[360] Halo 3

[Cinq]

i want a linktacular, get those bungie.net logos folks

you rank/medal/score whore you

linktacular ftw!!!

[gothi]

I've had mine from day one and made sure that hotcosmo, MacronX and Piggle all got them too. I be wanting this too!

[Cinq]

Heroic Map Pack Announced for Halo 3
Posted by lukems at 11/19/2007 12:19 PM PST
Earlier today, Microsoft Game Studios announced that the DLC Bungie has been working on will be available December 11th to the tune of 800 Microsoft points. The Heroic Map pack is comprised of the first three maps of our intended downloadable suite to support Halo 3’s multiplayer. Christopher Barrett, (AKA Barry) the creative director of Downloadable Content and Steve Cotton, the DLC design lead answered a host of questions, some reasonable, some borderline nonsense to give folks a little better idea about what they are seeing when they look at the three screenshots of the maps we’ve released (there will be more coming sometime after the Thanksgiving holiday).

A quick note about how Matchmaking will work:

When Halo 2's downloadable content joined the Internet, it effectively split the Matchmaking population into the "haves" and the "have-nots," Bungie was readily aware of the problem that caused, and has rectified it in Halo 3. First, when downloadable content arrives, it will have its own playlist for those folks who just want to play with their new toys. Simultaneously all of the DLC maps will be rolled in to the regular Matchmaking playlists as well and then as folks are getting matched up, the game will take into account who has what maps in the matchmaking process. So you'll see Team Slayer on Standoff show up in the Team Slayer hopper as well as in the new DLC-focused playlist.

Standoff

Q: For reasons that should become obvious now, Frankie referred to Standoff as Jodrell Bank. What inspired the creation of this outdoor playground?

Christopher Barrett: Standoff, or Bunkerworld as it’s known internally was one of the maps we had originally planned as one of the Halo 3 release multiplayer maps. Because of time we ended up postponing it until DLC, and here it is!

Steve Cotton: We wanted a small, outdoor, vehicle map. It started out simple enough. 2 relatively small bases seperated by a landscape of hills and rocks. Good visibility and quick access to the Warthog parked right out front. And a turret on top for defensive types. After that, the rest just built itself. Actually, Justin [Hayward] built it. That guy is good.

CB: Obvious? I still have no idea why Frankie keeps talking about his bank all the time [ed. Google Image Search – L.S.].

Q: Give us a general description of the map’s spaces since we’re not showing too much right now, what’s the overview of Standoff?

CB: There’s two opposing bases and some rocks and a tree and a road and some giant missile silos and enormous satellite dishes.

SC: Oh, and a lot of transportation and firepower.

CB: Imagine Blood Gulch, except squished together, with 4000 foot satellite dishes.

Q: What sort of revisions and iterations changed from early-period Standoff to the version of the map that folks will be playing in December?

CB: The original version only had the two front doors into the base. We eventually added two side routes into the base one of which is opened via a switch inside like Zanzibar/Last Resort.

Originally the sun was at or around high noon, about a month ago we lowered the sun towards the horizon giving the map a very moody sunset feel which really adds to its atmosphere.

We weren’t satisfied with two ways into the bunker so we added a third entry.

Q: How many players can Standoff comfortably accommodate?

CB: Surprisingly it works for almost any number of players pretty well, but 4 vs 4 feels about right.

SC: 2v2 Multi-flag is actually very cool. So is 8v8. I think it pretty much covers the spectrum. It's just a very fun team objective map no matter how big the teams are.

CB: I was very comfortable playing a one player game on Standoff but it wasn’t a whole lot of fun. At least I didn’t die as much as usual.

Q: What are some of your favorite gametypes to play on Standoff?

CB: Multi Flag CTF

SC: Kill Barry.

CB: I found out your teammates love it when you yell out “I CAN’T FIND THE FLAG” during team slayer games.

Q: What kind of items will populate Standoff’s Forge palette?

CB: Apart from the standard crates and barricades we’ve created some new placeable mancannons, shield doors, and a very special secret object.

SC: You can add a Wraith as well. In addition to the mancannons of course.

Rat’s Nest

Q: Rat’s Nest, that sounds like Crow’s Nest, the second level from the Halo 3 campaign, surely this isn’ t a coincidence – but it’s also not simply reused space, what’s the deal?

