ChromeRatt

Detailed H3 Slayer setting

2008-03-04T19:46:00.003-05:00

I've posted the details of the Slayer options on Halopedia. Check them out.

I've posted some thoughts in the Blogs on this community. Nothing profound. Just thought I'd try posting there rather than here. We'll see how it works out.

Game Type Settings on Halopedia

2008-02-24T23:06:00.003-05:00

I've started posting these detailed game type options on Halopedia. The Infection game type settings are here. I'll let them sit for a few days and then start posting the others if I don't get any smack.

I deleted the previous post which had all of the Infection details in it. No need for all of that here if I can post it at Halopedia.

Game type details

2008-02-05T21:23:00.000-05:00

I've started collecting the details of the Halo 3 game types, down to individual setting and options. I'm going to start posting them here.

Assault On Sandtrap

2007-10-04T08:53:00.000-04:00

Or How I Learned to Start Running and Hate the Elephant

I was playing a bunch of Big(gish) Team Battle with some friends from the EvilBIP group and we landed on our first game of Assault. Sandtrap seems to be the Coagulation of H3, because most of the BTB seem to be played there. A good mix of Valhalla too, but mostly Sandtrap.

The game was neutral bomb, so the bomb spawns in the valley between the two main structures. Anyway, we got matched to a group that really knew what they were doing. We ran out to get the bomb, full force. I think that since there was no "base" we kinda forgot about defenders.

They moved their Elephant away from it's spawn point by a few thousand feet. Smart thinking. "Clever guys" I thought.

A few seconds later, I'm trucking past the valley in a 'goose and spot an Elephant do there. I'm flabbergasted.

They moved our Elephant.

To the valley where the bomb spawns.

To quote Hudson (AKA Bill Paxton) from Aliens, "Game over, man! Game over!"

So, it was a nice simple recipe for them
1) wait for the bomb to respawn
2) pick up the bomb
3) jump into the Elephant and plant the bomb
4) defend for 15 seconds

The game should have been over pretty quickly, but we put up one hell of a fight. Unfortunately, we had no chance of moving the vehicle, since they were swarming all over it constantly.

So, your lessons here is to remember that the Elephant is a vehicle and can be moved. As such, it must be defended even more so than a normal base. I don't know if you can get it onto the upper tier around the map, but if it was out there, you could see the enemy coming.

XBox 360 Complaint # 37,164

2007-10-04T08:33:00.000-04:00

The players in this short are as follows:

Moe - My son

Larry - Neighbor Kid # 1

Curly Joe - Neighbor Kid # 2

Since Halo 3 was released there has been an invasion of teenagers at my house on a daily basis. It's usually the same Three Stooges whaling on each other when I get home from work, bouncing around my living room like a pack of wild ferrets on cocaine.

Q: Don't Larry and Curly Joe have their own XBox 360's?

A: Yes.

Q: Don't Larry and Curly Joe have their own copy of Halo 3?

A: Yes.

Q: Don't Larry and Curly Joe have and XBox Live account?

A: Nope.

That's fine, that's what a game system is for, right? Right. I like all three kids just fine, they're staying out of trouble so far this school year and as long as I know where they are they'll continue to stay out of trouble. And I don't even mind feeding them four nights a week as long as they don't complain about what we give them and don't make a mess in the house.

What I DO have a problem with is providing controllers and batteries. $$$! You see, Curly Joe is only allowed to take his controller out of the house on weekends (I don't understand that rule, have to talk to his mom) and Moe already goes through batteries like a fiend. I gave Moe some rechargeable bateries a month ago but he can't seem to grasp the concept that rechargeable batteries only get charged when you put them on the charger.

Being gainfully employed I decided to buy myself a controller and a rechargeable battery pack. It's pretty snazzy, when your controller starts giving you the low battery warning you simply plug the cable into the USB port on the back of the 360 and keep playing. My controller is even BLACK so it won't get mixed up with the Three Stooges controllers FTW! Choice.

Therefore when Moe's batteries go dead he "borrows" my controller, gives his dead controller to Curly and makes Curly bring his own batteries over. (I cut Curly off from the household battery supply) Larry is the smart one, he brings his own controller and his own batteries. So far.

