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[FyreWulff]

MAXIMUM DORKMODE ACTIVATE

I'm starting to feel PV is overpowered myself. And as other pointed out, that's well supported by noticing players are already practically living inside of it while playing. In theory the AA should be doable, but in the state it's in it's a little too much. It's basically like having the VISR in multiplayer, instead of a tradeoff.

If I may, I'll use Perfect Dark as a comparison, with some off-screen pictures.


This is a typical area in PD in mutiplayer.

This is the same scene with X-ray Vision on.

Same story

Now here's an example usage of it. Here's a seemingly innocent corner.

Let's take a peek around it with X-Ray vision:

Oh snap! It's a laptop sentry gun

Spoiler

that I placed there

and an enemy lying in wait

Spoiler

Actually a Meatsim on my team that I told to hold position there

. This kind of ability seems to be what 343 is going for, even down to the neon effect when it's on. However, Perfect Dark's has tradeoffs. For instance, if I back up a bit and look more towards the Laptop Sentry Gun:

The guy disappears, even though he's just off to the right. What they did is have something of a sub-cone of vision for dynamic objects (ie, players and guns). Things towards the center of your view will be more solid. If something is off to the sides, it'll slowly become more ghosted and disappear.

A similar tradeoff exists in terms of horizonal view distances:

As you can see here, objects that are really close to me become too scattered to see. Objects about midrange are lit up like christmas, and far away geometry disappears into the ether.

I'll wrap up this PD segment with a video of me walking around a map in normal vision, then repeating the same path with Xray/Promethean Vision on:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQpxRfr7Tn4&feature=youtu.be


What Halo 4's PV needs is:

- a narrower field of view where objects become strongly rendered, and a dropoff in Chief's peripheral vision
- a shorter dropoff on view distance. We should be trading away distance knowledge to get the close up-through-walls knowledge.

Otherwise you're gonna end up with people running through the entirety of campaign and multiplayer with neonmode on and you've wasted millions of dollars on your artists rendering the environment. I probably wouldn't make the view distance in front of you as sharp a drop as Perfect Dark, but if we assume an infinitely long hallway map with two spartans running towards each other, the Spartan that's NOT in PV should be able to discern and fire upon the PV-using-spartan first.

Finally, if Megalo exists in Halo 4, 343 should tie all these parameters into the scripting engine so they can fine tune it post-launch.

 

[Steelyuhas]

Finally, if Megalo exists in Halo 4, 343 should tie all these parameters into the scripting engine so they can fine tune it post-launch.

I'm very interested to see what they will be able to adjust without title updates in Halo 4. Some of the changes they could make in Reach were pretty impressive. They ability to add new gametypes and make HUD UI changes is pretty awesome. Hopefully it's expanded even more in H4.

 

[Plywood]

Is it just me or does he thruster pack twice? If he would have had a sword and turned around, he could have easily killed hoaxer. Thats too big of a distance to be covered in a second flat. Not cool man, not cool.

I believe it's been said in the thread the user can't spam Thruster. So I'm going to assume you can control the direction you thrust to a degree.

 

[User 73706]

RT: Settings/Loadouts
RB: Scope
RS: Jump

LT: Score board
LB: Crouch
LS: Switch Weapon

A: Sprint
B: Use AA
X: Reload/Action
Y: Switch Grenade

DP: Melee
BACK: Throw Grenade
START: Fire

Checking your score and look sensitivity are important, yo.

 

[DD-11]

MAXIMUM DORKMODE ACTIVATE

I'm starting to feel PV is overpowered myself. And as other pointed out, that's well supported by noticing players are already practically living inside of it while playing. In theory the AA should be doable, but in the state it's in it's a little too much. It's basically like having the VISR in multiplayer, instead of a tradeoff.

If I may, I'll use Perfect Dark as a comparison, with some off-screen pictures.


This is a typical area in PD in mutiplayer.

This is the same scene with X-ray Vision on.

Same story

Now here's an example usage of it. Here's a seemingly innocent corner.

Let's take a peek around it with X-Ray vision:

Oh snap! It's a laptop sentry gun

Spoiler

that I placed there

and an enemy lying in wait

Spoiler

Actually a Meatsim on my team that I told to hold position there

. This kind of ability seems to be what 343 is going for, even down to the neon effect when it's on. However, Perfect Dark's has tradeoffs. For instance, if I back up a bit and look more towards the Laptop Sentry Gun:

The guy disappears, even though he's just off to the right. What they did is have something of a sub-cone of vision for dynamic objects (ie, players and guns). Things towards the center of your view will be more solid. If something is off to the sides, it'll slowly become more ghosted and disappear.

