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Halo |OT13|
- Thread starter kylej
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Mr. B Natural
Member
I personally could not give a rats ass who they matchmake me with as long as my connection to the game is as best as could be. At least then if I win or lose, I know who to blame.
Look, this kinda-ranked-but-not-really functionality is nonsense. If I wanted to play a ranked game, I'd play a game that actually ranks me and let's me know what my rank is. Halo 4 so far does not offer that.
There is no point in tossing me in so-called equal skilled players even remotely when I'm just playing with randoms online and my connection is inferior. There is nothing competitive about playing such a game. If they want to add a ranked matchmaking list, fine, but this is game is not that yet, so why sacrifice connection for take-our-word-for-it fairness. Destroy, get destroyed, who cares... nothing counts, so just maximize the quality of the experience by minimizing unintended game hindrances, like nades coming out of my shoulder and clear host advantage. This inbetween ranked and social compromise profits nobody. Remove the invisible rank level entirely. It's invisible. It already doesn't exist to whom should care: me.
In other words, take another note from Cod and realize that 99% of people that click "find game" just want to find a fucking game quickly and with a good connection. Skill roulette is perfectly fine, especially when expected, as long as uncontrollable advantages and disadvantages do not interfere.
Lmao. Touché.
All of the posts here saying "TrueSkill" back in Reach's day disagrees with you.
Brolic Gaoler
formerly Alienshogun
Yeah, that's kind of my point.
You're gonna have a better connection with people in your area. I do like that truskill seems to actually work in Halo 4 though, but there needs to be a "connection" based playlist and a "ranked" playlist.
You're missing the point.
People don't want skill based matchmaking when connection is sacrificed. What good is playing people equal skilled to you if you're in a laggy as hell match against someone 1.5k+ miles away, or in some other country with shit internet infrastructure? It's absolutely NO good.
Yeah, that's kind of my point.
I do like that truskill seems to actually work in Halo 4 though, but there needs to be a "connection" based playlist and a "ranked" playlist.
You're missing the point.
People don't want skill based matchmaking when connection is sacrificed. What good is playing people equal skilled to you if you're in a laggy as hell match against someone 1.5k+ miles away, or in some other country with shit internet infrastructure? It's absolutely NO good.
I dunno, I feel like Reach's connections were so good because of the decreased skill weighting and higher connection/location.
I don't think Halo's population is large enough to do as well as CoD.
Brolic Gaoler
formerly Alienshogun
Oh ok, I didn't realise. I wonder if 343 can change the weighting for specific playlists, surely they can right?
Pop
Member
lmao could you imagine how many good design choices could be funded if you cut out like 200 jobs where someone is tasked with modeling a single prop over the course of multiple years
get a job
MrGreencastle
Member
lol Kyle... Why you gotta be so facetious?
Also, anyone up for some of that game that we all don't play?
Also, anyone up for some of that game that we all don't play?
What's drunkfu slurpin' on this evening?
If that happens, then the CoD comparisons would stop
i thought i was the only person who made these kinds of posts
And the Battlefield ones would begin
And the TF2/BF comparisons would begin...?
If that happens I might actually die on the spot.
It's not even that catchy, either!
Halo got CODified is easily pronounceable
Halo got BF-ified... Halo got buffified? Halo got bffffified? Halo got bee-eff-ified?
Halo got TF2-ified... Halo got tufftoo-ified? Halo got tee-eff-too-ified?
Just an awful situation all around
MrGreencastle
Member
Gaf gold.
I actually want this. Change it up - at least for a spinoff, not necessarily a mainline game (ODST 2, make it happen). Something like Republic Commando for single-player, with something else with a very TF2, or BF vibe (with their own Halo-spin on it, of course) for multiplayer. Do something crazy like XCOM or Planetside 2, why the hell not? The Halo universe is perfect for this kind of shit. Hell, why not something in the vein of Star Wars: Battlefront? There's so many possibilities that releasing Halo 2 every year with updated graphics would seriously drain me. Experiment now 343, this is your chance to go absolutely bananas with the game. Even though I may not agree with a lot of them, I commend 343 for taking as many risks as they did - I just want them to do that times 10 (and not straight up "copy" CoD, go the other direction).
Halo Wars was a product of this kind of thinking, and I think it really paid off (other than Ensemble being gutted).
I wonder if this is what Bungie's up to...
MrGreencastle
Member
Ahh, the good 'ol Halo 2 ragdolls.
Not that it makes sense for 3 bullets to flip a grown-ass, 2-ton spartan...
...but I mean, seriously:
I like.
Halo 2 was a whole lot of Bungie saying, "Fuck it, let's roll with that, we don't have time.", which lead to a cascade of things that were just perfect.
MaximumFlipFlop
Banned
While 343 said, "lets make it canon."
Snacks the sober sea lion
Member
Halo 2's cartwheel deaths are priceless, although the game is noticeably unpolished. Crappy textures aside from Master Chief and some of the vehicles, framerate drops, incomplete story, and of course BXR and BXB.
I am not a fan of Halo 4's deaths at all. Where's the Grunt backflip? And the way the Elites fall over backward, as if they've just been shot in an action movie, I almost always waste one more shot because it's not obvious they're dead. I wonder why more games don't just go full ragdoll.