What's mine belongs to everyone else in my home. Those are the house rules. BUT I'm not a big fan of sharing electronic devices with kids. They break shit, it's a fact of life. Additionally, by my standards, most kids have insufficient hygiene habits. I spent $60.00 on the controller and $20.00 on the rechargeable battery pack. I don't want it broken and I don't want it slathered with "cooties". Does this sound childish to you? If it does you probably don't work very hard for your money and should seek a secondary method of gainful employment. May I recommend a position as a mason's laborer?

In an effort to rectify the situation I (again) made a foray to the local Gamestop and purchased the cheapest non-wireless XBox 360 controller for Curly Joe or any other guest to use. I'm not paying for batteries unless the kid belongs to me. I also bought Moe a rechargeable battery pack as an early birthday present.

I went home and explained the new program:

Moe gets a rechargeable battery pack. Sweet.

Curly has a back up controller (this kid still calls them paddles, you'd think he was forty years old or something) whenever he's at the house. How nice of me!

I pointed out to Curly Joe that the controller is not wireless, to which he responded "Aww, that sucks!" I will omit the choice words I assailed him with to put him in his place. Suffice to say the meaning of the phrase "looking a gift horse in the mouth" is now well understood by him as it was conveyed at more than sufficient volume and with great vehemence. I also told him that if he does not change his ways he may someday grow up to be that guy that complains about a free beer. And NOBODY likes that guy. Least of all me.

OK, so, FINALLY, here's the problem:

Q: What happens when the Three Stooges are playing, Moe and Larry with their wireless controllers and Curly with his "wired" controller (which sucks, don't forget) and Moe's rechargeable batteries go dead?

A: He plugs it in to the 360.

Wrong.

There is only one USB connector on the back of the XBox 360. Microsoft strikes again. I can't seem to win here, I just want to jump up and down and throw a fit like a retarded four year old in the cereal isle.

Q: Can't you just run down to Office Max and get a cheap USB hub?

A: No, Microsoft will only allow very specific devices to communicate with their machine. The manufacturer of the devices must pay licensing fees to M$. Want to see what I have to buy in order to facilitate the little menagerie at my house?

http://www.gamestop.com/product.asp?product%5Fid=802686

$30.00 friends and neighbors, thirty MORE dollars. And that's only four USB ports. WTF? Why not eight ferchrissakes? I mean, if they're going to do it, they should do it right!

When you plug a wireless XBox 360 contoller into the USB port to charge it does not even exchange data over the USB bus, it only uses the 5 volts to charge. The controller continues to transmit and receieve wirelessly.

Here's what's going to happen: I'm going to get that USB hub and use it as a charging station, it won't even be connected to the 360.

Anticlimactic solution? Yes, but that's the only denouement I can come up with at the moment. I'm shaking and quivering, still caught in the throes of post-technology-vicitmization and beyond the capacity for rational thought.

PS-Yes, I know this is supposed to be a positive blog about all things Halo, but sometimes I just gotta bitch. If I ever get to actually play Halo again I'll find something positive and post it.

Edited by Chromeratt 10/8/2007: I pointed out to my brother that there were two (2) USB ports on the front of the console and that he should RTFM every once in a while. Admittedly I didn't RTFM either. I spotted the door that covers the USB ports and thought "that looks like it should move".

XBox 360 - XBox Live Gold? What's so "Gold" about it?

2007-10-02T13:04:00.000-04:00

Do you know where I was on September 24th at 11:59pm? That's right, standing outside Gamestop like a good Halo fan. It was my duty and it was my honor to be there when it hit the streets.

But I'm a family man.

That means I did the responsible thing: I went home, put it on top of the television and went back to bed before one am. (I did however call in sick for work at 6 am so I could play. Again, duty, honor, all that crap.)

Do you know where my fourteen year old son was at four o'clock that same morning? Playing Halo 3. He got up two hours early to play. How industrious of him. I can't get him to use an alarm clock, but for a video game he will. Whatever, that's beside the point.

The point is that he hijacked the H3 on-line profile. Since someone (I suspect M$ put Bungie up to this) changed the rules you can't have more than one player profile in XBL any more, only a primary, all others must be signed in as guests. Those guests have to use a generic avatar unless they want to change their appearance every damn time they join the primary. This sucks, all the achievements I make in the campaign and on line are applied to his profile.

