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XBox (Games)

Halo 3 Almost Done 73

Posted by Zonk from the is-it-sampo-yet dept.
The word from Bungie is that they consider the final chapter in the Halo story 99.9% complete. They're now in the home stretch, with time to polish. Says Luke Smith, "That last .1% percent is pretty important, however. Right now, some testing is being done in a controlled retail environment via our Halo 3 Epsilon. You've probably seen reports online or even folks on your friends' list playing it, so here's the scoop: The Epsilon is a closed, final phase testing for Halo 3. We won't be making the Epsilon available for public consumption, so while that's immensely disappointing for folks hoping that Friends and Family invites would be extended for the Epsilon, just know that each day you wait in agony is another day closer to September 25." Wired has a huge blowout feature on the title, with lots of screenshots, discussion of how the game was made, and more.
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Halo 3 Almost Done More

Halo 3 Almost Done

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  • This is news...why? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by bomanbot ( 980297 ) on Tuesday August 21, 2007 @11:43AM (#20305451)
    Seriously, why is this news? I mean, they already set the frikkin release date some time ago, of course Halo has to be "almost done" by now!

    And considering they will need a bit of time to press the discs and ship them to retailers, it is about time that they are almost done now.

    Sheesh, if they would have declared Halo 3 gold master, that would at least have been some sort of news, but "It is almost done" is not the least informative; right now, it is to be expected if they want to honor their release date.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by GeckoX ( 259575 )
      Just an excuse to post a link to Wired's massive advertising campaign for it. I'm sure there's a kickback in there somewhere...

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by russlar ( 1122455 )
      Personally, I plan on waiting for Halo 3 SP1.
    • Sad but true, a game being completed before it's shipped is, these days, pretty big news.

    • Re: (Score:2, Flamebait)

      by rblancarte ( 213492 )
      Of course it is almost done. The game is just Halo 2 with a new coat of paint.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by toolie ( 22684 )

      Sheesh, if they would have declared Halo 3 gold master, that would at least have been some sort of news, but "It is almost done" is not the least informative; right now, it is to be expected if they want to honor their release date.

      We were told on 25 JUL [playstation.com] that Lair development was complete and it was in manufacturing, set to be released on 14 AUG. Then on 01 AUG [playstation.com] we were told it wasn't finished and release was pushed back to 04 SEP.

      Seems to me that being almost done with a game is a lot bigger news (and more relevant) than going gold any more.

    • It's even less useful information when you consider that most software is "almost done" at all points in development. It's always just about done until you find the next unexpected bug that takes 10% more time.
  • Does anyone actually believe that? This is the biggest console seller for Microsoft...of course there's going to be a Halo 4. Or maybe it'll be Halo: Cortana's Revenge or something. But there will be a Halo 4, no doubt about it.
    • Bungies has NOT said this is the final Halo,

      They only said Halo 3 completes this story arc.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by fistfullast33l ( 819270 )
        I guess so...here's the Game Announcement [bungie.net]:

        Bungie announces Halo 3, the third and final game in the Halo Trilogy. Halo 3 will be released for Microsoft's Xbox 360 in 2007.

        I think it's open to interpretation, so they could get away with declaring this the final chapter in the arc. I'll chalk it up to clever marketing speak and leave it at that.
        • They might do a prequel... Halo: The Beginning, or Halo: The Eternal Hunt for the real WMD...

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Cornflake917 ( 515940 )
      Besides the submitter of the story, who is saying that is the final chapter? I agree, there is no way this will be the final chapter.

      Did anyone else read this bit?

      Another case of terrain-sprawl trouble popped up a few months later in one of the upper levels. The level is intended to introduce vehicle combat, with players following a bunch of their fellow marines as they clamber aboard Warthog ATVs and ride out over a wide-open plain. But Pagulayan's data showed that a significant number of players were trudging across the plain on foot. It turns out the designers hadn't put enough vehicles in the scene, and the artificial-intelligence marines were taking them all before players realized they were supposed to hop aboard. The solution: More Warthogs.

      WTF? You need an advanced data extraction tool to tell you that there aren't enough Warthogs for the player to use? Give me a break. This is what play testing is for, not to mention a little addition and subtraction. I think they are making this Pagulayan guy out like he is going to save the game from bad level design by making a bunch of

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by telbij ( 465356 )

        WTF? You need an advanced data extraction tool to tell you that there aren't enough Warthogs for the player to use? Give me a break. This is what play testing is for, not to mention a little addition and subtraction. I think they are making this Pagulayan guy out like he is going to save the game from bad level design by making a bunch of graphs and charts. A lot of the issues he discovers with his data analysis could be easily solved by common sense.

        Sheesh, it's just an example. The depth of information t

      • The best part about advanced data analysis is when someone picks out one bullet point and says 'Duh! Anyone could see that!'.
      • You need an advanced data extraction tool to tell you that there aren't enough Warthogs for the player to use?

        Yes, you do. The play testers themselves aren't likely to realize this - they may be thinking that the warthogs are FOR the ai guys or they may think 'my fault- I should have run to the warthog faster.'

    • Perhaps they were using the word "final" in the sense of the latest chapter.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Sibko ( 1036168 )
      Look, Bungie has basically said they're not making another Halo game. If there's ever going to be a Halo 4, [and you can bet there will be.] It will be outsourced to a different company. The Bungie guys are pretty much done with Halo for now: There's an upcoming Halo game they're working on with Peter Jackson, and an unannounced game in the pre-development stages, which most likely is not Halo related. And now for something completely different...

