THE OFFICIAL HALO FEEDBACK THREAD

Community General Discussion
621

I loved the old hidden skulls. Also RvB Firefigth voices would be beyond Awesome! More customizable armor is always good. Like being able to wear the arbiter’s armor! Or the heretic armor from halo 2. Floodfight (Firefight with the flood) has to be one of the best ideas I’ve ever heard!

Here’s a really good idea I found that another guy posted.
This was originally posted on Bungie.net by Cowgoesmoo. This isn’t the original post but rather my version of it.

FloodFight

Similar to firefight, but with one main difference, The Flood. Its a stand alone gametype. The idea came from having a more -Yoink!- Zombies kind of experience to Halo.

MUSIC

The music played in the halo soundtracks when you encounter the flood or our in a truly “epic” moment.

GAME VARIATIONS

Players travel to certain points on the map and hold objectives, kinda like Invasion Slayer when certain objectives are held for a period of time, such as an supply depo, the players are rewarded with either a weapon or increased ammo.
The way you could get these is lets say a heavily damaged, flaming, or even infected Pelican could drop you your prize and then if you watch it long enough, it will crash in the distance.

The further from your starting point the better the reward. This would be best for defenive game type that I’ll dub “Quarantine”

Another idea could be the players would be sent to retake a position such as a long abandoned or overrun outpost or come to the aid of a squad of allies and escort them for a pickup. The more allies you keep alive the bigger the payoff. The first gametype would be called “Infestation” and the second would be “Helping Hand”.

Aspects of FloodFight

Round based survival similar to Firefight points are earned by completing objectives. These point can be used to, call in reinforcements from above, obtain ammunition, or activate elements specific to a map such as gates, a bridge, or barricade.
-reinforcements:

  1. ODST’s can drop in from HEVs or if your player(s) are of the Sanghieli equation, maybe a few Elites as well. The type of troops that drop in will be random, with the more typical marines or elite minors as the most common and Spartans, or Elite Generals / Field Marshalls will be rare. These extra hands can be earned in two possible ways. They can be dropped in randomly from time to time or when players accumulate enough credits from completing objectives or killing enemies, they find a radio and call in for the drop. Bad news is they as prone to infection as you are so it be best to keep them alive.

-Vehicles
Depending on the scale of the selected map the vehicles will vary most likely only ground vehicles because combat from the air would be too easy.

anything dead or alive can be infected so watch your back.

The first wave start with the classic Flood growl and they enter either in Flood Dispersal pods (From Halo 3’s Final Mission) running in from the fog, or jumping down from rooftops. Dispersal pods can be announced by the sound of them tearing through the air towards the surface.

Bonus round could either have a flood of Carrier or infection forms of maybe Hunter and Juggernaut forms will appear and end will the flood dropping dead with a screech.

well I hope you enjoyed my ideas on this possible new gametype. For the link to Cowgoesmoo’s forume post click below

http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=53244750

Also bringing back the flood juggernaut would make this game a much bigger challenge, and as a result a much better game! I went out and bought windows vista and halo 2 for the PC even though I already had it for the xbox just to fight the juggernaut…and it was awesome! Fighting a version of it on the 360 would be epic.
Also, Spawning AI in forge and being able to set their difficulty. With that you could be able to make your own mini campaigns! That would be SWEET! Imagine what RvB could do with that! Make one of the biggest online shows even better! You could like, summon squads of enemies that would work together. Heck, you could even spawn friendly AI and have them duke it out with the enemy AI. Spawn other spartans and make them evil, that would be fun.

