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echo halo.

post #1 of 33
11/4/03 at 11:48am
Thread Starter 
I read this:
Halo beta 4.. testing Network play now..
does anyone have more info on this? I'm really excited to get this game!!!
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post #2 of 33
11/4/03 at 11:55am
People are still excited about this? Wasn't this supposed to be released three years ago? Bungie demo'd it at MacWorld four years ago. Ah, there's nothing like a warmed-over port of a port of a now fairly old game.

I reserve any judgment until I see in person how well/poorly it performs. As a game itself, well, at least it'll add another title to the Mac platform's meager coffers.
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post #3 of 33
11/4/03 at 12:00pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally posted by Brad
People are still excited about this? Wasn't this supposed to be released three years ago? Bungie demo'd it at MacWorld four years ago. Ah, there's nothing like a warmed-over port of a port of a now fairly old game.

I reserve any judgment until I see in person how well/poorly it performs. As a game itself, well, at least it'll add another title to the Mac platform's meager coffers.

Oh I'm aware and saw the demo at that distant mac world.
still. if people are still loving it on their Xboxes then I'm bound to love it on my Mac. one more game to play at those LAN parties my PC friends have.
Brad, chin up, this will be a good one.
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post #4 of 33
11/4/03 at 12:23pm
That's what at least half of the Mac community says when anyone mentions Halo. "Wasn't that supposed to come out x number of years ago?"

Well, it's coming out now. Deal with it. It's a totally different game than back then. Games often take a long time, especially when the company gets bought out, and ESPECIALLY when Bungie is developing it. Hopefully it'll be good for the Mac and not too slow...
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post #5 of 33
11/4/03 at 2:11pm
Quote:
Originally posted by Luca Rescigno
It's a totally different game than back then.

You couldn't be more right. It was an interesting game back then. The demo was a working engine. Then Microsoft came in and they threw that out and turned Halo into an FPS.
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post #6 of 33
11/4/03 at 4:57pm
Quote:
Originally posted by Eugene
You couldn't be more right. It was an interesting game back then. The demo was a working engine. Then Microsoft came in and they threw that out and turned Halo into an FPS.

What was it before an FPS?
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post #7 of 33
11/4/03 at 5:52pm
Kickaha and Amorph couldn't moderate themselves out of a paper bag. Abdicate responsibility and succumb to idiocy. Two years of letting a member make personal attacks against others, then stepping aside when someone won't put up with it. Not only that but go ahead and shut down my posting priviledges but not the one making the attacks. Not even the common decency to abide by their warning (afer three days of absorbing personal attacks with no mods in sight), just shut my posting down and then say it might happen later if a certian line is crossed. Bullshit flag is flying, I won't abide by lying and coddling of liars who go off-site, create accounts differing in a single letter from my handle with the express purpose to decieve and then claim here that I did it. Everyone be warned, kim kap sol is a lying, deceitful poster.

Now I guess they should have banned me rather than just shut off posting priviledges, because kickaha and Amorph definitely aren't going to like being called to task when they thought they had it all ignored *cough* *cough* I mean under control. Just a couple o' tools.

Don't worry, as soon as my work resetting my posts is done I'll disappear forever.
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post #8 of 33
11/4/03 at 6:00pm
Halo isn't out for Macs yet? I just saw it on the Apple Store.
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post #9 of 33
11/4/03 at 7:56pm
Quote:
Originally posted by pensieve
Halo isn't out for Macs yet? I just saw it on the Apple Store.

They have games that aren't released yet on the Apple Store.... just like new systems, you can order them but you won't get it until it's available.

December 3rd is the release date for Halo on mac.
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post #10 of 33
11/7/03 at 3:55am
Quote:
Originally posted by AirSluf
There are a ton of poorly done animations ...

I've noticed that, too ... to me, it looks like the animations are well-made, but they look very 'choppy' because they keyframes are either not smoothly interpolated or not interpolated often enough. This also occurs with their physics simulation (most noticeable when you're actually in the vehicle).

