Got questions about Halo 4? Waypoint and Bs Angel have answers!
Excerpt from The Halo Bulletin: 11.1.12 posted by Bs Angel at Waypoint:
Halo 4 Pre-launch Q&A
As this is the last Bulletin before Halo 4 launches, I thought we would continue our customary tradition of Q&A sessions with Frankie. Kevin Franklin, Humberto Castaneda, Chris Davidson and Brad Welch also provided some of the following answers to your numerous game-related queries. So, without further ado, here is one last Q&A, the Q of which were provided by you, and the A of which were provided by us.
Will Spartan Ops have consecutive seasons, and when can we expect their release? – GristlyStew721
Spartan Ops is being treated just like any other “TV show” and we’ll wait and see how it’s received and digested before moving forward. We have some very cool story ideas and some ways to continue the arc of the Spartan Ops series, but it’s a pretty grand experiment and we will apply our learnings from that experience in appropriate ways.
Will there be a skill-based ranking system? – xBrutaIity
We are tracking all player skill data and while it will not be exposed in the game UI at launch, we have some ideas about how to give players access to that information, in a useful way, in the not-so-distant future.
What playlists are going to be available at launch? – SensoryFour34
Infinity Slayer – 4 v. 4
The newly introduced Infinity Slayer variant allows Spartans to earn points during the course of a match, which can eventually be leveraged to call in ordnance from overhead. Ordnance drops within Infinity Slayer consist of three selectable but randomly generated weapons or power-ups, the latter of which can alter a Spartan’s speed, shielding or ability to issue damage.
Big Team Infinity Slayer – 8 v. 8
Same as above, in an 8 v. 8 setting
Dominion – 6 v. 6
Teams are pitted against each other to capture, fortify and resupply bases to win. After infiltrating a base, a player can capture it for their team, whether it is a neutral base or a base previously claimed by the enemy. When a team has held a base for long enough, it will automatically fortify, defending itself with turret emplacements and energy shields. Holding a base earns teams points for each resupply, and provides teams with heavy ordnance drops and vehicles each supply cycle.
Regicide – 6-player FFA
The Spartan in first place is the King. As the King racks up kills, their bounty increases, thereby increasing the points other Spartans gain from killing the King. All other Spartans’ heads-up displays and motion sensors give away the King’s location at all times during the match, aggressively focusing combat wherever the point leader happens to be.
Flood – 10 players
Within this War Games simulation, the deadly parasite has returned – a group of Spartans have been transformed into incredibly fast and deadly Flood combat forms. As the Flood, players are forced to destroy uninfected Spartans, converting them into Flood combat form allies. As an uninfected Spartan, the player’s goal is to survive the seemingly never-ending Flood onslaught, staving off transformation into the parasite.
Capture the Flag – 5 v. 5
Played with up to four teams, each of which has their own Flag. The goal of each team is to steal an enemy team’s Flag, while protecting their own. Once a team has grabbed a Flag, they must return it to their own capture point to score. Flag carriers are only able to use a Magnum or the Flag itself as a weapon.
Oddball – 5 v. 5
With up to eight teams in combat, the goal of the War Games simulation called Oddball is to hold onto the ball the longest. While holding the ball, a player or team will gain points, but the player holding the ball is unable to defend themselves with their weapon. Players are also able throw the ball or use it as a weapon for close-range melee attacks.
King of the Hill – 5 v. 5
Reminiscent of schoolyard skirmishes, the War Games competition known as King of the Hill pits up to eight teams against each other in a struggle to hold a specific territory. While this is a classic game type, its most recent iteration offers a variety of new scoring methods, including a focus on individual performance in addition to the team’s collective effort.
Team Slayer Pro – 4 v. 4
This playlist features the following settings: No Radar, 3 Loadouts (DMR, AR or BR with 1 grenade and Resupply Tactical Package), Player Movement Speed, Reload Speed and Weapon Swap Speed set to 110%, Friendly Fire ON, Score to win Round 60 Kills, No Map Loadouts, and No Custom Loadouts.
I was thinking about starting Spartan Ops with my friend before starting the campaign. Will the first episode spoil the campaign? Major spoilers? Mild spoilers? – Superman x JLA
There are a couple of big ideas that are obvious, and don’t read any further if you don’t want those spoiled, such as the fact that a couple of characters and ships have “made it” but beyond that it won’t necessarily spoil or ruin the campaign. However we still advise people to play them in the correct chronological order.
Will there be a UNSC flying vehicle (Falcon, Hornet, etc.) on the multiplayer side of the game (excluding Spartan Ops)? – Phat M0nk3y4
Not in Multiplayer but there are some interesting options available in Campaign.
Will your Halo 4 milestone unlock exclusive armor for Halo 4? – MSchnelkz 17
There will be an armor set and some emblem unlocks available in the CLASSIFIED section of Waypoint. You will need to find codes (hint: Check the Bulletins) and play Campaign, Spartan Ops and War Games in Halo 4 in order to unlock.
We recently got our first look at the Crimson, Majestic and Castle Map packs, expected to be out in December, February and April respectively. Can we expect any more map packs after these, and at what frequency? – GristlyStew721
We are obviously still working on those maps, some of them playable now, although not polished and some (the more distant ones) are basically concept art and geometry at this time. We will ultimately have to put sensible limits on how much DLC we create to prevent too much splintering of content and playlists. So, while some of that can be done via playlist and hopper management, the reality is that whatever we do on top of the announced maps will have to offer something logical to the existing suite.
