Sandbox: a look at one of the new Mythic maps

Sweet! I'm looking forward to the new maps. Sandbox in particular looks like fun. May have to pick up Halo Wars just to get the map pack.

I've paid for the other maps and played them about five times. I'll probably buy these if everyone else plays them, otherwise I'm going to be a tightwad.

Still don't own a copy of H3, returned the loaner to future brother-in-law, and I will not pay for H3 even if I find a copy for 20 bucks. Maybe 10 bucks, but then EA will just yell at me to buy the map packs!

Celery, Bungie makes Halo, not EA. Also, where did you find the picture of Sandbox?

Best comeback ever! Get it right, Celery.

Bungie released it on their website yesterday: here

@Mintz: there's only about 4 or 5 people that play Halo 3 regularly on my buddylist. DeathSlayer and I play several times a week. Disavowed plays once or twice a week. Goat and Devin play a couple of times a week.

I can say that I'm having a some of the best time play H3 right with Disavowed and DeathSlayer. I've neglected CoD5 and GoW2 in favor of good 'old H3.

The Squad Battle playlist is money. BR start and THXish gametypes. TS100 and 2 Flag CTF come up a lot. The BR start makes just about any map bearable for me.

Unforch for Celery, almost all of the playlists require the DLC.

What's my shotgun's name?

Likewise on the GGs in H3. I still haven't found a multiplayer game I like more, esp. now that they've incorporated Squad Battle, for all the reasons EA just listed...

Wow that guy stuck it to me like a plasma. I actually thought Epic created Halo thanks for the clarification Epsilon!

New info on Sandbox in Bungie's latest weekly update: http://www.bungie.net/News/content.aspx?type=topnews&cid=17091

Looks like it will be customizable like Foundry, but on a larger scale. Could be a hit.

I find myself becoming less and less enthused with shooters and the console in general....and longing for games of the past like Rogue Squadron and my former Wii.....am I crazy or just nostalgic?

Rogue Squadron was a blast. One of my favorite games of all time.

Rogue Squadron was definitely one of my favorite franchises. I loved one that come out with the GameCube.
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"Don't blow this, Gene!"

My real problem is a lack of desire to really game much anymore...coupled with a lack of time to play them(in other words, slipping down and down on the priorities list).

Uh oh, you're starting to turn into me. Lots of things are happening in your life, and you suddenly start having less and less time to play video games. It must be pretty strange to be in your position, considering your job involves video games.

You'd think you'd have a lot more free time since you're not spending it playing video games, but you find other things to do instead, trust me. I still enjoy playing games, especially with THXers (and even then I enjoy the actual THXers more than the games we play together), but it's not as big a focus of my life that it used to be.

It's not a bad thing. It's a strange transition.

I hear ya.

I've come to the conclusion that it's purely because of college right now. The school I'm going to is pretty intensive in terms of when you graduate- for example, I started with no transfer credits at Madison Media Institute this semester, and I'll be done, totally, May 2010. I think it's also because I want to put forth my best effort in learning VMG(Video & Motion Graphics), and get great contacts/colleagues/peers.

I'll always game...but at this stage it's not that important compared to becoming a video professional.

I agree, it's not a bad thing.

I don't know what I would have done if Halo PC had come out while I was finishing up. It would not have been good.

Yeah, it's pretty difficult to balance school with other things, but I'm letting school dominate the priorities list!

Sandbox will have 3 levels. The underground level is called the Crypt.

"We split up Sandbox so that players have options on how to build their space without having to use a lot of pieces to box off the other layers. It’s much more resource-friendly to have them blocked off by default. The bum deal about this arrangement is that players just can’t get into a banshee and from one layer to another. However, the positive side is that players can pick and choose which layers to play on without having players getting out of their intended play area and have to use extra resources to block them off. Plus, three is always better than one!"

"It originally started with an idea of having a hidden arena placed about 200 feet below the main gameplay space of Sandox; hidden away under the dunes. After we got this in and started messing around with it, Dmiller had the thought that people still can’t build a Guardian or Lockout style map, so the sky bubble was born. Basically having these three distinct spaces gives players templates for a style of map they want to make without having to use so many Forge objects just to create the foundation. Want to build a castle in the sky, use the bubble. Want to build an open vehicle map, use the main floor. Want to have an enclosed area, say for Grifball, use the crypt."

Going to be a great map for CTF and Slayer.