Also, picking up jackal sheilds, everyone I’ve EVER met has said that they would love to be able to pickup Jackal sheilds. It would be a weapon you can hold, but it doesn’t do anything unless you pull the trigger which would put it in front of you But it won’t recharge if you do that. and it would have an overheating system like the plasma rifle so if it gets hit too much it will collaps but will come back after a while. but eventually it would just die. Also the beatdown with a jackal sheild would look so cool! As would the assassinations! Totally bullrush the guy to the ground and land the edge of the sheild in his throat. Or just bash his head in with the rim of the sheild. Then when your sprinting and tyou do a beatdown you do a bullrush. Also just think of a super good player running around with an energy sword and jackal sheild. Now that’s a true spartan!
Then there’s the beiber shooter where you just snipe a whole bunch of Justin Beibers. Well, maybe not that Beiber shooter. But the others would make Halo the no. 1 game of all time! If 343 put in any or all of these ideas, I would buy every game they ever made ever again.

622

I know there are some legit pro request’s but this is a simple few…

  1. Running should be built in.

  2. Invis is waaaaay to underpowered.

  3. No bloom.

  4. More emphasis on the density of rain in game/ snow/ sleet/ hail.

  5. Everything is not rounded and squared away.

  6. Stop putting a cap on the areas where you can jump up and over terrain. (its a game cookie that should not be removed or at least it should be in a few places… ie people will spend hours getting out of a map.

  7. Adjust your browns and golds slightly.

  8. Lefty gunner full time/ visual.

  9. 1-10 needs to be 1-15 on the controller sensitivity.

  10. Visor variations which contribute to the player…

623

Dear 343 please visit this thread because this guy knows how to make Halo 4 amazing http://forums.majorleaguegaming.com/topic/238441-to-make-halo-4-amazing-it-needs-to/

624

> Dear 343 please visit this thread because this guy knows how to make Halo 4 amazing http://forums.majorleaguegaming.com/topic/238441-to-make-halo-4-amazing-it-needs-to/

Definitely has some good ideas, go ahead and check it out.

625

I am assuming that some employees from 343 may browse these forums and I thought I should give my thoughts on what Halo 4 may need. Feel free to critique.

  1. It needs that “Halo feel” something that I believe the original trilogy captured perfectly, most notably Halo 1. It has to have that sense of “epicness” and wonder. But not too “happy” for example Halo 3 while it did have its sad and serious moments didn’t feel ‘serious’ enough. While Halo: Reach for example was full of that saddened tone and seriousness but in doing so lost the epic feeling that Halo 1,2 and 3 had. Halo 4 will need a well balanced mix of that

  2. Exploration and a sense of wonder. Something Halo 1 also did well. You were new to the ring world you were wide-eyed and wanted to explore, the vast caves, beaches, towers and underground were yours for the exploration. Something no Halo game has captured quite as well as the original and that I believe Halo Reach had none of.

  3. Also in tie with that exploration would be easter eggs and collectables. Skulls for example, in Bungie’s last two Halo games(ODST and Reach) all the Skulls were already there for you to activate taking all the fun and adventure of finding them out. Halo 2 and Halo 3 did this wonderfully you would explore for hours off the beaten path looking for them, and when you did you felt accomplished. Something Halo 4 must have. Maybe not skulls per se but something like that. Something that at the end of the day you can feel great for finding them and maybe even get an achievement for. Also easter eggs are also important, weather it be a hidden song by standing in one spot or a secret sign or even a lost marine.

  4. Variety in multiplayer maps. Once again look at Reach, the latest Halo. Now look at it’s multiplayer maps. What do you see? Notice how half of them are based on Forge World? Everything is gray Forerunner structures and green grassy fields. Maps need a variety. Maybe one set in a dessert with sandstone buildings? Or one set in a vast metropolis with the map set across different skyscrapers. Or set in a lush jungle filled with trees. Maybe even a map set across multiple islands with the use of watercrafts such as boats. The only limit is your imaginations. Let us not forget this variety can also be seen in the single player, as long as the story makes sense and fits it. Also don’t forget a multiplayer map doesn’t necessarily have to be set in a location from the single player, after all multiplayer and campaign are two different routes.

  5. Lastly but definitely not least important. Canon. Everything must make sense and follow canon. Down to the details on your weapons to the location and events. While Halo 4 may be the start of a new trilogy and stories unexplored you also do not want to add contradictions or have a central plot make no sense when logic is applied to it. Something that should always be a thought in the back of your mind.