CB: We really wanted to create an indoor multiplayer level, something we hadn’t done a lot of in Halo 3 and the setting of Crow’s Nest was a perfect fit.

SC: Rat's Nest is a great example of a simple idea that turned out to be a great map. And it was only a simple idea because Barry came up with it.

CB: We felt that the single-player mission wasn’t long enough so we wanted to make you play through it again over and over in multiplayer.

Q: It’s a pretty big map with a lot of smaller, tighter combat spaces, how do art and design create those spaces and make sure they play nicely?

CB: A lot of testing and iteration. We also wanted to give a nice balance to larger open spaces where big battles can occur with vehicles and also allow some close quarters combat. The combination really worked great.

The first part of this question makes me feel weird. I’m not sure why.

Q: What kind of items will populate Rat’s Nest’s Forge palette?

CB: A hamster wheel and wood shavings.

SC: Who hasn't always wanted to drive a Scorpion tank inside.

Q: What’s been the biggest change in Rat’s Nest from the prototype/concept phase to the “ship it” phase?

CB: Originally the entire map was indoor and underground. We had the idea of opening up the wall to let in the sunlight, give an epic view and create a memorable space. Doing that really added a lot to the visual feel of the level.

We almost forgot to put any rats in the level.

SC: That better not be why we were losing performance!

Q: What’s the ideal player count for Rat’s Nest?

CB: 6-16 Players, it will really add to the Big Team Battle matchmaking hoppers online.

Q: Which gametypes have worked the best? What would you guys like to see in Matchmaking?

SC: The typical symmetrical games work well, Multi-flag, Territories, Neutral bomb, Team Slayer.

CB: Infection on Rat’s Nest is great, the dark moody atmosphere and all the hiding places make it idea for zombie hunting. There is a perfect race track around the outside!

Foundry

Q: Foundry is completely different from any map Bungie has made for a Halo game, how so?

CB: Foundry was designed from the beginning to be a Forge level. There is an almost limitless amount of potential map designs that can be made by arranging objects in different configurations.

You can remake Hang ‘Em High out of crates. Kind of.

SC: The second you see someone delete the entire level in Forge, you realize the potential a space like this has. The default layout Tyson put together is great, but the possibilities are definitely greater.

Q: Was Foundry’s art inspired by areas from a Campaign space like Rat’s Nest?

CB: We loved the feel of the Warehouse area in the campaign [on Voi] and it really made for an ideal playground that could be filled with lots of modular crates.

Q: Tom Doyle called the Forge objects for Foundry “Legos” – what kinds of items are players going to have at their disposal?

SC: Legos that look like all the things you might find in a Warehouse in Halo.

CB: All the things you’ll need to make a great multiplayer playground. Man-sized crates, walls, fences, stairs, bridges, and of course fusion coils.

I wouldn’t trust anything Tom Doyle says if I were you. He’s shifty.

Q: What’s the default set-up on Foundry? What’s it built for?

CB: The layout that will be include with the map is set up to work well to support as many gametypes as possible. But once players get a hold of it with Forge I can’t wait to see what people will do with it!

Q: It’s not a huge map so what’s the ideal player count for Foundry’s shenanigans?

CB: I can’t think of anything funny to say about this question other than being impressed you somehow fit shenanigans into one of the questions.

SC: 4-12. Unless you're Barry and then probably 1. Playing Halo isn't the only thing he does by himself.

Q: In daily playtests, what gametypes have been the most successful on Foundry?

CB: Most gametypes work great on Foundry. I definitely had some memorable Territories and Assault games.

Kill Barry, repeatedly, has been a popular one.

SC: Yes. Kill Barry. As well as traditional Slayer and CTF.

source

[Shaka]

Looking forward to them already, at least it'll make the playlist more interesting and random. I hope

[Cinq]

Anybody up for a good Halo 3 session Friday night?

[Shaka]

Possibly

[Cinq]

Possibly

I thought your fears of commitment were behind you now...

[Yakkity]

Do people still play games on 360s these days?

[Shaka]

Available, the missus is going out

[NECROMANIAC]

Cancelled Live Finally, so will not be online on 360 for foreseeable future.
Why if you want to cancel do you need to phone them..why isnt there a online cancellation???...ill tell you----so if you forget to phone them they can keep charging you one months subscription until you remember...assclowns!!!!!!!

