so i thought about this and i just cant see why bungie didn’t do this in Reach or Halo 3
a simple browser to search Custom Games… like you start a custom game lobby with your own modes and maps, and everyone on Xbox live can find it and enter it…
just like in every freakin PC game…
it would be awesome for Forgers… they could host games and show their maps/gametypes super easy by just hosting a custom game lobby.
my question is, WHY NOT? i mean it cant be that hard to implement rite?
> so i thought about this and i just cant see why bungie didn’t do this in Reach or Halo 3
>
> a simple browser to search Custom Games… like you start a custom game lobby with your own modes and maps, and everyone on Xbox live can find it and enter it…
> just like in every freakin PC game…
>
> it would be awesome for Forgers… they could host games and show their maps/gametypes super easy by just hosting a custom game lobby.
>
> my question is, WHY NOT? <mark>i mean it cant be that hard to implement rite?</mark>
Ah assumptions. Whether it’s easy to implement or not is unknown to me, but it could be quite difficult to have a properly working custom search option. But then how do you find good quality matches? There are plenty of horrible gametypes/maps/combination of both that I never want to play on again
Ω
There’s already two Halo games with a Custom Game Browser, tho they’re PC games, but my point is, it’s been around for some time, and I have no -Yoinking!- clue why Bungie hasn’t said “Oh hey, this feature is very popular among the PC gamers, maybe we should see if the Xbox LIVE community will like this?”
I’m kinda surprised Reach didn’t have a Custom Game search, you could have a list of games to join and could use search parameters to narrow it down. Most LIVE games seem to have a matchmaking system which you can pick and choose what game you want to join.
> But then how do you find good quality matches? There are plenty of horrible gametypes/maps/combination of both that I never want to play on again
>
> Ω
A Ranking system. you can give the host a Thumbs up or down after a match and over time the best Hosts can be found easily.
i mean PC games have the same problem and that never stopped them from having a Lobby Browser 
there are hundrets of Halo CE Servers still running and 90% of them are crap. but you can find the good ones easy because they have the most players, and a ranking system would provide a similar result.
I would LOVE IT.
Halo 3 was incredible not just for ranked matches but everytime I got an invite to play in custom games and it was a full party…
All hell broke loose, it was so much fun, I lol´d so hard at all the stupidity going on.
Not to mention the maps we downloaded from Bungie were epic and so much fun.
Reach´s maps are really bland and kinda boring, they all have the same awful grey color, when Halo 3´s maps had specific pieces for each map and they made them so unique and cool looking.
Hell, half of the matches I played in Halo 3 were on custom games.
A custom game browser would be incredible and a HUGE improvement, I would seriously forgive the little flaws in the game as long as we had custom game browser.
Here´s hoping Halo 4´s custom games are as good as Halo 3´s good ol’ days.
> > But then how do you find good quality matches? There are plenty of horrible gametypes/maps/combination of both that I never want to play on again
> >
> > Ω
>
> <mark>A Ranking system. you can give the host a Thumbs up or down after a match and over time the best Hosts can be found easily.</mark>
>
> i mean PC games have the same problem and that never stopped them from having a Lobby Browser
> there are hundrets of Halo CE Servers still running and 90% of them are crap. but you can find the good ones easy because they have the most players, and a ranking system would provide a similar result.
A ranking system can be a double-edged sword. On one hand, it allows players to separate the d-bag hosts from the great ones, but it can also be abused as well. Players can just submit false votes for their own selfish needs (putting themselves up, or others down), and one can just make another account if they want another chance to start over.
Could be a good idea, or a bad one. Either way, I still want a custom game lobby finder. I have even seen Indie games with lobbies, and even though it may or may not be difficult to input one, I would settle for a basic lobby finder over no lobby finder at all.
A major reason why Pc games offer this and console games doesn’t, is that Pc games have dedicated servers and many allow for gamers to host their own servers, hence making it possible for anyone to host a custom game of their choice.
