Halo 2 Vista FAQ

[Agamemnon]

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Halo 2 Vista FAQ
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I. Introduction
II. Bungie's Frequently Asked Questions
III. Agamemnon's Frequently Asked Questions
IV. Goodies
V. Credits

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I. Introduction
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NOTICE: Please read the FAQ before posting your questions.

Welcome to the Halo 2 Vista FAQ. Here most of your most common questions can be answered in just one thread, thus helping the main board keep clean with questions that aren't answered here. Nonetheless, even if they aren't, don't be afraid to post in here and ask your question; it's still the FAQ and I might include it the next time I have to update this thread.

This time around I'm including a lot more of info, mainly because I'm drawing it from all the updates they've been handing out like candy. This FAQ not only includes most of Bungie's FAQs about H2V but some of my personal ones that I find important as well. There is also a section for websites that are dealing/will deal with Halo 2 Vista once it comes out for the PC; you definitely will want to bookmark those.
Anyways, enjoy this slew of information.

-Agamemnon

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II. Bungie's Frequently Asked Questions
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Since Bungie has decided to open up the site, I felt that it was necessary to start a completely new FAQ. So, for the first part, I will draw the FAQ from Bungie's own FAQ for H2V; straight from the horse's mouth.

Q: What systems is Halo 2 for Windows Vista available for?
A: As the name suggests, Halo 2 Vista will be brought to PCs with Windows Vista only. Of course you can always purchase Halo 2 for you Xbox or Xbox 360. There are currently no plans to bring Halo 2 to Mac, Playstation 9, or the Commodore 64.

Q: Will Halo 2 Vista players be able to play against Halo 2 Xbox players?
A: No, Halo 2 Vista players will only be able to [play] against Vista owners.

Q: Does Halo 2 Vista support the Xbox 360 Controller?
A: Yes, the Xbox 360 controller will be fully supported by Halo 2 Vista.

Q: What are the minimum system requirements for Halo 2 Vista?
A:

OS: Windows Vista
Processor: 2 Ghz Pentium 4 class processor (or x64)
RAM: 1 GB
Hard Drive: 7 GB
Video Card: DX9 graphics card: WDDM driver, PS 2.0/32BPP, At least nVidia 6000 or ATI x700 or above
Online Multi-player: Internet connection for Games for Windows – LIVE
Drive: DVD-ROM drive

Q: Does Halo 2 Vista support user-created content?
A: Yes, there will be a comprehensive package released to facilitate the generation of user-created content for Halo 2 Vista.

Q: Can I play my favorite Halo levels, like Blood Gulch, in Halo 2 Vista?
A: Not exactly. Bungie does not like to reuse old content, so we built four levels in homage to older Halo favorites. These are Coagulation (an aged, excavated version of Blood Gulch), Beaver Creek (a modified version of Battle Creek ), Warlock (a version of Wizard which has since been overrun by tropical growth) and Elongation (which answers the frequently asked question - what if Longest were a shipping room on a space station?). All should prove both familiar and surprising to fans of older maps. Another image map is Foundation, loosely based on an old Marathon map.

Agamemnon's quip:
Don't worry, there will be enough modders out there to convert Halo 1 multiplayer levels to Halo 2. The Halo 1 PC modding community did it with Halo 2 levels for Halo 1.

Q: Will there be multiplayer bots?
A: No. If you want to practice, you can do it against real people. You can however explore any multiplayer level you wish simply by starting an "empty" LAN match.

Q: How does dual wielding work on Halo 2 Vista?
A: Virtually the same way it does on the Xbox. To dual wield, you simply approach a second weapon that is lying on the ground. You'll see the standard "press E to swap weapons" message appear in your HUD. However, if it's a one handed weapon, you will also see "Press and hold '' to dual wield". If you do that, you will pick up the gun in your left hand. Left click first the left weapon, right click fires the weapon in your right hand. You can't melee attack or throw grenades while dual wielding. You can stop dual wielding at any time by pressing melee attack (discards extra weapon and punches simultaneously) or by tapping 'T' to toss your secondary weapon. Of course, the keyboard layout is fully customizable and you can change any of the settings to your heart's content, or just use the controller.

Q: Do you plan to enable anti-aliasing? Other visual features?
A: Halo 2 for Windows Vista makes use of several DirectX 9 features such as edge anti-aliasing, anisotropic texture filtering, enhanced resolution shadow buffering, additional dynamic shadows, improved normal map filtering, parallax mapping, and per pixel specular mapping.

Q: Why will Halo 2 for Windows Vista not support DX10?
A: Halo 2 will certainly support DX10 graphics cards but the game itself is not being re-written to specifcally take advantage of upcoming DX10 features. The more robust your graphics card, the more visual features and fidelity you will be able to enjoy.

Q: I hate/love auto-aim. Will it be enabled in Halo 2 for Windows Vista?
A: Auto aim is said to only be present when you are using an Xbox 360 controller and not when using a mouse and keyboard.

*Note that the answer above was changed by me after some updates from gaming sites reviewed some of Halo 2 Vista's gameplay.

Q: How does Halo 2 for Windows Vista cope with cheating, aimbots, and so on?
A: A Windows Live system will be in place that will ban anyone by their CD key indefinitely by what it deems cheating content.

*Note that the answer above was changed by me after a Hired Gun blog.

Q: Will it be possible for players to create their own campaign or co-op levels for Halo 2?
A: No, the user-created content tools are exclusively for multiplayer maps and game types.

[Agamemnon]

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III. Agamemnon's Frequently Asked Questions
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These are some questions I've encountered that Bungie hasn't officially noted. Please note that some of the answers are speculations unless otherwise noted.

Note: Speculated answers will be marked with this symbol:


Q: Windows Vista? What's that?
A: Windows Vista is the new operating system from Microsoft.

Q: Are there any requirements for Windows Vista?
A: Yes, there are. Currently there are two classifications for whether your system can run Vista when it comes out. I will provide a chart to inform you.

