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Halo |OT13|

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U

User 73706

Banned
posed


Sup guise.

I think visor colors are a perfect way to let people get creative with their colors even in team matches. In my opinion though, I'd do a few things:

-Make the lights on the armor actually glow and be dynamic like in Halo 3; all of them are just pure untextured white now.

-Make the armors simpler and rely on two basic colors for designs rather than adding in a bunch of black and white as well.

-Make the color configurations look something like this:

Armor Options
  • Armor Primary (main colors; replace black with Steel)
  • Armor Secondary (main colors; keep black in rather than steel)
  • Armor Detail (the extra black and white bits present on the armor; allow players to use much darker muted shades or flat black and white on their character. Basically the default colors but brightness and saturation reduced by 50-75%. The details would be very faint on the armor, but still visible in team games.
  • Armor Tech (Very basic, saturated colors; this would cover the visor color and lighting on the armor. Possibly allow for unlocks for gradients similar to Specialization visors)
  • Under Armor (Several options between black and white. Compensate by making armor bigger and making ALL under armor a flat color rather than making some your armor color.)

Emblem Options
  • Emblem Primary
  • Emblem Secondary
  • Emblem Background
  • Toggle Emblem? [YES / NO]
  • Display Emblem on Visor? [YES / NO]

Maybe add a better way to categorize the armors too. Either simplify them into some good core armors, OR pull another Halo 4 and give us a shitload, but streamline them more. For example, rather than doing them by just armor piece, do:

  • Helmets
  • Torso
  • Shoulders (Toggle between left and right with the trigger buttons)
  • Forearms
  • Legs
  • Armor Sets (This option allows you to view complete armor sets rather than individual pieces and change them accordingly. In turn, this would mean the majority of pieces would be complete sets.)

And then within each option, do additional categories, such as:
  • Primary (The new armors, gained by leveling up.)
  • Secondary or Alternative (Alternate armor skins, provided "free" with the Primary unlock.)
  • Specializations (Armor sets obtained through specializations, which would be more common in Halo 5. However, they would be entirely cosmetic. Available from the start, much like Specializations ideally.)
  • Milestones (Earned by Commendation unlocks or achievements. Requires unlocking.)
  • Legacy (Old armors from previous games, such as Mark V or ODST. This option would have to be unlocked.)
  • Exclusives (Pre-order bonuses, DLC, online specials, etc.)

Then, due to the increased storage capacities, do a total of:

Helmets: 125
Torso: 125
Shoulders: 125
Forearms: 125
Legs: 125

And then breaking them down by categories, totals (per armor piece) would be:

Primary: 25
Secondary: 25
Specializations: 25
Legacy: 25
Exclusives: 25 (Keep in mind this would occur over the game's entire lifespan. There'd be maybe 10 in-game exclusive armors and then tournaments, DLC, etc. would show up to fill in the rest.)
 
A

Arnie

Member
That's a really good post Dax, and I fully agree. It's odd to read the claim that Halo hasn't had 'big moments' in the past, considering that from a scale perspective it's close to being a genre leader(double Scarab fight being the prime example), as far as campaigns go. Which does lead to the suggestion that 'big' refers to something else entirely, something relating to the narrative and how that combines closely with the on screen actions.

As you say, these things aren't 'fun', and they don't entice players to replay them because they don't offer them any possibilities or player agency.

One last thing to bring up relating to the gameplay shots you posted, specifically the Brute engagement on Tsavo Highway, but it reminded me just how important AI has always been to Halo, and in creating such ambiguous encounters. I don't get that same feeling from Halo 4, that same magic. We got that extensive vidoc on the Brute pack behaviour, and you sensed that Bungie understood how to design an engaging, replayable, timeless Halo encounter.
 
D

Devolution

Member
Here's my biggest issue with Halo 4, if I wanted personalization I'd pick WoW back up again or play a different FPS in which this has been a main stay. What happened to everything at everyone's disposal and skill v skill rather than rock, paper, scissors? Or is there no incentive to just get better and play for funsies? I guess I'm just too old for this shit or something.
 
B

Booties

Banned
UNKNOWN iXi said:
lol you guys are too serious about people acting too serious

People need to stop trying to justify the constant disrespect by saying things like "the Halo I know is gone!" Not only has that cycle repeated since Halo 2's release, but aren't you the same people who complain about Waypoint and other sites?

