speed, it feels like I'm super fast

FyreWulff

If you missed it in slipspace:

http://www.bungie.net/Online/Halo3UserContentDetails.aspx?h3fileid=92347638

Alright, heres the Guardian thats going to be used. Give it some testing tomorrow if possible and let me know of any changes that it could use. Rat and I tested it already, and it seems pretty solid.

Spartan 0092

Random note: the bad guys in Bad Company have the same motto as JTF2 (the Canadian special forces) "F/Acta non verba" Deeds not words.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Task_Force_2?wasRedirected=true

Dixon

Just popping in to say I'll be back for ODST to kill some more peeps online. Just put the other half of my preorder for this. Can't wait to play with you guys again

FyreWulff

Current Ark regrind status

70 minute mark

just beat the scarab

I think if I get killed at this point I will just cry

FyreWulff

Looks like I can save my tears.

http://www.bungie.net/Stats/GameStatsCampaignHalo3.aspx?gameid=87028983&player=FyreWulff%20Rex

El Extremo

You have more patience than I will ever be able to fathom.

FyreWulff

I almost got firebombed at one point at around the 85 minute mark.

I bet if I go back and watch the video, I'm like an inch away from the explosion radius.

FyreWulff

Now streaming my torture. Current level regrinding: Floodgate. Up to 5:30 or so at the skull.. usually at 5:30 I've beaten the level.

http://www.livestream.com/tbktv

DarkPrimus

Do you NEED to do all this to beat his time? Or are you just being thorough?

FyreWulff

beating the time plus some padding.

FyreWulff

http://www.bungie.net/News/content.aspx?type=news&cid=22384

scared the shit out of me when I went to upload my new floodgate run..

Saiga

Haven't played with you guys in forever, I'll be getting back on Halo 3 soon I am pretty sure. I will for sure be going to get ODST later this month at the midnight release and I can't wait to play with you guys again. My tag is in my signature, feel free to add me.

sPider817

I've been doing more video projects in between work shifts, so I haven't been on as much the last couple weeks. I'm gonna try and make it on at some point Wednesday night.

FyreWulff

http://www.bungie.net/Stats/GameStatsCampaignHalo3.aspx?gameid=87034457&player=FyreWulff%20Rex

Floodgate up to 45:50

impressive considering the level is roughly 5 minutes long, and my last entry was 20 minutes..

Also speaking of the other levels, I had to fight my urge to take down the scarabs in 3 seconds, instead milking them for all the time I could by slowly destroy all of their legs.

edit: current total run time is

7:31:29 (7 hours, 31 minutes, 29 seconds)

my previous submitted total time before I grinded Ark/Cov/Floodgate was

4:40:13

I don't ever want to hear anybody say ODST is too short that bought Halo 3

edit: also I want to say this again. I want to hurt whoever programmed the AI's come-up-and-give-you-a-ride routine to make them drive right through you.

Yorker

Tycho, on the front page. wrote:

ODST's Firefight mode is one of the rounds in the Omegathon this year, and understanding some of the ways in which it deviates from vanilla Halo I thought might be useful for our contestants. Then, after I'd gotten done reading it, I thought it was just interesting in general. I figured I might as well post it.

Halo 3: ODST Firefight Omegathon FAQ

What's Firefight?

Firefight is a 4-player cooperative game where the goal is to survive,
progress and score as many points as possible.

How does the game work?

Groups of randomly spawned Covenant enemies enter the battlefield via drop
ships or doors in successive waves. In general, each wave entails two
groups of random enemies. Once cleared, the next wave commences, signified
by an announcer and HUD message. For the purposes of Omegathon, this will
continue for 10 minutes or until a team has run out of lives.

Waves 1 through 4 will always be a random assortment of enemies - Grunts,
Buggers, Jackals, Brutes, Hunters and even Wraiths. Wave 5 will include a
random mix of enemies but will always include several Brute Chieftains.

A full "round" is complete after the final enemy is killed in the 5th wave.
Upon doing so, players will be rewarded with fresh health, additional lives
and replenishment of their ammo and health pack cache.

How do the difficulty modifier skulls work in Firefight?

The skulls from Halo 3 are back and integrated into the heart of the
Firefight experience. Skulls will systematically activate as players
progress through Firefight play with a new skull turning on at the start of
each new round (a new round starts upon completing every 5th wave).

At the start of the game, "Tough Luck" is enabled. This skull drastically
increases an enemy's tendency to dive out of the way to avoid incoming
grenades, making them more nimble and agile against these attacks.

