Halo: Reach Forum
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Subject: 'Make or Break" Reach

Make or Break: Key issues a game NEEDS to have in order to be a game you will like, or even buy.

Paradox's 'Make or Break' issues:



- The AI in the game need to be drastically improved from Halo 3
I've seen a few topics on this already. The basic summary is:

A.
A real battle needs to take place even if you aren't there.
a(1) Teammates need to be of real use
a(2) Enemies need to actually be a threat and seem scary, think Halo 1 energy sword guys or halo 2 brutes charging at you.
B. Enemies AND friendlies need to make intelligent moves, hiding behind stuff when damaged, cornering you, throwing a grenade at you if you crouch behind a corner instead of standing there like an idiot waiting for you to come out...
Think Halo 1 AI at the very least.



- Difficulty modes
Ideal difficulty setting increase:
- = 1\5 -- =2\5 --- = 3\5 etc.
Normal mode;
Health bar |---|
Intelligence |-|
Rate of fire\damage given |---|

Heroic mode
Health bar |----|
Intelligence |---|
Rate of fire\damage given |----|

Legendary mode
Health bar |----|
Intelligence |-----|
Rate of fire\damage given |-----|
____________________________
BAD difficulty setting increase:
- = 1\5 -- =2\5 --- = 3\5 etc.
Normal mode;
Health bar |-|
Intelligence |-|
Rate of fire\damage given |--|

Heroic mode
Health bar |-----|
Intelligence |-|
Rate of fire\damage given |----|

Legendary mode
Health bar |-------| 7\5?!
Intelligence |-|
Rate of fire\damage given |-----|

See the difference?




- No useless weapons.
Halo 1, again, was a good example of accomplishing this.
Needler? Awesome! Plasma rifle? Awesome! Assault rifle? Awesome! Plasma pistol? Awesome!

Halo 2 was the worst
Needler? meh. Pistol? meh. Battle rifle? Awesome!

See where I'm going with this?

For some reason weak weapons are put in the game... It's just clutter. It really is. The only time this is valid is in older games where you collect stronger and stronger weapons added to your enormous arsenal as you progress through the game.

Halo on the other hand, you see almost every weapon in the first level. There is no need for weaker weapons, it just causes clutter. Dual wielded weapons should be considerably strong. Dual plasma rifles, dual spikers... only very narrowly beat the AR. The only combo that really justified their existence was the fact that you could combine them, the plasma rifle-spiker combo was closer to what is needed.

Halo 3 actually did a fairly good job on this. EXCEPT: It needed to either remove or up the power of spikers, magnums, and plasma rifles.

-The rest: the obvious
Story that makes sense
Good multiplayer like the rest of the Halo series
New stuff, new gameplay elements.

Needing the feel of epicness: If I'm in a huge battle, I want to be in a huge battle. I want so many fights going on at one time that I cannot possibly take part in all of them, the battle needs to happen AROUND you, not BECAUSE of you. Both Halo 2 and 3 sucked hard at that. I loved the games, but only because of the multiplayer. I STILL play the Halo 1 campaign however, which says something.

__________

One key thing I will be looking for in terms of weaponry for Reach:

Strong plasma rifles.

They really CANNOT be duel wield-able, they have to be nerfed that way. A real accurate powerful plasma rifle is what the game really needs. I'm tired of firing plasma bullets and seeing one fly off at a 45 degree angle to the side, it will be the main weapon used against us, and it is a RIFLE. It should be bigger, and even a match for the battle rifle.

[Edited on 11.06.2009 3:14 PM PST]

  • 11.06.2009 3:10 PM PDT

Well, the AI should be massively improved. You are a spartan in a squad of spartans. Your fabled spartan invincibillity is going to be shattered if your spartans drive you off cliffs.

When Joe Staten said that the game feels like a squad based shooter, but without the baggage of a squad based shooter, I inferred that it means that your allies are smart enough to do crap without you needing to press a button to get them to do it.

Should be fun.

  • 11.06.2009 3:15 PM PDT
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Posted by: The Desert Wolf
im one second from taking this to the next level.

Agree with 100% all of this. Great list.

  • 11.06.2009 3:15 PM PDT

Posted by: JETST0RM
Agree with 100% all of this. Great list.


Agree 85%. Nice list. =P

[Edited on 11.06.2009 3:24 PM PST]

  • 11.06.2009 3:21 PM PDT

Light a log on fire and a man will be warm for the rest of the day. Light a man on fire, and that man will be warm for the rest of his life.

Posted by: TrinityXT
Posted by: JETST0RM
Agree with 100% all of this. Great list.