Also I didn't catch on to what was happening until I beat the entire game with his profile, so now it appears as though he Finished the Fight.

No, he most certainly did not Finish the Fight.

Now I have to go through the entire game on Heroic again. I'm tempted to say screw it and just tackle Legendary. I don't really see that going well, it could take a month or two.

Also, I'm an adult so this may sound childish, but on the rare occasion I play on line I would like to use the Elite model, not the Spartan. It's a matter of personal taste, see? If I want to use the Elite model I have to change his profile every damn time, then change it back when I'm done. What the hell? I didn't have to go through this with H2.

Also, he's pretty good at video games so he's going to be level 23 or something ridiculous while I'm playing at level 8. When I log in I'm going to get my a$$ handed to me by other level 23 players and it will NOT be fun. I didn't have to go through this with H2 either. The only redemption this offers is that when he comes back from a weekend away his account will have fallen due to my lack of skill and he'll have to re-build it from level 8. Ha ha.

Why would they do this to me? I spent a disgusting amount of money on the system, $60 for the game, $60.00 for my OWN controller, rechargeable batteries, $50.00 for an online XBL Gold account... the list goes on.

Holy sh1t that's a lot of money spent for me to not be able to choose the way my character looks, don't you think? That's alot of money for me to have to pay to have my a$$ unfairly kicked around a digital make believe environment, don't you think?

Why would they do this to me? My son figured it out, smart kid:

Yesterday I bought a thirteen month XBL Gold account extension and after the boy re-activated our account I was complaining about all the above while he was smashing Warthogs full of unsuspecting suckers with the Gravity Hammer. He must have gotten sick of my bitching because he stopped, turned to me and said "Well I guess you'll just have to buy your own account, won't you then?"

Wise ass, huh? He's right though, that's why theyr'e doing it. In honoring the true, black, cancer ridden spirit of M$ they want still MORE of my money.

Sweet, frickin' sweet.

Forge - Yay or Nay?

2007-10-01T14:53:00.000-04:00

Wow, that's all I can say. Well, "wow" and "It's about damn time".

Unreal and Half Life have had editors available to the public for years, even Quake came with it's own editor all those years ago. Granted, no other console game I know of has ever given the end user this much power, and there's only so much manipulation you can expect someone to get out of two bumpers and triggers, a D-pad, A B X and Y, a select and a start button, but I think they should have given us this in Halo 2.

I guess Bungie had their reasons for not doing this sooner. Maybe they were trying to protect the integrity of their product, which I certainly don't blame them for. Have you ever seen some of the crap that gets thrown together and called a "map" in the UT franchise? Ugh. How many times have I wasted three minutes of my life downloading a piece of garbage map hacked together by a thirteen year old that bothered me so much that I maliciously hunted it down and deleted it from my hard drive myself because I was so offended by it that I couldn't bear to wait thirty days for the program to clear the cache?

Too many times, friends, too many times.

It's a double edged sword, I want content, GOOD content, which I know the public is capable of generating (Have you seen some of the UT 03 and 04 maps out there? There are maps created for free by the community that surpass anything Epic employees ever did for money.) but I don't want crap. Maybe now that the trilogy is over they could release an editor for use on the PC that we can create maps and mods with and then load to our XBox 360's. Now that the trilogy is over we won't be able to besmirch the quality of their content. If anything we may look back and say "that game was great until people started making their own maps, then it went to the dogs.". And no one would be able to hold Bungie responsible for it.

I'm already hungry for some new maps, I would like to have Warlock back in particular. I HOPE Forge will help level the field against those kids that play eight hours a day. If the sniper rofle, sword, shotgun, and rocket launcher are moved around the rest of us might have a small chance at surviving against these freaks of nature that memorize every stinking weapon location on every stinking map.

So sayeth me.

new Halo 2 maps

2007-04-19T11:23:00.000-04:00

Downloaded the new maps for Halo 2 last night. Both are nice adds to the mix, but Tombstone is by far the superior map.