A similar tradeoff exists in terms of horizonal view distances:

As you can see here, objects that are really close to me become too scattered to see. Objects about midrange are lit up like christmas, and far away geometry disappears into the ether.

I'll wrap up this PD segment with a video of me walking around a map in normal vision, then repeating the same path with Xray/Promethean Vision on:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQpxRfr7Tn4&feature=youtu.be


What Halo 4's PV needs is:

- a narrower field of view where objects become strongly rendered, and a dropoff in Chief's peripheral vision
- a shorter dropoff on view distance. We should be trading away distance knowledge to get the close up-through-walls knowledge.

Otherwise you're gonna end up with people running through the entirety of campaign and multiplayer with neonmode on and you've wasted millions of dollars on your artists rendering the environment. I probably wouldn't make the view distance in front of you as sharp a drop as Perfect Dark, but if we assume an infinitely long hallway map with two spartans running towards each other, the Spartan that's NOT in PV should be able to discern and fire upon the PV-using-spartan first.

Finally, if Megalo exists in Halo 4, 343 should tie all these parameters into the scripting engine so they can fine tune it post-launch.

This is pretty complicated. Why not just have the player using PV visible to those are exposed by the PV. The player using it gets the advantage of seeing everyone and he could inform his teammates while only exposing himself.

 

[Fuchsdh]

I'm very interested to see what they will be able to adjust without title updates in Halo 4. Some of the changes they could make in Reach were pretty impressive. They ability to add new gametypes and make HUD UI changes is pretty awesome. Hopefully it's expanded even more in H4.

What HUD changes were made in Reach?

 

[erpg]

This is pretty complicated. Why not just have the player using PV visible to those are exposed by the PV. The player using it gets the advantage of seeing everyone and he could inform his teammates while only exposing himself.

Maybe just a radar pulse originating from the PV user?

 

[Gui_PT]

To be fair it was pretty loose towards the end.

Spoiler

Rape Culture

Icky :lol

 

[Blueblur1]

I've finally had some time to watch all of the videos and have some feedback.

