So, why less customisation?

Games Halo 5: Guardians
1

So since the backwards compatibility update I’ve had renewed interest in Halo 4, even going so far as to get the GOTY codes so I could finally have my precious, precious Gungnir, and just today I’ve been toying around with the customisation, and it really got me thinking.

Even though I didn’t like Halo 4 multiplayer that much (Only reaching SR 66 in comparison to my Reach Mythic) I absolutely adore the customisation. I adored it in Reach and 3 too. But as we are all painfully aware MCC and 5 have seriously reduced customisation (With 5 being particularly disliked due to the req system).

Now I don’t want to create another grr-343-should-die-and-burn-etc thread because there’s been a thousand of those, and y’know it’s a bit mean. So here’s what I’d like to ask people in this thread.

  • Why do you think 343 stripped back the customisation so heavily across the last two FPS-Halos? - Do you miss customisation, or are you not bothered by its loss (if so, why?)? - How do you feel about the customisation in 5? Too little? Just right? - Would you take a Halo 4-Reach customisation level in return for less armour variety in Halo 5 perhaps? Or longer loading screens? - Which Halo had your favourite customisation (This can be level of customisation or aesthetically speaking)?Just figured maybe discussing these things and chucking some thoughts around might be a bit more interesting than just whining about customisation and req packs (don’t get me wrong, I hate req packs.).

OKAY LADS I’M PUTTING IN AN EDIT COS I MESSED UP

When I said the last two FPS halos, I was referring to the MCC and 5! It didn’t occur to me that people would think I meant halo 4. Halo 4’s cutomisation is fine and in terms of variety was an improvement on Reach IMO. Hope that clears things up!

2
  1. It takes time and money to code games so cutting back on players ability to customize stuff is an easy way to cut cost.
  2. I don’t really miss it as you can’t really see your Spartan and I don’t even pay attention to the way other Spartans look.
  3. H5 is customization is way to bloated with crappy looking armor. Also variants are such a waste too. Why do we need the same armor with different patterns?
  4. Reach, H4 customization was pretty bad as well.
  5. Reach probably did have the best customization. I did like the armor effects those were pretty cool. Also I liked how it had a nice variety that mostly looked functional. Not like H5 that has a ton of stuff but most look like crap and non-functional.
3

  • Cost, time constraints, or a combination of the two, most likely.

  • I wouldn’t say that I miss it, since I’d be fine with a Halo game that just does away with armor customization as a whole.

  • Halo 5 is generally lacking when it comes to customization. It’s improved over the course of the game’s lifespan, but it’s still not quite ideal. Excessive repetition (reskins and a crap ton of purple visors), questionable designs (like Seeker), and a general lack of options drag it down significantly.

  • Hell yes. If it means trading Seeker and other questionable designs for more customization options, I will take it.

  • Somewhere in between Reach and 4. I personally think Reach went overboard with the options, but from aesthetic standpoint, I do like it more than Halo 4. The only real issue that I have with Reach is that everything looks so similar, which is both a blessing and a curse. Everything looks modular, so most combinations will look good, but they also end up looking kinda samey. Halo 4 has the opposite problem. You have several unique gauntlet, leg, and torso options, as opposed to the basic torso, forearm, and leg pieces that Reach had its parts based on. All of these options have a very distinct profile and only really look good in specific combinations.

4

> 2533274816788253;2:
> 1. It takes time and money to code games so cutting back on players ability to customize stuff is an easy way to cut cost.
> 2. I don’t really miss it as you can’t really see your Spartan and I don’t even pay attention to the way other Spartans look.
> 3. H5 is customization is way to bloated with crappy looking armor. Also variants are such a waste too. Why do we need the same armor with different patterns?
> 4. Reach, H4 customization was pretty bad as well.
> 5. Reach probably did have the best customization. I did like the armor effects those were pretty cool. Also I liked how it had a nice variety that mostly looked functional. Not like H5 that has a ton of stuff but most look like crap and non-functional.

This was kind of my line of thinking, as it seems the most reasonable! I personally like having a personalised Spartan even if I can’t see it (Doesn’t mean it isn’t there) but I do see where you’re coming from on this front. I guess I do pay a fair amount of attention to enemy Spartans personally but that’s just me. Totally agree on the Halo 5 front, though to its credit there are some diamonds in the rough IMO (Centurion for example), but I personally like some of the skins. I feel there are way too many (Maybe streamline it to one alternate skin per armour in future if any?). I’m personally kinda digging Halo 4’s customisation after revisiting it, but I do concede that maybe it’s due to being starved of proper customisation for so long. As of right now though it feels as good as Reach’s, if not as aesthetically pleasing. I was never huge on armour effects personally and don’t miss them, but it would be nice to see them come back (I do miss the birthday party deaths). I definitely agree with the more functional looking aesthetic though.

