343 Scrapped Traditional Halo: A Story About Triple-A

has ryan payton ever weighed in on any of this or talked about how it was working there/why he left?

Yea, I came into this thread thinking about Ryan as well.

"I had a great run at Microsoft," said Payton in an interview today with Kotaku. "I don't regret one day of it. But after a few years, there came a point where I wasn't creatively excited about the project anymore. [...] The Halo I wanted to build was fundamentally different and I don't think I had built enough credibility to see such a crazy endeavor through."

Source
 
It's an oversimplification of the social engineering, balance tuning, dual-wielding and netcode issues. In reality, like everything, it's pretty complex. I don't pretend to know if it was "right" or "wrong" just that a lot of thought and work went into it.

If the DMR was twice the power it is now it would be the CE pistol IMO.

I presonally do not want to see that kind of power return, the DMR is bad enough with it's way too good functions at all ranges as it is.

I enjoy using the pistol in reach and halo 4 more then most I think, I love taking someone down with it while they try to BR or AR me :)

The most fun I have ever had in a modern halo is reach multi with AR/Pistol starts, this is how I enjoy halo the most.
 
While the covent was there it could use some cool scarab fight or a big forerunner robot.
Its the goddam Didact.

It’s weird, because one is explicitly set up in the background – the War Sphinx. And then not used. Sigh.

Likewise, we have a bunch of interesting existing Forerunner constructs that would have increased encounter variety and just don’t get used.
 
It’s weird, because one is explicitly set up in the background – the War Sphinx. And then not used. Sigh.

Likewise, we have a bunch of interesting existing Forerunner constructs that would have increased encounter variety and just don’t get used.

Yup. We should have done more with those elements.

I am excited about the future though.
 
Yea, I came into this thread thinking about Ryan as well.
Source
Yeah, it's hard to have any idea what people would think of Ryan's vision for single player, they might have been even more unhappy, or more happy, who knows.

But I also wonder how that would have affected multiplayer?

-----------------------------
But none of that ultimately matters. I judge what I was given for my money and time. It was not to my satisfaction. Far from it.
 
It's an oversimplification of the social engineering, balance tuning, dual-wielding and netcode issues. In reality, like everything, it's pretty complex. I don't pretend to know if it was "right" or "wrong" just that a lot of thought and work went into it.

I wish John Howard would talk extremely openly and in depth about Halo CE and its game design. There is so much in there that is either a miracle or hidden brilliance in design. Just the other day I was thinking of how remarkable the quick camo "glitch" is in that game. It almost seems intentionally designed and balanced by the fact that only the short range weapons can activate it, the stronger mid-long range weapons can not do it, so it ties into the 2 weapon restriction balance.
 
I wish John Howard would talk extremely openly and in depth about Halo CE and its game design. There is so much in there that is either a miracle or hidden brilliance in design. Just the other day I was thinking of how remarkable the quick camo "glitch" is in that game. It almost seems intentionally designed and balanced by the fact that only the short range weapons can activate it, the stronger mid-long range weapons can not do it, so it ties into the 2 weapon restriction balance.

halo ce was amazing in those small small details, even in campaign, how they balanced weapon damage against different enemies was fantastic. Really made that 2 weapon restriction meaningful, especially during the 3 way fights.
 
Lol if anybody actually believes thats "development hell"

This kind of stuff sounds bad in a vacuum, but you would hear very similar (if not worse) stories about previous Halo games. It never goes without drama.

ODST and Reach didn't end up in development hell. Halo 2 was the worst one, and Bungie learned from that and finally got their process together for ODST and Reach. They still had to make the usual cuts and stuff, but they weren't building a plane in the middle of the sky while it was on fire upside down like they were with 2.

It's amazing Halo 2 got released at all.
 
It's an oversimplification of the social engineering, balance tuning, dual-wielding and netcode issues. In reality, like everything, it's pretty complex. I don't pretend to know if it was "right" or "wrong" just that a lot of thought and work went into it.

