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This topic has moved here: Subject: 2 New Weapon(s) For Halo: Reach W/ Concept Art!
  • Subject: 2 New Weapon(s) For Halo: Reach W/ Concept Art!
Subject: 2 New Weapon(s) For Halo: Reach W/ Concept Art!

The point of war is not to die for your country, but to make the other bastard die for his.- Gen. George S. Patton.

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I have long thought about trying to create a weapon to add to the Halo multiplayer experience. After some long hours of staring at my ceiling I came up with this.

Suggested ideas for a name: Shard launcher, Perforator, Seeder, Crystallizer, Duster, Mist Mortar (Mister), lacerateor.

Role:

The key to creating a weapon for the multiplayer experience was, for me at least, to introduce a new weapon without shattering the carefully held balance that Bungie has (almost) perfected. The role this weapon assumes is that of a heavy weapon, one for the Covenant. The reason for this is that the Covenant have precious few heavy weapons available to them. It also directly promotes teamwork, something none of the other weapons do.

General Description:

The weapon is similar to the human rocket launcher, except that it fires rather large shards of Needler crystal. It explodes upon impalement or with the touching of the ground or wall like a rocket with a smaller blast radius, but that is not it's true purpose. When it explodes, it sends out a pink mist made up of tiny reactive crystals in the air for a medium to large area. Anyone caught in the blast will be coated with the mist for a while until it wears off. People coated in the mist will have floating clouds of it hanging around and being given off from the crystals on the surface of their armor. The mist released by the blast will have a delay before settling to the floor and becoming harmless, making the weapon useful for stoppering up passages. What does this mist do, exactly? It makes the victim incredibly reactive to needler rounds, in fact, one might be able to kill a player with just two rounds from the needler, as opposed to the usual 8-10. This directly promotes teamwork between users of the needler and the new weapon. Another side effect is that it also makes the victim susceptible to plasma bolts, only on a much weaker scale.

*Update*

Based on the communities' responses, it appears that the henceforth named "shard launcher" is a bit contextual, in the sense that without a needler around, it's rendered unnecessary. Upon consideration, I must say I agree ^_^, so here's the update. If it sticks a person, it get's an instant kill. If it hit's the ground, it stays there for a slight delay, and then explodes with the force of a rocket in addition to it's other effects.
Pit0 had another idea. Let it deteriorate the players shields and health as the move through the resulting cloud. (explanation for this? The gas is corrosive(acidic)).
Look and Feel:

I got Lord Josephius2 to make some pretty cool concept art for it. He portrays it as a large, mortar-like version of the needler which is pretty much how it would look. It would be the size of the Rocket launcher, with similar delays in between firing. It would hold six shards by default, and will have a wait time in between shots, however there would only be one clip as it is made to be a disposable weapon for the field. The projectiles would home a bit, but with remotely descent reflexes, you will be able to avoid it with ease. The shards would travel quicker than the rocket though, so your timing would be different that the timing of avoiding a rocket. The Shard would make a sound while traveling so you would have some warning of it coming.

llamalizard made this really cool 3D model with an alternate design for the weapon. In his version, it is more of a rocket launcher or fuel rod cannon type weapon that shoots needles in a straight line, rather than an overhead arc.

*Update* llamalizard finished arm-mounted version, with a spartan for scale. Great work!

Yankee115 drew out an alternate design for the weapon. In his design, the weapon takes on a more sleek and rounded form (much like the covenant's ships) that really suits the covenant's artistic design. Very cool concept!

Unique medals associated with it:

Set 'em up... : Damage someone with the weapon, and have someone else kill them.
And Knock 'em down: Get a kill with this weapon.

Predicted Reactions By:

The Players: The players would enjoy a new covie weapon that promotes teamwork, and doesn't mess with the well planned formula. But hey, I can't speak for everyone. What do YOU think?

Bungie: From Bungie's standpoint, it represents a fresh new addition to the covie's arsenal along with an interesting art design. The promotion of teamwork would probably be welcomed by them, but hey I can't speak for Bungie. So Bungie, You tell me what you think :P

MLG: Now the interesting thing about this weapon is that MLG might actually like it, seeing as it promotes teamwork, and we all know how they LOOOVE teamwork. It also might distract them from plastering their maps with BRs every two inches.

