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Anyway, as a quick reminder to what Halo is really about I give you this. Just a video to remind you that the game was meant as a game. For fun :P.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Funny Video
We've been pretty busy lately. Trying to redesign and get the new site up and running live. So sorry for the lack of posts. We'll be coming strong with some new content as soon as we go live with the new site, until then you'll have to bear with us. We'll get you as much content as we can.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Public Service Announcement
What up Halo Epic fans!!! It's Friday and we love Friday. Plus the DXP weekend is a good playlist, team control. Played some yesterday and plan to play much more as the weekend progresses. Just remember these are "team" games so if you want to win make sure you remember to communicate with your team. And please don't play the playlist as if it were slayer. It's not fun to be on a team with someone that does that.
Anyway, it's Friday so we are going to keep it short. We are going to get into a habit of posting every week day and then getting on XBL so we can play with you guys on the weekends. So if you want to party up with us, we should be hanging around, just throw us a message.
Which leads me to the point I wanted to make in this post. Pavilion and I have been getting a lot of stuff/messages sent to our XBL accounts. Which is cool. We dig that. The map variants, screenshots, friend requests and whatever else is great. What we ask from our readers is: if you read the blog and want to submit some content to us, let us know this. We will be much happier to respond to you if you do. Just throw a HE or a haloepic somewhere into the message. Give us something cool and you might just make the site! What up!
Another heads up to our readers. We are working on a redesign at the moment. Going to get our own domain and the whole bit. Which means we can start doing some other things as well. So if you want to see something or have an idea, let us know!! Give us something good and we might even have something good to give back.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Communication 101
No, this isn't the bullshit class you had to take your freshman year of college. I went through that, it sucked. Moving on...Anyway, Pavilion and Phoenix tagged teamed a little doubles action last night (in Halo of course). The first couple games went great, we were both playing well. We were clearly outplaying, outwitting, outlasting .... wait I think that's taken. Let's just say we were winning, handedly. We played a bunch of games in this fashion.
But then we hit a rut. Now, this is highly subjective because it was getting late and admittedly we were both tired. Then our winning streak dropped off. We tied a couple games, lost one, won one. So on and so one. So again I tried to figure out what went wrong.
My conclusion on this, which may be exactly different from what Pavilion came up with, is that we just stopped talking. Not in the sense that we didn't say anything, but that we quit telling each other where we were, what we were doing, what we should do. In the games we won, I remember us clearly pursuing some form of strategy. Rush rockets, win them, hold the bottom room. Something like that. In the last games we didn't do that, we were disjointed and didn't play as a team because of it. That's my fault as much as anyone's, but I needed to point it out. When playing a team game, you must communicate with you team. Let them know what you are doing, what the team needs to do, etc. Remember knowledge is power.
Now here is the problem. You want to communicate more, and you try but it just isn't working. There is a lot of things that you must know about the game before you can become a good communicator. First, if you turn your mic on to trash talk or just to say stupid shit this is not for you. Go watch the videos we posted on the around the page and be happy. But if you want to make yourself a better team player this is a good idea.
1. Learn where the power weapons and power ups spawn on each map and the quickest ways to get them.
2. Learn the call outs for the most played maps. Call outs are a nickname that is given to a specific location on each map. You can find some of the basic call outs in the mlg forums, here. Learn these, it won't take too long and it will help immensely when playing with someone else that knows them.
and finally...
3. Playing through the map will give you a good idea of the key combat points are. Get your team to these locations and you will find yourself winning more games.
Use these tools and you will be a player that everyone wants to play with. Plus you will win more games and have more fun. That's what the game is all about!
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Crazy King
Now admittedly I'm not the best player on XBL. Not even close, Ben is much better and many of you are as well. I also know I haven't played as long as many of you, but what I have played has usually been with a good teacher (thanks Ben!). So for those of you that think you are better than me, this might not be for you. But, you might want to check it out anyway.
After that brief intro on me, I just wanted to tell you guys about a game of crazy king I played in the lone wolves playlist a couple days ago. I won this game, which is a rarity, as I normally have an intense dislike for the game style. As I went back through the game trying to figure out what I did right a light bulb came on. It wasn't so much what I did right, but rather what the others did wrong. This isn't to put those players down. It seemed they were as adequate with the stick as I was, they just missed out on a little of my strategy.
