How the Halo PC LAN went down. Pics and video.
Submitted by rapture on Wed, 05/27/2009 - 5:48pm.
This past Sunday, the Hushed Casket (THX) gathered for a private Halo PC LAN party. While we’ve been known to throw a Halo LAN party or two, we’ve never hosted a PC LAN event. Much was learned.
(BattleBitch pwned kb/m)
You see, Halo PC came out in 2003; two years after its release for the XBOX platform. Since our community is dominated by XBOX gamers, it’s been difficult to find enough traction to consider hosting a PC event. After all, XBOX Live has gotten stronger and some great XBOX games that have come out in the last 5 years that have attracted the attention of our community: Halo 2, Call of Duty 2, Gears of War, Halo 3, Call of Duty 4 to name a few. With games like those, I know for a fact it was hard to convince friends to invest in the hardware to try computer games; even with some of those same games offering the same and more experiences than the console counterparts.
(Guess who?)
During the release of all those great XBOX games, the Hushed Casket members still held Halo 1 as the standard of first-person shooters on the console. To this day, the core group of THXers prefer Halo 1 to even Halo 3 [article at Newsweek].
In the last several months, there was discussion of holding a Halo PC LAN instead of our traditional XBOX LANs. Why? Because the XBOX players could play with their controller and they would have the benefit of multiplayer gaming with full screens (not the splitscreens that would be required with XBOX Halo). For those unfamiliar with Halo 1, back in those days there was no XBOX Live and Halo 1 only supported up to 4 XBOXs in one game. So, if you wanted to play an 8 v 8, you could only use 4 TV’s and each TV would have 4 gamers splitscreening.
(J-DOGG)
Perhaps the modern shooters on the XBOX 360 have actually helped some of the hardcore XBOX gamers to open up to the idea of playing multiplayer Halo 1 in a full-screen atmosphere. This is because games like Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4 now support 16 in-game players all playing from there own XBOX 360 on their own TV. Maybe we don’t want to LAN Halo 1 on small screens. (That didn’t stop us from having a Halo 1 LAN two weeks ago. [vids and pics from the XBOX LAN two weeks ago])
The LAN started at noon and gamers filtered in and out through the day until late that night. We had good 4v4, 5v5, and 6v6 games playing classic Halo 1 gametypes on classic Halo maps. I installed the Halo PC dedicated server software on an old 800 MHz Pentium 3 XP box. The server ran perfectly.
(Mikeulus)
The only hiccups in the PC LAN were with people having incorrect settings on their BYOC equipment (video settings, network settings, sound card issues). Other than those issues (which were to be expected at a first-time LAN), the LAN went smooth and there’s definitely a base to build upon.
Some of us learned that our old PCs can actually handle the Halo PC software just fine. Afterall, the minimum system requirements are a 733 MHz CPU, a 32 Mb video card, and 128 of RAM. My wife’s 15” DELL Studio laptop ran the game just fine. The next time there’s a BYOC LAN, I can just pack up the laptop and a mouse and I’m good to go. Sure beats carrying around an LCD and XBOX 360 hardware, games, and peripherals.
Notes from the LAN:
1) Networking was the biggest issue. Switches don’t broadcast IPs. Routers would work better. We had to connect to games via direct IP address and the dedicated server wasn’t visible in the game server list to all clients. XBOX 360’s don’t have any issues with this.
2) A Ventrillo server would have been great for voice chat. But, that would have been an extra layer of hardware (microphone) that I don’t think would have been adopted by everyone.
3) The latest version of Halo PC software is 1.0.8 even through the software advertises 1.0.7 as the latest version. *cough*Sawnose*cough* Even Microsoft's official Halo PC page is behind the times offering version 1.0.6: http://www.microsoft.com/games/PC/halo.aspx
4) CD Key checks are still in place. Yeah, don’t even try it.
5) MacSoft, the company that made Halo for the Mac (ironic but awesome at the same time), was acquired by Destineer Studios and they are no longer able to sell the game or CD Keys. They don’t hold the license. Who holds the license and where can a guy buy the Mac version? Once the online retailers like Amazon are exhausted, Mac users will be out of luck. That’s probably a position that Microsoft doesn’t mind Mac users being in. However, don’t forget that Halo was originally being developed for the Mac [10 Years of R.net]. By the way, $150 will get you a copy of Halo for the Mac on Amazon.