That is all I wished to share with any readers and hopefully any employees at 343. Hope you guys continue to kick -Yoink- :slight_smile:

626

To make Halo 4 popular:
-Bring back the sense of exploration and wonder (this, I guess, is a product of graphics, level design, maybe a little dialogue, and music). While on the topic, graphics lately seem to have moved away from the green and expansive - we see lately a lot more dirt and closed areas, which may be a good thing, but I’m personally kinda bored of it.
-Don’t -Yoink- with suspension of disbelief - COD fans have enough to say about Halo being unrealistic anyway
-Bring back replay value to the campaign (skulls, black boxes, any -Yoink- like that)
-Make multiplayer addictive again (maps in different terrains, vehicles that don’t explode the second you step in them, more balanced armor abilities if they stay at all, more opportunity for skilled players to do better, but make a ranked playlist system so that the less good players won’t be discouraged)
-Advertising: Remember all the places that you saw Halo 2? That would be nice. I remember seeing 1 advertisement for Halo: Reach ever. Don’t do that.
-Canon: You can broaden and extend it and even override it in places, but please don’t -Yoink- it up. The easiest way to do that would be to discuss something we haven’t seen much of yet, like a new race, or a surviving strain of Forerunners/Precursors.
-Forge: A level editor is not essential, but we at least need more maps like Forge World. I would think 3 Forge World-esque maps would be by far enough to alleviate the boring gray of Reach. Possible themes include green grass and Forerunner structures, desert terrain and stone buildings, Covenant architecture and space, and human architecture in a metropolis.
-Theater: More than 1 person please. It was great being able to go back and watch a game of Matchmaking.
-Maps: THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH MAKING SYMMETRIC MAPS. STOP THINKING THAT THERE IS. THEY MAKE FOR BETTER GAMEPLAY (think Narrows, Boarding Action, Guardian, etc.) PLEASE GET OVER YOURSELVES AND MAKE A LOT OF THEM.
-Story: One of the greatest appeals of the original trilogy, aside from the exploration vibe, was the factions. The relationship of Flood vs. Forerunner Tech vs. Humans vs. Covenant was amazing. If anything, adding to that and strengthening it is the best bet. Involve all 4 at once in battles if possible, and orchestrate betrayals to make it even more complicated (ex. Monitor vs. Sentinels, Grunts vs. Brutes, etc.)
-FireFight- keep Reach’s customizability, but discourage it. Make lots and lots of gametypes for us to distract ourselves with. If possible, allow us to buy guns with points. I don’t care how much that copies COD and -Yoink!- Zombies. Give us a reason to get points, aside from to beat our teammates. Maybe points could call in allies, like Marines, Elites, Grunts, Jackals, Brutes, ODSTs, and maybe even SPARTANs. If fighting Covenant is not canon-proof, then make us fight flood. Possibly add more Flood forms (look to Halo Wars, they have a lot of good ones: Den, Stalk, Thrasher, etc.) to make it interesting. But most importantly, MAKE IT HARD. Reach’s was a bit of a joke, because the difficulties didn’t go up from set to set. Utilize Reach’s engine fully - Bungie didn’t. They never pushed the limit with the amount of enemies they could render at one time in Firefight.
-Firefight Maps- We don’t need so many. Focus about 5x more on Multiplayer maps. If we had 25 Multiplayer maps and 8 Firefight (total including DLC) I would be very happy. We might not even need 8 Firefight.
-Firefight game modes- Remember, MAKE THEM HARD. Starve us for bullets (this means not giving us infinite DMR ammo - stupid, stupid, stupid) and bring back Juggernaut opponents like the Brute Chieftain. Integrate Firefight better with Matchmaking through Firefight Versus. (would we play as Flood? Interesting, but unlikely, I guess, if there are no Covies to fight. So then, no Versus.)
-Achievements - Reach’s were way, way, WAY too easy. Bring back skull achievements, campaign meta-game achievements, and difficult multiplayer achievements to make collecting achievements fun. Remember, Awards are supposed to be easy, Achievements are supposed to be harder. There can be the standard introductory achievements - 10 kills with the Needler in Campaign/Firefight, Use a health pack - but don’t overdo it. Keep the harder ones, like Get a killtacular in free-for-all in Matchmaking, Get 8 kills on -map- with -weapon-, or Reach the rank of -non-immediate-to-reach rank here-.
-Awards- should be pretty easy, on the order of “Complete the Campaign on any difficulty”, “Get a Triple Kill in Matchmaking”, or “Complete a mission on Heroic difficulty or higher.”
-Menu- it scares me that some of you are from Ensemble - you are, right? You really -Yoinked!- up Halo Wars’s menu system, it’s horrible. Do what Bungie did for all of their Halo games - mostly Halo 3 and Halo Reach - and you’ll be in good shape. From what I’ve seen of Halo: Anniversary’s menu system so far, it doesn’t look good at all. Try to improve it.
-Weapons and Bloom - I don’t care about Bloom at all - I think it’s introduction served a purpose - but the amount of people it pissed off can’t really be ignored. My personal idea is that increasing the optimal fire rate of guns like the DMR and Magnum would make Bloom effects much harder to notice, so less people would complain. That’s my idea anyway. But as for weapons, I would like to see both the DMR and BR, but if one had to go, I would say the DMR. Make larger bloom effects for the BR than the DMR, making it a closer-range weapon. Take away hitscan and return shot leading - it takes so much more skill, reduces annoying cross-map sniping, and makes SO much more sense. Possibly add recoil to guns, unless it’s not canon for some reason. Bring back Spike and Firebomb grenades, they were cool - not Spike so much, but I liked Firebomb a lot. Nerf frag grenades a little. Also bring back the Beam Rifle - essential counterweight to the Sniper. Give us individual weapon modifiers so we can fix your mistakes. Return bleed through and make the Sword Block much harder to do so that it’s interesting and surprising when it happens not routine and annoying.
-Other- I want higher jump heights and quicker movement again, and I’m pretty sure everyone does.
-Playlists - Look to Halo 3 and Reach and take the most popular of each. Have a Beta and we’ll figure this one out for you.

