30 October 2009 Link to this update Original B.net link Return to main page

<<

17 June 2011 10 June 2011 3 June 2011 27 May 2011 6 May 2011 29 April 2011 22 April 2011 15 April 2011 8 April 2011 1 April 2011 25 March 2011 18 March 2011 11 March 2011 4 March 2011 25 February 2011 18 February 2011 11 February 2011 4 February 2011 28 January 2011 21 January 2011 14 January 2011 7 January 2011 17 December 2010 10 December 2010 3 December 2010 19 November 2010 12 November 2010 5 November 2010 29 October 2010 22 October 2010 15 October 2010 8 October 2010 1 October 2010 24 September 2010 17 September 2010 10 September 2010 3 September 2010 27 August 2010 20 August 2010 12 August 2010 6 August 2010 30 July 2010 23 July 2010 16 July 2010 9 July 2010 2 July 2010 25 June 2010 18 June 2010 11 June 2010 4 June 2010 28 May 2010 21 May 2010 14 May 2010 7 May 2010 30 April 2010 23 April 2010 16 April 2010 9 April 2010 2 April 2010 26 March 2010 19 March 2010 12 March 2010 5 March 2010 26 February 2010 19 February 2010 12 February 2010 5 February 2010 29 January 2010 22 January 2010 15 January 2010 8 January 2010 18 December 2009 11 December 2009 4 December 2009 20 November 2009 13 November 2009 6 November 2009 30 October 2009 23 October 2009 16 October 2009 9 October 2009 2 October 2009 25 September 2009 18 September 2009 11 September 2009 4 September 2009 28 August 2009 21 August 2009 14 August 2009 7 August 2009 31 July 2009 24 July 2009 17 July 2009 10 July 2009 3 July 2009 26 June 2009 19 June 2009 12 June 2009 5 June 2009 29 May 2009 22 May 2009 15 May 2009 8 May 2009 1 May 2009 24 April 2009 17 April 2009 10 April 2009 3 April 2009 27 March 2009 20 March 2009 13 March 2009 6 March 2009 27 February 2009 20 February 2009 13 February 2009 6 February 2009 30 January 2009 23 January 2009 16 January 2009 9 January 2009 2 January 2009 26 December 2008 19 December 2008 12 December 2008 21 November 2008 14 November 2008 7 November 2008 31 October 2008 24 October 2008 17 October 2008 10 October 2008 3 October 2008 26 September 2008 18 September 2008 12 September 2008 5 September 2008 29 August 2008 22 August 2008 15 August 2008 8 August 2008 1 August 2008 25 July 2008 18 July 2008 11 July 2008 3 July 2008 27 June 2008 20 June 2008 13 June 2008 6 June 2008 30 May 2008 23 May 2008 16 May 2008 9 May 2008 2 May 2008 25 April 2008 18 April 2008 11 April 2008 4 April 2008 28 March 2008 21 March 2008 14 March 2008 7 March 2008 29 February 2008 22 February 2008 15 February 2008 8 February 2008 1 February 2008 18 January 2008 11 January 2008 4 January 2008 21 December 2007 14 December 2007 7 December 2007 30 November 2007 16 November 2007 9 November 2007 2 November 2007 26 October 2007 19 October 2007 12 October 2007 5 October 2007 28 September 2007 21 September 2007 14 September 2007 7 September 2007 31 August 2007 24 August 2007 17 August 2007 10 August 2007 3 August 2007 27 July 2007 20 July 2007 13 July 2007 6 July 2007 29 June 2007 22 June 2007 15 June 2007 8 June 2007 1 June 2007 25 May 2007 18 May 2007 11 May 2007 4 May 2007 27 April 2007 20 April 2007 13 April 2007 6 April 2007 30 March 2007 23 March 2007 16 March 2007 9 March 2007 2 March 2007 23 February 2007 16 February 2007 9 February 2007 2 February 2007 26 January 2007 19 January 2007 12 January 2007 5 January 2007 29 December 2006 22 December 2006 15 December 2006 8 December 2006 1 December 2006 17 November 2006 10 November 2006 3 November 2006 27 October 2006 20 October 2006 13 October 2006 8 October 2006 29 September 2006 22 September 2006 15 September 2006 8 September 2006 1 September 2006 25 August 2006 18 August 2006 11 August 2006 4 August 2006 28 July 2006 21 July 2006 14 July 2006 7 July 2006 30 June 2006 23 June 2006 16 June 2006 9 June 2006 2 June 2006 26 May 2006 19 May 2006 12 May 2006 5 May 2006 28 April 2006 21 April 2006 14 April 2006 7 April 2006 2 April 2006 31 March 2006 24 March 2006 17 March 2006 10 March 2006 3 March 2006 24 February 2006 17 February 2006 10 February 2006 3 February 2006 27 January 2006 13 January 2006 6 January 2006 16 December 2005 9 December 2005 2 December 2005 18 November 2005 11 November 2005 4 November 2005 28 October 2005 21 October 2005 14 October 2005 7 October 2005 30 September 2005 23 September 2005 16 September 2005 9 September 2005 2 September 2005 26 August 2005 19 August 2005 12 August 2005 5 August 2005 29 July 2005 22 July 2005 15 July 2005 8 July 2005 1 July 2005 17 June 2005 10 June 2005 3 June 2005 27 May 2005 20 May 2005 13 May 2005 6 May 2005 29 April 2005 22 April 2005 15 April 2005 8 April 2005 1 April 2005 25 March 2005 18 March 2005 11 March 2005 4 March 2005 25 February 2005 18 February 2005 11 February 2005 4 February 2005 28 January 2005 23 January 2005 14 January 2005 7 January 2005 30 December 2004 17 December 2004 10 December 2004 3 December 2004 19 November 2004 12 November 2004

