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Halo Infinite’s co-op campaign is now scheduled to arrive in August
Following multiple delays, 343 Industries hopes to deliver Halo Infinite’s co-op campaign sometime in August 2022
Halo Infinite's campaign co-op won't be available when season two kicks off in May
Campaign co-op won't be available when Halo Infinite season 2 debuts but will instead come "later" at an unspecified date in the second season.
Halo Infinite's campaign co-op and Forge modes have been delayed again
343 Industries' call to extend season one until May led to a knock-on effect.
'Halo Infinite' won't have campaign co-op or Forge modes at launch
343 Industries says a single-player campaign and multiplayer are still on tap for this holiday season.
Over 6 million user-created maps are coming to 'Halo: MCC'
Microsoft and 343 Industries said they'd transfer Forge maps and game modes to Halo: The Master Chief Collection with the help of players, and it's clear many gamers were willing to step up. The two have revealed that over 6.6 million user-created maps for Halo 3, Halo: Reach and Halo 4 will be playable in MCC when ready. There's a good chance a favorite map from your Xbox 360 days will be available in remastered form.
Microsoft starts public tests for 'Halo: Reach' on PC
Halo: Reach is now playable on PC... for a handful of very early adopters. Microsoft and 343 Industries have shared a slew of Master Chief Collection update news, including word that it has started a public test of Reach on Windows PCs that lasts through July 1st. Don't get your hopes up for joining in this round, though. There are less than 1,000 Halo Insiders involved, and they're playing just one campaign mission. The developers plan to invite more people "over time," though, so you can consider this the start of a much larger test experience.
'Halo 5: Forge' reaches PCs on September 8th
It won't take much longer before you can get a taste of Halo 5 on your PC. Microsoft and 343 Industries have revealed that Halo 5: Forge, the multiplayer level creation experience, will reach Windows 10 on September 8th. As mentioned earlier, it's all about playing multiplayer matches, primarily on custom maps created either on the PC or the Xbox One. You won't get the single-player campaign (possibly a good thing). You do get the perks of playing on more flexible hardware, though, such as support for 4K displays and a interface that takes advantage of finer-grained mouse and keyboard controls.
'Halo 5' multiplayer is coming to PC... sort of
Leave it to Microsoft to fulfill fans' long-standing wish of bringing modern Halo multiplayer to PC and then obfuscate accessing it in the most spectacular way possible. It's coming by way of Forge -- Halo 5: Guardians Edition for Windows 10. As the name suggests, the free download is for Halo's custom map toolset, Forge, and it features full keyboard and mouse control, up to 4K resolution and the ability to build stuff on PC and then play on Xbox One. The devil is in the details here, though: the Xbox Wire post also mentions that you can test levels and play them with your friends on PC.
Forge makes livestreaming easier
About a month ago, my cousin asked for tips on livestreaming. He had OBS, the software of choice for many streamers, but he had a long way to go before his debut on Twitch or YouTube Gaming. OBS works, but it's complex for people just starting out, offering a lot of options that could screw up your livestream with an accidental click. OBS is sometimes tricky even for entrepreneur Jared Kim, who's been developing game-capture apps for the past eight years. He has a theory about the steep learning curve: Services like OBS aren't made for casual streamers. They're dense because they're used mainly by professionals or dedicated players who can spare the time (and money) to make their livestreams perfect. This leaves my cousin and tons of other potential Twitch stars in the dust. For them, Kim has more than a theory: He has a solution.
Razer's Android gamepad is now on Google Play for $80
If you're tired of having to pause games on your Android mobile device just to wipe finger grease off the screen, you are in luck. For $80, the Bluetooth-connected Razer Serval gamepad will ensure that you never touch that screen again (at least until playtime is over). Razer initially announced the Serval back at CES in January but it has finally hits Google Play's virtual store shelves.
Adonit boosts stylus-driven sketching with Forge
If you're into tablet-style sketching, you're likely familiar with apps like FiftyThree's Paper or Adobe's Sketch and Line. Now, stylus maker Adonit has a sketching app that's designed to not only get the most out of its drawing accessories, but to boost your productivity as well. The software is called Forge, and its simple interface keeps tools handy, but out of the way so you can focus on the task at hand. When you need to create multiple versions of the same sketch -- a logo project, for example, -- the app allows you to easily copy the drawing and build on top of it, organizing the old and the new on separate layers. As a designer myself, that's been the most useful thing about Forge: the ability to try new things with the same idea quickly and easily, without mucking up the original.
The Big Picture: cooling molten metal in space
Ever wonder what hot metal would be like if it weren't bound by containers, liquids... or even gravity? You're looking at it. The European Space Agency has developed an electromagnetic levitator that the International Space Station is using to see how molten metal cools when it's free of the constraints you typically find on Earth. This experiment isn't intended solely as eye candy, of course. The station crew will use a high-speed camera to record the cooling process and make note of how it affects material structures. If the tests prove fruitful, they could teach people on the ground how to forge metal alloys with greater strength, exotic patterns and other traits that are very hard to produce using modern day techniques.
TUG updates metallurgy and multiplayer capabilities
TUG is about to get a lot more metal. It's about to be so metal that you won't be able to handle all of the metal. At least, you'll need to be skilled with forging to handle all of the metal, as the game's initial implementation for metallurgy is coming to a test client near your desktop. The game has posted an update for backers explaining that the first pass is nearly complete, and the next game update will allow players to build a forge, make simple bronze age tools, and mine for important minerals. But what's it all worth if you can't show off to your friends? Multiplayer support is currently high on the priority list, with no specific ETA provided beyond a promise of another update in the near future. For more details on the developing features, check out the full update on Kickstarter.
