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Halo |OT9| One Final Effort Is All That Remains

FyreWulff

Member
Assault may very well be cut simply because it's a pretty similar gametype to CTF, and the actual evidence in the game that may suggest Assault is gone is that the Oddball is used in Grifball, not the bomb.


A cleansing flame.


We will convert them all.

To be honest, if Assault were gone I'd be sad for about five minutes. Unless there was a significant re-work then I'd much rather be playing CTF, even though Assault is essentially reverse CTF (and was, in Halo 1)
 
To be honest, if Assault were gone I'd be sad for about five minutes. Unless there was a significant re-work then I'd much rather be playing CTF, even though Assault is essentially reverse CTF (and was, in Halo 1)

Neutral Bomb has been one of, if not my favorite Halo gametype, but if it gets cut at the cost of objective gametypes being good in Halo, and actually supported well with good playlist management, and specific rules and map combos, I'll pay that price everyday.
 

Domino Theory

Crystal Dynamics
That's true, it could be there, but they have also mentioned King of the Hill being in the game (probably without major changes), and of course they haven't with Assault.


343 is making a clear effort to deliver a set of objective games that have been given a ton of work, including being designed specifically for matchmaking (specific map combos and player counts), and each objective gametype being a unique experience. This is likely going to be at the expense of less objective gametypes at launch than in the past few Halo games, so that gametypes can get real support in matchmaking instead of throwing 20 gametypes into a mosh pit objective playlist and watch as no one plays it (see past two Halo games).

Assault may very well be cut simply because it's a pretty similar gametype to CTF, and the actual evidence in the game that may suggest Assault is gone is that the Oddball is used in Grifball, not the bomb.


A cleansing flame.


We will convert them all.

Wish you were coming to NYCC. :(

We're literally going to have all the bacon & eggs (not joking) one of those days, I'll miss you.
 

Talents

Banned
Well, well, well...

KNM1O.jpg

They need to come to Colchester, London is too far away... or wherever it is that they are holding the H4 events.
 
I cannot wait for launch. The first few weeks of a new Halo game becomes stomping grounds for veterans.

We got an entire week before CoD comes out and sacks the population, so don't waste it. The game rewards you with Damge Boost and Power Weapons for shitting on people. Rifles that can shoot you in the foot and they explode into space particles. Rocket launchers that shoot super-fast giant crosses of death, that explode into smaller rivets of equally-painful death. Plasma swords with ten guaranteed kills, no sprint slowdown, thruster pack if need be, dexterity for faster weapon switching. Fuel Rod Cannons that rain hot green plasma of destruction that builds up a meter to give you an overshield. Hell, you never even need to look for a good weapon anymore, you spawn with a DMR or whatever rifle of choice you want. Scorpion tank blew up? Who cares, Spartan Lasers and Rockets just spawned! Have you tried the turrets yet, sir? They're actually deadly in this game!

So many ways to kill people in Halo 4, and so quickly at that. It's just this giant sandbox of death now.
 
I may have mis-read. Thought it was placable.

Wow... very nice find bro. But yeah, not placeable it is generated every time you switch to player mode.


I guess the question is if you can place lighting, switch to bake the lights, then remove a light then save while maintaining the lighting minus the object for certain effects. Still not sure how inside maps are going to work.

I have a feeling that saving will trigger baking as well as quiting. Especially since you could technically save without going to player mode and baking lights first. There is a chance that could happen, and if that is the case then it would be cool. Cuz then you can place all your lights at once (up to limit), bake, delete all, then save. But then again it would only really remove the objects, cuz if you ever go back to place new objects or anything then everything would be re-baked.



For those that know him this is Smexi Bilzo of the forging community. He told me how good he was with the sticky det, but I didn't believe him. Holy damn was that awesome. lol...
 
The other day someone posted awesome fan art of the Didact in his combat armor from over at HBO. I just noticed that TDSpiral has posted another amazing piece, this time of the Didacts face:



Check out the thread here! Im really impressed with this, and it lines up pretty closely with how I imagine the Forerunners from their descriptions.. Assuming we eventually get to see Forerunners in the new games I hope it is somewhere close to those two pieces.
 

