Halo 3 Trilogy

The simulation system of any RTS can at times be hard for the players to unravel exactly what is going on so today we are taking a quick look at the core systems comprising the Halo wars combat system. 

In Halo Wars every combat unit has an armor type and at least one weapon (often more), while each weapon has its individual damage, damage type and accuracy stats.  Every attack in halo wars has a specific weapon associated with it even special attacks such as grenades or canister shot have separate specific weapons just for that special to use.

Accuracy

The first item we will look at it is the accuracy system in halo wars and how individual projectiles are directed when fired at the enemy.  Every weapon has individual accuracy ratings that determine how accurate the attacks it makes are; the first rating is a straight chance to have the projectile be fired true while the second rating is used to determine how far off the aim is if the attack is not perfectly accurate.   After the projectile is fired all that is left to find out is what unit is actually hit as a weapon can “roll” a miss and the enemy can move into the projectiles path.

Damage

After a projectile actually hits a target comes stage two of combat where the armor type of the unit being hit and the damage type being applied are used to look up a damage modification.  The final damage is calculated by multiplying the base damage by this damage modifier. 

A simple example of this is a marine firing on a scorpion with his rifle which for this example we will say does 10 base damage, now then the scorpion is armor type “Heavy armor” and the rifle does damage type “small arms fire” so we cross reference small arms fire and heavy armor on the table and get 0.4 modifier.  The final damage will 4 damage done to the scorpion tank, calculated by taking the base damage (10) and multiplying Is by the modifier (0.4).

Wrap up

Overall the damage system is relatively straight forward with the main complexity coming from the number of armor and damage types but where feasible like type weapons share like type damage types.  The machine gun on a scorpion does the same damage type as on the warthog for example.  Also most game units have a fairly straight forward armor type except for a few special cases I will not be covering (but they are not important for this article).

Timotron

Some base Armor types in Halo wars

·         Light infantry:                    Marines, Grunts, Jackals, brutes, Elites

·         Heavy Infantry:                 Flamethrowers, Hunters, Cyclops

·         Medium Armor:                     Warthogs, Ghosts, Choppers, Wolverines, Cobras

·         Heavy armor:                     Scorpions, Wraith, Elephants, Scarabs

·         Aircraft:                                Hornets,  Banshees, Vultures, Vampires

·         Building:                               Bases, Buildings, Turrets

Some example damage types

•  
  • Plasma pistols and rifles
  • Plasma cannons on ghost, banshee and wraith
  • Heavy machine guns on warthog, scorpion and hornet

Heavy MG and plasma

•  
  • Wolverine anti air missiles
  • Turret anti-air missiles
  • Vulture anti-air missiles
  • Vampire heavy needles
  • Turret anti-air needles

Anti air missiles/ needles

•  
  • Marine grenade/ RPG special attacks
  • Grunt plasma grenade special attack
  • Warthog grenadier
  • Wolverine grenade mortar

Grenades

•  
  • Rebel snipers
  • Jackal snipers

Sniper attacks

•  
  • Flamethrower
  • Flame mortars
  • Covenant anti-infantry plasma mortar turret

Flames

Damage type/ armor type lookup table (real numbers from the Halo Wars database)

No, we’re not talking about the Halo 3 Xbox 360 console. Microsoft has announced a new promotion that will get you a copy of Halo 3 absolutely free. All you have to do is purchase an Xbox 360 console by December 21st. Once you do that, visit this website and register using the promotional code XBX7777 along with the serial number on your Xbox 360. All that remains is you waiting for your copy of Halo 3 to arrive in the mail. With the majority of retailers now bundling Xbox 360 consoles with games, it’s really just icing on the cake. Adding a free copy of Halo 3 only makes things sweeter.

                                                                                                                                                                   Microsoft has announced that it will soon offer downloadable Xbox titles including Halo and Psychonauts as part of a new “Xbox Originals” campaign, as well as free Xbox Live Arcade titles in celebration of the previously announced fifth anniversary of the Xbox Live service.

November 15th marks the five year point of the service, and and company has said that, “as a gesture of thanks to the gaming community,” all Xbox Live gamers will get one free Xbox Live Arcade game, as well as 500 free Microsoft Points for all members who joined the service at its start in 2002.

More interestingly, the company has announced that with its latest Xbox Live update launching December 4th, Microsoft will kick off a new “Xbox Originals” campaign that will see the release of downloadable games for 1200 Points ($15) each.

Thus far confirmed titles include Halo, Psychonauts, Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge and Fable, with “a growing catalog of Xbox games to download and own over the coming year.”

