Support NeoGAF

[Dice]

So Halo and Halo 2 are good games, I think the latter much more than the former, but there are a couple things I don't get.

1) Why have respawn time? For about a decade of FPS gaming before Halo, I never saw respawn times in anything, and I just can't get used to it no matter how much I try. It's incredibly stupid and annoying and as far as I can tell there's no reason for it. So if there is one, what's the reason?

2) Why have radar if it doesn't always work? I start to put my trust in it only to find out someone has been following me for the last minute, it's dumb. I don't understand the strange mechanics of the radar.

And yes I know these can be changed in the options, but I don't own the gane so I only play Halo when the guys hook up a couple of machines for an 8-player game, and they never adjust it. There was one night we played without radar, that alone made it 3 times as good.

 

[temp]

1) So when, for instance, you're taking the flag from the other team's base, you have a chance to get out before the people you just killed respawn and finish you off.

2) If the guy behind you is moving slow enough the radar won't pick him up.

 

[ArcadeStickMonk]

Why have radar if it doesn't always work? I start to put my trust in it only to find out someone has been following me for the last minute, it's dumb. I don't understand the strange mechanics of the radar.

First of all, it's not radar, it's motion detection. If they don't move fast enough they won't show up.

Second, it has a very limited range. If they are just out of it, they won't show up until nearly the last second.

It's meant for spatial awareness, it's not meant to allow omnipotence for every player. I think it's main purpose is to balance out the fact that you cannot instantly turn around to check your six in Halo.

 

[op_ivy]

2) If the guy behind you is moving slow enough the radar won't pick him up.

thats wrong.

the radar will pick up anyone within a certain range (and above and below you) moving around that isnt crouch walking. that is the only way not to show up on anyones radar.

 

[temp]

thats wrong.

the radar will pick up anyone within a certain range (and above and below you) moving around that isnt crouch walking. that is the only way not to show up on anyones radar.

Seriously? I always thought it was just the speed of crouch walking or less.

 

[ArcadeStickMonk]

Seriously? I always thought it was just the speed of crouch walking or less.

It was like that in Halo 1.

 

[op_ivy]

Seriously? I always thought it was just the speed of crouch walking or less.

sorry, i guess i read your post wrong. seemed to me you were saying you had to be walking behind a player and walking slow not to be on their radar.

its late

 

[GhaleonEB]

Seriously? I always thought it was just the speed of crouch walking or less.

I do think speed has to do with it, but it's really hard not to cross the line, so to speak, when not crouch walking. But then I've never tested it, I always just crouch walk to be safe. Should be easy enough to test.

As for the respawn time, think of it as the reward for the team that killed you - for those five seconds, they have the advantage of fighting with more guys than team the other guy was on. Like it was said above, CTF and Assault would be nearly impossible without it since you would have an infinate string of guys to fight through - it would be like playing Whack-a-Mole. With respawn timers you can take out the guys in a base and have a few seconds respite before they come back at you (having them respawn outside of their base when you are in it also helps).

 

[Rorschach]

Respawn times are annoying to you when you're waiting to re-enter the battle, but their necessary since the movement, running, and overall pace is slower than a game like Quake III. There would be even more stalemates than there are now if someone could spawn right back in the flag room and kill you as you're walking out (you also move a lot slower carrying the flag unless you throw run it). In a game like Quake III, you just land on it, and hop away.

 

[FiRez]

So Halo and Halo 2 are good games, I think the latter much more than the former.

I hope you're not talking about the campaign mode

 

[fallout]

Heh, sometimes I've wished that the respawn timer was longer for games like Assault. It's so annoying when you tell your teammates not to kill the big batch of guys back at your base, which of course, they don't listen to, because every game is Slayer apparently. Then a few seconds later, you've got a swarm of guys who just spawned behind you while you're running in to arm the bomb.

 

[Stinkles]

Speed is absolutely the activator in Halo 2 for motion detection. Walk slowly enough and you don't show up on the other guy's tracker. Go try it. Crouch walking makes you walk at the upper limit of the speed detection, so you don't show up - but the system doesn't know whether you're crouched or not.

 

[FiRez]

I hope you're not talking about the campaign mode in Halo 2

I fixed it to be more specific (I still want to believe that the campaign of Halo 2 never happened)
Sorry I can't edit my own messages

 

[fallout]

Speed is absolutely the activator in Halo 2 for motion detection. Walk slowly enough and you don't show up on the other guy's tracker. Go try it. Crouch walking makes you walk at the upper limit of the speed detection, so you don't show up - but the system doesn't know whether you're crouched or not.

So all that time I've killed my thumb crouching still, I could've just been ... standing still?

 

[The Faceless Master]

So all that time I've killed my thumb crouching still, I could've just been ... standing still?

right... or even moving slightly!

 

[SpeedingUptoStop]

Damn, my thumb has been hurting for no reason? I gotta try this out.

 

[ChrisReid]

So Halo and Halo 2 are good games, I think the latter much more than the former, but there are a couple things I don't get.

And yes I know these can be changed in the options, but I don't own the gane so I only play Halo when the guys hook up a couple of machines for an 8-player game, and they never adjust it. There was one night we played without radar, that alone made it 3 times as good.

You can also only hold two guns. There's a lot of self-imposed limitations on the game that I believe are what makes Halo as popular as it is. People who are already preattached to the Counterstrikes and other major FPS games are not gonna handle the shock, but FPS-neutral people really see these things as great balancers that add a lot of polish.