- Iggwilv
- |
- Exalted Mythic Member
Who: You (if you have Halo 2 Vista)
What: H2V MAW Gathering
When: Thursday Dec. 13th @ 7pm EST (GMT-5)
Where: MAW H2V Server (thats the title of the server in the LIVE list)
Why: Because its much more fun to play against people you know and laugh about the exploits, then to play random noobs who you can't talk smack to afterwards.
In the tradition of the Halo PC MAW Gatherings, I will be hosting a Halo 2 Vista MAW Gathering on Thursday night. Hopefully it will be a time for members of these forums, the MAW clan and others to get together and do battle in Halo 2. Afterwards we can come in here and talk smack about our exploits. This first Gathering will be a test oif several things. First, to see if the dedicated server I loaded Halo2 on is up to the task. It was a box I scabbed together from spare parts from my company and its closer to the minimum specs then the recommended ones. Second, to see if my cable connection has enough upload bandwidth to run a full game off of. If not I will have to move the server to a friend of mine who has FIOS after I figure out how to get a remote access session configured. Third, to see if there is enough Halo2 players out there to support a gathering like this. And last to test the mapcycle/playlist I came up with and fine tune the details so we can weed out the crappy settings and come up with fun games.
Speaking of the mapcycle here is what I have come up with. I went with mostly the built in varients to keep it simple for the first run through. Some of these will probably suck but thats why we are doing it to test what works and what doesn't.
Snipers on Relic - I like this map a lot and have always had a good time playing snipers on it
Crazy King on Midship - A compact multi-level map with a moving hill ans an abundance of plasma weaponry...could be a recipe for disaster.
Team Slayer on Lockout - you can't get any more classic then this.
Rockets on Acsencion - wanted to put in one rocket game and Ascension is usually fun esp with the grav lift launching you up over top of unsuspecting victims.
Swords on Turf - I'm not a big fan of the Noob Knife but I know some of you are so I decided to put it on a map with a good amount of blind corners
3 plot Territories on Terminal - I've hardly played any territories and don't truly understand it but this will be my oppurtunity.
Fiesta on Gemini - This is Oddball with random starting weapons. Its like the lottery but with guns.
Single Bomb on Zanzibar - definately won't be Assault on Danger Canyon but hopefully will be entertaining. Not convinced Zanzibar is the best map for this but we will see.
Team Slayer on Foundation - Wanted to use Foundation and figured this was a safe bet. Thinking this may be SMG start so everyone will be dual spraying which will suck and get adjusted in the next Gathering
Slayer on Sanctuary - another classic "slayer" map so I went with slayer. May get the feared "spray and pray" effect like above
Team Slayer on Terminal - needed to get a slayer game on this map so here it is.
The last three I took a shot at making a custom varients.
Warthog Wars on District This is my personal favorite gametype. It is a howl to play. 50 kill team slayer Magnums only on a map full of Gauss Warthogs. Obviously if your not in a warthog your a deadman. The in game voice chat makes it so the driver and gunner can communicate easily so the driver can alert the gunner to possible threat and targets. (Incoming! 12 o' clock! or Target on the ledge!)
NSShot on Elongation - This was a gametype I excelled at in HaloPC... No-shield shotguns on Longest. Well see how the Halo2 version plays with all the moving obsticles on the conveyor belts.
HaloCTF on Coagulation - CTF on Blood Gulch was the greatest gametype ever... and CTF on Coagulation was the worst gametype ever. How they went from a 10 to a 1 is mind boggling. However while researching the game settings available I was able to discover how and possibly correct it.
1.) SMG/magnum start vs. Pistol/AR In Halo PC, you started off with the best weapon in the game and something you could defend yourself at close range with. In Halo 2, you start with the two most ineffective weapons in the game. I set this gametype to start with BR and SMG. The Battle rifle is the best all-around weapon in the game and the SMG can sorta defend you at close range.
2.)Warthog/Ghost vs. Warthog/RocketHog - I always thought the ghost was a little overpowered in HaloPC because of it abilty to strafe. It was hard to nade and could keep its armered front and weapons pointed at the target. In most cases in could strafe faster then the hog turret could turn. In Halo 2 don't even think about trying to engage a ghost with a slow ass hog turret. The warthog in HaloPC was balanced in that ground targets had a chance with well placed nades and accurate shooting. I did away with the ghost and went with the gauss hog and regular warthog.
3.) Banshee vs. No banshee A banshee in Blood Gulch was hell on ground troops and gunnerless hogs. In Halo 2 they removed the Fuel rod cannon but gave it the abilty to loop and strafe. That abilty in the hands of a capable pilot makes it nearly unhittable, it can even dodge a rocket with lock on. Its still over-powered and makes the game unbalanced so its out in my gametype.
4.) Good weapons nearby vs. good luck finding a good weapon near you In HaloPC you usually spawned within reach of nades, a fast spawning pistol, and a slow spawning sniper. A quick jump down got you the up close and personal shotgun. In Halo 2 you walk a mile to get to the roof of the base for the decsent weapons or settle for the plasma trash in the bottom of the base. Ther was nothing I could do to correct this because the screwed up the spawn points but I think I might be able to make the weapons respawn twice as fast.
5.) Flag carrier could drive and man a hog turret vs. he has to be driven and can only ride in the passenger seat. In HaloPc, you could make a solo flag grab with a hog or drive yourself if you driver meet his maker. In Halo 2, it is set by default to not allow the flag carrier to drive or operate a turret making it extremely difficult to escape with the flag. I found the options to change that default so that the flag carrier can drive himself or man a turret to defend a getaway.
6). Flag carrier moved normally vs. Flag carrier moves at half-speed In HaloPC you could move normally if you had the flag so it didn't take forever to walk the flag back to base if you were forced to and had good cover. In Halo 2, you move like your wading through a swamp and the defending team usually gets several oppuntunities to catch you even if you have good cover. I found the setting to set the speed to normal when you are carrying the flag.
Things I could not fix were the spawn points so you still are far away from functional weapons but the BR start should aleviate this problem. Destructable vehicles may still limit your getaway options but the normal walking speed should make walking the flag back a much more obtainable option.
Hopefully these settings get us closer to games like we had on good ol Blood Gulch.
I hope to see you guys there and I hope my server is up to the task. Please give feedback on what you think/thought of the gametypes so I can fine tune it for future Gatherings.
Long live the MAW!
[Edited on 12.11.2007 6:37 PM PST]