VithcommaLobsel

wow, are you serious? This game has the most weapon balance, the best map layouts, the tightest controls, the best netcoding... This game is better than any Halo to date in terms of multiplayer fairness. Hell, it's like the vanilla version is already MLG.

exactly. It was better in H3, but most if not all of my friends don't even play Halo anymore, period.

of the two? Probably the BR on smaller maps, the DMR on more open, longer-sight-line maps. But I intend to mostly use the Carbine.

Forming a full party of friends and going into playlists, allowing it to separate you into even teams. It's SO MUCH MORE FUN than searching only to find a team of the best players imaginable OR a random assortment of complete durpadurps with no entertainment value either way. Take this game for example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDKbPU2ILiM Balanced teams, consensus on what maps and gametypes to choose, etc. It just flipping worked out for the best. It always does (except for that one time Lesser rage-quit...). Who else agrees with this theory, or at least sees the merit in it?

I was with a party, but when we aren't playing a full team of 8, people tend to get sloppy

I usually don't run objectives except in MLG or unless I absolutely have to. I do love being the designated oddball carrier though

I have an example of an average game of mine right here, and I was just wondering if anyone wanted to give me some tips to get better. We're going to be as serious as possible about doing well once H4 comes out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrEyc8tjPpw

someone posted this video recently, but is that just a result of the Title Update? Does armor lock really have a weakness like that?

This is just a short funtage I made for my friends from the KBtG. It includes a lot of fails, random epicness, and things that just plain shouldn't have happened. WE DID IT FOR THE LULZ

split screen? No way, one of them lives in Tennessee and the other lives in Southern California. Why would anyone think they were split-screen?

lol guys, this is the best 1v1 ever, I can't stop laughing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeYe4NcVtUg&list=UUIefeNYAnBbLxlZxmjZtTcQ&index=0&feature=plcp It's based off of the Doom 2 engine, and is free and stuff and tons of fun. Also, you can totally pick your favorite robot master as your avatar, which is awesome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMQSgWFsYmc&list=PLE3C8B921F56CEA34&index=31&feature=plpp_video I have begun to work on my gameplay commentary series again, and will be doing a lot of live-action real-time gameplay (as well as a stream in the near future with a group of friends focused on MLG and BTB and Arena). That is, until Halo 4 where I'm not sure what I'll be doing... Regardless, I truly hope you guys will tell me what you think about my gameplay, commentary, and all that jazz, because it helps a ton. Love you guys

I intend to do a series of Reach and Halo 3 commentaries in the very near future to prepare for Halo 4's brand-spanking newness (probably the same thing hundreds of others do as well, but whatev, RE6 isn't going to be my cup of tea so I need something else). Here's where I started the other day...and yes, it's amazing.

My good friend Clinkmang is just getting back into playing and my group of friends want to start having local tournaments again, but we need to get better. Can you guys please He likes Doubles and MLG, but that's about it in Reach. I'm the same way. Most gametypes and playlists just annoy me. I for one can't stand most armor abilities, so I stick to more regulated playlists, but I honestly don't care for ZB because then spammers get too much credit, IMO. Anyway, please give us some insight.

Thanks bro. I'm going to be posting more good games in the near future. I love watching old gameplay back.

Yeah, I'm working on turning it into a fun and entertaining video with video clips and good editing and such. I'll possibly change examples if you guys come up with better ones and stuff too

Yeah, When I said I went "general tryhard" in the video, I really did, lol. I started repositioning everyone and laying out strategies and everything. I usually don't do too much of that because we just play casually, but I saw a chance to win and we went for it.