Tashi

343i Lead Esports Producer
Glad bobs is a fan, I was getting tired of hearing him bitch about Reach for the last 2 years lol :p
 

Ken

Member
The other day someone posted awesome fan art of the Didact in his combat armor from over at HBO. I just noticed that TDSpiral has posted another amazing piece, this time of the Didacts face:




Check out the thread here! Im really impressed with this, and it lines up pretty closely with how I imagine the Forerunners from their descriptions.. Assuming we eventually get to see Forerunners in the new games I hope it is somewhere close to those two pieces.

A sophisticated Brute. All that's missing is a monocle and top hat.
 
Bonus Round - Generation in Review

Fun episode, but posting because of the discussion halfway through about how a "certain game" (CoD) changed the industry in terms of taking away from sandbox gameplay. Ever since that E3 trailer/demo Halo 4 has struck me as a game that's going to have a great mix of classic Halo sandbox with the "CoD-style" Michael Bay moments.

The pieces of the fps genre are coming together and Halo 4 can seriously be that glue that brings it all home.

A Halo masterpiece.
 

This guy is VERY good at the game, ended up chilling with him for a bit - It was like ripping through matchmaking, it was absolutely insane how 'powerful' a good team can be against 'randoms' - some Infinity Slayer games came down to the other team only having 50 points.

I am going to just dump a uncollected bunch of thoughts rather than try and do a 'proper' write up:

  • Railgun - This weapon is awesome, seems pretty balanced on small maps - but will dominate on maps like Valhalla, essentially you hold the trigger for a second and it autofires - the hold time isnt enough to make it challenging - I can see this maybe being called OP, but its extremely rare, which balances it out.
  • Incinerator - This weapon is amazing, surprisingly not as OP'd as I expected, but can be used in some pretty awesome ways - in one of my games I saw someone run to a part of the map where I couldnt see him, but could see forerunner decorations on the wall, I bounced the shot off of that which must have rained the subsplosion onto him, seeing the white text to confirm the kill was hot.
  • Spartan disintegration - loved it, saw a guy get scattershot into the back of the head... ragdoll while disintergrating from the neck down. Was brutal. I miss the Halo 3 ragdolls but im impressed with the tech behind this visual effect.
  • Jumping and movement felt like they took Halo 3 and turned it upto 10 - the movement in this game is SO good, in one of my early games I got a ninja (but was yoinked :() - in a later game I came across 3 people, was able to thrust the hell out of there, go through a mancannon, drop back down through the floor and take out all 3 of them from behind. This all happened insanely fast.
  • Didnt get a chance to use the Sniper much - got some sweet kills with it, but I cant tell if its easy like the Reach sniper - the bulky design didnt feel like it got in the way which is a plus.
  • Game winning killcams are in! - Got a frenzy In my last game but I dont think the medal showed in the killcam, which is a shame.
  • Weird menus - checking score using the back button in game stops you moving. It essentially pauses the game briefly to show you the scoreboard. Post game lobby was also awkward.
  • Earning ordnance felt wacky, you didnt really know when you where going to earn it or how far from the next one you where. The ordnance unlocked animation took a painfully long time to give you your options. After killing a guy I would like to bring it up immediately, not have to wait another 5 seconds for the animation to finish.
  • Lunge is significantly nerfed - sword guys have to be right on top of opponent to get the kill, melee lunge is also very short. This was awesome - but I fear could be a LAN 'feature' only?
  • Saw someone camp a lift with sticky detonator which sucked - he essentially shot it at the thing, and waited for someone to come up. He also had promethean vision - which was super op'd.
  • Promethean vision was a game changer - I could snipe people who I couldnt see well using it. The first time I used it I was shocked by how long it seemed to take to work, but on subsequent uses it felt fast - I dont know what to make of that.
  • Feedback was just bad - hard to read medals - white text helped here but I still really dislike what they did with the medals, perhaps when I learn the new designs I will read them a bit better, but they are tiny, all look the same and spam the screen constantly. You can get 4 medals for what seems like a simply kill. - Medals should be used as cue's and should help with readability - they currently do not - although that can be based on limited knowledge of the medals.
  • Hard-light shield is awesome - fast movement - well balanced - can strafe around teammates using it and I had a moment when I used it when I was about to lose a BR battle - a guy wasted his bullets into it - had to reload and I wasted him.
  • Regen field is weak, and when your inside it - you had slightly blurry vision - cant see this being helpful to anyone in multiplayer ever.
  • Crap nades - nades feel like ODST nades, wasnt a fan at all.
  • Super nerfed jet pack - I love it. Thing feels more like the Arkham Asylum cape hover than anything.
  • Turret cleaning up kill? - At one time I used a turret, got into a fight - died but got the kill - I thought the turret derezed once you died? perhaps it lasts a little longer? In general the turret is a great distraction, but will probably go unused compared to thrust, prom vision or hardlight shield - all 3 of those where awesome.
  • Pressing x to respawn made my use my AA too many times lol! I was jamming x to get back into the action and would see my character thrust a lot! In a way this showed me how little juice AA's have, which is awesome.
  • Ques handlers where really good - eurogamer needs to give the guys working the Halo que real life medals - or a pay rise. Loved them guys. For reference, Metal Gear Solid and Black Ops 2 had what seemed like more TV's, and somehow also had what seemed like 2 hour que's. I was playing Halo 4 within 20 minuites of queuing every single time.
  • There where 4 main areas - my first match was regicide, (which I won :p) - but the tv's had a ton of input lag. The Tv's which where playing Adrift also had a ton of input lag - so I only played that map the once, but it was awesome - really fun. Lots of potential for jumps. My main gametime was spent on Solace and Haven in Infinity Slayer - both maps aestheticaly felt similar, and I liked them both. Solace felt a little large, and even Haven felt a bit too large at times. I would love a Pit remake!


