Twinreaper

It all comes down to one thing, and one thing only...he made a personal prfit from it. Under fair use, we are all entitled to a backup copy of any media we legally buy. That is a federal law. the DMCA contradicts this, and eliminates our federal right to fair use. But, as seen many times in MS EULA's, fair use is allowed. This judge has seen thru an obvious plot within the government to further control and regulate things they have no business regulating. Begs the question, if what this guy did wa soooo bad and wrong, wher eis Microsoft in all this? Why aren't they part of the prosecution against this guy. The answer is simple..... A moddable console will always outsell and fully locked down almost impossible console with no game library. The xbox 360 is a great console adn has great games, and as such, people want to tap into that locked potential. Not to mention that also since the Xbox 360 can be labeled as a media device, we are legally allowed to protect that investment by having a spare backup copy of the software on it that we legally purchased. Weither it be Nand or DVD firmware, it doesn't matter. it is all digital content and fair use acceptable. Furthermore, circumventing the security of a console can be labeled fair use when it is for educational purposes and not personal profit or corporate espionage. In this case, the guy made a profit. I doubt he was modding consoles for free. And also keep in mind that the prosecution is using witnessess that broke the law them selves by performing the same unethical things. Obviously you can't call a serial killer to the witness stand to prosecute another serial killer....this whole thing should have been settled months ago out of court in exchange for the guys help in curbing and icreasing security measures.

Hmmmm. I am unsure of how the gametype selects it's next zombie when someone quits. I can look into this, but I need a few more details.... 1. What country you ar ein. 2. What country were the other players from. 3. Alphabetically, what number would you be as aparticipant. My primary guess, is that either the game selects you based on the following values maybe? 1. Closest country or state to the server or host. 2. Picks based on players alphabetical placement. 3. Picks based on who is either closest or furthest from the zombie who quit. I will look more into this for you and report back what I find. As for you Dog, shame on you for stealing internetz! jk But seriously the lag problem is this.... 1. Your xbox has to transmit the Live in/out flow of data to your laptop first. 2. The laptop then transmits the signal to the router. 3. The router sends back info letting the laptop know it received the data packets, which in turn then gets sent to the xbox. In a nutshell, the xbox is having to wait and rely on 2 sources of data transmital plus player hosts and reach servers, just to get online. All that bouncing around increases the chances of data packet loss, which means more time is spent by everything, just to send a good solid data packets, which in turn gives you lag. It is likely also, that the neighbors router is not configured properly for port forwarding of the Live ports, and more than likely has NAT closed.

Great shot, and I appriciate pointing that out. But, I think his main concern was more or less, why they used Reach bipeds instead of just touching up the original ones. Hopefully he undstood the reason why as I explained it, and also understands the point you are making with that helpful screen of the marines from Reach. Kudos!

Well, as of now it looks like the new maps will be included with the CEA disc, and not a seperate disc. The package will include the CEa remastered game, and the new maps for Reach. Beyond that, any extras you get are specific to the store you pre-order from.

For starters, looking at it from a dev point of view, all the tags for the bipeds are labeled as like this... objects/characters/marine/blah.... I have not read books or anything of that nature, so as a gamer, I consider only what is published and released in game form as the story arc itself, not books. All secondary ground and support forces are labeled usually as marines. Secondly, in order for the Reach engine to be switched to in enhanced mode for CE, they had to use resource shaders and bitmaps that are already present in the engine, which means whatever marine armor or resources they used in Reach are in enhanced mode. It wasn't laziness, do not assume that. It was done out of compatability. Anything like new models, bitmaps, shaders and sounds, all have to be present in the resource maps in order for the Reach engine to use them. The reach engine is the primary running engine. The original CE engine is just a simple function call from MegaloScript to execute it. If they were to go ahead and completely re-vamp the CE models, for enhanced mode, they would have had to also go ahead and revamp the primary resource maps for the Reach, which are present in the CE disc, as well as recompile the engine to recognize the new things from the start. Patches for new map geometry levels are a completely different beast. Also remember, that new maps also cannot contain anything that MegaloScript cannot control natively thru the resource maps. That is what makes Reach unique. The MegaloScript can pretty much control any game present item in the resource map, any way that it basically wants. Very powerful and very hard core programming. If you have specific game questions like these in the future and you need a definitive answer, please try out the "Tech help" threads for the Reach forum. Spectral has it pinned and I can help you better from there, rather than write these novel long replies in which everyone just oh so loves...

You need to relax a bit Sterk. It's a game bro. Besides, the Title Update is only in effect for the playlists that support the changes. You will still have your basic Reach experience available to you.