Dislikes

• Gameplay
  • Weapon Power - The weapons seem to take too many shots to take down opponents. It's comparable to Reach kill times as opposed to Halo 2/3 kill times. I'd like see the Battle Rifle return to being capable of killing a player in 4 shots; 3 to the body and 1 shot to the head. Unfortunately, I haven't seen enough gameplay of the other weapon to comment on how much damage they deal.
  • Fall Damage/Stun - It seems that fall damage has been nerfed a bit in terms of when and how much damage is dealt to the player. The fall stun appears to be unchanged. I dislike fall damage and stun because it limits me, the player. I won't be able to argue this as well as others here already have but without fall damage plenty of combat options open up. You're able to survive more scenarios and are capable of more harrowing feats. That empowers me as a player. Fall damage and stun feel like a restriction placed upon me; I don't feel like a Spartan super soldier when it occrus. I feel like a random military soldier from something like CoD and I don't like Halo to play and feel like those other games.
  • Secondary Weapon Indicator - This is missing from the HUD. According to Louis Wu, David said its already in current builds. I hope this is true.
  • Promethean Vision - It appears to be very helpful. Maybe too helpful. I feel that it should be nerfed a little bit. That can be accomplished by decreasing the visual fidelity or simply restricting it to 3 uses (like Armor Lock in Reach) followed by a lengthy Armor Ability gauge recharge.
  • Death Camera Properties - The death camera in the E3 build behaves exactly like Reach's death camera. It's aimed above the player's eye/field of view level (which was set to said height to accommodate the Elite character models in Reach) and when you leave and return to your own viewpoint that camera is aimed squarely at your body on the floor and cannot be moved. Please fix it so the camera height matches the player's viewpoint level and where the camera can be moved when you switch back to your view where you died at.
  • No Grenade Launcher - The Sticky Detonator seems like it was created to fill that void but it seems to be a unique weapon in and of itself. I feel that much like with the rifles there is a space in the sandbox to have to projectile detonating weapons. It's bounce properties allow players to approach combat scenarios in a different way and I think that is worth carrying over to Halo 4.
  • Player Movement Freeze at the end of a Match - This is something I noticed in the E3 build. I hope it is changed for the final game as I enjoy attacking teammates (this is a tradition my cousin and I share) and/or jumping around the map at the end of multiplayer matches.
• Visuals
  • Visual Character Model Damage Indicator - The flaring of the shields does not seem to be very pronounced. It seems like it's currently brighter and therefore a better indicator in Reach. I'm like to see it be brighten a little bit more so it stands out in brighter maps like Haven. Also, I'd like the lights on the armor to glow brighter when a player's shields were lower much like in Halo 3. Click this link for example of the effect I am describing.
  • First Person Animation Cycles - Correct of I'm wrong but I'm seeing a couple animation cycles that are recycled from Reach. I'd like to see new and unique reload and melee animation cycles for returning weapons. And please vary it up more than Reach did. In Reach many weapons shared similar if not exact melee animation cycles which felt lazy and became visually boring after hundreds of matches.
  • Menu UI - The current UI is not very useful. It's pretty but not useful. From what I've seen, player character models take up the majority of the screen as do the icons for the Player Loadout, Spartan Armor and Player ID (which I presume is for changing the emblems, Service Tag and colors) selections. I would prefer a combination of Halo 2 and Reach menus where an image of the selected map has gametype details overlayed on top of it and in-game friends list such as the Active Roster allows me to see what my friends are doing if I choose to check. I do not want to have other player character models and gamertag taking up space that vital menu options and details can reside. Check this Halo 2 screenshot for an example of my request.
  • Centered Text - This needs to go. It is distracting and superfluous. That information delivered via the centered text belongs in the Combat Log.
  • Combat Log - The combat log is sparse in the E3 build. In the commentary, Kevin expressed that it will be fleshed out. I hope that is is at the least on-par with the combat log Bungie implemented in Reach.
  • On-screen Motion Sensor - This is a tiny complaint but the motion sensor a.k.a. radar seems a little visually boring compared to the rest of the HUD. Spruce it up a bit so it looks nice like it does in Reach.
• Audio
  • Weapon Sound Effects - I have a huge problem with the audio in the E3 build. First and foremost, the weapons all sound too similar and do not sound like Halo weapons. The Battle Rifle, DMR, and Magnum sound too similar and I fear will be indiscernible from one another when hearing a battle playout from afar. I like the weapon sound effects to be distinct so I can use my hearing to recognize the weapons being used before I jump into a firefight. The Covenant weapons sound too much like conventional human weapons and do not sound alien at all, in my opinion. And the Energy Sword sounds completely different as well. This is no reason to change it's suite of sound effects as it is immediately recognizable in all previous Halo games (the same goes for it's reticule but that is neither here nor there). And grenades sound entirely different, too. From the sound of a throw to the explosion itself. It's very jarring. I feel like Halo's lost some of it's audio identity in Halo 4.
  • Audio Death Cue - The booming audio cue that is played when a player is killed is completely unnecessary. To me, it is annoying and makes no sense. If something visual were to accompany it, like a Spartan corpse fading away into pixels or in some other fashion, it would make more sense. But currently it is an additional audio cue for something that has enough visual and audio cues already (I'm referring to Spartan groans and screams which is missing from the E3 build).
• Settings
  • Bumper Jumper - I would like this setting to be changed before the game ships. Grenade Throws on X is poor placement. As discussed in the previous Halo OT (official thread), Bumper Jumper would be improved by setting X Button to Sprint, Left Trigger to Grenade Throw, A Button to Armor Ability Use and Up on the D-Pad to Grenade Switch. It would match Reach's Bumper Jumper setting except for the Grenade Switch on the D-Pad and Armor Ability Use on A Button. Click this link to see the button layout in detail.

Likes

• Gameplay
  • Player Movement/General Gameplay - Player movement looks to be fluid, quick, and fun. Just how I like my Halo. This is such a big deal for me that I'm already loving the game.
  • Power-Ups Return - Infinity Slayer looks like it may be one of my favorite modes simply due to the power-ups. The return of Overshield along with the debut of Speed Boost and Power Boost made me grin ear to ear. I just hope all of these power-ups are made available in classic modes (just not all on the same map, of course).
  • Scattershot - A unique shotgun weapon that isn't just a weaker dual wield-able weapon? Fantastic. I look forward to have some fun with the Scattershot and it's scattering projectiles!
• Visuals
  • Overall Visual Fidelity - The game looks fantastic. Even though there are some muddy textures here and there, the game looks great in the E3 build. I'm excited to see the final product after some more visual polish.
  • Weapon Indicators - I'm pleased to see indicators on the maps pointing out different weapons. I often miss grenades and other weapons because they blend into the background or I'm too focused on a particular corner.
  • Promethean Weapon Animation Cycles - These look fantastic and really make those weapons stand out. Bravo, 343.
• Audio
  • Shield Sound Effects - I'm glad that these are unchanged.
  • Scattershot - It sounds unique, alien and deadly (unlike many of the Covenant weapons in Halos past). I can't wait to here more of the Promethean weapons!