With p2p, it’s not that simple, you’ve got to chose a host, have a listen server that knows what’s going on (game setting etc), it’s a lot more work, to put it simple.
If Halo 4 has dedicated servers, adding support for custom games, a custom game browser or connect via IP to server, would be very easy to fix.
If it’s still p2p, it simply won’t happen.
> A major reason why Pc games offer this and console games doesn’t, is that Pc games have dedicated servers and many allow for gamers to host their own servers, hence making it possible for anyone to host a custom game of their choice.
> With p2p, it’s not that simple, you’ve got to chose a host, have a listen server that knows what’s going on (game setting etc), it’s a lot more work, to put it simple.
>
> If Halo 4 has dedicated servers, adding support for custom games, a custom game browser or connect via IP to server, would be very easy to fix.
> If it’s still p2p, it simply won’t happen.
as far as i know GRAW runs in P2P too and still it has a lobby browser… so i really cant see the problem there
of course a browser is more needed on PC games cuz of the dedicated servers, but still… it would just be a great addition.
> There’s already two Halo games with a Custom Game Browser, tho they’re PC games, but my point is, it’s been around for some time, and I have no -Yoinking!- clue why Bungie hasn’t said “Oh hey, this feature is very popular among the PC gamers, maybe we should see if the Xbox LIVE community will like this?”
Say good-bye to getting matched with players of equal/similar skill to you.
Matchmaking will lose a significant portion of people making finding quality matches harder to find.
I don’t think it’s possible to do this…
Maps would virtually have to
(A)Load entirely so that they could be voted on. This would take FOREVER for everyone in the lobby to load 3 different maps if it were given the same voting system we have now.
or…
(B)343i would have to run dedicated servers, and these maps would have to be uploaded to them. God knows how much storage would be required, etc.
Now, I don’t exactly know my -Yoink- on a scale this large, but it seems like it would get forever more complicated and would HOG resources.
So… As a solution? Maybe?
Right now we have “Most Downloaded” and “Highest Rated.” I also remember checking Bungie Favs in H3 ALL the time. SO…
Make a 343i Fav list, broken down into sub-categories. An infection list for infection maps, slayer for slayer, etc. The amount of time to do this would only really consist of a very small portion of time. Also, it would give people more incentive to create quality content, and it would expand the variety of content we see weekly by subcategory.
Thoughts?
> > There’s already two Halo games with a Custom Game Browser, tho they’re PC games, but my point is, it’s been around for some time, and I have no -Yoinking!- clue why Bungie hasn’t said “Oh hey, this feature is very popular among the PC gamers, maybe we should see if the Xbox LIVE community will like this?”
>
> Say good-bye to getting matched with players of equal/similar skill to you.
>
> Matchmaking will lose a significant portion of people making finding quality matches harder to find.
Dude, so far in Reach, I get matched with people who are new at playing Halo, or very skilled players. A Custom Game Browser shouldn’t be a replacement for match making, Match making can offer you some things that custom games don’t, which is why we still have custom games in Halo. If you’re using the browser to search for people who are equal similar skill to you, you’re using it wrong. Have you even played any of the PC versions of Halo?
> I don’t think it’s possible to do this…
>
> Maps would virtually have to
>
> (A)Load entirely so that they could be voted on. This would take FOREVER for everyone in the lobby to load 3 different maps if it were given the same voting system we have now.
>
> or…
>
> (B)343i would have to run dedicated servers, and these maps would have to be uploaded to them. God knows how much storage would be required, etc.
>
> Now, I don’t exactly know my Yoink! on a scale this large, but it seems like it would get forever more complicated and would HOG resources.
>
> So… As a solution? Maybe?
>
> Right now we have “Most Downloaded” and “Highest Rated.” I also remember checking Bungie Favs in H3 ALL the time. SO…
>
> Make a 343i Fav list, broken down into sub-categories. An infection list for infection maps, slayer for slayer, etc. The amount of time to do this would only really consist of a very small portion of time. Also, it would give people more incentive to create quality content, and it would expand the variety of content we see weekly by subcategory.