> 2535437652903765;3:
> - Cost, time constraints, or a combination of the two, most likely.
>
> - I wouldn’t say that I miss it, since I’d be fine with a Halo game that just does away with armor customization as a whole.
>
> - Halo 5 is generally lacking when it comes to customization. It’s improved over the course of the game’s lifespan, but it’s still not quite ideal. Excessive repetition (reskins and a crap ton of purple visors), questionable designs (like Seeker), and a general lack of options drag it down significantly.
>
> - Hell yes. If it means trading Seeker and other questionable designs for more customization options, I will take it.
>
> - Somewhere in between Reach and 4. I personally think Reach went overboard with the options, but from aesthetic standpoint, I do like it more than Halo 4. The only real issue that I have with Reach is that everything looks so similar, which is both a blessing and a curse. Everything looks modular, so most combinations will look good, but they also end up looking kinda samey. Halo 4 has the opposite problem. You have several unique gauntlet, leg, and torso options, as opposed to the basic torso, forearm, and leg pieces that Reach had its parts based on. All of these options have a very distinct profile and only really look good in specific combinations.

Again, yeah I totally see this as the most logical explanation. I do find it interesting so far that a lot of people seem to not miss it all that much. I personally don’t see much improvement on Halo 5’s customisation (unless you mean additional armour from DLC, which I concede has been decent) but I absolutely agree with the visor thing. If I recall there’s like six or so green visors that all look nearly identical. I think similarly to the issue with having too many same armours with different patters the visors seriously need be streamlined in the next halo. One of each colour with a couple of two tone ones thrown in for good measure (Like the rogue red and purple from Halo 4 for example). I definitely agree that Seeker and Tracer don’t need to be making a reappearance. If there’s one thing I curse Gungnir for it’s for opening the floodgates for these bizarre helmet designs. I completely agree that the ideal customisation would be a balance between reach and four though, and needing pretty specific combos to look good in four.

5

> 2535437652903765;3:
> - Cost, time constraints, or a combination of the two, most likely.
>
> - I wouldn’t say that I miss it, since I’d be fine with a Halo game that just does away with armor customization as a whole.
>
> - Halo 5 is generally lacking when it comes to customization. It’s improved over the course of the game’s lifespan, but it’s still not quite ideal. Excessive repetition (reskins and a crap ton of purple visors), questionable designs (like Seeker), and a general lack of options drag it down significantly.
>
> - Hell yes. If it means trading Seeker and other questionable designs for more customization options, I will take it.
>
> - Somewhere in between Reach and 4. I personally think Reach went overboard with the options, but from aesthetic standpoint, I do like it more than Halo 4. The only real issue that I have with Reach is that everything looks so similar, which is both a blessing and a curse. Everything looks modular, so most combinations will look good, but they also end up looking kinda samey. Halo 4 has the opposite problem. You have several unique gauntlet, leg, and torso options, as opposed to the basic torso, forearm, and leg pieces that Reach had its parts based on. All of these options have a very distinct profile and only really look good in specific combinations.

^^
I would agree Reach made things to similar with the armor sometines but I think thats partially becuase alot of the armor was just on the Mark V(B) and are just additions to the armor. 3 had it but overall chest Pieces or arm pieces are different to each other.

Ok away from that, I think they also did so they can make more color patterns to the armor (Which failed more then succeeded) so it can make about 2/3s of the armor seem more “colorful” or “more variety”.

6

Reach has always been my favorite in terms of customization. That could be biased however, because my favorite Spartan model I made is from Reach. What I would do just to port my Spartan from Reach to 5. I’d pay a lot of money.

7

> 2533274881722019;1:
> Why do you think 343 stripped back the customisation so heavily across the last two FPS-Halos?

The last two? To me, Halo 4 felt like an improvement. Even though it removed armor effects and attachments, it added stances and customizable assassinations and weapon skins.

I think it was stripped back heavily in Halo 5 because of the req system. Imagine this scenario: when you open a req pack in Halo 5 and unlock an armor, you get that armor’s chest, shoulders, arms, and legs to equip separately. It would be nice, but if that were the case, 343 would have to make every armor’s arms and shoulders unique, which they probably couldn’t due to time constraints (for example Cypher, Maverick, and Vector all have the same shoulders as Scout armor, and most of them simply have Recruit arms). I think that’s why armor customization was scaled back so much in Halo 5.