Vista Capable
Processor...................800 MHz
Memory.......................512 MB RAM
GPU.............................DirectX 9
GPU Memory..............32MB RAM
HDD capacity..............20GB
HDD free space..........15GB
HDD type...................Normal
Other Drives..............CD-ROM

Vista Premium Ready
Processor...................1 GHz
Memory.......................1GB RAM
GPU.............................DirectX 9 with Pixel Shader 2.0
GPU Memory...............128 MB RAM
HDD capacity...............40GB
HDD free space...........15GB
HDD type....................Normal
Other Drives...............DVD-ROM

Q: How much will Windows Vista cost?
A: It varies from version and whether you're upgrading or getting it for the first time, but these are the official prices from Microsoft:

Version........................................ful l/upgrade
Windows Vista Home Basic..........$199/$99.95
Windows Vista Home Premium....$239/$159
Windows Vista Business..............$299/$199
Windows Vista Ultimate...............$399/$259

Q: Will there be Co-Op mode on Halo 2 Vista?
A: No

Q: How will online play work if XboxLive is no longer the system that Halo 2 Vista will use?
A: Bungie is implementing a new system called Live Anywhere, which is, a service similar to Xbox Live and will bring matchmaking to H2V players. It is stated that we will be able to do all the things we could do before; system links for local connections, global online play, and dedicated servers. Bungie has stated that there will be no ranking or player stat tracking systems for Halo 2 Vista, nor will it offer clan support.

Upon recent events, we also learned that matchmaking will only be available to those with Gold memberships. Also, it will no longer be possible to run a dedicated server and play on that server at the same time, as it is supposedly restricted. In order to host a regular game, you also must have a Gold membership.

Q: Will we have to pay to play Halo 2 Vista?
A: For a free Silver membership, no, you won't. With a Silver membership, you will be allowed a single gamertag, a common gamerscore and and gamer profile, single player achievements, private chat via text and voice, a common friends list and online presence, and a browsing list. With a Gold membership (which you do have to pay for), you have everything the Silver membership offers, matchmaking, and multiplayer achievements.

Q: When will Halo 2 Vista come out?
A: It's out.

Q: How much will Halo 2 Vista cost?
A: The cost varies. $49.99 - $59.99

Q: Will there be a demo for Halo 2 Vista?
A: Yes, there will, but the release date for it is still TBA.

Q: What will be Halo 2 Vista's ESRB Rating?
A: M for Mature

Q: Will Halo 2 run on any version of Windows Vista?
A: Yes, it will. It is optimized so even the people who are getting a simple upgrade can play the game.

Q: What do we know about the custom tools to build our own maps in Halo 2 Vista?
A: Quite a lot. The original tools found for the first port, Guerilla, Sapien, and Tool, will make a reappearance; this time included on the disc. The H2V team has stated that this time around we will be able to customize a lot more than Sapien had to offer, as well as creating new and improved textures and even customiziable shaders.

It is also said that the H2V team are trying to make the tools much more user-friendly; the co-existing tools for Halo 1 were extremely hard to use and were not easily picked up, even after you had an extensive knowledge on how to use it.

The H2V team also boasted a much more stable toolset, as the three had an uncanny habit of corrupting files, shutting down for no reason, and producing errors that no one had ever heard of. This is something what many Halo 1 modders would call a Godsend.

Q: Cool! So we'll be able to model our own maps with the tools given to us?
A: Actually, no, you won't. Bungie will not be including a 3D modelling program once again for you to model your own maps.

Q: What are some boastable new features Halo 2 Vista will include?
A: Up to 1900x1200 screen resolution, dedicated servers, tools to create custom maps, extremely upgraded and fine-tuned graphics, text lobby chat (as well as a mic still), and in-game text chat.

Q: Will there be new weapons or vehicles in Halo 2 Vista?
A: No.

Q: Will there be new maps for Halo 2 Vista?
A: Yes, there will be two new Halo 2 Vista-exclusive maps.

Q: In Halo Custom Edition, we had to download maps manually to actually play them online. Is there a new system that solves this problem?
A: Yes. There will be an online system that will automatically download content that is required to play in the server of your choosing. Needless to say, you won't have to download maps again unless you're hosting them for the very first time.

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IV. Goodies
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This section will list some important sites that you might want to bookmark and check on periodically for Halo 2 Vista news as well as some future content for the game.

http://www.halo2vista.net/
Founded by GBX forerunners, this is the definite community hang out spot to find out what the current HCE community is doing and what their plans are for the future of H2V.

halo2pc.org
Halo2pc.org is the first and foremost organized Halo 2 Vista community. Check here regularly for news, theories, ideas, and interesting discussions.

http://h2v.halomaps.org/
When H2V comes out, this is where the maps, tags, bipeds, textures, and everything else for your H2V modding needs will be uploaded and downloaded from. The site is generally part of halomaps.org, which is the most general place to find your HCE fix for just about everything dealing with it.

http://www.halomods.com/
This is the place to come around and learn about modding either Halo 1 or Halo 2, and when time permits, Halo 2 Vista as well. This is where some of the real interesting modding ideas develop and come to reality.

http://www.customedition.org/
Here's another site like halomaps.org except they deal mainly with tags, bitmaps, models, and tools, all of which include custom content for you to download. They also have a help forum if you are ever confused about what to do with the tools.

http://www.halo.bungie.org/
Another prime traffic site with news, interviews, fan fic, art, and loads more. Generally it's everything that you can possibly find about the Halo series.

http://www.bungie.net/
Let's not forget the company that started it all. You'll find news and what not about Halo 2 Vista here, straight from the head honchos themselves.