>>

Bungie Weekly Update: 10.30.09

Posted by urk at 10/30/2009 2:14 PM PDT

Disclaimer: This updated is intended for information purposes only. It contains general knowledge and substandard internet humor, and should not be relied on for any purpose. It should not be construed as containing specific instructions for any particular player. Bungie disclaims all responsibility for the accuracy and reliability of this update, and/or any consequences arising from the use of this information, including damage or adverse consequences to persons or property, however such damages or consequences arise. No warranty, either expressed or implied, is made in regards to this update.

The beginning of the week brought with it a lineup of carts topped off with dozens of devkits, each and every one loaded up with the post-milestone aftermath otherwise known as the Halo: Reach Take Home Milestone 3 Playtest. Catchy name, eh? Really rolls right off the tongue.

Nobody's too worried about the nomenclature, though. All night long 'til the break-a break-a dawn (10pm PST) this Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, Bungie was focused on one thing and one thing only: putting the latest and greatest multiplayer spaces through the proverbial paces.

We've chatted you up about the importance of playtest at Bungie in past updates, but since this is the first time in a while we've publicly talked about putting the new multiplayer hotness through our internal ringers, we figured we should probably linger a little bit and let you Experience the Magic yourself.

Ready?

Relax your shoulders, open wide, and GET SET for a mouthful of hot multiplayer playtest. I've got a duo of scantily clad designers, Derek Carroll and Lars Bakken, and a lone but seasoned engineer, Luke Timmins, ready to step on stage and deliver all the juicy details about why they do what they do, what exactly went down in everyone's living room this week, and why in the world Chad was allowed to do placeholder voice work.

H:RTHM3P Q&A

Q. Why are we running a playtest already? Isn't this what the public beta is for?

Luke Timmins. Technically this is our third "Bungie-scale" playtest, where we hand out a ton of devkits across the studio and tell people to go home and play matchmaking, but in reality the test team and MP/UI engineers have conducted a few dozen mini-playtests in the last half year or so.

Playtesting at people's homes is really important part of the MP testing ecosystem. We have tools to simulate real world connections (packet loss, latency, disconnects, etc.), but there is no substitute for the real deal.

