Halo 3 Beta: May 16th - June 7th

[Diamond.G]

I need help.... most. addicting. game. ever.

So I started playing the game. Boy is it addicting. I am not very good but am turning out to be a quick learner. The only thing that sucks is playing Territories and being the only person left on your team.

 

[kyleb]

Do you guys know that the game can also render at 1280x1024 (and framerate isn't worse at all)?

Are you sure it's not scaled? If its really rendered at 1280x1024, does it work with anamorphic widescreen as well? If so, that would really help smooth out the aliasing.

 

[RobertR1]

This is a hell of an addicting game for some reason. I really like the lighting on the maps. Top notch. Snow bound looks cool!

 

[pipo]

Hard to explain why but the gameplay was really addicting.

It's balanced. Fair. Fun.

I'm loving it!

Rockets on Snowbound - here I come.

 

[AW0L]

it feels like halo 1 but with halo 2 multiplayer. but the cool thing is the weapons are really balanced i dont feel hindered fighting some one no mater what weapon they have unless its over shield then you run. I do find its alot easier to kill/die it feels that your shields dont take as much damage as they used to and once your shields are up your body takes even less. speed seems to be faster a lot less auto aim. and the head seems to be smaller then normal could be because the body armor profile from the sides and back cover more they they used to.

the smg still need work, rate of fire is good but between the spiker and smg it feels the same but more powerful up close and a very steep drop off in power at med range then the spiker, they should give the smg a deeper clip or a faster reload time to change it up a bit since close-med range is the normal fghting distance ment for these weapons. right now i feel the spiker just out classes the smg

the needler is awsome

gernade launcher is faster with more ammo with a better blast radius straighter shots but weaker blast and the blade seems weaker also

rockets seem to have a faster fire as powerful as ever but smaller blast radius

its a fun game but to be honest im not feeling it as much as i thought i would be, im still playing gears more becuase it feels a little more coordinated then halo.

 

[kyleb]

So Bungie isn't sure if the game will ever use AA, what about AF? They have some nice textures but they all go to blurry crap in the distance with what looks like simple triliniar filtering. Considering all the screenshots of Halo 2 for the PC which Bungie released lacking any AA or AF, I have to wonder if they even really understand the benefit of image quality which can be achieved by using such features.

Also, playing splitscreen I noticed a bit of tearing way near the top of the screen, that is a disappointing first for a Halo game as the first two were always vsynced.

Anyway, aside from those issues I think the game looks great and plays even better. I've put in nearly 100 games already and don't have any intention on slowing down though the time span of the beta. I'm sure I'll be happy to get some more Gears in at that point, but September 25 is going to be a long wait for me.

 

[RobertR1]

I suck soooo bad!

So i played this morning with the surround turned and wow! they got the sound nailed. We were playing rockets on Snowbound the effects of rockets whizzing by or coming from behind kicked ass! I could pinpoint where they were fired from exactly. It was sweet. I'd hear a small whistle followed by bass kicking in and getting louder and louder as the rocket would come close and whiz right by.

 

[TheChefO]

So Bungie isn't sure if the game will ever use AA, what about AF?

Where did Bungie say that?

I suck soooo bad!

Ditto

I like the feel of the game and the graphics are ok. Nothing to wow you with but at least it isn't 480p anymore.

I've decided I won't play the beta anymore so when Halo3 comes out it will still feel fresh to me. Crazy I know, but I really don't have the time for it currently anyhow.

 

[kyleb]

Where did Bungie say that?

http://forum.beyond3d.com/showpost.php?p=1006928&postcount=378

 

[blakjedi]

its a fun game but to be honest im not feeling it as much as i thought i would be, im still playing gears more becuase it feels a little more coordinated then halo.

I agree. Visually Im hoping that single player is a huge step up because... honestly.... MP.... Is completely unimpressive to me. I feel like Im playing an uprezzed Halo 2.

Polygon edges to organic surfaces, no AA, bad collison detection, and weak character animations all detract from teh experience that should be Halo 3. Heres to hoping for SP! * shrug *

 

[Tap In]

really can not stop playing this game.

I personally think H3 Multiplayer (BETA) looks better than GoW Multiplayer in some ways. Besides the scale and speed, the physics of all the objects reacting realistically are amazing IMO. the way that bodies react to the shrapnel and flying debris and weapons causing injury or death (at a high speed with crisp colorful graphics) come together as a whole package for me. The small touches and particle effects, the 3d grass, the way a grenade sinks into the snow with a small cloud and a thud, the way the dirt, grass and mud fly up when seeing a mongoose go by and the many, many ways that they can be blown around with grenades is sooo cool.

also the more I play it the better I appreciate the lighting... very subtle, perfect for MULTIplayer game play to stay balanced but offer realism. that lighting can NOT be appreciated in screens or online vids. they need to be seen on a reasonably calibrated HDTV (preferable with proper backlighting ) and correct sharpness settings. Snowbound and High Ground especially.

Another thing I'm noticing is how well the maps are so perfectly balanced and designed for some amazingly close games and gameplay. if you have equally leveled players some of the matches (skirmishes) are so intense and down to the wire that you get a serious rush. these maps are tuned in much the same way that 1st base is placed 90' from home plate in baseball... it's just a perfect distance.

for those seeing anomalies in physics, I see it occasionally too but I'm certain what you're seeing is a slight bit of lag more than the gameplay.

 

[Falkster]

umm no

nice shot

nice new vid from blim (shows some good lighting examples)

Ya, I can now see how wrong that claim was after actually playing the game instead of just looking at the screenshots/videos. There have been times on Highground where I had to pause to admire the scenery knowing that I would probably get killed as a result. I'm not saying that it's the best looking game, but it's definitely something that I expect from the new generation of consoles.

