Podcast Details + Discussion

Games Other Halo
1

Elaborated on weapon drops:
-Still have initial weapon drops at the begging of the match.
-Trying to create a better flow of gameplay instead of "chuckign nades in the begining at eachother.
-Weapon drops use timers not completely random
-power weapons are not always the same for each maps (No sniper on really small maps)
-Calling it ordance (like firefight’s ordinance)
-Weapons drop from space on some maps (indoor maps?)
-they CAN land on you and kill you but there are warning signals
-frankie suggests an umbrella.
-Icon for each weapon
-we can control the timer
-they considered 5v5
-sounds like they are catering some maps for particular gametype (How terminal is gears towards one flag/bomb)
-assault carbine confirmed for being mostly usefull for taking down shields
-Assault carbine pretty much replaces the cov carbine (not offcicially said but hinted at)

> -shooting/being shot at whilst sprinting disrupts it.
> -Forerunner Vision works a bit like a sonar/pulse.
> -AA’s that have been brought over from Reach have been modified.
> -Weapons are much louder and beefier.

thanks!

Check out LiNETT’s post right below mine!

> Quotes from the Podcast

2

Quotes from the Podcast Paraphrased

Random Weapon Drops

Kevin “New weapon spawning system, in the context of the Infinity”

Kevin “Still initial Weapon drops at beginning of each game”

Josh? “Communicate to the player about weapon drops so they don’t have to memorise”

Weapon drop called Ordanance Can change it in custom games.

Weapons drop from space into map. It can kill youBut has warnings

Players know when spawns will happen

Player Spawn System.

In certain modes, will be able to spawn into game. (David)

You have a choice when you die whether you customise your loadout or spawn right away.

Will be in Premier Slayer Experience.

Not in every mode! Not in Objective game types. Still a delay in objective game types.

Large chunk of MM not shown.

Loadouts

Will have options in customs games to change many things. Can turn off instant spawn.

Have to unlock BR.

Balancing the starting weapons. DMR good for long range. Can have short range weapons. BR and DMR not serving same role.

Warhouse name has been changed.

DMR has a set rate of fire. Fires at a slower rate.

BR is not OP, has recoil. Not as effective as DMR at longer range.

Mid range and closer BR is good.

Not every weapon is in the loadouts.

Some weapons only in ordance system.

Armour Abilities

Similar experience to Reach, but have seen how they used.

Sprint was most popular- but now default.

CAN’T USE SPRINT TO RUN AWAY. LEVELS DESIGNED FOR THIS.

Have a sprint meter.

A SLOW DOWN MECHANIC IF YOU ARE BEING SHOT!So can’t double pummle or run away.

Similar base level movement/jump to halo 3

Looked out Halo 1/3 for inspiration.

Forerunner vision: range being tweaked. Treat like sonar, sweeps out. Delay from when you send it out. Other players can hear you using it. Just had new graphic for it.

Rock Paper scissors happening. Lots of trade offs with AA’s.

Armour lock not in the game.

Armour abilities from Reach been changed.

Cortanaweb? Not sure- help me out here folks.

Weapons feel more dangerous

Team slayer is 4v4 Objective games are 5v5. Apologies for the confusionHere

Plasma Pistol and Sniper sound different. As do Grenades.

Assault Carbine a renamed weaponDidn’t feel powerful before? Been through an evolution? Needler? hmmmm

Spartan Ops

If you liked Firefight, you will like this.

Things you unlock go back and forth. Character same in both SO and MM.

Can unlock items before you go into competitive.

Objective and story based. rather than just survival based.

Reward for many things.

Much more focussed on teamwork than FF was.

CG Series being made (SO linked).

Character you have built in MM linked to SO.

Small number of players. Exclusive given a chance to play the game.

END OF PODCAST…

IF there is anything I missed, help me out folks :slight_smile:

3

-Shooting/being shot at whilst sprinting disrupts it.
-Forerunner Vision works a bit like a sonar/pulse.
-AA’s that have been brought over from Reach have been modified.
-Weapons are much louder and beefier.
-Sound effects made weapons seem more effective than they actually are, especially the Plasma Pistol.
-Assault Carbine is mainly in close range against shields.
-Old sniper rifle model had a silencer, now it doesn’t.
-Spartan Ops is the ‘mode you have been asking for whether you realize it or not’.
-Spartan Ops is ambitious and is a mode where you can specialize to a large extent.

4

Weapon drops aren’t random.
Sprint has a slowdown effect.
They’re looking to the Trilogy for balance and gameplay benchmarks.
Balancing AAs against one another.
Forerunner Vision is not wallhacks.

What now, haters?

Oh what am I saying, I know you guys will still find something to complain about…

5

> .
>
> What now, haters?
>
> .

Haha :slight_smile:

6

Cortanaweb is a back end thing 343i are using to find out what weapons are beating others, how often and other things.

Nothing we should worry about really.

7

> -shooting/being shot at whilst sprinting disrupts it.
> -Forerunner Vision works a bit like a sonar/pulse.
> -AA’s that have been brought over from Reach have been modified.
> -Weapons are much louder and beefier.

I think the sonar pulse makes it sound so much better!

8

> > -shooting/being shot at whilst sprinting disrupts it.
> > -Forerunner Vision works a bit like a sonar/pulse.
> > -AA’s that have been brought over from Reach have been modified.
> > -Weapons are much louder and beefier.
>
> I think the sonar pulse makes it sound so much better!

I thought it would be similiar to Splinter cell conviction’s method of seeing enemies through walls.

9

> -Shooting/being shot at whilst sprinting disrupts it.
> -Forerunner Vision works a bit like a sonar/pulse.
> -AA’s that have been brought over from Reach have been modified.
> -Weapons are much louder and beefier.
> -Sound effects made weapons seem more effective than they actually are, especially the Plasma Pistol.