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V. Credits
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Bungie.net: For the first part of the FAQ and some of the answers I drew from my FAQ
H2PC.org: For where I also drew some of my info from
Wikipedia.org: For info on Windows Vista
TheGhost: For the X06 H2V info
Boo Diddly: For his estimation on system requirements
Stealth: For helping me fix some minor (but major) corrections
Master_Dragon: For pointing out to me that redundant questions need to be added (You wouldn't even believe...)
ChAiRMaNWoW: For Vista-related info
HereticKnight: For the articles from gaming websites in Jan.
Someone: For the article including the system requirements that Gamespot released
TUI Hentz: For the article including the release date
Master Kim: For the H2V ad that included the info of two new maps

[WhÎþLå§h ÐÆmØÑ]

Because I'm nice. I'll sticky. :)

[Agamemnon]

Gratzie Whiplash. :cool:

[Boo Diddly]

nice. A while ago I posted what I suggested as the requirements on bungie.net:


Required:
Windows(R): Vista - 512 MB RAM
Processor: Pentium 4 2.3 GHZ or equivalent
Hard Drive: 2.0 GB (3.5 for developer software)
Video Card: 128 MB/T&L capable
Online/Multiplayer: 56.6 kbps modem or LAN; broadband to run a server
Other: Directx 9.0c, 8x DVD, Sound Card, & speakers/headphones

Recommended:
Windows(R): Vista -1 GB RAM
Processor: Pentium 4 3.0 GHZ or equivalent
Hard Drive: 2.0 GB (3.5 for developer software)
Video Card: 256 MB/T&L capable
Online/Multiplayer: LAN or Broadband; DSL (high) or more to run a server
Other: Directx 10.0, 8x DVD, Sound Card, & speakers/headphones

either youre under estimating halo 2, or i'm over estimating it ^^
BTW, I modeled the specs right off the halo pc box. Now that I look back, i may have set the hard drive requirements a bit too high...

[Agamemnon]

Now that I look back on it, yours are probably more correct; I was really only seeing Halo 2 with upgrades in bloom lighting and AA, but, then again, I have a feeling they'll up that in H2V. If you don't mind, I'd rather use your estimation instead of mine.

[Stealth]

Q: Will there be multiplayer bots?
A: No. If you want to practice, you can do it against real people. You can however explore any multiplayer level you wish simply by starting an "empty" LAN match.
Stealth's Thoughts: if you want to play with bots and get some practice do what I do, go and play with the Bots in the SP mode, and there might be some halo 2 Vista modders that will try to make some Maps with MP bots, I know there is some trying to do that for halo 2 Xbox right now, but don't keep your hopes up.

here is something that I want to know, can CMT make a SP mod for halo 2 Vista? And is there going to be a way to take Screen shots ingame with out and kind for Game cam tool, that is some thing I would love to see in Halo 2, I want to take screen shots in MP games in halo CE, but I can't with out xfire, and I can't even get Xfire to save them, and I've yet to learn how to talk to people in game with out down sizing halo CE.

[Agamemnon]

That's from Bungie's official FAQ on the game. Their policy has always been no bots. Also, real bots will never be real, as the net code in Halo 1 PC doesn't sync. People consider scripted AI bots, but they're not. They're spawning AI with a basic script that tells them to shoot at what ever comes close to them. They don't use any real tactics, such as exploring the map, getting different weapons, and hunting you down. Play Quake 3 Arena to check out what bots should be. I doubt any modder could accomplish something like that in Halo, and bots from Q3A would have to be completely different in Halo, considering you have grenades to also consider. I don't think it will be any different in Halo 2 as well.

[Stealth]

True, ok here is one FAQ I get all the time,
How much is Windows Vista Cost?
It varies from version and where you're geting it from, here is the prices,

Vista Ultimate - $399 (full) / $259 (upgrade)
Vista Home Premium - $239 (full) / $159 (upgrade)
Vista Home Basic - $199 (full) / $99 (upgrade)
Now the cost will vary from State to State and Store to Store, there is a lot of things that will ether make the price go from $199 to $250, there is Tax, Shiping, the what store you get it from, and as for the price for Halo 2 Vista, that isn't set yet, but I think it will between $20 and $40 at any store, and from Bungie, it might be some where between $15 and $30. (that is with out Shiping) I'll spend a totel of about $500 just to upgrade to Vista, because some of us don't even have the minimum requirements for Windows Vista, I know I don't but I'll have it some time in the next 2 years.

[Agamemnon]

Like I explained to you in the PMs, no. That is Microsoft's official retail prices and EVERY retail store has to abide by them. Bungie doesn't sell Microsoft merchandise. Taxes are completely different and I'm not about to calculate fifty different state taxes for estimations. Those are the prices and that's that.

Also, in case you haven't noticed, there are more than three different versions. A simple upgrade will only cost $100.

EDIT: OHHH, now I see what you're saying. You're right, I meant to say Vista prices, not the price for the game.

[Stealth]

Lol, told you.

[Zenaku213]

Very nice FAQ, very detailed too!

[Stealth]

yes that you, and I think this thread will be geting biger soon.

[TheGhost]

Nicely done. I see you updated it/modified it a little it.

If you guys want to spread the knowledge you should link back to here. =D

Good work, Agamemnon.

[Agamemnon]

Thanks everyone. I've been following the news of H2V ever since Bungie has announced it and will continue to do so. If you guys find something that needs to be corrected (no matter how minor it is) or some info you think needs to be added to don't hesitate to PM me. Thanks.

[Stealth]

Same here, I have most of the halo 2 Week Updates in Read me files.

[TheGhost]

Hmm... I'm betting Halo 2 Vista will be $60 when it comes out rather than $50. Most new games for the XBox 360 and also the PC are coming out at $60.

[Stealth]

Ya, I'll try to get it when it comes out, I may never play it, but I'll get it and let it sit on my desk to remind me to buy Window Vista or to get a new computer.

[Agamemnon]

Hmm... I'm betting Halo 2 Vista will be $60 when it comes out rather than $50. Most new games for the XBox 360 and also the PC are coming out at $60.
That's why I said most. ;) I've seen a few PC games priced at $59.99 before, but I'd rather not over price it just yet.