I appreciate you candidly talking about the game and its development on neogaf. Whether we agree or disagree with what you say, it is just really cool to have a developer actually engage with the community, and you are a good poster outside of Halo threads. Thanks.

Also, even though I agree with some criticisms, I've had a blast with Halo 4 multiplayer.
 
It’s weird, because one is explicitly set up in the background – the War Sphinx. And then not used. Sigh.

Likewise, we have a bunch of interesting existing Forerunner constructs that would have increased encounter variety and just don’t get used.

I think boss battles are also places the armor abilities could do some cool stuff.
Like that shield one where you have to use the AA to block an attack or boost AA to evade slapping tentacle of a gravemind.
 
Article said:
It's during that time you're questioning yourself: 'How is this going to work, will it be as I envision it in my head?" says Holmes. For Halo 4, he says there were a few epiphany moments that helped boost the morale of the team. One of the earlier ones that Holmes recalls was when the team completed a small piece of the Halo experience that he described as a "very traditional" Halo. User research showed that people thought it was a lot of fun, and it showed that the team was capable of making a Halo game that was true to what the series was about.

343 scrapped it, Holmes says, as it was too traditional. But that first build showed the new team that this amalgamation of different studio cultures could work together and achieve a common goal.

carlfacepalm.gif


Halo 3 was arguably the best game in the series, both in campaign and multiplayer. But especially campaign. You can make a good argument for any of the games in the original trilogy, and in some ways ODST.

I laughed. Though I do have to admit I was wrong to ever say Halo 4 was better than Halo 3 and Halo 3 ODST. I said that prematurely, I said it early in the game's life. Back when I said it all the AAs, perks and specializations weren't unlocked yet, and the ordnance systems hadn't become bothersome yet for me. I was wrong, Halo 4 is merely better than Halo Reach and Halo Wars.
 
343 replacing bungie with halo was like michael gambon replacing richard harris as dumbledore

they did a good job but it wasn't the same

mp wise I haven't enjoyed the games since 3(2 had the best mp)

I look forward to seeing what they can do with 5 now that they have this experience behind them, new hardware to work with and the process ironed out a bit more.

Just put more effort into mp maps, stop slowing shit down, stop trying to emulate and try to advance the medium.
 
did you watch their gdc post mortem? Its the exact opposite, they are actually quite proud of many of the glaring issues in the game.
I still think they did well for their first game and on a terribly outdated console. I still have hope for halo 5. Halo 4 was still a good game even though it disappoints by halo standards.
 
343 replacing bungie with halo was like michael gambon replacing richard harris as dumbledore

they did a good job but it wasn't the same

mp wise I haven't enjoyed the games since 3(2 had the best mp)

I look forward to seeing what they can do with 5 now that they have this experience behind them, new hardware to work with and the process ironed out a bit more.

Just put more effort into mp maps, stop slowing shit down, stop trying to emulate and try to advance the medium.

they need to make their halo, not cod halo, not Bungies halo, but honestly they need to produce their idea of halo and make it flawless.

I still think they did well for their first game and on a terribly outdated console. I still have hope for halo 5. Halo 4 was still a good game even though it disappoints by halo standards.

not sure what an outdated console has to do with it. The graphics were actually quite detrminetal to the gaming experience for me. Halo was always about clarity and cleanliness, that disappeared under all the fog and lensflares. It made getting headshots needlessly more difficult, and made vision harder in general. While better looking, it was worse playing. The vistas should be used as a reward for the player, but you're not rewarding your deisgn team or the player when you cut off levels from players who actively want to go back enjoy the graphics from a specific section. Mix that in with poor design on new weapons and enemies, and no real additions to the sandbox, there was a lot of flaws in the game design.
 
Interesting article, I don't envy being at the center of that development cycle.

Looking forward to Halo 5.