See players take down WildStar's Forgemaster Trogun
If there's one thing that MMOs have taught us, it's that blacksmiths are eternally on the verge of snapping and becoming supervillains. It was true in many fantasy titles, and it's true in WildStar, where Forgemaster Trogun dominates as the final boss of the Ruins of Kel Voreth dungeon. Bog Otter survived his encounter with Trogun in the beta to bring us back a 13-minute boss fight full of tricky telegraphs, giant hammers, and oh so much fire. Give it a watch after the jump and see if you can't figure out a strategy or two that might work when you come up against this dastardly fiend in the live game.
Forge going free-to-play
If you're a PvP fan and you still haven't checked out Forge, you're plumb out of excuses. Dark Vale recently announced that the fantasy title is converting to a free-to-play business model after approximately nine months as a buy-to-play game with an up-front client cost. Dark Vale's announcement post reiterates its desire to avoid pay-to-win pitfalls, and it highlights the fact that all of Forge's cash shop items will be cosmetic. The company is acting on feedback from both fans and "F2P experts," and it plans to offer a selection of Steam starter packs as well as a range of item prices. "We also want to take into account the time it takes to play Forge to unlock some of these items," the company says. "For example, The Kaldrhiti Armor takes around 800 games to unlock. It's hard to put a price on your time playing Forge, but we don't want to de-value it. So, this will obviously be a higher priced more exclusive item." [Thanks Dengar and Skurvel!]
Indie Royale 'Hammerhead' bundle includes Richard & Alice, Primordia and more
The latest Indie Royale bundle is now available for the current minimum price of $5.68. The Hammerhead bundle includes Owl Cave's Richard & Alice, Primordia by Wormwood Studios, Pressure by Chasing Carrots, Forge by Dark Vale Games and Pandora Studios' Gas Guzzlers: Combat Carnage. The bundle seems immediately worthwhile to us just for the inclusion of Richard & Alice alone, per our recent review of the game. Those that pay at least $8 for the Hammerhead bundle will also receive MY OK BBS' chiptune album It's Not Great. There's also a mysterious sixth game in the bundle, likely to be revealed at a later time. The Indie Royale bundle is available on PC until June 7.
First Impressions: Forge
When I first picked up Forge on Steam back in the day (when it first hit the Greenlight service), I was hesitant to say the least. The last time I played any sort of game billed as a class-based PvP arena, it was FURY (does anyone else remember that?) and Dark Messiah of Might and Magic before that. To say those games were less-than-stellar would be a bit of an understatement. Despite my trepidation, I still snagged the game since it was fairly cheap and I felt there was at least a good deal of potential for it to finally do justice to the concept. Unfortunately, Forge ended up being released far too early because of (as I understand it) a lack of funds, so many of the advertised features (such as a ranking system, matchmaking, and so forth) were conspicuously absent. So I figured I'd put it on the backburner and check it out once it had received some much-needed polish. So of course I was pretty pleased when Dark Vale Games announced that Forge had been "re-released" with many of the missing features in tow, but my initial worries about the game were far from assuaged, and I figured it would just be FURY 2: Electric Boogaloo. But man, do I love being proven wrong.
Forge rerelease introduces tons of new features, goes 75% off on Steam
Keen-minded readers may remember Forge, Dark Vale Games' action-oriented PvP title that launched via Steam Greenlight in December of last year. Unfortunately, due to limited funding, the game was released in a decidedly unfinished state, lacking many of the key features that the studio hoped to incorporate. Despite this, many players flocked to the game, providing the devs with the money needed to polish up the game, and now Forge has been officially "rereleased" on Steam. To celebrate the occasion, Dark Vale Games is allowing fans to play Forge for free from today until Sunday. The game's rerelease brings with it a number of new features sure to satisfy fans of all playstyles. The fashionistas in the crowd will be pleased by the addition of new armor customization options, while completionists will have plenty to work toward thanks to the introduction of achievements to the game. New players will be able to jump into the action faster than ever thanks to a new-and-improved tutorial, and new ranking and matchmaking features ensure that players can always find the perfect match. On top of all of that, the UI has received an overhaul, and the addition of bots and co-op modes allows players to practice new strategies before they take them into the game proper. So if you're up for some adrenaline-fueled PvP action, you can check out the game for free and/or snag it on the cheap for a paltry $5 US. [Source: Dark Vale Games press release]
New Halo 4, Gears of War Judgment DLC available for free today
If you feel like shooting aliens on your Xbox today, you are very likely to be able to do so in a new venue. Both Halo 4 and Gears of War Judgment have new DLC, available at no extra cost.Having passed certification early, Microsoft has released the Halo 4 "Forge Island" map well in advance of its expected April 11 date. On their own, these aren't the most exciting locations – three big, flat islands – but they're intended to be the base for Forge Mode customization. %Gallery-184351% Gears of War Judgment's Execution multiplayer is also available today, along with the map Haven, "courtesy of Maxim and Epic Games." Weird. Microsoft warns that you have to download this DLC directly from the title menu or from the Dashboard. "The dialogue box prompting you to download the pack in the matchmaking menu is not functioning properly and will be fixed as soon as possible." %Gallery-184350%
Halo 4 getting new Forge Island map for free on April 11
343 Industries has announced at PAX East this weekend that Halo 4 is getting a new Forge map, with plenty of blank, open canvas for Halo level makers to paint their creativity on. As you can see in the quick video on IGN's page, "Forge Island" actually has three different islands of varying size, all completely flat and round, to give map makers lots of room to build whatever they want.The map will also come with some new Forge pieces, which the developers have already used to build a copy of Hang 'Em High. 343 specifically asked at the panel if a fan would be kind enough to remake Blood Gulch on the biggest island, so that's possible too. The new map and related tools are all being released for free on April 11, just a few days after the Castle Map Pack arrives on April 8.