> 2533274881722019;1:
> Do you miss customisation, or are you not bothered by its loss (if so, why?)?

Personally I’m not bothered by its loss. I like to wear complete sets anyway, so removing the option to mix and match my shoulders and legs and stuff doesn’t really affect me. However I would like to be able to make my undersuit something other than black.

> 2533274881722019;1:
> How do you feel about the customisation in 5? Too little? Just right?

For reasons stated above, it’s mostly fine with me (except for the undersuit thing and also I miss my birthday parties). But I’m going to say it’s too little just because there’s demand for more, and I understand why people like to mix and match their armor. 343 probably knows this by now.

> 2533274881722019;1:
> Would you take a Halo 4-Reach customisation level in return for less armour variety in Halo 5 perhaps? Or longer loading screens?

You say “less armor variety in Halo 5” as if it’s a bad thing. If they removed all the armors that are too ugly to wear, they would still have plenty to choose from left over. Honestly it would be nice if they did. The question of which armors can be considered ugly is a subjective thing, but that’s my opinion.

> 2533274881722019;1:
> Which Halo had your favourite customisation (This can be level of customisation or aesthetically speaking)?

I’m thinking Halo 4 because I liked having the entire legs customizable instead of just knees and a thigh attachment, and the both arms instead of just a wrist thing. However, I miss having a birthday party whenever I died, and Halo 4 is where they began to introduce some really ugly armors (Infiltrator comes to mind). So it’s hard to say. I liked the customization in both Reach and 4.

8

> 2533274811336073;6:
> Reach has always been my favorite in terms of customization. That could be biased however, because my favorite Spartan model I made is from Reach. What I would do just to port my Spartan from Reach to 5. I’d pay a lot of money.

Can you imagine the “franken-suits” composed of GEN1 and GEN2 parts and accessories? That would be awesome.

9

> 2535429593088083;8:
> > 2533274811336073;6:
> > Reach has always been my favorite in terms of customization. That could be biased however, because my favorite Spartan model I made is from Reach. What I would do just to port my Spartan from Reach to 5. I’d pay a lot of money.
>
> Can you imagine the “franken-suits” composed of GEN1 and GEN2 parts and accessories? That would be awesome.

I have always wanted my armor in reach to travel with my Spartan to other games. I need this

10

I’d actually love to have more customisation, but I guess that’s just me… :confused:

Reach had awesome customisation options, but not a huge amount, which was kinda meh. Halo 4 also had good customisaition, but not as much as Reach I feel. Then Halo 5 has way more in terms of customising Assassinations, stances, weapon skins, etc but the actual Armour itself… not so much. I wish they just added that old school customisation and kept all the new stuff too.

11
  1. Cost: It’s probably a lot easier to add a crap load of filler armours than to put effects and add-ons like in Reach.
  2. H5 customisation is a bit underdone, but i’m not really hung up over it as I, as probably everyone else, spend more time playing than customising.
  3. Do i even need to answer? Remove the 200+ armours and helmets that basically weren’t in the previous Halos (except the few cool new ones, Shinobi, Helioskrill, Blue Team/Osiris helmets), and that would be nice. Armour bits like in Reach would be nice, but not really necessary.
  4. I don’t really mind, as long as it doesn’t impact game performance
  5. Spartan Assault (kidding) Probably Reach
12

The reason I want armor customization like Reach/4 isn’t because I necessarily want to spend hours and hours dressing up my spartan, but the way the armor is in H5 really makes it hard to find an armor set that I really like because if I don’t like one part of a ‘body’ (like the forearms or the legs) I’m either stuck with it or have to pick something else. Even if Halo 6 just upgraded to: Head, Torso, Arms, and Legs I’d be far happier than just ‘Head, Body’ that we have now. Answering numerically:

