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Halo |OT3| Remember Reach?

Holiday

Banned
And thank god for that. Were the DMR in Halo 3, you'd be on the hill on Valhalla headshotting players in their bases; Standoff shootouts would be from base-base, not along the central rock lines; Rat's Nest would have players tagging one another down the entire lenght of the roadway, corner to corner; Avalanche and Sandtrap would be unplayable as players traversing the open would be tagged from all directions - as they are in Reach's iteration of Hemhorrage. The center of any BTB map in Reach is a wasteland; Hemhorrage, Highlands, etc. In Halo 3 you had to close distance to engage, and players could use large sections of the map knowing they weren't going to be cross mapped from all angles. Extending the range of the BR would have demolished map design intent and player movement; just look at BTB in Reach.
Make the weapon hard to use, and you avoid those problems. This is the key. Instead of massive aim assist and random bullet trajectories, consistent bullet trajectories and minimal aim assist. Skill over dice.
 
Was it inevitable that competitive Halo on that scale would peter out? Or is this purely a function of a weak game killing enthusiasm?
It may have been inevitable that it would fade a little, but really the main stimulant behind it was a lackluster competitive game. You can go back and watch some of the early Reach events, and they're really boring to watch. I think it definitely killed some of the enthusiasm. If you then go back and watch some halo 2 and 3 events, especially towards the end of those games' lifetimes, you can see a pretty clear difference.
 

FyreWulff

Member
But that range was extremely short, and left an enormous gap in the ability to kill on larger maps/longer sight lines without a sniper. Shooting from laser to base on Valhalla, or even more egregiously, lift to lift on Narrows or P3 to car 3 on Heretic, was a total crapshoot. You shouldn't need a sniper rifle to reliably kill a guy cross-map on a Lockout remake. It's problematic even beyond the ridiculous division of the sandbox into ranges, as Halo devs are never able to achieve that balance in a fashion that is functional. A utility weapon that has a high skill gap and a high learning curve solves these unnecessary problems, as it is effective at all ranges when used properly.

Here's a concept: each weapon is supposed to have a role, and there's supposed to be a point to a map being big. You shouldn't be able to hit at all ranges at 100% optimal speed with a single gun.

If the BR would have been able to shoot at sniper range instantly, what would have been the point to Valhalla or Sandtrap? If everyone's going to be able to engage anyone at any distance, you might as well make every map Midship, and only model one gun for the game.


Make the weapon hard to use, and you avoid those problems. This is the key. Instead of massive aim assist and random bullet trajectories, consistent bullet trajectories and minimal aim assist. Skill over dice.


You're not rolling the dice in any Halo game with any gun, except for the shotgun in Halo 2.
 
Make the weapon hard to use, and you avoid those problems. This is the key. Instead of massive aim assist and random bullet trajectories, consistent bullet trajectories and minimal aim assist. Skill over dice.
So, the sniper rifle?

The 2x zoom on the BR is the main reason I prefer it to the DMR's 3x. Ruins open maps, especially Haemorrhage.
 
And thank god for that. Were the DMR in Halo 3, you'd be on the hill on Valhalla headshotting players in their bases; Standoff shootouts would be from base-base, not along the central rock lines; Rat's Nest would have players tagging one another down the entire length of the roadway, corner to corner; Avalanche and Sandtrap would be unplayable as players traversing the open would be tagged from all directions - as they are in Reach's iteration of Hemhorrage. The center of any BTB map in Reach is a wasteland; Hemhorrage, Highlands, etc. In Halo 3 you had to close distance to engage, and players could use large sections of the map knowing they weren't going to be cross mapped from all angles. Extending the range of the BR would have demolished map design intent and player movement; just look at BTB in Reach.

I wish, in my experience, the centre is never used, makes for some coma inducing games!

There's just no incentive to go to the middle in that map.

Edit: I just realised that's what you implied, my bad.
 

FyreWulff

Member
I wish, in my experience, the centre is never used, makes for some coma inducing games!

There's just no incentive to go to the middle in that map.

Probably because Certain Affinity discouraged you by putting teleporters on the map to let you skip it. There's a reason why teleporters fell out of favor by Bungie.
 

Holiday

Banned
Here's a concept: each weapon is supposed to have a role, and there's supposed to be a point to a map being big. You shouldn't be able to hit at all ranges at 100% optimal speed with a single gun.

If the BR would have been able to shoot at sniper range instantly, what would have been the point to Valhalla or Sandtrap? If everyone's going to be able to engage anyone at any distance, you might as well make every map Midship, and only model one gun for the game.
Here's a concept: precision weapons should be based on skill, and should be effective up to the degree that the player is able to effectively wield them. You shouldn't be arbitrarily limited by the utility weapon just because noobs don't know how to use two thumbs simultaneously.

