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This topic has moved here: Poll [27 votes]: Should there be an orbital drop level in Halo?
  • Poll [27 votes]: Should there be an orbital drop level in Halo?
Subject: BUILD AN ORBITAL DROP LEVEL!!!!!! (PLEASE)
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Poll: Should there be an orbital drop level in Halo?  [closed]
Yes:  56%
(15 Votes)
No:  33%
(9 Votes)
Say what?:  11%
(3 Votes)
Total Votes: 27

JUST AN IDEA:

After seeing the first demo of Halo 2 in which the MC drops out of a space ship into a covenant ship, I had just one thought: COOL!!!

Recently I played the game mission impossible :operation surma. In MI there's a level in which you drop out of a ship and need to catch up to an airplane. It would be cool if there was a level in which you could steer the MC onto a dropship in Halo 2. Who agrees with me?

But how would it look like? Well if you played the MI game, you know what i am talking about. But here's a sketch. Let's say you just disabled a covenant battle cruiser and need to get the hell out? What do you do? Go to the hanger and try to steal an aircraft! Just one snag, there's none to steal. So you just bail out! Yep, enter the orbital drop level.

We see the MC in 3d person view dropping to earth, with a beautifull picture of earth underneath him approaching really fast. In order for the MC to survive, he needs to steer into the atlantic ocean! That doesn't sound to difficult now is it?? The atlantic is massive and easily targetable. But here's the snag, the covenant are pissed and have launched their defense missiles. While dropping you need to get out of their way. Erm...plasma blasts would be more in the techno eco sfeer of the covenant, so imagine plasma fire coming your way instead of missiles (just like in the movie starship troopers).

All the while the chief is dropping to earch, Cortana paints a drop path on the screen that guides the chief onto the best drop path to use. In MI this is done by ethan hawks sidekick, Luther, but let's just replace Luther with Cortana, and you have that game element covered.
You need to move through these drop paths (squares on the screen) in order to fall smack into the atlantic. This can be made more difficult by dynamically altering the drop paths and the fact that all the time plasma is being fired at you.

To add an extra twist into the whole level, let's say that after even following your best orbital drop path, you miss you target goal. What now, you ask? Well in a MI level you had to drop out of a ship without a parachute and steal one from a soldier in the air. We can translate that into stealing/hijacking a covenant plane in the air.

Now should the level end here??? No way. The chief should continue into a Star Wars like run to destroy the plasma firing guns. At this point, he's being chased by banshees and other nasties, while still being targeted by plasma guns.

Sound interesting? Intrigued yet? Or maybe I'm just crazy. Or maybe the guys at bungee already build this level??? Who knows? Or maybe it's something to consider for a new game? The possibilities are endless.

But what do you think?????

  • 05.14.2004 6:10 AM PDT
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DONT MAKE ME HURT YOU!!!!!

(sorry, i had to, man, i dont like that idea at all....)

  • 05.14.2004 6:13 AM PDT
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It sounds too easy and not the kind of action bungie wants to put intop their games. Sorry but nice try bud.

  • 05.14.2004 6:30 AM PDT
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Sounds nice for MI but not Halo. It might be a cutscene. Still, Bungie want's realism in their games, right? The Chief, even if his shields protected him from simply burning up in the atmosphere, would create a huge explosion from the sheer kinetic energy release of having a 500lbs. object slam into the ocean upwards of Mach 7. Hell, the US Navy developing a weapon that does that so I don't think it would be very safe for the Chief to be a projectile now, would it?

Edit: And oh yea, travelling at that velocity would knock the Chief out, regardless of his augmented systems. So much for dodging that plasma.

Edit 2: Though this would be cool if you have the chance to determine where you wanted to start a level by dropping out of a Pelican!


[Edited on 5/14/2004 6:38:18 AM]

  • 05.14.2004 6:36 AM PDT
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And why dosn't bungie just copy the entire MI game but put it in the halo word while they're at it?

[Edited on 5/14/2004 6:53:44 AM]

  • 05.14.2004 6:53 AM PDT
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LOL.

It was just an idea dude. I have no whish to see the master chief infiltrate a covenant building by slipping in through the roof by a bungie cable.

  • 05.18.2004 6:54 AM PDT
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Erm.. I didn't spend much time on actually calculating the reentry velocity of the master chief. But the idea was also triggered by a picture of some pelicans hoovering above earth and actual troopers jumping out of it together with a wart hog. I thought it was a cool picture and that triggered the idea together with the gameplay feature i saw in MI.

The render is on the official site:
http://www.bungie.net/Games/Halo2/gallery.aspx?gallery=PrintA rt&page=1

  • 05.18.2004 7:05 AM PDT
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Reply: DONT MAKE ME HURT YOU!!!!!

(sorry, i had to, man, i dont like that idea at all....)

Hell, I don't mind if you think my idea is crap. But as for hurting me, well let's just say you can get the change to do that after November when Halo 2 hits the stores :-)

  • 05.18.2004 7:08 AM PDT
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I've read about a map for halo 2 multiplayer, in a huge human vessil that has many different floors, and who was first at the top would have control of a huge gun on top of the vessil to stop enemys nearing your spawn!
I didnt read everything that you said about your idea for a map, but i think this is more or like the same idea!

  • 05.18.2004 7:13 AM PDT
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i don't want that drop level. Let's keep halo a shooter shall we?
Anyway Boing, don't postbump, you posted three replies after eachother. learn to use the EDIT button.

  • 05.18.2004 7:15 AM PDT
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Well if you subtract everything you said outside just ODST type level, where he's actually dropping from a HEV into say Earth because the ship blew up, that might be ok.

  • 05.18.2004 7:50 AM PDT
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Yes, the ODSTs (aka Helljumpers) have small pods they use to survive the re-entry. I think the Chief might have to get off an Earth cruiser and use a deceased Helljumper's pod. Of course, this would be boring, just falling without any defenses (if I remember the books correctly).

I can't think of any good ideas for this level beyond that, but I'm sure that if Bungie wants to include it, they'll figure out some way to make it awesome.

  • 05.18.2004 8:00 AM PDT
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Posted by: Terran Grunt
Edit: And oh yea, travelling at that velocity would knock the Chief out, regardless of his augmented systems. So much for dodging that plasma.

Edit 2: Though this would be cool if you have the chance to determine where you wanted to start a level by dropping out of a Pelican!


Much of this depends on the elevation of the Cruiser. Should it be in orbit you are absolutely correct. Gravity would accelerate him without any impedence. Hitting the atmosphere at Mach 25 or higher. Wave good bye to the Master Chief. However, with a lower earth orbit Master Chief could survive.

I don't have my Popular Science with me but there are two parachutists working on doing just that. Jumping from where there is only trace amounts of atmosphere. They'll hit low mach speeds in their suits and then the air friction will slow them down to regular speeds so that they can deploy parachutes.

Your Second edit however is incorrect. Acceleration and not Velocity knocks people unconcious. Gravitic acceleration is constant at a mere 10 m/s. So... the Master Chief would just die horribly cooking inside his suit like a Christmas Ham. Joy.

[Edited on 5/18/2004 8:15:26 AM]

  • 05.18.2004 8:14 AM PDT