This occurs in both the Xbox and PC versions, and I'm sure it'll be there in the Mac version. Not a deal-breaker, but it annoys the heck out of guys like me.
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post #11 of 33
11/7/03 at 3:56am
Quote:
Originally posted by Placebo
What was it before an FPS?

Nobody knows ... it was just an amazing tech demo that made everybody wonder what the gameplay would be like.
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post #12 of 33
11/7/03 at 8:06pm
Quote:
Originally posted by Brad
People are still excited about this? Wasn't this supposed to be released three years ago? Bungie demo'd it at MacWorld four years ago. Ah, there's nothing like a warmed-over port of a port of a now fairly old game.

I reserve any judgment until I see in person how well/poorly it performs. As a game itself, well, at least it'll add another title to the Mac platform's meager coffers.

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post #13 of 33
11/7/03 at 8:11pm
Quote:
Originally posted by Eugene
You couldn't be more right. It was an interesting game back then. The demo was a working engine. Then Microsoft came in and they threw that out and turned Halo into an FPS.

Are you guys kidding me? Have you played Halo? On an XBox? On PC? Multiplayer? This is simply a fantastic game. It's Bungie for Christ's sake. We're all sad that it didn't make it to the Mac ages ago, but it's still a great game. And the textures/resolution are much improved for the PC/Mac releases, as well as added weapons, levels, et cetera...
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post #14 of 33
11/7/03 at 8:18pm
Quote:
Originally posted by serrano
Are you guys kidding me? Have you played Halo? On an XBox? On PC? Multiplayer? This is simply a fantastic game. It's Bungie for Christ's sake. We're all sad that it didn't make it to the Mac ages ago, but it's still a great game. And the textures/resolution are much improved for the PC/Mac releases, as well as added weapons, levels, et cetera...

Don't make me go on about what is Bungie and what isn't. The Halo isn't Bungie. Bungie no longer exists. Bungie's last real game was Myth II. Marathon over Appletalk, SPNKRs and fusion pistols in high school. That was Bungie.

Myth: TFL and Myth II were Bungie...these games created a sense of community...orders like Clan Plaid, OMAG, GfH, etc. They sparked gatherings of these orders, massive organized tournaments, massive followings. Hell, to this day Myth and Marathon still have people churning out software updates...because they love the games.

Halo is not a Marathon nor a Myth. It's just another game.
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post #15 of 33
11/8/03 at 8:13am
"Halo is not a Marathon nor a Myth. It's just another game"

-it might be just another game, but it is a very good one (probably one of the best game ive played in the past 3 years)
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post #16 of 33
11/8/03 at 8:18am
Eugene, just because you're bitter about Halo and Bungie doesn't automatically mean all their games are bad. Yes, it sucks that they were bought by MS and that Halo never developed for Mac until now, but Halo is still a good game.

Halo isn't just another game. Neither is Marathon or Myth, and I've played both.
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post #17 of 33
11/8/03 at 8:47am
Quote:
Originally posted by Luca Rescigno
Eugene, just because you're bitter about Halo and Bungie doesn't automatically mean all their games are bad. Yes, it sucks that they were bought by MS and that Halo never developed for Mac until now, but Halo is still a good game.

Halo isn't just another game. Neither is Marathon or Myth, and I've played both.

I'm not bitter at all. Halo was much more exciting when it was a totally different game in 1999. What's next, are you going to sing the praises of Bungie West's Oni? Please. Marathon and Myth are on another plane. They sparked a real sense of community and loyalty. Halo will never have any of the cult following. Bungie lost its allure. Halo is yesterday's game.

Bungie released Marathon when you were 10 years old, and Myth when you were 13. You simply don't have the same perspective on Bungie's heritage.

