Bungie has just released the first live action trailer for their upcoming game, Destiny. In this video we get a look into some of the lore behind the game as well as guardians, enemies such as The Fallen and Cabal, and vehicles like the Pike. The trailer ended with an announcement that their World Wide Gameplay Premier will take place at the Playstation Press Conference at E3 June 10th.
So unless you’ve been living under a rock, the #XboxReveal event took place today at 10am PST and the next generation console from Microsoft was revealed to be the Xbox One.
They showed off the actual console, unlike Sony did for PS4 back in February this year, and went over some of the hardware, OS’s (yes, multiple, 3 in fact), features, and a few games including the World Premiere of Call of Duty: Ghosts from Infinity Ward.
The conference was only an hour long so I expected to see a condensed line up of video game developers and have the focus directed on the console itself. Microsoft is really making this console your “one” solution for your every entertainment room needs.
In the video I break down the things that mattered to me from today’s events (homage to the great Philly D) including my thoughts on the design, on features that stood out for me, and the major articles published after the press conference concerning the Xbox One’s capability and features; such as backwards compatibility, which won’t be available for the Xbox One, and a Used game/pre-owned fee that will exist as each game is tied to a gamertag.
Not everything was bad news though. The Xbox Friends List will be upgrading to a capacity of 1000, gamer score and gamertags will transfer over, and since each game is tied to a gamertag there is no need for discs after the first usage. In other words, our dreams of a Xbox multi-disc changer are gone and every game will be playable off the hard drive after it has been install (which will be a requirement)
I hope you find the video informative. Leave your thoughts!
Here are my thoughts on the proposed Halo 4 Weapon Tuning to various weapons in the Halo 4 sandbox. There isn’t a finalized list out there yet, but I list off the repeatedly mentioned weapons and their changes as all signs point to them making the cut on June 3rd.
I hope you enjoy and feel free to discuss your thoughts on the matter!
Watch 343 Employees and Halo community members show off weapon tuning before the launch day of June 3rd, 2013
Current State of Weapon Tuning
What 343 has been looking at recently. No final list yet.
We’ve mentioned that we’ve been looking at the overall state of game types with vehicular combat and attempting to find a balance with vehicle weapons that makes them the perfect mix of deadly, viable, and, of course, balanced. As of right now, both the Warthog and Mantis chain guns have received a 35% damage increase. In current testing, this increase provides a deadly method for objective play and Slayer domination for players who utilize vehicle play.
Matchmaking Update
Premiering this coming week is the Community Forge Island playlist, which brings with it 6 new community-made maps on Forge Island, and will be available until the June 3rd Matchmaking Playlist Update. If you haven’t yet downloaded the free Forge Island canvas, head here to download to your Xbox 360. The Community Cartographers have worked hard to select some of their favorite map and game type combinations:
Map: Elevated by Smexi Bilzo
Infinity Slayer
Capture the Flag – 5 Flag
Extraction 1-Site
Map: Crucifix by Wraith2098
Capture the Flag – 5 Flag
King of the Hill
Infinity Slayer
Map: Onyx by Hahkarazy
Throwdown v3 Slayer
Throwdown Capture the Flag – 5 Flag
SWAT
Map: Confined by Big Papa Salot
TD Slayer Pro
Team Snipers
Capture the Flag – 5 Flag
Map: Ender by The Fated Fire
King of the Hill
Infinity Slayer
SWAT
Map: Forgotten by Flying Shoe ILR
Extraction 1-Site
Capture the Flag – 5 Flag
King of the Hill
In addition, Big Team Infinity Slayer and Infinity Slayer have some updates as well.
Big Team Infinity Slayer:
Slayer Pro added to voting options.
Complex added to map rotation.
Voting options reorganized to provide increased variety.
Infinity Slayer:
Slayer Pro added to voting options.
Complex removed from map rotation.
Voting options reorganized to provide increased variety.
As of May 9th Bungie opened up the flood gates a little bit, revealing more details about their game Destiny. With just a few days before the Xbox Reveal event on May 21st and a few weeks till E3 here’s some information to tie us over till then.
On May 9th Bungie updated their website, Bungie.net, revealing some brief descriptions for certain elements of their game, and revealing placeholders for future information. Such elements include, Story, Guardians, The Frontier, and Our Enemies. Each with sub categories.
Opening page contained a few blurbs about Destiny including this following paragraph
Destiny features a compelling storyline, competitive multiplayer, cooperative gameplay choices, wide open public combat destinations, and third-person community spaces where you can repair and rearm before going out on your next adventure.
This confirms that Destiny will have 3rd person viewing angles in certain areas, like social gatherings at a hub like the Tower.
The next details were vague about the end of the golden age, The Traveler, and the Last City. “In our darkest days, Humans, Exos, and Awoken found the Traveler where it made its last stand, low above Earth, silent and immobile. We built this City – our last – within its protective Shield, fighting countless wars to keep its peace. From that dark age, the Guardians of the City were born.”
Warlocks have long studied the Traveler, mastering some of its arcane energies. Its true purpose still remains a great mystery, but discovering truth has always driven you into the unknown. Now, our enemies are the only thing that stands between you and the lost wonders of our Golden Age.
