Bungie podcast talks AI, no clan support

by Richard Mitchell { Aug 14th 2007 at 3:45PM }

Tardy again, we've just finished listening to the latest Bungie Podcast (try to forgive us, we were busy editing our own podcast you know). For those of you who've yet to listen to it, we suggest you get right on it. In this episode, Frankie and Luke discuss Halo 3 AI with Mission Designer, Dan Miller. We don't want to spoil the fun of hearing it for yourself, but suffice it to say that enemy encounters in Halo 3 are set to be pants-wettingly epic. Listening to Frankie describe an exchange with a group of brutes that involved a bubble shield, a power drainer, a flashbang, another bubble shield, and a radar jammer definitely gets us excited for some (co-op) campaign hijinks.

Also mentioned in the podcast. Halo 3 will not ship with clan support. As Frankie puts it, the clan support in Halo 2 really amounted to no more than a second friends list. The Bungie boys don't rule out the possibility that Halo 3 may support clans in the future, but don't expect to see it in the retail box next month. Oh, and don't forget that Microsoft isn't planning on implementing cross-game clan support anytime soon either.

Hit the "read" link to download the podcast.

Tags: bungie, bungiepodcast, bungiestudios, halo, halo3, mgs, microsoftgamestudios

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

DjDATZ @ Aug 14th 2007 3:52PM

Listened to this on saturday...funny podcast.

Joshua @ Aug 14th 2007 4:00PM

With as much as people freaked about lack of clans in Gears of War I'm shocked to see the lack of Clans. That being said, it would be easier to go into matchmaking with friends in Halo 3 (we assume).

Still, with the cap on friends on XBL it kind of blows that your friends would have to be your clan members. After all, not all of my friends like FPS games...

Then again, I only have like 12 friends on XBL

Chester Cheetah @ Aug 14th 2007 4:07PM

Clans arent that big of a deal to me. They usually just get together and rape newbies anyways! NO BIGGIE!!

xenocidic @ Aug 14th 2007 4:08PM

@3, i totally agree. 100 was enough for original Xbox, but there's just too many different Xbox360 communities that one can be involved in to limit us to 100 friends.

my list is full mostly due to Texas Hold'em (XBLA) and Shadowrun.

mind you, I don't play Hold'em much anymore because it's been totally ruined by cheaters. but that's another issue for another soapbox.

Joshua @ Aug 14th 2007 4:09PM

@4 At least they don't back out of games as often. Then again, that was where a bulk of cheating was back in the day as well.

Double edge sword I guess...

MYPS3KilledMy360 @ Aug 14th 2007 4:09PM

Nublets that dont decide to join a clan!WAY BIGGIE!!!

MYPS3KilledMy360 @ Aug 14th 2007 4:11PM

Nublets that dont decide to join a clan!WAY BIGGIE!!!

erivera3 @ Aug 14th 2007 4:14PM

Too much cheating in H2 clan matches, though it was fun as hell to own noobs like MYPS3KilledMy360.

Regardless, Halo 3 will pwn.

Sambo @ Aug 14th 2007 4:17PM

I think they took out clan support because of the added online co-op modes. Since it was requested to have online co-op in Halo 3, it would be fair to say that whatever you guys want, something has to be thrown into the garbage, and that is clan support.

Steve Beeching @ Aug 14th 2007 4:29PM

Am I the only one that thinks the Bungie Podcast is boring? Its like "I was playing H3, and then some amazing AI happened, the the bubble shield made the game complete" lies lies lies.

K2Valor @ Aug 14th 2007 5:27PM

Bungie podcasts are the best

Edge @ Aug 14th 2007 5:45PM

Honestly, Bungie missed the point on clans.

Clans are more than just "another friends list". It was a remotely MANAGED friends list. It was a friends list that could be founded on whatever basis you wanted and you could trust a select few to manage it.

I hope whatever Bungie has in mind promotes cohesive teams. If not, it would be one thing that Halo 2 did better.

