Halo: Combat Evolved Beta 1749

Beta 1749, was a beta build of the Xbox edition of Halo: Combat Evolved. The build originates from around August 15, 2001. It was succeeded by Beta 2247.

Beta content

Main menu

• No Bungie/Microsoft startup videos.
• The flyby of the Halo in the background takes a different path.
• "Campaign" is split into "New Campaign" and "Load Campaign"
• The menu has no sound.
• The difficulty selector has different icons from the final game.
• The main menu has random diagram text.
• The locked level picture is a placeholder white question mark on a black background.

Campaign

Campaign general

• Easy difficulty does not exist.
• Green subtitles (Dialogue spoken often differs from the subtitles, with too many differences to list).
• Cutscenes seem to have random delays.
• Shield recharge sound is different.
• Jump is floatier.
• Health packs are green boxes with a white circle and red cross on them.
• Major performance issues in larger areas.
• Loading screens are just a black screen with a dark red bar to show progress.
• Many cutscenes have missing sound.
• Most music is missing.
• Currently playing sounds don't stop when the game pauses.
• The game cannot save in the middle of a mission. If you crash/turn off the game/exit the level, it's back to the beginning of that mission.
• Difficulty is higher, especially in Flood levels. There's also a lot more Covenant in the later levels.
• Control panels have missing string entry.
• Master Chief armor is somewhat lower poly on some parts of the armor (Such as forearms)
• Chief's armor is lighter in color.
• First person arms seem to be different behind the forearm, possibly leftover from an earlier armor design.

The Pillar of Autumn

These changes can be observed in the level The Pillar of Autumn, as compared to the final game release.

• Alternate x20 Bridge Cinematic.
• No intro cinematic.
• Sky is jet black with stars, no blue layers to help make things in the cutscene stand out, like the Longswords.
• Game soft locks after lifepods are destroyed, player must use cheats to make it through the small doors to the next area.
• Needler is introduced earlier on, specifically when crewman Samuel Marcus is killed.
• No health packs or ammo drops on map.
• Some scenery objects like the gun racks are included in the maps, but are not placed.
• Captain Keyes doesn't give you a pistol, instead a crewman with one is gunned down by grunts where you would normally receive the pistol.
• Area where lifepod launches has older geometry, including an unused hallway.
  • In the lifepod launch area, there are doors placed outside the level from earlier revisions of the level which had a much larger play space.
  • References in this area show that there were going to be marines (area needs further researching).
• Intro cutscene and Chief exiting cryopod cutscenes are gone.
• Heroic/ Legendary difficulties start you in the cryopod.
• Master Chief's armor is white if you look down while in the Crypod.
• When you exit the cryopod, you spawn to the right of it instead of in front of it.
• After the targeting sequence (Look at the lights so they turn green), the gameplay tip is instead a message to playtesters telling them to ask a staff member for assistance changing the controls.
• Tutorial doesn't invert your looking pitch.
• The crewman who opens your cryopod says "Come on, this way!" instead of "This way!" when leading you out of the cryo room.
• Elite breaking into Cryo 2's control room holds (and kills Sam with) a Needler instead of a plasma rifle.
• A crewman plays a "noticed player" dialogue and then dies is in the room where you have to crouch under the blast door.
• The chunk of the map that's loaded for the armory/bridge/mess hall seems to have a lighting bug, possibly missing all lighting.
• The marine who escorts you to the bridge has a different voice actor, despite the Australian marines having lines in the game.
• Bridge cutscene triggers earlier, when you're halfway into the room instead of when you're near keyes.
• Cortana states that the main cannon is offline, instead of the crew member at the front of the bridge. This crew member instead yells "Hull breach! Hull breach on decks 11 and 12!".
• Cortana's "hologram appearing" effect is missing.
• When Captain Keyes asks for a report from Cortana, she says "Fire control for the main cannon cannon is offline, nothing of consequence apart from the detonation." before mentioning the boarding party and antimatter charge.
• At the end of the bridge cutscene, Keyes says "See you on the surface" instead of "Good luck, Master Chief."
• A group of crewmen seem to sort of follow you on the bridge.
• Cortana dialogue is different when she's plugged into Chief's armor: "Funny, I remember more empty space."
• Keyes moves to a different spot on the bridge after the cutscene.
• The Halo ring is not visible from the bridge windows.
• No post board in the bridge.
• Keyes does not give you the pistol (Despite one being visible next to him), instead you obtain it from a crew member who is killed by the first grunts you fight.
• You can get frag grenades from some dead marines, instead of having to wait until the last part of the level.
• Airlocks do not have numbers on the walls.
• Boarding craft do not have overshields in the back.
• No health packs anywhere.
• Keyes has a more somber tone of voice when telling everyone to abandon ship over the intercom.
• The section where two crewmen are chased by Covenant instead has two deployable cover and no crewmen, just covenant.
• Lifepods don't launch where you would normally see them launch.
• There is an extra room directly in front of you after the sequence where you normally watch the lifepods launch and get shot in the final game.
• When you're about to enter the maintenance tunnels, after "Follow the maintenance accessways", Cortana says "Head near" instead of telling you to follow the nav point.
• Maintenance tunnels softlock you, as the 3 doors near the group of covenant do not open. On heroic, the doors don't open at all. On normal, the game opens the "safe" door... by one inch before stopping.
• Crewmen t-pose sometimes.
• Some (But not all) of the drink dispensers have a different texture, possibly a plate meant to close off the drink dispensers?
• Cryo 2 control room has green gas in it.
• Level ends when the covenant are killed near the lifeboats, instead of triggering when you get near the lifeboat after they're killed.
• No grenade stockpile nor human shields in the area close to the lifeboats.
• Ending cinematic is missing.