6) Time to dream! We certainly hear the rumors about Halo 1 being ported to run on XBOX Live, perhaps as an XBOX Arcade title. The dream lives on deep within Halo Nation. But wouldn't it be _more_ likely for Halo PC to be offered as a free add-on to a Windows operating system. Imagine Halo PC being offered with Windows 7. Who knows. Maybe some clever programmer at Microsoft will embed Halo PC inside MS Excel 2010. But really, Halo PC is being neglected, as evidenced by the latest version of the software being hard to find and locate; probably because the support contract ran out a while ago (...or was used to make Brothers in Arm - I kid; kinda). Halo PC's probably would make more money for Microsoft if it were free in Windows 7 that if they continue to sell the game separately.
7) Did you know? Gearbox Software wanted to increase Master Chief's running speed when they are porting Halo PC. This is why the exclusive Halo PC map named Infinity is so large. GBX thought that MC would be running a lot faster. Thankful that MSBungle shut this one down.
8) Also, I flew a hornet in a Halo 1 before you did it in Halo 3. It dropped bombs. TTYL.
9) The jury is out as to whether we'll LAN XBOX Halo or Halo PC next. There haven't been many negative comments about the LAN. And I can tell you right now we could all be gaming Halo 1 multiplayer against our friends. After all, Halo PC works well over the Internet when connected to dedicated servers.
10) Speaking of dedicated servers, if any of the HBO-COERCE crew ever want the gametypes, synide is hosting them privately. Get with him or me and we'll help you out.
11) Man, I'm tempted to throw that server back up. jay?
12) D1ESEL. Where the heck are you? Zyos?
13) E3 is next week. What will MS and/or Bungle show?
14) = 7*2
/ pEAce
Tortora's. We must get us some.
Will everyone who doesn't have HPC (and downloading it at the event) be able to download the updates/patches at the LAN?
My headset doesn't work with vent for some reason, so I'm going to ask everyone all the time what to push to type to my team.
Yes. Through my internet connection or on Disavowed's disc or I can burn it to a disc. Not a big ish.
I bet we can get your headset working...
You can check your keyboard commands in the settings menu. The default mappings are T and Y for all and team chat.
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JDOGG is in. Sweet!
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Have fun guys, wish I could attend. I'll make sure to pwn something on the beach, maybe a crab or something.
SHYZZA is in. Sweet.
i'll be there. I ahem...acquired this game recently. Can't get my controller to work at all. Vista recognizes the 360 controller, but HPC will not. Any ideas?
Got any game requests? I can add them to the mapcycle so we don't waste any time selecting games.
sv_mapcycle_add hangemhigh "ts"
sv_mapcycle_add carousel "ts" <-- Derelict
sv_mapcycle_add wizard "ts"
sv_mapcycle_add prisoner "ts"
sv_mapcycle_add ratrace "ts"
sv_mapcycle_add bloodgulch "ctf3"
sv_mapcycle_add timberland "ctf3" <-- HPC map with next to no learning curve
sv_mapcycle_add damnation "ts"
sv_mapcycle_add chillout "ts"
sv_mapcycle_add beavercreek "ctfbc" <-- no shields CTF on Battle Creek
Rebuilding my Linux box to run Windows so that I can install the HPC Dedi.
Have fun guys! I miss playing HPC...oh well. Maybe when I get my new computer this fall I can install it.
Got the Dedi up. Sweet. Recommend everyone add this to their Halo shorcut IF THEY ARE HAVING ISSUE WITH FRAMERATES:
======================================================================
II. PIXEL SHADERS
======================================================================
Pixel shader versions are the most commonly used tweaks to improve gameplay.