  • Why do you think 343 stripped back the customisation so heavily across the last two FPS-Halos? Perhaps Cost or Time constraints. - Do you miss customisation, or are you not bothered by its loss (if so, why?)? I dearly miss it and am bothered by its loss as well as the odd handling of secondary colors and forced white paint on lots of the armor. - How do you feel about the customisation in 5? Too little? Just right? Too little. Halo 4 had it right as far as Head, Torso, L/R Shoulder, Gauntlets, Legs slots go. - Would you take a Halo 4-Reach customisation level in return for less armour variety in Halo 5 perhaps? Or longer loading screens? I would gladly give up Seeker and others to get more customization depth. - Which Halo had your favourite customisation (This can be level of customisation or aesthetically speaking)? Aesthetically, Reach. Functionally, H4 (you could completely change every main part of the armor, not just having a base armor with attachments stuck on it.)
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> 2533274881722019;1:
> - Why do you think 343 stripped back the customisation so heavily across the last two FPS-Halos? - Do you miss customisation, or are you not bothered by its loss (if so, why?)? - How do you feel about the customisation in 5? Too little? Just right? - Would you take a Halo 4-Reach customisation level in return for less armour variety in Halo 5 perhaps? Or longer loading screens? - Which Halo had your favourite customisation (This can be level of customisation or aesthetically speaking)?

  1. The only official comment I’ve ever seen on it was the lead artist justifying it by saying nobody could tell what anyone else was wearing before because everyone mixed and matched.
    That is an unbelievably stupid reason. Realisticly, it was probably cut for the benefit if the REQ system.
    Also the argument that it costs time and money to implement it doesn’t hold much weight when the code is already in the game, just disabled.

  2. Yes. It’s one of those things that hurts nothing for people who don’t care and enhances the game for those that do.

  3. Far to little, especially coming off of reach and 4.

  4. Absolutely. Most of 5’s armor is junk outside of returning favorites. I’m also a firm believer that there should be 1 standard issue suit of mjolnir, with additions as needed, but that’s just me being a stubborn old man.

  5. Reach, no question. 4 had a large selection of armor to pick from, but reach just ticked all the right boxes for me.

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> 2533274826919611;13:
> > 2533274881722019;1:
> > - Why do you think 343 stripped back the customisation so heavily across the last two FPS-Halos? - Do you miss customisation, or are you not bothered by its loss (if so, why?)? - How do you feel about the customisation in 5? Too little? Just right? - Would you take a Halo 4-Reach customisation level in return for less armour variety in Halo 5 perhaps? Or longer loading screens? - Which Halo had your favourite customisation (This can be level of customisation or aesthetically speaking)?
>
> 1. The only official comment I’ve ever seen on it was the lead artist justifying it by saying nobody could tell what anyone else was wearing before because everyone mixed and matched.
> That is an unbelievably stupid reason. Realisticly, it was probably cut for the benefit if the REQ system.
> Also the argument that it costs time and money to implement it doesn’t hold much weight when the code is already in the game, just disabled.
>
> 2. Yes. It’s one of those things that hurts nothing for people who don’t care and enhances the game for those that do.
>
> 3. Far to little, especially coming off of reach and 4.
>
> 4. Absolutely. Most of 5’s armor is junk outside of returning favorites. I’m also a firm believer that there should be 1 standard issue suit of mjolnir, with additions as needed, but that’s just me being a stubborn old man.
>
> 5. Reach, no question. 4 had a large selection of armor to pick from, but reach just ticked all the right boxes for me.

Okay so I’ve not had a ton of time to reply to this thread (Aside from that a lot of what is being said is similar or I just agree with), but something you said here really caught my curiosity. When you say the code is in the game, what do you mean? As in the code for better customisation? Or do you just mean the code for the armour? (If it’s the former do you have a source? I’m really curious about this, I’ve not heard about it before)

15

Honestly? I think they streamlined the customization so they could go all-out with the REQ system.

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> 2533274794648158;15:
> Honestly? I think they streamlined the customization so they could go all-out on the REQ system.

They could add all the reqs, so idunno

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> 2533274881722019;14:
> > 2533274826919611;13:
> > > 2533274881722019;1:
> > > - Why do you think 343 stripped back the customisation so heavily across the last two FPS-Halos? - Do you miss customisation, or are you not bothered by its loss (if so, why?)? - How do you feel about the customisation in 5? Too little? Just right? - Would you take a Halo 4-Reach customisation level in return for less armour variety in Halo 5 perhaps? Or longer loading screens? - Which Halo had your favourite customisation (This can be level of customisation or aesthetically speaking)?
> >
> > 1. The only official comment I’ve ever seen on it was the lead artist justifying it by saying nobody could tell what anyone else was wearing before because everyone mixed and matched.
> > That is an unbelievably stupid reason. Realisticly, it was probably cut for the benefit if the REQ system.
> > Also the argument that it costs time and money to implement it doesn’t hold much weight when the code is already in the game, just disabled.
> >
> > 2. Yes. It’s one of those things that hurts nothing for people who don’t care and enhances the game for those that do.
> >
> > 3. Far to little, especially coming off of reach and 4.
> >
> > 4. Absolutely. Most of 5’s armor is junk outside of returning favorites. I’m also a firm believer that there should be 1 standard issue suit of mjolnir, with additions as needed, but that’s just me being a stubborn old man.
> >
> > 5. Reach, no question. 4 had a large selection of armor to pick from, but reach just ticked all the right boxes for me.
>
> Okay so I’ve not had a ton of time to reply to this thread (Aside from that a lot of what is being said is similar or I just agree with), but something you said here really caught my curiosity. When you say the code is in the game, what do you mean? As in the code for better customisation? Or do you just mean the code for the armour? (If it’s the former do you have a source? I’m really curious about this, I’ve not heard about it before)