Tombstone makes incredible use of the three dimensional space. There is hardly a cubic foot of space on the map that isn't used. Much in same the way that Turf and Terminal have a gazillion ways to get from one end of the map to the other. Except that the middle of the map is a killing floor, whether your on the ground or on the catwalks. At least the floor has some cover. Weapon placement is genius too. The rocket launcher spawns with LOS on the overshield spawn. The energy sword spawns just a lunge away from the sniper rifle. And the ambient sounds and secondary visual effects are most choice.

Desolation on the other hand already feels a little old. It's a symmetrical map, great for objective games, as I can attest after a 20 minute game of Classic CTF. Also makes decent use of the space, but not with creativity of Tombstone. But then I guess symmetrical objective based maps are generally kind of simple. It is essentially an over-sized Warlock, but with a fully connected upper level. And I think it's even bigger than Foundation, but with two bases instead of four. That's the real let down. Four-way Assault on Foundation is absolute chaos, but it won't be balanced on Desolation.

A downside to both maps is that they don't support vehicles at all. Both are smallish enclosed places, very much the "arena" feel from Unreal Tournament. But I think you could make a Warthog work in both maps. Ghosts would be fun too. Just looking for mays to keep the maps fresh. Warthogs on Foundation are ridiculous, but sometimes you want ridiculous every once in a while.

Tombstone is right up there with Turf, Terminal, and Ivory Tower on my list of medium to large maps. Desolation is just a super-sized version of smaller maps. I'm not that bigger is better in this case. All told, it's definitely worth the $4 for the pair.

See you online.

Looking for new friends

2006-08-08T10:42:00.000-04:00

Most of the folks on my friends list have either picked up a 360 and stopped playing H2 or stopped playing all together.

So, if anyone wants to send me an invite, I'm always looking for a good game. Matchmaking or custom, whatever. Gamertag is "chromeratt"

Modders, bridgers, etc need not apply.

Oddball: The Visible Man

2005-12-09T19:30:00.000-05:00

Just a quickie here, don't have time to lay it all out in detail.

This is normal oddball rules, but with a twist. Everyone starts off with active cammo on. When you pick up the ball, you loose the active cammo. So who ever has the ball ends up sticking out like a sore thumb while everyone else is just a slight blur. I think I'd also make sure the person holding the ball moves at normal speed to counter the advantage the other players have. Probably default weapons on the map, no vechiles, turrets at your own discression.

Ninja antics

2005-10-24T13:01:00.000-04:00

I was just listening to the Podtacular podcast and they were talking about a game type called "ninja CTF". Everyone starts off with active cammo, but when you pick up the flag, the cammo goes away. Sounded pretty cool.

It made me think of my Monosnipe game type. Giving the snipers active cammo would definately change that game. It would actually make sniping the snipers a lot harder and I might spend less time looking at my corpse that way.

The Dealth Penalty

2005-10-16T21:23:00.000-04:00

Idea: The more you die, the more lower your score.

I jumped into a game a few weeks back called "don't die to win". It was FFA slayer, with the Slayer Options : Death Point Loss option turned on. The game was on Relic and one guy sat up on pelican hill with the human sniper holding target practice. No body could even get near him.

But in spite of an overall shity experience, I decided to roll my own game based on the same idea. The Death Point Loss option is on, so don't stick you head round that corner if your guns aren't loaded. Be careful with that rocket launcher and your grenades, because Suicide Point Loss is also on. Just so you have a chance of redeeming youself, Bonus Points are on.

Match Options

Number of Rounds=1
Score to Win Round=25
Round Time Limit=None
Rounds Reset Map=Off
Resolve Ties=On

Player Options

Max Active Players=16
Lives Per Round=Unlimited
Respawn Time=5 seconds
Suicide Penalty=15 seconds
Shield Type=Off
Motion Sensor=On
Active Camo=Off
Extra Damage=Off
Damage Resistance=Off

Team Options

Team Play=off
Team Scoring=N/A
Team Changing=N/A
Friendly Fire=N/A
Respawn Time Modifier=N/A
Betrayal Penalty=N/A
Force Even Teams=N/A

Vehicle Options

Vehicle Respawn Time=No Respawn
Primary Light Vehicle=None
Secondary Light Vehicle=None
Primary Heavy Vehicle=None
Banshee=Off
Primary Turret=Random
Secondary Turret=Random