It's funny sometimes, but to constantly berate the people at 343 and at the same time want to be respected? Hmm.. Normally I don't get involved with this nonsense, but after Dax said something and someone other than u4iX got involved, I thought the equation was unbalanced so wanted to voice my opinion.



While that's true, I don't think it's as impactful as they may lead you to believe.

Also, why isn't Extraction/Team Control a playlist yet? ;[
Click to expand...

Pot, kettle, black

darthbob said:
That's true, however I don't think 343 ever expected to address or manage changes/fixes/alterations to the game in 2012.

I think Spring 2013 will be a good time for Halo 4.
Click to expand...

Yeah but they're going to lose the interest of so many players. You gotta fix it before you go on vacation. That's what dedicated start ups do.
 
I

IHaveIce

Banned
Stinkles said:
There are people working on the game and issues right now. u4ix has been unfairly pinned as some kind of salt troll, by my actions. He's not, I simply used one of his fairly moderate but salty posts as an example of the difference between dialog now and back in the day.

Merry Xmas gafers and let us all join hands and say a quiet prayer asking god to make LeBron choke.
Click to expand...

Merry christmas to you Frankie.


On a different note I played todaywith a friend here in good fun some Halo 4 and had some great laughs, fantastic sticks, just running around with a mounted turret and getting killing frenzy's.

But everyone I show the game says " damn can everyone spawn with afucking handshotgun?" lol
 
G

GrizzNKev

Banned
Devolution said:
Here's my biggest issue with Halo 4, if I wanted personalization I'd pick WoW back up again or play a different FPS in which this has been a main stay. What happened to everything at everyone's disposal and skill v skill rather than rock, paper, scissors? Or is there no incentive to just get better and play for funsies? I guess I'm just too old for this shit or something.
Click to expand...

I think it's the hand of Microsoft, really. They want it to be "modern" because Halo is old news now. I guess.

I've seen another example of it too. Anyone ever play that kitten cannon browser game, where you try to get the cat to land on the explosives to go further?

It was addictive and fun and just a simple waste of time.

I recently ran into a new game that's similarly styled, but CoDified. It has multiple characters (or loadouts) which you level up and buy new items and weapons for (perks) to launch the nerdy dude even further. It has achievements too. After playing for a few hours you get all these crazy upgrades that create BIG MOMENTS. And at the core it's missing the whole point of having fun watching the guy launch really far and land on dangerous stuff.
 
B

blamite

Member
Oh yeah, merry Christmas everyone.

First person who wants it and posts their Steam ID gets a copy of Super Hexagon. (I'll send it later after dinner and stuffs)
 
A

Arnie

Member
The industry's moved on, unequivocally, until someone redefines it once again.

I had hoped it'd be Halo 4 and 343 who attempted to redefine it, with their team of top talent constructed around an already successful reference frame. Instead the team decided to step in line with the rest of the industry and as a result deviate from this central column. It's a real shame, I've always seen Halo as a game that does things differently, and innovates, which is an extension of the Bungie philosophy. Perhaps naively I assumed 343 would attempt to follow suit, in what was their first retail release as a new development studio.

And I'm not trying to scorn 343 here, I can't imagine how daunting it is to not only take up a beloved franchise, but to evolve it and put your own signature on it. I've said before but I think the sheer pressure of that task must've done a lot to stifle originality within the studio, and the temptation to fold in prevalent genre mechanics that hadn't yet pervaded the franchise must've been too great.

When Infinity Ward redefined a genre they had nothing to lose, in a franchise that was merely comfortable, at a time when nobody expected greatness. 343's conditions were the opposite.
 
D

Devolution

Member
GrizzNKev said:
I think it's the hand of Microsoft, really. They want it to be "modern" because Halo is old news now. I guess.

I've seen another example of it too. Anyone ever play that kitten cannon browser game, where you try to get the cat to land on the explosives to go further?

It was addictive and fun and just a simple waste of time.

I recently ran into a new game that's similarly styled, but CoDified. It has multiple characters (or loadouts) which you level up and buy new items and weapons for (perks) to launch the nerdy dude even further. It has achievements too. After playing for a few hours you get all these crazy upgrades that create BIG MOMENTS. And at the core it's missing the whole point of having fun watching the guy launch really far and land on dangerous stuff.
Click to expand...

Yeah having fun is already assumed, that to me is a dev's biggest folly. Our game is already fun let's add shit to it in order to keep the player coming back. Never mind that pre-achievements and all this other shit H2 had people coming back plenty, even with all the bridging, modding and super bouncing. Hilarious isn't it.
 