They can drastically increase performance in FPS, but not without a price. All
of these will be explained below.
a) -useff
First off, to enable this, make your target look like this: "C:\Program
Files\Microsoft Games\Halo\halo.exe" -useff
What this tweak does is disable all the pixel shading in the game by making
your graphics card work like a fixed function card. This will make everything
look very bland, but run very fast. The biggest thing is the shields with this
tweak on look like a solid green wall around the Master Chief. Also, MC's visor
will be solid black and his single player colors will be distorted. The game
will run very fast if you have a decent computer.
b) -use11
Make your target look like this: "C:\Program Files\Microsoft
Games\Halo\halo.exe" -use11
Pixel shader v1.1 is a very minor step down from 2.0 and a drastic step up from
shutting it off completely. The game will look nearly as good as with v2.0 and
will run a whole lot better. If you are still getting some slow downs when
using this tweak, try turning off reflections and shadows.
c) -use20
This is the default pixel shader version and you do not need to change anything
in the target to make the game use this.
This is where the FPS slow downs hits. They are practicly unavoidable with this
version enabled, especially in Covenant buildings where there is a ton of bump
mapping, which causes the FPS to drop. Even with a great computer, you will get
a horrible frame rate.
======================================================================
III. SCREEN SHOTS
======================================================================
a) -screenshots
Put this in your target and hit the print screen key to save a screen shot.
Make your target look like this:
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Halo\halo.exe" -screenshot
b) Where Halo Stores the Pictures
They will be in a folder called "screenshots" in your Halo directory. Screen
shots are saved as .tga files, which most people can not open. I will explain
how to convert .tga files to .jpg files in section III.a.
c) How Halo Stores the Pictures
You can take as many screen shots as you want, but once you switch levels, it
will start overwriting the .tga files. So if you enter a game, press "Prt Scrn"
9 times, 9 files will be created titled 0screenshot00.tga through
8screenshot00.tga. If you leave that game and press "Prt Scrn" again,
0screenshot00.tga will be overwriten.
This comment has been moved here.
Glad you had a good time, Midnight, and are getting used to kb/m. If the developers programmed an action into the game, then it can be mapped to a kb/m button. This is why I prefer kb to controller. With a controller, it's hard to do certain things at the same time. But with 5 fingers on the kb/ I've got 5 things I can do at once on just the left hand.
Before I play a new PC game, I always think through where I want to reach my finger to press a button. For instance, I want all weapon related actions on my mouse. So, besides fire (primary) and fire (secondary), I've got zoom, weapon/grenade switch, melee, and reload mapped to my mouse. For one, this makes the most sense to my brain: RIGHT hands controls aiming/LEFT hands control my character and environment.
This means I can aim, melee, move, jump all at the same time with great accuracy. I certainly want to do all of that when I'm with reach of the enemy. With Halo's default controller setup I can't aim and melee at the same time. I have to aim and then melee, which causes me to lose 1v1 fights by a split second. If you think about it, many of your deaths in Halo 3 (or another FPS, maybe CoD4) are lost in hand-to-hand combat.
I think once you spend some time with a kb/m, you'll get a lot better...and fast. It just takes a few hours to get used to the layout of the keys and their commands. And you'll find that you can easily program all PC game commands to your custom kb/m preferences. This would mean that when you'd switch from Halo to CoD4, you wouldn't be throwing grenades when you intend on meleeing or zooming when you want to crouch, etc.
If you were going to put any significant amount of time into a FPS or other PC game, I'd recommend getting a 5-button mouse.
I (and anyone who knew how to use RCON) had full control over the game and game lobby. I could have slowed the lobby down and let everyone pick teams before/after a game. I just didn't take the time to do it since I knew the traditional maps/gametypes we played would be suitable and since you can change teams in-game.
Now that we've got an idea of the skill level of everyone, arranging teams next time will be easier and we probably should do it.
I had a lot of fun. I'll definitely do it again, but it is a little different from what we're used to. I think the benefits of having your own screen and joining/dropping whenever outweigh using a controller for LANs.
I noticed a bunch of different people played on ErinzLaptop, and it was alright. If it was on a console, you'd have to worry about squeezing four people into a corner, making sure they're all on the same team, and that they're playing someone with an equivalent skill level.
Yeah, it was really comfortable gaming on my own monitor, even if was the laptop screen. Splitscreen on a 22" > having my own 15".
Speaking of laptop, it was good to know that if there's ever a BYOC event I can just pack up the laptop and a mouse and I'm good to go.
