Series 8: Mythic

Season 8: Mythic is the eighth season for Halo: The Master Chief Collection, released on October 13, 2021. Season 8 is the final season of 2021. As of December 2020, plans had been laid internally at 343 Industries for this season.

Season content
The following was implemented in Season 8:

Halo: The Master Chief Collection

 * Custom Game Browser support for Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 3.
 * New nameplates
 * PC File Share
 * View Model Adjustment for all games
 * Steam Account Linking
 * Campaign customization for Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 3 to allow vehicle and weapon skins in campaign.
 * New post-match screen after completing a multiplayer game in Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 3. The top three players in each game will have their Spartan displayed on this screen in a pose of their choosing.
 * In-game subtitles for Halo 3 and Halo: Reach campaigns.
 * Ability to select body type and voice separately in Halo: Reach and Halo 4.
 * Colorblind Support options

Halo: Reach

 * New helmets, all the same as the suits listed for Halo 3.
 * Halo: Reach Firefight update to include voice previews.
 * Improved stat tracking on Firefight

Halo 3: ODST

 * Halo 3: ODST Firefight update to include per wave customization options bringing it up closer to Halo: Reach ' s options.
 * Firefight now includes the option to have waves consisting of Sentinels.
 * Firefight now offers the option to disable dropship spawns for Covenant forces, which prevents Phantoms from appearing and allows for faster waves.

Halo: Combat Evolved

 * The classic HUD will return with 4k support and a toggle in Settings.
 * Performance improvements in campaign on Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary.

Halo 2 Classic

 * Fixes on lighting and cinematics.
 * Improvements on friendly zealot AI.
 * Improved skull pickup cues.
 * Classic texture and bump map fixes that bring them closer to alignment with original Xbox.
 * Missing sun in Halo 2 classic restored.

Halo 4

 * Lighting adjustments on the Reclaimer level.

Halo 3

 * One new map for Halo 3 from Halo Online: Icebox
 * 17 new non-canon armor permutations;
 * Belos armors
 * Blackguard armors
 * Drengr armors
 * 3 new techsuits
 * GEN2 Chainmail
 * GEN2 Dragonscale
 * GEN2 Latticeweave
 * 11 new visor colors
 * Mall Madness
 * Dot Product
 * Umbral Cold
 * Astral Heat
 * Prism Scan
 * Solar Circles
 * Nightscan
 * Scrambler
 * Seattle Sunset
 * Teal Dream
 * Search and Assess


 * 12 new backpack accessories
 * Evalach's Lament (One unlockable via challenge)
 * Ironburst
 * Last Word
 * Law's End
 * Lionheart Shield
 * Oaklimb
 * Ravendak
 * Reavers Tooth
 * Seafoam Trident
 * Sorrowmourn
 * Taygetus Dory
 * Thessalian Bow
 * 10 weapon skins and 4 vehicles skins for Halo 3:
 * 2 for the Battle Rifle (One unlockable via challenge)
 * 2 for the Sniper Rifle
 * 2 for the Shotgun
 * 2 for the Rocket Launcher
 * 2 for the Assault Rifle
 * 1 for the Warthog (Unlockable via challenge)
 * 1 for the Scorpion
 * 1 for the Mongoose
 * 1 for the Hornet
 * New "Moa statue" campaign collectibles in the Halo 3 campaign.

Menu artwork trailer
On October 6, 2021, a trailer known as Go Medieval was released on YouTube and Twitter to announce the release date of Season 8 and showcase the menu background for the season, depicting a D77-TC Pelican in the middle of an ancient Greek ruin. The video is voiced by Frank O'Connor reading the last dialogue lines from Halo Legends ' Origins.

Trailer
To showcase the release of Season 8 and its new customisation content, a trailer for the update was released on October 13, 2021.

