THE Custom Games/Options Thread

Games Halo 5: Guardians
1

343 Industries, now is the time to discuss an issue that has been a major complaint in Halo 4 and yet hasn’t made much progress as things like weapon tuning did. With a new Halo game on the horizon, perhaps this can serve as a reminder to get custom games and options right for this game. It doesn’t matter if this is a spin-off game or Halo 5, now is the time to get this right.

Let’s put things in perspective. To the folks at 343i, this is not an accusation that you have not taken any notice to the outcry over the removal of gametypes and limitation of custom game options. However, thus far, all that have been given are words. In the 3.28.13 Weekly Bulletin, I asked this and this was my answer:

> Will any previously removed custom game types be added to Halo 4, e.g., Assault, Race, Territories, etc.?
> –DecepticonCobra
>
> There is always a possibility for old favorites to make a return in Halo 4 but we have nothing to announce on that front at this time
> –Quinn

I also cite the huge megathread Custom Games are STILL Unacceptable 343i. At this time, that thread has received 1369 thanks and is 259 pages in length. bs angel replied to it personally and on Twitter. And yet…nothing ever seemed to come from it. The megathread continued to grow and the fan outcry has likely festered. The creator, Time Glitch, is no longer with us. While that may seem like an irrelevant detail, I think it shows just how far this has gotten out of hand.

Just think about it this way. Custom games, for many gamers, were major parts of their Halo experience growing up with the franchise. I myself recall hours of time spent with my friends on Halo 2 playing Zombies or on Halo 3 playing all of the Infection variants, Jenga, race, and so much more. Custom games have also had a huge impact on general Halo multiplayer. Some of the gametypes I mentioned, Zombies and race in particular, became their own gametypes. RoosterTeeth even got their own gametype, Grifball, made into an official gametype.

And yet…Halo 4 just disappointed. Many gametypes were removed entirely for reasons I can only ascribe to time constraints or storage space. That doesn’t make it any less of a bummer, however. Reach really had it right with the new gametypes it ADDED to Halo’s already impressive roster along with some of the deepest options to tweak them in any Halo game. All of that was butchered in Halo 4.

Of course, I know this isn’t Halo 4, this is a new Halo game. However, a reminder of the expectations the fans have about custom games and options along with a brief history lesson on just how important they have been to Halo is necessary. 343i, if you do read this, give DavidJCobb’s Custom Game Options Browser. It is a labor of love on his part and shows just how much was lost AND what Halo CAN be. Use this as a roadmap, or a guide, on how to best reintegrate what was lost.

To the readers of this thread, make your voices heard. Tell 343i what you want, tell them where they can make improvements.

“You are what you dare.”

2

I totally agree.

I hope this gives the original thread some motivation, it appears to of ran out of steam.

I will be honest, I’m very unsociable on Xbox Live, I don’t talk to anyone, no one talks to me, this has resulted me in never playing a Custom Game- ever.

But the main reason I still try to support the thread is because while custom game options are unacceptable, I find 343 Industries lack of response to be disgusting!

All we got was “were doing something” and then- nothing.

I want at least an update to see how they are getting on! Anything than what we currently have!

All we have left is a edited line from Halo 2:

“Putting aside our sorrow, we renewed our faith in the prophecy that other options will be found, and see how are faith will be rewarded”.

One can only hope now.

3

Here we go!

  • Assault!(Planting dem bombs) - Infection! (SO YOU CAN HAVE GUNS! -Yoink!-!)- Camo options! (Predator, anyone? THAT GAMEMODE WAS BAWS!)- Color setting! (Just for some variation)- Race! (How dare I almost forget it!)- Asymmetrical Objective! (1 flaag, hello?)- VIP! (Protect the president)- Pickups! (Ice cream man, fat kid, need I go on?)- Elites! (that Sangheili megathread, people! Also, Arby n the chief!)- Invasion! (Just cause the last objective run was always so hectic, also, see number 9 and the way that Invasion is just awesome)- No weapon starts!(Not just for custom games like hunger games, but for all those machinimations out there!)- Place-able AI (would be nice, maybe have it work like spawn zones? where the AI will patrol area X, like at the entrance to a fort, for example)
4

