Custom Games Info, and this site





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Custom Games Info, and this site

Posted By: Louis Wu <halo@bungie.org> Date: 5/30/07 7:58 a.m.

Okay, so a couple of weeks ago, some folks accidentally fell into the 'Custom Games' lobby in the Halo 3 Beta. (Bungie released the Beta with only Matchmaking enabled... but a bug caused some people trying unsuccessfully to join a party to be bumped into the Custom Games screens.) At first, all you could do was look through the screens - but this was enough, because they gave you an idea of what Bungie had in store for you. We didn't post news about this for a very simple reason: Bungie didn't really expect anyone to see this stuff, so there is no guarantee at all that any of these options will make it into the final game. (It's likely that many - even most - will... but too many people are unwilling to differentiate between 'beta' and 'final', and the backlash when someone's favorite idea DOESN'T make the final cut makes publicizing this stuff hardly worth it.)

That said... it's been out there long enough now that folks have figured out how to consistently get themselves into actual Custom games. It's no longer just looking at the option screens - they're actually playing. (Bungie released the Beta for network stress-testing, among other things - but they also knew that folks would be beating at the edges, looking for ways into areas they weren't supposed to go. This has been accomplished, now.) Again - we'd like to stress that Bungie never expected you to be playing these games; they are still tweaking all sorts of stuff in local builds, so what's in the game, as reflected by the most recent versions on internal dev boxes, might bear VERY little resemblance to what you're playing in custom games in a build that's now weeks (months?) old. That pistol folks are already making all sorts of predictions about? The current version probably acts nothing like the version you can play with in custom games.

Information wants to be free, though, and while there are still blocks of Beta content we're staying away from, the whole Custom Games can-o-worms is now open, and available to anyone who's willing to search for the info. (No hacking or modding is required.) When the lobby was first discovered, several websites rushed out guides - we didn't report on them, because at the time it seemed like we'd be helping with the spread of potentially outdated info - info that would come back to bite Bungie after the actual game was released, if it produced expectations that weren't met by the final product. One of the first guides to be written was Morningstar's, at Subnova.com - but it was not made public, because they weren't sure if Bungie was okay with this info being out there. It's a moot point now - the info is out there. And this guide is well-written, nicely cross-referenced, and pretty complete. If you would like to know what's in the current Custom Games screens, take a look. (At the risk of sounding like a broken record, do not get attached to anything you see in this guide - there is no guarantee that the feature you love the most will be present in the final release.)

We'd like to ask that you not clutter this forum with dozens of threads asking for info on how to get into custom games; there are existing threads already, and the information is available elsewhere. My feeling is, if you're not willing (or able) to do some looking for yourself, you probably shouldn't be in those games in the first place.

Message Index

Replies:

Custom Games Info, and this site Louis Wu 5/30/07 7:58 a.m.

Re: Custom Games Info, and this site bedlam 5/30/07 8:29 a.m.

*phew* Spartan Jag 5/30/07 8:49 a.m.

HA, so I was right after all. Captain Spark 5/30/07 9:05 a.m.

what the hell? Miguel Chavez 5/30/07 10:05 a.m.

Re: what the hell? Schedonnardus 5/30/07 10:28 a.m.

Re: what the hell? Captain Spark 5/30/07 10:38 a.m.

I hate you. *NM* Louis Wu 5/30/07 10:30 a.m.

Re: I hate you. Stuntmutt 5/30/07 10:46 a.m.

Isn't that the B.net forums? *NM* Boxer 5/30/07 10:34 a.m.

Re: Custom Games Info, and this site Schooly D 5/30/07 11:37 a.m.

Re: Custom Games Info, and this site Ducain 5/30/07 11:46 a.m.

Same here. *NM* mercury 5/30/07 11:56 a.m.

Re: Custom Games Info, and this site UNSC Trafalgar 5/30/07 12:12 p.m.

He'll have this fixed soon, one way or another. *NM* Cocopjojo 5/30/07 12:46 p.m.

Re: He'll have this fixed soon, one way or another The MorningStar 5/30/07 1:51 p.m.

Local mirror Louis Wu 5/30/07 2:15 p.m.

Re: Local mirror mnemesis 5/30/07 2:33 p.m.

Re: Local mirror Anton P. Nym (aka Steve) 5/30/07 3:03 p.m.

Re: Local mirror Deimos Fawkes 5/30/07 6:27 p.m.

Re: Local mirror The MorningStar 5/30/07 7:48 p.m.

Re: Custom Games Info, and this site El Duderino 5/30/07 4:18 p.m.

Re: Custom Games Info, and this site The MorningStar 5/30/07 6:00 p.m.

