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Halo: Reach |OT6| There Are Those Who Said This Day Would Never Come

GhaleonEB said:
I haven't done the New Alexandria one yet, myself.

Basically, near the start of the mission you can spawn four Banshees in, and when you climb in all kill barriers are deleted. You can fly to the top of the ONI building and hang out on the roof. Or go all the way out to the mountains in the distance (which took my daughter and I 20 minutes). We went so high straight up the entire world geometry was like a grape when we looked down.

The only downside is you die if you hop out of the Banshee. We bailed out literally in orbit hoping to freefall all the way down.


You bet. 4-player co-op FTW. I can get on at about 8:00 Pacific time, but I'll be free for hours after.
Sounds good. I'm down for some late-night (for me) Halo; I wasn't planning on doing any work tomorrow anyway, lol.

edit: page 11 already?!?!?!
 

darthbob

Member
squidhands said:
Sounds good. I'm down for some late-night (for me) Halo; I wasn't planning on doing any work tomorrow anyway, lol.

edit: page 11 already?!?!?!

>1000 posts... Already 1/20th of the way.

Time for |OT7| Suggestions!
 

MrBig

Member
Apoc87 said:
Looking to get into Halo.

Should I pick up the CE remaster, or play this first?
You'd be fine just getting the CEA release if you're in it for the SP. Reach is a prequel but has no direct correlation to H1. Reach though for MP, as CEA only has the 7 remake maps, which will be available as DLC later if you want the maps.
 

Louis Wu

Member
orznge said:
What it seems you want is a game where you never have a chance of losing badly no matter how big of a rating disparity between yourself and those who you queue with
If that's what you got out of my post, I did a pretty shitty job communicating.

Sorry - that's not what I meant at all. I have ZERO problem losing badly. I do it regularly - and I often have FUN doing it.

I was discussing how a tiny bit of chance can make a big difference in how a loss FEELS.

There have been posts here from folks who've been matched up against pros in random matchmaking - and while those people often get DESTROYED by the pros, what they take away from the game (and what they post here) is not "damn, I got killed 19 times" but "holy shit, I killed Pistola twice!"

Give Pistola a 3sk no-bloom pistol, and the chance of those two kills goes out the window. THAT's what I was lamenting.
 
Lybertyboy, I hope you are ready :p I am cooking up something mighty! :lol

Lol at Mrbig's "not directly linked to H1" comment followed by Napsta's "directly linked to CE" comment.
 

orznge

Banned
Louis Wu said:
If that's what you got out of my post, I did a pretty shitty job communicating.

Sorry - that's not what I meant at all. I have ZERO problem losing badly. I do it regularly - and I often have FUN doing it.

I was discussing how a tiny bit of chance can make a big difference in how a loss FEELS.

There have been posts here from folks who've been matched up against pros in random matchmaking - and while those people often get DESTROYED by the pros, what they take away from the game (and what they post here) is not "damn, I got killed 19 times" but "holy shit, I killed Pistola twice!"

Give Pistola a 3sk no-bloom pistol, and the chance of those two kills goes out the window. THAT's what I was lamenting.

I see where you are coming from. Giving individual players the ability to be extremely dangerous changes the game a lot. It really does make it a different game.

One thing I think people might not consider sometimes is that overextending yourself in a game with short kill times is a lot different than overextending yourself in a game with long kill times. If anything good comes out of this, it's that 343 seems to realize that both styles of play are desired by groups and it is trying to cater to both.
 

GhaleonEB

Member
Louis Wu said:
If that's what you got out of my post, I did a pretty shitty job communicating.

Sorry - that's not what I meant at all. I have ZERO problem losing badly. I do it regularly - and I often have FUN doing it.

I was discussing how a tiny bit of chance can make a big difference in how a loss FEELS.

There have been posts here from folks who've been matched up against pros in random matchmaking - and while those people often get DESTROYED by the pros, what they take away from the game (and what they post here) is not "damn, I got killed 19 times" but "holy shit, I killed Pistola twice!"

Give Pistola a 3sk no-bloom pistol, and the chance of those two kills goes out the window. THAT's what I was lamenting.
Well said (and unusually succinctly :p). I agree entirely.

To link this back to my previous positive impressions of the no-bloom DMR, I wouldn't want to see that in every playlist. But in a nearly SWAT-style one? Sure. It felt great. But the 85% bloom sounds much more like what I'll prefer in matchmaking for most playlists.

I didn't enjoy the 3-shot pistol one bit, and playing with it only served to remind me of why I didn't like it in Halo. Getting hit by a 2 or 3-man crossfire was instant death; it played more like SWAT than normal Halo. But I'm not the intended audence for the weapon and won't have to roll in the playlists featuring it.
 