Had a long day, and ended up doing a lot of other stuff after playing - memories really fuzzy - mention random sandbox stuff and I will mention if I came across it.

Did come across the Beam Rifle, but never got to use it :(
Also I still dont like tactical and support packages, they are very fuzzy, they add barely anything to the game except for extremely rare situational advantages. Game would be better off with the advantages of some of them being built into the base gameplay.


Couldnt get on with the Light Rifle at all - BR was heaven, DMR was powerful, Carbine was sick. So much variety!

Magnum was suprisingly good - Boltshot was good as a mini shotgun, but felt less useful as a pistol for some reason. PP had decent tracking but I only tried it once, I imagine the noob combo will happen annoying more then you would think.



I will say this, the game is REALLY fun, awesome moments happen on a match by match basis - 343 has put an incredibly game together - and while I may still feel a bit like its not fully Halo... in may ways its better than Halo. Great job guys, you converted a pretty skeptical fan. I know im going to have a lot of fun with the game - the 5 shot felt good, the fun factor was there - good job guys.
 

FyreWulff

Member
Neutral Bomb has been one of, if not my favorite Halo gametype, but if it gets cut at the cost of objective gametypes being good in Halo, and actually supported well with good playlist management, and specific rules and map combos, I'll pay that price everyday.

My problem with neutral bomb as it stands is thus:

1) the stalemate problem. Teams grabbing the bomb and trying to run the clock down to get the arm in the waning minutes so the other team can't mount an arm. If they do, it ends up as a tie. Long boring 0-0 games result in quitting out and wins because you have twice the people. Fun but ultimately not good for matchmaking.

2) too tempting for teams to go up 2 scores then killgrind for the next 15 minutes. Even if the other team arms you just get the bomb back and sit on it for the win 2-1. This is why I've wanted the score limit in matchmaking to be changed to 2 arms to win - you can't score enough to have an 'insurance arm', your winning status is always under threat, so you are pushed to get that second arm and win.

I much prefer 1 bomb for this reason (and wish it'd go to 2 rounds globally - either you win 1-0, or you leave with a loss or a tie, no vanity round), but even that hasn't been as fun as the Halo 2 version with sticky arming then having to plant it. You're such a sitting duck in the 3 and Reach versions. in 2 you could be clever and arm it on the outer part of the arming area then run it in on teams that didn't patrol their base (Terminal was really good for this)
 
Couldnt get on with the Light Rifle at all - BR was heaven, DMR was powerful, Carbine was sick. So much variety!

Music to my ears.

But, what do you mean by this?