If you make it through to the end of the 5th wave and begin round two, a
second skull will activate in addition to "Tough Luck". "Catch" greatly
increases the enemy tendency to throw grenades (including suicide grunts who
rush the player with armed plasma grenades).

At the start of Round 3, a third skull is added to the previous two. "Black
Eye" means that players can only regain health by melee attacking enemies.
Normally, as a player incurs damage, their HUD will turn red and if they
continue taking damage, their base stamina will deteriorate. However, if you
back off and remove yourself from danger, your health will restore and your
base stamina will not be affected. With Black Eye, the initial damage done
will not dissipate until you melee enemies.

These are the only 3 skulls that will possible come into play during a 10
minute game, depending how quickly and far a team progresses.

How does scoring work?

The base scoring system is similar to what is found in Halo 3's "campaign
scoring" and competitive multiplayer mode. You are awarded points for every
enemy you kill. Extra points are earned for things like headshots, killing
sprees, multi-kills, assists, etc.

Killing as many enemies as possible, in skillful ways, without dying, is the
path to earning the highest scores. Larger, more difficult units like
Wraiths and Chieftains are worth a lot more points than something like a
Grunt or Bugger. Completing early waves faster means you can get to the
later waves, and higher scoring enemies, quicker.

Killing a teammate will result in a negative score penalty. Dying from an
enemy does not incur a score penalty but will reset any chain counters you
may have been accruing.


What equipment will the ODST team start with?

Each member of the squad will start out with the silenced pistol and sound
suppressed SMG (both of which can zoom) along with several frag grenades.
You will undoubtedly be forced to pick up dropped Covenant weapons along the
way.

Players begin inside a start room that will also contain additional pistols,
SMGs and grenades. Once depleted, this ammo cache will not replenish until
the end of the round (5 waves complete).

Additionally, each starting area has 4 health packs. There will be two
upstairs and two downstairs on opposite sides of the room. Use these
sparingly but definitely use them to avoid a death (dying will reset your
ongoing score/chain multiplayer you'd otherwise be building). At the end
of a round, the stash of health packs is restored. (Also, the player's
current health is automatically restored)

Weapons on the map, like turrets, are also replaced at the end of each round
(if they are removed from the tripod).


How many lives are available?

Each squad starts off with shared pool of 7 lives to work with. It's
important to note that these are SHARED between all four players and makes
coordination, teamwork and strategic use of health packs a must. If one or
more players is alive at the end of a round, additional lives will be added
back to the pool.


How does the health system work in ODST?

ODSTs have a stamina bar represented at the top of the HUD. After taking
enough damage, indicated by a reddening of the screen, this base stamina
will start to erode. Alternatively, you can remove yourself from danger and
reset your initial damage state. The only way to get base stamina restored
is by use of a health pack. If you've played Halo: Combat Evolved, the
health model in ODST will be very familiar.


How does the game end?

For the Omegathon, teams will have 10 minutes to get the highest score
possible. The game will conclude when the time is up. Additionally, if a
team uses up all of their available lives, the game is over.

Is there any difference between the various playable ODST characters?
There are no gameplay differences between the available models. The only
difference is aesthetic and each character has their own unique first person
combat dialog.

What other helps tips or insights should players be aware of?

The X button will activate the "VISR" which is a night vision mode
that will make it easier to see enemies in the dark. There is no battery and
it can be activated as long or as short as a player wants.

A turret that is on a stand has unlimited ammo until it's ripped
off. It pays to try and not remove a turret until later in the round. At the
end of the round, a fresh turret will be granted if you did happen to remove
it during the prior waves.

One or more Covenant Engineers may float into the gameplay area
during the match. While they can't directly attack the ODSTs, they do offer
a bonus Overshield buff to all nearby Covenant units.

When a teammate dies and there are no lives left, they can enter
into a free flying camera mode to watch the rest of the match. This can
often be invaluable to helping your remaining teammate(s) stay alive by
providing critical battlefield intel.

If all but one of your teammates die but he/she manages to complete
the wave, they can bring your team back into the mix again for another shot.

Wraiths are relentless and will not stop shelling a player until
they are destroyed. They are brutally accurate and have range to cover
almost the entire play area. You can board a Wraith and plant a grenade to
blow it up but you can't commandeer it for use.

The Covenant drop ships that deliver enemies for each wave cannot be
destroyed.

Spartan 0092

Only new thing, for me at least, was that Engineers give any Covenant around them Over shields.

DogEight

Have there been any shots/vids released showing the engineers in ODST?