> Here we go!
>
> - Assault!(Planting dem bombs) - Infection! (SO YOU CAN HAVE GUNS! -Yoink!-!)- Camo options! (Predator, anyone? THAT GAMEMODE WAS BAWS!)- Color setting! (Just for some variation)- Race! (How dare I almost forget it!)- Asymmetrical Objective!(1 flaag, hello?)- VIP! (Protect the president)- Pickups! (Ice cream man, fat kid, need I go on?)- Elites! (that Sangheili megathread, people!)- Invasion! (Just cause the last objective run was always so hectic, also, see number 9, and Invasion was awesome)

Fixed, you forgot the last bracket at the end of point 2 and failed to mention how awesome Invasion was :stuck_out_tongue: :stuck_out_tongue: :stuck_out_tongue:

EDIT: Oh, now you put the second bracket in after an edit! :stuck_out_tongue:

5
  1. Nice Didact quote at the end
  2. I really hope we see something at RTX, I love custom games and would like to see it restored to it’s former glory
6

> I really hope we see something at RTX

Agreed, it would be a great opportunity to show what gametypes they have been working on (if they have been working on them, which I hope they have).

7

Anything that 343 is able to change… We must be able to change…

[/li]- The return of all of the old gamemodes…

  • The ability to edit the weapons themselves; such as damage, ROF, RRR, etc. Even the ability to edit the capabilities of the vehicles.

  • The ability to assymetrically edit the traits of each team; red team has AC, blue team has a damage boost.

  • CUSTOM POWERUPS, MULTIPLE CUTSTOM POWERUP CHANNELS!!!

  • Complete control over the player’s in-game appearance; forced colors (primary/secondary), armor effect, model (Flood, Elite, Spartan, etc), armor, skins, etc)

  • The player’s equipment must be FULLY customizable; the ability to start unequipped, starting weapons, starting AA, starting equipment, grenades; infinite ammo, bottomless clip, grenade regeneration, infinite grenades, etc…

  • The ability to FULLY manipulate the objects on the map. I mean WHAT HAPPENED TO BEING ABLE TO CHOOSE THE WEAPON SETS ON A FRIGGING MAP!!!

  • No preset restrictions on ANY GAMETYPE!! If I want to have a FFA CTF game, then I AM GOING TO HAVE A FREE FOR ALL CAPTURE THE FLAG GAME!!

  • And, a Megalo script editor… Remember the Halo Ball and the Chess gametypes that were in Halo Reach? Those were made with Megalo… Imagine what we could make with that… What worlds could arise…

Just like what the Ur-Didact said himself, “You are what you dare…” and if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go compose the human race…

8

Bot support in custom games. Preferably with a navmesh tool for forged maps so the AI knows how to run them properly.

9

I definetly agree. Basically, a return of all old gametypes. Invasion I loved, infection options, assault… a lot needs to come back.

10

With Halo 5 being on the xbox one, I expect a lot of possibilities with the game. Like everybody else, I’d like to see all removed games returned. Though, I am also excited to see new gametypes to be innovated or if they really go full out, we could possibly see a custom game creator where we can actually make not just a variant, but a new game mode itself.

I’d like systems by design that have endless possibilities, things that the designer of these systems would never foresee some of the manipulations of it.

Also, if Forge and Custom games could get some decent post-launch treatment(talking about updates here), that’d be tremendous.

11

Just expand upon Halo 3 and Reach’s Customs. They can’t ruin Custom Games again, they just can’t. Nobody is that incompetent.

12

I agree. personally, I would rather have too many game types to choose from than not enough.

13

I would really love to see the old Custom Games options to come back along with some new ones. Most of the best mulitplayer experiences I had were in Custom G.

That said, this is also one of the reasons the seemingly short dev cycle for H5 has me really concerned. We know that H4 had a decent amount of time to be developed. And look at all the things that got left out. So 343i, building on a new platform, which will probably include a new engine to accommodate new visuals an the like, plus the new gameplay features, and this on top For something touted in 2014?

Even if it isn’t Halo 5, and just a spin off, all the new things the dev team have to do in such a short time span make me think we won’t see the Custom Game options we saw in the past until the next Halo game after this one.

