Dec 8, 2021

Beyond The Wire - BLITZ

Welcome Soldiers!

Our December update arrives and while our progression and customization system is still in development we've worked to deliver a major overhaul to team templates in addition to introducing new sub-factions, weapons and game mode changes. Read the full patch notes below.

Gameplay

Changes

- Major overhaul to roles, sections, and faction templates. The weapons, roles, and sections that are available will now be very different depending on which team you are playing and which year of the conflict your current round is set in. https://playbtw.com/team-restructure-blog/
- All layers were overhauled with new capture points, spawn locations, and capture point dimensions. Some assault layers will have multiple objectives that previously only had a large phase line capture point. Defenders on assault will now generally have spawn points closer to the objective than the attackers.
- Overtime on assault temporarily disabled until further iterations to overtime can be made (in the future will only trigger when the attacking team has made progress towards capturing their last objective in a sector instead of triggering when they have captured an objective in the current sector)
- Barbed wire with corpses strewn on them can no longer be cut
- Engineer/Construction sections are able to place 2 heavy fortifications emplacements instead of 1
- Spawn point overrun (nearby enemies prevent spawning) distance increased from 5m to 15m
- Spawn points can no longer be placed within 30m of capture zones. The intent here is to reduce how chaotic it can get on capture points when both teams have rally points extremely close together, as well as to mitigate the likelihood of having a rally point spawn-camped. The exact value of the distance is subject to change.
- Firing steps added to the engineer/construction section’s heavy fortification to enable shooting through the firing ports on uneven terrain
- Unique CEF voice lines added
- Increased the number of command points that are generated passively on assault game mode from 20 to 30 per minute. The intent here is to enable a defending team to call in off-map support abilities more frequently since they are not receiving command points for capturing objectives.
- Medic revival time reduced from 5.5 to 3 seconds

New

- Many new layers were added to support a wider variety of team templates depending on faction and year.

Fixes

- Fixed rally points not being destroyed by some explosive damage types

Factions

New

- Chasseurs Alpins and Jäger-Battalion characters added

Changes

Weapons

New

- Springfield 1903 iron-sighted variant added to some AEF roles. Bayonet cannot currently be equipped with this weapon.
- MG 08/15 added. Players carrying this weapon will move much slower than others and will be unable to aim down the sights unless the bipod is deployed.
- Model 1914, 1915, and 1916 French tear gas grenades were added. Tear gas will distort players' screens caught in the affected area without a gas mask equipped. This is an early-stage implementation, including placeholder animations, and will be further developed in the future.
- Model 1916 French smoke grenade added. Placeholder animations.
- M1883 Reichsrevolver added to Jäger and some early war German officer roles

Maps

Fixes

- Improved collision on corrugated metal asset
- Fixed issues with smoke column vfx on Poelcappelle layers

Art

- Fixed issue with muzzle flash VFX apperance
- Existing camouflage texture added to Stoßtruppen section characters' helmets (placeholder until proper turtle-shell texture is made)

- Small updates and changes to accommodate larger lists of sections as a result of the team template overhaul

Optimization / General Fixes

- EAC pak file chunk size fix to fix EAC issues
- Crash when disconnecting from server fixed

Known issues

- AMD FX users will have degraded performance due to issues with the audio system. We’re still investigating possible solutions, but here’s a workaround

1. Open following file:

C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\AppData\Local\WireGame\Saved\Config\WindowsNoEditor\Engine.ini

If the file doesn't exist, create it.
2. Add following lines at the end:
[/script/engine.audiosettings] bDisableMasterEQ=True
[Audio] bDisableMasterEQ=True

- Bayonet cannot be equipped to Springfield 1903 iron-sighted variant
- Some of the personal statistics do currently not display the scores correctly
- Personal awards are not granted correctly
- Damage radius of field cannons will sometimes cause players to not be killed immediately
- No. 20 Rifle Grenade uses placeholder sounds
- Switching Audio quality in the options menu will cause a crash when connected to a server or when playing on the Shooting Range. Please restart the game to prevent that from happening.
- Infantry section members will see a SL ability icon in the bottom left screen
- Ansoncourt underground bunkers have lighting issues
- Deploying LMG bipods on walls while prone can lead to players teleporting under the map
- Rifle Bayonet Charging may cause rubberbanding and a broken weapon animation
- Spawn Points do not have a 50 meter limit range limit for frontlines objectives
- Tear Gas effect can sometimes appear with gas mask

Dec 8, 2021

Welcome to Halo Infinite

Halo Infinite - Postums

Six years, six long years... you've waited, you've wondered, and now the time has come.