Please make the terminals easier to find, and put them on the disc though.
 
I was glad to see some Call of Duty features in Halo 4, like killcams, loadouts, sprinting, scorestreaks etc. while the game still makes you feel like a cyborg super soldier rather than a squishy human from Call of Duty. It's still definitely Halo. I would even prefer more CoD-esque features like more weapon skins and a longer endgame like the prestige system. Adding that kind of stuff wouldn't sacrifice the soul of traditional Halo.

My biggest complaint at this point is the lack of Halos. Seriously. Boot up Halo 4 multiplayer and look up in the sky. Pretty, yes. But where are the Halos? I know it sounds silly but those Halo skyboxes were part of the core Halo experience. That is the biggest area where Halo 4 lost its soul, IMO.
 
I was glad to see some Call of Duty features in Halo 4, like killcams, loadouts, sprinting, scorestreaks etc. while the game still makes you feel like a cyborg super soldier rather than a squishy human from Call of Duty. It's still definitely Halo. I would even prefer more CoD-esque features like more weapon skins and a longer endgame like the prestige system. Adding that kind of stuff wouldn't sacrifice the soul of traditional Halo.

My biggest complaint at this point is the lack of Halos. Seriously. Boot up Halo 4 multiplayer and look up in the sky. Pretty, yes. But where are the Halos? I know it sounds silly but those Halo skyboxes were part of the core Halo experience. That is the biggest area where Halo 4 lost its soul, IMO.

oh god no, sprinting is what fundementally broke the entire halo design philosphy. Why does a supersoldier need a button to run, they are always running, they're super soldiers. Loadouts turned the multiplayer into a game of counter-picking skills as oppsed to being player skill based. And scorestreaks actively hurt players who are performing well.
 
oh god no, sprinting is what fundementally broke the entire halo design philosphy. Why does a supersoldier need a button to run, they are always running, they're super soldiers. Loadouts turned the multiplayer into a game of counter-picking skills as oppsed to being player skill based. And scorestreaks actively hurt players who are performing well. Adding visual and cosmetic changes were great though.

all of this is completely correct imo

i miss the days of, control the sniper and sword on lockout, get power weapons that are on the map in order to control the map, everyone is created equal and is given the same tools and its all about how well you and your team plays
 
"It's during that time you're questioning yourself: 'How is this going to work, will it be as I envision it in my head?" says Holmes. For Halo 4, he says there were a few epiphany moments that helped boost the morale of the team. One of the earlier ones that Holmes recalls was when the team completed a small piece of the Halo experience that he described as a "very traditional" Halo. User research showed that people thought it was a lot of fun, and it showed that the team was capable of making a Halo game that was true to what the series was about.

343 scrapped it, Holmes says, as it was too traditional. But that first build showed the new team that this amalgamation of different studio cultures could work together and achieve a common goal.
Jesus Halsey Christ
 
I was glad to see some Call of Duty features in Halo 4, like killcams, loadouts, sprinting, scorestreaks etc. while the game still makes you feel like a cyborg super soldier rather than a squishy human from Call of Duty. It's still definitely Halo. I would even prefer more CoD-esque features like more weapon skins and a longer endgame like the prestige system. Adding that kind of stuff wouldn't sacrifice the soul of traditional Halo.

My biggest complaint at this point is the lack of Halos. Seriously. Boot up Halo 4 multiplayer and look up in the sky. Pretty, yes. But where are the Halos? I know it sounds silly but those Halo skyboxes were part of the core Halo experience. That is the biggest area where Halo 4 lost its soul, IMO.

yeah I also agree that some shitty JPEG of a Ring Planet or whatever is what killed the Halo franchise hahahahahahaha
 
I love the way the Warthog controls. No changes.

