The way the Halo engine works is that it loads every asset to be used from the .map file, which contains the entire level you are about to play (campaign) or play on (multi/firefight).
The helmets, models, weapons, etc are not "centrally" stored in a central database. Each .map has it's own copy of every weapon model, every helmet, every chest, and so on. So for example, there's a separate copy of the Security helmet in every campaign, multi, and firefight map.
The advantage to this scheme is that Bungie can add new things to a DLC map or change models of existing things. For example, Cold Storage and Midship had the new "round" teleporters while every other map in Halo 3 had the "Y" teleporters. Avalanche had the new snow versions of vehicles (which to the engine are actually completely new vehicles and NOT a reskin of the existing ones) and Sandbox also had them.
Heck, the later maps had new "vehicles" in the form of the Golf Ball and Soccer Ball in Halo 3... those were actually vehicles, which is why they flip/twitch when you press RB next to them, as the engine sees you trying to flip over a vehicle.
Anyway, for Bungie to add new armor post-ship they would need to add the armor to every single .map in Reach. This would make for a very sizable patch. Now, it's theoretically possible to do this, since you can in theory "patch anything". The issue here is that it would break compatibility between versions of Halo hard. The map checksums/hashes would no longer match to old versions and you wouldn't be able to LAN with those versions anymore.
This is why Bungie never patched the Halo 2 maps to add stuff like invisible walls/barriers to clean up some of the maps. This is why Bungie never added the new Forge objects back to Valhalla. While in theory it would have been possible, they felt it wasn't worth breaking compatibility - small gain for such a drastic loss. They did add the ability in Halo 3 for them to place invisible solid blocks to clean up carney holes/out-of-map exploits post-ship via their internal Forge, so this is why you saw these spots get fixed post-release (and it's how they did Pit Stop)
So I think if this is truly "new" armor, it's simply armor that Bungie hasn't let the game reveal to us yet. It'd make sense, as I don't think Bungie would have let every single armor become unlocked via the cR system from day one. Or Bungie has a way for the engine to 'assemble' new helmets out of existing assets, which is also possible to do, as weird host transitions can make the game combine a base armor with add-ons it usually cannot have. Think of how everyone thought the only Recon we could get was the preorder one, then it was discovered later that the base Recon helmet does in fact appear and become purchasable later on. Same idea.
So I think if this is truly "new" armor, it's simply armor that Bungie hasn't let the game reveal to us yet. It'd make sense, as I don't think Bungie would have let every single armor become unlocked via the cR system from day one. Or Bungie has a way for the engine to 'assemble' new helmets out of existing assets, which is also possible to do, as weird host transitions can make the game combine a base armor with add-ons it usually cannot have. Think of how everyone thought the only Recon we could get was the preorder one, then it was discovered later that the base Recon helmet does in fact appear and become purchasable later on. Same idea.
Reach uses the same .map format 3 and 2 and 1 did. There's some upgrades along the way, but if you figured out how to mod and change .maps for 2 and 1, you pretty much already know how to do it for Reach, which is why modders were already modding the beta within a day or two.
I might have to redact my previous statement about the Weekly; 200 Rounds (I thought "full games" at first) isn't that bad, and the lag was practically nonexistant when I played three Arcade games yesterday. I think I can pull this one off.
I might have to redact my previous statement about the Weekly; 200 Rounds (I thought "full games" at first) isn't that bad, and the lag was practically nonexistant when I played three Arcade games yesterday. I think I can pull this one off.
I just played two games of Firefight Arcade and scored 32 waves towards the challenge. It shouldn't take more than 2 hours to get 200 waves.
Fistfight is the worst. Rocketfight is the best. FRG fight is acceptable but all the FRG effects ruin framerate. My goal is to slay bodies and get DONE, not chase skirmishers with a hammer until time runs out.
My favorite thing about Fistfight is high-speed evading into a big group of Grunts as they jump off the Phantom during the bonus round and hammering out a Killionaire.
E: Fyre, you still testing things on Wed. and Friday? I need more customs in my life.
I think I've figured out the good Firefight maps and the bad Firefight maps.
Glacier: Shitty framerate isn't fun at all.
Corvette: Great.
Holdout: Framerate suffers a bit, and the overall layout isn't very good for defense.
