Orochinagis
Member
Too bad they didnt retake the Vulture in later Halos, I jiggled when I saw it in Avatar.
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Halo 4 |OT2| TURBO
- Thread starter Tashi
- Start date
Well, the Pelican can carry 2 pilots and some 10-14 passengers, so fitting 6 to the Vulture shouldn't be too hard.
Especially since the Vulture lacks the magnetic lift for vehicles, so it probably has actually much more internal volume seeing as it doesn't have as thin tail as the Pelican has.
EDIT the Vulture would have the same issue as the Pelican as playable vehicle: Slow, overpowered, and boring. Adding more enemies doesn't make it fun. Making it weaker doesn't make it fun. It is just fundamentally meh for games like Halo, i think.
EDIT But if we were talking about a game something like Halo-Battlefield hybrid? Then it might work, with balance tweaks. Depending on the game's pacing, complexity and whatever else of course. But i reckon it would fit better more large scale game.
Orochinagis
Member
Piloting a Vulture could be amazing in coop, one in the main cannon and the others on the machine guns like Reach or the Pelican part Halo 4.
In gears of war 3 was an amazing experience on the submarine.
In gears of war 3 was an amazing experience on the submarine.
Yep. He's worked with 343 on the Halo Essential Visual Guide and Halo 4 Essential Visual Guide. From a technical canon perspective he's probably unparalleled in the community, and at 343.
Hmm. The Pelican in Halo 4 was fucking awful even in co-op, though arguably the missions weak design didn't help.
Flying a Falcon in Reach with a friend is pretty fun but not sure if scales up well.
Orochinagis
Member
True, I was expecting an air battle or something because the pelican is fully operational but we always use the shortcut in that level
In Reach I liked how the game adds another Falcon/Sabre if you are playing full coop and if you are player 3 and 4 you land in another area near to player 1 and 2
FUNKNOWN iXi
Member
So much potential, so little diversity in past Halo games IMO (EDIT: The following is more of a "complaint" about my issue with Halo 3's Campaign over CE/H2 since they were the first two games). Sure we have a cool sandbox to play in, but I always thought the Campaigns should've involved way more than what we got, especially out of Halo 3. By that point I was hoping to see over the top action that accurately represents the POWER of a Spartan, but I don't think we received that compared to Halo 4.
MC in Halo 4 was exponentially more badass than in previous games. All I could think of when I saw MC escaping after he killed the Prophet of Regret in Halo 2 was, "Hmm, this looks rather boring as MC is just running away, stiff as a log." Bungie definitely got better with the presentation of Reach and 343 seems to be on the right track with Halo 4 in terms of cinematics.
Can't wait to see what they'll produce for Halo 5.
The Sparrowhawk and/or Skyhawk are theoretically pretty easy to balance i think. High speed and highly maneuverable but weak armor, with medium powered weapon, either the quad autocannons (perhaps prevent hovering like Halo 3 Banshee, force strafing runs), or rocket pods (with weak splash damage and longish reload time). Or perhaps a pair of long-reload homing missiles. Very possible to balance, once its role in the sandbox is defined (human "skin" to the Banshee or heavy aerial unit or what?). (Them having twin weapon systems is also possible but then the balancing becomes hard. Think how OP the Halo Reach and 4 Banshee is, and Halo 3 Hornet...)
And of course the sandbox having the Laser or homing missiles will make short work of that vehicle.
A problem with the Halo 4 Pelican Gunship is that it is meant for close air support, ie anti-ground operations. It is really boring for dogfights, especially since the enemies don't attack until you get close...
EDIT i had an idea for how a gunship mission should work. I'll see if i can draw some illustrations too...
My major issue with the Halo 4 mission was that you weren't really using the Pelican for any sort of transport. If you'd had to clear out one area and send allies to take out a tower, pick them up, in addition to doing your own ground work, I'd have found that more interesting. As it was there wasn't much that actually differentiated it (aside from the really awesome shootout if you betray Spartans in the hangar, but that's not really part of the level design per se.)
From a co-op standpoint, the angles on the turrets are frustratingly poor--you can't shoot in the direction you're traveling, and you rarely need to maneuver that much for coverage or a broadside.
From a co-op standpoint, the angles on the turrets are frustratingly poor--you can't shoot in the direction you're traveling, and you rarely need to maneuver that much for coverage or a broadside.
Orochinagis
Member
Talking about gunships makes me want to 343i includes something like this in Halo 5 with some coop would be sick.
Syphon Filter
Member
I think MC was not badass at all in Halo 4,seemed forced and conventional. I think MC in the older titles is better in every way since he was quiet for the most part and meant business. Now he is generic in every way.
We might have differing opinions what constitutes "generic", but "silent space marine protagonist" is way more generic than than the Chief's representation in Halo 4.
One of my favourite parts about Halo 3 was jumping on the side of a Hornet while the A.I. flew and dropped me off to take out the Scarab, and then it would (try to) come back and pick me up.
Basically, just like the end of Aliens when Bishop drops off Ripley then picks her back up at the last moment when shit's exploding around and there's an alien bitch of a queen on her tail.