>
> Thoughts?
You’re confusing this feature with Match Making, and you’re over thinking it. Custom game Browser isn’t match making, it’s basiclly Customs but with a browser, you got one person hosting the game/server, he picks the maps, and the game types, if a person don’t like what map and game type is being played, then he/she can either speak up about it, or leave.
Also, running dedicated servers aren’t that hard, back in Halo Custom Edition, I use to host my own dedicated server, all I needed was a .txt file that had a list of what the server did, and what maps it used, and the server told the player’s games what maps to pull when a new game started, as long as the players had the maps, they could play it.
> so i thought about this and i just cant see why bungie didn’t do this in Reach or Halo 3
>
> a simple browser to search Custom Games… like you start a custom game lobby with your own modes and maps, and everyone on Xbox live can find it and enter it…
> just like in every freakin PC game…
>
> it would be awesome for Forgers… they could host games and show their maps/gametypes super easy by just hosting a custom game lobby.
>
> my question is, WHY NOT? i mean it cant be that hard to implement rite?
Love the idea.
I myself am a forger, but I can never get people to help me test may maps!
You’ll have default match settings and you have modified settings.
When I search for a custom game
I want a server description.
The only information I want to see in that server description are values that have been changed from default. Nothing else
Example:
I modified player speed, load-outs, grenade explosive radius, and map.
When someone looks at my server description this is what they should see:
*Player Speed (Variable)
*Load-outs
*Grenades explosive radius (Variable)
*Forged Map
NOTHING ELSE. ONLY VALUES THAT ARE CHANGED FROM DEFAULT!
This is to give people a better understanding of a room before they join it.
> You’ll have default match settings and you have modified settings.
>
> When I search for a custom game
> I want a server description.
>
> The only information I want to see in that server description are values that have been changed from default. Nothing else
>
> Example:
>
> I modified speed, load-outs, grenade explosive radius, and map.
>
> When someone looks at my server description this is what they should see:
>
> <mark>*Speed (Variable)</mark>
> <mark>*Load-outs</mark>
> <mark>*Grenades explosive radius (Variable)</mark>
> *Map
>
> NOTHING ELSE. ONLY VALUES THAT ARE CHANGED FROM DEFAULT!
>
> This is to give people are better understanding of a room before they join it.
There’s already a ton of threads about this, while I agree use another thread.
I don’t agree with those though. Does it matter what loadouts, grenades, and speed is in the game? It should be…
-Map
-Gametype
-Rules
-Server Description and Notes
Welcome to waypoint, eos. You should fit right in…
Yes it does matter, because anything that is changed from Default should be shown to the user to give them a BETTER UNDERSTANDING of what is going on in that server before they join it.
IF you can tell the person exact specifics of what has been changed from default, it’s better. Because more information is better.
What if a person likes default grenade explosive radius.
What if a person likes default player speed. etc.
Anything that has been changed from default should pop up a flag for the server description.
And… What if a person decides to LIE in the description they made for their room?
These numbers won’t/don’t lie.
Let’s say the server description showed this to you (Assume 100 is default)
Spartan Player Speed (200)
Elite Player Speed (10)
Frag Grenade Explosive Radius (200)
Plasma Grenade Explosive Radius (0)
Gravity (0)
Jump Height(400)
Jump Acceleration (999)
Would you join that server?
Would you prefer to find out this stuff by simply joining and finding out during the course of the game?
Just remember, if the value is still at default. It doesn’t need to be in the server description.
Yes! This was much needed in Halo 3 and Reach.
It’d be perfect if there was a thing under the options menu before you enter the custom game/forge that you can select ON/OFF for matchmaking on, so that when you start the game players can join your game thru selecting ur lobby thru a list of available OPEN game lobbys.