DOMINATE

Hey guys, just wanted to see how many of you also had awesome games like this. Seems like it couldn't possibly happen in Reach thanks to the way it's made.

warning, wall of text, but I'm trying to compile my own take on Forging for an upcoming video series, so feel free to add input and criticism that could help please When it comes to Halo, there are really only 5 major criteria in place that determine whether a map is "good" (and I'm using quotations here because this is still not an exact science) or "bad". The first, and possibly most important thing to consider when creating or judging a map is the way movement on the map flows. For the sake of time let's just call it map flow. Basically what I mean here is, will players enjoy moving around the map, or will they simply go the same couple of routes over and over and avoid whole sections because the routes aren't easily accesible or are too open, etc. As an example, think about the long, narrow corridors of Orbital. It's very hard to move down them safely and assault the rocket spawn because of the inability to avoid even an average player's grenades. As a result, players end up having a series of annoying and seemingly random battles without actually moving around the map. This is something you want to avoid when making a good competitive map. A map with fantastic flow is something like the custom-made Kingdom. It's got plenty of open sight lines, great cover and no real base for the enemy to camp inside, which promote map movement at all times without the need for a gimmick like an abundance of power weapons or power ups. Simple, yet elegant. Think about angles of attack and plan for good routes to allow a player flank enemies, but not in a way that makes map control impossible. And don't forget that a map doesn't necessarily need to be symmetrical for this to be optimal. Another important aspect of a good map, and this actually kind of goes into the same category as map flow, is for a map to have a good variation in elevation. What I mean specifically is, it should have several layers but not have limited means of traversing those layers. A great example of what I mean is the map Construct. Construct had three main layers with a number of routes from the bottom to the top. Optimally, you want to give just a couple more options than there are enemy players, to not only promote map control but to prevent an annoying deadlock. Let's look at some example situations. Now this dynamic changes considerably depending on the volume of people involved, but for the sake of this let's consider 4v4 situations since they're the most common in competitive environments. In a 4 on 4 on Construct, one player could be in each of the top purple lift rooms, one could be at the top of the Gold lift, and one could be around the tip of the tongue. With this setup, pretty much every route of passage can be covered, but not in a way that completely prevents a smart team from finding a gap. For instance, the back ramp behind the gold lift. Not a great example, but I think you get what I'm saying...with this one gap, a team of good players may be able to push back against a team with map control and regain their chances of winning. So. Elevation. It makes maps fun and interesting...as long as it's done right. A map with terrible elevation is Sword Base. But then that map was made with Jetpacks in mind, so it's to be expected. It's best to consider making a map with no AA's in mind and then see how an AA is able to break the preconcieved concept of the map in practice, then fix it later. You don't want the irritating scenarios like the pillars on Reflection to ruin the fun for everyone. Now, we get to something that a lot of maps seem to lack in Reach, or maybe attempt but fail at. Power positions are as important as any power weapons on the map. A good point on the map for someone to control for no more reason than it is a high-traffic area is something that makes a map truly shine. Let's put out a fantastic example that everyone can respect: P3 on Midship and the remake Heretic. There's nothing up there really...it's just the high ground of the map and it allows you to get a sight on any people trying to move around out in the open. It's also easy to escape getting shot at, while not sacrificing yourself or your team's control of the map too much in the process. But it's absolutely the most efficient place on the map to place someone with a good BR. There are other good examples, but probably none so profound. A bad example of an ATTEMPT at a power position is the space area on Zealot. They had to add in soft kill barriers because it was so poorly concieved originally due to people being able to camp up top and easily pick off anyone trying to confront them. So, places on the map that are great for a setup situation but don't necessarily have a weapon or anything to fight over...power position. Get creative, but keep it balanced. And now we get to my favorite part. Weapon placement is crucial to the core values of Halo gameplay. A map with way too many power weapons arbitrarily placed near the starting spawn is inevitably going to be flawed. Let's take it back a notch and bring up something important. The reason weapon types are limited in MLG is the result