Halo XB1 Wishlist for 343!

Games Halo 5: Guardians
1

Here is my wishlist for Halo XB1:

-De-scoping
-In-Game CSR
-Much better Mapdesigns like the Halo 3 Mapdesigns. With or without Sprint.
-In-Game Clan System
-60 FPS (confirmed)
-Dedicated Servers (confirmed)
-A new and much better and extensive Forge System
-A lot of Custom Games Options including no sprint option if there will be sprint.
-Better DLC Support
-Much ,ore weapons and vehicles
-Playable Elites
-Lots of Gamemodes for Custom Games and a good variety of modes in Public Matches
-A very good weapon balance
-The return of Firefight
-No more Random Ordnance and no more Personal Ordnance.
-Less aim assit, especially on Power Weapons
-Better Weapon Balance, if Loadouts return don’t add Secondaries like the Plasma Pistol or Boltshot in it, only give us one grenade not two, two unbalanced Plasma Grenades and just get rid of the perk system. Primaries should be better balanced or go back to the Classic Halo loadout system.
-Bring back the Skillgap and Ranked Matchmaking
-Remove Active Camo from Armor abbilities
-A harder to rank up or longer normal Ranking System.
-A much better User Interface and matchmaking system.
-Make the game feel like a Halo game that is good, competitive and fun for Halo fans.

What would you like to see in Halo 5?

2

Social and Ranked playlists with in game True Skill ranking

Tournament playlist - I am suggesting that the new Halo have the first ever Halo tournament playlist in which there are monthly tournaments for players to enter. With the addition of this playlist, players will pay an entry fee via credit card, and the winners get substantial payouts, much like dirt car racing for example. I suggest there also be a points system in which teams and players receive points for wins/ tournament finishes and the players/ teams with the most points at the end of the tournament season receive a special prize such as “trophy armor” and a substantial payout.
If this is even possible, Halo could have online MLG style tournaments with huge payouts $1,000 and up, depending on the number if entries.

I believe this to be the future of competitive gaming where players can enter into Halo tournaments right from their living rooms instead of having to travel hours to an event. Instead of undermining the AGL, these online tournaments could actually offer incentives for attending events and boost competive gaming like never before.
Best idea since sliced bread…

3

No sprint and a ranking system that actually works.

4

De-scope > Flinch
That is all. Oh and a Turf remake.

5

I didn’t see this in the Ops’list, I want theatre back in campaign, and please DO NOT replace it with console dvr.

6

  • Ranked and Social Playlists

  • Fast base movement, no Sprint

  • No personal ordinance, map ordinance still used, but with static patterns allowing different weapons in different locations throughout the match, instead of randomization.

  • Elite, Brute, and Forerunner character models, all scaled to appropriate size.

  • Weapons Spawn customization returns, but is simplified, Utility Primary ONLY, Magnum and Automatics Secondary ONLY, 1x Grenade of your choice. At least one choice per slot per faction/character model. (ex, Frag, Plasma, Incendiary, and Pulse nades.

  • Perks completely removed.

  • Armour Abilities transferred into map pickups, no AA off spawn, no Sprint AA.

  • Weapon de-spawn time extended to at least twice as long as it is in H4.

  • Bullet Travel re-implemented, but bullets move significantly faster than in H3.

  • 1080p resolution.

  • Forge transformed into a PC program, you can create and edit maps from scratch on your PC using virtually any and all in-game assets (similar to Doom Builder), maps are transferred into the game via File-Share. “Hack Block” software programmed into the File Share so that any attempts to use PC Forge to mod your content will be filtered out and impossible to upload (basically scans for any elements in the map file that are not present in Halo 5 by default).

  • Spectator Mode allowing you to spectate a game, and save films of games you spectate. From the Spectator Mode lobby you can select a playlist, in a Social playlist it will find a random match to spectate. In a Ranked playlist it will spectate matches with high-ranking players (after players have hit rank 50s, it will only spectate rank 50 gameplay). Spectating via this method occurs only 10 seconds behind, and allows you to hear any in-game voice chat spoken by the team you choose in the togglable “listen in”, though you can not hear Party Chats. Also, you are capable of spectating friend’s Custom Matches in Real Time, in custom spectator mode you can also communicate back with players who are playing, or when waiting to join your friend’s game in MM you can spectate his game 20 seconds behind (to avoid cheating by calling out enemies who are sneaking around etc). Players who are spectating the same game can openly voice chat amongst themselves, but outside of customs/party chats, players in-game can not hear players in Spectator Mode.