Precedent: Believe it or not, someone actually found a precedent among the Halo canon for the existence of this kind of weapon! Check it out, it certainly make the weapon more conceivable.

Posted by: The1Pink1Pirate7
I actually found some precedent for this weapon in Halo: First Strike on pg. 108. When flying over Covenant Fred and Kelly are fired upon by I'm assuming grunts with a weapon that fires large needler like rounds. They exploded into lots of needles. This is a summary of the text in the book of which is UNDER COPYRIGHT BY MICROSOFT CORPORATION (2003) and WRITTEN BY ERIC NYLUND and PUBLISHED BY DEL REY BOOKS which is an imprint of THE RANDOM HOUSE PUBLISHING GROUP. Purple-white crystalline shards hissed through the air - projectiles/shards looked like the the projectiles fired from a Needler - The size of Fred's forearm - One of the projectiles exploded in midair sending needle shards (like a spike grenade) outward - of the shards most of them bounced off the banshee but one stuck onto Fred's banshee and exploded destroying one of the canards(wings) on the banshee.
Ok so here is my very pathetic sketch, my hands can't do what my mind sees. The pathetic sketch


I'd recommend reading his post, it's very insightful ^_^

After some considerably more time staring at my ceiling, I have come up with the second of my trio of weapons to add to the Halo experience.

Suggestions for a name, anyone?

Role: To provide a(nother) team-based weapon, but to be a weapon in it's own right as well.

General Description: A UNSC grenade launcher, it launches electrically charged grenades that have an area of affect shield drain, as well as a vehicle knockout (similar to the overcharged plasma pistol). The secondary effect of this would be that it would overload any equipment in a small vicinity, destroying them. It would have two firing modes, the first would just fire the grenades in semi-automatic fashion. The grenades are very bouncy, meaning that they may not stop exactly where you want and continue bouncing for a second. That brings us to the second firing mode, which is: By holding down the right trigger, the launcher overcharges the grenade, causing it to explode the moment it hit's another object. The tradeoff being lack of rapid fire for a better aimed shot. You could hold it like that indefinantly, and cancel it by switching weapons. Reloading would take a while, to offset the grenade's power. The launcher would carry six grenades before reloading.
An alternate view of this weapon, to nerf it, would be that the current runs alon the ground, so anyone jumping won't be affected. I don't particularly like this idea, as people are always jumping, but it's there.

Look and feel: In my opinion, should be that of the mgl/m32 multiple grenade launcher UNSC style, yet keeping with the futuristic nature of the weapon. The fact that it's based on electricity should be apparent, with glowing blue cables roped underneath it, and electrically charged firing chambers. That's my vision, if anyone want's to create some concept art for it, be my guest. Please :P

Unique medals: Electrocution: get a kill with this weapon.

Predicted reactions by:

Bungie: It's a cool addition to the UNSC arsenal, and it adds another layer of gameplay to the single and multiplayer aspect of it. What's not to like?

The Players: Same as above, really. The UNSC should have had a launcher long before now, and it's cool looking and gameplay enhancing to boot!

MLG: It's a human weapon, it emphasizes personnel and team skill, and it adds another layer of skill to the game. The might go for it...
*Note* This is an excerpt from my

Precedent: In Halo Wars, the fully upgraded hog had one. There, justified.

Extra stuff:

Fox_Knight made some cool Concept Art for the weapons. Keep up the good work!

So that being said, tell me your opinion of the weapon!

[Edited on 10.20.2009 9:21 PM PDT]

  • 09.22.2009 9:39 PM PDT
Subject: New original weapon for Halo: Reach

Seriously, awesome. I always had the thought of how cool it would be to have some sort of mounted needler in my head, and now you've actually put the idea to some good use :P
Great post

  • 09.22.2009 9:50 PM PDT

The point of war is not to die for your country, but to make the other bastard die for his.- Gen. George S. Patton.

