Q) What could Microsoft’s official reply be to the following story?
A) “Microsoft does not comment on rumours and speculation.”
We might have just stumbled onto information regarding one of the biggest releases this year. Halo’s multiplayer has always been legendary, every sequel comes out with modes and gameplay styles that suits its burgeoning audiences.
With 343 industries helming the new project, rabid fans wonder what could they be doing different from Bungie. We might just be able to throw a bit of meat to satiate their unnerving hunger.
From what we have sourced it could be the presence of multiplayer bots which might be used to simulate maps before jumping onto the vicious playground that often devour new entrants.
This information comes from a developer who has been working on the game since July 2011. His duties and responsibilities in the game seek to include the following listed points
1. Wrote automation in C# that used in-game C++ hooks to create bots that fought each other to stress multiplayer.
2. Created automated bots using C# to systematically test multiplayer/campaign environments.
3. Custom made tool allowed anyone on team to run bots on their console overnight. Used SQL database to allow bots to run concurrently.
4. Maintained and upgraded existing out-of-game tools and bug collection tools based on team and personal requests.
5. Added data mining events in C++ to collect game data for test purposes.
6. Created test specs, test cases, and oversaw all testing for several areas of the game.
7. Worked with test lead to establish naming conventions and general standards for how to use internal tools.
8. Adhered to coding standards for both C# and C++ (Code Analysis, StyleCop).
9. Participated in working groups to help steer future tool development.
Out of all the points listed in his resume, the first three are of interest to us and here’s why...
Bots have never been a part of the multiplayer scene in Halo.
This is the first time we hear about the presence of bots, which have been used to test multiplayer environments.
Most people might find it a regular feature to be used in development; however we would argue that the custom made tool to run bots on the dev console, might just be prep for a new feature to be introduced in the final version of the game.
Most high profile multiplayer games ship with bots these days, to give players a sense of what the battlefield might end up looking like when the finally go online, so it would not be much of a surprise that this feature might ship with the next game.
This might also enhance the playtime of the entire game by opening up a virtual door of possibilities for those who prefer a quiet match without stepping into the murky online LIVE universe.
A few months ago we also dug up a few pre-production animations from the game which you guys can find here.
I personally think this would be awesome. Because for all those people like me who cant play on LIVE everyday can play by themselves and still have the effect that you would get from playing online
ReplyDeleteJust as long as u can use it in forge and custom games, im fine.
ReplyDeleteCampaign-style forge :D
ReplyDelete