That’s exactly what was needed for sprint, people really shouldn’t be able to complain about it now

10

> > -Shooting/being shot at whilst sprinting disrupts it.
> > -Forerunner Vision works a bit like a sonar/pulse.
> > -AA’s that have been brought over from Reach have been modified.
> > -Weapons are much louder and beefier.
> > -Sound effects made weapons seem more effective than they actually are, especially the Plasma Pistol.
>
> That’s exactly what was needed for sprint, people really shouldn’t be able to complain about it now

Here is my list :slight_smile:

Posted one min before you!

http://halo.xbox.com/Forums/yaf_postst76392_Podcast-Details--Discussion.aspx

11

I’m so glad this podcast cleared a lot of things up! This should calm a lot of people down. :smiley:

12

> > > -Shooting/being shot at whilst sprinting disrupts it.
> > > -Forerunner Vision works a bit like a sonar/pulse.
> > > -AA’s that have been brought over from Reach have been modified.
> > > -Weapons are much louder and beefier.
> > > -Sound effects made weapons seem more effective than they actually are, especially the Plasma Pistol.
> >
> > That’s exactly what was needed for sprint, people really shouldn’t be able to complain about it now
>
> Here is my list :slight_smile:
>
> Posted one min before you!
>
> http://halo.xbox.com/Forums/yaf_postst76392_Podcast-Details--Discussion.aspx

nice!

13

Locked in preparation for merge inbound, hold tight! :slight_smile:

Merge complete! Thank you for you patience. <3

14

I knew it! I freakin’ knew the DMR was going to be the long-range gun!

My friend owes me $10!

But in serious-ness, I’m actually looking forward to H4, especially with these announcements!

15

.

16

No rank talk?

17

from u4ix re: Sparkast

PTS
-Points
-Projectile Tracking System

Halo April Sparkcast
-Brad Welsch, lead multiplayer designer
-Kevin Franklin, lead competitive multiplayer designer

“Random Weapon Drops”
Tradition power weapons magically appeared ~90 seconds
H4
-Ground up new spawning system
-Context of Infinity, accessible to new and classic players
-Initial weapon drops at start of match, control openings, team game strategy
-Timers set for when they pop in, communicate to player, no need for stopwatch
-Each map/mode specific weapons and drops for different maps
-Weapons will make sense, sniper for bigger maps
-Random seems to lean towards different weapons themselves, not different times/areas
-Can see which weapons have dropped where, takes away knowledge advantage
-Information not distracting, subtle UI elements
-Drops from space into the map
-Drop ins can kill you
-Weapon indicators disappear, you’ll know a player has them

Respawns
-Control timing
-Lots of debate about 4v4 or 5v5 experience
-Can customize loadout during play
-In premier slayer experience
-Can customize spawn system
-“Premier experience” particular play accounts on particular maps
-Ultimate experience in every mode
-Maps can support any gametype, but each map is tailored to a certain gametype

Customs/LAN
-Turn off instant spawns
-Will support unlocking of weapons and unlocking AAs for tournaments
-“Career” mode in the game for grinding, no Warrant Officer 3 (l0l)
-Tournaments!
-Choice, concept, give players choices, what loadouts are for
-Empowering individual play styles
-“Preferences” favorite weapons, starting weapon discussion
-Once you put in the work and effort to unlock that BR, then you can use it
-Base weapons balanced for no “god tier” weapons
-All about how you play, sneaky, distance, etc
-Why have the BR and DMR? Different purpose, subtle differences, mechanical
-Each have their own distinct role
-BR better for jumping and fanning up, DMR for lateral movement
-DMR set RoF, DMR fires at a slower rate, balanced against BR
-BR has recoil, 3 bullet more upwards, distance between bullets will spread out
-BR not as effective at longer ranges, BR will lose to DMR
-Outer range of encounter space, DMR built to win
-Closer, BR will win
-AR also a beast, each gun has effective range
-Not every weapon can go in loadouts

AAs balanced
-Learned lessons for Reach
-How they’re implemented in 4
-Similar, but different
-Changed because everyone has sprint
-Sprint by far most popular AA in Reach
-More interesting combinations
-Can’t use sprint to flee combat
-Levels designed for faster mobility
-Sprint meter
-Slow down mechanic if getting shot, can’t run up and double melee
-Can’t run away as fast
-Base movement isn’t slow, jumping higher, running/walking faster in H4 than Reach
-Looked at Halo 1 for specific weapons
-Looked at Halo 3 for movement benchmarks

Forerunner Vision
-Visor mode from ODST, situational awareness
-More like Sonar, won’t go forever, specific distance, delay on knowledge
-Players within range of vision can hear you using it
-Counter each other, some can be used to counter (Rock, Paper, Scissors)
-More tradeoffs and the way they interact with each other
-Armor Lock didn’t make the cut, ruined the flow and balance
-Every armor ability from Reach has been altered and changed in some way

-Assault Carbine, renamed
-Love using the gun
-Sound is terrifying
-Style has been in the game before
-Shield mangle, not head mangler
-Feels like a finisher, not a depleter

Can unlock items for competitive in Spartan Ops
-Take your character from PvP games is meaningful going into Spartan Ops
-Building a character you feel attached to
-Planning, being strategic in Spartan Ops

Small number of players given the chance to play the game

18

> I’m so glad this podcast cleared a lot of things up! This should calm a lot of people down. :smiley:

Let us all hope calm flames.

Only thing I don’t think they brought up was Join in Session. I would have liked to know at least some detail into it.

19

this game is going to be amazing! im actually thinking about going dark soon but im not sure haha

20

I can pretty much guarantee that the “Assault Carbine” is the Covenant Carbine.