  • Descope instead of Flinch.

  • Greater emphasis on having every weapon and vehicle be unique in function and playstyle. Try to make Covenant equivalents, and Forerunner equivalents feel distinct and separate from their UNSC counterparts. Example: More weapons with a relationship like the CE AR/Plasma Rifle, Reach Spartan Laser, and Plasma Launcher, and Reach Sniper/Focus Rifle, less weapons that are effectively clones, or use the exact same playstyle/skills to use like the AR/Storm Rifle, Sniper/Beam Rifle, and Rockets/Incineration Cannon. When transitioning from the UNSC Rifle, to the Covenant Rifle, to the Forerunner Rifle, I want to feel like I have a different gun in my hands. The BR/Carbine do this very well, the Rate of Fire, and overall feel of the weapons is significantly different… The DMR/LR not so much, to feel pretty much the same with the only note-worthy difference being the LR’s varying power. The BR/CC/LR as a trio are pretty good to be honest.

7

I just want the original Halo gameplay to return, with gimmicks and additions set aside for optional usage.

There are ways to innovate without practically ruining what worked well. Forge mode, Theater, and Firefight are good examples of proper, fail-safe successful innovation.

8

> I just want the original Halo gameplay to return, with gimmicks and additions set aside for optional usage.
>
> There are ways to innovate without practically ruining what worked well. Forge mode, Theater, and Firefight are good examples of proper, fail-safe successful innovation.

Not only that, tweaks to the game in between Halo CE/2, and 2/3 managed to maintain the values of the franchise, and update them, without throwing them out the window.

Examples like Halo 2 changing the way players jump, that was kind of a big deal. It also introduced Dual Wield, which any player could do and actually BENEFITED the balanced between Utility Weapons and Automatics, something that only Halo 2 and 4 have pulled off in the entire franchise.

Halo 3 introduced the concept of bullet travel and shot-leading on utility weapons, something that is brilliant and needs to return, but in a game with awesome netcode and dedicated servers, which were what Halo 3 lacked that hurt bullet travel’s viability in non-local play.

9

Here’s what I’d love to see:

  • No Loadouts
  • No Armor Abilities
  • No Tactical Packages
  • No Support Upgrades
  • No Quick Respawns
  • No Personal Ordinance
  • No Public Ordinance
  • No Custom Weapon Skins
  • No Join In Progress
  • No Killcams
  • No Armor Skins
  • Less Bloom
  • De-scoping
  • Weapons spawn on map
  • A Skill and Experience based ranking system
  • Ranked Matchmaking
  • Social Matchmaking
  • Increase base player speed
  • Despawn timer for weapons significantly
  • The return of duel wielding
  • Improved DLC support
  • Map Vetoing to replace Map Voting
  • Better playlist management:
    – Rumble Pit
    – Team Slayer
    – Big Team Battle (Slayer & Objective gametypes)
    – Team Objective (King of the Hill, Capture the Flag, & Oddball)
    – Team Tactical (Extraction, Dominion, & Regicide )
    – Team Snipers
    – Team Doubles
    – Team Throwdown/Hardcore
    – Team SWAT
  • Faithful and accurate remakes of:
    – Ascension
    – Backwash
    – Beaver Creek
    – Burial Mounds
    – District
    – Example
    – Foundation
    – Guardian
    – Headlong
    – Ivory Tower
    – Lockout
    – Midship
    – Relic
    – Terminal
    – Turf
    – Uplift
    – Waterworks
    – Zanzibar

I’d also love to see:

• The traditional Halo score to come back. Neil Davidge and Kazuma Jinnouchi did a good job with Halo 4’s soundtrack, but I feel like Tom Salta did a much better job of catching that warm and fuzzy feeling the traditional sound gives me. I hate to see people go, and I hate to be the one to suggest the idea, but for the sake of the music I’d like to see Tom replace Neil when it comes to composing Halo 5’s soundtrack.

• A much cleaner UI; something similar to Halo 2’s or Halo 3’s UI preferably. I feel like the vertical ‘list’ layout is easier to navigate and easier to memorize. Not only that, but it’s just nicer to look at. I also feel like the pre-game lobbies should go back to the “players stacked on the right, Matchmaking details on the left” layout.