Willeth

You can briefly see the Engineers in the Bip Bap Bam video, I think.

Yorker: That's probably worth spoilering, if not for content then at least for size.

Also, there's an ODST six-pager in the most recent Edge that's both an interview with Staten and Jarrard and an article about ODST. And it's weird. I'd say that the writer really seems like an enthusiastic Halo fan that's apprehensive about ODST, except for the fact that this almost entirely false couple of sentences exists:

Edge 206 wrote:

ODST will ship with 24 multiplayer maps, only three of which are new. The others will be familiar to anyone who's bought the Halo 3 DLC, but will be enlivened with ODST's new weapons.

Maybe it's just because I know more about Halo and ODST than the average Edge reader, but the whole article felt a little sloppy, for some reason. I don't think it's just because I knew everything, it's just that the first page was full of complaints about how the ODST is stronger than he should be and then backpedalling so as not to offend in the next sentence. It's a weird sort of writing that seems to serve the developer rather than the reader.

Uh, whoops, that was a bit of a weird rant. There's not really any info worth relating except for a nice little boxout of Staten's thoughts on voicing the Grunts.

DogEight

I went through the vidoc again, but didn't see any engineers. If anyone knows where to find them let me know, but it's no big deal... I'll meet up with them eventually.

As for the Edge article, that pretty much surmises what I think of most of game journalism in print today. It seems to be either prepared questions/ass-licking or some automated review that spurns actual information or critique in order to spout references, memes, and bullshit and deliver a 4-star/80/lukewarm review to stay neutral.

Leitner

Spoiler:

Can't take out the phantoms?

Boooooo, ruined forever.

Peewi

I haven't played a Halo game before, but I just got the PC version of Halo 2 and I rather like it. It's kinda ugly, but I guess that's to be expected from a game that originally came out in 2004 on the Xbox.

I was a little surprised to see that there was what seemed like a decent number of players online. Does anyone here on PA play it or do you all just play on the 360?

radjago

FyreWulff wrote: »

So far the last 3 maps are ODST only.

Blame Don Mattrick.

I am enraged with a madness one might associate with a wolf consumed with flame.

uean

Peewi wrote: »

I haven't played a Halo game before, but I just got the PC version of Halo 2 and I rather like it. It's kinda ugly, but I guess that's to be expected from a game that originally came out in 2004 on the Xbox.

I was a little surprised to see that there was what seemed like a decent number of players online. Does anyone here on PA play it or do you all just play on the 360?

I play. Sadly, no internet anymore.

You may be wondering how I am posting this....... but you probably aren't.

Community is still good for the PC version though. But while I prefer kb+m for any shooter, for this game it somehow works with the controller a bit better. I can't explain why as it is the only game, but it seems more pure on a console for some reason.

Peewi

uean wrote: »

Community is still good for the PC version though. But while I prefer kb+m for any shooter, for this game it somehow works with the controller a bit better. I can't explain why as it is the only game, but it seems more pure on a console for some reason.

I can't bring myself to play a shooter with a controller. It's just wrong.

There's something weird with the crouching. You have to stand still before you can crouch and then you can move while crouching, but you can't start crouching while moving. I guess it makes a lot of sense when the crouch button is pressing down the stick used for movement, but with M+KB it's just annoying.

Willeth

I'm going to echo what urk's just posted on bnet: If you absolutely must watch justin.tv streams or if you come across a spoiler that you want to share, either:

a) repress the urge to post it
b) spoiler tag it, with appropriate context such as SPOILER FOR ODST, and none of that spoiler halfway through a sentence bullshit that can lead to inferring what it is. Stuff like The twist in the Sixth Sense is that Bruce Willis is actually

Spoiler:

a ghost

is not okay.
c) sometimes even posting a response to a question can be spoilery. If someone asks if a certain thing is in the game, and it's known you've played it, any response to that makes me uncomfortable. If you must share your knowledge and ruin it for someone, take it to PMs.
d) if you care far too much about spoilers, like I do, don't blindly click spoilers on reflex like I do.

OmnomnomPancake

Spoiler:

There's a stream where a dude's afk eating during firefight, and the chat's pretty sure it's a sammich.

And his co-op buddy has the Microsoft Points symbol as his call-sign.

Willeth

are you fucking kidding me.

Chris Redfield

I notice that everyone is either changing their PA avatar now or jailed...

So, are any of you lot Haloing tonight?

Willeth

I may, but I need to make sure I'm all properly packed.

Elimination

Last time i tried to join TBK and asked about it you guys told me off. boo. Fun = not to be had.