Halo

The following differences can be observed on the level Halo.

• No intro cutscene for Halo.
• No dead marines or pilot still strapped in the lifepod.
• Tall grass (Not the ground texture, but the kind that stand up) has a different texture.
• No ammo pile on the forerunner structure.
• The Marines encountered can wield Shotguns.
• Instead of "Damn, they're trying to flank us!", a marine says "Damn it! Another covenant landing craft to the rear!"
• Cortana doesn't say anything about the lifepods flying overhead, nor asks for the warthog and men.
• A conversation with the marines can be heard about invisible monsters, that does not play in retail. Video

The Truth and Reconciliation

The following differences can be observed on the level The Truth and Reconciliation.

• At the beginning of the mission, the following dialogue plays.

Foehammer: "Touchdown in 10 seconds, we're in covenant territory now!" (After she drops everyone off).
Cortana: "All ground troops are clear of the ramp, we'll radio when we're ready for resupply.”
Foehammer: "Roger that, moving to observation distance."
Cortana: "Sargeant, don't go in guns blazing. Let the chief and I scout up ahead."

• The player spawns next to the Pelican when leaving it.
• According to debug text, the Hunters dropping onto the Gravity lift platform was supposed to be a cutscene.
• In the ship's gravity lift lobby, some Covenant supply cases are lopsided, floating, clipping in ground, etc.
• During the encounter in the lobby of the Truth and Reconciliation, no sword-wielding Elites spawn.

The Silent Cartographer

The following differences can be observed on the level The Silent Cartographer.

• Doors lights don't glow red when locked.
• The door hiding the Elite Zealot locks as soon as you enter the hallway instead of there being a delay.
• The window in this hallway has no invisible barrier, you can jump through it.
• Bravo 022, the Pelican that crashes after you open the door, drops several Marines in addition to weapons. It does not have a Warthog.
• Aside from the one dropped off by Echo 419, there are no Warthogs in the level.
• There are no overshields, ammo piles, or health packs where you first encounter Hunters.
• There's no overshield just outside the map room.
• The Zealot is dead when you arrive at the previously locked door.

Assault on the Control Room

The following differences can be observed on the level Assault on the Control Room.