• I’d also like to see the Battle Rifle’s crosshair look more like the BR55HB SR Battle Rifle. The way it is now confuses me and has always looked weird in my opinion. I’d also like for the sound it makes when firing to be more like the sound the BR55HB SR Battle Rifle made when firing. I’m slowly getting use to the new look of the weapon, but I doubt I’ll ever get use to (or even like) it’s new sound.

• Changes to the Mantis. I’m all for adding new vehicles to the Halo universe, but some things just work better than others. The Broadsword and Lich for example. Those vehicles are awesome and felt perfectly into the story! The Mantis on the other hand? I just don’t feel it. I also don’t like the way it looks, moves, ‘melees’ or fires… Literally the only thing I like about it is the animation when you climb up it’s leg and jump into it’s cockpit. That is pretty cool, but it’s not enough for me to want to see it make a return in future Halo games. I might be okay with it staying if it’s appearance is at least changed to look similar to other UNSC vehicles, but I’m honestly not sure if that’d be enough.

• Focus to shift when it comes to the customization options for multiplayer armor. I feel like this feature in Halo: Reach and Halo 4 has started to go down the “more is always better” path, and I completely disagree with that approach. I have no idea how many different armor types there are - let alone what each of them are called or what they look like - which kind of makes having all those different options pointless. I feel like if 343i made a handful of gems rather than a truckload of rocks, then everybody would benefit.

Not only that, but I feel like with the less armor options there are the more significant they would become. The Katana armor in Halo 3 for example. It was iconic, easy to recognize and everybody knew that whoever was wearing that armor had unlocked every achievement in Halo 3 (not including DLC). I feel like if 343i went back to the achievement based unlocking method, then armors would have more value to them than they did in Halo 4 and Halo: Reach. I’d feel more ‘devoted’ to my armor and would be proud to have earned it.

I’d like to see the approach to color customization go back to how it was in Halo 2 and Halo 3. Having all these crazy color patterns just gets to distracting, and they don’t even look that good to begin with. In all other Halo games, when you were on the Blue Team, your armor was blue. You didn’t have all these crazy patterns of different shades of blue, you just had blue. Plain and simple. You looked more like a team than a bunch of people bunched up together because you have a similar color pallete. And that’s another thing. The under-suit for your armor shouldn’t change colors either. It should just remain black and only your armor should change; you know, the same way it always has.

• Improved character models, both physically and aesthetically. I can’t really put my finger on it, but there’s something that just doesn’t look right about these Spartan IV models. I can’t tell if it’s the way their body is shaped, if it’s the way their armor rests on their body, or some strange combination of the two. But I can tell that I don’t like it. I know it’s canonically correct for them to look ‘weaker’ than Spartan II’s and Spartan III’s, but I still hate how they look. Specifically their feet. Oh god their feet! Their feet and how they wobble!

• Theatre mode to return to the Campaign (and Spartan Ops if Spartan Ops returns in Halo 5). I don’t think I need a paragraph to explain this one…

• The Troop Hog was available for use in Multiplayer. Call me weird, but I’ve always wanted to see an entire team of spartans pile out of one of those things to storm the enemies base and capture their flag. I know it’s not exactly practical when you factor in how heavy MJOLNIR is, but I’d still like for the idea to at least be juggled around by developers.

• Last but certainly not least, the return of either the Hornet or Falcon. Personally I’d prefer the Falcon, but any UNSC air vehicle would do. I’d even like the idea of 343i making a new vehicle to replace these two! But I must say that the passenger seats on the Falcon should be available for teammates to occupy. Similar to my fantasy with the Troop Hog, I’ve always wanted to see a team of spartans pile out of a Falcon to plant a bomb or something. It’d just be so perfect for the job!

In Summary:

  • A more traditional soundtrack
  • A Cleaner UI; similar to Halo 2/Halo 3’s
  • The crosshair and audio of the Battle Rifle to be more like the BR55HB SR Battle Rifle
  • Mantis needs to change or go
  • Simplified Armor Customization
  • Improved Character Models
  • Theatre Mode to return to Campaign (and Spartan Ops)
  • Troop Hog available in Multiplayer
  • Falcon or Hornet returns, passenger seats are usable in multiplayer