The latest development blog from 343 shared some interesting details on Forge mode and other features for Halo: The Master Chief Collection.
Here’s the patch notes for the latest Halo: The Master Chief Collection update:
NEW FEATURES & CONTENT
Additional details for the New Features & Content items can be found below in the design update section for rotational playlists, featured content, and events for the month of February.
- Featured playlists in Match Composer
- New nameplates for future events
- New upcoming Matchmaking content
ACCESIBILITY BUG FIXES
PC ONLY
- Fixed an issue where pressing the spacebar would search for a player while typing a Gamertag in the “Find Player” prompt.
GLOBAL
- Fixed bugs where pop-up messages were not read properly by Narrator & Xbox Game Transcription.
- Fixed bugs button prompts were not read properly by Narrator & Xbox Game Transcription.
- Fixed bugs where on-screen text was not read properly by Narrator & Xbox Game Transcription.
GENERAL FIXES
XBOX ONLY
- Fixed an issue where the Main Menu would not appear after passing the title screen when launching for the first time.
GLOBAL
- Fixed a rare crash related to player stats and leaderboards.
- Reduced some excessive diagnostic reporting to improve performance.
- Improved player reporting on dedicated servers when identifying potential anti-cheat violations.
PLAYLIST UPDATE
SOCIAL 1V1
- Removed Magnum secondary from Halo: Reach Head to Head based on community feedback.
SOCIAL 4V4
- Team Slayer option has been replaced with “Precision Slayer” and “Auto Slayer.
- Precision Slayer includes weapon starts of DMR, BR, or Magnum.
- Auto Slayer includes weapon starts of AR, SMG, and Halo 4 loadout starts.
- Rotated in featured Halo: CE Anniversary category for Halo: Reach which contains maps and game settings which emulate Halo: CE.
SOCIAL 8V8
- Reduced hill movement timer from 120s to 90s and reduced score to win from 250 to 200.
- Replaced Territories with 3-plot Territories on Tempest.
- Rotated in experimental AR starts category containing AR start versions of all core Halo: Reach 8v8 map and game variants.
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A screenshot was shown giving us the very first look at Forge mode on PC. Forge mode is Halo’s in-game custom map designer.
According to the blog any content created in Forge mode will be usable by everyone across all platforms.
“First, if you don’t know, the ecosystem for user generated content (UGC) like custom map and game variants is shared across platforms. This means that content created on any platform can be enjoyed by everyone.”
This is an exciting detail, given the fact that there are some great Forge creators across the Xbox and PC communities for Halo.
There’s also some events coming for the month of February, where players can earn custom nameplates.
Black History Month Event – Feb. 1 – 29
Players can earn the BHM nameplate by launching MCC during the month of February. This nameplate will be granted once per week; it will not unlock immediately.
Winter Contingency Event – Feb. 5 – 18
Players can earn these two new nameplates between February 5th and February 18th by completing matches within the Winter Contingency featured category. These nameplates will be granted once per week; they will not unlock immediately.
Valentine’s Event – Feb. 12 – 18
Players can earn the “Put a Ring On It” nameplate during Valentine’s week by completing 10 matches in any 2v2 playlist (ranked or social) or in Firefight Doubles which will go live on February 12th. This nameplate will be granted once per week; it will not unlock immediately.
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343 also indicated that they are “working on bringing all the remaining titles to PC at the same time.”
They then provided updates on where they were with Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary Halo 2, Halo 2: Anniversary, Halo 3, Halo 3 ODST, and Halo 4.
For Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary they detailed, “Shortly after the break, we hit Alpha and are making good progress on our Beta candidate, which is largely what you’ll see in the upcoming flight.”
Time will tell if 343 can make all this magic happen, but it sounds promising at the very least.
Comment below and let us know what you think, Halo fans. Are you excited?