Patch notes
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 * title1=June 23 (season launch) patch notes (Version 1.2398.0.0)
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INSTALL SIZE BY PLATFORM

 * Steam: max size of 19.6 GB
 * Microsoft Store and Xbox Game Pass for PC: max size of 36.2 GB
 * Xbox consoles: max size of 37.3 GB

NEW SEASON 8 CUSTOMIZATION CONTENT
Season 8, “MYTHIC,” introduces new customization content for MCC, including items for Halo 3 and Halo: Reach:


 * New Halo 3 armor
 * New Halo 3 back accessories
 * New Halo 3 techsuits
 * New Halo 3 animated visors
 * New Halo 3 weapon customizations
 * New Halo 3 vehicle customizations
 * New Halo: Reach armor
 * New animated and static nameplates
 * NEW MAP FOR HALO 3: “ICEBOX”
 * A new map for Halo 3 arena modes, “Icebox,” is now available in matchmaking and custom games. Icebox is a reimagining of the multiplayer map “Turf” from Halo 2.

CUSTOM GAME BROWSER SUPPORT FOR HALO: COMBAT EVOLVED AND HALO 3
The Custom Game Browser (CGB) has been improved to include Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 3, as well updates to filters, search options, and updates to the Create, Browse, and Search pages.

HALO 3: ODST FIREFIGHT UPDATES
Halo 3: ODST Firefight has been updated with deeper customization options and entirely new settings:


 * Per-wave customization options including skulls, dropships, map hazards, bonus rounds, and enemy squad types.
 * Several new squad types including Jackal Snipers, Brutes only, Drones only, and Hunters only.
 * Squads with the Sentinel enemy type, new to ODST Firefight.

MORE CUSTOMIZATION CHOICE IN HALO: REACH AND HALO 4

 * Halo: Reach and Halo 4 now have the ability to select body type and voice separately, and Halo: Reach’s customization menu now includes a Firefight Voice preview.

UPDATES TO VIEW MODEL OFFSETS FOR WEAPONS ACROSS ALL MCC GAMES
View Model Offset settings are now available in the Settings under Gameplay. They can be set by weapon category and are available for all games within Halo: The Master Chief Collection.


 * Changes to how view model offsets appear in-game have been made in response to community feedback. You can read more about the implementation of View Model Offsets in this weekly MCC Development and Flighting Update.

CAMPAIGN COLLECTIBLES IN THE HALO 3 CAMPAIGN
Golden moa statues have begun appearing in Halo 3 missions in locations that change every week. These can be collected by shooting them and are tied to challenges.

CAMPAIGN CUSTOMIZATIONS
Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 3 now support vehicle and weapon customizations during missions if this option is toggled on in the campaign mission options.

ACCESSIBILITY IMPROVEMENTS
New accessibility options include all-new color blindness settings.

HALO: COMBAT EVOLVED HEADS-UP DISPLAY (HUD) OPTIONS
For Halo: Combat Evolved, the heads-up display (HUD) can now be toggled between the classic or remastered HUD, and scaled manually or automatically to your display’s resolution with the Auto HUD Scale setting.

HALO: COMBAT EVOLVED AND HALO 2 CLASSIC GAMMA SLIDERS
For Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2 Classic, the Gamma settings for classic and remastered campaign visuals are now separate settings. This allows visuals even closer to the original games.

PLAYER REPORTING IN SCOREBOARDS AND ROSTER
Scoreboards during and after a match now include the ability to report a player.

STEAM ACCOUNT LINKING
Steam accounts can now be linked to Xbox accounts in the player profile menu when playing on Steam. This populates the friends list with Steam friends.

PC FILE SHARING
PC players can now save or upload Forged map and game variant files from their recent custom games. A new “File Share Trust Level” has been added in Settings under “Gameplay.” It is set to “Official” by default but can be switched to “Friends” or “Anyone."

RESOLVED ISSUES
Many improvements come from Halo Insiders feedback and Halo Support tickets submitted by our community. Thank you for participating and please keep submitting tickets! Here are the many fixes in this update:

Graphics
Customization menu previews no longer show graphical glitching on certain items on “Original” or “Performance” Graphics settings. The LG OnScreen Control app on PC with an LG monitor display no longer causes performance drops and hitches. While adjusting Field of View (FOV) settings, the background preview image is no longer blurred, and adjusts in real-time to changing the FOV setting.