You're not rolling the dice in any Halo game with any gun, except for the shotgun in Halo 2.
Que? DMR?
 

Havok

Member
H3's BR, after a certain distance, felt like throwing handfuls of bullets at a guy rather than shooting a 'precision' weapon. At bottom, though, I don't like the redundancy between the BR and DMR. I say pick one and make it reliable and hard to use.
I think it would be best to wait and see how a BR with spread behaves in a game that doesn't have terrible hit detection and bullet travel time. I suspect it will end up being a much more consistent experience than the crapshoot that Halo 3 often became due to a combination of the three.
 

op_ivy

Fallen Xbot (cannot continue gaining levels in this class)
And thank god for that. Were the DMR in Halo 3, you'd be on the hill on Valhalla headshotting players in their bases; Standoff shootouts would be from base-base, not along the central rock lines; Rat's Nest would have players tagging one another down the entire length of the roadway, corner to corner; Avalanche and Sandtrap would be unplayable as players traversing the open would be tagged from all directions - as they are in Reach's iteration of Hemhorrage. The center of any BTB map in Reach is a wasteland; Hemhorrage, Highlands, etc. In Halo 3 you had to close distance to engage, and players could use large sections of the map knowing they weren't going to be cross mapped from all angles. Extending the range of the BR would have demolished map design intent and player movement; just look at BTB in Reach.

oh god, this post reminded me how i used to love BTB. now, more than ever, i'm hoping halo 4 returns the series to fun BTB and vehicle based matches
 

kylej

Banned
The one thing that gives me hope about the BR is that gif everyone posted a few weeks ago. The H3 BR didn't have that type of range or lack of spread. If you were at needles and were trying to fight someone near training on The Pit, it was hopeless. David saying the increased spread since that build is terrifying, but I don't think it will be as bad as the BR, especially with hitscan.
 

GhaleonEB

Member
Here's a concept: precision weapons should be based on skill, and should be effective up to the degree that the player is able to effectively wield them. You shouldn't be arbitrarily limited by the utility weapon just because noobs don't know how to use two thumbs simultaneously.
Right, so the Halo 3 BR wasn't skill based and guys like me were not regularly getting demolished by the Tashis of the world. Oh wait.

Weapon ranges are not "arbitrary" but a crucial tool to design how the game plays. Shotguns have an effective range; AR's have an effective range; precision weapons have an effective range. (Note: 'precision' means the weapon is headshot-capable, not that you can shoot through the eye of a needle from a mile away.)
 

FyreWulff

Member
Here's a concept: precision weapons should be based on skill, and should be effective up to the degree that the player is able to effectively wield them.
.

Que? DMR?

Do you even see how you're contradicting yourself. You want guns to be based on skill but you refuse to learn the skill aspect of the DMR, which is learning to pace it properly and not jamming the trigger like you're trying to bring your controller to climax
 

Computron

Member
If anyone here who knows stuff about PC gaming could help me I'd appreciate it. So I want to play Halo 2 PC, but according to that can you run it site, my laptop's graphics card isn't good enough. Although looking at the description thing it looks I should be able to. Here's the pic,

halo2pc.jpg


If someone could explain it to me that would be sweet.

Halo 2 Vista runs the same on Window 7 and vista, I don't know why joker was having problems with it. My system runs it and BF3 perfectly in win7. perhaps he had not installed the latest patch and graphics drivers. You do not have a graphics card according to the picture you posted though, you have integrated graphics, which means your CPU will be doing pretty much all the rendering. The CPU aint that great either. I would not expect a good experience on that system.
 

Holiday

Banned
.
Do you even see how you're contradicting yourself. You want guns to be based on skill but you refuse to learn the skill aspect of the DMR, which is learning to pace it properly and not jamming the trigger like you're trying to bring your controller to climax
At almost all ranges, on default Reach settings, jamming the trigger is the optimal route. See any number of rendered videos on bnet where random spamming wins out over pacing. It's the perfect example of devs balancing weapons through idiotic and circuitous methods. That this has to be pointed out to anyone a year and a half after the game comes out is hilarious.
 

FyreWulff

Member
Halo 2 Vista runs the same on Window 7 and vista, I don't know why joker was having problems with it. My system runs it and BF3 perfectly in win7. perhaps he had not installed the latest patch and graphics drivers. You do not have a graphics card according to the picture you posted though, you have integrated graphics, which means your CPU will be doing pretty much all the rendering. The CPU aint that great either. I would not expect a good experience on that system.