G

GrizzNKev

Banned
Devolution said:
Yeah having fun is already assumed, that to me is a dev's biggest folly. Our game is already fun let's add shit to it in order to keep the player coming back. Never mind that pre-achievements and all this other shit H2 had people coming back plenty, even with all the bridging, modding and super bouncing. Hilarious isn't it.
Click to expand...

I hate to refer to it as filling bars but that's what it's come down to. Add all these other variables so that you have points pop up on your screen with in turn fills your main bar. There's also a list of other main bars, each with several subsets of bars, which when filled, adds to your main bar. There are also daily, weekly, and monthly bars to fill your main bar faster.

But what waits at the end when the last bar is filled?

The world may never know (OR THEY COULD GIVE US SKILL RANKS).
 
R

Rickenslacker

Banned
Arnie said:
The industry's moved on, unequivocally, until someone redefines it once again.

I had hoped it'd be Halo 4 and 343 who attempted to redefine it, with their team of top talent constructed around an already successful reference frame. Instead the team decided to step in line with the rest of the industry and as a result deviate from this central column. It's a real shame, I've always seen Halo as a game that does things differently, and innovates, which is an extension of the Bungie philosophy. Perhaps naively I assumed 343 would attempt to follow suit, in what was their first retail release as a new development studio.

And I'm not trying to scorn 343 here, I can't imagine how daunting it is to not only take up a beloved franchise, but to evolve it and put your own signature on it. I've said before but I think the sheer pressure of that task must've done a lot to stifle originality within the studio, and the temptation to fold in prevalent genre mechanics that hadn't yet pervaded the franchise must've been too great.

When Infinity Ward redefined a genre they had nothing to lose, in a franchise that was merely comfortable, at a time when nobody expected greatness. 343's conditions were the opposite.
Click to expand...
The weird thing is whenever a change like this happens people will defend it by saying that there isn't a market to have it be like it used to. Then something like Starcraft 2 comes out and simply refines on its formula to great success. Or the XCOM shooter gets previewed all the while people lamenting that everything needs to be a shooter these days and that turn based strategy doesn't fly-- then they switch gears and make a more faithful one to great success.

It's just worrying reading that interview to hear that they were resistant to change in Halo 4, and the exploration of setpiece moments.
 
T

TheOddOne

Member
Rickenslacker said:
The weird thing is whenever a change like this happens people will defend it by saying that there isn't a market to have it be like it used to. Then something like Starcraft 2 comes out and simply refines on its formula to great success. Or the XCOM shooter gets previewed all the while people lamenting that everything needs to be a shooter these days and that turn based strategy doesn't fly-- then they switch gears and make a more faithful one to great success.

It's just worrying reading that interview to hear that they were resistant to change in Halo 4, and the exploration of setpiece moments.
Click to expand...

Calling Halo 4 sticking to its roots is just baffling to be honest. It gutted everything that made the franchise original and we are left with repeated “Assault On The Control Room” missions.

Yeah, no.
 
D

Devolution

Member
GrizzNKev said:
I hate to refer to it as filling bars but that's what it's come down to. Add all these other variables so that you have points pop up on your screen with in turn fills your main bar. There's also a list of other main bars, each with several subsets of bars, which when filled, adds to your main bar. There are also daily, weekly, and monthly bars to fill your main bar faster.

But what waits at the end when the last bar is filled?

The world may never know (OR THEY COULD GIVE US SKILL RANKS).
Click to expand...

It is filling bars. There is such an emphasis on the carrot on a stick that any sort of balance in a game is inconsequential. Who needs skill when you can just change to rock to counter their scissors. Grindfests. That's what gaming is really about now. Grind out achievements, grind out levels, grind out shit you need just to remain competitive. It pissed me off in MMOs and I stopped playing them for those reasons and now it's everywhere. Halo was the game I could go to without having to "grind" in order to keep competitive or "reroll the dice in the player menu" in order to do better.
 
G

GrizzNKev

Banned
Devolution said:
It is filling bars. There is such an emphasis on the carrot on a stick that any sort of balance in a game is inconsequential. Who needs skill when you can just change to rock to counter their scissors. Grindfests. That's what gaming is really about now. Grind out achievements, grind out levels, grind out shit you need just to remain competitive. It pissed me off in MMOs and I stopped playing them for those reasons and now it's everywhere. Halo was the game I could go to without having to "grind" in order to keep competitive or "reroll the dice in the player menu" in order to do better.
Click to expand...

