MCC Series rewards for Reach

Games Halo: The Master Chief Collection
#1

Many of the previous series have added a lot of customization to Halo games that we haven’t seen before and this is of course great. So far it seems like Halo 3 and to a lesser extent Halo 4 have recieved most of the attention. The first series of course allowed us to unlock all the Reach unlockables but it didn’t add anything new.

Now that we’ve seen vehicle skins and visor colours added to Halo 3, and even Halo 1 the lack of them is quite apparent in Reach.
In my not so humble opinion I think 343 should create a series that adds new visor colours to Reach, this stands out greatly when I play Infinite and my Spartan has access to Emilie’s Visigoths, and George’s Stalwart. As it stands Reach is limited to 5 visors. I would hope we could at least double that.

The vehicle skins I really liked, particularly the Fireteam Raven inspired skins, though I would love to get some very simple Urban patterns for the UNSC Vehicles. An idea for Covenant vehicles is either the red sheen like the specialist variants of Halo 5 or a step further and make a red and gold Honour guards set.

Finally I think they could add a few extra variants of the Reach armours, maybe borrow the concept of Halo 4 where the colour pattern is different. But at the least having more freedom with the helmet attachments like Infinite would be great.

Anyhow these are just my thoughts. I thought it would be interesting to see what people think about these ideas or get some thoughts on what you would like to see added to Reach.

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#2

i agree. new content would be nice for reach, especially the visors that are already in the game.

1 Like
#3

Yeah Reach DEFINITELY needs new content. I’d like those H3 helmets in Reach to get their full body counterparts at some point. Personally I think they should pick up the “Season” system again for MCC seeing as Infinite isn’t doing too hot right now and there’s still plenty of cosmetics 343 can add to MCC outside the Exchange, that SHOULD be added outside the Exchange. Let’s be real, people are tired of the Exchange being the only means of obtaining new gear.

2 Likes
#4

I don’t even like half of what’s in the exchange. Like the new weapon skins are mostly pretty cool, but me personally I don’t like ridiculous skins and Armour’s that do not fit the Halo Universe. I like content that is consistent which the established art style. If I wanted to look like a power ranger I’d play another stupid game like Fortnite or Destiny 2 at this point.

Regardless if you support content like the last drop or not I agree with you, the exchange should not exist as the only source of new content. We ought to get another season and it’s about time Reach recieve content that wasn’t already in the game.

1 Like
#5

Personally I think 343 should explore playing as other species for games like 3, 4, Reach, and maybe CE.

For Reach have the following: Grunts, Skirmishers, Brutes, Jackals

For 3: Grunts, Jackals, Brutes

For 4, Grunts, Jackals, Promethian Knights.

For CE add Elites and Grunts

Keep in mind these would just be player models, but still would be cool to have multiple playable species in MCC as a season. Maybe call it “Combat Evolved Series” meaning adapting to players using the new models.

2 Likes
#6

I agree with some of these points, especially in regards to the still-absent visor colors that some of Fireteam Noble have. The only one that I am opposed to is:

maybe borrow the concept of Halo 4 where the colour pattern is different

IMO the alternative patterns are no less a “but why” bit of content than the recently implemented customizable pose system. Implementing that into other titles instead of working towards the possibility of universal armor customization (having roughly the same set of armor across multiple titles) is rather disappointing.

That said, if Reach were to get anything ‘new’ in terms of customization…

  • The aforementioned visor colors, including other colors that have already been implemented in Halo 3.
  • EVA [C] turned into a visor option instead of a full helmet
  • Haunted helmet turned into a visor option instead of an attachment, thus compatible with more helmets other than the Pilot variant (and maybe, hopefully, implemented into Halo 3/other titles?)
  • Helmet attachments enabled to mix-and-match on other helmets
  • MAYBE the ability to mount more than one attachment on a helmet at a time? IMO, doesn’t matter if it becomes a rat’s nest of clipping errors, some people just wish they could make their Spartans look tacticool.
  • Every weapon/vehicle pattern/texture from other titles added for those particular weapons/vehicles in Reach.
  • (Applies to other titles) ‘Missing’ weapon/vehicle patterns/textures implemented for cohesive/universal customization. For examples, Halo 3 still doesn’t have an Ultra texture for the Banshee, whereas the Ghost doesn’t have a Brutal texture; Halo 3 Coveybloc ranged weapons don’t have Ultra textures; the Corrosion texture is only available on the AR + Rocket Launcher + Gauss Hog; etc.
  • Maybe some more classic Halo 3 armor (cough EOD chest armor cough) added to Reach
  • Maybe some backpack customization options (Halo 3 + AI containment vessel); yeah, they’ll obscure/clip with armor ability attachments, but…
  • (Applies to other titles) It sure would be nice if Halo 3 and Halo 4/2A were to get some armor permutations from Reach. For example, those sniper clip shoulder bandoleers…

Unfortunately, for those who play as Elites in Reach, mix-and-match is unlikely to ever be implemented. As the player models are taken straight from the campaign, messing around with breaking them up might result in a rather copious amount of bugs and glitches plaguing the campaign and/or multiplayer.
That said, I do wonder if 343i might decide to import full models of an assortment of combat harnesses from other titles within MCC to Reach at some point in the future.