Halo Infinite releases today!

Before we dive into the details of this momentous day, let's throw it over to Bonnie Ross and Joseph Staten who have a few words they want to share with our studio and community.

Halo is about Heroism, Wonder, Hope, and Community. As we release Halo Infinite and prepare to step into the heroic boots of Master Chief, I want to reflect on a different kind of hero.

Every game has a story, a journey, and a team that goes on that journey together. Our journey was a bit longer and more circuitous than intended, but the 343 team delivered an exceptional experience that directly reflects their passion for Halo - and I couldn’t be more proud of what they’ve achieved.

With Halo Infinite we ventured into new territories with PC and free-to-play. We had a vision of creating the most expansive, epic sci-fi campaign to date, one that would give players more agency to experience Halo the way they want to. Primary to all those goals was to craft a “spiritual reboot,” in order to pay homage to what is core and essential to Halo while still evolving for a new generation. Thank you to the fans who pushed us, gave constructive feedback, and kept us true to the spirt of Halo throughout this journey.

Thank you to the 343 team who raised concerns, saying we weren’t ready for 2020 and then spent the last year polishing and refining what I think is the best feeling Halo game ever. You are the heroes - you overcame adversity to deliver something truly special in Halo Infinite and what an honor it is to serve alongside you. I can’t wait to see what the heroes of 343 and our community accomplish together as we begin the next era of Halo.

- Bonnie Ross, Head of 343 Industries

Today, all of us on the Halo Infinite team are overjoyed to welcome you into the expansive and mysterious world of Zeta Halo. If this is your first time stepping into the boots of Spartan-117, Master Chief, let me tell you: you’re in for a treat. If you’ve been with us for previous Halo campaigns, we hope that this one is your favorite adventure yet.

We also recognize that this game is launching at an incredibly tough time. The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly disrupted families and friendships. It has radically altered the way we work and collaborate as well as how we interact with each other on a fundamental human level. And honestly, some days, it’s been hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

While Halo has always been about combat - about stepping into the armor of a skillful sci-fi super-soldier with a powerful arsenal of weapons, vehicles, and abilities - Halo has also been filled with bright colors and epic vistas, with soaring music and humorous characters. And Halo has always celebrated heroism and hope.

Our sincerest wish is that this Master Chief story uplifts you. That it makes you smile and cheer. That it brings you closer to loved ones through the pure and simple joy of play. More than anything else, we hope Halo Infinite’s campaign makes you feel like a hero, who might be battered and bruised, but who always finds the courage to rise and fight and win.

Because that’s what it means to become Master Chief. And now, once again, his story is your story too.

- Joseph Staten, Head of Creative, Halo Infinite

When all hope is lost and humanity’s fate hangs in the balance, Master Chief is ready to confront the most ruthless foe he’s ever faced. Begin anew and step inside the armor of humanity’s greatest hero to experience an epic adventure and finally explore the scale of the Halo ring itself.

Jump in and play Halo’s most expansive campaign experience today on the Xbox One family of devices, Xbox Series S/X, Windows PC, and Steam!

Many of you have already jumped into the Beta of our Multiplayer experience, which launched last month on November 15th in celebration of Halo’s twentieth anniversary. Today, we look to the future of the franchise as Halo Infinite’s Campaign drops out of slipspace.

Our Campaign Overview previously gave some glimpses at what you’ll be doing when you become the Master Chief, stepping into his Mjolnir-armored boots, and make landfall on the mysterious Zeta Halo to lead the fight against the Banished. Today we’re going to dive a little deeper into some of the key features of the Campaign experience.

Welcome to Zeta Halo

Zeta Halo is the biggest campaign space ever created for a Halo game. Players will be given more choice than ever before to interact with this world, the sandbox, friends and foes (both returning and new), and more. While there is a ‘golden path’ that will lead you down the more traditional narrative road of the Master Chief’s story, the open world is a key part of what enables players to tell their own tales in the game.