And even though the greater focus on leveling without a skill roof began in Reach as Bungie's exploration into player investment, they were at least aware enough of what Halo was to keep it limited to aesthetic changes only. When getting to the carrot after playing for 20 hours brings yet another unpredictable, menu-controlled element into the gameplay, the frustration begins to set in.

I ragequit in Halo 4 for the very first time today, and that's something I generally look down upon. I just couldn't deal with it.
 
D

Devolution

Member
GrizzNKev said:
And even though the greater focus on leveling without a skill roof began in Reach as Bungie's exploration into player investment, they were at least aware enough of what Halo was to keep it limited to aesthetic changes only. When getting to the carrot after playing for 20 hours brings yet another unpredictable, menu-controlled element into the gameplay, the frustration begins to set in.

I ragequit in Halo 4 for the very first time today, and that's something I generally look down upon. I just couldn't deal with it.
Click to expand...

Couldn't agree more dude seriously.

I stopped playing after I ran into a team full of camo snipers. I was just over it.
 
T

The Henery

Member
Arnie said:
The industry's moved on, unequivocally, until someone redefines it once again.

I had hoped it'd be Halo 4 and 343 who attempted to redefine it, with their team of top talent constructed around an already successful reference frame. Instead the team decided to step in line with the rest of the industry and as a result deviate from this central column. It's a real shame, I've always seen Halo as a game that does things differently, and innovates, which is an extension of the Bungie philosophy. Perhaps naively I assumed 343 would attempt to follow suit, in what was their first retail release as a new development studio.

And I'm not trying to scorn 343 here, I can't imagine how daunting it is to not only take up a beloved franchise, but to evolve it and put your own signature on it. I've said before but I think the sheer pressure of that task must've done a lot to stifle originality within the studio, and the temptation to fold in prevalent genre mechanics that hadn't yet pervaded the franchise must've been too great.

When Infinity Ward redefined a genre they had nothing to lose, in a franchise that was merely comfortable, at a time when nobody expected greatness. 343's conditions were the opposite.
Click to expand...

"A camel is a horse designed by committee"

Many of Halo 4's additions feel like the results of industry trends, focus group testing, think tank interviewing and an 'MS tick box list'. It feels like a Halo game with low self esteem, a real confusion of identity. It certainly feels like the devs didn't have a cohesive, confident vision for its MP.

I still think the game has waaaay more potential than Reach ever had though.
 
E

Enfinit

Member
Wahrer Machine said:
To help further illustrate, it could be argued that Modern Warfare is Sasha Grey and Blops II is Belladonna. Call of Duty is Holly Michaels.

Murder Miners is Jake Bass.
Click to expand...

Halo - Lexi Belle
CoD - Tori Black

Both were great but over time have gotten more and more gross.

Murder Miners - Casi James
 
FUNKNOWN iXi

FUNKNOWN iXi

Member
Arnie said:
The industry's moved on, unequivocally, until someone redefines it once again.

I had hoped it'd be Halo 4 and 343 who attempted to redefine it, with their team of top talent constructed around an already successful reference frame. Instead the team decided to step in line with the rest of the industry and as a result deviate from this central column. It's a real shame, I've always seen Halo as a game that does things differently, and innovates, which is an extension of the Bungie philosophy. Perhaps naively I assumed 343 would attempt to follow suit, in what was their first retail release as a new development studio.

And I'm not trying to scorn 343 here, I can't imagine how daunting it is to not only take up a beloved franchise, but to evolve it and put your own signature on it. I've said before but I think the sheer pressure of that task must've done a lot to stifle originality within the studio, and the temptation to fold in prevalent genre mechanics that hadn't yet pervaded the franchise must've been too great.

When Infinity Ward redefined a genre they had nothing to lose, in a franchise that was merely comfortable, at a time when nobody expected greatness. 343's conditions were the opposite.
Click to expand...

I had this discussion with a friend last night - 100% agree and it's sad to see. Halo was once an industry standard-setting franchise..

Maybe with new hardware and the drive to advance features we'll see Halo live up to the name it once was.
 
K

kylej

Banned
I think Tori Black still looks good. Lexi is kinda busted. And I ain't even making a video game analogy.