Custom Game Browser

 * General
 * Attempting to join a full game session now gives a “waiting to join” dialogue and will join the session the next time a slot becomes available, instead of sometimes attempting to connect and failing.
 * Players can now join or invite their friends with Custom Game Browser matches.
 * Players who have received a server ban will now receive an error letting them know they are banned when trying unsuccessfully to host a Custom Game Browser session.
 * A new Team Changing option, “Auto,” rebalances sessions to prevent matches from starting with an imbalanced number of players on each team.
 * The Post-Game Carnage Report will no longer occasionally show players with the default Emblem or Service ID instead of the ones they chose.
 * Longer Game Variant descriptions in non-English languages now fit in the Game Variant Description box.
 * On Xbox, the loading screen when joining a Custom Game Browser session no longer flickers briefly.
 * In the Session Details menu, the Report Game function now prompts players to choose a category to report.
 * On mouse & keyboard, right-clicking while hovering over sessions in the Browse menu no longer shows a small drag cursor.
 * After leaving the Add Variant menu, leaving the Create menu no longer requires pressing Back twice.
 * When viewing Session Details, the spacing of information in the Session Details box has been increased.
 * In the Create menu, session names and preferences now carry over between game launches regardless of whether a match was created.
 * Players with older Custom Game Browser data who add three variants in the Halo: Reach Create menu no longer lose the data for the third variant when restarting the game.
 * Browse menu
 * After backing out of a Session Details menu, random sessions will no longer appear as if selected.
 * When scrolling at the bottom of the list, half a page of results will now load instead of sessions loading one at a time.
 * Player count in each game session will now be accurate even after refreshing.
 * Game session titles that could fit in the space provided are no longer cut off by ellipses.
 * Rapidly pressing the Session Details button no longer requires pressing the Back button the same number of times to exit the Session Details menu.
 * Sorting by Players (Descending) now shows full sessions at the top of the list.
 * While using a mouse & keyboard, scrolling the list of game sessions while a session that is partly out of view is selected no longer causes the list to scroll suddenly or unpredictably.
 * Game sessions that use more than one map now say “(+X)” instead of “(+X in rotation)” in the Map column.
 * Game sessions that use only one map no longer display with “(+0 in rotation)” added to the map name in the Map column.
 * The chosen Sort method is now remembered after viewing Session Details and returning to the Browse menu.
 * An indicator now helps clarify that the Player column is the default Sort option.
 * The highlight that indicates the current menu selection no longer disappears entirely after accessing the Roster, opening the Chat window, or moving the highlight focus to the right.

Forge
The “Save” widget now properly appears on the Forge pause menu without requiring the player to use “Save As” once first.

PC
Changing window mode with the F11 key no longer reverts Gamma settings to defaults.

HALO: COMBAT EVOLVED

 * Graphics
 * Restarting the game no longer causes the customization preview in the Customization menu to show default options.
 * Framerate has been improved for the campaign mission “Halo” while running with Remastered visuals.
 * Cortana’s face animations now appear properly in Remastered visuals.
 * The lighting in the 343 Guilty Spark cinematic in Classic visuals is now consistent with the original game release.
 * The target distance and elevation measurements on the Sniper Rifle zoom are now aligned properly and consistent with the original release.
 * On PC, the 2x zoom HUD element on the Magnum and Rocket Launcher no longer appear too close to the reticle.
 * The final cinematic now has motion blur effects to be consistent with the original Halo: Combat Evolved release.
 * After modifying Graphics settings, a thin line no longer appears in the bottom and right edges of the screen.
 * Audio
 * In Campaign with Classic audio, the reverb on music and dialogue is now consistent with the original game release.
 * In Campaign with Remastered audio, Assault Rifle shooting audio can no longer become muffled or completely silent near the end of a clip.
 * In Classic audio, various audio effects like weapon fire and grenade explosions are no longer slightly pitched down compared to the original game.
 * In Classic audio, the first music track that plays after the opening Cinematic of the campaign no longer has audio popping sounds.
 * In the Campaign mission 343 Guilty Spark, the Pelican radio/Covenant radio crate ambient audio no longer becomes quieter abruptly after moving a certain distance away.
 * When the source of a sound becomes blocked behind an object, it no longer becomes quieter abruptly.
 * On the Multiplayer maps Battle Creek, Infinity, and Gephyrophobia, the reverb level on audio has been reduced to be consistent with the original Halo: Combat Evolved release.
 * Achievements
 * The “Madrigal Debut” achievement now unlocks as expected when activating the associated hidden soundtrack cue.