2 Likes
#7

Weapon and Vehicle skins would be nice. Visors.

1 Like
#8

343 had the perfect formula to use in Infinite - the seasons system, and Spartan Points in general, despite some of its flaws, was miles ahead of what they implemented in Infinite.

2 Likes
#9

There’s maybe a couple points that I personally wouldn’t want, but more content is always better and it’s not like I’d have to use it.

But I like the base idea here: if you’re going to add customization in one game it should be available in all.
If you can skin the warthog in 3 why not skin it in all games?

What confuses me is why Halo 3 has all these skins but ODST that uses the same models does not have access to those same skins?

Elites in Reach would probably need their own season to make any customization worthwhile. As a pipe dream it would be cool if they could implement the new Halo 3 elite armours onto Reach model elites but other than that the only other thing I wish is I could change the eye glow on my elite. I’ve seen several pictures of the Ultra with red eyes and it is quite visually striking.

1 Like
#10

I have no idea; though I can hypothesize there might be something within ODST’s engine that makes the implementation of additional customization difficult. As is, the only “new” customization content added to ODST since its induction into MCC has been Injured Romeo and Bug-Splattered Buck.

Then again, it could also be a matter of ODST having less player population than other titles within MCC (due to no competitive multiplayer modes), thus having lower priority for the addition of more customization content.

Personally, I wish ODST’s customization would get more attention, with extra characters added in:

  • Bug-Splattered variant for all Alpha-Nine characters
  • Injured variant for all Alpha-Nine characters
  • UNSC Pilot (H3)
  • Miranda Keyes (H3)
  • FADM Terrence Hood (H3)
  • Gough (H3 Traxus Dockworker 1)
  • Isla (H3 Traxus Dockworker 2)
  • Butkus (H3 Traxus Dockworker 3)
  • Gough (Male H3 Marine 1)
  • Isla (Male H3 Marine 2)
  • Butkus (Male H3 Marine 3)
  • Lehto/Marcus Stacker (Male H3 Marine 4)
  • Morgan (Male H3 Marine 5)
  • Smith (Male H3 Marine 6)
  • Walter (Male H3 Marine 7)
  • Wu (Male H3 Marine 8)
  • Arroyo (Male H3 Marine 9)
  • Fones (Male H3 Marine 10)
  • At least one of the above with the comm_pack attachment (I nominate Fones)
  • Michelle (Female H3 Marine 1)
  • Chan (Female H3 Marine 2)
  • Hartmann (Female H3 Marine 3)
  • Anete (Female H3 Marine 4)
  • At least one of the above with the comm_pack attachment
  • Ethan Graves (importing model from H3 customization)
  • Marcus Hudson
  • Victor Ramos
  • Ava Lang

TBH I find it odd that the Fireteam Raven members didn’t get added into ODST customization back in Season 6, and/or that the pre-existing Alpha-Nine armor configurations from ODST didn’t end up being ported to Halo 3 customization.

Also, yes, the Traxus dockworkers share portions of their character models with three Marines. With this in mind, 343i might decide to implement them solely as dockworkers and not Marines. (There is actually a fourth dockworker face option, Walter, but their face is not rendered outside of free-floating eyeballs.) Outside of the faces, the only other customization option for the dockworkers is whether or not they have short or full-length sleeves.

Anyway, Marines have a fair number of customization options (sadly, most involving combat injuries), so 343i could either randomly assign these features to the fourteen Marines mentioned above by pulling names out of a jar (or some other professional decision-making process), or perhaps a more intensive customization overhaul might be enacted…

  • Full-body character models (Miranda Keyes, Terrence Hood, helmetless Alpha-Nine members, etc.) moved to menu selection titled “Character Presets”
  • (maybe) aforementioned optional Bug-Splatter customization applied to all Alpha-Nine characters, not just Buck
  • (maybe) aforementioned optional Injury customization applied to all Alpha-Nine characters, not just Romeo

And then, complete rework of standard customization UI to be more akin to other titles’ customization

  • Head/Face: “Johnson”, “Buck”, “Romeo”, “Mickey”, “Dutch”, “Dare”
  • Headgear: “Mickey”, “Romeo”, “Dutch”, “Buck”, “off/Standard”
  • Chest: “Standard”, “Broken” (maybe “Dutch” with skull and crossbones, though that is filed under “emblem” in the ODST model)
  • Gear: “Mickey”, “Romeo”, “Dutch”, “Buck”, “Standard”, “Johnson”
  • Left/Right Shoulders (On/Off; this is a toggle for the baseline shoulder armor, as the various other permutations are actually filed under the Gear category)

These are all the baseline options for custom ODST characters, by the way; without going into the work of splitting apart the various Gear assemblies into Shoulder/Back Accessory/Waist/Knee/Chest/etc. permutations.
EDIT: Clarification on “Headgear” category instead of “Helmet” category: the various helmet components that Alpha-Nine utilize are completely separate from the base ODST helmet model. This probably explains why both the Helm and aforementioned shoulder/leg/etc. armor components haven’t been ported to Halo 3’s armor customization (yet).

