The Halo Bulletin: 6.27.13

The Halo Bulletin: 6.27.13

There's much more info at the link such as SPARTAN ASSAULT but I am only quoting the MM stuff.

Quote:

Matchmaking Playlist Update

This coming Monday, we’ll once again be adding some new items to Halo 4 Matchmaking, including new game types, maps and more. Check out the full details below.

Big Team Skirmish

Due to high demand, Big Team Skirmish will be making its Matchmaking premiere in Monday’s update. We have chosen to offer 8 vs. 8 objective as a separate offering from Big Team Infinity Slayer so as to not disrupt our most popular playlist. However, we’ll monitor population and trends so that we can react accordingly. The following 8 vs. 8 game modes will be offered when the playlists launches:

Big Team CTF - Longbow, Ragnarok, Complex

Big Team King of the Hill - Exile, Longbow

Big Team Regicide - Complex, Settler

These are some of our favorite map and game type combinations. We’re super excited about Big Team Skirmish and hope you are, too! We’re currently planning on adding additional maps and game types to this playlist in the future, so as always, swing by the War Games Feedback section of our forums and let us know what you’d like to see!

Flood Updates

Also coming next week is an infectiously fun Flood update. We’ve teamed up with the Community Cartographers and Flood fanatics to deliver a new game type and accompanying maps. The new game type, Hivemind, adds a brand-new experience to the playlist. To give you some insight into the development of this game type, I figured it’d be best to talk to the Cartographers themselves and allow them to explain the settings and project overall. Below is a note from Alzarahn and a few others who assisted in the development of Hivemind.

“I started by looking for a subsection of the community that focused on Flood content. This search led me to The Halo Forge Epidemic, The MK25 Clan, and various independent Flood forgers. I gathered together a group with a firm knowledge of Flood's gameplay balances and core concepts, with the goal of creating a singular, fresh new game type for the Flood playlist.

We endeavored together to create a Flood game type in which a player did not feel disadvantaged for spawning as either Flood or human; a balance between the two was crucial. The idea of a Flood player killing in two hits was adopted early on, along with the removal of Armor Abilities and the choice of every human's starting weapon, the beloved MA5D Assault Rifle. Concepts such as Initial and Random Ordnance as on-map weapon pick-ups, along with smaller changes to base player settings, were continually adjusted as we proceeded with community map testing.

Many great community Flood maps were polished to compliment the game type, which we eventually dubbed “Hivemind” in honor of how it was developed. I could spend hours describing the setup and core concepts of this particular game type, but I'll allow some of these community Flood developers to share what they believe makes Hivemind great:

"Hivemind gives humans a second chance to stay alive, while the default Flood is a one-lunge kill. This change increases the amount of time players get to spend on each map. Overall, it's a very balanced experience for the humans and Flood." - NARB GUY

"I truly enjoy the strategic aspects that this game type adds by allowing players to gather their own weapons throughout the map, not to mention that a two-hit Flood game type makes for a survivable and enjoyable environment for players." - Robius5991

I hope in the days to come that you can see the fruits of our labor and that the community is pleased with both what we've tried to create, and how we chose to create it. I'll see you in the playlist, dead or alive.”

- Alzarahn

I’ve had the privilege of playing several games of Hivemind myself and can’t wait for the game type to go live on Monday. Thanks to the aforementioned gameplay mechanics and new maps, the game type creates an entirely new experience for the Flood playlist, and I’d recommend checking it out (even if you don’t frequent the playlist). Hivemind will be offered on the following battlefields at launch:

Payload by Narb Guy
Drillsite by Pa1nts
Temple by Mr Pokephile
Repression by Auxi Klutch


Finally, if you can’t wait and would like to get your hands on Hivemind before Monday, feel free to download the game type and above maps!

Dominion

We’ve also been working on an update to the Dominion playlist. For starters, we have modified the resupply of the bases to provide mostly Loadout weapons and grenades rather than a large number of power weapons. Also, we’ve added a brand-new game type named Lockdown. This new mode focuses the action on one central base that both teams must fight to control. The scoring settings are as follows:

• Score to win: 100
• Capture Points: 0
• Standard Capture Time: 1
• Fortified Capture Time: 5
• Fortify Points: 0
• Fortify Time: 15
• Resupply Points: 10
• Resupply Frequency: 25
• Last Stand: False

Note: Those of you who enjoyed the "Pit of Joy" in Halo 2 might take a liking to Lockdown’s gameplay, which tends to be hectic, nonstop, and full of big explosions. We’ve also updated weapon and power-up respawns across the following maps in Dominion:

Exile
Overshield near Blue spawn
o Repawns in 90 sec (86 in Forge)
Sticky Detonator above Red spawn
o Respawns in 120 sec (116 in Forge)

Longbow
Shotgun near each spawn
o Respawns in 120 sec (116 in Forge)
Rocket Launcher on back beach in between Alpha and Charlie
o Respawns in 120 sec (116 in Forge)

Meltdown
Needlers in each teleporter bunker
o Respawns in 60 sec (56 in Forge)
Fuel Rod Cannon on main bridge
o Respawns in 120 sec (116 in Forge)

Vortex
Concussion Rifle near Red spawn
o Respawns in 120 sec (116 in Forge)
Sniper Rifle near Blue spawn
o Respawns in 120 sec (116 in Forge)
Energy Sword underneath Bravo
o Respawns in 120 sec (116 in Forge)

Additionally, we’ve optimized spawns on Haven (removed the “ditch” spawns on bottom Open Ramp), fixed a rotating ordnance issue on Simplex, and updated voting options in Infinity Slayer, SWAT and Big Team Infinity Slayer to include an on-disk map in the first slot to allow for the best experiences for split-screen players and optimized overall map variety.

Action Sack’s Mini Slayer will also be receiving a new map on Monday. The map, appropriately named Napoleon, uses a blocked-off section of Complex’s central cliff-side base and provides compact, arena-esque chaos to tickle your Mini Slayer fancy. One of our very own testers, Daniel, forged the map and worked with the Matchmaking team to create an awesome, fast-paced map. I like it, and I think you will too. We’re excited about all of the new maps, game types and settings, and we hope to see you online!