Said Live, software and services vice president John Schappert, “In just five short years, Xbox LIVE has revolutionized the way friends and family have fun in the living room. On its fifth birthday, Xbox LIVE truly is the place for hanging out with friends and enjoying downloadable TV shows, movies, videos, game add-ons and now downloadable Xbox games on demand.”

Ticket sales down a whopping 27 percent for first October weekend, film execs blame the Chief.

Film executives are blaming Halo 3 for lower than expected October Box Office numbers, which on the weekend of the 5th were down a whopping 27 percent from the same time last year.

Many film executives, reports Advertising Age, are convinced that punters stayed indoors to play Master Chief’s latest, which let’s not forget broke all box office records by making $170 million on its first day. It’s now gone on to sell well over $300 million.

Ben Stiller’s new offering, The Heartbreak Kid (which cost $60 million to make) was expected to clear $20 million in its opening weekend, instead it made only $14 million. Execs blame the Chief.“The audience on this game is the 18-to-34 demographic, similar to what you’d see in cinemas,” said Mike Hickey, an analyst at Janco Partners, adding that “this could last for several weeks.”

In its first week of release more than 2.7 million Xbox 360 owners played Halo 3 online - that’s more than a third of all Xbox Live subscribers worldwide.

So you can see why a good portion of 18-34s were busy shooting people in the face rather than watching Ben Stiller.

Microsoft is apparently not surprised either: “We marketed it like a film,” said Josh Goldberg, a product manager at Microsoft, adding, “and now, we’re just as big or bigger than film.”

We’re starting to think its time to pack this journalist lark in, and sell bootleg Master Chief shirts out the back of a VW. Who’s with us?

Halo3Trio.com

Whether you’re an avid gamer or a sci-fi fan, you’ll love this ringtone and these wallpapers marking the release of the final game in the Halo trilogy — exclusively on Xbox 360.

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With Xbox 360 console sales more than doubling and nearly 3 million gamers playing online via XBL, Halo 3 has official become a global phenomenon. Microsoft announced today that Halo 3 raked in $300 million in the first week and became one of the fastest selling video games ever.

Compared with the weekly average before the launch of Halo 3, Xbox 360 sales have doubled giving Microsoft bragging rights as having, quote: “The greatest lineup in the history of video games and the only console where consumers can play all the year’s biggest blockbusters”. These blockbusters that Microsoft are talking about are - of course - Halo 3 along with Madden 08, Mass Effect and Rock Band.

I am unsure as to why they are saying that the Xbox 360 is the only console where you can play these games; granted Mass Effect and Halo 3 are exclusives, but you can play Rock Band on the PS3 and Madden 08 on the GameCube, DS, PC, and the PS3. So that comment is without merit and I think someone either got a little confused or mouthed off before they fully finished the thought process.

Bill Gates had this to say about the $300 million that was pulled in: “Halo is truly a cultural phenomenon, and the launch of Halo 3 is an important milestone for Xbox 360 and for video games as entertainment and as an art form. Halo 3 embodies our vision for the future of entertainment, where some of the world’s greatest creative minds will deliver a new generation of interactive storytelling.”

With XBL members gathering in record numbers to play Halo 3, is not unfounded that the latest installment in the franchise is quickly staking its place as the most popular Xbox LIVE game in history. More than 2.7 million gamers played it in the first week, which represents nearly one-third of the 7 million XBL members worldwide. Within the first day of its launch, Halo 3 players worldwide racked up an unprecedented 3.6 million hours of online gameplay, which increased more than elevenfold to 40 million hours by the end of the first week. That adds up to more than 4,500 years of continuous gameplay. Gamers have also unlocked nearly 30 million achievements and during the first week and hundreds of thousands of new members bought a record number fo XBL Gold Memberships.

Halo 3 was released in 37 countries and 17 languages. To date, more than 20 million copies of the games in the Halo trilogy have been sold worldwide and this news comes on the heels of the original first day combined sales of estimated at $170 million.Looks like Bill Gates will finally be able to purchase his own country, or at the very least his own island paradise.

Via: Press Release

Full Press Release:

Xbox 360 console sales more than doubled; nearly 3 million gamers play online via Xbox LIVE.
REDMOND, Wash. — Oct. 4, 2007 — Interactive entertainment will never be the same, with the launch of one title that has changed the way the world thinks about video games. “Halo® 3” has captured the attention of consumers worldwide and has made history as one of the biggest entertainment launches of all time.

Microsoft Corp. today announced that “Halo 3” has officially become a global phenomenon, garnering more than $300 million in sales in the first week alone. The critically acclaimed Xbox 360® exclusive, which was released worldwide on Tuesday, Sept. 25, is the fastest-selling video game ever and already one of the most successful entertainment properties in history.