I actually quite enjoyed that read. Very well structured and you provided quite a bit of thought into it. For that you get a cookie......and an actual basic nice reply from me instead of the huge novel involving you being an idiot...enjoy! 1. Those certain features like "bloom" and "AA's" have always been around. Reach is just the first game outside of Halo 3, to give the player a HUD based visualization of the firing radius of a weapon. AA's are similar to equipment. In time you learn to love both. They are neither good or bad, it's all preference. 2. I kinda agree and disagree. I only disagree when it's me getting killed, instead of me taking advantage of said anim lock. lmao 3. I could not agree more. In fact, since Halo 2, there have been no original brand new map layouts at all. Almost every single map ever made for Halo 3 and Reach, are all borrowed from H1 and H2. We need something new and different, not re-imagined stuff. Don't get me wrong, bringing classic maps like that are awesome, but should not be something released and labeled as "New DLC" content we have to pay for. Ship those puppy's with the game! 4. YES YES YES!!!! Credits should never be linked to the rank system.. bad Bungie.......(slaps faces with genitals) 5. Kudos on that. I hate playing the myriad of playlists for team stuff, only to get a forge map. I absolutely hate playing on forge maps. 6. Absolutely! I hate being in a match and seeing someone with a guest. I loved how you couldn't go into certain playlists when you had a guest in Halo 3. 7. Unfortunatly, I don't play enough multiplayer to put in a thought on this one. So I will just pretend it doesn't exist and say YES!!! BRING BACK CLAN MANAGEMENT FEATURES!!!!!!!! See, told you I would go easy..lmao

Seriously need to re-read what you post...I'm not following..jk jk. Anyway, the Halo 3 engine was a great piece of code. Not only is it the first completely scrapped, cut, regurgitated, and then re-written engine since H1...(yes H2 borrowed much of it's code from H1). Now, besides the official statement about how 343i did not want to split the fan base by making the MM run on the CEA, and keep the game completely seperate from Reach, the engine compatibility was the big issue. Halo 3 used a whole new netcode system, and it used a completely different different technique for shaders and bitmaps. In fact, Halo 3 is closer to Halo 1 in all engine and tag layout ways, including the use of the Chicago Scenario Shaders , and such. In the end though, the side scripting engine used in in H3, or as we will call it MegoScript Sr, lacked the necessary tools to allow a classic game engine to run along side a newer one. I'm sure they could have rigged it somehow, but Live would have been the biggest issue. Halo 3 was the first title we had true "anywhere in the world" co-op. Halo 1 didn't even have anything besides LAN multiplayer. The only engine capable of pulling any of this off was the Reach version of Blam! And that is the more than likely the sole reason 343i chose to do what they did. Kinda makes you wonder what they are gonna do for H4?

I can only guess that you are using a wireless connection if your talking about poor signal. In that case Dog, it isn't actually signal quality that is effecting you. More than likely it has to do with packets of data getting lost along the route the connection is taking. In any case, the best way to bridge a connection is and always will be in my opinion, using a LAN cable and default Windows Connection settings. BTW, what tunneling app are you using for the 360? I assume it's either XBC or Xlink Kai?

You guys really need to stop trying to post as a guest. Just come on in and join already.....DON'T BE SHY!!!! We don't bite....unless Twam tells us too.

As with the Reach forum, this is the official Technical Help thread for all things regarding the CEA edition of Halo as well as the original Combat Evolved. Same rules apply as the Reach forum one. Ask your tech questions, and myself or others will do our best to answer them. Ready set go!!!!!

Good day everyone, your friendly resident tech junkie Twin here. Today after talking with Absolute Dog, and hearing all the positive and friendly support from the staff, I have decided to open a "Technical Help" thread for all games in the Halo series. Here's the scoop... Everyone has questions about the game. How stuff works, how they decided what they can fix, the games limits etc... you get the idea. I am here to answer or help answer in some cases, the many questions that revolve around the forums everyday. So don't be shy, stop on by and ask away. Now, because we don't need to keep order in here, there are a few guidelines... 1. All questions must be posed as such. No pointless opinions asking why something doesn't work, when your opinion is simply that it should. We want actual well thought out questions about important things. 2. Do not re-post asked questions. Wait til myself or someone else replies with an answer before bumping your own question. Please. 3. Do not post negative or insulting comments aimed towards another members' question. This will not be tolerated and will result in punishment. 4. No links to material or materials deemed inappropriate. Meaning map files, hacked XEX's etc... And no I won't provide anybody with this stuff either. Ok guys...have at it!!! Ask your questions when ready!!

Sorry I missed you the other day Mystic. I was playing with daughter for a few daily challenges and when I tried to accept your invite after my last match, you were already in-game and it wouldn't let me join. I'll catch you next time I'm on for sure. Should be sometime around monday and tuesday. I'm off both those days. Same goes for you Ghetto. If you got some more maps and stuff look for me at some point.

The map you made that we played earlier was really well layed out. The teleporters were abit confusing, and I didn't like how you were kinda forced thru it after riding the man cannons up to them. Also, I am unsure how well those high ledge areas will play when it's a huge massive 16 player match. If one team gets up there with the increased firing rate of the dmr...it's all over. But overall, I can tell you put a lot of effort and thought into the map. You get a 10/10 for that piece of genius forge work. And the grid floor overlooking the map is a very nice touch. I look forward to playing more of your forge maps.

This is why they make it so you can adjust the screen split between horizontal or vertical. I never looked to see if it was incorporated into Reach, but I am pretty sure H3 had it.