It was fun, but I enjoy the Halo 3 LANing better. Just because I'm more proficient at it. ;p
Good points, Eric. With a few seconds spent selecting teams we've got a winner with HPC.
i definitely enjoyed this. I'm not sure if i like H1 xbox, or HPC better?
I retract my previous statement as to using a controller for HPC. In fact, it is NOT a good idea. Now I know. And knowing is half the battle...
JayWhy told me that you can get better drivers than somewhat eliminate the "drunken master chief" effect. Worth a search if you're looking for a controller solution.
Yeah, I was going to post something about the controller issue. It's a driver thing; specifically having to do with the 45-degree axis.
I was also wondering if the original XBOX controllers played differently than the 360's. I'm guessing they might since they might use entirely different drivers.
I"m interested in testing a hypothesis I concocted. What if you were drunk, while playing "drunken" Master Chief?
Had a blast. Halo PC makes for a pretty great LAN. Everyone also seemed to get used to kb/m setup pretty quickly!
I've done this. I still own. ;)
As for drivers, I used the original Xbox controller with a USB adapter and the best drivers, at that time, were actually made for Playstation controllers. This was of course pre-360.
Totally wished I'd been there for this :(. Maybe I'll make a special trip in a year or two once the money situation is settled so I can teach all you guys how to play the game for real :).
This was a great time. I'm actually glad the controller didn't work out for me because it forced exposure to the kb+m. I wouldn't say I'm proficient with kb+m, but I definitely feel comfortable using it with an FPS now.
Jump in anytime nature of HPC was great. However, my biggest complaint about the HPC LAN is that we missed out on intelligent teaming. The pre-game lobby is a great way to organize teams before launching the game.
BYOC setup was great. No sharing screens. 16 people in a game, each with his own screen. HPC is definitely a slightly different game than Halo 1 on Xbox, but I still enjoyed the LAN thoroughly.
This Sunday from 10 AM until you stop, we'll be gaming Halo PC at rapture's house. If you're reading this and have got THX cred, you are welcome to attend.
Confirmed attendees thus far:
01. FoulBreed
02. Midnight
03. Mikeulus
04. Disavowed
05. Goku
06. Mintz
07. rapture
08. BattleBitch
09. DeathSlayer
10. JDOGG
11. SHYZZA
47after? Cyneater?
BYOC. Why computer and not XBOX? Because it's just about as much effort to bring a console, you have the option to play with a controller, and everyone will be able to get their own screen (no more 320x240) gaming on small LCD's. This will make organizing games much easier.
Things to do before you come:
* If you have Halo PC, install it and download the latest updates.
* You can buy the game for $10 on some sites. If you don't own a game disc will be provided at the LAN.
* If you don't have Halo PC, download the demo and adjust your computer to run the game.
* Make sure your controller works with the game if you are anti-kb/mizzouse.
* Install Ventrillo voice chat software (optional - link will be provided later).
Things provided:
* A Halo PC dedicated server. This means, no more lame host advantage.
* Classic THX gametypes. I'll see if I can setup some 100 kill games.
* A Ventrillo dedicated server. Team-based voice chat. Easy.
* Tables, chairs, routers.
Recommended accessories:
* Headphones instead of speakers. Prevent noise pollution, causes less clutter, and sound much better IMO.
* Microphone. They taste good and will help you communicate with your team.
* Networking cables. Longer the better. Ask Cortana.
Food/Drinks/Smokes:
* We can order $5 medium pizzas from Dominoes. McDonald's/Taco Bell is down the road and we can grill some food if you like.
* Bring your own drinks of whatever type.
* Bring your cigars
What to expect:
* TS50K on classic Halo maps, CTF3F on classic Halo maps.
* We'll limit play on new Halo PC maps unless the group is curious. You'll die just the same.
Want to come and don't have a PC that will play Halo PC? First off, Halo PC came out 6 years ago. A computer bought since then, even a laptop, will likely play the game will little difficulty. Having trouble getting it to run, turn down the resolution and turn off specular highlights and shadows. Else, Disavowed and I may be able to provide a computer. No guarantees.
Bring an XBOX. All else fails, bring your BYOX and an old school H1 LAN may evolve. However, this is a Halo PC LAN. We don't need may XBOXen.
