- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
I think its good enough to say to those of you who go "why would bungie care?" that if theres already 10 pages on this topic alone, there is more than likely people who will buy halo 3 making bungie money... Plus having programmed a few side projects for friends in the past, I know that a user giving say 5 minutes of input can possibly add years to how long a product can be enjoyed. Even if you have your doubts about them porting it its better for them to have this information available as it could be useful in ANY of the games they make.
As for Suggestions...
Halo 1 was a very solid port. I still play it with my clan and most are waiting for Halo 3 to come out due to Halo 2 being generally a P.O.S. One good move in Halo 2 was stats tracking but honestly... Live is absolute garbage, most the servers I can't even get a ping readout on, I can't get on my own server, and now my server doesn't work because apparently the maximum # of servers live has for a copy of H2 is less than 1 even though right in the readme it tells you how to make multiple instances. I never handed out my key or anything so... something is definitely going on there that is wrong... Not to mention the weird twitching most people get when first playing it.
So things that are good move for H3:
1) Stat tracking- It was a good move to do the xml pages but not everyone hunts down stats like that.
2) Remote Console (Rcon)- Worked for Halo 1, it'll work for Halo 3. No more of this "go outta game remote desktop and ban" stuff. Even if banning by unique gamertag is a good idea, can't we do the same thing in a in game console?
3) Use of Internal-External ip-. I could never host a game on Halo 1 unless everyone playing was at my school playing on lan. Halo 2 did a good job on ext-local ip addressing but It'd be nice if I could actually play on my own server and monitor it for hacks myself...
4) Cross platforming- I don't mind crossplatforming but getting the balance will be difficult. Personally I'd say no aim help at all since I know a few guys who are really good players with a controller and don't need a "built in bot" as we call them in our clan. You will however want to make sure mice players don't have the absolute advantage either. However being able to play buddies who have an xbox can easily add shelf life.
4b) On the topic of cross platforming, I know this is a long shot and a lotta people are begging for Dx10 as opposed to OpenGL or another cross platforming language but there are a lot of linux and Mac users who would love to see new Halo games on their machines. I won't throw in the xp vista issue. Vista can be tweaked for better performance but by the time H3 comes out we'll probably have newer software to choose from.
5) Tech Support - While some players here are going a little heavy on nailing bungie with tech support, They are allowed an opinion (as do the guys who go "wtf dude chill a bit"). Needless to say, this forum has plenty of unanswered topics or topics answered by players and the Sawnose made that patch he got a LOT of popular support and graditude. Its honestly the best way to keep future potential customers, Even if you make the coolest games around not backing them up will quickly lose a consumers interest.
5b) If you do have tech support, make sure its clear where to get help for what. The H2 dedi readme gave one site (I believe an xbox microsoft off shoot) , to which I was bounced to microsoft to find they had nothing but to be bounced here.
6) Unique gamertags and other "admin helpers"- To be honest, punkbuster, anti cheat, etc has all been done in the past and the only truly effective way to lose hackers has been for server admins to take care of it. Unique gamertags allow for easier banning, so a gamertag-Hashcode ban system would be effective even if the player leaves before someone with remote console can ban them. Also perhaps tools such as video capture, sightjacker etc would be helpful since most people ask for proof nowadays. The simple truth is if you don't program them, someone else will and everyone ends up with it anyway.
7) In game "teamspeak"- If you're going to put in another Voip make sure its as solid as Ventrillo. Most Halo 2 voice users came out as mumbled garbage and was really more of an annoyance than a teammate trying to be useful. Some H2V servers ban people with "broken mics" and other players just shut off their voice and use vent anyway since most these users sound just fine over vent.
8) Clan System - One problem I had with H2V was I had to make a whole other account when I decided to put my clan tag on but I'm still a supporter of the unique gamertag idea. Several other games have clan/guild/group/club systems so it would definitely improve H3. Probably the easiest way is having the clan founder/admin designating who can join, who can add/drop members, etc.
9) No in-game ip address displays- This seems to be how most these DDosing noobs are getting our server ips to shut them down. Apparently you only have to join once to get the ip and beyond that its a simple targeted port attack. If a admin wants to give out ips for matches he can do so, No need for the game to give it away as well. Will this stop DDosing? Probably not but it will sure reduce the number of kids doing it.
I understand not all of these will make it into the final port but like I said, I figured it'd be better to offer ideas now, than have a cursing fit about not doing so later. =P
[Edited on 07.11.2008 9:33 AM PDT]