COD - Lisa Ann, she's worn looking and you've seen her do her thing a million times before, but you'll still check out her new releases
Halo - Eve Laurence, wild and fresh at one time (I saw a guy screw her armpit once), but took a break for a while, came back, and the magic just isn't there anymore

Murder Miners - Hilary Scott, kinda ugly but eager to please and is up for anything

shoutouts to Nicole Ray, Micah Moore, and Aleska Diamond

peace
 
J

J10

Banned
Wahrer Machine said:
Halo 4 is the Anne Hathaway of gaming. It started out plucky, quirky, innocent and respectable. It has the potential to evolve into something gorgeous, but if it keeps going for flashy theatrics and showing all the wrong spots it won't get anywhere. It's when anne hathaway Halo 4 is stripped down to its bare, natural essentials that it's most ideal.

To help further illustrate, it could be argued that Modern Warfare is Sasha Grey and Blops II is Belladonna. Call of Duty is Holly Michaels.

Murder Miners is Jake Bass.
Click to expand...

If Call of Duty is Holly Michaels...

jenna-jameson.jpg


Halo is just outright refusing to age with any kind of grace or dignity.

Jenna was not born an old Korean transvestite.
 
K

kylej

Banned
ugh Jenna. Her face permanently looks like she was hit with a brick. A shame.

I will never forget the scene of you blowing a dude in a firehouse that I downloaded via Kazaa Lite (because only philistines used regular ad ridden Kazaa). I also remember trying to download a Jenna scene and it was a renamed Klan video. That was weird.

RIP Jenna Jameson's career. RIP Kazaa.
 
T

Tunavi

Banned
Murder Miners is fuckin awesome, the problems lie in the PvP networking and the lack of locked spawn weapons. other than that, murder miners all day.
 
T

The Henery

Member
Devolution said:
I stopped playing after I ran into a team full of camo snipers. I was just over it.
Click to expand...

Camo snipers will do that. I called it the day they announced its return for Halo 4. I mean its one of those that's a real no brainer; you don't let players go invisible, ad nauseum, at the touch of a button. You just don't put that in your first person shooter game. You don't make somebody else's mistake for the franchise. Again.

In the wake of Halo 4, reverence for Bungie has suddenly shot up again. Understandable but let's not forget that they actually sat around a table in the still hopeful post-Halo 3 era and agreed that letting players spawn with active invisibility was more than a novel idea, it was something that needed to be implemented into the core game and was somehow superior to the regular system of picking up Camo on the map. Bungie approved that idea. It's pretty shocking from a design perspective.

Looking back at the core tenets and philosophies of Halo's 1-3, it is genuinely combat evolved, incredibly fresh and innovative ideas that have only impressed more with age. Taking camo as an example here, it's an orb that spawns in the same key point on a map every three minutes. This often encourages a skirmish, the winner of which secures the camoflage power up. Now, it only lasts thirty seconds and you still appear on the radar but during those thirty seconds, providing you don't shoot, you can walk at full speed. Works incredibly well in facilitating pushes in Capture the Flag games, in particular. It's a power up that allows the player to play a real superhero role in a match, provide a moment of real game changing significance and make the player feel awesome. Or they can mess it up. But they learn from that failed use and improve incrementally with each game they play.

Contrast all that to Halo's Reach and now 4, in which a player simply chooses the ability in the menu before the match starts. All of the above goodness is sacrificed for what? I struggle to understand why you'd remove something so ingenious in its simple design for the camo AA. They should have asked themselves the question 'does this make the game more interesting to play?'. The reason it can't is because in order to balance its ubiquity they have to add the caveat that the player has to remain immobile or crouch walk to remain invisible. Players not moving much or at all is detrimental to gameplay. There are a host of other in game, moment to moment problems that the camo AA has but they've all been documented here for years.

So again, why did they do that? Because some players never or rarely secured the camo power up and therefore need it to be made a spawn ability? ......? .......?

When everyone wins, nobody does.
 
J

J10

Banned
If I'm sticking with Halo = Jenna Jameson, I think Call of Duty is more like Tera Patrick. Only a couple years younger, and an overall inferior performer for my tastes, but still aging very, very nicely.
 
J

J10

Banned
Devolution said:
Couldn't agree more dude seriously.

I stopped playing after I ran into a team full of camo snipers. I was just over it.
Click to expand...

It just dawned on me right this moment that even if you're not a regular camo user, you could still modify a loadout mid-match to include camo after you happen to get Sniper as an ordnance option, but before you call it in on your next respawn. Whomever said these games need to be play tested by assholes wasn't kidding.
 
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