[Boo Diddly]

sure, you can use my estimation. It will be interesitng to see how close i am to the acual stats.

I think tht the price will be either the $59.99 or $49.99, depending if they want to go on popularity or age.

[Rescudo]

Cool, a H2V FAQ! I've been looking for one. :)
I have one question, though... will I be able to run Halo 2 on Windows Vista Beta 2? I hope that is the case, then I won't need to buy Vista itself when it comes out. I think. :p

+rep for the FAQ.

[Stealth]

Well lets put it this way,
Bungie is Testing Halo 2 Vista on Windows Vista Beta 2, that is what I've read from Franky or KP.

[Rescudo]

Yeah >_> I guess that was a silly question, lol.
So how is Microsoft going to make money off Vista if they keep handing out betas like this? :rolleyes:

[Stealth]

I don't know yet, but I think that they are going to get hit very hard when Vista comes out.

[Agamemnon]

Simple; the beta expires before Vista comes out. :p

I also believe that when Halo 2 is finished that they'll have it require you to have the FULL version of Vista. :rolleyes:

[Chewy Gumball]

The beta expires next june doesn't it?

[Agamemnon]

I think it expires way before that.

[Stealth]

I thik it will eXpire the end of this Year.

[DECOY]

Reading the terms and conditions on the Beta, I dont think you can roll it back to your previous OS. Can you upgrade from the Beta to full, or is that required to be a reformat /new instaaltion too?

[Rescudo]

I better try it out while I can, then :(

[Boo Diddly]

the beta ends early next year. You can not upgrade to the full version. you can install the full version over the old one, and you can keep your account's stuff though.

[Agamemnon]

It is still best though to back up everything you want saved before you do; that is, if you're installing the beta.

[Rescudo]

Even if I'm installing it on a physically separate hard drive?

[Stealth]

I don't know, but when I get my DVD RW drive, I'll back up every thing on my Desktop and maybe my laptop, and reformat them, they need it, my Desktop has two OSs and I hate it, I have Windows 2000, and Windows XP, and I want to have only XP for now, but when I get Vista I'll get Vista, but I need to do something first.

[Agamemnon]

Even if I'm installing it on a physically separate hard drive?
No, not then, especially considering it's on...well, a physically and completely different hard drive. That is, unless that hard drive has stuff on it.

[Rescudo]

I'm going to buy a new, external hard drive in the 300-500 GB range, and install Vista on it. I'm pretty sure that will work out :)

[Boo Diddly]

the only problem with having your os on a seprate hard drive is that "oops, i accedently unplugged my hd from my pc. now i need to reboot"

I have a very interesting configuration that i'm running right now. I have 3 Hard drives, 2 80 gig and 1 160 gig. I have the 180 partitioned into a ~97.6 gig and a 51.3 gig *no they dont add up to 160, you need to look up that yourself, its too complicated for me to explain*. My 2 80 gigs are in a RAID 1 set, so that I don't loose any important school related stuff... and I have all my halo stuff on it to make a little room. Total, my halo stuff ammounts to just under 10 gigs, owch >.<
On the larger partition I have my main os, which is XP. I have 50 gigs worth of music on it *dont ask, i wont tell*, and is where i make my map. On the other partition is vista, which I can upgrade at any time.

Just a little thing, I installed halo pc and halo ce in a way as to only have one of each for both oses.
Interesting btw... I'm running the special halo 1.7 patch that is for the vista verson on xp b/c its being used for both oses. The patch was released due to the fact that Gearbox f*ed up and wrote crappy code to detect the version of DirectX. What happened is that Halo didn't see DirectX 9, so it assumed that windows must be running an older version of it... riiiight... directX 10 is older than 9...

[Chewy Gumball]

Safest thing to do would be to have the drive with vista on it be the only drive connected while running vista. You don't know what vistsa will do to drives.

I would assume the problem with the dx versions is that vista doesn't run the same dx9 that xp does.

[Rescudo]

That won't be possible for me, seeing as I would need to open my laptop and unplug the original hard drive (which makes the guarantee invalid)...

[Stealth]

ok, we are going off topic, but here is something to put us back on track,

Dose any one know where Bungie is going to show off halo 2 Vista in the USA?
I've asked Frankie to think about Utah, Because that is where I live, and it would be cool, because most of my Friends have played Halo, and Halo 2, and some of them hate it because they think it is Cartoony, wich isn't that true about some of the halo CE maps, Halo 2, Halo 2 Vista, and Halo 3.

[Agamemnon]

I'd say the December issue of EGM this year; they should have something noteworthy enough to convince people to buy the game again.

[Boo Diddly]

ok, we are going off topic, but here is something to put us back on track,
Dose any one know where Bungie is going to show off halo 2 Vista in the USA?
I've asked Frankie to think about Utah, Because that is where I live, and it would be cool, because most of my Friends have played Halo, and Halo 2, and some of them hate it because they think it is Cartoony, wich isn't that true about some of the halo CE maps, Halo 2, Halo 2 Vista, and Halo 3.

Thats a good question. Probably at some game developers confrence *not E3, thats for H3...*

BTW, how is Halo "Cartoony"? Are they high on something? seriously, how is halo cartoony?!?

[TheGhost]

Is everything from http://www.bungie.net/Games/Halo2Vista/content.aspx?link=Halo2VistaFAQ and the press kit also added?

[Agamemnon]

No my transparent administrator, not yet. Sleep will delay an update until tomorrow if you don't mind. School's a bit hectic right now.

[TheGhost]

I understand 100% - same over here.

[Stealth]

Ya, you to get some sleep, I'll see if I can make some FAQ stuff so all Agamemnon has to do is Copy and past.