Across Zeta Halo, you’ll find Forward Operating Bases (or ‘FOBs’) which you’ll have to reclaim from the occupying Banished forces. Once liberated, FOBs can be used to call in weapons and vehicles as you build up Valor points and establish a foothold across the many islands spanning the sundered area of the ring.

Valor points accrue as you complete various activities in the open world. For example, you might come across a Banished tower where a Grunt Propaganda Officer aims to demoralize the surviving UNSC forces. These towers represent a smaller reward pool as you will come across many of them in your travels, each rewarding Valor points for their destruction (along with evolving dialogue as you get closer to putting that Unggoy out of a job). Larger-scale activities, like Base Assaults, reward more Valor points that will ultimately enable you to call in more powerful weapons and vehicles, as well as stronger Marines.

“Base Assaults?” you ask? Across Zeta Halo, the Banished have set up fortifications that are just begging to be shut down. These industrial spaces are full of scrapped gear from the UNSC’s devastating defeat six months ago and are in the process of being consumed by the Banished’s war machine. Within these Bases are Marine prisoners to free, who will take up arms against their captors and follow you - the symbol of their renewed hope - into battle.

Bases are also one of the (many) places where Audio Logs can be found which tell a series of stories from a variety of perspectives, filling in the bigger picture of what has happened on Zeta Halo regarding both the present conflict and the ancient past.

You’ll also find Spartan Cores, which let you upgrade your Equipment. Yes, indeed, in the campaign you can upgrade your Equipment with new attributes and abilities. For example, the Grappleshot can be augmented with an electrical effect which stuns certain enemies when used on them. As you progress through the core campaign missions you will add the Drop Wall, Thruster, and Threat Sensor to your arsenal, which all have their own unique upgrades. Your energy shields can also be upgraded to become stronger, so keep an eye out for those Spartan Cores! Of course, the most daring Spartans may choose to forego these altogether on a Legendary run. Godspeed.

In the spaces between, you’ll find yourself pulled towards various points of interest. High Value Targets (‘HVTs’) offer uniquely curated ‘boss’ encounters which reward special weapon variants, and players who are eager to learn more about the mysterious backstory of this ring will definitely find themselves rewarded with things they come across in the open world...

Oh, and if you miss anything, you don’t have to worry about starting from scratch in a new playthrough. After the credits have rolled, you will be able to continue exploring the open world.

We don’t want to spoil all the surprises, this is just a taste of what awaits you - a harbinger of things to come - when you begin your great journey on Zeta Halo.

But Wait, There's More...

The sights of Zeta Halo are one thing, but how about the sounds? The iconic image of that great glittering band hanging in space goes hand-in-hand with a monk chant that sets a fire in your heart with the promise of an ancient, epic, mysterious adventure. And, well, you know our motto on that score: we deliver!

You can purchase the Halo Infinite soundtrack today on all major music platforms, separated into its Campaign (Gareth Coker, Curtis Schweitzer, Joel Corelitz) and Multiplayer (Alex Bhore and Eternal Time & Space) suites.

CAMPAIGN SOUNDTRACK: Spotify, Apple Music

MULTIPLAYER SOUNDTRACK: Spotify, Apple Music

Oh, and another thing...

There's no better way to pass the time while Halo Infinite installs than tuning into the Spotify-exclusive podcast drama - Halo Infinite: Memory Agent.

Franchise newcomers and seasoned series veterans alike will find a lot to love in this exploration of who the Master Chief is from a very unique point of view.

A lone secret agent from the Office of Naval Intelligence is sent on a mission to relay critical intel to the Master Chief. There’s just one catch - every seven hours, her memory resets. Now she must make a perilous journey through closely monitored space, desperate to learn whatever she can about her own past as well as that of the Master Chief. Through the help of an AI companion and battlefield reports of others who have encountered the legendary hero, she pieces together just how important her task may be.

PC/Console Experience

Of course, it’s not just the Master Chief’s equipment that’s key to the Halo Infinite experience, but your own as well.

Halo Infinite is available across the entire suite of Xbox consoles, from the original Xbox One all the way up to Xbox Series S/X. For the first time, players can enjoy a fully native experience on PC with stunning 4K graphics and world-class cross-platform play, along with Cross-Save across all supported devices.

