A better idea than Halo 3: Anniversary...

Community General Discussion
1

Halo 3: Anniversary may be off the table, but I think there’s still a possibility 343 Industries could deliver the goods, maybe under a different title… “Halo 3: Ultimate Edition” or Halo 3: Special Edition", something like that…

But I came up with an even better idea. Halo 3: Custom Edition.

Have you heard of Halo: Custom Edition on the PC? It’s basically Halo: Combat Evolved on the PC with a developer toolkit; those who have it can create anything they can imagine through mods. New weapons, new textures, hell I’ve seen modders rebuild the Campaign from the ground up. If you’ve heard of Halo: SPV3, you know what I’m talking about.

So I’ve been thinking; what if they gave us Halo 3: Anniversary- with everything you could expect from an Anniversary remake, enhanced graphics and all- with both Halo 3 and Halo 3: ODST as one game, plus the developer tools for the PC version, and the ability to download and use mods in the Campaign, Firefight, and Custom Games? Kind of like what Bethesda is doing with Fallout 4 and Skyrim: Special Edition. 343i could take the best mods from the community and incorporate them into matchmaking even.

There’s a lot of things from later Halo games that I wanted to see incorporated into Halo 3: Anniversary; Halo: Reach’s armor customization, weapons like the DMR and Grenade Launcher, customization options in ODST’s Firefight and the option to play as Spartans or Elites in Firefight… but maybe 343i could just deliver the games with the overhauled graphics, and let the modding community do the rest?

Not happy with 343i using the Halo 5 Warthog model in the Campaign? Download WhatsHisName123’s Halo: Reach Warthog Replacer to get a classic Warthog. Want Reach-style customization options in Firefight? Look up WhoTheHellIsThis666’s Firefight Overhaul and tweak Firefight to your heart’s content. Did 343i screw up and make the Elites look like Storm Covenant? Then you need MasterChiefFan117’s Elite Armor Replacer! Just presenting a few hypothetical scenarios…

Look at what modders have done with Fallout 4, Skyrim, and Halo: Custom Edition. Imagine the possibilities, what they could do if that kind of freedom could be implemented in Halo 3, on Xbox One. Some people might be worried about the presence of mods in multiplayer, but I say again; mods would be restricted to Campaign, Firefight, and Custom Games, barring what might be officially approved by 343 Industries.
So what do you think? Yay or Nay? I believe that this could breath new life into Halo. Mods could mean potentially unlimited, free downloadable content and unofficial patches for the game long after 343i has discontinued support for it.

2

I suppose I wouldn’t mind this.

3

Why is H3A off the table? I miss something?

4

I have a feeling 343i would never do this sort of thing.

5

> 2533274794210491;3:
> Why is H3A off the table? I miss something?

See this thread for more details.

6

I won’t be going back to Halo 3 no matter what they put out (or if they even put it out at all). Overall, I can’t stand that game.

7

That…Doesn’t sound like a bad idea…though I object it being a 343 release. The original Custom Edition was made by the fans to create whatever they wanted with absolutely no restrictions whatsoever. If 343 released t, I have a feeling we would be limited as to what we could create.

8

I’m definitely for it. It would attract lots of players and attention to Halo.

9

> 2533274794210491;3:
> Why is H3A off the table? I miss something?

They announced it about a month ago. they said at remakes of games just don’t bring in enough income and they can’t waist their resources on that. something like that. I don’t mind that we aren’t getting it because honestly we don’t need it. Halo 3 is so amazing already. But the idea that the OP has is good

10

> 2535405116054664;7:
> That…Doesn’t sound like a bad idea…though I object it being a 343 release. The original Custom Edition was made by the fans to create whatever they wanted with absolutely no restrictions whatsoever. If 343 released t, I have a feeling we would be limited as to what we could create.

Are you so certain? Let me tell you a story about a little game called Fallout 4. It is an awesome RPG/FPS hybrid that has unrestricted mod support on Xbox One. Basically, almost any of the mods that the PC gamers create can be uploaded to the game’s website and then downloaded by people playing the Xbox One version. After what Bethesda accomplished with mod support for Fallout 4 on Xbox One, imagine what Microsoft and 343 Industries could if the gave us the same kind of mod support for a Halo game…