of years of research by experienced tournament handlers. By limiting the number and type of weapons down to a select few and placing them well on maps, things are kept very focused and the amount of randomly occuring battles between mismatched opponents is limited. This being said, it's best when making a map that will please everyone to consider what weapons will be most acceptable in vanilla matchmaking first, then limit and rearrange some for MLG if that's what you want to go for. Now, back to the main point, consider how useful the weapon layout was on the Pit in standard matchmaking. The Needler was placed in a fantastic place to help someone push up for the Rocket Launcher, the SMG's placed at the base of the Sniper Tower were a great way to assault someone up top who momentarily let their guard down, and likewise, the Brute Shot was a great way to keep people from assaulting you while you were at the top. More examples involving similar situations include the placement of the Brute Shot on Rat's Nest and Guardian in Halo 3. At the beginning of a game on Rat's Nest, one could easily counter a warthog rushing the Rockets and on Guardian, one could easily counter an enemy rushing for the Camo powerup by taking the lift and bombarding them. Now, power weapons and power ups are really what needs to be focused on here. Maps with too many power weapons do not promote situations where players fight to control these weapons, and result in more boring and potentially slower gameplay. The best maps have a few centrally located power weapons, power ups, and maybe even a few non-power weapons placed in logical locations to help players find ways to adapt to combat and accomplish whatever goals they must to win. Good examples include Assembly, pretty much all maps from Halo CE, and Lockout. Bad examples include pretty much everything default in Reach and Foundry in Halo 3. The reason most of the maps in reach are looked down on by good players? Usually weapons don't work where they're placed, or the maps feature weapons that don't work with the flow. Think about it...why put a bunch of close ranged weapons on the same map? Why put more than one Rocket Launcher? And most importantly, putting a weapon directly in a place where it is best used is a bad decision. For starters, it's too easy to replenish your ammo, and it also creates a sort of super power position that takes all focus away from the majority of the map. Guardian's Sniper tower anyone? Grenade Launcher spawn on the Cage? Yeah, think hard about it. But don't be afraid to things in a creative fashion. Every map doesn't have to use just a shotgun, sniper and rockets. Feel free to use variety so long as it works with the map layout and theme. Now we get to something a lot of people have trouble doing right. Spawns. Spawn points and spawn zones on many default maps had to be altered early on because they were just too predictable. Spawn killing in Halo 3 was far too easy, but randomizing spawns by making them all dynamic can also cause issues. It's best to have a good number of spawn points in tight clusters around the map, with just a few here and there to allow a recurring spawn kill to eventually cease. Sanctuary and Standoff are great examples of spawns that can be frustrating. Their spawns are extremely predictable, and just average map control can result in a team being decimated simply because one side had a better grasp of the spawn system. Now, all good competitive maps should have spawns that can be figured out and mastered, just not that easily. Construct and Zealot are examples of good spawn layouts. By placing teammates in a set pattern around the map, a team is able to control the spawn system more efficiently and predict the most likely places enemies will appear, but it's not perfect, and they are still forced to adapt to a situation where their expectations were not met at times. And to work on another point, spawns should not be the sole determining factor of who gets map control and who doesn't. I can't tell you how many times I got snuck on by an enemy spawning directly behind me on default Foundry or Orbital. It's terribly annoying to have just won a fight and be unable to find cover like that. It ruins the concept of power positions and just tends to make people angry at the futility of their "control" on the map. So, be smart, be clever, but most of all be balanced. Consider every possible scenario and tweak the spawns often while play-testing. It can make or break everything about the map.

@ms mystic: Dun Worry, I have a guy that should be able to render it for me @Anarchy: Please do, I love watching these things That's really the reason I like making them lol, I like watching em back after I'm done

Hey Mystic, I'd love to see that game and work on it for you Here's my latest one. It's from my PoV, but it was really for my doubles partner because we were a pretty awesome team back in the day. Gotta love another player who will gladly go from being your team's best Sniper to wanting to HLG and get spiker kills lol.

Full games preferrably guys. But I do love all the clips so far, lol

I'll try and get to it very soon thanks for submitting. I'm working on a couple of my own currently, and will be getting to this next if possible