Lars Bakken. It is super (and I mean super, duper) important that we are playtesting our stuff all the time. It's how we make stuff extra sweet. To that end, we are always making sure our games play well, whether that's in a lab or over Partner Net. So, we're already playing the game on a daily basis. The public beta is a great way for us to stress our Matchmaking and other sub-systems on a much bigger environment. In a takehome playtest we're lucky to get 80 people together to play on a Wednesday night. With the public beta, we're talking about millions of people having access, so it's a scale that's closer to what it would be like when the game launches.

Derek Carroll. We actually run playtests every day in the lab. Lots of new stuff goes in every day, so it's important to test our work in the game to answer the only question that really matters: Is it fun when you actually play it? This week's big take-home playtest represents several months of work all tied up with a bow for everyone in the studio to play without a lot of hand-holding.

Public betas are an important source of feedback, but by then it's about polish and tweaking. This playtest is about us feeling good moving forward as a team.

Playing at home is a totally different experience from playing in a lab with a bunch of co-workers, so it can be very instructive. Things you may not see while at work become obvious when you're sitting on your couch in the dark, blastin' fools. Also: Subwoofer.

Q. Without going into too much (any) detail, talk a bit about what's being stressed in this takehome. Are you looking to find and fix bugs, test out how players respond to design choices, put updated code through the quality control paces, defile my ears with Chad's placeholder VO?

The Bakkenator - It's really about networking and people's funny connections. In the real world, there are all sorts of crazy things people use to get online. Maybe you hook directly into your modem, maybe you use a router, maybe you're running wireless. We need to test these things in real world scenarios. My connection SUCKS. So, even though I hate it; Timmins jumps for joy every time I play in a takehome. We're also looking to find bugs. Some things you won't see until you are trying out the systems in real-world situations. Oh, and Chad's placeholder VO is precious.

Luke Timmins - For the MP/UI pod, the focus is finding bugs in our matchmaking system as well as our different networking models.
Of course we also want to sit on our couches and play Reach. :)

Derek Carroll - That VO isn't placeholder. It's gold.

Q. What kind of feedback are you looking for from the team, how do you collect it, and how do you then go about parsing it and applying it to the end product?

Luke Timmins - We have an internal website we use to channel feedback. It's broken up by design feedback ("that was not fun") and general bugs ("I got dropped from a game, wat").

We also have automated data collection as people are playing, which we use to help track down issues with networking.

L Bizzle - We have some pretty elaborate feedback gathering systems that help us out in that respect. We rely on a couple homebrew things internally from the test team, but we also have the sweet MS User Research guys helping us out as well. We couldn't make the game happen without them. They parse the data and hand it to us in a easily digestible form. We can pour through it and make decisions based on that.

Q. Any really crazy stuff go down in any of the games this week?

Larsy B - What, other than Chad's sexy VO??? Well, there was one thing that Chad did in our takehome last night that made me smile. I wish I could share it, I really do...but it would give too much away. It was so awesome.

Derek Carroll - Nothing that doesn't directly refer to something we haven't announced. Which is awesome.

You know, it was pretty awesome. Aside from the slightly creepy and amazingly off-putting live action role playing Chad added to the mix, of course. The folks who worked their asses off to get the milestone into playable shape do mighty fine work.

So what exactly did we play? Something you would expect, something you should expect, and something so new it came with instructions. And yes, David Allen, I did make sure to pop into the [redacted] to check out the new [redacted]. And why yes, it was sweet.

And no, every single person on Twitter who wanted to know if we needed more playtesters - we got this covered...for now. We'll make sure we touch base with you next year though. Deal?

I'll buy it at a Fine Price!

