So, I do recall Frank O’Connor mentioning in an interview that he felt that destructible environments should be a part of Halo and is very important to him. I’m not sure which video(s) he states this in (if anyone else knows, link it up).
But how would you guys feel about this?
Battlefield is probably the most well known game series which incorporates this gameplay mechanic. I’ve personally never played Battlefield, so I’m not sure how it works. But I think a Halo with destructible environments would be even more amazing than anything, and I kind of wish it had been incorporated earlier. Can you imagine what ONI: Sword Base would have looked like with those plasma torpedoes ripping through the building in real time? It would add an entirely new level of epicness to the franchise.
So yeah, the big question: Do you think destructible environments have a place in Halo? Why or why not?
I think that this would be a great add in, but not so much that as in the past BF games were it would be annoying for TOTAL destruction of the world. What im saying is that everything can be destructible, but not in the sense that it could somehow hinder your advance through the story. EX Going up a staircase & a cluster of grenades go off destroying the walkway w/ no way to the other side meaning chief is stuck so no save universe. Other than that say i shoot at a tree trunk long enough & it falls down that would be pretty awesome.
On the other had of all this as good as it sounds i do not want to ever see that in competitive multiplayer games. I would hate to be playing CTF & the same thing happened like i explained to chief w/ the grenade cluster, but in the CTF example the only way to each side is this bridge & the other team has a point while we do not therefore ANNOYING! Although say this could be a switch that can be cut on or off in forging it would be received w/ more open hands because it just gets in the way of the concentration people have during competitive Halo gametypes like Team Slayer which if your playing w/ serious intent on wining you dont want the map to change or do you want to think about it. You just want to walk around jump melee & pick up power weapons.
-So yes for, but not if it ruins the progression campaign
-No for competitive gameplay unless it has an off & on switch in the menu or a forge option
-This could be applied also in Firefight, but w/ the of progression
i would only like this feature if only certain things blow up, like the tree truck thing the other guy mention, or if you fired a lazer at a door, the door should be blown up, maybey they can conceal things behind rocks
Very interesting points. However, I do believe that if they were to add the feature into matchmaking, they’d make maps to balance it out. Typically, maps these days don’t have 1 single chokepoint where there’s only 1 way in and 1 way out. Like you said about the bridge. If that were to happen, I think they’d make a map more like Breakpoint. You can go through the middle (mountain), you can go around one side on the bridge, or you can go through the tunnel on the other side. Each are major chokepoints, but not so much that taking one of them away renders the other team helpless.
It would require a lot of thought and work to go into the balancing of maps, if the feature were to be present in matchmaking.
I don’t know… competitive Halo’s always been 4v4 on medium sized arenas. I just don’t see how destructible environments would work. In socials playlists, maybe (perhaps something like Halo 2). But only on a small scale. Nothing like BF.
I think destructible environments would only play out good in MM, but only to an extent. It would be interesting if not cool to be able to blow up that rock/tree or barrier that the enemy is using for cover.
Most likely the destructible environments is more of a play down and just more destructible objects, like doors, some walls, more glass, some trees, rocks, more damage to vehicles, and others.
They might add some simply environment puzzles to the game
i agree most with the last statement. INVASION; elites, destroy the bridge before the humans cross it, destroying it by heavy fire of scarab, wraith, or seraph, which all take at least 30 sec shooting to destroy it
Destruction would only work in a very small scale with multiplayer. After all, Halo has always been about balanced maps. A blown up wall could ruin the balance of the map in seconds.
Campaign is whole another place, it can have as much destructiblity as possible. Few parts of multiplayer could possibly benefit from it. Invasion is basically a constant movement. In it’s current state it also is prone to situations where the attacking team can’t advance because the base of the defenders is too easily defendable.
That’s exactly where the game could benefit from destruction. While advancing forward, the attackers could make alternate routes by destroying walls and everything on their way. In the end of the phase resulting an easy capture.
So in short: destructible enviroments have some potential in campaign and very certain areas of multiplayer. I just don’t know how it would work to not have the destruction physics universal across the game.
Destructible environments in Battlefield make each match a unique experience, you don’t know how the battlefield will look when the dust is settled and the battle is won.
Destructible environments in Halo could have the same effect, given that it is applied the right way.
I have always thought that the plasma weaponry of the Covenant hasn’t been given justice in it’s depiction. In the novels, plasma has been described in that it can melt away most materials, including MJOLNIR armor.
And then there’s explosions, human weaponry not having much effect on Forerunner structures is one thing, but Covenant and other human structures should be completely different.
Now, although I don’t think Halo 4 should have the level of destructibility that Battlefield 3 has (even then, Destruction evolved over 4 games), it would be amazing if it was applied the best way possible.
I support fully-destructible everything. In campaign I mean this 100%. As Avery Brock mentioned, there is an issue – if a terrain object can be destroyed and entirely halt your progress, then there’s an issue. To that, I say that Halo 4’s mission design would need to account for this and accommodate. At the very least, the game should know when you’re screwed and backpoint you when progress has been rendered impossible.
In competitive online gameplay, I think destructible terrain should be a little bit more complex. While this would be, no doubt, quite tough to work up, I think that Halo 4’s terrain in multiplayer should have a sliding scale built in, which controls how destructible objects are. For the first half of a match, the slider might be locked to one side, so that the map is indestructible. As the match progresses (probably at those announced intervals of 10 minutes, 5 minutes, 2 minutes, ect.), the map becomes more and more destructible. Maybe even deliberately ludicrously so in the last 10 seconds and for sudden death.
Certain objects should not be destructable and others should be semi-destructable( like GOW). Then in forge you give us the option to choose, but generally I support this.
I’d like it on a minor level; semi-destructable environments. I think walls chipping when shot should be in, a la Gears of War. On a bigger level though, I wouldn’t mind some pre-made doors or walls that could be destroyed on a map, but that’s it. Imagine CTF map with 2 bases, both completely locked down to the other team. You and your team would have to destroy the front door to get in and get the flag.