[Cinq]

Anybody else getting the new map pack on Tuesday?

Information overload -

Ghost Town Revealed
Posted by lukems at 2/21/2008 11:10 AM PDT
Once infrequently referred to as "O.K. Corral," Ghost Town (pictured throughout this story) is the first map from the upcoming Legendary Map Pack, the second injection of downloadable content coming to Halo 3 later this Spring. Artists Vic DeLeon and Cameron Pinard and designer Lars Bakken answered a few quick questions to give readers more information about this abandoned shell in Africa.

Q: What did each of you do on Ghost Town?

Vic: We split the map up into so many tasks that it became more of a collaborative effort than anything else either of us had ever worked on. It’s a small map comparatively speaking, so there were some challenging aspects- like who’s working on those polys over there? And hey I want to do that little part here! There are very few things that either of us can’t do, but we resolved to go with the idiom that I would direct the artistic direction and Cameron would take charge of the layout. Cameron’s heaviest influence was designing the blue base, the greenhouse building, and all that beautiful rebar. I worked on modeling the main areas around and inside the central building, the debris and damage everywhere, and placing all the vegetation throughout the map. We took turns modeling, painting, and detailing the terrain and the cliff walls.

Q: What’s the fictional premise behind Ghost Town?

Vic: Ghost Town is the fragmented ruins of a small 24th century water purification complex that geographically lies just North and West of the jungle foothills hydroelectric facility from the Sierra 117 mission. The well-protected facility built into a shallow ravine was once home to the Global Water Campaign, where the still somewhat-pure Kilimanjaro meltwater was transported via pipelines from the river and directed to this small outpost where it became further purified, and then transported via GWC trans-African pipelines along the Tsavo Highway for distribution throughout the entire continent.

Q: What were some of the artistic inspirations for Ghost Town?

Vic: We had both worked on the Sierra 117 level from the singleplayer campaign and we wanted to make something work within that environment because we are crazy like that. We knew Jungle would be hard to pull off in multiplayer, but noooo… we wanted to go further and add the elements of abandon and destruction. Cue the amazing work that Stan Winston and his team of artists made for the Halo 3 “Believe” commercials. That diorama of the huge battle with the destroyed buildings and debris everywhere was insanely cool and, well you know, we had to try it.

Cameron: The abandoned temples of Angkor Wat were always part of the early discussions but as Vic points out, we were so impressed with the diorama work from the “Believe” campaign that we looked to incorporate some of the ruined aspects into Ghost Town.

Q: Was there a hook that led to the map’s initial creation?

Vic: Yes and no. Steve Cotton started out with a very rough mass of spaces that were insanely fun to play in, and then Cameron and I were left with our imaginations running wild and our spirits ablaze, only to find ourselves pounding our heads against large heavy things. There was blood. When we got started on the map it was literally a group of boxes posing as buildings and feeling like swiss cheese. Some of the guys during our early playtests (not sure who) started calling it “The Ghost Town Map” and it totally stuck, even after a brief effort to rename it Mortar. is this something I should mention? how about "Some of us were affectionately calling it the Counter-Strike map."

Q: From beginning to end how long did Ghost Town take to complete?

Vic: The first massed out models were created in mid-September of 2007 so it’s been about 4-5 months.

Q: What's the nuts and bolts premise behind Ghost Town in terms of gameplay?

Cameron: Essentially Ghost Town is an asymmetric map designed for 4v4 encounters, it’s meant to be a strong infantry map where you get a nice range of close combat and longer range. The spaces are set up to allow two to three person squads a good bit of operating room and several tactical options.

Q: What gametypes is the map designed for?

Cameron: As an asymmetric map it’s designed for things like One Bomb, and One Flag, it also creates a great environment for FFA and team slayer. Overall though, the map is more general purpose and of course balancing is done with an eye towards our more popular game types.

Q: How has the map layout evolved over time with Ghost Town? Have different configurations resulted in a map that plays different?

Cameron: The core layout has actually been fairly constant throughout development, while a few areas have been added, for the most part it follows the original layout. Over time the map become more and more porous, we also worked on funneling action into more interesting areas of the map. I’d have to defer to Lars on most of the design changes over time.

