Topic: Halo 2 PC to have ACHIEVEMENTS like X360 games do....on Games for Windows LIVE

[MysterD]

Looks like the PC version of Halo 2 will have ACHIEVEMENTS like X360 games do....

About Achievements
While dual-wielding across the campaign or inside a multiplayer match on Windows Vista, Halo players will soon earn achievements for the first time in the game’s history. And while there are a lot of exciting new features in “Halo 2” for Windows Vista, the achievements are one of the most compelling, especially for the gamerscore addict in your family.

Designing Achievements for “Halo 2” for Windows Vista
The Xbox version of “Halo 2” obviously predated the era of the Gamerscore, so this represents one of several compelling reasons to give “Halo 2” another spin. For the team, designing fun and significant rewards in a game that is already well-established was a bit challenging. This was accomplished with the help of the talented staff at Bungie Studios and Hired Gun, with a watchful eye on the latest trends in the gaming community. The achievements were designed with some fundamental goals in mind – keep the game fun, encourage beginners to join our “Halo 2” community, and provide a new challenge with a few tough or interesting achievements for our most dedicated fans.

Achievement Development Process
Designing anything for an existing and best-selling game can be arduous and risky, as options are weighed heavily against already-popular and well-trod game aspects. We started by brainstorming every possible achievement that trickled out of our caffeine-addled minds, and then whittled our list to a beefy 40+ achievements. It was a process we performed in lockstep with Bungie Studios and their designers and producers, through the course of many design meetings and reviews. What we ended up with was a set of achievements that beginners and skilled “Halo 2” players alike will immediately tackle with different results, but we were sure to include several that any veteran will only get to after some serious work.

So easy your n00b buddy could unlock it
Remember the first time you applied sticky grenade to Elite ass, and the ensuing cries of doomed anguish? Yeah, that’s a moment to cherish, and it’s not bad being able to point to a specific record of it. Or how about the first time you finally wielded the sword and started dominating for like 10 seconds? We want to encourage our expanded audience of PC players to enjoy these first moments in “Halo 2” for Windows Vista with a few easy achievements in the game. For pro-style Halo enthusiasts, you’ll see the familiar achievement indicator going off like you won a prize or something. Fear not, though: perfection will be a tall order.

For the more committed “Halo 2” warrior, try and imagine what it might mean to become a Violent Cartographer. *Pssst*! It involves maps and bloodletting.

Campaigning with Achievements
“Halo 2” for Windows Vista offers achievements for all aspects of the game. For campaigners, we have an achievement for finishing each playable level of the campaign, at Normal, Heroic, or Legendary, while you are on Games for Windows – LIVE. It’s like the Achievement system was designed for the very purpose of being able to demonstrate to the world your mettle and grit against Bungie’s awesome A.I. on Legendary. Prepare to throw down.

In fact, turning out all the lights on all the levels in Legendary will give you the title of “Legend.” You may have thought, “Killing a Legend in head-to-head LIVE combat is, therefore, an action worthy of an achievement.” We thought so too, so be on the lookout.
It wouldn’t be right if we didn’t create a single-player achievement for insane people. If you think you can complete an entire campaign level without dying, or know somebody with that much moxie and twitch (and a heap of time on their hands), you’ll be testing yourself to gain the Demon achievement. Sounds cool, and it’s oh-so-apropos.

Earning Achievements (Silver & Gold)
It’s an exciting new era for “Halo 2” players, as a new frontier opens on Windows Vista. We are adding a lot to the game to make it a much richer experience, especially if you have a Games for Windows – LIVE service account. Silver accounts on LIVE can earn achievements on the single-player campaign, and play in multiplayer games. Gold accounts on LIVE have the added benefit of being able to earn achievements in both single-player campaign and multiplayer matches.