Can Sprint be disabled? – Buffdaddy Jama
Sprint is a base trait for all Spartans, but you can, as always, adjust the upper limit of your Spartan’s speed in custom game player traits. In the “Traits” section of the custom game menu, players can tune a Spartan’s movement speed from 0% of default to 300%. When tuning a player’s movement speed, Sprint scales as well. Sprint itself cannot be disabled, but there are many other ways to modify player speeds, including power-ups and trait zones.
Is it true that Theater isn’t available in Campaign and Opartan ops? If so, what was the reasoning behind this and will there be a future patch or download to fix this? – unip8
Theater Mode in Campaign did not make the cut for launch for various reasons of scheduling, rendering issues and some significant engine changes. However, we are treating Title Updates very differently for Halo 4 and rather than simply using them as opportunities for simple big fixes, we are thinking of them as a way to sustain and grow features and options, so it is possible you could see Saved Films made available for Campaign (as well as some other significant features) at some time in the not-too-distant future, but that’s yet to be determined.
At what SR rank will the BR be unlocked? – Ommageden
The BR and DMR are unlocked VERY quickly. Unless you wear a blindfold and earmuffs, you should have both unlocked before the plastic wrap from your packaging hits the floor. It’s also vital to note that they are unlocked for you to customize your Spartan with. There are plenty of playlists that will make default loadouts that include those weapons, available to people with no Spartan Rank whatsoever, including guests.
How many slots will we get in Halo 4’s File Share? More importantly, is there going to be a Bungie Pro equivalent? – Jeff McRae
There will not be a Bungie Pro equivalent, but all users will have 25 slots for their personal catalog.
How does the install process for Disk 2 work? Can we play off Disk 2 without installing it? And if we do install Disk 2, can we play all that content while using Disk 1? – IIBloodDaggerII
Disc 2 contains largely multiplayer content. You can put it in at any time, even before Disc 1, and install the content. You will get a nice slideshow, some pretty music and a gradual progress bar. After a few minutes, you can remove that disc and never deal with it again. Everythingmultiplayer, including Spartan Ops, Forge and Campaign can then be launched from Disc 1. You can, of course, also install Disc 1 to your storage device to make loading quicker and reduce wear and tear on your optical drive, but that’s optional and is a 360 system feature, not a necessity.
If you preorder weapon skins (e.g., Arctic BR from GameStop), will they unlock the weapon as soon as you redeem the code, or will you have to unlock the weapon before you get the weapon skin? – a zoojoo
You’ll get immediate access to that weapon (or armor for that matter) with that skin; you don’t have to rank up or spend Spartan Points. For weapons this is mostly a fairly small head start, since the skinned pre-order weapons are low in the ranks, but some of the armor skins will definitely give you earlier access to that type of armor.
How will Split Screen work in Halo 4? – The Little Moa
Split Screen support in Halo 4 is identical in most respects to Halo: Reach. Two player split in Campaign and Spartan Ops, and four player split in War Games and Forge, although we may restrict this in some matchmaking playlists.
Clan support was a feature that got many players into the competitive spirit of Halo Multiplayer in a challenging-yet-rewarding way. Why has this feature died, or rather been missing in action, since Halo 2? Was it ever considered for implementation in Halo 4, and what was the deciding factor in it not being included? – u4iX
As we mentioned before, we plan to continue consistent and meaningful sustainment updates to improve and enhance player experience. Social constructs are something we too have missed since Halo 2, and we’re looking at interesting ways to improve those experiences in the not-too-distant future. I will be using that expression a lot. Get used to it.
Will the Mammoth be featured in Multiplayer? – TheLateLateShow
The Mammoth is currently only used in Campaign.
Can you talk about what criteria matchmaking uses to find suitable teammates and opponents? What does the system prioritize? Location, connection, skill, etc.? – NYSTOFMIND23
Matchmaking will use geography, connection data, history and skill to determine player populations per game. Skill and connection get very high priority, but there will be other factors involved. I should also note that the simplification of our hoppers and playlists means that the quality of those matchmaking criteria will be improved through population density and that alone will make a huge difference.
Have you guys come across any hilarious bugs/glitches in earlier builds of the game that you’d like to share? – Plain Ben
We collected a ton of “best bug ever” stuff including movies and animated gifs. It would be fun to make some of those available in the future. We have some pretty funny Derptana faces caused by animation and mo-cap bits that are horrific and hilarious.
What is Extraction? – DR ROCKSO 721
In the game type Extraction, Spartan teams are tasked with the retrieval of assets from various sites using prototype translocation technology. Once a team has found a viable site, they must initiate the extraction process with a quantum marker and its spherical translocation beacon. As the extraction process occurs, teams must defend their beacon in order to prevent others from converting the existing extraction process into their own favor.
What can you tell us about the betrayal booting system in Halo 4? – omarlotrc
Betrayal booting takes game type and “deliberateness” into account and while in a lot of ways it’s similar to the prior incarnations, we’ve tried to be cleverer about what the game thinks is deliberate versus accidental. And Join In Progress should help ameliorate the negative impacts for everyone involved.