Initial reports from retailers worldwide show console sales have more than doubled compared with the weekly average before the launch of “Halo 3.” With games such as “Halo 3,” “Madden 08” (EA Sports), “Mass Effect” (Microsoft Game Studios) and “Rock Band” (Harmonix), Xbox 360 has the greatest lineup in the history of video games and is the only console where consumers can play all the year’s biggest blockbusters.

“‘Halo’ is truly a cultural phenomenon, and the launch of ‘Halo 3’ is an important milestone for Xbox 360 and for video games as entertainment and as an art form,” said Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft. “‘Halo 3’ embodies our vision for the future of entertainment, where some of the world’s greatest creative minds will deliver a new generation of interactive storytelling.”

“Halo 3” is quickly staking its place as the most popular Xbox LIVE® game in history with members gathering in record numbers to play on the world’s largest online gaming and entertainment network on TV. More than 2.7 million gamers have played “Halo 3” on Xbox LIVE in the first week, representing nearly one-third of the 7 million Xbox LIVE members worldwide. Within the first day of its launch, “Halo 3” players worldwide racked up more than 3.6 million hours of online gameplay, which increased more than elevenfold to 40 million hours by the end of the first week, representing more than 4,500 years of continuous gameplay. Since “Halo 3 launched,” gamers have unlocked nearly 30 million achievements. In its first week alone, “Halo 3” drove a record number of Xbox LIVE Gold Memberships as hundreds of thousands of new members gathered online with friends, family members and other gamers around the world to collectively compete and complete the game.

“Halo 3” is the conclusion to the epic trilogy and picks up where “Halo 2” left off, answering questions about the fates of the beloved protagonist Master Chief™ and his artificial intelligence sidekick Cortana as they struggle to save humankind from destruction at the hands of the alien coalition known as the Covenant. In addition to the rich storyline, “Halo 3” continues the franchise’s grand tradition of delivering innovative online multiplayer experiences via Xbox LIVE. The game’s online multiplayer and innovative four-player cooperative gameplay for Xbox LIVE Gold users, the much-talked-about Saved Films feature that enables players to capture and save their favorite moments on their hard drives, and Forge, an innovative map editor that enables myriad customization options, are just some of the new features gamers are experiencing.

Developed by Bungie Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios, the “Halo” franchise is exclusive to the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system and optimized for the Xbox LIVE online entertainment network. “Halo 3” was released in 37 countries and 17 languages. To date, more than 20 million copies of the games in the “Halo” trilogy have been sold worldwide.

Record week-one sales come on the heels of the previously announced $170 million in sales in the U.S. within the first 24 hours of the game’s release, which marked not just the biggest video game launch, but the biggest entertainment launch in history. The Xbox 360 title beat previous U.S. sales records set by blockbuster openings for entertainment events such as the release of “Spider-Man 3” and “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.” In addition, more than 1.7 million copies of “Halo 3” were pre-ordered in the United States, making it the fastest pre-selling game in history, surpassing the previous record-setting pre-sales of “Halo 2.”

MICROSOFT’S HALO 3 has been getting a thorough dissecting this week, even as rumours of a split from its creators continue to slither from the lips of naysayers.

Halo 3 is one of the fastest-selling games ever created, and also one of the highest scoring when it comes to critical reception. How aggravating, then, that its graphics have been found to be sub-par. Microsoft specifies that games on the Xbox 360 system must render at a resolution of at least 720p - that’s 1280×720 to you PC folks. The 360 will then either output that or upscale it to 1920×1080 for output on larger displays.

However, spurred on by the blatant jaggies apparent through the game, interwibblers have discovered that the game only actually runs at 1152×640, a difference big enough to create a noticeable drop in graphics quality.

For their part, the folks at Bungie are unimpressed with the internet sleuthing. “If you do a comparison shot between the native 1152×640 image and the scaled 1280×720, it’s practically impossible to discern the difference,” says Bungie in a blog post. “The reason we chose this slightly unorthodox resolution and this very complex use of two buffers is simple enough to see – lighting. We wanted to preserve as much dynamic range as possible – so we use one [frame buffer] for the high dynamic range and one for the low dynamic range values. Both are combined to create the finished on screen image.”

So whilst you get a little less resolution goodness, you do get fancier lighting. Trade-off?

The other rumour is that Bungie has been ‘let go’ by Microsoft as some kind of bizarre ‘thank you’ for creating the Halo franchise - in other words, ‘we bought you, you did good, we love you, now you are free’. Or something. The rumour, started here, has been put to both Microsoft and Bungie and neither have confirmed or denied. And usually, denials are like tissues at Microsoft - everyone’s got a few in their back pocket, ready to roll out when needed.

Is Microsoft about to let go of the best game developers it has? We find it hard to believe, but we’ll see.

Source

Halo3Trio.com