Beachhead: Really good, except for the pesky Wraiths that always land a gazillion miles away and keep shelling your position. Missile Warthog isn't as fun as the Warthog in ODST's Lost Platoon.
Courtyard: It's okay, but maybe a little too cramped.
Outpost: Everything's red, which looks terrible. Also has a ton of clutter which obscures sightlines.
Overlook: It's okay.
Waterfront: Night time, which makes it hard to see. You're also surrounded on all sides and getting sniped by jackals on some faraway cliff. This layout sucks.
I think I've figured out the good Firefight maps and the bad Firefight maps.
Glacier: Shitty framerate isn't fun at all.
Corvette: Great.
Holdout: Framerate suffers a bit, and the overall layout isn't very good for defense.
Beachhead: Really good, except for the pesky Wraiths that always land a gazillion miles away and keep shelling your position. Missile Warthog isn't as fun as the Warthog in ODST's Lost Platoon.
Courtyard: It's okay, but maybe a little too cramped.
Outpost: Everything's red, which looks terrible. Also has a ton of clutter which obscures sightlines.
Overlook: It's okay.
Waterfront: Night time, which makes it hard to see. You're also surrounded on all sides and getting sniped by jackals on some faraway cliff. This layout sucks.
I play quite a lot of Firefight, and especially Score Attack. On maps you don't think are defensible enough, take another look. I've found great spots to defend and consistently get Perfectionist ticks (survive the whole round) in vanilla Score Attack on every map (while getting a high score, to boot). Unfortunately, thanks to Bungie resetting leaderboards a lot, most of 'em aren't saved, I bet.
Also, Glacier's framerate is fine as long as you move out to some other portion of the map.
This evening, Kotaku Australia published a blog entry to their website claiming that Bungie recently terminated as many as thirty contract employees without notice or justification, effectively eliminating all non full time staff at the request of our publisher, Activision-Blizzard.
The claim is false.
Bungie has never been asked to lay off any employees or contract employees by our publisher, Activision-Blizzard, for any reason. The talented professionals who grace our offices day in and day out are the lifeblood of Bungie – our most cherished commodity – and the unsubstantiated rumors posted today are in direct opposition to the culture and values that we believe make Bungie an exceptional place to work, and to call home.
Also, Glacier's framerate is fine as long as you move out to some other portion of the map.
Sorry, you shouldn't have to alter your playing style to have a map work properly.
You don't have to stop camping, you just can't camp there. There's another ammo locker just a little ways out, with only one entrance, and a complimentary companion cube to crouch behind - use that.
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joshgotroDeviled EggThe Land of REAL CHILIRegistered Userregular
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/majornelson/5443806890/sizes/o/in/set-72157625918624919/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/majornelson/5443796514/sizes/o/in/set-72157625918624919/
EDIT: Hey, look, Kor posted these exact links just above! Duh.
@gamefacts - Totally and utterly true gaming facts on the regular!
The helmets, models, weapons, etc are not "centrally" stored in a central database. Each .map has it's own copy of every weapon model, every helmet, every chest, and so on. So for example, there's a separate copy of the Security helmet in every campaign, multi, and firefight map.
The advantage to this scheme is that Bungie can add new things to a DLC map or change models of existing things. For example, Cold Storage and Midship had the new "round" teleporters while every other map in Halo 3 had the "Y" teleporters. Avalanche had the new snow versions of vehicles (which to the engine are actually completely new vehicles and NOT a reskin of the existing ones) and Sandbox also had them.
Heck, the later maps had new "vehicles" in the form of the Golf Ball and Soccer Ball in Halo 3... those were actually vehicles, which is why they flip/twitch when you press RB next to them, as the engine sees you trying to flip over a vehicle.
Anyway, for Bungie to add new armor post-ship they would need to add the armor to every single .map in Reach. This would make for a very sizable patch. Now, it's theoretically possible to do this, since you can in theory "patch anything". The issue here is that it would break compatibility between versions of Halo hard. The map checksums/hashes would no longer match to old versions and you wouldn't be able to LAN with those versions anymore.