Lars: Like Cameron said the core layout hasn’t changed much. For a time we had the “bases” switched, in terms of gameplay. The fortified building used to be the attacker spawn in objective games and the open cave spawn used to be the defender base. We made some changes to the building (added another way in), and then switched to its current configuration. Other subtle (or not so subtle, heh) changes were swapping the Spartan Laser for the Rocket Launcher, and removing the Regenerator for the Grav Lift. This one was actually pretty cool, because it allows players to enter into the second floor of the center building now without taking the normal routes in.

Q: It’s a brand new map, but does Ghost Town remind you of any Halo CE, Halo 2 or other Halo 3 maps?

Cameron: From the earliest iterations it had some elements that reminded me vaguely of Lockout, visually it has some elements similar to Warlock and Sanctuary, and it also pulls from Sierra 117 and Crow’s Nest from the singleplayer. Overall we really wanted to define a distinctive look for Ghost Town that strays outside of somewhat more traditional Halo environments.

Vic: It reminds me a little of the destroyed stuff I did on Warlock for Halo 2 - That’s still one of my most favorite maps, at least ones that I’ve worked on. I cannot deny that there’s a little bit o’ Warlock in Ghost Town, I just won’t say what or where. And no, there are no bats in it.

Legendary Map: Avalanche
Posted by lukems at 3/18/2008 10:51 PM PDT
Avalanche (AKA Cotton Ball), the second map from next month’s Legendary Map pack – due April 15th for 800 marketplace points (remember, we just make the maps, we don't get to price them) – is a lovingly crafted reimagination of Halo: Combat Evolved classic Sidewinder. It wouldn’t be wholly accurate to call it a “remake,” but elements of Avalanche are certainly culled from Sidewinder – it has the same familiar U-shape, multiple ways from base-to-base, and a whole sandbox full o’ vehicles to play with. But there are many, many changes too.

Designers Niles Sankey and Lars Bakken along with artists Mike Buelterman and Jason Sussman have answered a bunch of questions about Avalanche and hopefully between their answers and the accompanying pictures, what Avalanche is will begin to crystallize.

Q: What did each of you do on Avalanche?

Lars Bakken: I did the initial map set-up work (weapons, game types, vehicles, etc) and then handed it off to Niles so he could make it better. Towards the end, I oversaw any bug fixes that impacted design.

Mike Buelterman: I somehow got slapped with the ownership of the map but we all did our part to help pull the map together to really let the soul of Sidewinder shine through with Avalanche. I started with the unwieldy geometry straight from the original Sidewinder file and then worked to beat it into submission in the architecting stage. I worked with design to help fix the issues that occurred on Sidewinder when it came to stalemating and infantry fatigue while on foot. After which I was tasked with the large forerunner structures and bases. Jason Sussman worked on the center hallways, ice cave, and forge placeable objects. Sam Jones ended up owning the terrain, and Harold Lamb did some great work on the mancannons and glowing probes in the back of the bases.

Jason Sussman: I worked on the Forerunner center pass section (Shotty area) and the outer portions of the bases. Along with a few twigs here and there.

Niles Sankey: Designer. This generally entails guiding environment artists in developing the spaces, although Buelterman and Sussman are both very talented artists and a lot of the spatial design was handled by them. As a designer I also work on objective and object placement and weapon/vehicles types.

Q: What’s the fictional setting for Avalanche?

NS: Snow… duh.

LB: (Spoilarz) Hopefully I’m not ruining it for anyone that hasn’t finished Halo 3 yet, but I believe it’s on the new “under-construction” Installation 04, yes?

JS: I think we all had this idea of it being some sort of power plant type of structure where the power was being drawn from within the ice. This idea was started from Harold Lamb who made the man cannons that poke out from the cliffs and the snow covered ground. He mentioned it one day and it just kinda stuck. That’s mainly why I made the middle section look like some kind of carving/power storage machine thingy ma bob.

MB: Avalanche is a large forerunner power station set on the front of a huge glacial shelf on an under construction Halo installation. The structure is pulling its power out of the densely compacted ice that constantly builds up behind the station before it falls into the ocean below.

Q: What’s different about Avalanche in terms of actual structural changes?