Really hope I’m wrong though. I really miss the old Custom Game features.

14

Headhunter would be amazing…

15

I completely agree that Custom Games need to be a priority for the next Halo game.

I’d like to voice my thoughts on some of the suggestions here, based on what I know about the game engine. Note that most of my knowledge isn’t official, but instead comes from deductions and educated guesses.

> CUSTOM POWERUPS, MULTIPLE CUTSTOM POWERUP CHANNELS!!!

This is possible, and has been done internally. Matchmaking changes made during Halo: Reach’s lifetime proved that the Overshield and Active Camo powerups were just developer-only Custom Powerups. It wouldn’t surprise me to learn that Halo 4’s powerups work the same way.

> No preset restrictions on ANY GAMETYPE!! If I want to have a FFA CTF game, then I AM GOING TO HAVE A FREE FOR ALL CAPTURE THE FLAG GAME!!

Seems possible, though the scripting would be tricky.

I’m picturing a map with sixteen Neutral-owned FFACTF_FLAG_RETURN points, each using separate Spawn Sequence values to determine which player gets which point. Each player would be numbered from 1 to 16 at run-time (if Megalo can set arbitrary data values on players), allowing the linking of players to points outside of the team system.

> And, a Megalo script editor… Remember the Halo Ball and the Chess gametypes that were in Halo Reach? Those were made with Megalo… Imagine what we could make with that… What worlds could arise…

Much as I would like a Megalo editor, I can totally understand why 343i wouldn’t release one.

a. Not sure if 343i can run Megalo-embedded text through the Xbox LIVE word filter. We know from Reach that scripts can write to the kill feed, so we know that scripts can contain brand new strings.

b. Typing long runs of code without a chatpad would just be awful. I have a chatpad, but I doubt the majority of users do, and I’m sure quite a few people would get pissed and blame 343i for the tediousness of typing long runs of code without one.

c. Since gametypes are Megalo-based and can use custom strings, we can assume that Megalo data contains string localizations. The problem is that 343i can’t guarantee or force the community to properly localize any custom strings they may add to a game variant.

d. Troll game variants. A hypothetical Reach-era example: awarding 9000 Rejections to all players, to troll Armor Lock haters.

e. Difficulty of moderation. For example, someone could script a game variant that has a 10% chance of spawning Forge blocks in an arrangement that resembles explicit images, and that kind of thing would be very difficult and time-consuming for users to report or for 343i to catch. 343i could avoid the need for moderation if they only give Megalo access to specific players as part of a program similar to Community Cartographers, but how would they determine who deserves and can be trusted with that access?

f. They need to build an IDE into the game. We didn’t build the system, so we won’t know its ins and outs; we’ll need a debugger to help us. That debugger needs to be expansive enough to help us find issues easily, but locked-down enough that we can’t damage our save data, run-time state, or console, so any in-house tools that 343i is currently using are unlikely to be suitable for consumer use.

> Bot support in custom games. Preferably with a navmesh tool for forged maps so the AI knows how to run them properly.

This would be nice to see. I can see potential issues with community members not wanting to build navmeshes for their maps, as that would probably be a tedious task, but 343i could solve that by making navmeshes optional and clearly marking what maps have them and are AI-compatible.

16

To put it simply, I would like to see every gametype from previous Halo title to return in the next installment. Include every one from Halo 3 (assuming it contained all types and varients shipped with Halo CE and 2), Halo Reach (Invasion, Race, etc), and Halo 4 (Extraction, Dominion, etc). I would damn well say forget about making anything new for Halo 5, just bring back all the custom gametypes/modes and options.

Oh my science, Options. Options need to return, at least as in-depth as Halo Reach, if not better. Let us turn off things like sprint, allow Flood forms (assuming future Infection varients still use a Flood player model) to hold weapons. Maybe even duel wield weapons and use the Flood claw.

Anything else I could bring up has already been said here.

17

Okay, let’s go!

1.Infection( Give us our guns, and colors!)
2.Assault
3.Race
4.VIP
5.Territories/Dominion(But really territories)
6.Juggernaut
7.Invasion
8.Headhunter

That’s what I got soo far. Did I miss any important ones?