Not Sure About...

• Centered Weapon Pick-up Prompt - I thought I would hate it but I often miss prompts in Reach when they're up in the right hand corner. I'd have to play the game myself to be sure that the centered prompt may or may not work for me.
• Weapon Unlocks, Specializations, Armor Abilities - I'm going to remain cautiously optimistic about these changes and additions. I feel like they're unnecessary but time will tell if they end up being worthwhile in the end.
• Sandbox Balance - Once again, this is something I'm concerned about. The loadout weapons don't be seen to be strong enough in y opinion and we haven't seen many of the other weapons yet nor have we seen vehicular gameplay.
• Additional Steitzer Announcements - I love Steitzer as much as the next Halo fan but I'm afraid that the additional announcements will get annoying fast.
• Intro/Outro Music - This is something I liked in Firefight but I'm not sure I want to hear it in Multiplayer. Especially when I already play Halo with music from my PC or iPod playing in the background.

Closing Comments

I must say that I'm extremely happy with the game thus far. Barring the nitpicks outlined above, it looks fantastic and really fun. I'm really hyped for it and I can't wait to see more. Hopefully going forward, the weekly Halo Bulletins will outline changes to the game and deliver actual information and new content. I won't be able to sit around and not see more and more of Halo 4.

 

[Brolic Gaoler]

Just got back from my police physical and written exam and rocked it. Did I miss anything?

 

[Rickenslacker]

I'm okay with HUD grenade indicators. I play with low sound a good amount, and anything that can be translated visually is great.

 

[Steelyuhas]

What HUD changes were made in Reach?

-Flag taken, away, held my enemy team indicators.
-Timers added to hills in King.

There were several others, those are just a couple off the top of my head.

 

[Computron]

PSHHHH, Sticky Detonator is for Scrubs.

 

[Tha Robbertster]

I really hope we'll get an individual weapon damage and shield amount tweaker. Just have a slider that gives points to damage and shields. Lets say you give 100 points to the shield and 75 to health. Then you could change the damage for the BR to 25 per burst and the damage for DMR to 20 per shot. Would be ideal for MLG and other custom games.

 

[GhaleonEB]

MAXIMUM DORKMODE ACTIVATE*snip*

Finally, if Megalo exists in Halo 4, 343 should tie all these parameters into the scripting engine so they can fine tune it post-launch.

A good illustration of the concept in action, but I think a suitable solution would be simpler.

Maybe just a radar pulse originating from the PV user?

This is what I had in mind when PV was described. As the pulse goes out, it lights up players and key objects as it moves over them, for a brief look at where things are. Then you lose sight of them until the next pulse - say 1.5 - 2 seconds later - passes. That way you get delayed, intermittent information for planning or scouting purposes, rather than being able to track players as they move.

 

[Gui_PT]

This is what I had in mind when PV was described. As the pulse goes out, it lights up players and key objects as it moves over them, for a brief look at where things are. Then you lose sight of them until the next pulse - say 1.5 - 2 seconds later - passes. That way you get delayed, intermittent information for planning or scouting purposes, rather than being able to track players as they move.

Like a Sonar. That's what I thought too.

 

[Tunavi]

PSHHHH, Sticky Launcher is for Scrubs.

I said damn

 

[Haliela]

....so I've just discovered the Anniversary Map Pack for Halo Reach (I've been away from Xbox for a long time), and I'm addicted. What's the community's overall reaction to this expansion? I love how it plays. The pistol is my favorite Halo weapon afterall

 

[Computron]

I said damn

 

[biosnake20]

Are there even any pictures of the H4 sniper?

 

[Tashi]

PSHHHH, Sticky Detonator is for Scrubs.

Ha! I remember practicing that in Halo 2 in hopes that it would make me a better player. It...didn't

 

[Xand]

Happy Birthday Outer!

