- MADMAN Redux
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- Exalted Mythic Member
We're building a better world...all of them, better worlds.
Halo 2 touted real vehicle damage, but we really got a vehicle that we could essentially change the skin of with our weapons. You might blow off a hub cap or fender, but it didn't really affect the vehicle or how it performed.
Halo 3 saw a bit of complexity added to this system. On top of greater damage possibilities, brand new warthogs, for example, are also somewhat "sticky proof." In other words, a warthog with little or no damage can survive a plasma grenade stuck to certain parts of the body. A damaged warthog will not, however.
In both games, the only real way to take down a vehicle is to kill the occupants. The vehicle explodes if you simultaneously do enough damage to kill the occupants and destroy the vehicle. This is an interesting development in how vehicles work in shooter games, but it's ultimately flat. Players recognize the inner workings, and the illusion is lost.
I'm wondering if Reach will see greater implementation of the vehicle damage system. For example, at present, it's ultimately futile to shoot a warthog with small arms fire for any other reason than to attempt to flip it or hope you hit the occupants. What if it were possible for a battle rifle to damage a warthog enough that eventually the engine is affected? Certainly, unmanned vehicles are susceptible, so why can't manned vehicles be? Further, what if vehicle damage affected the performance of the vehicle? Perhaps a damaged warthog will not drive straight or move as quickly. Perhaps engine fires could eventually lead to the destruction of the vehicle. In addition, what about the possibility of being able to mount a gun turret of a warthog that has been mostly destroyed?
Essentially, what I'm getting at is something similar but more complex to Banshee damage in Halo: CE. The Banshee has health in Halo: CE, and if that health is depleted, the Banshee explodes, killing the pilot. This means it's possible to kill a banshee with something like a plasma pistol if you shoot it enough. However, I'd like to see something more dynamic, such as being able to shoot the tires out on a hog or being able to disable one thruster on a banshee, effectively killing its boost capability, unless the pilot wants to do donuts.
Of course, we don't want to render the purpose of power weapons null, but it might be interesting to be able to contribute to killing a warthog off spawn instead of knowing you should run, hide, and hopefully find a hog killer. Consideration would be necessary to balance this system in multiplayer, but I think it could essentially enhance game play and make vehicle implementation more natural.