You wouldn't remember the Total Codex or Myth Unlimited websites...or the very beginnings of bungie.org. You wouldn't have noticed the dwindling numbers at every Bungie fanfest until they completely disappeared by the time Halo was released. People on CPHL still talk about Marathon and Myth. Nobody cares about Halo. It's just another game.
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post #18 of 33
11/8/03 at 9:09am
halo.bungie.org

No fans... okay.
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post #19 of 33
11/8/03 at 9:27am
Quote:
Originally posted by Luca Rescigno
halo.bungie.org

No fans... okay.

Proof you have no idea what I'm talking about.
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post #20 of 33
11/9/03 at 2:40pm
Quote:
Originally posted by Eugene
I'm not bitter at all. Halo was much more exciting when it was a totally different game in 1999. What's next, are you going to sing the praises of Bungie West's Oni? Please. Marathon and Myth are on another plane. They sparked a real sense of community and loyalty. Halo will never have any of the cult following. Bungie lost its allure. Halo is yesterday's game.

Bungie released Marathon when you were 10 years old, and Myth when you were 13. You simply don't have the same perspective on Bungie's heritage.

You wouldn't remember the Total Codex or Myth Unlimited websites...or the very beginnings of bungie.org. You wouldn't have noticed the dwindling numbers at every Bungie fanfest until they completely disappeared by the time Halo was released. People on CPHL still talk about Marathon and Myth. Nobody cares about Halo. It's just another game.

I remember Marathon...man, was that one uninspired game. The whole game was shooting and occasionally triggering a switch through massive gunfire.

But I loved it all the same.

That was in 1996 or so...was that Marathon, or Marathon II or III?

And Oni sucked, in my opinion. Bland graphics and nothing to make up for it.
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post #21 of 33
11/9/03 at 2:42pm
Why did the port to PC take so long? Wasn't the Xbox's OS just a tweaked Win98 or 2000? I remember that MSFT did that so PC games could be ported to the Xbox extremely quickly, and visa-versa. But I guess this isn't the case.
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post #22 of 33
11/9/03 at 3:13pm
Quote:
But I loved it all the same.

That was close...

Quote:
And Oni sucked, in my opinion. Bland graphics and nothing to make up for it.

The moves were quite cool but far too hard to pull off. I ended up using the basic combos on the bosses.
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post #23 of 33
11/10/03 at 8:28am
Quote:
Originally posted by Stoo
The moves were quite cool but far too hard to pull off. I ended up using the basic combos on the bosses.

Mmm, I forgot about them. Yeah, they were cool, but it ended up feeling like Tekken.
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post #24 of 33
11/10/03 at 6:42pm
It had potential that it now lacks. Microsoft influenced the game development process in every negative way it seems. They:
  • Rushed it out the door on the Xbox, so the singleplayer was completed with horrible repetition.
  • Intentionally delayed the Mac and Win versions of the game so that it would remain an exclusive for their platform.
  • Payed companies to port console version of the game instead of using the near complete versions of the engines and the original hi-res assets.
Whats more I think they intentionally made the win code inefficient (not known how the Mac vers plays yet) to make their proprietry, more closely controlled platform look better. The pc versions should stomp all over the xbox ones, but worryingly lag far behind in relative performance.
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post #25 of 33
11/11/03 at 12:26pm
Quote:
Originally posted by Linds
It had potential that it now lacks. Microsoft influenced the game development process in every negative way it seems. They:
  • Rushed it out the door on the Xbox, so the singleplayer was completed with horrible repetition.
  • Intentionally delayed the Mac and Win versions of the game so that it would remain an exclusive for their platform.
  • Payed companies to port console version of the game instead of using the near complete versions of the engines and the original hi-res assets.
Whats more I think they intentionally made the win code inefficient (not known how the Mac vers plays yet) to make their proprietry, more closely controlled platform look better. The pc versions should stomp all over the xbox ones, but worryingly lag far behind in relative performance.

