Halo For PC Saved From Gamespy Shutdown With Official Patch

Steven Bogos

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Jan 17, 2013
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Halo For PC Saved From Gamespy Shutdown With Official Patch


An employee from Bungie worked with the Halo PC community to patch the game so it can live on past Gamespy's death.

Halo for the PC was one of the multitude of games that relied on the PC matchmaking service Gamespy for its online play. When GLU announced that it was pulling the plug [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/133492-Glu-to-Turn-Off-GameSpy-Multiplayer-Servers-Next-Month-Update] on the service, Halo PC fans were understandably distraught. Luckily, Bungie has swooped in to save the day, working with fans to create an official patch for the game that will allow it to survive after the shutdown. Hooray!

You can download a test version of the patch direct from Bungie's website [http://ph.bungie.net/halopctestbuilds/halopc-1.10.4.zip], though a final version should come down the pipe at some point soon. The patch uses a new Master Server list that is completely independent of Gamepy, and the Halo dedicated server code is included in .zip, which will allow fans to continue to host their own servers for as long as they see fit.

As well as keeping the game alive, the patch also contains a handful of bug fixes:
permit resolutions up 4800x3600
enable active camo on Nvidia (it will render like other cards now instead of just alpha blending)
fixed video memory value to support 2GB cards
fixed handling of periods in map names
network access is enabled in devmode
sv_ban_penalty in init.txt works to set new values
models node limit raised to 63
ignores checksum of strings.dll
various overflow, validation and other code fixes

Little stories of a dedicated PC gaming community banding together (with a little help from a dedicated developer) make me proud to be a PC gamer, especially in the face of Halo 2 going dark forever [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/99985-Bungie-Bids-a-Silly-and-Fond-Farewell-to-Halo-2] due to the limitations of the Xbox. Fight on, you crazy Halo PC gamers.

Source: Halo Fixes [http://halo-fixes.findforum.net/t4-some-details-about-the-internet-lobby-fix]

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Steven Bogos

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Jan 17, 2013
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Ultratwinkie said:
I wonder, do they sell halo online anymore? They should put it on steam, GMG, GOG, etc. Put it on everything. I'd love to have it in my library again for childhood nostalgia sake.

Especially if the servers aren't going down. Do a re-release and just watch the nostalgia dollars pour in.

I lost the disk years ago. Like many CDs from that time.

EDIT: did a search, its no where.
You can buy Halo: Combat Evolved for the PC from the official microsoft stor:

http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/pdp/Halo-Combat-Evolved-PC-Game/productID.253659000

Enjoy!
 

RA92

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Jan 1, 2011
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I love how certain PC games (Counter Strike 1.6, anyone?) just refuse to die.
 

ckam

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Oct 8, 2008
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This is good news. I love Halo PC and its free online multiplayer and modding community. Just good news all around.
 

fix-the-spade

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Ultratwinkie said:
I wonder, do they sell halo online anymore? They should put it on steam, GMG, GOG, etc.
I'm not sure Halo PC has ever been a downloadable title, but you can still get new discs!

Buy a game and wait for it to arrive in the post, I know, how old school is that!?

In all seriousness, it's nice to see Bungie still occasionally putting time into Halo PC, Microsoft always treated it as some kind of embarrassment yet people still insist on playing the only quality PC port of a Halo game so far.
 

Zontar

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Feb 18, 2013
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Ultratwinkie said:
I wonder, do they sell halo online anymore? They should put it on steam, GMG, GOG, etc. Put it on everything. I'd love to have it in my library again for childhood nostalgia sake.

Especially if the servers aren't going down. Do a re-release and just watch the nostalgia dollars pour in.

I lost the disk years ago. Like many CDs from that time.

EDIT: did a search, its no where.
The game, along with Halo 2 and a port of Halo 3 (finally) are coming to Steam soon. It's in that gray area where it isn't official yet, but it's also past the point of being inevitable (with clear markers being things like the 3 games getting official groups on the system). Just wait, it'll get there.
 

Arnoxthe1

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Dec 25, 2010
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Zontar said:
It's in that gray area where it isn't official yet, but it's also past the point of being inevitable (with clear markers being things like the 3 games getting official groups on the system). Just wait, it'll get there.
I really don't think we're ever going to get a Halo 3 PC port. 343 is INCREDIBLY busy with Halo 5 at the moment. So, unless they outsource it to another company (Unlikely. They should have done it a long time ago.), we're not going to see Halo 3 on the PC. (barring 360 emulation but don't make me laugh)
 

Zulnam

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Well that's mighty nice of Bungie (and especially that one Dev), considering everything that's been going on with the industry over the past years.

I might just pick it up, if it's priced more reasonably.
 

Zontar

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Arnoxthe1 said:
Zontar said:
It's in that gray area where it isn't official yet, but it's also past the point of being inevitable (with clear markers being things like the 3 games getting official groups on the system). Just wait, it'll get there.
I really don't think we're ever going to get a Halo 3 PC port. 343 is INCREDIBLY busy with Halo 5 at the moment. So, unless they outsource it to another company (Unlikely. They should have done it a long time ago.), we're not going to see Halo 3 on the PC. (barring 360 emulation but don't make me laugh)
The game (as well as Halo 2) are getting ported to the Xbox One, which is 90% of the work necessary for a PC port due to how the console is programed. We don't know who is doing the port, but it's happening.
 

Arnoxthe1

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Dec 25, 2010
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Zontar said:
The game (as well as Halo 2) are getting ported to the Xbox One, which is 90% of the work necessary for a PC port due to how the console is programed. We don't know who is doing the port, but it's happening.
OK, how do you know this?
 

Zontar

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Feb 18, 2013
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Arnoxthe1 said:
Zontar said:
The game (as well as Halo 2) are getting ported to the Xbox One, which is 90% of the work necessary for a PC port due to how the console is programed. We don't know who is doing the port, but it's happening.
OK, how do you know this?
Official groups have been made for the games. This has always been a precursor to a game release. They where also set up the same moment Halo: Spartan Assault came out.
 

AzrealMaximillion

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Zontar said:
Arnoxthe1 said:
Zontar said:
The game (as well as Halo 2) are getting ported to the Xbox One, which is 90% of the work necessary for a PC port due to how the console is programed. We don't know who is doing the port, but it's happening.
OK, how do you know this?
Official groups have been made for the games. This has always been a precursor to a game release. They where also set up the same moment Halo: Spartan Assault came out.
This is a pretty reliable source. Happened when Square Enix ported FF7 to Steam. That guaranteed FF8 to be released on Steam. FF3 was recently announced. They'll be porting the Andriod Remakes over to Steam as well.

Metal Gear Rising pretty much opens the door for the PC Ports of MGS 1 and 2 to get redone.
 

Spartan448

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A little hypocritical coming from a studio that has repeatedly said they despise PC gamers, PC gaming, and everything they represent. I mean I'll continute to play my copy of PC Halo, because that is probably the single best game Bungie has ever made, and the only one that got its due justice on the PC, not bogged down with Games for Windows Live or anything like that. That being said, I'm still not happy.
 

clippen05

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Jul 10, 2012
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Ahh PC, the only place where you can get multiplayer experiences for games that are having their servers shut off... it truly is a nice thing to have.