____________(˜˜˜||˜˜˜˜||˜˜˜˜˜)_∏______
l | --------____.`=====.-.~:________\___|================[oo]
|_|||___/___/_/~```|_|_|_|``(o)----------<)

Posted by: Squarish_Orc
Seriously, awesome. I always had the thought of how cool it would be to have some sort of mounted needler in my head, and now you've actually put the idea to some good use :P
Great post


Thanks! I guess great minds think alike, eh? :P

  • 09.22.2009 10:30 PM PDT

The point of war is not to die for your country, but to make the other bastard die for his.- Gen. George S. Patton.

____________(˜˜˜||˜˜˜˜||˜˜˜˜˜)_∏______
l | --------____.`=====.-.~:________\___|================[oo]
|_|||___/___/_/~```|_|_|_|``(o)----------<)

Nobody else has an opinion? Ironic.

  • 09.23.2009 7:14 AM PDT
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cool idea but the concept art is trash

  • 09.23.2009 7:33 AM PDT

The point of war is not to die for your country, but to make the other bastard die for his.- Gen. George S. Patton.

____________(˜˜˜||˜˜˜˜||˜˜˜˜˜)_∏______
l | --------____.`=====.-.~:________\___|================[oo]
|_|||___/___/_/~```|_|_|_|``(o)----------<)

Posted by: I Shoot Babies1
cool idea but the concept art is trash


Can you do better? If so, by all means draw one.

  • 09.23.2009 9:13 PM PDT

Posted by: Awkward_Zombie
Nobody else has an opinion? Ironic.


Well thats not really Irony, just so you know.

I agree though, the concept art is very poor. If you were serious enough about this then there would be way more versions of that single weapon.

  • 09.23.2009 10:35 PM PDT

The point of war is not to die for your country, but to make the other bastard die for his.- Gen. George S. Patton.

____________(˜˜˜||˜˜˜˜||˜˜˜˜˜)_∏______
l | --------____.`=====.-.~:________\___|================[oo]
|_|||___/___/_/~```|_|_|_|``(o)----------<)

Posted by: Blackprinze

I agree though, the concept art is very poor. If you were serious enough about this then there would be way more versions of that single weapon.


So how did this turn into a post slamming the concept art? If you have on opinion on the WEAPON, please share it.

  • 09.23.2009 11:16 PM PDT
Subject: New Weapon For Halo: Reach W/ Concept Art!
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this is a great idea and does help protmote team work very well but you are a genius, but the pink mist idea i don't think will work well, i can only imagine a pink fluffy cloud running around the map but thats just me ofcourse

  • 09.23.2009 11:36 PM PDT

i can provide concept art if you would like

  • 09.23.2009 11:45 PM PDT

The point of war is not to die for your country, but to make the other bastard die for his.- Gen. George S. Patton.

____________(˜˜˜||˜˜˜˜||˜˜˜˜˜)_∏______
l | --------____.`=====.-.~:________\___|================[oo]
|_|||___/___/_/~```|_|_|_|``(o)----------<)

If you would that would be great. May I suggest an alternate design than the one currently shown? The more designs and options we can cover, the better.

  • 09.24.2009 7:23 AM PDT

Shhhhh.... Don't message me, I probably don't care. Sweet!

Terrible concept and horrid art work. Just garbage...

  • 09.24.2009 7:45 AM PDT
Subject: New original weapon for Halo: Reach
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cool idea, bu I doubt it will ever come into play. In the books the covie's have plasma turrets that shoot giant needlers instead of plasma. It's an ati-air weapon. If Bungie made that it could be like the covie's misslepod. There's a similar version of it you can get in Halo Wars.

  • 09.24.2009 7:56 AM PDT
Subject: New Weapon For Halo: Reach W/ Concept Art!
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I don't care if it's God's own anti-son-of-a--blam!- machine, or a giant hoola hoop, we're not gonna let 'em have it!

I do like the idea of a needler mortar but im really not liking the whole mist idea, i think the idea for some teamwork style weapons is very good and would open a whole new element to the multiplayer experiance, im not sure what would really work though!!

  • 09.24.2009 8:04 AM PDT

Corn, Oil, and Wine... We need more wine...

I'm loving it, I have always wanted a mortar in Halo.