      WTF? You need an advanced data extraction tool to tell you that there aren't enough Warthogs for the player to use? Give me a break. This is what play testing is for, not to mention a little addition and subtraction. I think they are making this Pagulayan guy out like he is going to save the game from bad level design by making a bunch of graphs and charts. A lot of the issues he discovers with his data analysis could be easily solved by common sense.

      You think that's common sense? You think their data mining a

  • Early Buzz (Score:3, Funny)

    by Stanistani ( 808333 ) on Tuesday August 21, 2007 @11:46AM (#20305513) Homepage Journal
    So where's my jar of honey? [wikipedia.org]
  • But after the Halo saga is complete, where do you think Bungie will go? What do you think will be their next project? Or has this been known for some time and I was just never told about it?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Pojut ( 1027544 )
      And yes, I'm aware of Halo Wars...I'm referring to something that has NOTHING to do with Halo in any way.
      • They aren't making halo wars though...

        I'm guessing something with pirates.

        • Maybe they'll finally get around to releasing Pimps At Sea.

          • I heard through the grapevine that Bungie have been in talks with 3DRealms to acquire and develop one of their more outstanding titles. Develop a newer, top-of-the-line engine and push the property to the MAX.

            Should be the best thing since sliced tofu.

            - DaftShadow

  • Coming to you on PC (Score:3, Funny)

    by 427_ci_505 ( 1009677 ) on Tuesday August 21, 2007 @11:50AM (#20305571)
    Coming to you on PC in December 2016...

    • Re: (Score:1, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Requires a Games for Windows LIVE 3.0 Premium Edition subscription. Minimum system requirements:

      733-gigaflop multicore processor, minimum of four cores required
      256GB of XDR II RAM or better
      Two PCI Express R2 x128 graphics cards
      10GB free hard disc space
      Holographic versatile disc drive for installation
      Fibre-channel Internet connection required for product activation and multiplayer functionality
      Microsoft Windows 8.0 Ultimate Edition with Gaming Add-On Pack

      Seriously, though: Halo 2 ran perfectly on a 733MHz Ce
  • They have already released the Halo 3 Mountain Dew flavor. See, there is a little Halo dude on the side. Should be due out anytime now. Think I'll just grab me a can while I wait.

  • Typical progress bar thinking (Score:3, Funny)

    by xxxJonBoyxxx ( 565205 ) on Tuesday August 21, 2007 @12:24PM (#20306155)

    ...they consider whatever 99.9% complete. "That last .1% percent is pretty important, however."


    This sounds like how the typical programmer seems to think when designing progress bars. Sure, it only took 5 minutes to churn through the first 95%, but the last 5% is SO important, it's OK to wait another 10 minutes or so.

    (If you've ever installed Visual Studio, you KNOW what I'm talking about!)
    • Yeah a full progress bar and text below that says "0 seconds remaining", which sits there for 5 minutes... Talk about frustrating!
    • I'm sure they're using the standard microsoft progress bar. That 1% could last for years.

  • Only at Halo 3? (Score:4, Funny)

    by dave-tx ( 684169 ) * <{moc.liamg} {ta} {todhsals+80891fd}> on Tuesday August 21, 2007 @12:38PM (#20306401)

    I don't see what the big deal is. Trent Reznor's already up to Halo 25 [wikipedia.org]

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • This only reinforces my theory that the release date for Halo 3 was moved up from November to September for marketing reasons (to avoid being too near the (original) GTA4 release date), and that decision does violence to the final product quality.

    They've still got gameplay issues, for chrissakes!

    Hans

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by ravyne ( 858869 )
      Gameplay is always the last thing to be tacked down on any game, so this isn't indicative of any problems whatsoever. They're not making sweeping changes at this point, its all spit and polish -- fine tuning. Something as small as moving a weapon spawn-point a few meters in-game can really alter the outcome of a multi-player game, or the number, type and placement of grenades can drastically change how you approach a campaign map.

      Finalizing gameplay is a bit like making a collage, you lay out all the pieces

    • Re: (Score:1, Flamebait)

      by KirkH ( 148427 )
      I have a theory that your theory is crap.

      • My theory may indeed be crap, but if so I'm not the only one holding it, all warm, steaming and fragrant. This article at TeamXbox [google.com] supports it and goes further.

        What I think is difficult to deny is that moving the release date earlier can only be a business decision, not a technical one. Can you imagine any development team saying, "Oh yeah, we'll be done six weeks earlier than we said, you should move up the release date accordingly. Our product will be so much better if we have less time to polish it.

    • And you've played the latest builds and given them your valued feedback of course... please don't post about your imaginary trips to Bungie.

  • Wait wait wait (Score:4, Funny)

    by Tarlus ( 1000874 ) on Tuesday August 21, 2007 @05:42PM (#20311057)
    Why are they releasing Halo 3?

    I'm still waiting for the remaining half of Halo 2.
  • Most people, myself were uninpressed by the Halo3 beta. I don't anticipate enough has changed to make that much of a difference.

    What I did see, was the PS3 trailer for UT2007, and that looks amazing, blowing Halo3 out of the water....
  • ...who can't stand this game?

    First off because the story line is absolute dog excrement, the game play and controls...suck hot dogs, and secondly, it's a morphed crap version of a product that Bungi Studios (before Satan(tm) bought them out) was doing good with called Marathon (http://www.amazon.com/Marathon-Infinity-Mac/dp/B0 0079WF16), anyone remember that?

    Halo, is a DIRECT copy of the leftover bits of Marathon. Microsoft did what they always do to great ideas they inherit from companies they buy out: tak

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