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Custom Games Info, and this site
Posted By: Louis Wu <halo@bungie.org>	Date: 5/30/07 7:58 a.m.
Okay, so a couple of weeks ago, some folks accidentally fell into the 'Custom Games' lobby in the Halo 3 Beta. (Bungie released the Beta with only Matchmaking enabled... but a bug caused some people trying unsuccessfully to join a party to be bumped into the Custom Games screens.) At first, all you could do was look through the screens - but this was enough, because they gave you an idea of what Bungie had in store for you. We didn't post news about this for a very simple reason: Bungie didn't really expect anyone to see this stuff, so there is no guarantee at all that any of these options will make it into the final game. (It's likely that many - even most - will... but too many people are unwilling to differentiate between 'beta' and 'final', and the backlash when someone's favorite idea DOESN'T make the final cut makes publicizing this stuff hardly worth it.) That said... it's been out there long enough now that folks have figured out how to consistently get themselves into actual Custom games. It's no longer just looking at the option screens - they're actually playing. (Bungie released the Beta for network stress-testing, among other things - but they also knew that folks would be beating at the edges, looking for ways into areas they weren't supposed to go. This has been accomplished, now.) Again - we'd like to stress that Bungie never expected you to be playing these games; they are still tweaking all sorts of stuff in local builds, so what's in the game, as reflected by the most recent versions on internal dev boxes, might bear VERY little resemblance to what you're playing in custom games in a build that's now weeks (months?) old. That pistol folks are already making all sorts of predictions about? The current version probably acts nothing like the version you can play with in custom games. Information wants to be free, though, and while there are still blocks of Beta content we're staying away from, the whole Custom Games can-o-worms is now open, and available to anyone who's willing to search for the info. (No hacking or modding is required.) When the lobby was first discovered, several websites rushed out guides - we didn't report on them, because at the time it seemed like we'd be helping with the spread of potentially outdated info - info that would come back to bite Bungie after the actual game was released, if it produced expectations that weren't met by the final product. One of the first guides to be written was Morningstar's, at Subnova.com - but it was not made public, because they weren't sure if Bungie was okay with this info being out there. It's a moot point now - the info is out there. And this guide is well-written, nicely cross-referenced, and pretty complete. If you would like to know what's in the current Custom Games screens, take a look. (At the risk of sounding like a broken record, do not get attached to anything you see in this guide - there is no guarantee that the feature you love the most will be present in the final release.) We'd like to ask that you not clutter this forum with dozens of threads asking for info on how to get into custom games; there are existing threads already, and the information is available elsewhere. My feeling is, if you're not willing (or able) to do some looking for yourself, you probably shouldn't be in those games in the first place.

Custom Games Info, and this site	Louis Wu	5/30/07 7:58 a.m.
Re: Custom Games Info, and this site	bedlam	5/30/07 8:29 a.m.
phew	Spartan Jag	5/30/07 8:49 a.m.
HA, so I was right after all.	Captain Spark	5/30/07 9:05 a.m.
what the hell?	Miguel Chavez	5/30/07 10:05 a.m.
Re: what the hell?	Schedonnardus	5/30/07 10:28 a.m.
Re: what the hell?	Captain Spark	5/30/07 10:38 a.m.
I hate you. NM	Louis Wu	5/30/07 10:30 a.m.
Re: I hate you.	Stuntmutt	5/30/07 10:46 a.m.
Isn't that the B.net forums? NM	Boxer	5/30/07 10:34 a.m.
Re: Custom Games Info, and this site	Schooly D	5/30/07 11:37 a.m.
Re: Custom Games Info, and this site	Ducain	5/30/07 11:46 a.m.
Same here. NM	mercury	5/30/07 11:56 a.m.
Re: Custom Games Info, and this site	UNSC Trafalgar	5/30/07 12:12 p.m.
He'll have this fixed soon, one way or another. NM	Cocopjojo	5/30/07 12:46 p.m.
Re: He'll have this fixed soon, one way or another	The MorningStar	5/30/07 1:51 p.m.
Local mirror	Louis Wu	5/30/07 2:15 p.m.
Re: Local mirror	mnemesis	5/30/07 2:33 p.m.
Re: Local mirror	Anton P. Nym (aka Steve)	5/30/07 3:03 p.m.
Re: Local mirror	Deimos Fawkes	5/30/07 6:27 p.m.
Re: Local mirror	The MorningStar	5/30/07 7:48 p.m.
Re: Custom Games Info, and this site	El Duderino	5/30/07 4:18 p.m.
Re: Custom Games Info, and this site	The MorningStar	5/30/07 6:00 p.m.