• Notably, this level is called "Fortress World" in this release.
• Intro cutscene is fairly unfinished, Grunt doesn't sniff the air, yelp, or panic. The group of grunts, however, still flee into the door.
• Top of the roof seems to have a different color for the water.
• There are two Banshees at the starting platform.
• No Pelican at the bottom of the shaft. Many more dead grunts though.
• Many more grunts on the starting platform.
• No sleeping grunts at the first bridge.
• Hunter in the pathway to the first elevator.
• No Wraith attacking the group of marines with a warthog.
• The Banshee at the first bridge is present on all difficulties, instead of just Heroic and Legendary.
• It seems to be impossible to slide down the canyon early at the first bridge. The fall timer kicks in before you even get to the ledge. In the final game, the fall timer won't kick in until after you've bounced off the ledge.
• The area with the small, cut out ledge under the bridge that you jump to before the attempting the slide is darker.

343 Guilty Spark

The following differences can be observed on the level 343 Guilty Spark.

• No Covenant near entrance, nor Marines firing at the from the entrance. Marines instead fire from various doors inside the facility.
• Fog starts further from the player, map isn't as dark.
• SOS transmission from crashed Pelican doesn't cut out as much.
• Crashed Pelican is deeper into the ground.
• Intro dialogue is different.
• Elevator floor is more of a grate than a window.
• Control panels seem to be tagged right instead of displaying "need string.”
• Lighting in facility is unfinished.
• Somewhat different layout in the facility.
• Paranoid Marine is armored, doesn't talk, is in a different location, and is very easy to miss.
• The dead Jenkins corpse in the flood reveal cutscene is invisible.
• "Postmortem sensory record" instead of normal helmet recording intro text.
• The helmet recording cutscene has "Get stabbed" error, but continues anyway.
• The helmet recording cutscene has no borders, text is slightly below the center of the screen.
• The floating assault rifles normally seen at the entrance to the facility in final are now visible in the helmet recording cutscene instead, shooting the marines.
• The dead elite in the helmet recording cutscene is instead a dead Marine.
• Keyes is in his bridge uniform.
• One of the Marines t-poses randomly in the cutscene.
• Debug text spams "YOU SHOULDNT DO THIS!!!" during the transition from the dead marine scene to the Flood ambush scene.

The Library

The following differences can be observed on the level The Library.

• Lighting seems unfinished.
• Guilty Spark's flare is much bigger, obscuring him if you're not near him.
• Guilty spark has some dialogue missing.
• Guilty spark does not react to you shooting him.

Two Betrayals

The following differences can be observed on the level Two Betrayals.

• No intro cutscene.
• Big doors leading to the control room have glass in them.

Keyes

The following differences can be observed on the level Keyes.

• No intro cutscene.
• Unfinished lighting below the ship.
• AI Banshees near the grav lift fly much faster and don't seem to go after you.

The Maw

The following differences can be observed on the level The Maw.

• No intro cutscene.
• Different skybox.
• The cafeteria door on the right is initially locked, but is "busted open" by a hunter.

Gameplay

Weapons

• Plasma Rifle does not have the final side hologram, instead there is a very small green hologram on the side.
• Pistol has increased maximum reserve ammo.
• Pistol has the sound for a clip being put into the gun missing.
• Plasma weaponry effects seem to be a bit more basic.
• Plasma grenade has a different explosion sound effect.
• Weapons are picked up by pressing (X) instead of holding.
• Needler has full firerate immediately instead of ramping up.
• Needler has different sound.
• Needles on needler disappear when reloading, and don't "Pop out", instead instantly appearing when done reloading.
• Plasma pistol doesn't shake while holding a charged shot.
• Shotgun has much higher reserve ammo capacity.
• Shotgun has lower fire rate.
• Some weapon elements disappear when invisible (Needler needles, Plasma pistol charge, Assault Rifle ammo counter).
• The flamethrower can be found in the flood levels.
• Flamethrower HUD and ammo display are different from the PC version.