Xbox Series X and supported PCs deliver enhanced features, such as providing up to 120FPS, 4K Ultra HD, and significantly reduced load times, ushering in the next generation of gaming with a seamless gameplay experience.

On PC, Halo Infinite supports advanced graphics settings, ultrawide/super ultrawide support, and triple-key binds, to features like dynamic scaling and variable framerates. With the most extensive suite of customization options, Halo Infinite is the best Halo experience on PC to date.

PC Recommended Specs

For the optimal PC experience please ensure your machine at least meets the minimum requirements noted above.

For more insights into the work 343 Industries has done to deliver a native, best-in-class PC experience, check out our PC Overview.

Multiplayer

Halo’s celebrated multiplayer returns, reimagined and free to play! Seasonal updates evolve the experience over time with unique events, new modes and maps, and community-focused content.

The Halo Infinite Multiplayer Beta launched on November 15th last month, Halo’s twentieth anniversary and we have already gained a plethora of valuable feedback from our community that will continue to drive the evolution of the game in the weeks, months, and years to come.

With the full launch comes a bunch of new rewards that players can earn for Multiplayer within the Campaign. Strewn around Zeta Halo are Spartan Armor Lockers which award Multiplayer Cosmetics for your Spartan.

Academy

Are you a newcomer to the Halo series? Have you been out of the loop for the last few years? Head over to the Academy to begin your Spartan journey under the steely gaze of Spartan Commander Agryna, who will guide you through this tutorial on Halo’s gameplay fundamentals.

Meet your personal AI and get to grips with Halo’s controls, movement, and sandbox. Try out a variety of Weapon Drills and test your burgeoning skills against a team of bots. Take control of Training Mode’s settings to curate your Academy experience and get familiar with Halo Infinite’s maps before venturing into the online battlefield!

Whether you’re a high-level pro warming up before hopping into Ranked matchmaking, a first-time player looking to learn the ropes, a lore fan pursuing every detail of what’s going on in the wider Halo universe – the Academy welcomes you all.

Halo Support

Please visit the https://support.halowaypoint.com/hc/en-us[/url] You can find Known Issues, installation instructions, new player guides, and everything else Halo Infinite related by visiting [url=http://aka.ms/HaloInfiniteUpdate]aka.ms/HaloInfiniteUpdate.[/url] Be sure to follow [url=https://twitter.com/halosupport]@HaloSupport[/url] on Twitter for important updates. If you encounter a bug or issue that isn’t called out on the Known Issues list, please [url=https://support.halowaypoint.com/hc/en-us/articles/360036218972-How-to-Submit-a-Halo-Support-Ticket]file a support ticket[/url] which is hugely helpful for the team to track and investigate. [h1]Your Journey Begins[/h1] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/38365036/54c9cb511275d7f26a2d3a748834cc382fc372d7.jpg[/img] [url=https://content.halocdn.com/media/Default/Halo-Infinite-vNext/001_vo_ai_cv_gruntmule01_10script_gruntmulemonologue_00400-66cf4e256e794b5f83334241dfcb164d.wav]Lastly[/url], on behalf of all of us at 343 Industries and our partners, we want to say thank you. Thank you to all our players who have come with us on this journey, whether you’ve been with us from the beginning or if Halo Infinite is your first foray into the Halo universe, this is a monumental moment for all of us and we couldn’t be more grateful for your passion and feedback which continues to help us make this the best game experience it can be. To keep up to date on all Halo news, check out our official social channels ([url=https://twitter.com/halo]Twitter[/url], [url=https://www.instagram.com/halo/]Instagram[/url], [url=https://www.facebook.com/Halo/]Facebook[/url]) and join the community over on Waypoint and [url=https://discord.com/invite/Halo]Discord[/url]. [h1]Halo Infinite Press Kit[/h1] [url=https://content.halocdn.com/media/Default/Halo-Infinite-vNext/olympuslaunchpk-aca974883d5e4e7dabddf8f5398103e8.zip]Grab the images from above and more (along with a few extra surprises) from our Halo Infinite Press kit![/url
You can find Known Issues, installation instructions, new player guides, and everything else Halo Infinite related by visiting http://aka.ms/HaloInfiniteUpdate

Be sure to follow @HaloSupport on Twitter for important updates.