Agree too. =P


x3

  • 11.06.2009 3:22 PM PDT
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Posted by: The Desert Wolf
im one second from taking this to the next level.

Posted by: TrinityXT
Posted by: JETST0RM
Agree with 100% all of this. Great list.


Agree 85%. Nice list. =P
lol Hey Trin. XD

  • 11.06.2009 3:23 PM PDT

Feel free to post your own ideas too, or possible edits onto mine.

  • 11.06.2009 3:43 PM PDT

/">

Plasma Rifle is, always was, and always will be the best weapon. I think it's perfect the way it is. (#1 kills in Aus with it =D)

Other than that, smart thread.

  • 11.06.2009 3:46 PM PDT
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I agree completely. Especially with the Plasma Rifle. The Covenant is supposed to have superior weapons than us, yet somehow, the AR beats the Plasma Rifle. The Plasma Rifle should be one of the guns that everyone rushes for at the beginning.

  • 11.06.2009 3:54 PM PDT

Halo : Combat Evolved. The TRUE Beginning.

I just want the Covenant to be stronger and tougher.

  • 11.06.2009 4:02 PM PDT

Posted by: Frimid
I agree completely. Especially with the Plasma Rifle. The Covenant is supposed to have superior weapons than us, yet somehow, the AR beats the Plasma Rifle. The Plasma Rifle should be one of the guns that everyone rushes for at the beginning.


People perfer the human weapons over covenant weapons, its just how it is. the Plasma rifle is stronger then the AR, its just you dont spawn with a PR.

  • 11.06.2009 4:06 PM PDT

I agree with you for 100%! Especially with the Plasma Rifle, it's a RIFLE and not a dual wieldable like the SMG for example... The duald wielding really destroyed a lot of the gameplay in the Halo-series.

  • 11.06.2009 4:10 PM PDT

"Everything works itself out. The only thing that matters is whether you want it to or not."

Last Refuge - Operation Phoenix is in effect. From the ashes, we will rise.

I honestly love the Plasma Rifle at its current size and shape, but I definitely agree with you on powering it up and making it non-dual wielded. As for the rest of the list, great job!

  • 11.06.2009 4:15 PM PDT

Good, bad, I'm the guy with the clichéd lines.

And make the non-dual wieldable plasma rifle have the slow effect that the plasma rifle did in Halo 1 please.

  • 11.06.2009 4:19 PM PDT

Posted by: kojirodensetsu
And make the non-dual wieldable plasma rifle have the slow effect that the plasma rifle did in Halo 1 please.


That was one of the main features to a plasma rifle to me, I was pretty shocked when they took it out.

[Edited on 11.06.2009 4:42 PM PST]

  • 11.06.2009 4:25 PM PDT

Here’s what Luke had to say about the differences in treatment between the Spartans and Elites in Reach:

“Instead of piece-by-piece customization like the Spartans, Elite customization is a full model swap with models selected from the various Elite classes appearing throughout the Campaign. There are all kinds of reasons for this, not the least of which is our continued emphasis on the Spartan as your identity in Reach.”

What do you mean by "intelligence" in your campaign difficulty settings?

  • 11.06.2009 4:42 PM PDT

Posted by: Uncle Kulikov
What do you mean by "intelligence" in your campaign difficulty settings?


Example of |-|

They stand in the open, you take some shots, go into cover after taking damage. After a few seconds you come back out and they're in the same spot, you finish them off.

Example of |-----|
They take cover when damaged, throw grenades at you when you take cover, try to flank you when they can.

Think wolf pack.

  • 11.06.2009 4:49 PM PDT

Light a log on fire and a man will be warm for the rest of the day. Light a man on fire, and that man will be warm for the rest of his life.

Posted by: another paradox
Posted by: Uncle Kulikov
What do you mean by "intelligence" in your campaign difficulty settings?


Example of |-|

They stand in the open, you take some shots, go into cover after taking damage. After a few seconds you come back out and they're in the same spot, you finish them off.

Example of |-----|
They take cover when damaged, throw grenades at you when you take cover, try to flank you when they can.

Think wolf pack.


In a way, Halo ODST firefight was sortof like that.
ODST seemed to have better AI than Halo 3, though I don't think it was really all that different. I think it seemed good just because it always charged at you, and the drop off was in different areas so you could be flanked without it actually ever being scripted into AI to do that.

  • 11.08.2009 1:51 PM PDT

I completely agree, especially with the difficulty. Enemies should always have the same amount of health, just be more intelligent and give you more damage.