Equipment Options

Starting Weapon=Map Default
Secondary Weapon=Map Default
Starting Grenades=On
Weapons On Map=Map Default
Weapon Respawn Time=Map Default
Grenades On Map=On
Overshields=Off
Active Camouflage=Off

Slayer Options

Bonus Points=On
Suicide Point Loss=On
Death Point Loss=On

More uses for Max Active Players

2005-09-29T09:12:00.000-04:00

The tourny game types I posted previously are based on the Player Options : Max Active Players setting in custom Slayer games. But, you can also change just about any game to play like this. A few ideas:

A multiplayer game of Oddball where only two players are active at a time. 1-v-1 is one of my favorite way to play Oddball, but this would allow more people in the game.

A King of the Hill game like this would definately change your strategy. It might be better to breifly leave the hill to kill your opponent than just squat there and wait for them to come to you..

A Juggernaut match where the juggie only has to worry about one person a time. Might want to reduce the number of power ups that Juggernaut has. You'd also avoid those machine-gun juggie changes:

New Juggernaut!
New Juggernaut!
New Juggernaut!
New Juggernaut!

I'm going to have to try a few of these out and post the results.

Elimination Tournaments

2005-09-29T08:57:00.000-04:00

In a previous post, I'd described a way to set up a sort of tournament in a custom Slayer game. One way tweak this is to set a limit on the number of lives each player has. So, it becomes an elimination tournament.

Thinking about calling a 1v1 touney w/ elimination "Royal Rumble". In the WWF, the royal rumble would start with two men in the ring and then send another person in every two minutes. In this game type, two players would start the match and fight until one was fragged. Then another player jump in. Who ever was left at the end of the match would win.

See this post for additional uses for the Max Active Players setting.

Slayer : Megadeth

2005-09-14T09:45:00.000-04:00

AKA "How many bodies can you jam into a small space?"

This game type is just for thrills. FFA slayer with random weapons, grenades and no shields with ghosts and turrets thrown in just to be completely absurd.

Match Options

Number of Rounds=1
Score to Win Round=100
Round Time Limit=10 minutes
Rounds Reset Map=Off
Resolve Ties=Off

Player Options

Max Active Players=16
Lives Per Round=Unlimited
Respawn Time=3 seconds
Suicide Penalty=None
Shield Type=Off
Motion Sensor=On
Active Camo=Off
Extra Damage=On
Damage Resistance=Off

Team Options

Team Play=off
Team Scoring=N/A
Team Changing=N/A
Friendly Fire=N/A
Respawn Time Modifier=N/A
Betrayal Penalty=N/A
Force Even Teams=N/A

Vehicle Options

Vehicle Respawn Time=Map Default
Primary Light Vehicle=Ghost
Secondary Light Vehicle=Ghost
Primary Heavy Vehicle=None
Banshee=Off
Primary Turret=Random
Secondary Turret=Random

Equipment Options

Starting Weapon=Random
Secondary Weapon=Random
Starting Grenades=On
Weapons On Map=Random Set
Weapon Respawn Time=Map Default
Grenades On Map=On
Overshields=Off
Active Camouflage=Off

Slayer Options

Bonus Points=On
Suicide Point Loss=Off
Death Point Loss=Off

Values

The value of custom games

2005-09-02T17:14:00.000-04:00

I'm going to start adding what I'm call values to my custom games. This is to communicate the goal I was trying accomplish when coming up with the game.

I got this idea after listening to an interview with Overswarm on the Podtactular! pod cast. He talked about how if you want to be good on multi player, playing Big Team Battle, Team Skirmish or even Team Slayer isn't going to help you. You need to play Rumble Pit if want to rule the school. Once your skills are thoroughly honed, then you can move on to bigger and better things. So, this identified for me a value in individual ability.

For example of how values would work, take a look at the game I just posted, CTF: Swarm. It has the values "Stealth", "Ranged Weapons" and "Map Knowledge". Hopefully, playing this custom game will not only be fun, but also improve the participants' skill with rifles, increase their sneakiness and teach them how to make better use of the game environments.