Hydranockz said:
Lybertyboy, I hope you are ready :p I am cooking up something mighty! :lol

Lol at Mrbig's "not directly linked to H1" comment followed by Napsta's "directly linked to CE" comment.
Don't misuse your girl-friend just for a Cortana code... :p
 

Gui_PT

Member
*Offers to help a fellow GAFfer to explore cool Reach easter egg*

*is not invited by other GAFfers who party up for the easter egg*

9rn56s.jpg
 

MrBig

Member
Hydranockz said:
Lol at Mrbig's "not directly linked to H1" comment followed by Napsta's "directly linked to CE" comment.
Chronologically it ends where H1 begins, but the story has no relation for how the universe was told in H1. It could have never been told and it wouldn't have mattered since Reach was explained in the books.
 
Gui_PT said:
*Offers to help a fellow GAFfer to explore cool Reach easter egg*

*is not invited by other GAFfers who party up for the easter egg*

9rn56s.jpg

Which easter egg? Sorry struggling to catch up on the thread lol, is it something new?

FyreWulff said:
For me it's 1) lol netcode and 2) being continually split away from bobs99 when we try to play multi team (wut)

Oh yeah that was weird. Games were still fun in a weird mess around way though.
 
Gui_PT said:
*Offers to help a fellow GAFfer to explore cool Reach easter egg*

*is not invited by other GAFfers who party up for the easter egg*

http://i38.tinypic.com/9rn56s.jpg[IMG][/QUOTE]
Don't be dejected! It won't be for another 5 hours from now, so if you're on you're most welcome. :-)
 

feel

Member
Gui_PT said:
*Offers to help a fellow GAFfer to explore cool Reach easter egg*

*is not invited by other GAFfers who party up for the easter egg*

9rn56s.jpg
Pretty much me every time there's impromptu gaf games and I ask for an invite
 
Gui_PT said:
*Offers to help a fellow GAFfer to explore cool Reach easter egg*

*is not invited by other GAFfers who party up for the easter egg*
I'm always open for Campaign games. But I know my connection sucks and it will end in a lag fest :(
 

Havok

Member
Catching up:

Deadly Cyclone said:
As for the "One thing for the Halo 4 team" I would have told them that we are ready for Halo to be new again, to be fresh, to match 2011 design standards and to out-do phenomenal games like Uncharted, Bioshock, etc. I want a fresh Halo, one that uses modern first person shooter style and keeps that Halo feel, but moves away from the Halo trilogy slow and plodding feel.
I don't understand what this even means. 2011 design standards are basically 'make it so a 3-year-old can beat it, and make all levels a tiny hallway for a bullshit cinematic feel.' Halo has a better set of combat rules and flow, not to even mention environment design, than almost any shooter out there. They should give this up because it's not what everyone else is doing - modern military crap. There's a greater sense of feedback in any given Halo firefight than in most entire games. I like that Halo is different, because I don't like how most shooters do things these days. Its weird that you mention both Uncharted and Bioshock, because I felt that both of those games had really terrible combat that was only saved by the interesting story and atmosphere (both of which were lost in the games' last thirds). Do you really feel like Halo is slow and plodding? I mean, I guess compared to Quake, but it's also what gives it the uniquely tactical feel to each step of the combat loop. I mean, there's a reason that even though I've had my fair share of problems with Halo 3 and Reach multiplayer they've stayed on as my staple games that I'll come back to night after night.

Demoncarnotaur said:
About Banshees. I know a ton of people have their complaints, want it severely nerfed, etc. Personally I like the vehicle a lot and would to see it become useless, that said I agree it needs some tweaks. IMO, to "fix" the Banshee, I would have it take 2x damage while doing evasive maneuvers if hit, that way spinning has a strong risk/reward factor. The second thing is I would slow down the fuel rod cannon shots by a small amount of time and reduce the damage radius. Allow it to perform the same amount of damage for direct hits but with less splash damage. I think this would alleviate a ton of the complaints about the Banshee while allowing it to be fun to play as and against.
The problem with the Banshee is that it can flip for an indefinite amount of time without having to recharge and that it is incredibly difficult to hit while doing so. Doubling damage during the flips would shorten its life, sure, but it wouldn't make it a less annoying vehicle to fight in that time it's in the air. Make the flips take up boost meter. A lot of boost meter. Then only let the fuel rod fire when fully locked to vehicles. To compensate, boost Banshee health. Now people would have to switch back and forth from its two weapons, and it would still serve its purpose as a harassment and anti-vehicle element.
 

Risen

Member
Louis Wu said:
"

Give Pistola a 3sk no-bloom pistol, and the chance of those two kills goes out the window. THAT's what I was lamenting.