So, my mission idea.
The ideal mission for a Pelican Gunship, or any other gunship, with multiple crews.
Trench Run
Beautiful map, not to scale as it says.
The circle is a volcanic plateau/mesa, with a crater/pit in the middle with a Covenant base.
There is a lava river in the bottom of the canyon.
The idea is that there is a Covenant Super-Spire (a Spire augmented with Promethean tech) in the middle, with massive geothermal power plant. It projects a shield just like a normal Spire that covers the entire large mesa. The shield prevents aircraft from moving through it (remember the EMP effect of the Spire shield from Reach?) and the entire mesa is dotted with Covenant AAA batteries and other defenses, including weapons that can fire orbiting ships too, all of them drawing power from the massive power plant. And worse, as the Covies upgrade the Spire and bring up more systems, it becomes stronger and projects a cloaking field and sensor disruption network that will cover the entire mesa, and makes orbital bombardment very difficult. The idea defensive position, and the UNSC can't let the Covies gain foothold on the planet.
The single canyon that connects to the middle is the only way in or out, not counting the Spire's teleportation capabilities. The Covies have defenses in the canyon but these are not quite as heavy as else where on the mesa, as the Covenant assumes no one is crazy enough to try to punch through the canyon (extremely difficult for ground forces, and the limited space makes it difficult for aircraft too).
Naturally that is the way in for the players. Using a Pelican Gunship. Fly fast, shoot everything, watch out for archways, stalagmites and whatever else.
Strategies include mad-dash through the canyon, or methodical "kill 'em all", or whatever you can think of.
The trench run consist 4 sections: the beginning, which is relatively straightforward, the "Curve", a curved section adding to the difficult, the split where you must choose between two routes (different defenses) and the base, which is guarded by an upgraded Scarab with better internal defenses and more AA guns (either shoot the thing until it blows up or board it, just like before).
Once the defensive shield and guns are down, you get massive ODST reinforcements to mop up the rest of the defenders.
The canyon isn't super wide, and is filled with stalagmites, archways, ramps, tunnels, Covenant buildings and turrets, and other features. The bottom has a lava river, making it difficult for ground forces to move through the canyon but not impossible.
Enemies can be found on multiple levels, and there are enemy ground and air vehicles, and a Scarab boss.
Going too high causes the defensive network to shoot you down.
For added replayability, the mission begins in a UNSC ship hangar, with various weapons (pick whatever you want, the weapons have extra ammo, you ain't getting more UNSC weapons during the mission)... and various vehicles for the mission. The standard method is, of course, to use a Pelican Gunship. But there are alternatives: Falcons/Hornets/Sparrowhawks/other UNSC aircraft, and Warthogs/Scorpions/other ground vehicles for optional ground-attack hard mode. Picking ground causes AI flown Pelican to deliver the players to the entrance of the Canyon.
And when i say it is "hard mode", i mean it, the mission should be considerably more difficult with ground forces.
Of course, in co-op one can mix and match, Pelican Gunship, a Hornet and a Scorpion.
And that's how a Pelican Gunship mission should be done.
The ideal mission for a Pelican Gunship, or any other gunship, with multiple crews.
Trench Run
Beautiful map, not to scale as it says.
The circle is a volcanic plateau/mesa, with a crater/pit in the middle with a Covenant base.
There is a lava river in the bottom of the canyon.
The idea is that there is a Covenant Super-Spire (a Spire augmented with Promethean tech) in the middle, with massive geothermal power plant. It projects a shield just like a normal Spire that covers the entire large mesa. The shield prevents aircraft from moving through it (remember the EMP effect of the Spire shield from Reach?) and the entire mesa is dotted with Covenant AAA batteries and other defenses, including weapons that can fire orbiting ships too, all of them drawing power from the massive power plant. And worse, as the Covies upgrade the Spire and bring up more systems, it becomes stronger and projects a cloaking field and sensor disruption network that will cover the entire mesa, and makes orbital bombardment very difficult. The idea defensive position, and the UNSC can't let the Covies gain foothold on the planet.
The single canyon that connects to the middle is the only way in or out, not counting the Spire's teleportation capabilities. The Covies have defenses in the canyon but these are not quite as heavy as else where on the mesa, as the Covenant assumes no one is crazy enough to try to punch through the canyon (extremely difficult for ground forces, and the limited space makes it difficult for aircraft too).
Naturally that is the way in for the players. Using a Pelican Gunship. Fly fast, shoot everything, watch out for archways, stalagmites and whatever else.
Strategies include mad-dash through the canyon, or methodical "kill 'em all", or whatever you can think of.
The trench run consist 4 sections: the beginning, which is relatively straightforward, the "Curve", a curved section adding to the difficult, the split where you must choose between two routes (different defenses) and the base, which is guarded by an upgraded Scarab with better internal defenses and more AA guns (either shoot the thing until it blows up or board it, just like before).
Once the defensive shield and guns are down, you get massive ODST reinforcements to mop up the rest of the defenders.
