In Response To: Re: Halo 3 becomes Forerunner (Louis Wu)
: 'sold'?
: That's how it was described by some game magazines that went to see demos.
: That's not what Bungie ever said publicly would be in the final shipping
: game.
: (We've had this conversation before, Jon, and I'll never convince you, and
: you'll probably never convince me, but I figured I should go for equal
: time here. :) )
FWIW, I found this on Google's Usenet archive. It kind of vindicates both sides of the discussion:
http://groups.google.com/group/comp.sys.mac.games.action/browse_thread/thread/9767453fe492ec72/71c1ed1ae690098f
Nathan Bitner - We have no idea what the player limit will turn out to be. The
chief determinant will not be what is technically possible, but rather
what is most fun.
When we refer to ³persistent objects², one thing we are referrring to is
the debris of battle remaining as active parts of the game world instead
of fading away - similar to the Myth world. If bodies or debris are
disappearing, then there should be a plausible explanation. Nobody likes
to watch a carcass just sink into the ground inexplicably. Well, okay,
not all that many people like watching carcasses period. But you get my
point.This applies to both the single-player and multiplayer gaming
experience.
However, other objects in the world are ³persistent² - take for example
an enemy (Covenant) base. Say that you destroy a command and control
center that disrupts communications across the Halo. You may see the
effects of such an attack at a later point in the game. You will return
to the base to Žnd it still destroyed, not just magically repaired -
unless of course there is a good reason. The world itself will be
persistent. Dead things stay dead. There aren¹t inŽnite ³bad guys². And
when permanent objects in the world change, it will be for a reason.
However, the word ³persistent² should not be interpreted as describing
the entire multiplayer world (e.g. all games on the ring at the same
time) - it remains to be seen how that will work and what, if any,
metagame will be implemented on top of the multiplayer experience.
| 