I think you communicated this thought well...
 

soldat7

Member
Letters said:
About the banshee, besides I hating all the things you guys keep posting about (balance related things), I find the look and feel of it in Reach borderline insulting, NOTHING at all like what I know and love from previous games, the way it flies around is just laughable. Did they lose all the franchise's vehicle code while developing Reach and had to do it all from scratch as the game approached release?? (serious question) Can't wait for Two Betrayals in CEA for some proper Banshee gameplay (and yes I know I could get it earlier, but in my first playthrough I will pretend I don't know about all the secrets and exploits)

Yeah the Banshee is messed up. Spins and flips too fast. It's always been a deadly vehicle but it definitely needs balancing this time around.

So does GAF run a customs night regularly? If not I'll just stay in Forge World without my mic.
 

Deadly Cyclone

Pride of Iowa State
Havok said:
Catching up:


I don't understand what this even means. 2011 design standards are basically 'make it so a 3-year-old can beat it, and make all levels a tiny hallway for a bullshit cinematic feel.' Halo has a better set of combat rules and flow, not to even mention environment design, than almost any shooter out there. They should give this up because it's not what everyone else is doing - modern military crap. There's a greater sense of feedback in any given Halo firefight than in most entire games. I like that Halo is different, because I don't like how most shooters do things these days. Its weird that you mention both Uncharted and Bioshock, because I felt that both of those games had really terrible combat that was only saved by the interesting story and atmosphere (both of which were lost in the games' last thirds). Do you really feel like Halo is slow and plodding? I mean, I guess compared to Quake, but it's also what gives it the uniquely tactical feel to each step of the combat loop. I mean, there's a reason that even though I've had my fair share of problems with Halo 3 and Reach multiplayer they've stayed on as my staple games that I'll come back to night after night.
.

Don't get me wrong, I love Halo, but sometimes it feels like the actual gameplay hasn't changed much since 2001, and maybe that is a good thing to some.

The thing that bugs me the most though, and always has, is how Chief is portrayed in books and media as the elite super soldier and can run as fast as cars, can lift huge objects, can jump super high, yet in game you need an armor ability to even run.

Chief should be able to sprint for miles being a Spartan, he should be able to move super quick and accurate, he should be something to be afraid of, not be like Jason Voorhees and plod along at a walking pace.

I know a lot of it is done for balance purposes, but I am never really convinced that Chief is all that awesome in the games, because (aside from taking more bullets) he is slower than marines, and doesn't give off any kind of black ops super secret ultra weapon vibe.

See the Halo Wars cutscene with the Spartans taking the bridge from Elites, that is what Spartans should be able to do.



The Real Napsta said:
Here's my Banshee fix:

Delete it from all maps in matchmaking.

What the hell is wrong with banshees? It seems like some of you would rather just have a big square map with nothing in it, and a dmr with no bloom. Where's the variety?
 

Woorloog

Banned
The Real Napsta said:
Here's my Banshee fix:

Delete it from all maps in matchmaking.
Simply removing the Fuel Rod should do the trick. The guns are good but with them you need a moment to kill anyone (and even longer to kill vehicles) and during that time you're easy target. You could evade... and lose your target likely.
If the evade was also tied to booster meter... well, we'd have a balanced aircraft i think.
 

wwm0nkey

Member
Woorloog said:
Simply removing the Fuel Rod should do the trick. The guns are good but with them you need a moment to kill anyone (and even longer to kill vehicles) and during that time you're easy target. You could evade... and lose your target likely.
Yeah the bomb is the biggest problem really.
 
Did Halo 3 matchmaking have any Forge remakes of Halo 1 and 2 maps?

I was bored and decided to make a list of all the remakes in the Halo series:


Battle Creek - Beaver Creek - Noble Creek (Forge World) - Battle Canyon/Beaver Creek Anniversary

Hang 'em High - Tombstone - High Noon (Forge World) - ???/Hang 'em High Anniversary

Damnation - Hydra XXIII (Forge World) - Penance/Damnation Anniversary

Blood Gulch - Coagulation - Hemorrhage

Longest - Elongation - Prolonged (Forge World)

Derelict - Desolation - Dreadnought (Forge World)

Wizard - Warlock - Magus (Forge World)

Midship - Heretic - Prophet (Forge World)

Lockout - Blackout - Eclipse (Forge World)

Headlong - ???/Headlong Anniversary

Prisoner - Solitary/Prisoner Anniversary

Timberland - Ridgeline/Timberland Anniversary

Sidewinder - Avalanche

Chill Out - Cold Storage

Zanzibar - Last Resort

Ascension - Pinnacle

Sanctuary - Asylum

Ivory Tower - Reflection

Rat Race - Rat Trap (Forge World)

Did I miss any?

I wonder how proud map designers are when their creation gets chosen for a remake.

Edit: Thanks, soldat7.
 