[Agamemnon]

Alright, I think I updated everything that needed to be. If not let me know as well. All I have to say is that I can't wait for tomorrow to end. Or is that today? What ever. Not a good day today either. H2S has been having some problems and I'm a moderator so, of course, I get to help solve them. :)

[Agamemnon]

Updated the Credits section. Also, I can't stress enough for those of you out there that might have information on H2V; don't be afraid to suggest it, even if you believe it to be minor. If it's included then your name will be included in the credits.

[Agamemnon]

Updated the new H2V features and added a speculation question with other new features for H2V. Can be found at the bottom of my FAQ section.

[Boo Diddly]

In the H2V diary they did say that you can do the normal text broadcast, text only your team, or whisper text to a single person. They also said that the game can auto complete that person's name.

[Stealth]

ya, that will be nice, some times Texting people in Game is Better then Voice.

[Boo Diddly]

hmmm, with the text a certain person, will they somehow implemet a way to talk to a singe person possibly? *but people in the immediate vicinity would be able to hear like normal... I think thats how it works at least*

[Zeph]

hmmm, with the text a certain person, will they somehow implemet a way to talk to a singe person possibly? *but people in the immediate vicinity would be able to hear like normal... I think thats how it works at least*

I believe it will be like a PM system where you can have a friends list. At least that's what it's like for the Steam Friends thing.

[Boo Diddly]

what I was refering to was in game. I'm not talking about friends here...

[TheGhost]

You should change some of the sites in the "Goodies" section around :p

[Agamemnon]

Like what? Heard of anything that will definitely be a hit?

[Rescudo]

I think he might be referring to h2vista.net not being at top. :p

[Agamemnon]

In the words of Texrat:

"Feh."

Oh, by the way, I updated the goodies section as well.

[Boo Diddly]

Can you tweak a few things under specs?

Required:
Windows(R): Vista - 512 MB RAM
Processor: Pentium 4 2.0 GHZ or equivalent
Hard Drive: 1.0 GB (2.0 for developer software)
Video Card: DirectX 9.0c, 128 MB/T&L capable
Online/Multiplayer: 56.6 kbps modem or LAN; broadband to run a server
Other: 8x DVD, Sound Card, & speakers/headphones

Recommended:
Windows(R): Vista -1 GB RAM
Processor: Pentium 4 3.0 GHZ or equivalent
Hard Drive: 1.0 GB (2.0 for developer software)
Video Card: DirectX 10, 256 MB/T&L capable
Online/Multiplayer: LAN or Broadband; DSL (high) or more to run a server
Other: 8x DVD, Sound Card, & speakers/headphones

[Agamemnon]

Might I ask what has changed your mind?

[Boo Diddly]

idk, little things i guess. changed the directx thing, changed the hd requirements, lessened the processor for required

[DaneO'Roo]

Zeph
How much does Bungie pay attention to user created content from the Custom Edition community? What really impresses Bungie when they look at user created content? Any favorite pieces from CE?
Frankie
We do pay attention, and I personally love a lot of it and no playing favorites here today. Maybe in the future we’ll mention some cool individual efforts.

nice to know the CE community is appreciated by Bungie :)




ArteenEsben
In the Halo 1 HEK, the bsp mesh cannot intersect itself in the same way that a scenery model can intersect the mesh. Self-intersecting bsp led to collision errors in-game. Does the H2EK have the same problem, or has it been fixed?
Also, the HEK is known to create invisible pieces of geometry when converting a mesh to a bsp tag. These invisible pieces of geometry are a pain to deal with and remove. Has this problem been solved in the H2EK?
Frankie
Everything about H2 Vista’s editor should make you happier. More details to come.

double yay :D

[Stealth]

I saw that last night, but I didn't see mine, nore did I get a PM from him.

[Syuusuke]

We don't need dx10 to run halo 2, at least I think I heard that from Bungie

[mined]

Originally Posted by Bungie Weekly Update FAQ Zeph
How much does Bungie pay attention to user created content from the Custom Edition community? What really impresses Bungie when they look at user created content? Any favorite pieces from CE?
Frankie
We do pay attention, and I personally love a lot of it and no playing favorites here today. Maybe in the future we’ll mention some cool individual efforts.



Wow...that would be a great little tid-bit to be able to put into a portfolio if your map was mentioned by Bungie.

[TheGhost]

Yeah, I'm hoping this kind of thing will really take off for H2Vista.

[Agamemnon]

Hey, maybe they'll recognize the community this time around. The only thing I ever saw from them was CMT's single player mod, and that wasn't even front page; just a small little tid bit under News.

[Boo Diddly]

I think they are scared of us because we have people and teams who do maps that are better than theirs.

I wonder what they "may" do in the future? I believe they may occasionsally do a spotlight of a map or something great for H2V.

[Agamemnon]

I don't think they're so afraid now, considering some of those modders now work for Bungie; Nitrous being one of them, of course.

[Rescudo]

Yeah; they'll just get every good mapmaker and modder to work for them. :p

[TheGhost]

The only thing I remember seeing them mentioned was "H2" mod stuff - this includes content from both H2CE and CMT. The H2CE stuff was a little bit more in depth - with interviews and whatnot, but we'll see what happens this time around. I can already tell we'll have a slew of "H3" mods.

[DaneO'Roo]

The only thing I remember seeing them mentioned was "H2" mod stuff - this includes content from both H2CE and CMT. The H2CE stuff was a little bit more in depth - with interviews and whatnot, but we'll see what happens this time around. I can already tell we'll have a slew of "H3" mods.

H3 mods wouldnt actuall ylook too bad on Halo 2 Vista engine. With all the dynamic lighting and bloom, it would kind of look half descent. though we need to prepare the maps early, so as soon as Vista comes out, there are allready maps, and these first maps are the most downloaded. Plus we cant let noobs take all the good map names :P

Wouldnt it just feel great for a map maker, to be in your own maps server, and you see a bungie emplyee in the server with you, admiring your work
<3

[Boo Diddly]

don't forget to keep this thread and the b.net thread in synch *the hd requirements*

[Agamemnon]

I was just about to announce how it got sticked at Bungie too. :cool:

[Rescudo]

This thread got stickied at Bungie.net :O?