HALO 2

 * Campaign
 * In the mission “The Great Journey,” the Wraith near the end of the mission no longer spawns upside down.
 * In Classic visuals, cinematics now properly crossfade when transitioning to the next scene.
 * In the mission “Uprising,” the Zealot Elite reinforcements that drop in to assist the player will now follow the player through indoor areas.
 * Picking up a Skull now displays the Skull’s name in the top left of the HUD to be consistent with the original Halo 2 release.
 * In the missions “Armory” and “Cairo Station,” the mission audio now happens at the correct times, consistent with the original Halo 2 release.
 * The player reticle is no longer missing during the look tutorial in the Armory.
 * Gameplay
 * Ghosts now animate their self-destruct instead of only playing audio and an explosion, to be consistent with the original Halo 2 release.
 * In Halo 2 Classic Multiplayer gameplay, falling from a great height no longer causes fall damage, consistent with the original Halo 2 release.
 * Graphics – Classic Visual Updates
 * On snow maps like the Campaign mission “Sacred Icon” and “Quarantine Zone” or the multiplayer map “Lockout,” there is now a falling snow weather effect, consistent with the original Halo 2 release.
 * On maps with rain like “Backwash” and “Warlock” or the Campaign mission “The Great Journey,” the rain is now more noticeable, consistent with the original Halo 2 release.
 * On the Campaign missions “The Arbiter” and “The Oracle,” the wind color has been lightened and storm density increased to be consistent with the original Halo 2 release.
 * Lights emitted by enemies in Campaign no longer show through some solid objects briefly when the enemy moves out of view.
 * On certain Nvidia GPUs and in Classic visuals, foliage is no longer missing from areas with plant life throughout Campaign and Multiplayer.
 * Bloom effects in cutscenes are now more noticeable and consistent with the original Halo 2 release.
 * The “bump mapping” dark outlines on objects like trees and Forerunner technology have been reduced to be consistent with the original Halo 2 release.
 * The Halo 2 Multiplayer map Gemini now has dynamic fog and lighting to be consistent with the original Halo 2 release.
 * The sun now renders properly on any multiplayer map or Campaign mission where the sun is present.
 * The water on several maps has been darkened to be consistent with the original Halo 2 release.
 * When marines and Johnson fight alongside the player, they no longer have armor clipping issues on their head, arms, or chest.
 * The Prophets no longer have graphical glitching on their chairs or clothing during cutscenes.
 * Lights emitted by armor on Elites in multiplayer matches no longer show through some solid objects.
 * The jet propulsion on Pelicans is now brighter and more visible to be consistent with the original Halo 2 release.
 * In Campaign and multiplayer, the model for the SMG now adjusts when looking up or down and not dual wielding.
 * Object shadows throughout the Campaign and cinematics now appear properly.

HALO 3
Significant framerate and performance improvements have been made to several areas of Waterfall.
 * Graphics
 * Resizing the game window during gameplay no longer causes bloom lighting to spread out and flicker in resolutions above 1080p.
 * In an 8-player free-for-all game, backpack colors now respect the primary color chosen for the player’s armor customization.
 * In Capture the Flag, the flag color no longer changes to the team color of the carrier after being picked up.
 * Customizations
 * Tertiary colors for Elites no longer disappear when the New Skins in Halo 3 toggle is set to Disabled.
 * Elite neck models no longer show seams and mismatched techsuit textures when Legacy helmets are equipped and the New Skins in Halo 3 toggle is set to Disabled.
 * Back decals on Elite back armor no longer disappear when the New Skins in Halo 3 toggle is set to Disabled.
 * Emblems no longer disappear if the MARK VI or non-Legacy shoulder armors are equipped and the New Skins in Halo 3 toggle is set to Disabled.
 * Multiplayer
 * During gameplay in matches involving large groups of players (8+), gamertags no longer occasionally appear over the wrong player.
 * Removed a legacy exploit involving players being wrongly flagged for betrayals and removed from the game.
 * Multiplayer Maps
 * Waterfall
 * Edge
 * There are now Sentinels flying around in the Forerunner pillar room as intended.
 * The small bumps on the ramps near the center of the map and in some hallway entry and exit points have been removed.
 * Removed an exploit that involved jumping behind the pillars at the Red and Blue bases.
 * Removed an exploit that involved reaching the top of the doorway in the spaces above the orange lifts.
 * Forge
 * Smaller objects set to fixed or phased physics no longer behave like they are set to normal physics when playing online.
 * On the map Sandbox, objects no longer rapidly flicker when viewed from certain angles.

