Making sprint work.

Games Other Halo
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This isn’t a sprint hate thread. I for one, am indifferent to the whole mechanic. I just thought that maybe we can get to discussing how it can be better, rather than being angry and wishing it were out, which is at this point, safe to say it isn’t going anywhere.

Sprint can work fine, if it is tuned, and rendering the uses people use it for today, in Reach. I am referring double-melee rushes, fleeing, etc. Instead it can be more useful for getting to power weapons, vehicles, getting to a teammate in distress, or a good point to hold.

This is where we get view many options 343 has, to tweak the way sprint works, or how it can effect gameplay positively. I have tried my best to keep my thoughts reasonable…

Sprint acceleration.
This is the idea of the speed of the sprint gradually rising over a short period of time, after the sprint has been engaged. The sprint will start off at a lower speed, requiring time to get the best use out of it. This can stop one player from suddenly deciding to flee once he/ she finds that the battle has been lost. Now the player still can flee, just not at the full potential in which full sprint can offer, and makes it easier for the player who has won, to achieve his/ her rightful kill. That is of course, if this player has good aim. If not, the battle might have ended up differently any way.

Damage costing sprint time.
This means the receiving of high amounts of damage may cause sprint to deplete at a higher rate, or to be delayed. When I think of the damage, I look towards grenades, sniper rifles, mainly power weapons. The reason I bring this idea up is to stop double- melee rushes, and also to stop your opponent from running away. Maybe power weapons should stop your sprinting opponent from doing what he/ she is doing. The weapons you spawn with can take part in this of course, just not as efficiently. This idea has not been fully thought by me.

Please contribute to this discussion, and please try to be as constructive as possible. As far as I know, there may be “sprintless” playlists, but for the ones that do have it, we could maybe help make it work and give it a balanced purpose. Thanks for reading. :slight_smile:

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I reckon sprint shouldn’t have to be an AA - What? Spartans can’t sprint?

To all flamers: If sprint will be something that you can freely do, it doesn’t mean it’ll be CoD.

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> I reckon sprint shouldn’t have to be an AA - What? Spartans can’t sprint?
>
> To all flamers: If sprint will be something that you can freely do, it doesn’t mean it’ll be CoD.

Yes i agree. What you said can also go for the so called “perk” system thats been appearing on these forums. We know nothing about it, yet, people instantly claim its CoDs system 343 is using.

But on topic, I don’t think sprint should have ever been an armor ability.

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I think the OP has some good ideas. Id just like to say make sure the sprint acceleration makes sense and doesn’t take too long. id say 1 to 1.5 seconds to full speed if you are already moving when you engage sprint. its an interesting idea and its realistic that you don’t hit fill sprint immediately. but you don’t need to make it too slow or it will become useless or frustrating.

Also, i heard the idea of damage costing sprint time before, and I think I like it better than the slow down or stop immediately ideas. as long as the cost isn’t too high. if you are on full sprint and shields you shouldn’t be knocked out of sprint before your shields are depleted (maybe at the same time?). getting shot probably won’t stop you, but if you escape it would greatly decrease the lead you can get, allowing you to be followed far more easy, and possibly even killed because they can catch up before you shields (and sprint) can recharge.

Though maybe getting shot from in front should cost 50% more or even twice as much sprint as begin shot in the back? that prevents the double beatdown and can be explained as taking additional energy to move against the force of the bullets?

or you can simply nerf melee to three hits. In reach you can set melee to 75% and it becomes a clean 3 hit kill.

I also think sprint needs to be a normal ability (non-AA) combined with higher base movement, but that is a different argument, i think.

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What I don’t get about people that complain about sprint is that it’s optional for a player to use it. It’s not like you’re forced to use the AA. I personally only use sprint to get up to the front lines quicker then I revert back to the classic style of Halo gameplay. OP has several good ideas to balance sprint especially the sprint acceleration. Having to build to maximum speed would definitely make fleeing and double melee a lot more difficult.

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> What I don’t get about people that complain about sprint is that it’s optional for a player to use it. It’s not like you’re forced to use the AA. I personally only use sprint to get up to the front lines quicker then I revert back to the classic style of Halo gameplay. OP has several good ideas to balance sprint especially the sprint acceleration. Having to build to maximum speed would definitely make fleeing and double melee a lot more difficult.

How I’m reading people complaints is that they feel other players are using sprint in ways that cheat them of kills. they want it gone because they don’t like when OTHER players run away. So yes, its “optional” but you can’t control what the pother player is going to do. That is why players like the OP are trying to find ways to limit sprint to more of a mobility role.