Also, this will also help to categorize the game types. So, suppose you're looking for custom game types to improve team work. One of the values I'm going to use is "Team Work" and one of the games that would be marked with this value is Weakest Link.

Of course, "Fun" is a value and some of these game types will be marked as such.

CTF: Swarm

2005-09-02T16:49:00.000-04:00

Idea:
A single person or a very small team must defend the flag against overwhelming odds. The attackers have to move on foot across a large map with only short range weapons. Defenders have long range weapons. Attackers must capture three flags in 10 minutes. Defenders must simply prevent capture of the flag.

Rules:
Set up the teams so that there is one or two people on the defending team and
everyone else on the attacking team. The attacking team may only use the shotgun. The defending team may use anything they can get their hands on.

Match Options:

Number of Rounds: 1
Score to Win Round: 3
Round Time Limit: 10 minutes
Rounds Reset Map: Off
Resolve Ties: On

Player Options:

Max Active Players: 16
Lives Per Round: Unlimited
Respawn Timer: 5 seconds
Suicide Penalty: 5 seconds
Shield Type: No shields
Motion Sensor: On
Active Camo: Off
Extra Damage: Off
Damage Resistance: On

Team Options:

Team Changing: On
Friendly Fire: On
Respawn Time Modifier: None
Betrayal Penalty: 10 seconds
Force Even Teams: Off

Equipment Options:

Starting Weapons: Shotgun
Secondary Weapons: None
Starting Grenades: Off
Weapons On Map: Rifles
Weapon Respawn Time: Map Default
Grenades on Map: Off
Overshields: Off
Active Camouflage: Off

Capture the Flag Options:

Flag Type: 1 Flag CTF
Sudden Death: On
Flag At Home To Score: Off
Flag Touch Return: On
Flag Reset Time: 10 seconds
Slow With Flag: Off
Flag Hit Damage: Massive
Damage Resistance: Off
Active Camouflage: Off
Vehicle Operation: Off
Flag Indicator: Always On

No vehicles, turrets, etc

Maps

coagulation
containment
relic
burial mounds
waterworks

Values

Stealth
Ranged Weapons
Map Knowledge

Juggernaut : Predator

2005-08-29T15:10:00.000-04:00

ChromeRatt: Modified the style of this post to match the others.

The idea is to promote teamwork and be as true to the first movie as possible: a hairy-scary invisible monster from hell with superior firepower easily slaughtering ill-equipped humans with style. Too bad there's no way to rip out spines in Halo2. ;-)

Match Options

Number of Rounds: First to 2
Score to Win Round: 25 or 50
Round Time Limit: 10 minutes
Rounds Reset Map: Yes
Resolve Ties: Yes

Player Options

Max Active Players:16
Lives Per Round:Unlimited
Respawn Timer: 5 seconds
Suicide Penalty: 10 seconds
Shield Type: None
Motion Sensor: Off
Active Camo: Off
Extra Damage: Off
Damage Resistance: On

Team Options

Team Play: N/A
Team Scoring: N/A
Team Changing:
Friendly Fire:
Respawn Time Modifier: N/A
Betrayal Penalty: N/A
Force Even Teams: N/A

Vehicle Options

Vehicle Respawn Time: Default
Primary Light Vehicle: None
Secondary Light Vehicle: None
Primary Heavy Vehicle: None
Banshee: None
Primary Turret: None
Secondary Turret: None

Equipment Options

Starting Weapons: Energy Sword
Secondary Weapons: Rocket Launcher
Starting Grenades: On
Weapons On Map: Human
Weapon Respawn Time: Normal
Grenades on Map: Off
Overshields: Off
Active Camouflage: Off

Juggernaut Options

Betrayal Point Loss: On
Juggernaut Extra Damage: On
Juggernaut Infinate Ammo: On
Juggernaut Overshield: On
Juggernaut Active Camo: On
Juggernaut Motion Sensor: On
Juggernaut Movement: Fast
Juggernaut Damage Resistence: On

Maps: Small

Favorite Taunts: "Kill me! I'm here!" and "Want some candy?"

If the players don't work together they will have NO chance at all. You could play this on a large map, but it will be harder for the players to get together to make a team effort/take a stand against the predator because they'll be spread out.

I also like the players using brute shots (grenade launcher) for this, but that makes it a little too easy IMHO.