  • 09.24.2009 8:32 AM PDT
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This will never happen. ever.

  • 09.24.2009 8:35 AM PDT
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Its nice, mortar is just the thing halo needs :D

i like it, and all the people who says the art sucks, jsus just shut the -blam!- up.. he is trying to get new wapons in the next halo.. who knows bungie wil an upertunitie to make a wapen somthing like this :D

Nice i like it!

  • 09.24.2009 8:42 AM PDT

This is a cool design for a new, fresh weapon in Multiplayer. Though I do agree that the concept art is too basic to truly portray the weapon the way YOU intended. Ive got a similar design in my head but Since ive got this S**t computer, i cant really draw anything and put it in.
DESIGN CHANGE:
Instead of some sort of catapult, I think you should go for a more Rocketish feel. Kind of like a hybrid between the two. Also, it needs more dials. ALL COVENANT HEAVY WEAPONRY HAS DIALS ON IT IT. Take the fuel rod for example. Plus, 6 sounds too large for something like this. Maybe 3 and a separate reload? Or single shot, whatever. The handle is down along with the Plasma crystal(or needler rounds, whatever) and the storage part at front looks good too. Just thought the needles are stored on back, the metal not be purple, more intertwined metal components and a scope-esque thing like the one on the Spartan Laser. FEEL FREE TO HATE MY DESIGN, I dont really care. And dont think Im hating on the concept art or its creator. Thank you and good night.

  • 09.24.2009 8:52 AM PDT

Prepare to be dominated, Australian style.

It's basically the Needler mount for the Covenant turret in Halo Wars, with small modifications. But then again, the new smg in ODST is basically the same with small modifications. And the covenant already have the Fuel Rod Cannon, which is their version of the rocket, its weaker, but you can spam them out quicker, dealing the same amount of damage. And I'm not saying I could draw better, but that concept art doesnt really show a decent image of what you want. Maybe a few more pictures would be better. And instead of this "Pink Mist" idea, which just seems a little odd, why not have it shatter into smaller(normal sized) needler rounds that spray out into surrounding area, similar to a shrapnel bomb.

Personally, I think more, and a wider range of vehicles would do greatly. Make it possible to use a scarab, locust or a vampire for the covenant, or a hawk or vulture for the UNSC. And some new weapons wouldn't go astray, but I would prefer completely new weapons, with no connection to any other weapons previously done, like the Spartan Laser in Halo 3.

[Edited on 09.24.2009 9:05 AM PDT]

  • 09.24.2009 8:52 AM PDT

The point of war is not to die for your country, but to make the other bastard die for his.- Gen. George S. Patton.

____________(˜˜˜||˜˜˜˜||˜˜˜˜˜)_∏______
l | --------____.`=====.-.~:________\___|================[oo]
|_|||___/___/_/~```|_|_|_|``(o)----------<)

Posted by: Cahill54058
Terrible concept and horrid art work. Just garbage...



I don't mind people posting that they don't like it, after all not everyone is of the same opinion. If you do post that you don't like it however, please include reasons WHY you don't like it. Remember nobody likes a troll.

  • 09.24.2009 12:19 PM PDT
Subject: New original weapon for Halo: Reach

very nice idea, but I dont think bungie will be fans of the cloud of mist (even though I think its awsome).

  • 09.24.2009 12:25 PM PDT
Subject: New Weapon For Halo: Reach W/ Concept Art!
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really cool man oh and everyone needs to stop bashing A.Z. wheres your art oh what you don't have any.I really like the idea man good job

  • 09.24.2009 12:27 PM PDT

The point of war is not to die for your country, but to make the other bastard die for his.- Gen. George S. Patton.

____________(˜˜˜||˜˜˜˜||˜˜˜˜˜)_∏______
l | --------____.`=====.-.~:________\___|================[oo]
|_|||___/___/_/~```|_|_|_|``(o)----------<)

Posted by: MuffinMan116
This will never happen. ever.


Never, ever say never (ever).

  • 09.24.2009 6:10 PM PDT
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Well know we know the new noob combo. Needler + Needler Mortar. It seems to me that this would make owning a whole team a one man job.

  • 09.24.2009 6:14 PM PDT