So what was this brilliant strategy that I employed? Actually, it's not brilliant. It is what every other player does in almost any other game. What I did was find a weapon that I can hold the hill with and I didn't bother trying to hold it with out it. So instead of rushing the hill with an assault rifle and grenades as my foes had done, I scoped the map for something with a bit more power. My favorite combos were battle rifle and sniper rifle, mauler, or shotgun. Nothing earth shattering. This is probably the same set up you would want to use for any other playlist. But, for some reason it seems that when people play these kind of games it is just a mad dash to the objective, rather than planning on how to get it and then protect it.
Anyway to sum it all up, don't rush the hill with a assault rifle. Sure you will earn yourself a couple points per life, but you will need 50 lives to win the match. That is unlikely to happen. Rather, find yourself a good way to protect the hill and then worry about controlling it. You'll find that you win or at least finish in the top many more times using this strategy rather than just getting to the hill asap.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Squeezing the Most Out of Your Setup
Now that Jon has enlightened everyone with the home setup of the pros, hold on to your seats - it's not over yet.
Wired controllers, low-rate TVs, headphones, and the like will all help your game line up the way it should. Low refresh rates on the screen you play on will make your shots fall as they should. Headphones will really internalize the audio and help you derive in-game cues. There's one thing that more appropriate hardware can't do for you, however, and that's improve your dexterity with the controller.
Controller settings are always a hot topic around Halo forums. What controller layout should one use for best results? What sensitivity?
Well, let's brainstorm. If much of this doesn't make sense, bear with me - it's 2 AM and I'm tired.
There exists a sort of "pro setup" that many players feel you must use to be "legit." Don't be fooled into thinking that if you aren't playing vibeless bumper jumper on a high sensitivity you aren't a good player. Yes, the most common sensitivity for MLG players is Bumper Jumper, 4-5 sensitivity, with no vibration. Let's take a look at this.
Controller Layouts
The controller layout is a very underused option for the casual Halo player. You may have never veered from the default setting, but give the others a try. You never know when you'll stumble on one that fits your style of play beyond all expectations. And with the options available in Halo 3, clawing is a thing of the past. (For those who don't know what I'm talking about, "clawing" was a technique popular in Halo CE and Halo 2 in which a player would turn their right hand to keep their index finger over the face buttons. This allowed them to jump, look, fire, and execute all of their actions with all of the necessary buttons right at their fingertips.)
- Default
Most likely, this is how you learned to play Halo. While the triggers and analogue sticks are perfectly functional, both your melee attack and jump require the shift of the thumb from the analogue stick to the face.
- Southpaw
"For lefties." Identical to the default setting except that the triggers are switched, so the same problems and advantages apply.
- Boxer
In my experience, this seems to be the most popular control scheme for casual Halo players who consider themselves pro, if you catch my drift. Again, it's virtually identical to default, except that grenade and melee are switched. Meaning that the left trigger will melee and you'll have to press B to lob a live one. Being able to maintain your aim while throwing down a melee is a big plus, but you'll sacrifice aim to throw a grenade, which is an even bigger issue. If you're a CQC kind of player, I would suggest this, if it wasn't for...
- Green Thumb
Yeah. Up until maybe a few months ago, I used to live and die by green thumb. The difference from default is that melee and zoom are switched, meaning you'll click the left stick to melee and press B to zoom your weapon. You can fire, melee, and throw grenades without having to stop your aim. Once you get used to it your melee attacks will come like lightning. Up until I re-realized the immense value of the battle rifle, I didn't think it would get any better than green thumb. Which brings us to...
- Bumper Jumper
When it comes to high-level players, this is it, the end-all-be-all of Halo control schemes. If you're trying it for the first time, be warned, this differs from default more than any other scheme. You'll jump with the left bumper and melee with the right, while you'll reload with B and change your grenade types with A. It may sound jarring, but once you're used to it, you'll be able to aim, fire, throw grenades, melee, and jump without ever having to shift your hands. All of your crucial abilities are right at your fingertips except using equipment, but that isn't nearly a frequent enough command to be a deterrent.
- Walkie Talkie
I've never actually heard of anyone using this. Left bumper will initiate your team chat while right bumper will melee. Meanwhile, B reloads, X changes your grenades, and equipment is used with up on the D-pad. Honestly, I can't think of any advantage to adjusting to this control scheme. It uses your most crucial buttons for less-than-crucial actions, putting your important stuff even farther away. But there it is.
