*343 this could help

Games Other Halo
1

I really hope that this gets enough views and comments so that 343 sees it and desides to make Halo 4 fun like Halo 3 was. First off, it would be beneficial to get rid of the heavy encryption so that we can have modded custom maps again. I think it is funny how companies do not realize that community mods help the game become legendary. Bethesda realized this and benefitted from it.

I remember the good ol’ days when we could have Frigates on Sandtrap. This allowed for a whole new level of custom gaming and creativity. I do believe that the multiplayer aspect should be heavily protected from modding and hackers, but there is no better feeling than making or playing on a modded custom map. It does not affect people’s gameplay in any way. I can guarantee that if Halo 4 forge is like Halo 3’s, the game as a whole will be a lot more popular and custom games will be returned to it’s former glory. This is 343’s chance to prove themselves with the Halo series.

This game will make or break Halo. If it turns out to be like the disappointment Reach was, I for one will have lost hope and move on to a game created for the community and not made to control them. All in all, Reach was somewhat successful due to it’s armory feature. Even that could have been better because you had everything unlocked halfway through the ranking system. It was a major step up from Halo 3 but still could use improvement. People would love to see Hayabusa and the katana again. The community loves customization. Being able to change the color on everything such as flaming helmets (to black, green, purple, etc.) would bring multiplayer to a whole new level of fun. You could even make colors purchasable and after purchased could be used on any armor varient.

And for the love of God please don’t get lazy like Bungie did with Reache’s maps. Just because you created a massive Forge World doesnt mean that 50% of your map selections are forge variants on it. A 8 year old kid could do that. There’s a reason the community wanted the Halo 3 maps to be a DLC for Reach, they were fun, unique, and even had features that were interactable like buttons to open doors. Show some creativity and make Halo 4 something that makes 343 a company the community loves. Show us that YOU are the Gods of creation and give us maps to marvel at. Don’t give us something we regret buying. I am looking forward to seeing what 343 can do with Halo 4 and hopefully what comes after.

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Nobody is gonna read that.

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Agreed about the map-modding part, but it’s not likely. I used to make Modded Maps in Halo 3 and it was tons of fun, but that’s not really within 343’s power. It’s considered tampering or “hacking”, and is against the Xbox Code of Conduct. Maybe if 343 re-released one of the more popular map mod tools (the main map-modding program) under their name, put it on this website, and classified it as something other than a “modding” tool, it would work. It’s really not worth the effort on their part, though. I mean, what could you really add, other than holograms, birds, Spartans, Elites, Monitors, and windsocks? Hopefully you’re right about the light encryption, because I actually do want to add some of these things, as frivolous as they are.

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> Nobody is gonna read that.

I did lol

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> I hope they do not become like the evil dictator Bungie was and instead actually listen to the community.

stopped reading right there

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You may want to add a few paragraph breaks to that. It’ll make your post easier to read, which’ll net you more constructive replies.

> First off, it would be beneficial to get rid of the heavy encryption so that we can have modded custom maps again. I think it is funny how companies do not realize that community mods help the game become legendary. Bethesda realized this and benefitted from it. I remember the good ol’ days when we could have Frigates on Sandtrap. This allowed for a whole new level of custom gaming and creativity. I do believe that the multiplayer aspect should be heavily protected from modding and hackers, but there is no better feeling than making or playing on a modded custom map. It does not affect people’s gameplay in any way.

I would recommend treading a bit carefully here. Modding is somewhat of a taboo topic, and giving technical details could violate the forum rules. I wouldn’t elaborate on how the “encryption” works if I were you, for example.

Anyway, user-created mods can lead to some fun stuff, but things like Elephant chains in Sandtrap require that you modify data on your console, which is against Xbox LIVE’s Terms of Service – neither 343 Industries nor Bungie have any influence on that.

I’m not too up-to-speed on other games, but I think that games like Skyrim have mods on the console because those games have PC versions, which is where the mods are created and tested. To develop mods for those games, you don’t have to modify your console or any of the data stored on it; you create the content on a computer, and then upload it to some community website for the game, which the console version can download from. In this sense, a Skyrim “mod” is really just an ordinary piece of legitimate user-created content – it’s just one that requires a lot of technical know-how, and maybe some devtools, to create – and it isn’t a “mod” in the same sense that something like the Sandtrap Frigate map is a “mod”.

In order for Halo 4 to support those sorts of mods while staying in the boundaries of Microsoft’s XBL ToS, I think there’d have to be on-computer editors similar to those in other games. Of course, Halo 4 probably won’t have PC support, so it probably won’t have a PC editor of any kind. But ultimately, the biggest reason for the crackdown on mods is because it’s a mandatory policy set by Microsoft, and game developers themselves have no control over it.