I am not a fan of Halo 4's deaths at all. Where's the Grunt backflip? And the way the Elites fall over backward, as if they've just been shot in an action movie, I almost always waste one more shot because it's not obvious they're dead. I wonder why more games don't just go full ragdoll.
MrGreencastle
Member
Maybe it's just too hard to be fresh without pissing everyone
core fans
There's like 3 or 4 small things that I don't like about Halo 4, I actually enjoy the game a lot. The main thing I hate, though, is that neither I, nor any of my friends have enough time to play together - which is how Halo is meant to be played.
Eh, its a fun/cool little quirk. I don't think it comes as a result of a lack of time, or from a technical limitation, I think its mostly intentional.
When potentially cool design choices/mechanics/quirks get toned down for more realistic alternatives i feel like it can sometimes be a wasted opportunity. Ridiculous as these flips may be, I think I feel more immersed in the gameplay when important actions or gameplay beats, such as getting a kill, have very noticeable payoffs and reactions.
This is something I think Gears of War does very well. Pretty much everything you do creates very satisfying reactions. Whether its your shotgun blast flipping your enemy over sideways, or triggering a flinch animation or gibbing them entirely (The best payoff), or even something as simple as a grunt noise as you roll your character or dust particle effects kicking up as you snap into cover, everything has a visceral and noticeable reaction to your inputs.
This kind of stuff is crucial in making you feel like your gaining ground and making progress in your fight. And when you couple it with killing sprees and other voice overs it's like your gradually turning on Hulk Mode. But even then, In games like Gears of War, I feel like they do this so well that you don't even need to be getting kills to feel this way. I feel like just moving around in that game generates that feeling. Just gradually pushing back the enemy with cover fire and gaining new ground to which you can butt up against as your pulling off active reloads.
Halo 4's Hit markers are an interesting extension of this, Although I could argue that there should be better more natural ways to give the player feedback. However, I feel like Halo 4 is a bit lacking in this department.
Also, on a related note, flinch just doesn't seem like its an improvement over descoping, but rather a step way backward. Having your accuracy limited and somewhat randomized just seems like a bad mechanic. I much prefer the mostly range limiting effects of descoping. With flinch, you have no choice but to try and fight against your gun and your aim (as posters like Ghaleon have mentioned before). While on the other hand, with descoping, you have the choice between accepting a limited range and engaging at a closer distance through some cover, shooting with less aim assist (Which interestingly makes the gun's ranges nonlinearly effective with the way some of the guns are set up, such as the BR's small aim assist range gap), or trying to scope in again if you know you have the upper hand.
When potentially cool design choices/mechanics/quirks get toned down for more realistic alternatives i feel like it can sometimes be a wasted opportunity. Ridiculous as these flips may be, I think I feel more immersed in the gameplay when important actions or gameplay beats, such as getting a kill, have very noticeable payoffs and reactions.
This is something I think Gears of War does very well. Pretty much everything you do creates very satisfying reactions. Whether its your shotgun blast flipping your enemy over sideways, or triggering a flinch animation or gibbing them entirely (The best payoff), or even something as simple as a grunt noise as you roll your character or dust particle effects kicking up as you snap into cover, everything has a visceral and noticeable reaction to your inputs.
This kind of stuff is crucial in making you feel like your gaining ground and making progress in your fight. And when you couple it with killing sprees and other voice overs it's like your gradually turning on Hulk Mode. But even then, In games like Gears of War, I feel like they do this so well that you don't even need to be getting kills to feel this way. I feel like just moving around in that game generates that feeling. Just gradually pushing back the enemy with cover fire and gaining new ground to which you can butt up against as your pulling off active reloads.
Halo 4's Hit markers are an interesting extension of this, Although I could argue that there should be better more natural ways to give the player feedback. However, I feel like Halo 4 is a bit lacking in this department.
Also, on a related note, flinch just doesn't seem like its an improvement over descoping, but rather a step way backward. Having your accuracy limited and somewhat randomized just seems like a bad mechanic. I much prefer the mostly range limiting effects of descoping. With flinch, you have no choice but to try and fight against your gun and your aim (as posters like Ghaleon have mentioned before). While on the other hand, with descoping, you have the choice between accepting a limited range and engaging at a closer distance through some cover, shooting with less aim assist (Which interestingly makes the gun's ranges nonlinearly effective with the way some of the guns are set up, such as the BR's small aim assist range gap), or trying to scope in again if you know you have the upper hand.
MrGreencastle
Member
We trade one villain for another.
Seriously agree. I've always loved your, and other's long analysis posts. A lot of you guys could be designers if you knew the right people.
Barrow Roll
Member
I have a staff dinner that night, but if people are still on late then I'll join, provided everyone is playing without button glitches. I never bothered to learn that stuff besides BXR.