Whichever route you choose, try to avoid this:
Stick Layouts
The stick layout options offer a couple different ways for you to use your thumbs. I've never known anyone to use anything besides default, but if your left-handedness is hardcore or Halo is your first FPS since Doom, these options may alleviate some frustration. I guess.
- Default
The default settings have the left stick for movement and the right stick for looking/aiming. I learned FPS playing Doom and Quake just like everyone else in my era and this feels totally natural.
- Southpaw
"For lefties." Again. Yes, Southpaw is a variant of both the control layout and the stick layout. For the sticks, it's the same as default only the two are switched. So you'll move with the right stick and look with the left.
- Legacy
This feels like the old PC FPS from the early 90s. Pushing the left stick forward and back will move you back and forth while left and right only look as opposed to strafe. The right stick will strafe laterally as well as adjust your vertical look. Again, I've never heard of anyone using this. But if you just can't adjust to analogue sticks that function more dynamically than the arrow keys on a keyboard, maybe this will help.
- Legacy Southpaw
Same as legacy, only the two sticks are switched. As if legacy wasn't confusing enough.
So those are your options. What's the best you ask? None. Or all. You may read all about what settings are favored by pros, but the bottom line is that it's all personal preference. I'm a bumper jumper guy, but there are pros that play default. A great deal of casual players love boxer controls.
And that leaves sensitivity. What's the best? Even moreso than the various control options, it's preference. People can recommend using difference control schemes to enhance different aspects of your combat control, but no sensitivity is any better than the rest. The most common amongst MLG players is 4-5. I'm a 5 myself. A lot of XBL players like to go high, in the 7-10 range. But it's all up to you. Choose whichever one gives you the best, most balanced control over your weapons. One suggestion, however - going below 3 will have a huge impact on your turning speed. If you get attacked from behind, don't expect to be able to turn and react in a timely manner.
Also, a word on vibration. Using the HD audio through headphones will give you the highest-quality in game cues in conjunction with the on-screen visuals. That said, vibration is unnecessary. You won't need your controller to rumble to know that someone just threw a nade at you; you'll probably see it, and if not, you'll definitely hear it, with direction to boot. Vibration will only further antagonize your hands. The last thing you need in maximizing your game is your analogue sticks vibrating everytime you shoot or get shot. It may seem like a slight detail, but believe me. Every little detail will add up over time.
Now, the boring stuff ends. Hopefully you'll use this technical information to your advantage and didn't fall asleep reading. I know the specifics of the non-screen aspect of the game can be dry and uninteresting, but it's all necessary in the quest to master Halo. The next post should be back to the good stuff, so expect an annotated gameplay video. Fiddle around, get some practice in, and we'll see you in matchmaking.
Wired controllers, low-rate TVs, headphones, and the like will all help your game line up the way it should. Low refresh rates on the screen you play on will make your shots fall as they should. Headphones will really internalize the audio and help you derive in-game cues. There's one thing that more appropriate hardware can't do for you, however, and that's improve your dexterity with the controller.
Controller settings are always a hot topic around Halo forums. What controller layout should one use for best results? What sensitivity?
Well, let's brainstorm. If much of this doesn't make sense, bear with me - it's 2 AM and I'm tired.
There exists a sort of "pro setup" that many players feel you must use to be "legit." Don't be fooled into thinking that if you aren't playing vibeless bumper jumper on a high sensitivity you aren't a good player. Yes, the most common sensitivity for MLG players is Bumper Jumper, 4-5 sensitivity, with no vibration. Let's take a look at this.
Controller Layouts
The controller layout is a very underused option for the casual Halo player. You may have never veered from the default setting, but give the others a try. You never know when you'll stumble on one that fits your style of play beyond all expectations. And with the options available in Halo 3, clawing is a thing of the past. (For those who don't know what I'm talking about, "clawing" was a technique popular in Halo CE and Halo 2 in which a player would turn their right hand to keep their index finger over the face buttons. This allowed them to jump, look, fire, and execute all of their actions with all of the necessary buttons right at their fingertips.)
- Default
Most likely, this is how you learned to play Halo. While the triggers and analogue sticks are perfectly functional, both your melee attack and jump require the shift of the thumb from the analogue stick to the face.
- Southpaw
"For lefties." Identical to the default setting except that the triggers are switched, so the same problems and advantages apply.
