AI in Forge is something that has long been requested, and I think most people are hoping Halo Infinite will deliver in that regard. Well, with the game releasing with a brand new engine on what is supposed to be a very powerful console, I don’t see why this can’t be a possibility. I know the Xbox One isn’t quite as powerful, but if the game’s engine is good enough then I’m sure it can be a reality on the Xbox One too. However, I may be getting a little off topic here, so…
Something I’ve wanted to see for quite a while is…AI on maps. But I don’t mean that it should be like Warzone. No. I’m referring more to them being like special aspects or hazards to specific maps. I think it would be a good way for 343 to show off the engine’s power. Note: And there is no need to freak out over this radical suggestion**, because even if 343 implemented something like this, the maps wouldn’t ever end up anywhere near the ranked playlists.**
Well, with that said, here are some neat examples (in my opinion) for AI on maps:
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A squad of about 4 Grunts spawns in a closed off or less frequented area of this map. These Grunts are armed with plasma pistols, but will not engage in combat at all. They will each travel in different directions, but their paths may end up intersecting with one or more of the others at some parts of the map. The four of them may also periodically meet up in the centre of the map where they will hang around for a little while, before resuming their individual tours around the map,So, what is the point of the Grunts in this example? Well, should anyone “accidentally” kill any of these Grunts, they, or their team if the mode is team based, will lose 1 point. Hmm, that means they are essentially…civilians (despite being armed)?
Therefore, for this particular map, this means players might exercise more care when engaging in combat while one or more of the Grunts are nearby, and it is possible that grenade spamming may be less prevalent on this map, especially when all of them are in the middle. It may also be fun to try and use the Grunts as Unggoy shields, or trick the enemies into killing the Grunts, so they lose points. -
An Elite Spec-Ops prowls around the map, or perhaps within a specific area (a darker part of the map?), targeting a player until they exit his line of sight, or go out of firing range, or if he takes more damage from another player. When killed, this Elite will drop whatever weapon he was using (a Carbine? Or a sword? Maybe a Plasma Rifle?), but more importantly, he will also drop a one-time-use Active Camouflage power-up. Perhaps, to make it more interesting, when the Elite returns after being killed, he hunts down the one responsible for his death. In this case, the Elite will travel the whole map looking for that brave (or foolish!) player, and may even ignore other players unless they attack him.
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In a Covenant— err, Banished themed map, an Engineer is locked behind an energy…cage(?) like the ones in Halo 2’s Great Journey. Freeing it will make it follow whoever did so, while granting them the glorious benefits of extra energy shielding. I’m not entirely sure how respawns would work with this one. Does the energy barrier activate again? Or does the Engineer simply spawn in the room and wait for someone to come along?Those were three examples I could come up with for AI on multiplayer maps, but I’m certain there are many other possibilities!
So, what do you think? Do you like the thought of this, or not? Why not? If you do, what other examples can you come up with? How can we improve this and make it work?