I completely agree on the first two points. However, since MS designed the XBox's APIs to play nicely with DirectX, it would almost certainly be easier to port the game from the XBox to the PC than to finish up the old Mac engine and then get that running on PCs. And since there were so many changes made to the game after Bungie was acquired, it would almost certainly be easier to port either the PC or XBox code to Macs than to finish and then update the old engine.

As to your claim that MS is intentionally making the PC version slow... well I certainly wouldn't put it past them. In MacWorld's review of Office 98, they noticed that it ran slower than Office 97 running in VPC on the same machine -- that's right, at the time it was faster to run the PC version in emulation than it was to run the Mac version natively -- so they've pulled this kind of stunt before. Except that MS isn't porting it; Gearbox is. And if Gearbox produces bad code, then other companies won't use them. So I doubt that they're intentionally doing anything bad to the code.

Don't get me wrong, I hate MS as much as the next guy, I just don't want to blame them for stuff that really isn't their fault.
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post #26 of 33
11/11/03 at 6:22pm
I agree that the production process was somewhat distributed and that Microsoft may have given Gearbox the xBox fork of the project, but I do think you are underestimating the level of control Microsoft would have over the port. It is their operating system, after all.

Also, remember that Bungie was a dual Mac/PC developer before Microsoft stepped in, and both engines may very likely have existed. I also doubt that they allowed bungie to give the near completed Mac engine to whoever is porting it.
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post #27 of 33
11/11/03 at 6:53pm
Quote:
Originally posted by Linds

Also, remember that Bungie was a dual Mac/PC developer before Microsoft stepped in, and both engines may very likely have existed. I also doubt that they allowed bungie to give the near completed Mac engine to whoever is porting it.

The near completed Mac engine was an entirely different game...what Halo might have been.
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post #28 of 33
11/12/03 at 2:31pm
Quote:
Originally posted by Linds
I agree that the production process was somewhat distributed and that Microsoft may have given Gearbox the xBox fork of the project, but I do think you are underestimating the level of control Microsoft would have over the port. It is their operating system, after all.

If MS is making their entire OS slow just so their console looks good, they're dumber than I thought. I wouldn't put it past them though... \
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post #29 of 33
11/12/03 at 5:27pm
Quote:
Originally posted by Eugene
The near completed Mac engine was an entirely different game...what Halo might have been.

Do tell. You seem to know a lot about it, but keeping it a secret from us. Let me guess...it was a turn-based RPG before it was an FS, right? And it was better that way, wasn't it?
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post #30 of 33
11/12/03 at 5:37pm
Quote:
Originally posted by Placebo
Do tell. You seem to know a lot about it, but keeping it a secret from us. Let me guess...it was a turn-based RPG before it was an FS, right? And it was better that way, wasn't it?

Eh, you saw the engine in 1999, at MW Expo. And RPGs suck ass.
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post #31 of 33
11/12/03 at 5:52pm
Quote:
Originally posted by Eugene
Eh, you saw the engine in 1999, at MW Expo. And RPGs suck ass.

I missed the MW demo. Can you elaborate?
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post #32 of 33
11/12/03 at 8:12pm
I don't give a crap about Halo anymore...but I'd love to see it perform better than the PC version. Although, how many times have I heard the Westlake folks trumpet their performance tweak abilities and then realize it was just a very bad joke.

If Halo's story line was half as good as Marathon's, I'd give it a try but seeing how the story line doesn't even come close to Marathon's and seeing how it's an old game with a tired physics engine (compared to Unreal Tourney 2k3 and the upcoming Doom 3 and HalfLife 2), I won't be buyin' this one.
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post #33 of 33
11/20/03 at 6:37am
Thread Starter 
Its coming its coming!
Posted System Requirements
Steep Requirements.. but its on its way!
Will this play at all on my 1s gen 12pb?
who's buying?
flick.

::EDIT:: add the link!
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