The first Titans built the Wall, and gave their lives to defend it. Now, you stand in the same high place, steadfast and sure, protecting all who shelter in your shadow. You hail from a long line of heroes, forged from strength and sacrifice. Our enemies may be deadly and merciless, but so are you.
Hunters once prowled the wilderness and wastelands, taking big risks for even bigger rewards. You’re no outlaw—at least, not anymore—but making your own luck has always meant bending the rules. Your unique brand of daring and ingenuity is needed now more than ever.
Next they began to describe the locations in our solar system first with the Abandoned Earth and then the Moon.”The wilderness beyond the walls of the City are ruined and corrupted, claimed by nature and our enemies. From the war-torn fortresses of the Twilight Gap to the skyward steppes of Old Russia, evidence of our lost glory still litters the Earth, waiting to be rediscovered”. “Early exploration attempts have proven too dangerous. The City has since classified Earth’s Moon as a Forbidden Zone.” With information on Mars, Venus, and other planetary bodies in our solar system awaiting reports from the Vanguard for now.
Finally, some light was shed on the enemies. In particular The Fallen, revealing 3 classes within the race: Dreg, Vandal, and Captain.
The Fallen are a scourge, tirelessly engaged in war against us and scavenging all that remains. They say their Houses have claimed every planet and moon we ever touched. If you see one in the wild, know there are many more nearby, and don’t hesitate to send their souls screaming into the black.
Last but not least, leaving us some teasers on the Cabal… but Bungie is saving those details for later.
It’s been years since they first made their presence known at the Twilight Gap. While early reports have them centered on or around Mars, the true might of the Cabal is still wrapped in speculation. Awaiting more reports from the Vanguard.
Here is my latest video and marking my contributions and start to reporting news on Bungie’s next game Destiny. I have for you a brief overview of what we know so far about the game to help newcomers and others to get a basic understanding of what is Destiny and what we know so far!
The latest Halo 4 Title Update (1.04.01) has been released which was rather unexpected on May 10th, 2013.
Changes:
For those of you wondering, here is how the “X”s are different.
”X”s are a deep shade of red (instead of white)
”X”s are 1.5 times as big
”X”s are displayed for approximately 4 seconds at death location (instead of being tied to the Spartan’s body), even if the player respawns prior to 4 seconds (instead of disappearing instantly or within 2 seconds)
This weeks Halo Bulletin covers multiple topics such as weapon balancing, matchmaking updates and more
Current State of Weapon Tuning
After reviewing community feedback from past weeks, we felt it was necessary to clarify that the red reticle range (RRR) of the DMR has been reduced, and the RRR of the LightRifle has been increased to match this new range exactly (Note: this is different from reducing the DMR to the LightRifle’s original range). What we’ve found in current testing is that the LightRifle is now a favorite weapon for long-range engagements, and in terms of kill time, a zoomed LightRifle currently outclasses the DMR. This has created a dynamic that allows the DMR to excel in a very specific range and role – at equal skill levels, LightRifle users will punish the DMR at range, and Battle Rifle and Carbine users will have an advantage at close range.
We’re also now looking at reducing the projectile spread (inaccuracy caused when shooting rapidly) to the Carbine to make the weapon even more consistent. The projectile spread is not visible to players, so reducing this weapon will create a more consistent and understandable experience.
Also, our latest tests have included a slight damage bump to the Magnum – while it is still the same amount of shots to kill (6), the slight increase will make it more valuable as a secondary weapon, particularly in team play when “team shooting” (firing at the same opponents with your teammates). In Quinn’s words, “The Magnum feels good. It just feels really good.” Quinn gets kind of weird when he talks about weapons. [bs angel note: And even when he’s not.]
Matchmaking Update
This coming Monday, an encore of Spartan Ops Episode 6 will be available in Matchmaking. One of the things we’ll be doing in our next Matchmaking Update, which will take place on May 20th, will be showcasing some of our favorite Forge Island creations in a limited time only Community Forge Island playlist. If you’d like to submit your creations (or those of a friend) for consideration, be sure to post in the Community Cartographer’s Thread in the proper format.
As you probably know by now, we have been actively tuning some of the weapons in the Halo 4 sandbox. We are still regularly playtesting, and excited to say that we’re nearing the end of tweaking and tuning each weapon. At this point, we are happy to share several key items that we’re looking forward to in the schedule:
In the month of May, we’ll be inviting a small group of community members into the studio to get a sneak peak at the new weapon tuning. We are finalizing this list and will announce once we have done so.
We’ll also be bringing you a live stream that will allow everyone to check out some of the weapon tuning in action before the settings deploy globally. This live stream will feature insight and commentary from designers, as well as gameplay from community members and 343 staff. This live stream will give you a close look at how the newly tuned weapons behave alongside one another. Once the live stream is officially on the calendar, we’ll announce the date and time. The location, however, will absolutely be http://www.twitch.tv/343industries.
Before we go live, we’ll be detailing the final changes for each weapon on Halo Waypoint. This content will give you a detailed breakdown of what to expect when the tuning goes live.
Our final changes, once solidified, will go live across all Halo 4 playlists on Monday, June 3rd.
Now, onto the next Matchmaking update. This coming Monday, we’ll be adding quite a few maps into several existing playlists. These maps were showcased in our Community Forge Test and FFA Forge Test playlists, and have since been updated to provide new experiences across multiple game modes. Here’s what will be added and updated come Monday.