HALO 3: ODST

 * Firefight
 * It is no longer possible to use rockets to get a Phantom stuck and be unable to progress.
 * Friendly voice lines now play as expected for all players, not just the host.

HALO: REACH
Playing multiple Custom Game Browser games back-to-back no longer causes certain textures to turn black for the rest of the game. On Halo: Reach map variants created in Forge, objects no longer rapidly flicker when viewed from certain angles.
 * Graphics
 * On some Halo: Reach missions, shadow lines no longer appear on the ground when viewed from certain angles.
 * On Nvidia GPUs, vertical lines no longer appear on walls to the left of the player when viewed from certain angles.
 * Firefight
 * Halo: Reach Firefight mode now tracks stats correctly, earning progress toward Challenges and Achievements.
 * The Post-Game Carnage Report will no longer show that the match difficulty was Normal when the match difficulty was actually Heroic.
 * Custom Game Browser
 * Forge

HALO 4
The lighting in the final cutscene of the “Reclaimer” outro cinematic is now the correct brightness.
 * Graphics
 * Spartan Ops
 * The Spartan Ops films audio are now fully localized to supported languages.
 * Spartan Ops chapter 6-1 now loads even if Halo 4 multiplayer is uninstalled.
 * Forge
 * During Forge gameplay on mouse & keyboard, the Change Loadout menu is no longer always bound to the spacebar.
 * While using an Xbox controller, hovering over an object and holding Down on the D-pad will now correctly duplicate the object.

USER INTERFACE

 * When Network is set to LAN or Offline, buttons for game modes that require matchmaking (Social Games, Competitive Games, and Firefight Matchmaking) are now greyed out.
 * The Roster tab now marks the leader of the game session with an icon in all game types.
 * Failing to join another player due to one of the players not following the other now results in a more helpful error message.
 * Mousing over the ellipsis menu button on a text chat message no longer moves that message to the center of the chat window.
 * In Custom Game Browser matches, the loading screen between subsequent matches now includes the session’s server region info.
 * The Customization menus for Halo 3, Halo: Reach, and Halo 4 now list the Visor category after the Helmet category instead of being near the bottom of the list.
 * The Customization menu’s animated background now consistently displays the weapon and armor background that was in use previously, instead of sometimes showing the main menu animated background.
 * While loading into a multiplayer game of Halo: Combat Evolved, the loading bar will now properly match loading progress instead of only partially filling.
 * The “Fish Stick” control scheme from the original release of Halo 4 is now available as an option in the Button Layout settings.
 * On Xbox, the virtual keyboard that opens when reporting a player no longer uses the debug text “$REPORT_PLAYER.”

FILE SHARE
Temporary files generated after playing a Multiplayer or Firefight match now display their actual file size instead of the maximum allowed file size.

ACCESSIBILITY
The Narrator function no longer adds “Custom” after reading session information on the Browse menu in the Custom Game Browser.

STEAMWORKS MOD TOOLS
There have been fixes and improvements to the mod tools for Halo: The Master Chief Collection on Steamworks. To learn more about the Steam mod tools and discuss them, visit the mod forums on Steam. }}

Production notes
In the Flighting build for Season 8, and in the Canon Fodder post first announcing them, two pieces of armor were available that did not make it to release in the final season. The first, the Blackguard Tearful Bishop helmet, was cut entirely without explanation. The second consists of the Belos Valorous shoulder pauldrons - in the original Flight they had an arrow sigil as part of their design while in the final release they bear the Season 8 lion emblem.