Nice job.
And don't forget to advertise h2vista.net. :p

[Agamemnon]

Well, considering the sticky's goody section mentions it, I think that's advertising at its finest. :)

The thread btw:

http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=8791928

[Boo Diddly]

*points at link and laughs* hahahahah! its a D=

this is going to be interesting when H2V starts to take off. you may need a few more mods in the future...

[CabooseJr]

The mongoose, i cant wait now, you would think they would put the Fuel Rod Cannon in too also with the flamethrower.

[Agamemnon]

It's doubtful the FRC will return, considering the amount that weapon was whored; I mean, they couldn't even fit it into Halo 2 Xbox multiplayer and make it work, so I doubt it will with H2V. They might also bring back the rocket hog, but that's also doubtful, considering there's the gauss hog now. If anything they could always add in the Bulldog and Hoplite and pass it off as "Bungie material" and fool many. :rolleyes:

[Boo Diddly]

well, even if they didn't add those things, modders will in maps!

[Rescudo]

Unfortunately. D=

[Aero]

They should require a broadband connection, not just reccomend. Users on dial-up will lag the game.

[Agamemnon]

Hopefully the netcode this time around only makes the people with crap connections to suffer and not everyone in the game.

[TheGhost]

I have a feeling we will be getting another FAQ from Bungie with a LOT of specific information in the near future...

[Stealth]

Good, I'm getring sick and tired of telling every one at TSL's forums to get back on topic in my Halo 2 For Windows Vista topic, they keep on talking about SuperBounces and I see nothing about SuperBounces in any of the Halo 2 Vista updates.

[Agamemnon]

I think I remember somewhere Bungie said they'd be fixing many exploits found within the old game...

[Stealth]

Like what?

[V0Lt4Ge]

Probably stuff like rocket-lunging and dummying.

[Agamemnon]

As well as super bouncing and possibly fixing other common exploits, such as BXR.

[Stealth]

I hope they keep the Weapon Droping that is a good one to keep, and I don't care for SuperBouncing.

[Aero]

I am hoping for a vote kick option.

[Boo Diddly]

that would be sweet, and easy. we have cpt. keys! *bad joke, bad bad joke =&#254;*

I hope that they release some official specs sooner or later so that we know exactly what they are. *and to see how freaking awsome I am at guessing*

[Agamemnon]

Update: Changed the speculated outlook for new weapons/vehicles.

[Boo Diddly]

actually, if you think about it, its not actually the bungie team themselves making the port, its a separate team. there may still be hope for new things. how else will they be able to test and show off what the mapping tools can do? mmmmmmm....

[Chewy Gumball]

The bungie team isn't doing the work, but they do have say in what happens. Its not like the team can do what ever they want in the way of examples.

[Agamemnon]

It's really just Halo 1 PC all over again. Gearbox ported it and Bungie had a say in everything they did. Let's hope Bungie doesn't screw us over with the netcode this time around as well.

[Chewy Gumball]

Bungie didn't screw the netcode, that was microsoft. Its not the same, as the team porting the game is much closer, and can have much more interaction with bungie, and since this is a microsoft team, there won't be any confusion or time wasted on things that will be cut because of specifications.

[Agamemnon]

It was both Microsoft's and Bungie's doing.

http://gbxforums.gearboxsoftware.com/showthread.php?t=23429

So, in reality, what we have here is Microsoft and Bungie working together, but, once again, the Microsoft team doing most of the work again. Still crossing my fingers!

[Chewy Gumball]

I do no believe it was bungie that mandated those things. It was microsoft, he says Bungie/MS because bungie is part of Microsoft, and because the deal was with Bungie/MS. As far as I'm concerned, Bungie isn't microsoft.

[Agamemnon]

But it's Bungie's game, and they sent Bungie members to help with the game. The decisions themselves could have a slight effect from Microsft, but Microsoft wasn't sending their team at all to help Gearbox.

[Chewy Gumball]

But Microsoft put their demands on paper. The bungie members that went to help didn't just decide to make it 56k supportive, they were told to do that by microsoft.

Microsoft has final say over everything bungie does.

I'm not saying bungie isn't to blam somewhat for screw ups, I'm saying its a different situation with h2v.

[Agamemnon]

FAQ updated. Added Vista's release date and a quip about H2V's release date. Updated credits list.

[Agamemnon]

Big time update. Let's just say it's a sad day in hell.

-No single player creation
-Auto aim will still be present
-No co-op
-No ranks
-No player stats
-No clan support
-No new weapons or vehicles
-There's a chance we might have to pay to play

[demonmaster3k]

yea, it's starting to appear that staying with CE might be better
(bungie's bieng a bitch again with no sp mod support and we might have to pay to play online!!!)

(i'm going to wait and see what happnes, till then i guess i'll stick with ce; someone plz make a sp modding kit after h2v comes out)

[Agamemnon]

I have a feeling a mod is bolding parts of our posts to emphasize on what they agree with the most...hmm, now which mod is the most angry about not having single player mod support? :rolleyes:

[demonmaster3k]

where are you taking this aggie?
(your logic confuses me)

[Agamemnon]

Anywhere anyone wants to go, honestly.

[Stealth]

Go where?

[Agamemnon]

To the dark side of the moon...

[mined]

It's a long drive to the hardwear store for lightbulbs from there.

[Stealth]

Lol, I don't mind the dark, but I don't want to get hit by things on the back side of the moon, but that would be fun to have a map based on the back side of the moon, with Space debre falling from the sky. And the Bases in Caves.

[Stealth]

It will be Present for the Xbox Controllers, and in Halo PC and CE there is some Aim Asist, I'm still going to get Halo 2 Vista, and from what I hear from people who have Halo 2, it isn't like the Aim Botts, and yes I did Read you Post.

