Trying to track 343 thought process; I imagine that the move from colour customisation to coatings was monetarily influenced, with the need to pack out the Battle Pass system with more items to unlock. This led 343 to want to have them visible in team game modes to get more mileage out of them, due to team modes make up the majority of MP games. Which in turn led to the need for the outline system to tell friend from foe.
Personally, I’m not a fan of the outlines for various reasons, but this post is about a possible solution where we still have RvB and armour coatings in team games.
What if, bellow the option for your Primary Armour Coating, there was also an option for your Red Team and Blue Team coatings?
Essentially, they could have a selection of coatings that are predominantly a shade of red or blue, like 70% red, and 30% a secondary and/or tertiary colour. Think of the level of colour distribution in Halo 3.
The game would then select one of the two coatings based on which team you are on.
Even with the main colour of the coating being a shade of either of the two colours, there are still hundreds of coatings they could come up with using the secondary colours, so a lack of options wouldn’t be an issue.
This way, we wouldn’t need the outlines around enemies on the map, and 343 still gets to use the coatings in team games to maximise their use across the game.
Thoughts?