Unless otherwise specified, we will not be playing the Halo: Custom Edition add-on for Halo PC.
More later. Will update this thread then.
That video rocks my face off. Hilarious editing of "I'm nervous! They've got the flag...got the flag...got the flag."
...I'm on a double running riot here.
That was an awesome video. Nice editing. The LAN was great also. Thanks for doing it! In summation: JayWhy was right - controllers are bad and so is rapture. Let's do it again sometime.
Great video and writeup rap. It reminded me of the types of videos that came out on H.B.O. back when H1 was in its prime....so good. I laughed pretty hard when you had the camera pointed at the Legendary helmet and was clearly...."squatting."
One of these days I'm going to have to make it to a LAN....maybe sometime this summer?
Cool vid, and great writeup. It's always fun to look at these and remember how much fun we all had. The KB+M setups don't take very long to get used to, either.
haha thats a good vid. That was maybe the most fun I had at a LAN because everyone sucked as much as I did. "Im so nervous!"
----------------------------------------------
THE POWER OF THE X
Here's an old video from the HPC World Championships. The only league gametype was 1 Flag Assault; each team alternates Offense and Defense through the 20 minute half. The flag spawns at the Offense's base and they must plant it in the enemies' base as many times as possible during the 2 minute round. Touch return on the flag. 5 v 5. This means it's hard to cap a flag; especially on large maps where you've got a lot invested in a trip to the other team's base.
Vid has a good ending (for us). Shot by synide. WTH is D1ESEL? Miss that kid:
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We'll def have a LAN this summer. I expect to go to another one within the next few weeks.
I want to have a big one in the summer. Get jayWHY down here. Give us enough to do a manhunt for D1ESEL. Try to get sy down. Maybe an HBO'er or two.
I'm planning on hosting a LAN in late June/early July.
Believe it.
I really enjoyed the LAN and cannot wait until the next one :) Kb+M was an interesting twist to a game that I have a never ending love for. I also would like to say that I don't think i have ever seen a better home made video in my life :) "I'm so nervous" great stuff! Make sure to invite Andy to the next one :)
We'll def have a LAN this summer. I expect to go to another one within the next few weeks.
I want to have a big one in the summer. Get jayWHY down here. Give us enough to do a manhunt for D1ESEL. Try to get sy down. Maybe an HBO'er or two.
Sounds good. I'll find a way to make it there.
Yesterday we got to talking about our next LAN. FoulBreed mentioned that he'd like to go to another Halo PC LAN. Celery pretty much confessed that he was pissed off that we help a PC LAN when was going on his honeymoon. And I'm itching for another LAN of some sorts; preferably a PC game although I think H3 is about as good of a game on LAN as we can get (widely adopted and a decent FPS).
So, I'd like plan another Halo PC LAN to happen in the next month or so. I'd like to give enough warning to any out-of-towners that may want to come (jayWHY for instance).
Also looking forward to possible LAN events in the future with these releases:
Halo 3: ODST - Sept 22
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare - Nov 10
I'd love to LAN HPC again soon.
Also, I'll sign up to host our innaugural MW2 LAN. I say we hold it Saturday November 14th, the weekend after release. Any thoughts on that date?
As Rap mentioned in person, we need to hold an ODST LAN before MW2 releases, else we'll have an internal struggle over which game to play. Anyone game to host an ODST LAN in October?
Disavowed mentioned his HALOween LAN event as a possible venue to do ODST.
Got a few invites out to a few out of towners to see if they can attend a Halo PC event in the next 4-6 weeks. If they don't bite, we can do one earlier.
I'd be down for some HPC gaming. Also looking forward to MW2 in November as well.
I'd also be willing to offer up my place for some ODST action if people want to play it before HALOween. If it's gonna be popular, I'm pretty sure Josh has more room than me.
Hey anyone want to 4v4 team or clan CTF Halo pc ?
xfire: scou4ge
aim: tek9se7en
You guys still lan in the huntsville area? Been looking for a local group to game with.
How did you run a dedi server if you provided installs?
I have a LAN comming up in two weeks and it would be a great help to run a dedicated server.
Josh_Oakes@hotmail.com is my email
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