18

Sprint toggle, duration, recharge, etc. toggles, assuming it’s returning

AA toggle, duration, recharge, etc. toggles, assuming they’re returning

Option to pick up AA’s off dead bodies

Grenade carrying/restock capacity

Full control over how many grenades a player can spawn with

Per team/state loadout customization (also use base player loadouts so it won’t be too tedious to make). By state, I mean if you die as the King for example, you get new loadouts

Ability to ban specific items from personal loadouts

Full 8 team support for all gametypes involving teams

Assault

Race

VIP

Juggernaut (With options for mid-life forced weapon)

Infinite grenades/Regenerating Grenades

Invasion

Chess, with checkmate support and other fixes

Haloball

Speedflag, Speedball, Speedbomb, etc.

Shielding, assuming it’s return, stacks on top of base player traits

Ability to customize more than 1 powerup (including OS, DB, SB, and Camo)

Fixed glitches with player trait zones and a new option for players only or everything (Low gravity Warthog fights)

Fixed glitched/broken options or those that are overwritten by the script

Numeric values now open up the Xbox keyboard to type in a custom value

Add progress bars to appropriate gametypes

Party leader options. Forcing people to teams. Adding polls. Posting “status updates”

Addition of a secondary description for gametypes and maps that will show up in the lobby when the gametype or map is loaded. Lets the player specify what the gametype or map is for those who didn’t download it.

Options for armor effects, death effects, HUD effects, and player model

Options to enable or disable certain parts of the HUD

Elites and Flood Elites

Weapon tuning at launch, but not player accessible, to avoid 3000 different Halo 5’s running around and fragmentation

Player scale trait

Weapon and vehicle scale traits, although those may be based on the map

Dedicated team to script new gametypes and fix issues with old ones

Controls for announcer voice

Option to switch to a “foldered” view, where one can store maps and gametypes in specific folders (“MLG Gametypes”, “Grifball Courts”, etc.)

Oddball throwing

Autopickup

Weapons objective carrier holds, including options for default objective (Just the flag, bomb or ball) or own weapons (Speedflag, Speedball, etc.)

Stockpile, with option for autoflag drop (when entering capture zone, the flag automatically drops) and autoflag score (when entering the capture zone, the flag drops and scores)

Headhunter, with options…
that allow skulls to be scored when picked up (rather than brought to a capture zone)
3 sets of traits for skull carriers with options for how many skulls they have to be carrying (150% movement for 3 skulls, 60% movement and 125% damage for 6 skulls)
how many skulls is a skullamanjaro
how many skulls a player drops, aside from how many they’re carrying
how many skulls a player can hold
whether a player drops their collection of skulls or just they’re own skull(s)

Dropping the Objectives

Territories

Option for more points if more than 1 player in the hill

Option allowing players to still earn points in the hill despite not controlling it

Option for points gained per second for players not in the hill

Option for points gained for killing players in any gamemode, not just Slayer

Option for points gained for killing Objective carriers/controllers, and for points gained if Objective Carriers/controllers kill others

Weapons on Map, Vehicles on Map, Powerups on Map, AA’s on Map. Turrets on map is pointless, as the game sees Turrets as vehicles. A fix would be cool, if possible.

Replace player damage modifier with options for grenade damage, vehicle damage, explosive weapon damage, non-explosive weapon damage, to complement the melee modifier. Keep current Damage Resistance modifier

Primary Color and Secondary Color with options for full RGB combos

Team Options, which will allow the enabling and disabling of teams, their primary and secondary colors, and emblem colors

Option to make teammates immune to non-explosive or vehicle related damage. I can grenade or Rocket my teammates but not be a troll and AR them to death because they took “my” sniper

Ability to spawn with skinned weapons

Options for descoping

More to come

19

We really need these gametypes back. With Halo 4, I haven’t had a nice long fun gamenight like the good old days of Halo 3, and 2.

20

As much as I like Grifball, it should have stayed as a variant of Assault. To simply remove an entire gametype just to replace it with a “popular variant” which has half the settings locked isn’t what Halo should be like.

And after 10+ years, why do I now require a ‘perk’ to pickup grenades off dead bodies, when it was a standard feature for every previous title?