ODST have been in every Halo game to date. Here is the list... Halo 1: ODST are spotted fighting along with normal marines. there armor is slightly altered but basically same as standard marines Halo 2: ODSt are dropped off on Delta Halo when you go after Regret, and spotted numerous other times fighting off covenant. Halo 3: basically the same as Halo 2 halo 3 ODST: Self explanitory Reach: Buck from Halo 3 ODST requires your support in defending a rooftop area then evac. Also a few of the Bullfrogs are ODST's. I don't see why you would assume ODST would not make an appearance in Halo 4. Could you elaborate a little?

Although I agree it would be great to see some campaign expansion, it is impossible to do. Multiplayer is designed from the start to be open and flexible. The menu slots in the scenario for the resource maps is by default left with many unfilled, so newer dlc for it can be used without the need for newley compiled resources or xex files. Campaign however is not only present in the mainmenu map file, but also the shared map file. Incorporating new dlc content for campaign, would require you to replace the current 2 resource files and the xex (xbox executable)which houses the game engine code. Now, if they had happened to leave a few map slots unfilled with a campaign flag checked in it, then we might have a completely different scenario then. But again, I have no idea if they did or not. I can only speak on behalf of what the limitations are that are well known and documented by us modders. Although i would have to believe that between now and H4, there will be a seperate project and title release in some form to make up for the big gap between Reach and H4. CEA doesn't count since that is a team effort on behalf of 343i and Saber Interactive.

Usable ODST drop pods would be great for incorporating a target locator style device. Instead of launching a barage of orbital missles, it sends in ODST troops in squads of 5 to 6 to assist you. Each one carrying a heavy weapon or sniper to fully support you.

I have no idea what any of that means...but it's got a wicked red car and a spartan anti-theft device that comes standard. Win fricken win baby!!! 9/10!!! No need to comment on mine. It's just a company name taken from ODST, but reworked to be my modding studio name. Although it was just used in Hell's Angel RvB episode last week...hmmmmm

There si one aspect about the two that has yet to be discussed. So I guess I will bring this up....COMMUNITY AWARENESS. It is no suprise, that Halo in general, outside the CE HEK, and the shotty rushed / cancelled H2 HEK, that MSG and Bungie are simply not as community involved or aware than Trayarc or Activision. Every CoD game I think, has seen a simultanious release on PC. Now yes, MSG of coarse would want to keep their 1st party title close to the console it also makes, but it does need to branch out more and support say oh I don't know...THE FRICKEN O.S. IT ALSO MAKES!?! Seems it would make sense right? Release the game on console, and release it on the OS you make also. But, as a company and developer, MSG is more concerned with keeping every aspect of it's games under it's own control. While games like CoD, enpower the community to host their own servers, run their own games, police them etc.... So that is why I say in respect to true community awareness, CoD wins hands down every time. Also lest us not forget that CoD usually sees 5 times the amount of add-on goodies and DLC that Halo usually does. now wether or not said DLC content is good or not is not the issue. the fact that it is made and distributed is.

Seeing as how Timberland from Halo 1 is as close as that gets, and the fact that they may be adding tree scenery to place in a forge update, I think it is safe to say we will see a sprawling pallette to choose from in Halo 4.

I ahve seen cases of where you have 24 hours to pay and pickup a disc you ordered here in the uS. Halo 2 was like that. At the midnight launch here in PA, if it wasn't paid for in full, and they had no unreserved copies left, they would turn around and sell those copies to people with money in hand if not picked up in a certain amount of time. Is there anyway you can propogate some money quickly to be sure?

Can I get that mega cookie mailed to me???? I soooo want it!

Good point Ghetto. Yes they could easily enable / disbale friendly fire in the playlists. But I think that is only half the problem. Most hardcore playlists and the really competative guys, dont want that friendly fire stuff. Griffball is a good example I guess. If friendly fire were turned off, you'd have people boosting eahother to the goal all over the place, making it that much harder to actually play a good solid match. Same would go for CTF. In most cases it seems, due to the way the netcode is written, and how the new Havok Collision detection works, it makes it harder for the game to properly report which damage to apply and when to a specific target. For example, say you were charging a guy at his base with the bomb. Your about to die from some DMR fire, and your buddy throws a grenade. Said grenade detonates directly under you feet. At the same time or possibly bout 32mls later, a DMR shot hits your head. Now becuae of latency and and damage reporting timings, the dmr bullet will be nulled, since the game is currently in that 32mls to 70 mls range, negating and sorting that friendly nade and it's damage. Like Absolute Dog said, the code base for MegaloScript alone is huge. Too huge even for me to grasp 25% of what it is capable of, and to what extent he side engine contains. it will never be as simple as just making a few syntax changes. One small change that seems okie dokie, could well end up breaking the whole combat system.

Unfortunatly it isn't as easy as just fixing it. There is a limit as to what MegaloScript can change in-game. The betrayal system is not one of them. Fixing it would require making major code changes to the networking aspect of the game engine. I wish they could revise it, even a little and make some kind of 1 betrayal = boot tweak on certain playlists, but alas it isn't meant to be. Now I am not saying it is impossible....since I have no idea what the exact limit of the scripting engine is, but more than likely it wont happen. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news bro.