How to create an Xbox Live party game for "Halo 2" on your Original Xbox console

This article describes how to create a Halo 2 party game on Xbox Live.

Party

A party is a temporary group of friends or a group of players who do not know each other who are playing an OptiMatch or a Custom Game together on the Xbox Live service. It is like being on a virtual couch with people from all over the world as you travel throughout the Halo 2 universe.

Note Parties are session-based. This means when you log out, the party ends. A party game is a non-ranked game.

Create a party

1. On the Xbox Live screen, press the directional pad (D-pad) up or down to select Create Party, and then press the A button to view the Pregame Lobby screen.
2. On the Pregame Lobby screen, press the Y button to view the Friends screen.
3. On the Friends screen, press the D-pad up or down to select the friend you who want to join the party, and then press the A button to view the individual friend’s screen.
4. On the individual friend’s screen, press the D-pad up or down to select Send Party Invite, and then press the A button to send the invite and return to the Friends screen to select other friends to join the party.
5. After you select up to 15 friends to join your party, on the Friends screen, press the B button to return to the Pregame Lobby screen.
6. On the Pregame Lobby screen, press the A button to start the game or press the D-pad left or right to select Game Setup to view the Custom Game Setup screen so that you can customize the game.

Set up a custom game

When you set up a custom game, you can change the map, change the rules, and change the options to customize the type of game that you want to play. To do this, follow these steps:

1. On the Custom Game Setup screen, press the D-pad up or down to select from the following options, and the press the A button to view that option’s screen:
   • Change Map
     For more information, see the “Change Map” section.
   • Change Rules
     For more information, see the “ Change Rules” section.
   • Quick Options
     For more information, see the “Quick Options” section.
   • Switch To: Co-Op Game
   • Switch To: Matchmaking
2. After you configure your options, press the B button to return to the Pregame Lobby screen.

Change a map

With the Change Map option, you can select a different map.

Note Some maps work better with certain game types or with certain player counts.

To change a map, follow these steps:

1. Press the D-pad up or down to select Change Map, and then press the A button.
2. On the Select Map screen, press the D-pad up or down to select from the following maps, and then press the A button to return to the Pregame Lobby screen:
   • Lockout
   • Ascension
   • Midship
   • Ivory Tower
   • Beaver Creek
   • Burial Mounds
   • Colossus
   • Zanzibar
   • Coagulation
   • Headlong
   • Waterworks
   • Foundation

Change the rules

With the Change Rules option, you can select a new variation of the game, or select a new game. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Press the D-pad up or down to select Change Rules, and then press the A button to view the Select Game screen.
2. On the Select Game screen, press the D-pad up or down to select from the following games, and then press the A button to view that game’s variant:
   • Slayer
   • King of the Hill
   • Oddball
   • Juggernaut
   • Capture the Flag
   • Assault
   • Territories

For more information about Halo 2 game variants, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Configure the quick options

Using Quick Options, you can temporarily tweak some of the rules of the game.

Note You cannot save these changes to your variant.

To configure the quick options, follow these steps:

1. Press the D-pad up or down to select Quick Options, and then press the A button.
2. On the Quick Options screen, press the D-pad up or down to select from the following options, and then press the A button to view that option’s screen:
   • Score to Win Round: Unlimited, 1, 3, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 50, 100, 250
   • Round time Limit: None, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 15, 20, 30, 45 Minutes, 1 Hour
   • Starting Weapon: Map Default, Random, Battle Rifle, Magnum, SMG, Plasma Pistol, Plasma Rifle, Brute Plasma Rifle, Rocket Launcher, Shotgun, Sniper Rifle, Brute Shot, Needler, Carbine, Beam Rifle, Energy Sword, Sentinel Beam
   • Weapons On Map: Map Default, None, Rockets, Shotguns, Swords, Brute Shots, Halo Classic, New Classic, Heavy Weapons, All Duels, No Duels, Rifles, Sniping, No Sniping, Pistols, Plasma, Human, Covenant, Random Set
   • Motion Sensor: Off, On
   • Bonus Points: Off, On
   • Starting Grenades: On, Off
   • Secondary Weapon: Map Default, Random, Battle Rifle, Magnum, SMG, Plasma Pistol, Plasma Rifle, Brute Plasma Rifle, Rocket Launcher, Shotgun, Sniper Rifle, Brute Shot, Needler, Carbine, Beam Rifle, Energy Sword, Sentinel Beam
   • Max Active Players: 2 - 16
   • Primary Light Vehicle: Map Default, Warthog, Gauss Warthog, Ghost, Spectre, Random, None
   • Primary Heavy Vehicle: Map Default, Scorpion Tank, Wraith, Random, None

Limiting Party members

1. On the Pregame Lobby screen, press the D-pad left or right to select Game Setup, and then press the A button.
2. Press the X button to view the Party Privacy screen.
3. On the Party Privacy screen, press the D-pad up or down to select from the following options, and then press the A button:
   • Open
   • Invite Only
   • Closed