No...you are used to the way the warthog controls. There is a difference. Ground vehicle controls got standardized last gen with the dreamcast and Xbox when controllers with triggers hit the scene (or so I thought) So when Halo 1 dropped, I thought is was just a "My Bad" moment on Bungie's part. Since then I've been hoping and praying they "Fix" that damn issue. Now its up to 343 to right that ship. Can you imagine playing Forza or GT with your car controlling like that?
 
all of this is completely correct imo

i miss the days of, control the sniper and sword on lockout, get power weapons that are on the map in order to control the map, everyone is created equal and is given the same tools and its all about how well you and your team plays

hell, I just miss being able to get ammo for my weapon if i'm not dying constantly. This has happened way too often where I played halo 4 and just got outright fustrated that I ran out of ammo for my dmr/br and had to suicide scouring the map for ammo. Way to support players and give them choices by limiting how they play and handicapping them. I'd take weapons placed around the map, then score streaks any day.
 
Halo 4's campaign had the best visuals and cut scenes, but everything else was just flat. It eludes me as to why Halo 4 introduced only three new enemies, while reducing the number of Covenant foes and adding no new enemy vehicles. There was just so little variety with the Prometheans, especially because there were no vehicles associated with them. With the Covenant, you also only have three main forms with the grunts, jackals, and elites. However the Covenant had vehicles, which each played like a whole new enemy. The Prometheans had none of that. Even their weapons were nothing new (save the Incineration Cannon and the shotgun pistol).

The Prometheans also did not play well. The floating guys who threw grenades and made shields were fine, but the dogs were just annoying and uninteresting. The knights' ability to teleport was more of an annoyance than an interesting gameplay element. I'd often be shooting a knight and go "okay... and now he's going to teleport. Hopefully it's two feet away so I don't need to go on a scavenger hunt." Which is what the Prometheans were most of the time: tedious. The flying guys were exceptionally annoying to take down if you only had short to mid-range weapons like the Scatter Shot and that Promethean assault rifle, dogs would just swarm you and waste all of your ammo, and the knights felt like bullet sponges and would teleport away, only serving to delay killing them.

It got to a point where I was wanting the flood to appear, just so I wouldn't have to bother with the Prometheans. Granted the Prometheans never got to be as tedious as the flood turret forms or pure forms seen in Halo 3, but the Flood spores, carriers, and combat forms were never as tedious feeling. Replaying The Library did not feel as bad after I beat Halo 4, believe it or not.

The Cortana x Chief love thing going on was also awful, but I'd rather not go into that. I'll just say that almost all dialogue between them was cringe worthy. This is coming from someone who played Kingdom fucking Hearts without cringing.

Why remove the pro pipe and add the sticky detonator? Why not push the Promethean weapons to be more than just fancy variants of weapons already in the game? Why did the Promethean grenade suck so much? And how did that thing kill the big baddy when it can't kill anything else? /rant
 
No...you are used to the way the warthog controls. There is a difference. Ground vehicle controls got standardized last gen with the dreamcast and Xbox when controllers with triggers hit the scene (or so I thought) So when Halo 1 dropped, I thought is was just a "My Bad" moment on Bungie's part. Since then I've been hoping and praying they "Fix" that damn issue. Now its up to 343 to right that ship.

You're wrong.

Can you imagine playing Forza or GT with your car controlling like that?

What an absolutely absurd comparison.
 
No...you are used to the way the warthog controls. There is a difference. Ground vehicle controls got standardized last gen with the dreamcast and Xbox when controllers with triggers hit the scene (or so I thought) So when Halo 1 dropped, I thought is was just a "My Bad" moment on Bungie's part. Since then I've been hoping and praying they "Fix" that damn issue. Now its up to 343 to right that ship. Can you imagine playing Forza or GT with your car controlling like that?

This isn't Forza or GT, this is Halo.
 
Go away, we had enough people like you who ruined Halo. Please don't ruin our vehicles in it as well. :(

Wut? I've been playing Halo since Halo 1 and I've ALWAYS hated the vehicle controls. Since I like the combat a bunch I tolerated it, but if there is a chance it can get fixed.......well HELL YEH I'm a speak up!!!
 