Also something that should vastly be improved about the difficulty settings. I never understood why Bungie said that Halo veterans should start Halo 3 at Heroic and co-op at Legendary. I mean, those difficulties should be though! Easy is supposed to be easy right? So why make normal easy too? Heroic, slightly more hard than normal should be and legendary just a game of shooting gallery "shoot and hide"? Why when playing co-op you should start at the highest difficulty that is supposed to be challenging? I hate how videogames become more and more easy for the sake of being accessible thus trying to sell more. Before, yeah you had easy difficulties, but you had hard ones that were actually challenging in a way that needed you to have skills and not mere patience. They want everyone to be able to play the game not get stuck at the end when it should normally be harder and challenging (not that much) even if the beginning of the game was normal for you - if you suck at fps, and use easy, the difficulty should still be scaled in the way that you become better over time and lets you use more effective tactics as you learn them so they can test you. They are also trying to make newbs be able to compete with good people, accessibility should be a thing of game difficulties (easy that is), not game design.

[Edited on 11.08.2009 2:06 PM PST]

  • 11.08.2009 2:04 PM PDT
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Posted by: Achronos
It isn't our shiznit anymore.

Things that will make or break Reach:
1.) No game disc in the box.
2.) All the game discs have been scratched in a pattern that reads, "<3 Bungie".
3.) There is only one Multiplayer playlist: 1v1 (and will only match you up with people under the age of 12).
4.) All that comes in the game box is a sticker of the word Reach with instructions that say, "to be placed over the 3 on your Halo 3 game."

  • 11.08.2009 2:17 PM PDT

Don't you think it's a little naive being so sure it will inevitably be that good? Sure I haven't played the game either, but from experience I tend to not be hyped as then inevitably comes deception.

  • 11.08.2009 2:21 PM PDT

They should just get rid of dual weiling, its completely pointless when all the weapons suck.

The plasma rifle should be brought back to its Halo 1 status, there was no need to change it.

Maybe they could the needler dual weildable and weaker, I thought it was stupid but fun in Halo 2.

and ya, Halo CE had the best AI of all the games.

  • 11.08.2009 2:23 PM PDT

-A fatal error occured. Your opinion is not valid. Please restart your computer and try again with a different answer-
Spammed group invites or recruitments are NOT WELCOME!Unless i know you, DO NOT SPAM ME without a bloody good reason.

"Violence isnt the answer, but it sure is the solution"

Posted by: another paradox
a(2) Enemies need to actually be a threat and seem scary, think Halo 1 energy sword guys or halo 2 brutes charging at you.
Didnt you find the Hunters on ODST a bit terrifying?
The feeling of being weak mixed with 12 foot tall lumps of angry metal weakened my bladder a little.

  • 11.08.2009 2:24 PM PDT

Posted by: Slayer Lord
Posted by: another paradox
a(2) Enemies need to actually be a threat and seem scary, think Halo 1 energy sword guys or halo 2 brutes charging at you.
Didnt you find the Hunters on ODST a bit terrifying?
The feeling of being weak mixed with 12 foot tall lumps of angry metal weakened my bladder a little.


ODST hunters belong there too.

Halo Reach brutes need to be scarier than they were in both Halo 3 and ODST though.

A few ideas: Make them faster, make them berserk towards you with armor on if you get close to them or are in a crammed hallway.

Hunters need to be much more common, I loved ODST's idea of giving hunters different ranks and the flying bugs different ranks.

Hunters should definitely have shields. Without the shields they should just as strong, if not stronger than ODST or Halo 3 hunters; thus, hunters with shields, not nerfed hunters with shields. They should be able to survive one or two direct rockets. Brutes should usually win against a player in a fist fight unless the player is really good, you should want to hide from brutes or take them from a distance. A decent example of this is Halo 2 brutes.

The flying bugs should use plasma rifles, carbines, maybe even give one a fuel rod. Make it so when you see a swarm of them, you think '-blam!-!' and run towards cover, not 'ooh, free points!'

[Edited on 11.08.2009 8:41 PM PST]

  • 11.08.2009 8:35 PM PDT

Light a log on fire and a man will be warm for the rest of the day. Light a man on fire, and that man will be warm for the rest of his life.

Posted by: Billy kite 69
They should just get rid of dual weiling, its completely pointless when all the weapons suck.

The plasma rifle should be brought back to its Halo 1 status, there was no need to change it.

Maybe they could the needler dual weildable and weaker, I thought it was stupid but fun in Halo 2.

and ya, Halo CE had the best AI of all the games.


I like duel wielding. I think they should keep it for plasma pistols and smgs, and nothing more.

  • 11.08.2009 8:48 PM PDT

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