> I can guarantee that if Halo 4 forge is like Halo 3’s, the game as a whole will be a lot more popular and custom games will be returned to it’s former glory.

I think you’re a bit too focused on the mods, and you’re overlooking the things you could do without modding. Remember – Halo: Reach introduced alternate physics modes, larger canvases, and larger palettes. It doesn’t quite compare to Sandtrap with twenty Elephants on it, but you can still use Reach to quickly build things that would take days in Halo 3.

> I hope they do not become like the evil dictator Bungie was and instead actually listen to the community.

Well, that’s a bit of an exaggeration. :\

> All in all, Reach was somewhat successful due to it’s armory feature. Even that could have been better because you had everything unlocked halfway through the ranking system. It was a major step up from Halo 3 but still could use improvement. People would love to see Hayabusa and the katana again. The community loves customization. Being able to change the color on everything such as flaming helmets (to black, green, purple, etc.) would bring multiplayer to a whole new level of fun. You could even make colors purchasable and after purchased could be used on any armor varient.

Customization’s always fun. :\

> And for the love of God please don’t get lazy like Bungie did with Reache’s maps. Just because you created a massive Forge World doesnt mean that 50% of your map selections are forge variants on it. A 8 year old kid could do that. There’s a reason the community wanted the Halo 3 maps to be a DLC for Reach, they were fun, unique, and even had features that were interactable like buttons to open doors.

The multiplayer maps in Reach were actually created before the Campaign. In an HBO interview with a Bungie level designer, it was revealed that Reflection almost didn’t make it into the game at all, because they had trouble figuring out where in the Campaign they could use it.

> I am looking forward to seeing what 343 can do with Halo 4 and hopefully what comes after.

This. This, so much.

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Lease edit in paragraphs so it easier to read, thanks

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> > I hope they do not become like the evil dictator Bungie was and instead actually listen to the community.
>
> stopped reading right there

Why? I remember back in Halo 3 they would say good things about HLG players and then turned around and patched all the spots. There were numerous times they approved of something and then turned around and banned people for it. I’m just saying that they seemed like they were getting power hungry as time went on so I am excited for 343 to show that they aren’t Bungie.

> It’s considered tampering or “hacking”, and is against the Xbox Code of Conduct. Maybe if 343 re-released one of the more popular map mod tools (the main map-modding program) under their name, put it on this website, and classified it as something other than a “modding” tool, it would work.

Yes that would be the best thing they could do. It could be like the custom challenges are now. And making the encryption like Halo 3 isn’t really against policy, it’s more like a gift to to fans :slight_smile:

> before* the Campaign. In an HBO interview with a Bungie level designer, it was revealed that Reflection almost didn’t make it into the game at all, because they had trouble figuring out where in the Campaign they could use it.

Yeah, I’m just saying that it seems like they didn’t want to make more maps. Halo 3 was good because it seemed like more of a variety when you played matchmaking, not getting forge world every time.

> I would recommend treading a bit carefully here. Modding is somewhat of a taboo topic, and giving technical details could violate the forum rules. I wouldn’t elaborate on how the “encryption” works if I were you, for example.

I am not even sure on the technical details :slight_smile: I’m just trying to say that Halo 3 seemed to have more “Highly Custom” maps that most people enjoyed playing on. With Reach there is almost none. The easiest way to avoid the modding aspect would be for 343 to add a bunch of new forgeable objects instead of basic walls for example. Many people want to have a flyable pelican so why not give it to them? Who cares if some people say its useless? It would be a fun item like the dice but way more interesting.

My point is that I hope 343 listens to the community a little more than Bungie did. I am not against Bungie, I just believe that they felt the need to overpower the gamer. I understand the anti-modding aspect, but the purpose of modding (custom games) is to be creative in a non-destructive way and to add in what the game creators left out. If they have to be strict with mods then add features for more customization so that we can make really fun maps. If all else fails I would just like to see the Pelican in forge and be able to trust what the creators say and not have to worry about them changing their mind later and banning people for it.

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> I hope they do not become like the evil dictator Bungie was and instead actually listen to the community.

Stopped reading there. You honestly believe Bungie didn’t care for their fans?

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> > I hope they do not become like the evil dictator Bungie was and instead actually listen to the community.
>
> Stopped reading there. You honestly believe Bungie didn’t care for their fans?

They just gave a lot of false info. I will remove this part since a lot of people seem to have problems with it.