NS: Buelterman knows best. NO LADDERS!

LB: The basics are the same, but you’ll notice some new additions (man cannons), and some things missing (the interior tunnel between the bases). We also haven’t had any ladders in Halo multiplayer maps since Halo 1, so we had to re-design the interiors of the bases to accommodate that. There are a lot more quick ways to get around the level now, that’s probably the biggest change.

JS: Well the first thing that folks will notice is that the rear hallways that connected the bases have been removed. This was mainly due to the fact that people had a tendency to use them over taking vehicles. Being that sidewinder is all about the vehicles traversing this huge snowy plane, having folks mainly fight in a hallway just made the whole experience not as fun.

The other change that people will notice is that there is a new cavern area that connects the central section to the front of the map via mancannon. That route is very handy for when you’re getting pummeled from either entrance. It can be a fast way out of a hot zone.

One of the other great things that makes Avalanche different from Sidewinder is the addition of mancannons. Having the mancannons definitely changes up the on-foot aspect of Sidewinder. And they are great for launching the flag from one area to another when you’re in a jam.

MB: Most of the higher level changes from Sidewinder to Avalanche came about from the fact that the original map was just too huge for someone on foot, and objective games stalemated pretty frequently. The main structural changes included the additions of the mancannons placed at key areas to help the player on foot get from point A to point B as fast as possible. With those mancannons we were able to remove the back infantry hallways to move more of the action out into the main play area, which is what this map is all about. Another important change was the large increase of vehicles at your disposal. As a big team battle map we really needed to make it feel like the -blam!- was hitting the fan, and the best way to make that happen is to give the player a nice supply of vehicles. Let’s just say you won’t need to wait around long for a nice new set of wheels. We also opened up a few more attack routes into the bases to try and ease the stalemate issues that we saw on Sidewinder.

Q: Why can’t I throw the flag through the gates old school style now?

LB: Ahem. Well, that area doesn’t exist in the new version. We had it in there for a long time, but since that old flag trick didn’t work anymore that area became used less and less. Eventually that whole section of the level became completely unused, and not only that but a death trap for someone on foot. On top of that, we kept coming back to this idea that if someone was in there, by themselves, on foot… they weren’t taking part in what makes this level unique, all the vehicles. So, with much hand-wringing we axed that section. The map plays better for it too, because the action is so much more focused now.

NS: We wanted to more focus the map around the vehicles and as a result we limited a lot of the deep interior portions of the map. In addition, the dead end flag exchange section from the original sidewinder didn’t lend itself to a clear environment design. We found that players who were unfamiliar with the layout would often get lost trying to navigate some of the interior connections. The redesigned infantry section in the middle is a lot more fun (it’s downright insane at times) and a lot more of the gameplay condenses there.

MB: Since I didn’t work on the original Sidewinder map I can’t say for certain but my guess is that the gates and back hallways were put in to help with flag caps. The first half of Avalanche’s rough out stage had a very similar feature but we started to realize that those areas pulled a lot of the action away from the heart of the map. We needed to hone the core gameplay of the map down to its essentials and sidewinder is way more about the vehicle combat than corridor shooting. I’m sure most of the players will soon forget about the “old school” and embrace the orgy of vehicle combat that will ensue.

JS: Again this was one of those things that had to go simply because it focused all of the game play in back hallways and defeated the purpose of the map – which was essentially to mount up and fight around the main body of the map. Having all the firefights, and focus of a huge map in a small hallway is definitely not interesting. Directing folks out in the “horseshoe” area of the map is much more fun .

Q: What’s different about Avalanche in terms of sandbox elements?

MB: The number one difference would have to be the amount of new infantry routes and large number of vehicles in the mix all at once. We also have a really cool Covenant vs. Human vehicle setup on objective games that I think folks will enjoy.

LB: Well, we figured that you can’t really have a huge new wintery map and not make the vehicles snow covered! So, yeah, that was the original idea, and it grew into making the UNSC vehicles all wintery. Also the Hornet (in Avalanche only) has been tweaked from the shipping version to make it better suited as an MP vehicle, instead of a floating death platform. So, the Hornet will finally see some action in Matchmaking. There are some unique Forge objects as well that are unique to Avalanche.