Slayer: 1v1 and 2v2 Tournaments

2005-08-26T12:03:00.000-04:00

This variant uses the Max Active Players option, which I've never seen used before in other games. It works as a throttle on the number of people actually in play at one time. In FFA games, it is the total number of active players. For Team Slayer games, it is the number of people on each team that are active.

It works similar to the Force Even Teams option. Anyone who is not active sits out and watches the game as a spectator. The same way you'd watch in an elimination game after you've been killed.

The lowest setting is 2. So there are actually two game types here. In FFA it would be 1v1 and for team slayer you get a 2v2 game. You can of course increase the number to somehting other than two. But the in and out nature of this game type introduces a kind of enthusiasm I haven't seen in other team slayer games.

I tried this last night with a group of 8 people in 2 teams of 4 on Warlock. It played pretty well and was generally accepted by everyone.

To set up the games, I just selected the standard Team Slayer game type, renamed it 2v2 Tournament and changed the Max Active Players to 2. I also created a 1v1 Tournament based on FFA Slayer in the same way.

As a possible tweak, I want to experiment with the cycling choice on the Team Options : Respawn Time Modifier option. This is supposed to make players "respawn together at fixed intervals". Don't know exactly what that means, but I'd like to how it effects game play.

Other custom game sites

2005-08-23T10:20:00.000-04:00

Bungie.net is really been good about posting news articels about comminuty sites. Two of my favorites are the PraetoriaGuard's site Halo 2 Game Types and the Halo2 Multiplayer Knowledge Repository. The first is an index of custom game types that anyone can contribute to, comment on and vote on. The second is wiki full of stratategy, idea, weapon info, map info and gobs of other stuff about multiplier H2.

The PraetoriaGuard has a lot of great game types. I'll be linking to my favorites here. This one is currently on the top of their list and it looks like fun. Zombie Safehouse.

Territories: Long Range Plans

2005-08-23T09:18:00.000-04:00

This is basically a Territories and Snipers cross. Normally with a Territories game, you have to sit on the flag to protect it and your opponent will rush in and try to blast you off the spot. But with long rang plans, that all changes. You can protect a territory and without even being near it. Just grab control of one or two territories and then fall back to a sniping position where you can see both sites.

I've played this with three idependent players on Containment with 10 minutes to win. It worked pretty well. It needs some more play time to polish it off.

Match Options:

Number of Rounds: 1
Score to Win Round: 10 Minutes
Round Time Limit: 25 minutes
Rounds Reset Map: Off
Resolve Ties: On

Player Options:

Max Active Players: 16
Lives Per Round: Unlimited
Respawn Timer: 5 seconds
Suicide Penalty: 5 seconds
Shield Type: Normal Sheilds
Motion Sensor: Off
Active Camo: Off
Extra Damage: Off
Damage Resistance: Off

Team Options:

Team Changing: On
Friendly Fire: On
Respawn Time Modifier: None
Betrayal Penalty: 10 seconds
Force Even Teams: Off

Equipment Options:

Starting Weapons: Human Sniper
Secondary Weapons: Beam Rifle
Starting Grenades: Off
Weapons On Map: Sniper
Weapon Respawn Time: Map Default
Grenades on Map: Off
Overshields: Off
Active Camouflage: Off

Territory Options:

Territory Count: 8 Territories
Contest Time: 15 Seconds
Control Time: 10 Seconds

Maps:

Containment
Coagulation
Sanctuary - the line of sight is pretty broken up here, but with the great vertical features on this map it could be interesting.

Values:

Sniping

Additional Notes:

The maximum number of territories is eight, but the most I've ever seen on one map is five.
You'll want to adjust the time to win based on number of players / teams.

Slayer: Weakest Link

2005-05-11T00:56:00.000-04:00

There are three ways to calculate the score for the Team Slayer game type:

Team Options: Team Scoring:

Sum - this is the one eveyone is used to, every ones kills contribute to the team score
Minimum - the team's score is the lowest score of all team members
Maximum - the team's score is the highest score of all team members

Weakest Link is just like regular Team Slayer, except that is uses the second scoring option. The game's not over until EVERYONE on your team has 25 kills. That sounds a little brutal now that I think about it. Might want to dial the number of kills needed to 5 or 10.