This is why Bungie never patched the Halo 2 maps to add stuff like invisible walls/barriers to clean up some of the maps. This is why Bungie never added the new Forge objects back to Valhalla. While in theory it would have been possible, they felt it wasn't worth breaking compatibility - small gain for such a drastic loss. They did add the ability in Halo 3 for them to place invisible solid blocks to clean up carney holes/out-of-map exploits post-ship via their internal Forge, so this is why you saw these spots get fixed post-release (and it's how they did Pit Stop)
So I think if this is truly "new" armor, it's simply armor that Bungie hasn't let the game reveal to us yet. It'd make sense, as I don't think Bungie would have let every single armor become unlocked via the cR system from day one. Or Bungie has a way for the engine to 'assemble' new helmets out of existing assets, which is also possible to do, as weird host transitions can make the game combine a base armor with add-ons it usually cannot have. Think of how everyone thought the only Recon we could get was the preorder one, then it was discovered later that the base Recon helmet does in fact appear and become purchasable later on. Same idea.
Shitty Tumblr:lighthouse1138.tumblr.com
Switch: 6200-8149-0919 / Wii U: maximumzero / 3DS: 0860-3352-3335 / eBay Shop
But this is all working under the assumption that Halo Reach was coded the exact same way halo 3 was, correct?
Do we know for certain that Reach has the armor loaded to each and every map the same way 3 did?
I know we saw the really cool covenant cube for the cruiser, but I don't recall seeing a spartan equivalent for armor and such.
edit: also, I ask you to explain the new helmet in the screenshots then?
Pokemon Safari - Sneasel, Pawniard, ????
Shitty Tumblr:lighthouse1138.tumblr.com
Shitty Tumblr:lighthouse1138.tumblr.com
Only when you no longer desire them. Seriously, though, shouldn't be too long. There's a few sets of them.
Get ANY spree in Firefight Matchmaking? Seriously?
The only thing I might have a problem with is 2 multikills in a Matchmaking game because I'm completely shit.
3DS: 1650-8480-6786
Switch: SW-0653-8208-4705
I just played two games of Firefight Arcade and scored 32 waves towards the challenge. It shouldn't take more than 2 hours to get 200 waves.
Switch: 6200-8149-0919 / Wii U: maximumzero / 3DS: 0860-3352-3335 / eBay Shop
I want Fistfight, dammit!
I want to get all up innat ass.
Balls deep.
3DS: 1650-8480-6786
Switch: SW-0653-8208-4705
I just love me some good fisting.
@gamefacts - Totally and utterly true gaming facts on the regular!
E: Fyre, you still testing things on Wed. and Friday? I need more customs in my life.
@gamefacts - Totally and utterly true gaming facts on the regular!
3DS: 1650-8480-6786
Switch: SW-0653-8208-4705
Switch: 6200-8149-0919 / Wii U: maximumzero / 3DS: 0860-3352-3335 / eBay Shop
Glacier: Shitty framerate isn't fun at all.
Corvette: Great.
Holdout: Framerate suffers a bit, and the overall layout isn't very good for defense.
Beachhead: Really good, except for the pesky Wraiths that always land a gazillion miles away and keep shelling your position. Missile Warthog isn't as fun as the Warthog in ODST's Lost Platoon.
Courtyard: It's okay, but maybe a little too cramped.
Outpost: Everything's red, which looks terrible. Also has a ton of clutter which obscures sightlines.
Overlook: It's okay.
Waterfront: Night time, which makes it hard to see. You're also surrounded on all sides and getting sniped by jackals on some faraway cliff. This layout sucks.
Almost got the weekly done - I'll be on later tonight and all day Saturday, if any of you gents wish to join me - Katsuhiro 1139.
I play quite a lot of Firefight, and especially Score Attack. On maps you don't think are defensible enough, take another look. I've found great spots to defend and consistently get Perfectionist ticks (survive the whole round) in vanilla Score Attack on every map (while getting a high score, to boot). Unfortunately, thanks to Bungie resetting leaderboards a lot, most of 'em aren't saved, I bet.
Also, Glacier's framerate is fine as long as you move out to some other portion of the map.
Sorry, you shouldn't have to alter your playing style to have a map work properly.
I must have a super 360 or something.
You don't have to stop camping, you just can't camp there. There's another ammo locker just a little ways out, with only one entrance, and a complimentary companion cube to crouch behind - use that.
Actually it's quicker to play Firefight Arcade to finish the weekly.