I’m sure these bugs have already been reported, but I wanted to post this topic just to make sure that the awareness of these bugs is there. I understand that Matchmaking is the priority right now, but it’s always been my opinion that Custom Games, in tandem with Forge, has always greatly helped in maintaining the online population in Halo. It should also be noted that I’m representing the gaming community that I operate, HaloTracks.org. These bugs are found in Halo 2: Anniversary.
The first bug, though really just a nuisance, is how easy it is to encounter issues with frame frequency and the rate at which those issues progress. Objects in the terrain category are, by far, the most taxing on the Xbox One’s hardware. What has been surprising to other Forgers and myself, is that 40-50 terrain objects (especially trees) in one spot drastically degrades system performance. This really forces us to cut down some of the scenery in our maps. As consequence, we’re unable to fully utilize the Forge in H2A.
The largest issues that map creators and their fans are experiencing, is that playing on their creations can be a rather arduous task at best. Most Forged maps have a minimum object count of 250+ objects. Maps with that object count work decently enough, but the real issues surface on maps with 400+ objects. Experienced Forgers have a tendency to meticulously use a lot of objects. Maps with 400+ objects can really start to wreak havoc on parties. The game can crash, force-kick people, or just return the entire lobby back to the main menu. Other factors like who’s hosting the game lobby and how many people are in said lobby also play a large part in Custom Games’ inconsistency. Playing a map with more than 4 people in a lobby can sometimes be impossible.
A smaller bug is that once a game has ended in a Custom Games lobby due to those circumstances, the party leader can be swapped to a random member of the game lobby.
We have some incredible tools at our disposal in Halo 2’s Forge. We’re just encountering a lot of issues with being able to create smooth, flowing maps. Not only that, we’re having trouble playing on maps that have been stripped down to just objects of necessity. If these issues could be fixed, the possibilities in Forge and Custom Games could be limitless. Forgers have already started creating maps that rival the look and feel of maps built into the game. The problem, again, is just that we can’t play on those creations in a large lobby.
I have nothing but faith in 343 and Certain Affinity. Halo 2: Anniversary didn’t have to ship with Forge, but they included it in anyway. Along with that, they expanded upon Forge’s power by an incredible amount. That’s something that I’m incredibly thankful for, and makes me proud to call myself a Halo fan. I hope that this information can help improve the experience in H2A once Matchmaking is all good to go.
TL;DR
- Hard to forge smooth, flowing maps in H2A that continuously have 60 FPS.- Extremely difficult to play on Forged maps in Custom Games. Sometimes, anything over 4 players just won’t work.- If lobby is force-kicked from a custom game, a new, random party leader can sometimes be assigned.