Wouldn't it be wild if there was an official, one stop online shop where you could get your grubby little hands on all manner of Bungie gear? I mean, even just t-shirts would be pretty cool, right? Yeah. So, this ain't an official announcement, but if it were, we'd probably couch it in some sort of ass-covering statement, like so:

We're planning on bringing the Bungie Store back really, really soon in some kind of pre-alpha-like fashion. Sometimes stuff happens—we're not in full control of the tubes just yet—but if everything goes to plan, you might see a resurrection of everyone's favorite place to purchase t-shirts woven of the finest cotton, cavernous sacks for cinching, and tubular systems for staying totally hydrated.

So, you know, just in case you happen to see such a website go live...yup, it's legit. When exactly should you expect to be able to shovel all of your digital cash over our way? Well, soon™.

Also Coming Soon...

...Halo 3: ODST-themed Xbox 360 avatar awardables. Lots of folks have been asking us if we've been doing work on the Waypoint front or if we're planning on delivering any avatars extras that can be unlocked through the Awards program. Yup, our Visual Design team put together some avatars awardables you'll be able to snag via some achievements attached to Halo 3: ODST.

While we can't take any credit for the work that went into powering Halo Waypoint - we didn't have any direct involvement in its development - we are totally down with creating and delivering some cool stuff to the fans of our titles and Waypoint provides us with an opportunity to work with 343 Industries and Halo Waypoint to offer a nice, retroactive bonus for players who picked up and played Halo 3: ODST.

If you're a part of the Xbox LIVE Preview Program, you already have access to this new suite of Awards (and all the other stuff that program entails). If not, you won't have to wait much longer before Waypoint goes live. When that switch gets flipped, here's the achievements that'll unlock the corresponding new duds:

• Tourist - Black ODST T-shirt
• Dark Times - ODST Hoodie
• Campaign Complete (Normal) - Rookie's Helmet
• Good Samaritan - ODST Body Armor
• Vidmaster Challenge: Endure - Dare Recon Helmet (Female), Recon Helmet (Male)

If you've already snagged these particular achievements, you're good to go. Awardable unlocked.

Happy Haloween

Get it? See, I dropped the second "l" on the intentional, thereby forming a cleverly misspelled variant of the word Halloween that references the Halo franchise. Neat, huh?

Also neat, some of the screenshots submitted for the Forge-O-Ween screenshot competition we kicked off last week. Here's a small sampling of the treats you stuffed into our tiny plastic bucket:

Going Under

It's a Trap!

Skelzor

Gimme Some Candy!

We're finalizing the selection process, picking winners, and if you made the cut, you should be getting a PM early next week with instructions on how you can claim your prize. Same goes for the random cross-section of "winners" we're plucking out of our stupendously large pool of survey participants.

Our Stupendously Large Pool of Cosplay Participants

Luke Smith, upon inflating his Jabba the Hutt Halloween costume: "This is my finest hour." To commemorate this grand achievement, Lorraine McLees broke out her camera and snapped as many photos of Luke and the rest of the costume clad members of the team as possible. From her lens to your eyeballs.

Stairway to Heaven


Stick 'em Up


It Ain't Easy


Beam Me Up


Bling Bling


Brains Friday


Day Owl


Database Demon


Good. Bad. Gun.


Hadouken


Our Kind of Scum


Like a Hole in the Head


Hombre


In Motion


Laughing at You


Laughing With You


Once You See It...


On Patrol


Out of Retirement, Into Orthopedic Shoes


Safety First (Please Don't Call the KPD)


Smilin' and Survivin'


This is My Rifle (These are my Chucks)


Three Dimensional


Thousand Yard Stare, World's Tiniest Violin


Vick is Not Amused


Rule #1: Cardio

Save Your Stuff

We already warned you, but in case you missed our early heads up, we're going to be purging screenshots from the community files collection. If your screens live in a File Share or a Gallery proper, you have nothing to worry about. If they're floating about elsewhere, say, in a File Set or only accessible through a direct URL, it's time to save them off to your local hard drive.

Like, now.

Blame Stosh

Stosh didn't dress out for Halloween, but he did dig up this screenshot.

We Out

Get out of here. Go get yourself some free candy or something. Don't talk to strangers and don't do anything that we wouldn't do.