[Arteen]

That settles it. I'm getting Halo 2 for Xbox and nto wasting my money on Vista. Autoaim with a controller based game is one thing, controllers are harder to aim with than a mouse where you just click on people's head. But auto aim + mouse aiming + sniper rifle means a lot of people will never, ever miss. I'm aware of the autoaim in Halo PC, but as I understand it Halo 2 on Xbox has much more severe autoaim. Just fucking great.Who said that keyboard and mouse controls would allow the aim magnetism? I'm pretty sure the sticky aim will only apply to controllers, and not to the mouse. No need to freak out.

[Agamemnon]

Who also said that auto aim will also work like that? To be honest, Bungie still hasn't said how auto aim will work on H2V. All they said was "we're trying to find a balance." We don't know if that means auto aim will only be apparent with controller-users or if there will be auto aim in the game for everyone. Though them merely mentioning it does prove that it will be present in some way, shape, or form.

[TheGhost]

Err... okay, FriedMetroid, don't get your pants in a bunch about this.

"Autoaim" is always present to some extent, even in Halo PC. Have you ever noticed that it's a hell of a lot harder to shoot and TK your friends than to shoot and kill your enemies?

[Zeph]

Also remember that the auto-aim, magnetism, etc. is controlled on the tag-side of gameplay.

[TheGhost]

Zeph brings up a good point... you should be able to adjust these values in your custom maps.

[Chewy Gumball]

If they don't lock it out on us.

[Stealth]

and one more thing, Weapon droping, any idea if that is going to still be in Halo 2 Vista? and what about the little Anim when the MC or Elite biped lowers it's weapon, like it is waiting?

[Atty]

Anywhere anyone wants to go, honestly.

Go out? Sure babe. :p

[Agamemnon]

Heh, in your dreams Kissy. ;)

Call me later, k? We can catch a movie too. <3

[Agamemnon]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=IAnoJgR3RQY

Kay? K.

[Agamemnon]

New update! Though it was all about the Halo 3 commerical, there was a little snippet about H2V. Bungie has confirmed that we will be able to play H2V free of charge, though they did go on to say that there would be some "tempting reasons to upgrade to a full paid Live Gold account."

http://www.bungie.net/News/TopStory.aspx?cid=9300

[TheGhost]

Hey, thanks, I'll post a newsbit.

[Agamemnon]

Auto aim, release date, and new map questions have all been updated. Also added a new question about 3D modeling.

[Stealth]

Q: How does Halo 2 for Windows Vista cope with cheating, aimbots, and so on?
I think I'm the one who asked that, where did you find this Agamemnon?

[DaBillyBob]

"Q: Will there be new maps for Halo 2 Vista?
A: Just the regular maps from Halo 2's release and the Halo 2 Multiplayer Map Pack."

I though there will be a few PC exclusive maps... http://play.tm/wire/click/976373

[Agamemnon]

I think I'm the one who asked that, where did you find this Agamemnon?
From Bungie's FAQ. :p


I though there will be a few PC exclusive maps... http://play.tm/wire/click/976373
Bungie says a lot of things and changes their minds a lot of times. The recent news update from major game sites says all they played were the regular Halo 2 maps and those found from the Multiplayer Map Pack.

[Stealth]

yes, Agamemnon, you are right, and wrong all at the same time, maybe they don't have the new Custom maps ready yet, or they're ready, they're just trying to keep people from finding out what they look like, what their names are, and why it is so cool. Bungie is making us think about Halo 2 Vista like they way they want us to think about Halo 2 Vista, and then maybe, they'll pull a fast one, and put the new maps in the game, test it out a few more times, and release the sucker.

[Agamemnon]

Stealth, from my experience with Bungie (which has been since 2001), the only fast one they pulled on me is that they could, in fact, mess up a good thing. If Bungie was really going to put in new maps then they would've said so and they would've also had a mention at least in an update. They know too well that their last extensive update ended with the bulk of the Halo 1 PC fans ridiculing because they were leaving out things we were able to do with HEK in Halo 1 PC. It's also obvious that their silence on that issue meant that they knew that was what the reception was going to be, hence why they aren't going to bring any more new news about Halo 2 Vista because it's probably only bad news.

[Agamemnon]

New update. A recent Gamespot update revealed some recommended specs for Halo 2 Vista. This is, to this date, the only true bit of info we have on the specs.

[Agamemnon]

Release date added. Also revamped the multiplayer question.

[Xehsin]

Ok, i just wanna clarify this, there will be..

NO host advantage

and

NO leading (point your cross hair a mile away from your opponent to get a direct shot)

In H2V?

[Agamemnon]

I'll let you know when it comes out.

[[MT]Slayer]

i don't think there is autoaim for mouse and keyboard, but there is for X360 controller. And what is host advantage?

[TheGhost]

Gah, I still hate how h2pc.org is the "top community" or whatever. Their forums had like no posts for 5 weeks.

[Xehsin]

Don't worry, this site will overcome them sooner or later ;).

Anyway i know that the x360 controler has that aim helper (auto aim, if you wanna call it) but what im talking about is lead in Halo PC, different servers are of different styles, i think they made HaloPC's netcode in such a way, that if your living in the East and fighting someone in the West, you need to point your crosshair cms away from the actual target to get a direct hit, which is quite tricky, and pisses players off. Host advantage is called when the host of a server DOES NOT have to lead, and can damage anyone just by aiming and shooting. Host advantage is a way a lot of begginers think they are pros, and own ppl (i have seen in the Halo PC community) and when they go to other servers, they get owned, and blame it on something else. I really hope Bungie takes those 2 things away, it would help Halo 2 Vista SOOOOOOO much more.

Plz, correct me if im wrong. :)

[Agamemnon]

Gah, I still hate how h2pc.org is the "top community" or whatever. Their forums had like no posts for 5 weeks.
*sigh* Fine. Let this FAQ be BK4U then Ghostie. They were the first though; that I remember. He does have a lot of great news posts too.