Long story short, the framework for full armor customization is there in H5, and it handles it fine, there’s just no way for us as players to access it. Look for something along the line of ‘halo 5 full armor customization’. I think there was even a post on waypoint about it a while back.

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<mark>This post has been edited by a moderator. Please refrain from making non-constructive posts.</mark>
*Original post. Click at your own discretion.

This problem most likely never would’ve happened if Bungie didn’t leave us. Can you just imagine how awesome Halo 5 would have been if they were still here I mean come on 343 you were sitting on a cash flow good for the next 90 years minimum and you sharted aaaaaaallllll over it!!! XD

19

> 2533274881722019;1:
> So since the backwards compatibility update I’ve had renewed interest in Halo 4, even going so far as to get the GOTY codes so I could finally have my precious, precious Gungnir, and just today I’ve been toying around with the customisation, and it really got me thinking.
>
> Even though I didn’t like Halo 4 multiplayer that much (Only reaching SR 66 in comparison to my Reach Mythic) I absolutely adore the customisation. I adored it in Reach and 3 too. But as we are all painfully aware MCC and 5 have seriously reduced customisation (With 5 being particularly disliked due to the req system).
>
> Now I don’t want to create another grr-343-should-die-and-burn-etc thread because there’s been a thousand of those, and y’know it’s a bit mean. So here’s what I’d like to ask people in this thread.
> - Why do you think 343 stripped back the customisation so heavily across the last two FPS-Halos? - Do you miss customisation, or are you not bothered by its loss (if so, why?)? - How do you feel about the customisation in 5? Too little? Just right? - Would you take a Halo 4-Reach customisation level in return for less armour variety in Halo 5 perhaps? Or longer loading screens? - Which Halo had your favourite customisation (This can be level of customisation or aesthetically speaking)?Just figured maybe discussing these things and chucking some thoughts around might be a bit more interesting than just whining about customisation and req packs (don’t get me wrong, I hate req packs.).

1.priority. This is a first person shooter and most don’t have an emphasis on customization, it’s unneeded, more so when you’re character will only be looked at 2% of the time.
2.bothered? Nope, I don’t take an interest in customization in a fps so I’be no care if they were to completely remove it.
3.to much customization being how much if it is rehashed and uninspiring.
4. Don’t see how customization would effect loading screens… but between reach and H4? H4. People can praise reach having knee pads, head pieces and such but there was so little if it that I didn’t much care for it. H4 has more total combinations than Reach anyways, I would take Reaches armor art style over H4 though.
5. Halo 1-3 did it best as customization was almost a non important factor, H1-2 all you could do was change your color, H3 added a few armors unlocked by achievements (which is a great way to go about armor progression over an XP/credit system) and it had the best looking armor in terms of aesthetics. The recon and scout Armor has been ruined since then.

20

> 2533274816788253;2:
> 1. It takes time and money to code games so cutting back on players ability to customize stuff is an easy way to cut cost.
> 2. I don’t really miss it as you can’t really see your Spartan and I don’t even pay attention to the way other Spartans look.
> 3. **H5 is customization is way to bloated with crappy looking armor. Also variants are such a waste too. Why do we need the same armor with different patterns?**4. Reach, H4 customization was pretty bad as well.
> 5. Reach probably did have the best customization. I did like the armor effects those were pretty cool. Also I liked how it had a nice variety that mostly looked functional. Not like H5 that has a ton of stuff but most look like crap and non-functional.

I honestly think it’s because if they had all the individual armor pieces in the REQ pool it would be so bloated that it would feel horrible. It already feels pretty bad, but imagine if each armor piece was split into 5 other pieces. The REQ pool would be so big.