If you encounter a bug or issue that isn’t called out on the Known Issues list, please file a support ticket which is hugely helpful for the team to track and investigate.

Your Journey Begins

Lastly, on behalf of all of us at 343 Industries and our partners, we want to say thank you. Thank you to all our players who have come with us on this journey, whether you’ve been with us from the beginning or if Halo Infinite is your first foray into the Halo universe, this is a monumental moment for all of us and we couldn’t be more grateful for your passion and feedback which continues to help us make this the best game experience it can be.

To keep up to date on all Halo news, check out our official social channels (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook) and join the community over on Waypoint and Discord.

Halo Infinite Press Kit

Grab the images from above and more (along with a few extra surprises) from our Halo Infinite Press kit!

Dec 8, 2021

December 2021 Devlog

Underspace - Trainwiz

Happy holidays starchasers! It’s the Wintery times, when the red liquid in the thermometer that mommy says you shouldn’t drink drops to a pinprick of nothingness and ninety tons of white pain descends from the sky to ruin your plans to wash your car and freeze your knuckles until they bleed.

In other words, it’s the perfect time to sit inside, mope about, and get a HUGE amount of progress done! Actual work. You know, content and stuff. I could talk about all the things that got done and the current state of all those things here, but I’d rather cover them in each individual section. Let’s get to it!

As always, this is just a paraphrasing of the main article, which you can read here. And of course, as always, be sure to check out our demo and Discord.

System Detailing and Do-overs

Last month I talked briefly about adding detail to star systems. Not points of interest, bosses, or quests, but the little things that add that much needed quality that Skyrim modders sometimes call “immersion”. This month, EVERY single star system has reached its goal for detailing! That’s right, EVERY single one. But what does that mean?

It means hazards around the wreck of every large ship (and mechanics for them). Asteroid miners and big asteroids in asteroid fields. Ships in every shipyard and billboards along most every highway. Subtle rotational effects on planets!

I’ve also been going back over systems and changing lighting, placements of planets and spawning bubbles to help traffic flow better, or make the lighting from stars less intense.

These redoes will be a thing constantly being done during development as places seem to flow or don’t look quite right. It’s one of those ongoing processes.

Vignettes and Points of Interest

Another massive milestone this month was that every single point of interest had its first draft finished! Some are missing textures or the mechanics aren’t quite where they need to be, but you can now see and view every single one in game.

For example, this time traveling spaceship. Loot its innards for bigtime loot, but don’t get caught in the various warps!

Or the famed Curshian Death Cube. What secrets lie beyond its deadly six sides? We can only wonder.

But we can’t forget about those naturally occurring vignettes too. Hidden coral forests, lost groves of space amber, huge snaking rock spires, and mushroom forests. Who doesn’t like space mushrooms really?

And much much more!

So, rejoice starchasers. This is a major milestone for the game, and just an example of how much closer we’ve finally gotten to releasing the game.

Campaign and Quest Work

For this month’s campaign work, I blocked out and added a lot of content to the non-unique, non-campaign systems. Those moments, areas, and setpieces that involve them, you know? Be warned, there’s spoilers ahead here!

Quests got a lot of mechanical work done to them. I adjusted how shields work for certain quests, allowed text to parse itself and display data about stats and global variables, and moved around a few old demo quests to new locations, rewriting them appropriately.

Expect to see more work done on quests in the coming months!

Various Other Improvements

Of course, lots of other things are happening as well. You can now customize your character and buy clothes for them, for example. Just be wary, because NPCs and other station interactables can now have restrictions set on them!

Combat lines have been improved, you won’t see chatter as frequently anymore, and it’s been separated out into defensive and offensive lines respectively.

And finally, I’ve made sure to fix up and improve the effects of legendary ships found in stormed areas. For example, this overloaded fighter, whose ship becomes a ticking time bomb that will rip open a rift if not destroyed fast enough (and offers excellent loot to those who manage to do so).

Assetwork

Not too much to say about assets this month. Mostly it was about finishing up the models for various vignettes, or wrecking pre-existing assets for areas where pre-existing assets needed wrecked variants. But we also have a space train! A TRUE space train, in fact.

That’s all for this month folks, Happy Holidays, and check back next month for our yearly overview.