Earlier today I was gaming, but didn't have many friends online (which is odd considering my friendslist is composed predominantly by Halo kids), so I decided to check where H5 was sitting on the most played charts... Still sitting easy in the top 10 (was 7th at the time). Honestly, given how easy it is to find games still, and it still being a Top 10 Most Played title, I'd say Halo 5 is still doing well enough population wise. Sucks that the game doesn't have much content, and that 343 keeps branding forge maps as dev maps. Game shipped with only 11 real maps, but 343 likes to claim the real number was 21. Bullshit. We got 11 maps, 3 of which were Warzone. We got 7 forge maps and 3 modified variants of the Warzone maps. But still, 11 real dev maps is pretty good. And the maps are all of decent quality. Probably the best quality overall for a release. I just wish they'd hurry up and release more gametypes and dev maps. Forge maps are great and all, but I'd rather be playing actual dev maps in MM.
How is it lazy design? Remixes are a completely logical approach to countering development choke points, namely that creating the art assets for maps is much more time and resource expensive than actually designing a map's layout. By implementing "remixes", they are effectively maximizing the use of art assets, which allows for the production of more maps that what was previously possible before. Really, it's just smart management.
Colieseum is literally atrocious next to any H3 forerunner map. Fathom is the same exact recycled resources from all the other human maps, none of which I care for. Overgrown? The plaza remix? So it's plaza, with some branches and stuff and green ambient lighting...and the same recycled pieces.. Yeah no. I think the ugliest Halo 3 map looks artistically better than the best Halo 5 map, take your pick.[/QUOTE] I am gonna disagree about Coliseum, I think its a pretty map. I do agree that Fathom re-uses a lot of the UNSC garb that all the other maps have, but I do like the setting and backdrop of being under water. I do wish they had done more with it. Overgrown looks pretty from the short bits of video. Again, what H3 map did you think looks pretty? Sandtrap for example is not a very pretty map. I liked playing on it, but it is not beautiful to look at.
There's certainly some solid maps in my opinion, namely Plaza, Coliseum, Regret, and Empire. And the base game is decent enough for me to ignore the others. My real gripe is the lack of gametypes, and hopefully updates will soon remedy that.
That seems really strange considering that they have the resources to make art for an entire campaign. It seems like it would totally overshadow the amount of art needed for a couple of measly maps. Also, I would think that unique, memorable art is particularly important for multiplayer maps, since that's where the community is spending most of its time.
As for the arguement of lazy v smart development, I would say its smart. What is lazy in my opinion is the complete copy-paste job they do with Warzone Garage, Armory, and bases. Smart however is like using campaign locations in Reach as multiplayer maps. I was a big fan of that, because I played a bit of multiplayer first and then went into campaign with a friend, and it was like "Hey wait, look, this is Powerstation!" Plus the campaigns usually visit super diverse areas. I would love a map on Sanghelios.
No one realized that they put their multiplayer maps in campaign and not the other way around. They said that specifically and you could probably tell yourself since each time you encounter a disc map, it's just a generic "clear the area" type deal.
You know what the issue with aesthetics in the game. **** is clearly dirty yet it is shiny like it is new. That makes no sense to me. That is one reason I prefer h3. Sandtrap is about the only one that doesn't look really good. If you have MCC look at epitaph, citadel, etc. Majority of that looks better and doesn't doesn't have glossy dirt. Max the **** is free. I get what you mean though. There is never anything wrong with taking a different angle on a design. It would be nice to get some original stuff as well for free. Seriously, forerunner **** is so old yet it looks brand new. That doesn't make any since. Nor do they explain why all the dirt is shiny and something that is rusty looks polished.
I think H3 is easily a better looking Halo game. Bungie was so much better at not only making things look ancient, but timeless. When I see the old forerunner stuff it feels like the architecture has changed less than the landscape over many, many years. The Bungie look gives you a sense of place and time that 343 has yet to capture. When I see forerunner stuff, sure it should look alien and advanced--343 understands that much--but it should also look lost in time, mysterious, and monolithic. As far as the UNSC maps in H5, I agree they look overly recycled, plaza being a slight exception. That being said, it doesn't bother me as much as how much I trip over and get stuck on little arty bits. I actually like the curves and layers that 343 has brought to the covy stuff, but it's the same problem--I get stuck on weird lips and things that just wouldn't have been on an older map. So as much as the art direction isn't as good as Bungie's my bigger problem is that the worse art direction seems to override the multiplayer gameplay functionality of the map, which is tolerable in the campaign, but silly in multiplayer. Speaking of the campaign, the ancient stone covy architecture in it captures a Halo look better than most everything I've seen from 343. I really hope we eventually get a multiplayer map that looks like that. Lastly, I like how Bungie used multiplayer maps in the reach campaign. I think that's a better way to reuse art than the very similar Eden and Empire. I have no problem with art being reused in multiplayer maps if we get more maps at launch and they are different from one another in terms of layout and gameplay. That being said, I'm not going to fault 343 for trying. Although I don't love any H5 maps, at least 343 is doing a better job at making me not hate them.