[*]Earning ordnance felt wacky, you didnt really know when you where going to earn it or how far from the next one you where. The ordnance unlocked animation took a painfully long time to give you your options. After killing a guy I would like to bring it up immediately, not have to wait another 5 seconds for the animation to finish.

Do you mean the points value associated with the kills and actions in the game filling up the ordnance meter?
 
Music to my ears.

But, what do you mean by this?



Do you mean the points value associated with the kills and actions in the game filling up the ordnance meter?

I cant put my finger on it, it could be the environment, I had no clue how to keep track of when my next ordnance was coming, everything else had an awesome bar or meter - but I couldnt see anything for the ordnance - im guessing its there but I missed it? - Its really hard to see your contribution to the game full stop - but that was more because you had to pause to see the scoreboard and I rarely knew which guest account I was playing as anyway lol

I was essentially just relying on getting killing spree's and frenzies to know when I was going to get them, and even that wasnt perfect.

Also - used the SAW, and saw the AR being used. Both seemed OP'd, AR was especially powerful, not sure if I was just watching players who sucked at dealing with it, because I dont remember it bothering me when playing - but it seemed to really annihilate people I was watching.

Elzar - I saw your tweet. As someone who loved the Reach jetpack - the Halo 4 jetpack seemed really nerfed. Which was awesome.
 

nillapuddin

Member
I am very interested in (if at all) how "mercy" situations will be handled

I really dont want anymore unnecessary 4th rounds in 1-sided OBJ
I never intentionally set up the situation to kill farm, and my friends and I do our best not to

but that 4th round is painful, its either full of quits or we have to deal with the masochistic randys just running straight at us for 5 minutes when they have no hope of winning

edit:
another reason why I am loving Dominion, built in anti-douche system, if my team is going to crush a team were just going to cap all 3 bases/slay and get it over with
 
I cant put my finger on it, it could be the environment, I had no clue how to keep track of when my next ordnance was coming, everything else had an awesome bar or meter - but I couldnt see anything for the ordnance - im guessing its there but I missed it? - Its really hard to see your contribution to the game full stop - but that was more .

It is the meter just above your AA meter.

Also, great new about jetpack!
 
I am very interested in (if at all) how "mercy" situations will be handled

I really dont want anymore unnecessary 4th rounds in 1-sided OBJ
I never intentionally set up the situation to kill farm, and my friends and I do our best not to

but that 4th round is painful, its either full of quits or we have to deal with the masochistic randys just running straight at us for 5 minutes when they have no hope of winning

Does Halo 4 even have 1-sided OBJ?
 
Not to me. I love Reach lol. I love every Halo actually.

Reach sucks. Playing Halo 4 is like:

Playing Reach is like:



I am actually very interested on how you find the game Tashi - I think I love it because of fun I potentially see Social Infinity Slayer being - but while the game was balanced in what seemed like a very competitive way - its going to be a large departure from typical competitive Halo (even more so than Reach).
 
Wish you were coming to NYCC. :(

We're literally going to have all the bacon & eggs (not joking) one of those days, I'll miss you.
It's a damn shame, it would be a blast.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lukjwv_V7Gc
Bonus Round - Generation in Review

Fun episode, but posting because of the discussion halfway through about how a "certain game" (CoD) changed the industry in terms of taking away from sandbox gameplay. Ever since that E3 trailer/demo Halo 4 has struck me as a game that's going to have a great mix of classic Halo sandbox with the "CoD-style" Michael Bay moments.

The pieces of the fps genre are coming together and Halo 4 can seriously be that glue that brings it all home.

A Halo masterpiece.

Thanks for posting, these kind of things are always interesting.

Does Halo 4 even have 1-sided OBJ?

We know that the CTF playlist will NOT have 1-Flag. I think that has been the only direct or indirect mention by 343 about one-sided objective gametypes.
 
Neutral Bomb has been one of, if not my favorite Halo gametype, but if it gets cut at the cost of objective gametypes being good in Halo, and actually supported well with good playlist management, and specific rules and map combos, I'll pay that price everyday.

That's no excuse to cut Assault! Assault was crazy fun in Halo 2 and started flopping ever since the movement speeds slowed to a crawl and kill-times went through the roof (much like CTF).