I think if they stick to the traditional formula it would have been better.Halo felt different and unique because of this reason from most other shooters.
I actually liked Halo4 campaign but i think its worst Halo campaign tied with Halo2.(which is still better than most ) but story right now is complete shit
 
Halo 4's campaign had the best visuals and cut scenes, but everything else was just flat. It eludes me as to why Halo 4 introduced only three new enemies, while reducing the number of Covenant foes and adding no new enemy vehicles. There was just so little variety with the Prometheans, especially because there were no vehicles associated with them. With the Covenant, you also only have three main forms with the grunts, jackals, and elites. However the Covenant had vehicles, which each played like a whole new enemy. The Prometheans had none of that. Even their weapons were nothing new (save the Incineration Cannon and the shotgun pistol).

The Prometheans also did not play well. The floating guys who threw grenades and made shields were fine, but the dogs were just annoying and uninteresting. The knights' ability to teleport was more of an annoyance than an interesting gameplay element. I'd often be shooting a knight and go "okay... and now he's going to teleport. Hopefully it's two feet away so I don't need to go on a scavenger hunt." Which is what the Prometheans were most of the time: tedious. The flying guys were exceptionally annoying to take down if you only had short to mid-range weapons like the Scatter Shot and that Promethean assault rifle, dogs would just swarm you and waste all of your ammo, and the knights felt like bullet sponges and would teleport away, only serving to delay killing them.

It got to a point where I was wanting the flood to appear, just so I wouldn't have to bother with the Prometheans. Granted the Prometheans never got to be as tedious as the flood turret forms or pure forms seen in Halo 3, but the Flood spores, carriers, and combat forms were never as tedious feeling. Replaying The Library did not feel as bad after I beat Halo 4, believe it or not.

The Cortana x Chief love thing going on was also awful, but I'd rather not go into that. I'll just say that almost all dialogue between them was cringe worthy. This is coming from someone who played Kingdom fucking Hearts without cringing.

Why remove the pro pipe and add the sticky detonator? Why not push the Promethean weapons to be more than just fancy variants of weapons already in the game? Why did the Promethean grenade suck so much? And how did that thing kill the big baddy when it can't kill anything else? /rant

well the promethean design was flawed from the start. They introduced 3 new enemies and none of them were unique in the halo sandbox from the covenant.

The flood on the other hand were inherently unique from the covenant, hence they required different weapons, different methods of apporaching combat, and made that 2 weapon restriction meaningful.

Honestly, why even bother including the shotgun if none of the enemies ever get in range for you to use it? They missed the point completely on why the flood exist in a game design standpoint.
 
I like that the key people of 343 are acknowledging that they made mistakes with Halo 4. I can only hope they take the countless amounts of feedback and the knowledge of their mistakes to make Halo 5 the Halo games veterans have been waiting for since before Reach.

P.S. 343... Please, for the love of God, release a beta for Halo 5!!!
 
I miss Halo. :(

So frustrating to see what it was turned into after Halo 3 when it was put in the hands of devs who had no respect for the special thing it was..
 
It sounds like you're basely your opinion entirely on hype levels, and yes Halo 2 had the highest hype levels of any Halo game.


However, in terms of pure game, I think it's the worst of the Halo games in both campaign and competitive. As I already explained, the single biggest addition to the multiplayer was dual wielding, which pretty much turned the whole game into a circle staffing mess. That is why it's been nerfed so heavily in each subsequent game.

The story of H2 is still laughed at for it's messy storytelling shenanigans and major cock tease ending that really wasn't an ending. Even Bungie has admitted the game had a troubled development cycle that ended up with things turning out less than ideally.

huh

were you not playing BR start playlists or something

Halo 3 introduced no hit scan and BR-spread which basically killed its ability to be as good as H2 right off the bat

And its campaign had you fighting Brutes for its entirety.