Kritz @ Aug 14th 2007 6:02PM

Eh. The only thing I wanted to do with clans was register some cool names before anyone else (Assuming Australia gets it on the 25th, we'll get it 16 hours or so before America).

Grindstone @ Aug 14th 2007 6:05PM

Clans were fun on Halo 2, until the glitchers and cheaters overtook it. Damn super-jumpers and what-have-you.

I don't need clan support, my XBL friend list is comprised of former clan members (wait, did that come out right?). We'll just group together and play BTB games without compromising the way the game is supposed to be played.

Doc @ Aug 14th 2007 7:14PM

this isn't a deal breaker by any means..but i was really looking forward to adding people to a clan for this game since you can only put 100 people on your friends list as is, having an extra 100 isn't a bad thing and if a lot of people voice their dissapointment i'm sure that bungie will listen...ala..co-op.

ccc @ Aug 14th 2007 8:31PM

Hmmm, In an attempt to get more noobs to play games over xbox live, it would seem that MS is taking a certain aproach I for one am not happy with. This would be the ability to talk shit to the oposing team. Think about this, how much trash talking is there in a game like GOW? Tons would be the answer. For the noob, he gets in the game and next thing he knows he is getting laughed at, or made fun of in one way shape or form. It really can be discouraging to some, however to others it is a testosterone thrill induced ride.
I've noticed in recent games over live you can't speak to the other team at all. Games like Shadowrun and the Darkness take away the whole element that makes the game mostly compedative and fun. I might as well be beating the hell out of bots, because thats what it feels like playing those games online.
Clans are another form that will suffer with this new stradigy MS is trying out in an atempt to make Live more appealing to the Casual gamer. Keep this up and eventually we won't even be aloud to see the gamer tag of the player we are pwning.

BananaBoat @ Aug 14th 2007 9:47PM

Clans was a way to have some sort of ongoing rivalry with other clans; A rivalry you could stat track and see the results of whenever you wanted. I think Bungie has MASSIVELY missed the point of clans this time around. For a game like Halo 3, playing with friends you know IRL, or good players you meet on Live, is so much more enjoyable than playing with random noobs that don't know the first thing about teamwork. Thank you for wrecking that Bungie. Really, thanks a ton. Now we'll have to manage clans via third party websites that will surely spring up.

Otis Whitaker @ Aug 14th 2007 9:49PM

"For the noob, he gets in the game and next thing he knows he is getting laughed at, or made fun of in one way shape or form. It really can be discouraging to some, however to others it is a testosterone thrill induced ride."

You like trash talking? I'm not a "noob", however, I do have an IQ above 3, so I don't like it. Someone should put you in a pit of idiots, and let you fight to the death, and the winner, we can beat in the head with a ball peen hammer.

Anyone who supports that crap should be banned from the internet for life.

BananaBoat @ Aug 14th 2007 9:50PM

reading the other comments, I'd have to agree that they could have either spent time on co-op over live, or clan support, and they chose co-op. If they eventually get the clan support in there via a download (a free download I should hope >_

mike @ Aug 14th 2007 10:39PM

im glad theres no clan support. I love meeting up with random friends of friends and playing online in a group of 8 (and matching up against another group of 8). In halo 2 this was rare because most groups of 8 would be part of clan matches. No point in sepearting us players like that. Now when I search for big team battler 8v8 I can just play with casual people, against casual people.

On a side note, I truly hope they have some sort of 8v8 team skirmish gametype. I would hate to have ranked games limited to only 12 players and 16 on custom games only. At least if the custom games have a browsable public list, it wont be bad at all.

ccc @ Aug 15th 2007 11:01AM

@18

Well since you seem to talk trash to me in several different ways, I would say your IQ is well below 3 and you should most definatly take your own advise and not post here any more. God forbid there be alittle competition right? Or I laugh at you for blowing yourself up. Your the classic definition of the word fucktard.