NS: The map has a lot more vehicle action now. We’ve included flying vehicle and fast transport vehicles (Ghosts and Mongooses) to the roster. The equipment plays a major role in objective games. In fact, for CTF I would even say that equipment works better in Avalanche than any other MP map.

The Spartan Laser also has a big impact on gameplay. I remember a game where the assaulting team had taken the flag, jumped into a mancannon and landed on a teammate’s hornet in hopes of being flown back to their homebase. Just as the flag carrier lands on the hornet, a Laser shot lances the Hornet in a beautiful explosion of red and orange. The flag carrier somehow lived through the explosion and against all odds scored a flag cap a few minutes later… true story.

Q: Why Avalanche instead of [someone from the Internet’s favorite map, here]?

JS: Honestly there are so many maps I would personally love to see placed within Halo3’s DLC. And for me and others Sidewinder was one of them. I think it’s just one of many we really wanted to do. Not to mention I believe there were allot of folks banging on the door requesting it.

LB: Since the Halo: CE days, Sidewinder has been a fan favorite. Sure it might not be on EVERYONE’S list, but it seemed to be on the short list for a lot of incredibly vocal fans. And hell, it’s HUGE! And we needed more BTB maps.

MB: It just made sense. Looking back at the release maps and DLC1 maps, everyone could see that we needed another Big Team Battle map along the lines of Sandtrap, and with the Community's love of Sidewinder, it was a great fit.

NS: Two reasons: Sidewinder is one the most requested remakes and we also needed another big vehicle map. And maybe this isn’t the only classic we’re remaking. There’s always hope for said Internet Halo fan.

Q: How will objective gametypes play out?

NS: We wanted to try something new with Avalanche. One idea was to include the Scorpion tanks seeing as they are so iconic in the original sidewinder, but in the past felt as though it was too powerful to include it in our big maps. We also wanted to solve the issue of flag capping, or more precisely, the lack of flag capping in sidewinder, especially on asymmetric gametypes like “One Flag CTF”. As we were testing the early versions of the map, we found that it was incredibly difficult for the assaulting team to score flag caps in any reasonable amount of time. One way we solved this problem was to give only the assaulting team a Scorpion. So basically, in the case of an asymmetrical gametype, the overpowered scorpion becomes an asset in solving, for example, the lack of flag caps; and it’s just plain cool to have the Scorpion in the Sidewinder remake.

We then took the Scorpion addition one step further and decided to give the assaulting team all UNSC (human) vehicles and the defending team all Covenant vehicles. It ended up being very fun for asymmetric gametypes (one flag, one bomb, territories) and it’s something that I’ve wanted to see for a long time. Humans vs. the Covenant in a giant vehicle -blam!--o-rama.

Q: What are your favorite gametypes on Avalanche?

JS: My personal favorite is neutral bomb with Multi Flag coming right behind. But honestly having so many vehicles and man cannons on this size of map is great for any game type.

MB: Personally I think CTF (one flag and multi flag) is where the most fun can be had but territories and king of the hill really focus the vehicle mayhem into one big wet spot.

NS: One Flag CTF.

LB: Team Slayer, and Team King are good, but the favorite Friday afternoon playtest has become Multi Flag on Avalanche. It’s definitely brought back memories of Halo CE LAN parties. The games are completely epic, and by adding vehicles into that mix, crazy things are guaranteed to happen. Can you say Capture the Flag with a Hornet?

Legendary Map: Blackout
Posted by lukems at 3/25/2008 10:42 AM PDT
Last week we revealed the second map from the Legendary Map pack (due April 15th), Avalanche. That map is a reimagination of Halo: Combat Evolved map Sidewinder. This week, we're showing the final map from the Legendary Map Pack, Blackout. As its name suggests, Blackout is a remake of the Halo 2 classic Lockout, a cold series of interconnected platforms and walkways. Where Avalanche was retuned, reworked and massaged into something both familiar and unfamiliar, Blackout is a remake in a pretty strict sense of the word.

Producer Allen Murray, Designer Dan Miller and artists Paul Russel and Blake Low answered a handful of questions about Blackout. But who are we kidding, you just want to see the screenshots anyway (keep checking the Gallery as the hi-res versions will be there shortly).

What did each of you do on Blackout?