Deadly Cyclone said:
What the hell is wrong with banshees? It seems like some of you would rather just have a big square map with nothing in it, and a dmr with no bloom. Where's the variety?
They move really quickly, can be almost impossible to hit, and kill instantly and often with a huge radius
 

Woorloog

Banned
wwm0nkey said:
Yeah the bomb is the biggest problem really.
And i don't see why this cannot happen in Anniversary maps. Remember transport Hornet in Avalanche? Headlong remake will have a Banshee no? Halo 2 Banshee didn't have the Banshee bomb in multiplayer...

ncsuDuncan said:
Did I miss any?
You could list spiritual successors as well.
 

GhaleonEB

Member
MrBig said:
Chronologically it ends where H1 begins, but the story has no relation for how the universe was told in H1. It could have never been told and it wouldn't have mattered since Reach was explained in the books.
I started a game of Halo 1 Campaign with my daughter shortly after we completed Reach together, and the only thing that really linked the two for me was a line Cortana says in the first level. "With all due respect sir, this war has enough dead heroes."

Having just come off the (true) ending for Reach, that resonated with me. Reach added a context that line didn't have before. But otherwise, yup, they're very standalone in terms of how they link.
 
I always looked at the balance of Reach in terms of 'opportunity cost' and teamplay.

This kind of balance has always existed to a degree in Halo, thanks to the two-weapon system. Choosing one weapon or another intrinsically meant that you were losing the specific advantages of one weapon in favor of another, and that you would ideally change your tactics accordingly to ensure you could maximize the strengths of the weapon you took with you.

Now it applies not only to choosing weapons, but choosing HOW to use weapons. I can choose to use the DMR at shorter range by spamming the trigger - but the cost is the accuracy and reliability that the weapon affords when shot in proper cadence at medium range. I'm making the choice to trade the opportunity for a potentially faster kill, at the cost of accuracy.

Unfortunately the bloom isn't perfectly tuned for this at present - spamming the trigger is a little too effective for my tastes, albeit still less effective than using the weapon at it's intended range.

Likewise for the armor abilities. I typically start out matches using sprint. I make that choice knowing that by selecting sprint, I am unable to use armor lock, evade, holo, jetpack or any of the others. So I play the game accordingly, choosing my tactics in battle such that I maximize the advantages that Sprint provides. If I ever find myself saying 'Damn, I wish I had <insert any other AA> right about now', then I have failed to play to the strengths of my AA, or failed to stay away from situations that favor the opportunity cost.

Obviously, aside from opportunity cost, all the weapons and AAs have their own strengths and weaknesses for players to take into account. It's all well and good for somebody to use the Jetpack properly, but the thing is still slow, loud, and turns you into a sitting duck to teamshoot, so you better damn well pick your spots. No different for the shotgun. Feel free to run into the open and kill that dude with a close-range instakill, just realize that now you're pretty screwed if somebody with a DMR sees you from mid-range.

None of this works if you play the game and intend to try and take down three guys by yourself. But I've never really rushed into fire-fights like that. It seems as though Reach was built to reward teams that work together.
 

blamite

Member
I really should play with some of you guys some time. >.> I usually play by myself since my lame friends are never online.

Sai-kun said:
Sorry buddy, college! I'm gonna be a junior! :D

My school is the best. Start in september, get out @ Thanksgiving with 6 weeks of winter vacation!
Maybe this is weird but I think I go to the same school as you. :p
 

darthbob

Member
blamite said:
I really should play with some of you guys some time. >.> I usually play by myself since my lame friends are never online.


Maybe this is weird but I think I go to the same school as you. :p

Yes, it's weird. :lol

Edit: Does anyone else imagine the :lol thing to look like a face going LOL?
 

BigShow36

Member
Louis Wu said:
If that's what you got out of my post, I did a pretty shitty job communicating.

Sorry - that's not what I meant at all. I have ZERO problem losing badly. I do it regularly - and I often have FUN doing it.

I was discussing how a tiny bit of chance can make a big difference in how a loss FEELS.

There have been posts here from folks who've been matched up against pros in random matchmaking - and while those people often get DESTROYED by the pros, what they take away from the game (and what they post here) is not "damn, I got killed 19 times" but "holy shit, I killed Pistola twice!"

Give Pistola a 3sk no-bloom pistol, and the chance of those two kills goes out the window. THAT's what I was lamenting.

You're lamenting the loss of an artificial equalizer in a competitive environment just because you want some players to kill other players they otherwise wouldn't? Doesn't that cheapen the experience? Wouldn't it be even more exciting to kill a great player in an environment where it was purely your skill that allowed you to do it?

If you play a great player in Halo CE and get 0 kills, it gives you something to work towards, a tangible goal. Maybe next time you get 1 kill, and you can say, "I made progress." How is that less enjoyable than "In 2 encounters, I got lucky with coded-randomness and got the kill due to very little actual improvement on my part?"

That kind of undeserved, faux reward system repulses me.
 
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