Values:

Team Work
Individual Skill

CTF: Blood of Heroes

2005-05-10T23:53:00.000-04:00

Idea:
Same as with the Oddball variant but as neutral flag CTF. Basically everyone starts with a magnum and that's it. You go out in the open, get the flag and hope you don't get killed. Save that ammo, though, because the only rounds you'll pick up are going to come off of corpses.

Probably best to play this one like the Secret Service on the President. The flag runner heads back to base and the rest of the team acts a like a human shield to protect him.

Match Options:

Number of Rounds: first to 3
Score to Win Round: 1
Round Time Limit: 5 minutes
Rounds Reset Map: Off
Resolve Ties: On

Player Options:

Max Active Players: 16
Lives Per Round: Unlimited
Respawn Timer: 5 seconds
Suicide Penalty: 5 seconds
Shield Type: No shields
Motion Sensor: Off
Active Camo: Off
Extra Damage: Off
Damage Resistance: On

Team Options:

Team Changing: On
Friendly Fire: On
Respawn Time Modifier: None
Betrayal Penalty: 10 seconds
Force Even Teams: Off

Equipment Options:

Starting Weapons: Magnum
Secondary Weapons: None
Starting Grenades: Off
Weapons On Map: None
Weapon Respawn Time: Map Default
Grenades on Map: Off
Overshields: Off
Active Camouflage: Off

Capture the Flag Options:

Flag Type: Neutral Flag
Sudden Death: On
Flag At Home To Score: Off
Flag Touch Return: Off
Flag Reset Time: 10 seconds
Slow With Flag: On
Flag Hit Damage: Massive
Damage Resistance: Off
Active Camouflage: Off
Vehicle Operation: Off
Flag Indicator: Always On

No vehicles, turrets, etc

Values:

Fun
Weapon proficiency
Team Work

Additional Notes:
Played this 2v2 on Warlock and it really demonstrates the value of coordination and adaptibility. The team mates really need to be of a single mind in the opening seconds so the can attack effectively and get their hand on the flag. Then they need to adapt quickly to get the flag home, especially if one has died.

King of the Hill: Steadfast

2005-05-10T21:51:00.000-04:00

Idea:

In a normal game of KotH, you have to hold the hill for 2 minutes to win. In this game, the principle is reversed. The period of time for a round is fixed and the score to win is unlimited. So whoever kick everyone else of the hill and rack up the most control time inside of five minute wins.

Just to make things even more interesting, all you have is shot guns. This keeps it nice and bloody as well as making sure people can't affect the game while sitting at a distance with long range weapons. Ditto no grenades.

Also consider having no shields, extra damage and multiple rounds to keep it interesting.

Need to flesh this out with the full menu of settings...

Match Options:

Number of Rounds to win:1
Score to win round: Unlimitted
Round Time Limit: 5 minutes

Equipment Options:

Starting Weapons: Shotgun
Secondary Weapons: None
Starting Grenades: Off
Weapons On Map: None
Grenages On Map: None
Oversheilds, Active Camo: Off

King of the Hill Options:

Uncontested Hill: On
Moving Hill: Off
Team Hill Multiplier: Off
Extra Damage: Off
Damage Resistance: Off
Active Camo On Hill: Off

No teams and no Vehicle / Turrets

King of the Hill: Abattoir

2005-05-10T16:15:00.000-04:00

From Monty Python's Flying Circus, The Architect Sketch:

This is the effect we're going for with this game variant. Imagine trying to hold the center square on Lockout while your opponents lunge at you with energy swords. Two words: Bloody.

Player Options:

Max Active Players: 16
Lives Per Round: Unlimited
Respawn Timer: 5 seconds
Suicide Penalty: 5 seconds
Shield Type: Normal Shields
Motion Sensor: Off
Active Camo: Off
Extra Damage: Off
Damage Resistance: Off

Equipment Options:

Primary starting weapon: Energy Sword
Secondary starting weapon: None
Weapons on map: None
Starting grenades: No
Grenages on map: No
Overshields: No
Active Camo: No

Match Option:

Hold hill for 30 seconds
First to 3 rounds