Many Halo fans know the series and play the games primarily for the Custom Game features and the possibilities of fun with friends.
This being said, several features could (and most likely should) be improved for Halo 4, to increase the fun factor and make the Custom Game experience even better.
In this Post, I will suggest several improvements and new features that I personally would like to be implemented into the current Custom Game system to improve the experience. (A tl;dr summary will be included in the first reply).
Fixes
Vetoing
The annoyances of hosting a large custom game lobby can be epitomized by the act of one member constantly vetoing at the last half-second.
The easiest solution is to give an option to restrict this option to the host only. This would be an option for the lobby, not the game.
This would make things like LAN parties or System Link parties go a lot smoother.
Weapon Spawning
An improvement to the map weapons section of custom gametypes could be better expanded.
Instead of limiting weapons to only sets (such as rifles, no shotguns, or pistols only), it should be on an individual weapon basis (a la Gears of War). This would allow for more creative modes, where only a beam sword would spawn (unavailable previously) or where pistols and snipers would be the only weapons that spawn.
A similar system could be applied to the vehicles on map section of customization.
This would allow for more variety and more control in custom gametypes (particularly ones not built for certain maps) such as infection variants or weapon only slayers.
Custom Power-ups
Simply, I think that you should be able to set a weapon (or weapons) that are automatically equipped when one is picked up in addition to the previous features. This could also be applied to switching armor abilities (if brought back). I also think there should be other abilities to be altered in the power-ups; visual such as the flaming feet of Overshield. Also the ability to make this power-up last for the rest of the round or until death. Maybe an option to restore health.
I also believe there should be more than one Custom Power-up, one yellow and one green at the very least. Each would have the same capabilities.
This is to give more depth to those extra creative and varied game modes involving custom power-ups.
Additions
Explosive Damage/Resistance
With the possibilities of altering melee and weapon damage or the resistance to each one, why not add the possibility of altering explosive damage (grenades and rockets in particular, but this could also alter the effects of fusion coils and vehicle explosions, etc.). This should also be added into the Custom Power-up section This should be a necessity to those who create “MLG” variants.
Custom Game Search
First of all, there would have to be an option for your lobby to be open to the public. When this is selected, you can choose to name it (like Splazers on Custom Maps or Exotic Grifball variants) for people to search in the matchmaking section. Obviously, filters would need to be provided to disallow certain things onto the search. Then people could search through the available lobbies and select one of their choice. Restrictions could also be applied by the Host (such as Lobby limit, local limit…).
This is something many people have wished for since Halo 3 and some have wished for it even before that.
Team Choosing
I suggest adding the ability to let either the host choose teams for everybody, or to allow a “random team” feature.This would avoid many problems (like people wanting to be on other people’s teams, or unfair or unbalanced teams.) that can cripple the fun of a custom game lobby.
Armor Ability Altering
Should armor abilities return, I suggest the ability to edit their effects or limit them. This way Armor Lock can be balanced without having to remove it completely. Such ways to edit it could be to remove certain effects (like the stun of Armor Lock) or edit the potency (Like the level of camo for the invisibility, or whether or not it fades when you walk).This is an easy way to keep AAs in check or fit them to your own game type. (Should they return)
Dual Wielding Toggle
The ability to toggle whether or not dual wielding is allowed in a game type should be available whether or not it is a core function to the game. I have posted already about how the Magnum could stay the way it is but work for dual wielding and how this would allow for the balance of the SMG, Spiker, Assault rifle and other weapons.This kind of seems like a no-brainer. For those that don’t agree, just realize that there is a huge following that would still like to be able to dual wield in private (even if it wouldn’t be allowed online)
This Combined with a much needed more advanced Forge would allow for way more re-playability and longevity to Halo 4.