AI and NPCs

• Crewman uniforms are different.
• Marines use betrayal dialogue when still friendly.
• Sergeant Marine models are much rarer.
• Armored marine variant without shoulder armor appears in some missions.
• If a marine has lost health and is in the passenger seat of a vehicle, his health meter has hollow bars to indicate lost health instead of reducing the bars like in final.
• Foehammer's pelican has 79 instead of 419.
• Pelican thrusters point downwards a lot, even when it doesn't make sense to.
• Elites don't talk in reverse, instead speaking normal english.
• Hunters have Elite voices.
• Elites use a lower poly model, and, like the marines, has a shoulderpad-less variant.
• Elite minors' "bodysuit" is a lighter gray. Majors seem to retain the final, darker bodysuit.
• Energy swords don't disappear when the elite holding it is killed.
• Grunt voices seem to just be marine voices pitched up, and will even use traitor dialogue.
• Jackals have grunt voices.
• Sleeping grunts don't die in 1 melee attack unless whacked from the back.
• Energy shields have a different plasma effect that doesn't seem to be animated, though it will still lighten the color when taking damage.
• Covenant armor is shinier.
• AI seems to be dumber, sometimes has trouble finding paths.
• Enemies can (and will) follow you into different loading zones.
• Flood emit a different sound.

Vehicles

• Warthog engine pitch is lower.
• Warthog wheels create sparks more often.
• Banshee has different engine sound.
• No banshee fuel rod cooldown dots.
• Tank canopy is taller, closer to multiplayer counterpart.
• Tank machine gun has assault rifle firing sound.
• Tank explosion radius seems to be bigger.
• Tank has an off-center "Ready" when ready to fire cannon instead of wait dots.
• Shade turret emits different ambient sound, has orange light beneath it, and fires MUCH faster.
• Shade turret has a nonfunctional heat meter.
• Shade turret is only referred to as a "gun turret" in the "press to enter" text.
• Wraith is drivable (If you flip it and force the driver out.)

Multiplayer

General multiplayer

• You can still move, look around, and do everything except jump while paused.
• There is a "Quick launch" option in the multiplayer menu.
• Several multiplayer map previews show the placeholder locked level picture.
• Split screen does not require a second controller.

Battle Creek

The following changes can be observed on the map Battle Creek.

• Minor geometry differences and a few minor texture differences.
• No red/blue forerunner glyphs.

Blood Gulch

The following changes can be observed on the map Blood Gulch.

• Team base textures are different.
• The hole in roof of the bases have a more trapezoidal shape.
• Glowing symbols (The triangle looking things) don't seem to have transparency working right, instead having a black background.
• Floor in base has a large team-colored circle where the flag is placed.
• Some weapon spawns are glitched (Roof pistol spawns above the hole and falls where the plasma rifle is inside, for instance).

Boarding Action

The following changes can be observed on the map Boarding Action.

• Different textures.
• Floor number indicators are smaller and different.
• A shrine of sorts can be found, Towards a Bungie employees girlfriend.

Chill Out

The following changes can be observed on the map Chill Out.

• Wall textures are gray instead of purple/pink, though the textures used for the bottoms of walls retain their final color.
• There is a row of pistols in the room across from the teleporter room.

Chiron TL-34

The following changes can be observed on the map Chiron TL-34

• This map is called "Put put" in the menu.
• Minor lighting changes.
• More health pack cubbies.

Damnation

The following changes can be observed on the map Damnation.

• Minor lighting differences.

Prisoner

The following changes can be observed on the map Prisoner.

• Very minor texture changes.

Rat Race

The following changes can be observed on the map Rat Race.

• Rat race's textures look significantly different. Layout remains mostly the same with minor differences in geometry.

Sidewinder

The following changes can be observed on the map Sidewinder.

• Preview picture seems to have incomplete textures, actual level looks close to final though.
• 3 shotguns on the top floor of the base instead of 1.
• The rooms you teleport to has 3 needlers in the back.

Wizard

The following changes can be observed on the map Wizard.

• Three pistols in a row on one of the platforms.
• One plasma rifle and 2 needlers in a row on another platform.
• More grenades in grenade locations.