Marines and ODSTs could receive separate customization menus, similar to Spartans and Elites in Halo 3. Each of which is likely to be further separated into “heavy armor” and “light armor” categories…

Current male/Heavy armor Marine customization options as follows:

  • Head/Face: “Fones”, “Gough”, “Isla”, “Butkis”, “Lehto”, “Morgan”, “Smith”, “Walter”, “Wu”, “Arroyo”, “Johnson”
  • Helmet: “On” (standard issue with visor), “Johnson/Morgan/Lehto” (Sergeant cover/baseball hat, shared between all three), “Blind” (example: that Marine with their upper head fully covered by bloody gauze at the start of Crow’s Nest), “Eye” (bloody gauze and a bandage over the left eye), “Wrap” (forehead covered by bloody gauze), “no goggles” (standard issue helmet with no visor)
  • Chest: “Standard”, “Damaged/Injured” (referred to as “deadjohn” in the files)
  • Arms: “Standard”, “Wounded” (bloody gauze on left upper arm, beneath the shoulder + bloody gauze on right forearm, above wrist)
  • Utility: On/Off (toggle for carrying auxiliary packs/pouches on chest + waist + thighs
  • Back Accessory: “Comm Pack”

NOTE: There is the possibility for “Extra Armor” toggle option; the shoulder armor and knee armor can be removed from the current Marine models under the “armorpads” category. Unfortunately, as they are linked together in the current configuration, it can’t be implemented as “Left Shoulder”, “Right Shoulder”, and “Knee Armor” without first breaking it down into individual components.
This is… a lot of work thus far; especially for a title that, as mentioned before, doesn’t have competitive multiplayer and thus is likely to not have significant player population.

Also, as a funny note, the “Wounded” arm components are separated in the files as “r_arm” category; “wounded”, and “l_arm” category; “wounded”. Same with the utility packs, in “packs_abdomin” (sic) category, “packs_chest” category, and “packs_thigh” category.
Since no other Halo title’s customization options allows for different arm configurations (Reach doesn’t count, the robotic arms are linked to various chest pieces. And the utility option only applies to an attachment on one forearm, while not changing the forearm itself) I figured that this ODST customization overhaul won’t get any different treatment.
As for the utility pouches on the Marine model… slightly less work for the UI, I guess.

Current female/Light armor Marine customization options:

  • Head/Face: “Michelle”, “Chan”, “Hartmann”, “Anete”
  • Helmet: “On” (standard issue with visor), “No Goggles” (standard issue without visor)
  • Utility: “On/Off” (toggle for carrying auxiliary pouches on chest + waist + thighs)
  • Back Accessory: “Comm Pack”

…Well, that’s disappointing. No sergeant cap, no gauze, the shoulder armor is completely baked into the arm model, and the knee armor is completely baked into the body model. Also, less character diversity than the male/heavy armor Marine model (four faces against ten). No “damaged” version of the chest armor, either; the “standard” version is baked directly into the body model.
The head/face models ought to be (configured to be) interchangable between the reworked “heavy armor” and “light armor” permutations for the Marine model, at the very least. Same with the “helmet” variations, and (possibly later) with the gauze wrappings on the arms. Why is light armor Marine customization so reduced compared to heavy armor Marine customization?

EDIT: I have found that the H3 Marine “Pilot” helmet is actually separate from the actual Marine model. Perhaps it could be readily added to Marine customization options, and potentially later to ODST customization options (with the most hopeful possibility of it being eventually incorporated into H3 customization)?
The “pilot chestplate” is also a separate model from the Marine model; as such, copypaste the possibilities above.

EDIT again: Found Dare’s model…

  • Head/Face: Dare
  • Helmet: Recon (filed under “standard” for the biped, there is no standard ODST helmet option)
  • Gear: “Beacon”

And that’s it. Well then.
At minimum, the other ODST faces and helmets (or standard helm + headgear) ought to be configured to be interchangable between “heavy armor” and “light armor”, with the other permutations under the Gear category and the “Damaged” Chest armor potentially added in at some point afterward.

…Considering the amount of work required to make the “heavy armor” Gear category components compatible with the “light armor” model, this might be the point in which the Gear permutations are broken up into Left Shoulder/Right Shoulder/Back Accessory/Waist/Knee/Chest/etc.

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#11

Personally I prefer to be the helmeted character because I prefer the look and it makes more logical sense because you want to protect your head. Again this is extra customization that others can feel free to play with that I would likely ignore.

The only further character customization for ODST that would interest me would be maybe some Fireteam Raven skins. The customization I would most want to see in ODST is vehicles and weapons. Although what I have always desired most from ODST is weapon mods. To be able to play ODST with a silenced DMR, Battle rifle, and the plasma launcher as example