As far as gameplay, I've been steadily filling up my harddrive with recorded videos of craziness that I've come to expect from the series. I'm loving this game!

 

[TheChefO]

http://forum.beyond3d.com/showpost.php?p=1006928&postcount=378

Well that's depressing.

MP it doesn't bother me too much but no AA in SP??

I hope they figure that one out. Actually given the draw distance they are planning, DOF should do the trick for SP.

 

[Falkster]

I agree. Visually Im hoping that single player is a huge step up because... honestly.... MP.... Is completely unimpressive to me. I feel like Im playing an uprezzed Halo 2.

Polygon edges to organic surfaces, no AA, bad collison detection, and weak character animations all detract from teh experience that should be Halo 3. Heres to hoping for SP! * shrug *

I won't argue about the polygonal edges and aliasing, but I will take issue with the rest. I've seen far worse cases of animation and collision detection in many other games, so I wouldn't qualify either as being bad in Halo 3. PD0 had bad collision detection and bad animation, Halo 3 is significantly better in both respects. The animations were what I would expect from a dude in armor, and I've only seen one instance of bad collision detection. If you're referring to the characters slightly falling through the ground in Snowbound, that's a result of poor simulation of falling through snow. That being said, I've only logged 23 games, so maybe I'll run into more questionable animations and poor collision detection as time goes on.

 

[expletive]

So Bungie isn't sure if the game will ever use AA, what about AF? They have some nice textures but they all go to blurry crap in the distance with what looks like simple triliniar filtering. Considering all the screenshots of Halo 2 for the PC which Bungie released lacking any AA or AF, I have to wonder if they even really understand the benefit of image quality which can be achieved by using such features.

Also, playing splitscreen I noticed a bit of tearing way near the top of the screen, that is a disappointing first for a Halo game as the first two were always vsynced.

Anyway, aside from those issues I think the game looks great and plays even better. I've put in nearly 100 games already and don't have any intention on slowing down though the time span of the beta. I'm sure I'll be happy to get some more Gears in at that point, but September 25 is going to be a long wait for me.

I'm not going to put too much stock in what we're seeing now and what Bungie is saying about the final. At the end of the day i think they're in a tough spot with the beta graphically because i think they have to walk a fine line between "clearly better than halo 2" and "still holding back surprises for the final". I think theyve managed to do the first, where yeah, this looks better than H2. But how much is left for them to add for the final? Higher res textures? AA? AF? Weather? Animations? More detail in the characters/levels? All of the above?

I have to believe that they will still want the final to feel new and improved graphically, and giving us any clues as to what might be works against that.

Then again, i'm generally a very optimistic person.

 

[Diamond.G]

2 things.

1) Is there a limit to how many skirmishes you can save? Cause it looks like we can only save 8.
2) Has anyone been able to successfully upload a video to Bungies servers? I choose a video to upload, it acts like it is uploading, but then pops me back to the share video page. If you can what did you do, as the forums are not helpful right now.


BTW, if anyone wants to team up just contact me. I am home at approximately 5 p.m. EST.

 

[AlNom]

1) Is there a limit to how many skirmishes you can save? Cause it looks like we can only save 8.

Bungie gives each person 25MB for saved replays, and so the number ultimately depends upon how long the matches are.

In the Beta, we’re giving you about 25MB worth of File Share space. You may fill it up however you wish. Six short movies, or one long. It’s up to you. This 25MB figure is for the Beta only. It could shrink or grow by the time the retail game releases. A saved film is typically tiny compared to a comparable “real” video file. A long game (which displays at whatever resolution your TV and Xbox are using) might be in the region of 6MB. Remember, saved films aren’t video. They’re data, which replays exactly what happened in the game, no matter which player is saving the film. And Saved Films tell no lies.

http://www.bungie.net/content.aspx?link=h3betaSavedFilms

 

[TurnDragoZeroV2G]

2 things.

1) Is there a limit to how many skirmishes you can save? Cause it looks like we can only save 8.
2) Has anyone been able to successfully upload a video to Bungies servers? I choose a video to upload, it acts like it is uploading, but then pops me back to the share video page. If you can what did you do, as the forums are not helpful right now.


BTW, if anyone wants to team up just contact me. I am home at approximately 5 p.m. EST.

1) Number of uploads is limited to 6 spots or a certain amount of storage, depending on which you hit first, but you can save as many films as you want. Do note there is a bug that causes the game to refuse to save new movies. When you start up the beta, you should hold up on the d-pad and hold A until you see the message "utility drive cleared" to prevent this from happening at the worst possible time. (So far, I usually only get away with roughly 4-6 films before it refuses the rest. YMMV, of course.)

2) Yes, I've uploaded half a dozen at least. AFAIK, the same issue above prevents you from uploading or downloading new saved films, so clear the cache using the method above. (Seems to work best if you start doing it as soon as the screen goes black, before "loading" appears) If that doesn't work, just wait and try again later. If that still doesn't work, then I have no idea.

 

[Falkster]

I just now noticed that you can download videos from anyone who has uploaded a video, even if they aren't on your friends list, and even if they did not recommend the video to you. I've been downloading random videos from the top players in each match just to check out their strategies. It's pretty sweet. I'm looking forward to all the other playback features that will come in the final version.

 

[Tap In]

Bungie gives each person 25MB for saved replays, and so the number ultimately depends upon how long the matches are.

you can save as many as you want on your own hard drive though for personal use. I have about 15 right now.

Only the ones for uploading to Bungie for anyone on LIVE to view is what they are referring to here. The full version will have a more robust viewer as well.

One really cool feature is a Party Leader can show his entire room of players (a clan or team for instance) the same film at one time so they can chat about it while watching it and critique strategy in real time after the match and or just laugh at each other.


edit: woops... beaten