MaximumFlipFlop
Banned
I'm just gonna post it again because Killzone 2 has incredible feedback. 343, hire those involved, they could probably work wonders on the Prometheans and covies. The dude being blown into the wall at 50 seconds is incredible. Not to mention it is fun experimenting where to shoot them. Shoot their feet with a high powered rifle and their legs get swept out from under them. So much fun.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIuI3ctJTJM
vincent vega
Member
how active is xbox connect? want a game to play over winter break
Barrow Roll
Member
Looks awesome, I should pick up the trilogy at some point. Although, I remember hating the sluggish aiming in KZ2 when I played the demo.
I think a lot of this has to do with the fact that these clips are from single player, and implementing such reactions with equal-footed multiplayer spartans would be far more difficult, especially since its an FPS. So the inclusion of something like Hitmarkers is welcomed since there is only so much you can do with what they got, and the more responses you got the better.
However, I do agree that there should be more ways (and more natural/integrated ways than hitmarkers) to communicate these reactions to player input, but it is a balancing act since you will still have to exaggerate these things to get visceral responses like in Gears or some of the ridiculous Halo 2 Ragdoll flips we all love. I dont feel like a lot of the premade reaction animations are as effective.
play lol instead
MaximumFlipFlop
Banned
Yeah I just got the trilogy today so I am going back through. KZ 1 is awful which makes me appreciate KZ 2 even more now. Yeah, the aiming is still extremely weighty, but I do think it's a game where it feels right. I never despised the aiming in KZ 2, I just hated that all of my favorite shooters were easy to hop between because they felt so similar, while KZ 2 felt alien in comparison. But man, when I would just play KZ 2 non stop my aim was pretty damn good. One of my favorite shooters of all time for sure.
Snacks the sober sea lion
Member
Halo 4 is extremely lacking in this during the campaign. Promethean enemies are significantly less fun because they don't flinch. You have no instantly recognizable way of noticing you are doing damage. In Reach, even though Elites didn't flinch when their shield was up, you would know you were doing damage because their shield would gradually become denser as it was closer to breaking. In 4, what do we get? Maybe the Promethean will do its growling animation and open its faceplate-thing, but that's it. Don't expect it to flinch or show any signs of you actually having done damage. You just keep putting bullets into them until they disintegrate. Don't even get me started on Crawlers.
Steelyuhas
Member
On a Surface right now. Damn this thing is slick, screen is so good.
halo
Not very active.
There are usually a handful of rooms for H2 at any given time during the day, but they're usually full of Colombians playing ridiculous gametypes.
For CE, you can usually only get games from about 6pm-11pm EST. And if you're West Coast like your avatar suggests, then you're really out of luck.
MaximumFlipFlop
Banned
Just thinking of it now, one minor way 343 could of improved Promethean feedback would be damage degradation. They are machines after all, let me blow bits and pieces, or large chunks out of them. Shooting off a Knight's gun arm would cause it to go into a sprint at me, or a teleporting rage with its melee arm. Maybe shooting its back as it deploys a Watcher could cause a malfunction that caused the Knight to implode .Damage a Watcher's rotor and watch it struggle to maintain altitude, or go crashing into a wall or the ground. Maybe it will crash into its own guys. Shoot a Crawler's leg off as its running at you and watch it tumble, then struggle to move about. Oh man I would having so much fun shooting Prometheans.
MrGreencastle
Member
I've discovered my Surface is the best device I've ever owned for bed use. Possibly even the best ever made.
I know they have shields, but this makes so much sense that I would be baffled if they didn't do exactly this in Halo 5 when the horsepower is there.
Bornstellar
Member
I want a Surface.
But first I need a new Xbox and Halo 4.
But first I need a new Xbox and Halo 4.
Steelyuhas
Member
Halo related, the boltshot is still some bullshit.
Yeah I used to think Pro version or bust with the Surface, but now that I've gotten a chance to use one, I kind of want to just go get this version.
Yeah I used to think Pro version or bust with the Surface, but now that I've gotten a chance to use one, I kind of want to just go get this version.
killer rin
Member
:'( I miss backflips upon every death...and bodies floating on water. Now its just boring fall down.B-roll Gifs:
[/INDENT]
I liked the reload animation in killzone 1 at the time. KZ2 multiplayer is awesome. I really liked how they made 3 gametypes rotate in a single match seamlessly.
Halo was once a leader in this space. Sort of mind boggling how it's been sidelined. That sounds really great, an amazing set of community tools.
Last night I had my first experience of Halo 4 on Normal difficulty through SpOps matchmaking.
It's hard to imagine playing the game like this, enemies just fall down without a fight. Me and a friend ran through the mission (matchmaking couldn't find anyone to match us with) in a totally gung-ho style and just mowed down everything, we both finished the mission 45 kills 0 deaths. On the one hand it's the closest my Halo gameplay has come to this cutscene, but on the other it was totally devoid of challenge and would become boring very fast. I can see how people would find the game dull if they play on Normal.
It's hard to imagine playing the game like this, enemies just fall down without a fight. Me and a friend ran through the mission (matchmaking couldn't find anyone to match us with) in a totally gung-ho style and just mowed down everything, we both finished the mission 45 kills 0 deaths. On the one hand it's the closest my Halo gameplay has come to this cutscene, but on the other it was totally devoid of challenge and would become boring very fast. I can see how people would find the game dull if they play on Normal.
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