Allen Murray: I am the Producer for all of the Halo 3 DLC, which means I helped plan which maps were going to be made, when we’d ship them and who was working on them and generally kept them on track. So I was one of the guys early on who said we need to remake Lockout and then managed the process to make it happen. I didn’t actually ‘make’ any of it, but Luke is taking pity on me and included me in the interview process. Thanks, Luke. Also, if any of you have any issues with other DLC maps, you can talk to me directly. My email address is frankie@bungie.com.

Paul Russel: I was the primary environment artist for blackout from concept to completion. I also invented the grommet.

Dan Miller: Designing odds and ends, I kept stewardship over the level and fixed bugs. There wasn't really a whole lot to do design-wise after the weapons and gametypes were placed. We tried to keep it as close to Halo 2 as possible and let the community Forge it up how they wish.

Blake Low: I was responsible for adding all the little details to the level that made the area seem functional. Things like power boxes, wires, pipes and more.

What’s the fictional setting for Blackout this time? Its predecessor, Lockout, was set on a Forerunner installation.

PR: The setting is a UNSC Antarctic weather station with the completely arbitrary and stupid number z/41, it means nothing. Until the fans write some fictional significance into it and we eventually have to reverse engineer it into our canon. Thanks a lot, fans.

Venezuela is very nice this time of year.

BL: Its predecessor, Lockout, was set on a Forerunner installation. This time around we thought it would be cool to see what a human version of this same map would look like. So we created the fiction of it being a human weather station in the middle of frozen nowhere.

AM: It’s a UNSC research station set in the Arctic, and I am pretty sure that this is also where all of the R&D on military grade Otter Pop rations took place. Early on I thought it was going to be an oil derrick, but that changed over time. We have some cool racks of glacier core samples, Doppler radar and other pieces of research gear strewn about, which makes for a nice touch – and when you look up to see them make sure you notice the beautiful Aurora Borealis in the sky. There were other, more outlandish settings done in the concept phase, but we’ll keep those secret as you never know when we’ll dig into that bag and pull it out for a future project.

How was the setting for Blackout determined?

PR: Since I got lumped with the 'Forerunner Guy' label and sixty percent of the environments I've built have been Forerunner, I've made a bold pronouncement to never do Forerunner again. That's why it's a human weather station. I wish there were a more interesting story than that.

AM: From my perspective the determination was an organic process based on the direction that Paul just started taking it. He had a really solid idea and it was easy for the other artists to understand it and help make it awesome. We also set the time to be the middle of the night, so it’s dark, but the full moon and ambient light from the facility make the map visible enough that it plays just like Lockout. And that took a lot of tweaking – there were weeks when the map was just too damn dark to do anything, or too light that everything looked washed out and you lost the cool midnight setting. In the end Paul and his cohorts found a really great balance to the aesthetic.

In addition to the aesthetic changes, how has the map changed functionally? It’s a strict port, but there are differences, detail them:

PR: There's equipment now, which changes the dynamic quite a bit, I hear. The original model was a chaotic mess to work in, so I rebuilt it from scratch, keeping only the buildings, which I also promptly gutted and rebuilt. As a result it's probably completely different and you'll all hate it, me and Bungie as a result. Mission accomplished.

Kidding, you'll love it. The kids love Lockout, it's bigger than the Beatles, but with more grenades.

DM: Mainly equipment. We tried our best to keep the weapon layout, gametypes and spawns as accurate as we could to Halo 2. There are a couple of jumps that are easier in this version, but that wasn't by design- they just kind of fell out of how we made this level.

AM: Most of the jumps, even the crazy ones from Halo 2, are there. However a few are tweaked or removed and there is one spot that was altered that makes it less easy to lock down a specific quadrant of the map. Also, the small platforms next to the air vent are at slightly different elevations.

What’s changed between Halo 2 and Halo 3 that affected the remake process?

PR: Equipment, field of view tweaks, higher resolution, widescreen, Forge and I, Paul Freakin' Russel, am the primary artist. El Dios bendice Venezuela!

DM: I would guess the main change would be that jumping has changed and it made certain jumps easier to make. I wonder if the Assault Rifle's influence also changed how the level plays vs the smg. I think the level plays a little more mid-range because of the Assault rifle.

