Halo 3 Alpha/Pimps at Sea

I'm wondering if the Halo 3 Alpha Build also known as Pimps at Sea (its code name when it was being seen played on Xbox Live) has ever seen any sort of release?

I've seen some people on the forums talk about having access to it but have been unable to contact them. I know there was a multitude of leaked screenshots that hit the internet back during the Alpha stage of Halo 3. Any new sources of information, pictures, videos etc. would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

Weren't Microsoft employees the only ones who had access to this?

 

I'm not 100% sure about that it may have only been Bungie employees. I know at one point Bungie allowed U.S. soldiers in Iraq to play either an Alpha or Beta of Halo 3 which is when a lot of pictures and videos first started to leak.

If Microsoft employees did have access to it I figure there is a good chance that someone has it, as this was the case with the Halo 2 Beta and that has found its way into more than a few people's hands.

I saw an ASSEMbler user by the name of JamesMichael mention he had access to it in a post but he didn't respond to my PM.

 

I swear, I hate see the titles of these topics popping up on the main page because I get so excited!

As others have said, pretty sure it was Bungie only as well as the army testing it (only cause I remember those pictures that popped up)

& That Halo 2 Beta really isn't as rare as it seems. Tons of people have it now.

 

Yes i believe so

 

I doubt if this were as you say, it would have long been available. :shrug:

 

Sorry for missing this I will respond to your PM over the weekend Bluedevil70 I've been busy recently. Unfortunately I wont be able to go in to detail how I had access to it at the time but I can answer questions relating changes.

 

There are alot of people who have it, but it's still not publically available I believe. I'm also not sure if the H2 beta is playable any longer with the original XB1 Live structure being shut down, don't really know if PNet still supports xb1 or not.

 

hmm

was pimps a FULL game or was it an online ONLY version of mp with no sp ??

 

pimps at sea its actually a long running april fools day joke by bungie

 

It was also the codename for Halo 3 alpha.

 

HATAZ WALK DA PLANK

 

I have stumbled upon it on the net only once (some public file hosting website)
but by the time I found it I had already purchased a copy. So it has been on the net before...

Also, this beta that has been passing hands is an Xbox Live Beta which can be run on retail Xbob's, no need for a dev with extra ram or PNET access. Everybody says opposite, but I am pretty positive that's how it is.

Off-topic, I know, but I have been searching for some Bungie April Fools day sound clips forever. I forget the year, but they put up short clips of the Multiplayer Announcer saying things like "Sucker Punch!" and "Lemon Party". They were incredibly funny sounding, and I always wanted to inject them back into Halo 2.

 

If this beta was available through Xbox LIVE, it would have been signed so that only the console that downloaded it can play it. You would either need a JTAG or development kit to play it.

It could have been sent to employees on a disc though, you never know.

 

I never said you downloaded it off Xbox Live, I said it uses Xbox Live and not PNET. It was sent out on a pressed silver disc with a small pamphlet detailing the controls and showing a spartan with dual SMG's.

EDIT: Also, I am talking about the Halo 2 beta, so JTAG is void.

 

The alpha is pretty rare, haven't even seen pictures of a build (apart from the leaked videos and pics)

Epsilon is probably still hosted on XBL.

 

Oh, I thought you were talking about Halo 3 Alpha. Sorry.

 

Sorry everyone for the slow responses I haven't had access to a computer all day.

No problem take your time, I'll likely be responding slow as well.

For those wondering, the Pimps at Sea Alpha was multiplayer only I believe. I'm pretty sure it had High Ground, Valhalla, and Epitaph. There is also footage of the Alpha version of Narrows and The Pit from a Bungie Multiplayer Vidoc. Last Resort may have also been in there.

As for Pimps at Sea, as has been said previously it is a long running Bungie April Fool's Day joke for their next game. At one point I think they release some joke pictures of a reconfigured Steel Battalion controller for use with it.

Finally, regarding the Halo 2 Beta. Originally it could be played on a retail Xbox on Xbox Live, as has been said before. After the Beta was over people with Developer Xbox's played it on PartnerNet. Now that the original Xbox service no longer works it requires some clever trickery to get working. I wouldn't call it rare, but it's definitely not common either. It took me a few years to get it, although I am by no means as well connected as half the people on here.

 

Out of interest - does the halo 2 beta contain any single player elements?

 

Halo 2 Beta was multiplayer only. But it had some pretty big changes from the final game such as the Hud being different. The Mongoose was still in the game along with a weapon that was kind of like the Sentinel Gun. Also it seemed Bungie wanted to include the Theater option in Halo 2 similar to what was in 3 but due to the Xbox 1s hard drive being pretty small they had to take it out.