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> 2533274834952794;10:
> > 2535405116054664;7:
> > That…Doesn’t sound like a bad idea…though I object it being a 343 release. The original Custom Edition was made by the fans to create whatever they wanted with absolutely no restrictions whatsoever. If 343 released it, I have a feeling we would be limited as to what we could create.
>
> Are you so certain? Let me tell you a story about a little game called Fallout 4. It is an awesome RPG/FPS hybrid that has unrestricted mod support on Xbox One. Basically, almost any of the mods that the PC gamers create can be uploaded to the game’s website and then downloaded by people playing the Xbox One version. After what Bethesda accomplished with mod support for Fallout 4 on Xbox One, imagine what Microsoft and 343 Industries could if the gave us the same kind of mod support for a Halo game…

Hmm. Interesting. I’ve never played Fallout 4 before (Yes, I know. Sue me) so I wouldn’t know that. If Microsoft and 343 do give approval for something similar, then that would be cool to see (and it is possible, considering the praise given from 343 themselves to Halo SPV3, which isn’t even finished yet), however I still have some remaining doubts over whether it will operate as intended. Remember, 343 does have a bad reputation of launching things that have many technical issues with them and then not fixing them for a while after launch. The same could be said for mod support. Also, because Microsoft has a reputation for being somewhat greedy, I fear that if they attempt to do a similar system with what Bethesda did where you can download the mods off of Halo Waypoint, I fear Microsoft will attempt to monetize them. To summarize, mod support for Halo in a similar fashion to Bethesda’s mod support for Fallout 4 is a good thought, however there are ways in which the implementation can certainly be made into a negative thing, something which we as a community do not need more of.

12

> 2535405116054664;11:
> > 2533274834952794;10:
> > > 2535405116054664;7:
> > > That…Doesn’t sound like a bad idea…though I object it being a 343 release. The original Custom Edition was made by the fans to create whatever they wanted with absolutely no restrictions whatsoever. If 343 released it, I have a feeling we would be limited as to what we could create.
> >
> > Are you so certain? Let me tell you a story about a little game called Fallout 4. It is an awesome RPG/FPS hybrid that has unrestricted mod support on Xbox One. Basically, almost any of the mods that the PC gamers create can be uploaded to the game’s website and then downloaded by people playing the Xbox One version. After what Bethesda accomplished with mod support for Fallout 4 on Xbox One, imagine what Microsoft and 343 Industries could if the gave us the same kind of mod support for a Halo game…
>
> Hmm. Interesting. I’ve never played Fallout 4 before (Yes, I know. Sue me) so I wouldn’t know that. If Microsoft and 343 do give approval for something similar, then that would be cool to see (and it is possible, considering the praise given from 343 themselves to Halo SPV3, which isn’t even finished yet), however I still have some remaining doubts over whether it will operate as intended. Remember, 343 does have a bad reputation of launching things that have many technical issues with them and then not fixing them for a while after launch. The same could be said for mod support. Also, because Microsoft has a reputation for being somewhat greedy, I fear that if they attempt to do a similar system with what Bethesda did where you can download the mods off of Halo Waypoint, I fear Microsoft will attempt to monetize them. To summarize, mod support for Halo in a similar fashion to Bethesda’s mod support for Fallout 4 is a good thought, however there are ways in which the implementation can certainly be made into a negative thing, something which we as a community do not need more of.

Microsoft could never monetize player-created content. That would be like making us pay to download Forge maps. Bethesda already pitched that idea once- having paid mods for Skyrim- and it was immediately shot down by public outcry.

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> 2533274834952794;12:
> > 2535405116054664;11:
> > > 2533274834952794;10:
> > > > 2535405116054664;7:
> > > > That…Doesn’t sound like a bad idea…though I object it being a 343 release. The original Custom Edition was made by the fans to create whatever they wanted with absolutely no restrictions whatsoever. If 343 released it, I have a feeling we would be limited as to what we could create.
> > >
> > > snip
>
> Microsoft could never monetize player-created content. That would be like making us pay to download Forge maps. Bethesda already pitched that idea once- having paid mods for Skyrim- and it was immediately shot down by public outcry.

And how has that worked out for us so far? Not well, I’m afraid. There’s a reason why the phrase “343 doesn’t listen to us” is so rampant around Waypoint. I’m not saying they don’t, cause they do focus on some aspects, but I do see a lot of the common complaints being ignored. Oh, and as for monetizing player-created content, Valve has done that for TF2 and CS:GO, and those games skyrocketed in popularity because of that. Granted, the content is different than what is being discussed here, but it was still content that was made by the community that has been given a price tag, and it worked. If that could happen for Valve, why not for Microsoft?

14

I actually made a similar topic about releasing similar Halo mod tools for Halo 5 or 6, and even allowing mods on the console.