AM: The general pacing in MP changed between Halo 2 and 3, and the sandbox changed drastically, so that affects all remakes, but for Blackout specifically we wanted to keep things as close as possible to what was built in Halo 2. That means that the biggest changes come from actually gameplay as the way weapons and equipment interact on the map make a game on Blackout so much more different than a Halo 2 game on Lockout.

How is equipment placed on Blackout?

DM: We've decided to go with a 'less is more' attitude with Blackout after some playing around with a bunch of different placements, we've settled on one regenerator, one bubble shield and one power drain.

AM: With such verticality to the map and the narrows spaces, the Bubble Shield is terribly effective for just shutting down certain lines of sight. It’s also fun to toss a Power Drain onto the helipad while everyone is fighting in the middle and just clean up.

What gametypes work best on Blackout?

PR: I don't know. I loathe playing video games.

DM: I enjoy assault, KOTH and team slayer on Blackout.

BL: King of the hill in the red room of death

AM: For me, this is just a straight up Slayer map, FFA or Team. The objective games are fun, but this is all about short to mid-range combat and the Assault Rifle is perfect as a starting weapon on this map.

What’s some stuff we don’t know about Blackout’s creation? What was the toughest part to “get right?”

PR: This is the first time I believe we've tried a full-blown nighttime multiplayer map. Originally I wanted it to take place on the back of a giant llama. I'm still bitter about this.

Maintaining some of the little things that expert players liked to exploit. Those are all gone, now, your pets are dead, go home and cry.

Kidding, we did our best to keep it all in.

I have to go now; I have a busy schedule as I am also the President of Venezuela. Vaya con queso!

BL: Making an environment look cold and unbearable is always a challenge.

AM: We almost didn’t do it because we already have Guardian, which was similar and ‘inspired by’ Lockout. But when I started up the DLC project we gathered a ton of data from the community, looked at the most played maps on Live and did some very unscientific polls on Bungie.Net and other community websites and Lockout was leaps and bounds ahead of every other map in terms of games played and the public demand. It also fits a need in our overall map portfolio to help round out the small maps that are available in Halo 3 and was a great artistic exercise.

The toughest part of making it was trying to be as faithful to the original as possible while also accommodating the inherent gameplay changes between Halo 2 and 3. The second toughest was getting Paul and the gang to fix their bugs on time and making sure lightmaps weren’t screwed all of the time.

Even more linkys....

Launch Info
Action Pics
Trailer
Vidoc

[Shaka]

Nope, i'll wait till there free to get. I went on last night and it's still a lagfest most of the time and anti anyone not american

[Cinq]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEWIw-a0GJw

[Cinq]

New free map - one day only

Cold Storage: Priced, Dated

By now you’ve hopefully read Sketch’s Humpday against the Wonder Triplets, you’ve probably seen some Cold Storage screenshots and checked out the overhead perspective of the map. That seems like pretty much par for the map reveal course and next week, we’ll have a Q&A with some of the mapmakers to commemorate Cold Storage’s release.

Cold Storage will be available for free beginning on July 7, Bungie Day, on Xbox Live Marketplace.

Additionally, don’t forget to grab the one-day-only free gamerpics and theme on 7/7.

Beginning on July 7, there will be a 48-hour long seven-player FFA playlist in Halo 3’s Matchmaking where you can turn the calendar back to 2001 and control Rockets, Invis and Snipe.

For now, Cold Storage will be implemented in regular rotation in playlists that require the Legendary Maps. To avoid confusion, playlists that previously required the Legendary Maps will now remind players that they need “all Maps” to participate, and since Cold Storage is free, it shouldn’t be a big deal for you to grab the map on July 7 and then return to your regularly scheduled business in SWAT.

Additionally, on 7/7, Microsoft is dropping the price of the Legendary Map Pack from 800 spacebucks to 600 spacebucks. That price drop does mean that purchases after 7/7 will no longer include the Bungie Pro bonus.

We’re trying to churn one last thing out today regarding Cold Storage, and we hope to have that for you folks later this afternoon. We’re just squeezing it through the download system this morning. If something cataclysmic happens and it doesn’t get out today, I’ll stop drinking beer and consuming grilled meats over the long weekend and get it up for ya’all.

And on the Seven7h Day...

[PapaLazarou]

love the spaceballs reference