[Xehsin]

I know what you mean, i think our site should support clans and host clan battles and make dedi servers too! H2Vista.net can surpass it no problem.

Anyway i got a question... Vista Premium Ready is ... Vista Premium edition (e.g. Home Premium) right? What does HDD mean? And can someone explain what Pixel Shader 2.0 is? I am referring to the requirements for Vista. I seems as though my computer CAN be eligible to upgrade to Vista, im not sure when i bought it, but it was maximum 3 years ago, but i doubt it was 3 years.

Vista Premium Ready
Processor...................1 GHz
Memory.......................1GB RAM
GPU.............................DirectX 9 with Pixel Shader 2.0
GPU Memory...............128 MB RAM
HDD capacity...............40GB
HDD free space...........15GB
HDD type....................Normal
Other Drives...............DVD-ROM

[flibitijibibo]

Vista Premium Ready isn't referring to the edition of Vista, it's like the recommended system specifications for a game. HDD is your hard drive. Pixel shading is something used for rendering in games, which is done by the graphics card. As for your PC specifically, use this tool:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=42B5AC83-C24F-4863-A389-3FFC194924F8&displaylang=en

That should help you figure out if it will run.

[[MT]Slayer]

i only need the Visiontek ATI Radeon X1300 for the PCI bus (not AGP or PCI-E) 256 MB, and I think I'm good enough, cuz i hope i can run Vista Ultimate or Home Premium without a DVD Drive...

[Hotrod]

I don't think that you will be able to have Vista without a DVD drive, if they say that you need a DVD-ROM it must mean that it's on a DVD.

[Xehsin]

Ok, i got a question, a friend at school said that HIS friend told him that you can't download anything illegal when you have Vista. Is this true?

And after running the scan, i have found that that my computer is ready for Vista, but i have to remove programs before i do so, and there is only one program which i don't want to remove. That is Norton Internet Security, because i have 2005. So this means that i can't use Norton Internet Security 2005 in Vista? I don't wanna upgrade to a 2007 version i gotta pay like 60 bucks. :eyesroll: Anyway either than that, all i gotta change is my graphics card, and add 1 GB of RAM which i can get easily lolz.

Another question... is ATI Radeon Xpress 1150 a good graphic card? (256 HyperMemory)

[Agamemnon]

This isn't the tech and Vista FAQ; this is the Halo 2 Vista FAQ. Ask your tech-related questions in the tech forum.

[Xehsin]

xD yeah ma bad, i totally forgot about the Tech Talk, sorry about that.

I have another question... will multiplayer for Halo 2 Vista be the same as in Halo PC, where you make a server name with/without pass. And get people to join the game? Or is it different? (i didn't get this clarified)

[Agamemnon]

I'm not entirely sure. When I had an Xbox I never had XboxLive, and apparently this whole Live Anywhere is supposed to be identical to XboxLive. What has been confirmed is dedicated servers, so I guess it's possible to rift through server lists yourself. I think with the Gold membership you can just have it automatically match it up with you and other players on the same level as you.

[Hotrod]

A lot of people won't use the Live Anywhere as far as I know. They will want to chose what maps and gametypes they play. In plus, you don't need it to play online and it costs money.

[Agamemnon]

You'll have to use Live Anywhere. Silver membership is free and Gold membership costs money.

[firemann816]

what about the little Anim when the MC or Elite biped lowers it's weapon, like it is waiting?

I hope that makes the port also!

http://miniprofile.xfire.com/bg/bg/type/0/firemann816.png (http://profile.xfire.com/firemann816)

[Agamemnon]

New maps added.

[Agamemnon]

Specs and question about downloading maps added. Also, did anyone play the beta?

[Bossniak]

Specs and question about downloading maps added. Also, did anyone play the beta?

There was a beta?

[New001]

seems no one knows about it except u.

[TheSaintlyAlphonse]

Silver doesn't cost anything... :)

[Agamemnon]

New Q & A added about demo.


Q: Will there be a demo for Halo 2 Vista?
A: Yes, there will, but the release date for it is still TBA.

[Crest]

Will Halo 2 Vista support a Demo recording feature, as awell as a frame dumping option? Such as Counter-Strike or Quake 3?

This would eliminate any need for fraps and provide full framerate outputs.

[InnerGoat]

Will Halo 2 Vista support a Demo recording feature, as awell as a frame dumping option? Such as Counter-Strike or Quake 3?

This would eliminate any need for fraps and provide full framerate outputs.

Highly unlikely.

[Crest]

Highly unlikely.

Then why even make the game...









:lol:, That sucks. But I'm still getting it within 8 hours of release if I can.

It's just I don't have a really fast CPU, so I don't want to use fraps. With the demo recorder or Frame-Dump feature. I can record full 60+fps at like 1080p

[Agamemnon]

Revamped online play question.

[Agamemnon]

Release date, cheating info, and price all updated.

[HolyAlliance]

I have a question (I dont know if its been answered or not) but how do I get my 360 headset that plugs into my controller to work with halo 2 vista? I cant seem to get any response from it. Thanks.

[Crest]

I have a question (I dont know if its been answered or not) but how do I get my 360 headset that plugs into my controller to work with halo 2 vista? I cant seem to get any response from it. Thanks.

Set the mic as the sound device. Unfortunatly I don't think it will come out as just voice. It will come out as both game audio and voice.

[FireDragon04]

Anyone got the .ass exporter to work with 3DS Max 9 yet?

[`Abias]

There was a beta?

I might be wrong but yes there was a Beta. Unfortunetly, it was'nt available like Halo 3 is today. I wonder if they would have brought it to the masses, some Online play isssues could have been addressed.

[crazyowl4]

i just have a quick question can you play multiplayer at your house with ur friends as well as online?

[Con]

I think he means LAN. Yes, you can play this game on LAN, but your friends will need to have their own copy of the game.

[supersniper]

lol if you're going to quote from a site, at least source it :/