And to your point about Grifball, maybe they used the OB so you can pass it? Assault just feels different because it's an offensive objective unlike the others ;[ - If they scrap it.. the devastation.. nono, I refuse..

Mk.V, Grenade Launcher and Assault? Overwhelming and unacceptable :]

nilla, have the gimp ready.
 
Hey bobs did you get to play a bunch of

625434-dominion_box_large.jpg


?

No - saw Complex being played - but it was Infection only so I passed. - CTF got played but I think they tried 1 game, decided it was taking too long and scrapped it.

Even the Slayer games had a shorter game timer and you had to sort your control scheme and loadouts in match. This moved the que quickly so I didnt mind.

I ended up getting a screen at the very end, the one the guy who started the matches used, which was awesome because he set Bumper Jumper up before starting the matches, giving me a tiny advantage time wise. :p

He actually tried a game on Bumper Jumper after watching me play, I actually really loved the crowd atmosphere and just how damn entertaining the game is to watch. Playing it with people watching was awesome - and watching others play was awesome - game seems a lot more fun to watch than any other Halo games.
 

FyreWulff

Member
I am very interested in (if at all) how "mercy" situations will be handled

I really dont want anymore unnecessary 4th rounds in 1-sided OBJ
I never intentionally set up the situation to kill farm, and my friends and I do our best not to

but that 4th round is painful, its either full of quits or we have to deal with the masochistic randys just running straight at us for 5 minutes when they have no hope of winning

edit:
another reason why I am loving Dominion, built in anti-douche system, if my team is going to crush a team were just going to cap all 3 bases/slay and get it over with

They already have the ability in Megalo to detect lame duck rounds, as they use it in Grifball. The lame duck rounds are simply not played. For some reason it was never used in the rest of matchmaking, even in Assault.

Whatever 4 has for scripting, if based off Megalo, should have similar capabilities.
 

nillapuddin

Member
They already have the ability in Megalo to detect lame duck rounds, as they use it in Grifball. For some reason it was never used in the rest of matchmaking, even in Assault.

Whatever 4 has for scripting, if based off Megalo, should have similar capabilities.

Well I honestly hope they completely eliminate all "lame-duck" rounds
All it does is hurt in my opinion, dominate teams will dominate, no need to ruin it for the poorly matched/teams that cant win
 

Tashi

343i Lead Esports Producer
Reach sucks. Playing Halo 4 is like:


Playing Reach is like:




I am actually very interested on how you find the game Tashi - I think I love it because of fun I potentially see Social Infinity Slayer being - but while the game was balanced in what seemed like a very competitive way - its going to be a large departure from competitive Halo (even more so than Reach).

I'll probably love it. I just need that radar to disappear for competitive play.

The difference I see with Halo 3 and Reach vs Halo 4 is that Halo 4 seems all in with the changes.
 
Sad to hear your take on the medals/feedback, bob, as if I feel the same it'll be confirmation of my worst fears. Most everything else you said sounded good. I have a feeling we won't notice the grenade throws after a while; they always bother me switching between games, but then I get used to them. As long as they're not Reach mininukes and reward you for actually placing them, that's all I care about.

Not sure what to make of AR being overpowered. Kill times, and the pace of the game in general, seem insanely fast. Will take getting used to after Reach.
 

FyreWulff

Member
Well I honestly hope they completely eliminate all "lame-duck" rounds
All it does is hurt in my opinion, dominate teams will dominate, no need to ruin it for the poorly matched/teams that cant win

Yeah the lame duck rounds are a poor ambassdor for Team Objective in any respect. I can't blame people for not wanting to play them after going through that a couple of times.

Even without lame duck detection, the easiest and best fix is one round for each team in 1-sided objectives. You both get a chance, you win or you don't win, everyone moves on to another game. They did this change to H3 BTB Territories and it was great.
 
343 seems to be cutting down on gametypes, Assault is probably not even in the game at all, maybe 1-flag is out as well.

Gametypes or game modes? Assault is the mode breh (in this sense at least), I can see them cutting the 1-flag gametype/variant/other label but them cutting CTF altogether would be a tragedy.. much like Assault. Shocked to see a few people willing to accept this just because of what Reach has done to us..

Believe.
 
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