The canyon isn't super wide, and is filled with stalagmites, archways, ramps, tunnels, Covenant buildings and turrets, and other features. The bottom has a lava river, making it difficult for ground forces to move through the canyon but not impossible.
Enemies can be found on multiple levels, and there are enemy ground and air vehicles, and a Scarab boss.
Going too high causes the defensive network to shoot you down.
For added replayability, the mission begins in a UNSC ship hangar, with various weapons (pick whatever you want, the weapons have extra ammo, you ain't getting more UNSC weapons during the mission)... and various vehicles for the mission. The standard method is, of course, to use a Pelican Gunship. But there are alternatives: Falcons/Hornets/Sparrowhawks/other UNSC aircraft, and Warthogs/Scorpions/other ground vehicles for optional ground-attack hard mode. Picking ground causes AI flown Pelican to deliver the players to the entrance of the Canyon.
And when i say it is "hard mode", i mean it, the mission should be considerably more difficult with ground forces.
Of course, in co-op one can mix and match, Pelican Gunship, a Hornet and a Scorpion.
And that's how a Pelican Gunship mission should be done.
Those marines/troopers follow you specifically in Reach but that's it. IIRC. In practice, i never had live AI soldiers for long...
FUNKNOWN iXi
Member
I don't think there's been a single thing we agree on lmfao. Makes for interesting discussion at least ;b
MC flipping that Ghost before he falls off the cliff was far from "generic" IMO, and was probably more badass in that little scene than anything I remember in Halo 3. The action and cinematography of several scenes in Halo 4 had me like ":] Yessss.. finallyyyy!"
Then it was all ruined by a QTE Pulse Grenade in what should've been an encounter of epic proportions heh
Orochinagis
Member
Another wasted opportunity was view the game as an ODST or another Spartan besides MC in some sort of mission maybe dying in the end, I think that was a breaking point in Halo 2 viewing the campaign as a Covenant.
One of the reason I enjoy playing on lower difficulties is I like collecting and saving my Marines. I get annoyed when they arbitrarily won't follow me.
Being able to command Spartans would be pretty cool. There's still room on the controller D-pad for basic commands.
I'm inclined to shoot them on lower difficulties. The last time in Halo 4 when i had a live marine and i gave him a weapon (Binary Rifle actually), he shot ME. Surprisingly i didn't die (i would have died had an enemy AI shot me), apparently the marines have damage reduction, probably to prevent them from making the game too easy if you give them power weapons. Fucking lame.
Prinz Eugn
Member
lol
I'm not sure but i think at least Halo CE marine AI was actually better on easy, and this might apply to other Halos. You know, a boost for the friendly AI combat effectiveness to make the game even easier for new players.
Also, Halo 4 is probably the only Halo where i haven't played it on Easy, not counting Spartan Ops. It is just way too easy even on Legendary (and i never have real issues with running low on ammo, unless i actually play stupidly like not picking up ammo in the first place... Been there, done that...).
NobleGundam
Banned
Stupid OP Marines and their Infinite Ammo & Dude Bro attitudes!
Spartan IV everywhere no escape you kill them and they respawn more dudebro than ever...
So if i kill them enough times, does their dudebroness* overflow at some point and reset to 1? Or am i looking at a really big number, something takes weeks to achieve at very least?
*dudebroness sounds... i don't know, a bit feminine or something? You know, like actress.
EDIT perhaps it should be dudebrones? Dudebrons?
Do you like Ponies?
User 73706
Banned
-ess is feminine that's why it is well feminine.
But at peak dudebro the universe implodes or chief has a psychotic episode one of the two.
Perhaps i should have highlighted that dudebroness sounds really odd. What's the female equivalent of "dudebro"?
For some reason, right now, i really want to see a Halo cutscene where the Chief acts in dudebro-manner, properly voiced by his voice actor, and Cortana being annoyed and confused about the Chiefs manners.
EDIT and Wahrer's image choice is great as usual. Or did he make it?
User 73706
Banned
It's the first search result for "Dudebronies."
I've never heard of there actually being a female version of dude bro myself.
Orochinagis
Member
Sis or sista I think.
Neither have i heard of one existing, so i wonder.
"Sista" isn't... evocative, the way dudebro is.
I don't know what to say...
I'm not even sure there's anything at all comparable really so I to am curious.
Well I don't know if it's worse but a woman posed nude inside a disemboweled horse...
Sarah Palmer?
EDIT except i think most dudebro characters are better characters than her.
EDIT on the account of being even remotely... funny... by being absurd. Or something.
You can actually kill everyone off in the hangar of "Shutdown".* But going up against marines with shotguns, and Spartans with Railguns and SAWs is pretty damn difficult.
*This reminds me, Halo 4 needed more memorable level titles.
Orochinagis
Member
We'll we see but I wouldn't get my hopes up.
Ragnarok Flames
Banned
unless its a return to classic halo then dial back the hype.
Demoncarnotaur
Member
Believe.
Ehh, I'm expecting something simple like concept art, and maybe a small announcement.
Orochinagis
Member
Remember halo 4 concept art trailer!!!?
Ragnarok Flames
Banned
Hamburger guns confirmed.