- Boxer
In my experience, this seems to be the most popular control scheme for casual Halo players who consider themselves pro, if you catch my drift. Again, it's virtually identical to default, except that grenade and melee are switched. Meaning that the left trigger will melee and you'll have to press B to lob a live one. Being able to maintain your aim while throwing down a melee is a big plus, but you'll sacrifice aim to throw a grenade, which is an even bigger issue. If you're a CQC kind of player, I would suggest this, if it wasn't for...
- Green Thumb
Yeah. Up until maybe a few months ago, I used to live and die by green thumb. The difference from default is that melee and zoom are switched, meaning you'll click the left stick to melee and press B to zoom your weapon. You can fire, melee, and throw grenades without having to stop your aim. Once you get used to it your melee attacks will come like lightning. Up until I re-realized the immense value of the battle rifle, I didn't think it would get any better than green thumb. Which brings us to...
- Bumper Jumper
When it comes to high-level players, this is it, the end-all-be-all of Halo control schemes. If you're trying it for the first time, be warned, this differs from default more than any other scheme. You'll jump with the left bumper and melee with the right, while you'll reload with B and change your grenade types with A. It may sound jarring, but once you're used to it, you'll be able to aim, fire, throw grenades, melee, and jump without ever having to shift your hands. All of your crucial abilities are right at your fingertips except using equipment, but that isn't nearly a frequent enough command to be a deterrent.
- Walkie Talkie
I've never actually heard of anyone using this. Left bumper will initiate your team chat while right bumper will melee. Meanwhile, B reloads, X changes your grenades, and equipment is used with up on the D-pad. Honestly, I can't think of any advantage to adjusting to this control scheme. It uses your most crucial buttons for less-than-crucial actions, putting your important stuff even farther away. But there it is.
Whichever route you choose, try to avoid this:
Stick Layouts
The stick layout options offer a couple different ways for you to use your thumbs. I've never known anyone to use anything besides default, but if your left-handedness is hardcore or Halo is your first FPS since Doom, these options may alleviate some frustration. I guess.
- Default
The default settings have the left stick for movement and the right stick for looking/aiming. I learned FPS playing Doom and Quake just like everyone else in my era and this feels totally natural.
- Southpaw
"For lefties." Again. Yes, Southpaw is a variant of both the control layout and the stick layout. For the sticks, it's the same as default only the two are switched. So you'll move with the right stick and look with the left.
- Legacy
This feels like the old PC FPS from the early 90s. Pushing the left stick forward and back will move you back and forth while left and right only look as opposed to strafe. The right stick will strafe laterally as well as adjust your vertical look. Again, I've never heard of anyone using this. But if you just can't adjust to analogue sticks that function more dynamically than the arrow keys on a keyboard, maybe this will help.
- Legacy Southpaw
Same as legacy, only the two sticks are switched. As if legacy wasn't confusing enough.
So those are your options. What's the best you ask? None. Or all. You may read all about what settings are favored by pros, but the bottom line is that it's all personal preference. I'm a bumper jumper guy, but there are pros that play default. A great deal of casual players love boxer controls.
And that leaves sensitivity. What's the best? Even moreso than the various control options, it's preference. People can recommend using difference control schemes to enhance different aspects of your combat control, but no sensitivity is any better than the rest. The most common amongst MLG players is 4-5. I'm a 5 myself. A lot of XBL players like to go high, in the 7-10 range. But it's all up to you. Choose whichever one gives you the best, most balanced control over your weapons. One suggestion, however - going below 3 will have a huge impact on your turning speed. If you get attacked from behind, don't expect to be able to turn and react in a timely manner.
Also, a word on vibration. Using the HD audio through headphones will give you the highest-quality in game cues in conjunction with the on-screen visuals. That said, vibration is unnecessary. You won't need your controller to rumble to know that someone just threw a nade at you; you'll probably see it, and if not, you'll definitely hear it, with direction to boot. Vibration will only further antagonize your hands. The last thing you need in maximizing your game is your analogue sticks vibrating everytime you shoot or get shot. It may seem like a slight detail, but believe me. Every little detail will add up over time.
Now, the boring stuff ends. Hopefully you'll use this technical information to your advantage and didn't fall asleep reading. I know the specifics of the non-screen aspect of the game can be dry and uninteresting, but it's all necessary in the quest to master Halo. The next post should be back to the good stuff, so expect an annotated gameplay video. Fiddle around, get some practice in, and we'll see you in matchmaking.
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