Brute Halo can't be best Halo.
 
Yep. Vehicles in Halo are and should feel like natural extensions of your Spartan. Making them control like "sim" vehicles would be missing the point. That said, more personalized control options wouldn't change that.

I disagree. I love Crackdown to death for having sensible vehicle controls. I doesn't detract from the character immersion one bit. Hell...even GTA has sensible vehicle controls. And yeh I said "Sensible" cuz thats how they are compared to Halo's ground vehicle controls. I feel like I'm playing robotron or Smash TV when I drive a Warthog. Not a good look in my book.
 
No...you are used to the way the warthog controls. There is a difference. Ground vehicle controls got standardized last gen with the dreamcast and Xbox when controllers with triggers hit the scene (or so I thought) So when Halo 1 dropped, I thought is was just a "My Bad" moment on Bungie's part. Since then I've been hoping and praying they "Fix" that damn issue. Now its up to 343 to right that ship. Can you imagine playing Forza or GT with your car controlling like that?

Every time I play a shooter like Farcry, Crysis, etc. and I get into a vehicle, I wish it controlled like the Warthog. The way it controls is basically the same way you control a character in a FPS, and it just makes moving and turning/looking so smooth and effortless even if it isn't 1-to-1 like driving a real car with gas and brake that I wish all would do it this way.
 
I like having the ability to sprint. When Halo is small scale or in-doors, it's not so necessary. But in the wide open vehicle areas sprinting is a God send.

I didn't like the sprint because i felt like they changed the way they designed the levels to accommodate it and it inherently changed the flow of the mp maps.

That problem started in Reach though.

It wouldn't feel so bad running across fields without the sprint if they didn't make the normal run speed slower than the old halo games.
 
Was technology a limitation for Halo 4's scope?


Of course. Tech is always a limitation. 360 is a really great workhorse and the fact that a ten year old machine is still capable of surprises is awesome, but obviously it's good to have more powa. And more time.

Ultimately building big games comes down to time, talent and tech and you have to balance all those things. We had the extra challenge of growing the team from scratch - learning about each other as well as the game engine.

Now that the team is formed, and has shipped a game together, that one huge chunk of challenge is gone. So that, combined with things we've learned about the game itself, and player reactions, habits, likes and dislikes, should lead us into a better place.
 
ODST and Reach didn't end up in development hell. Halo 2 was the worst one, and Bungie learned from that and finally got their process together for ODST and Reach. They still had to make the usual cuts and stuff, but they weren't building a plane in the middle of the sky while it was on fire upside down like they were with 2.

It's amazing Halo 2 got released at all.

Like I said earlier...Reach is BY FAR Bungie's best Halo IMO. I actually cared about that sqaud I went to war with.
 
Of course. Tech is always a limitation. 360 is a really great workhorse and the fact that a ten year old machine is still capable of surprises is awesome, but obviously it's good to have more powa. And more time.

Ultimately building big games comes down to time, talent and tech and you have to balance all those things. We had the extra challenge of growing the team from scratch - learning about each other as well as the game engine.

Now that the team is formed, and has shipped a game together, that one huge chunk of challenge is gone. So that, combined with things we've learned about the game itself, and player reactions, habits, likes and dislikes, should lead us into a better place.

is there going to be more or less outsourcing in the development of Halo 5?
 
Of course. Tech is always a limitation. 360 is a really great workhorse and the fact that a ten year old machine is still capable of surprises is awesome, but obviously it's good to have more powa. And more time.

Ultimately building big games comes down to time, talent and tech and you have to balance all those things. We had the extra challenge of growing the team from scratch - learning about each other as well as the game engine.

Now that the team is formed, and has shipped a game together, that one huge chunk of challenge is gone. So that, combined with things we've learned about the game itself, and player reactions, habits, likes and dislikes, should lead us into a better place.

No more inifinty slayer confirmed!
 
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