 

[StalkerUKCG]

Ha! I remember practicing that in Halo 2 in hopes that it would make me a better player. It...didn't

It really helps with nothing i can do it all day its just timing.

Iv been getting crazy with the reach sniper lately. Feel like its cause i always grab it, that thing tears it up on Sword base. I should practice with the dmr some more

 

[Tha Robbertster]

Oh yeah, nearly forgot to congratulate Outer with all the football madness happening.

Happy birthday Outer!

 

[Stinkles]

Feliz cumpleanos, Outer.

 

[StalkerUKCG]

Feliz cumpleanos, Outer.

Are you stealth marketing for google translate?

Happy birthday Otter

 

[TheOddOne]

I hate being that guy, but happy b-day Outer!

 

[Brolic Gaoler]

Feliz cumpleanos, Outer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOpjYE-iPnY

Edit: Oh, right, Happy bursting forth from your mum's vagina day Outer!

 

[Bregmann Roche]

....so I've just discovered the Anniversary Map Pack for Halo Reach (I've been away from Xbox for a long time), and I'm addicted. What's the community's overall reaction to this expansion? I love how it plays. The pistol is my favorite Halo weapon afterall

It's generally regarded as the best map pack for Reach. 3sk magnum makes for good times but the Anniversary Classic playlist has become a little stale due to limited map selection and severely limited weapon sandbox (which is the price one pays for 3sk magnum starts I suppose).

Also:
Happy Beer-thday Outer!

 

[ElzarTheBam]

God damned choked did Holland.

And before any of you decide to bring it up, let me just say, I expect England to crash and burn.

Anything more, and I'll be surprised.

 

[TheOddOne]

God damned choked did Holland.

That is being polite, they fucking sucked balls.

Spoiler

Unintended pun

.

 

[Tha Robbertster]

God damned choked did Holland.

And before any of you decide to bring it up, let me just say, I expect England to crash and burn.

Anything more, and I'll be surprised.

Germany nor Portugal are playing good. If this is a tie, I still have hope for Holland

 

[Computron]

Ha! I remember practicing that in Halo 2 in hopes that it would make me a better player. It...didn't

That's because you're a scrub:

^^^ That's ok though, he hit the Tashi ceiling too.

 

[ZalinKrow]

Happy birthday Zeouterlimits! Hope it's a good one.

 

[Gui_PT]

For us, this is playing quite well

 

[Computron]

I wonder what it would be like to have an armor mod that auto targets grenades? Nade Jedi.

 

[Shadders]

Someone using PV should emit those scan "waves" we see in the campaign trailer. It'd let you know someone is able to see you.

 

[Tashi]

That's because you're a scrub:

^^^ That's ok though, he hit the Tashi ceiling too.

Shooting grenades thrown by enemies = luck. Aka remove asap please

 

[Computron]

Shooting grenades thrown by enemies = luck. Aka remove asap please

U jelly:

 

[Plywood]

Shooting grenades thrown by enemies = luck. Aka remove asap please

Randomness is a part of the sandbox bro.

 

[VivaciousJazzy]

U jelly:

99.9% luck most of the time

 

[Tashi]

U jelly:

Thrown by enemies nerd

 

[Fracas]

Randomness is a part of the sandbox bro.

It didn't use to be like this.
I remember a different time.
The times, they are a changin'.

 

[Ryaaan14]

I hope we get to see more of this in Halo 4. Probably the most hilarious game mechanic ever.

Fuck it, give us a dedicated weapon that causes massive amounts of impact damage. Grenade sized ball bearings or something.

 

[Gui_PT]

"We don't plan on changing Promethean Vision"*

*Not an actual quote

 

[Computron]

I hope we get to see more of this in Halo 4. Probably the most hilarious game mechanic ever.

Fuck it, give us a dedicated weapon that causes massive amounts of impact damage. Grenade sized ball bearings or something.

BONK

Thrown by enemies nerd

So shoot for their nade hand.

 

[Plywood]

I hope we get to see more of this in Halo 4. Probably the most hilarious game mechanic ever.

I hate that so much.

 

[Fracas]

I hope we get to see more of this in Halo 4. Probably the most hilarious game mechanic ever.

I'm okay with being able to shoot grenades/rockets, but I really don't want that lol

 

[Computron]

Tashi, lets go practice enemy nade detonation, just for fun.

 

[CyReN]

Happy Bday Zero.