He has integrated graphics, they're not on the CPU. The program probably doesn't have that class of integrated graphics so it just assumes that even though it has more than enough memory and shader support, it's not supported.

The minimum discrete card for the game is something like a GeForce 6800, any newer integrated graphics are going to be good enough.


At almost all ranges, on default Reach settings, jamming the trigger is the optimal route.

Nope. You said yourself spamming the DMR is a dice roll. So if spamming WORKED at all ranges, you wouldn't be describing it as a dice roll, because it would have worked for you all the time. Make up your mind.
 
I'm sorry that would hurt the role of the AR which for some reason is considered the alpha weapon in Halo devs minds... despite the fact weapons requiring accuracy - BR in H3, Pistol in ODST, DMR in Reach - were the most popular weapons, respectively. And that's with a higher amount of default SMG/AR starts in those games.

Untitled.jpg


I guess it wouldn't be so bad if the AR wasn't fluffed up to be even easier to use (not having to be aiming at people to hit them in Reach says hi) compared to other weapons.

I genuinely don't understand it. I dunno if we have any impressions of the AR yet, so I can only pray that 343 gets it and doesn't crank the power up on that thing while simultaenously gimping other weapons in the name of "balance".

Dear lord at the amount of melee kills in H3.

The AR would be fine if they'd make it fun to use. Make headshots matter when shields are gone, make burst firing actually useful, etc.

The AR of Halo 3 and Reach is honestly the least interesting and least satisfying weapon in any video game. There is just no depth to the weapon at all.

is MLG reach really less popular then some of the other games they feature?

Starcraft 2.
 
Halo 2 Vista runs the same on Window 7 and vista, I don't know why joker was having problems with it. My system runs it and BF3 perfectly in win7. perhaps he had not installed the latest patch and graphics drivers. You do not have a graphics card according to the picture you posted though, you have integrated graphics, which means your CPU will be doing pretty much all the rendering. The CPU aint that great either. I would not expect a good experience on that system.

I have the lastest nvidia drivers and patched it, i even went into the properties and put it so that it was Vista compatible and still ran like shit.
 

GhaleonEB

Member
This Firefight weekly is a doozy. I play 2-4 games a night, and I'm only halfway through it.

Kinda wish this had been rolled out next week, to coincide with the Firefight refresh. Would have been a great way to highlight it.
 

FyreWulff

Member
This Firefight weekly is a doozy. I play 2-4 games a night, and I'm only halfway through it.

Kinda wish this had been rolled out next week, to coincide with the Firefight refresh. Would have been a great way to highlight it.

I'm predicting a Super Jackpot Weekend to highlight it. Or probably another FF Weekly. But more than likely the SJW. I think the FF stuff came together (that me and you know about) later than time they probably push the updates for weeklies.
 

feel

Member
Everything bad from Reach is making a return so I'm sure the DMR scope will be 3X. I'm also half expecting Armor Lock to return with some balance tweaks and another name. 343i does not plan to alienate any single Reach fan.
 

Computron

Member
He has integrated graphics, they're not on the CPU. The program probably doesn't have that class of integrated graphics so it just assumes that even though it has more than enough memory and shader support, it's not supported.

That depends on the model, later integrated graphics chipsets take a lot more of the load. But from the looks of his other specs, this is a pretty old laptop. Integrated graphis chipsets from back then still did most of the rendering on the CPU.
 

kylej

Banned
Everything bad from Reach is making a return so I'm sure the DMR scope will be 3X. I'm also half expecting Armor Lock to return with some balance tweaks and another name. 343i does not plan to alienate any single Reach fan.

why would you change anything from one of the greatest fps games of all time
 

Holiday

Banned
Nope. You said yourself spamming the DMR is a dice roll. So if spamming WORKED at all ranges, you wouldn't be describing it as a dice roll, because it would have worked for you all the time. Make up your mind.
LOL no. I said it was optimal almost all ranges. As in, it is the best bet. As in, rolling the dice is the best bet, because Bungie sucks at balancing weapons according to range. As in, precision weapons have come down to betting, because they have built in random factors implemented to protect noobs from hurted bholes.
 

FyreWulff

Member
LOL no. I said it was optimal almost all ranges. As in, it is the best bet. As in, rolling the dice is the best bet, because Bungie sucks at balancing weapons according to range. As in, precision weapons have come down to betting, because they have built in random factors implemented to protect noobs from

Actually, they adjusted the mechanics of the gun to..

hurted bholes.

Oh. You're one of those people. Carry on.
 

Computron

Member
Didn't someone post videos of the bloom mechanic after the TU that proved it is still a better move to pace your shots? I can't remember the site.
 
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