Hopefully the game get some of it's best features in before the holidays kick in. After those Christmas sales, if forge flops, customs disappear, and social remains absent, they're done.
@Jake: I know it's free, you douche. I still don't feel like there is enough variety in the map lineup, including Overgrowth, and a big reason is because of the monotony behind remixing maps. @Schnitzel: You're referring specifically to art. While I think reusing art theme is lazy as well, it isn't why it's frustrating. The geometry is too similar between the maps. Maybe not the intracicies, like connections, but the broad shape of structures, like the bases on Empire/Eden and Truth/Regret, and the office and outside area on Empire/Eden. I'm sorry, it's just lazy. It's probably because they had to meet some deadline, but that's no excuse in my eyes. Now that I see they're really pushing this remix nonsense, my excitement for the DLC in June has dropped significantly. Now I'm going to go play Onslaught and Rockstar and call them two completely different maps.
Until I can't find a game, I won't be worried. I also enjoy Halo 5's gameplay tremendously, and with forge coming I know I'll be playing this game for a long time. For sure longer than Halo 4.
I agree cluck. I really like the gameplay, this game has pushed me to be more competitive than any other Halo before. (Isn't helping at all cuz I still suck lol) I really enjoy getting a full fire team & playing games.
Although, I am pretty unhappy with the lack of content, I'm fine with Halo being a niche game. I don't think we will ever have the market presence Halo 3 had, but as long as Halo still gets a AAA budget, I'm going to hold the bar at H3/reach level in terms of quality, features, and content. The points you make are important, but not so much because of player retention, more because 343 should be held to a standard by the community. Edit: I just wanted to add that although the monthly updates don't bother me, I agree more needs to be added to the December update to retain players from Christmas sales, and because 343 did release a game that lacks the launch content required by the established community.
I feel like Halo 5 can get away with the lack of community content and features until shortly after Christmas. But once we head into the New Year, if things are still lacking and it doesn't look like they will improve any time soon, then I would unfortunately be inclined to agree. Forge should help with this (since it'll be out before Christmas), but a strong File Sharing system, and richer selection of GameTypes are also required, in my opinion, to foster an active community; otherwise creating some of the more varied and unique Forge maps will be stunted (due to lack of GameType variety), as will the ability for great Forge maps to gain traction with the community at large (due to lack of a strong File Sharing system). It's for those exact reasons that (again, in my opinion here...) the Far Cry editor never had the same impact as Halo's Forge - despite technically being a superior editing tool. I mean, sure, Forge is set to appear as though it is indeed going to be a far superior editing tool compared to its previous iterations, but that alone isn't enough - you also need variety within the game's sandbox itself, and a strong content delivery system; things that both Halo 3 and Reach had, despite their "inferior" Forge.
weekend 'social' stats: 191k played at least one game of shotty snipes 128k played at least one game of doubles 100k played at least one game of rumble rockets 38k played at least one game of snipers
The monthly updates are fantastic ideas, keeping things fresh and updated is a must. The problem is that 343 fell victim to "monkey see monkey do" by watching their older brother Bungie. At launch, they removed crutial content from the game to add it later on and look like a great developer. "Halo 5 DLC will be free thanks to our REQ system" "Halo 5 DLC will be free for 1 year thanks to our REQ system" "Halo 5 DLC will be free through June 2016 thanks to our REQ system" The "free" window has been closed to a 7 month period that were already down to 6 months left. "The most multiplayer maps in Halo history" is really 5 developed maps with a cheap copy of three making 8 TOTAL dev maps, while keeping about 10 forge maps on the Dev map roster. In case nobody realized this yet, but we have only 3 gametypes in the entire game. (Slayer, CTF, and Strongholds) "but we havE wArZONe!?" lol Warzone is 12v12 Strongholds. It is no wonder the population is declining. They shot themselves in the foot. They made a solid game, and still wrecked it by corporate greed. (REQ packs) take for instance the HCS pack. 80,000 REQ points, roughly 100 online matches, or about 17 hours of strictly arena matches. OR you can just pay $10. HMM I wonder what people are more likely to do. And to top it off, it gives you generic skins. NOTHING NEW. just boring simple skins that everyone now has. Halo is being ruined by this greed. It isn't about crafting a great game it's about how much you rake in. Maybe if they stopped throwing all the REQ point money into HC-****ing-S we could actually have content. Rant Over. Sorry about that.
Am I that far out of the loop? What has 343i been doing to copy Bungie? Cos if they could copy Bungie's filesharing system that'd be swell haha also off topic but i spent $10 on the HCS pack while drunk, I've never purchased anything before until that point rest in peace. I hope it goes into something worthwhile.