Hey all!
Several things about the gameplay trailer and overall chatter since got me thinking. The graphics team, sandbox team and now the audio team are sticking to their roots, which has been inspired by Halo CE. So, I began thinking about the phrase, combat evolved.
In the gameplay trailer, the wheel was shot off the warthog. When the brute was running down the ramp, chief shot him in the knee and it looked like the exact spot he hit got thrown back and the brute stumbled.
In the Inside Infinite updates, it has been essentially confirmed that banshees will have localized damage as well. They also raved about the Halo CE plasma rifle that stuns opponents.
So, I wonder… could this make it’s way to the Spartan? In other words, what if you could shoot a spartan’s legs and it perhaps does less damage but it effects mobility? Perhaps maybe only after shields have been lost? Also, what if you shot someone’s gun and it did no damage, but it changed their rate of fire temporarily, or shook their aimer?
Note: some of these ideas seem restrictive and not very fun, because as the shooter you can’t really tell you’ve shook their aimer.
In sharing this in some twitch streams, people have obvious mixed feelings about this possibility. But, what idea could be fun? I just imagine an enemy strongsiding to get away, so I shoot their legs and slow them down to snap the reticle up and land enough damage in their torso to finish the kill. Or, someone that has two shots up on me — I have precise enough aim to hit their gun enough to get away.
Note: many people I’ve shared this with don’t feel like it is “halo”. So, what types of localized damage ideas would you guys have that actually have a place in halo?
Would this be an effect that applies to all weapons or just specific ones? I ask because Stopping Power in Halo 4, from my own experience, was disliked by many because it took control away from the player being shot at. I think what exacerbated this was the fact every weapon had a stopping power effect vs sprint. But on the flip side Plasma stun, from my experience, is a fairly universally loved loved mechanic. I think that was because it applied to only one weapon, so it wasn’t ever present, disrupting the game. Instead the ‘stunning tool’ had to be picked up and could be contested.
I don’t think your character or weapon should take any sort of gameplay impacting damage. It would just be too big of a departure IMO unless it was EXTREMELY temporary like the plasma stun in CE. Something great about Halo is the ability to get back to 100% relatively quickly after a firefight.
Something that would be interesting would be cosmetic damage that stays on your character even through respawn, but doesn’t have any other effect. Hit by a rocket? Your arm is scorched looking for the rest of the match. Sniped? Cracked visor. Killed by a sword? You get a glowing slash across your chest.
While it wouldn’t be a big priority, I think that could be neat.
Cool ideas but I would appreciate these kinds of mechanics more in games that are more focused on realism/tactics. Something like Rainbow Six Siege or Escape from Tarkov, those type of games. I wouldn’t enjoy it in Halo personally.
Totally agree with Skully up here. I think it would really mess with the playstyle of halo MP I do like my realism and immersion but in games that actually strive for it. I wouldn’t mind more audio and cosmetic immersion though. blood splatter would be nice again. this game isnt for babies we can deal with punching goop outta fools like in CE.
In my opinion, status effects you describe in multiplayer would be incredibly annoying. Especially in a game that greatly encourages movement in combat, any weapon being able to slow you down just by shooting at your legs would be more detrimental than anything, since basically everyone would start an encounter by shooting legs and all fights would devolve into two slugs hoping they’re the ones that shot first. The entire movement factor of combat in Halo would essentially be destroyed as everyone is always trying to slow down everyone else.
The CE plasma rifle worked because it was a sandbox item, restricted to that gun alone and, by extension, providing a very unique playstyle for it. If every gun had those properties, the game would play out very differently, more like CSGO than Halo.
Shooting an opponent’s gun causing status effects also wouldn’t really work since shooting guns is almost never intentional, would make fights against automatics completely impossible, and generally would make getting hit infinitely less fun, like Halo 4’s scoped knockback if it was possible even when hipfiring.
Localized damage and status effects are a neat idea, but with the heavy emphasis Halo puts on fast movement and accuracy, I just don’t think it could ever work in such a style of game.
These are all great points you guys make. I agree now that I think about it even more, having every gun have these abilities would be too much.
I do wonder if the loss of shields could be where this opens up the idea. Perhaps shields protect you from all of these, but after shields are gone then you can shoot legs or hands for certain effects that stay with that player even five or ten seconds after their shield recharges then finally come back. This rewards players who do damage in that timeframe of no shields. How often have you thrown a grenade, died, then just sit there hoping for the kill? Having that feeling of lasting damage on the player through the next respawn could actually be fun.
> 2535409171473129;9:
> maybe more plasma based weapons could be cool
> on Mongerty’s idea, i think it would be cool to have dynamic damage throughout the match
Yes, dynamic damage could truly revolutionize the experience as it is a way that doesn’t add restrictions, instead it adds variety. I just wonder how they will do it.
Would be very cool. Imagine if you could shoot the enemy and knock the weapon out of their hand!
But the problem is, with an online game and lag/latency, it’s hard enough for the game to resolve who actually shot who - let alone exactly where they shot them.