Differences in builds of halo.

I am just wondering what the differences between any different build of halo are? I Mean level wise, weapon wise, vehicle wise, and any other different element compared to the final release. Thanks.

 

A few pics here from an old thread by oldengineer
http://www.assemblergames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5704&highlight=halo

 

I have studied this post for awhile now. I can see the pics, but I don't mean just that build, I mean from all the different builds people have from possibly pre alpha to final. I am just curious. What I am more or les sinterested in, is the map files, if those are any different, or are those all the same, and just the xbe's are different?

 

Well, funny thing about halo alphas.... the people who have them, don't talk about them. Aside from the build OE has, i'm not sure how many other builds have become public (although i have a good idea where he got his from looking at what's blanked out). Bungie doesn't send out preview builds to reviewers, they pay to fly the reviewers to their office and play the game there. The closest thing i can think of to a leaked alpha is the multiplayer Halo 2 beta test, and even then i've never seen one for sale. Anyone who shows signs of having a proto build would be instantly hounded by the millions of halo fans out there. If someone does have a proto build, I would guarantee they would only talk about it in private.

 

Wow, That is pretty cool, so what about beta's then? Are there any differences in the maps on those? I have heard of people who have them. Is there any other builds of halo next to aplha and beta builds?

 

I have done some more looking, and still can't find anything. I have been looking for between 2 and 3 years for even info on this stuff, adn I can't find anything. Can anyone help me?

 

oh, ok, I was just trying to get some info on other builds. I only know of Alpha, Beta, and the final I almost had a alpha, and can still get a beta build, but I was simply wondering if there were any other builds. Any ideas assembler?

 

Just to clear a few things up... there are multiple alphas, betas, and golds.

An alpha would generally be from any time when the game is in active development. They're for QA testing, internal demonstrations, performance testing, occasionally review copies are alphas.

Betas are more polished. They're closer to the end of the development cycle, most features are locked down. Betas are review copies, internal/external testing, QA review, etc. The Halo 2 live beta would be an example of this.

Gold copies are final code. Once a game is finished, they submit master copies to be signed and printed. A gold build will be identical to retail aside from the security protection (depending on the system). There can be multiple gold versions of a game if there are multiple printings with bug fixes.

 

Ok, that truly is good to know. I though there was like only one established alpha, beta, then the gold, and final versions. THanks for the info.

 

PA stated good info there. Alpha, beta and gold are only used to describe the progress done in development in a general manner and not as a specific build. This applies to all games and not just Halo.

 

Ok, I know is goes for all games, but I was just wondering the differences in halo, like maybe different maps in the early builds, or different weapons, or characters that never made it into the final game, but were still in like a beta or alpha build.

 

The problem with a lot of the Halo stuff is that it never got past concept stage as they knew quite quickly that they wouldnt have time to implement most of the stuff

 

Oh, I see, well did anything? like maybe in an early alpha build there is a different map or something like that. I know in one of the posts on XS a guy shows pics for the bonus level that never made it, the pics are the image for the manu, and the text in part of the coding somewhere.

 

Does anyone know of anything?

 

Not that they'll admit to.

The Halo liscense is a touchy issue for microsoft. They basicly funded some mac programmers to change their RTS game into a FPS, and it paid off big time. The halo games are by far the biggest sellers on the Xbox, and that money is almost pure profit for them, as they own the developer and self publish the game. They don't want anything to damage the reputation of that game (jokes about the quality of Halo 2 aside).

I'm honestly suprised that OE was able to put up the pictures that he did without microsoft getting involved. When it comes to fanboys, there are few groups bigger and more vocal than the Halo fanboys. Imagine what a playable version of the Halo 2 E3 demo would do to the scene? If you thought people were begging for the sonic Xtreme disc, you haven't seen anything. It may be possible to get some information in private, but i would hazard asking in public.

One of the key issues against halo protos is the fact that Bungie never sends out discs, they always have the reviewers come to them to test the games. It's well known that the main source of pre-release games is from reviewers.

This post is already too long...

 

It may be because I'm not exactly a huge Halo fan, but I haven't heard anything about a removed bonus level. Do you have a link?

 

I will post the link as soon as I find it.

 

If you look at some early videos, when zoomed in with a sniper rifle, the area outside the targeting "area" is totally clear and non-blurred, it looks way better than the final version imho. I too am very interested by early builds of Halo, but isn't everyone?

Thanks to old engineer for sharing those pics earlier, must have missed that thread...

 

I have never noticed the clear thing, I will try to watch some of the older videos when I get a chance. I am desperatly interestd in halo. That game is the one that has made me want to become a game maker. Or work on the movie sides of games. I have had a few different opportunities to get some very rare builds of halo, and due to not having a job, I have not been able to get them. So I thought I would just try to put a thread here, to see if anyone knows of any major differences in different builds. Apparently not, so I am still wondering though, and I still want to find out.