[Quemaqua]

I sort of like and sort of hate the idea of things like this.  I hate this stupid Games for Windows campaign as I hate Microsoft and I hate Windows, but I *do* kind of dig the idea of achievements in games.  It's just another thing that measures what you do and gives you incentives to play.  *That* part I think is sweet.  I just don't know that I want it standardized, and I *really* don't know that I like having 360-like architecture thrust over to my PC.  I don't like the things I'm seeing now because I feel like the PC is going to get standardized, or that there will be attempts by Microsoft to *truly* take it over.  And I don't fucking like that one bit.

[idolminds]

I dont really care about achievements. They dont mean anything, and as you've seen on the 360 there are lots of games with "gimmie" achievements. So simple to get that it diminishes what little value "real" achievements had.

Its a bunch of epenis++...who cares?

[MysterD]

My thing w/ the Achievements is -- why the hell do I have to deal w/ Games For Windows LIVE for them??? Why do you have to pay for to get them???

Can't they just be built into the game and that's that???

[idolminds]

Thats not the idea. See, you need it on LIVE so you can show them off to everyone else.

The problem they are going to have with achievements and PC gamers is simple to see. If you want to raise your "gamerscore", you've gotta get some achievements. Thats easy to do on the 360 because you can RENT games, get the points, and be done with it. You can even rent the shitty games you'd never play and get the points to raise the score. But on the PC, you can't rent games. So no one is going to bother buying games for the achievements. Pirating them? Now thats a possibility....


Heres more halo 2 junk.

Gamespot

However, you will most definitely need Windows Vista, because Halo 2 will only run on Windows Vista PCs. According to Clowes, that's because the game takes advantage of many Vista-only features, such as rapid install. When you first insert the Halo 2 disc into your PC, you won't have to install the game like you traditionally would a PC game. Instead, like a console game, Halo 2 will begin to load up and you can play immediately while it installs in the background.

Ok, thats a cool feature. Not enough to be like "OMG buy Vista!"...but a cool feature anyway.

If you're currently an Xbox Live gold member, then you needn't worry about signing up or paying for a separate service, because we're told that the Xbox Live membership is universal with your Games for Windows Live membership. And if you don't have Xbox Live, signing up for Games for Windows Live will also set up your Xbox Live account. The two are basically one and the same.

Silver = free, Gold = Pay. They do mention that you DO NOT need Gold to play online. So...why pay for Gold? They didn't say.

They go on to mention the Halo 2 map editor. Lets just hope it isnt like the pile of shit map editor released for Halo 1.

[Quemaqua]

Ugh.  The whole thing is making me sick.

Also, why the fuck can't they just give us technology that runs games without an actual install?  Why the fuck do I care whether or not I can play while the game installs?  I think that's just stupid.  I mean, there's no real utility in that other than a one-time thing.  It would actually matter if the game required no install and we could play the game console-style by just sticking the disk in.

[MysterD]

Can I choose to do a regular type of install and SELECT what PATH I want to install it on??? I might want to install it on the F: drive, instead of C:.

I also don't want it to do things automatically on me.


EDIT:
What's the point of it installing itself in the background, if it'll just play it right off the disc anyways???

[Jedi]

I sort of care and not care about this. I don't care about any stupid Games for Windows campaign, I care even less about the whole achievements idea. I don't care if MS wants to take over all I care about is playing the bloody game. I certainly don't care how the game is installed unless I can't specify the drive, I certianly don't care enough to make a big deal out of this.
 

[Cobra951]

I agree with Que in every respect.  I like the idea of achievements on the 360, but that's a console.  It's meant to be pasteurized and homogenized.  Everything can and should be controlled from above, so that every user knows he can buy any 360 game and use it equally well on any 360.  Achievements need the same effort on any setup.  There is no cheating possible (hopefully).  PCs are a different lot, and should remain free from monolithic control.  As long as that's true, nobody knows who is cheating, so achievements are rather meaningless.

If you look at how removed the contents of a 360 are from its user, you should wince in pain at the suggestion that we should allow the self-same Microsoft to acquire such control over PCs.