Now that’s done, I’m going to bed.

627

343, Halo Reach is no longer the center stage event at MLG events, even though Halo started the league and was their flag-ship game for 10 years. Please fix the franchise, hype the next game, make it better for competitive play, do something! I don’t know if I can sit here and take this being the huge Halo MLG fan that I am; this news was heart breaking to me.

628

> 343, Halo Reach is no longer the center stage event at MLG events, even though Halo started the league and was their flag-ship game for 10 years. Please fix the franchise, hype the next game, make it better for competitive play, do something! I don’t know if I can sit here and take this being the huge Halo MLG fan that I am; this news was heart breaking to me.

Me 2. 343i Please fix Reach and make Halo 4 to be like H2/H3.

629

It’s on the halo legends ost I think.

> 343 feeback-post the defiant map pack trailer music on itunes. or preferrably, give it to us to download. yup.

630

It’s on the halo legends ost I think.

> 343 feeback-post the defiant map pack trailer music on itunes. or preferrably, give it to us to download. yup.

631

> 2. Exploration and a sense of wonder. Something Halo 1 also did well. You were new to the ring world you were wide-eyed and wanted to explore, the vast caves, beaches, towers and underground were yours for the exploration. Something no Halo game has captured quite as well as the original and that I believe Halo Reach had none of.

I both agree and disagree. I agree that Reach for one wasn’t as “open” or large as Halo 1 felt (hell the second level felt huge! I got lost the first few times I played it!). However Reach does have you wanting to explore to a certain extent, and it rewards you with power weapons like Sniper Rifles, Rocket Launchers and even the odd shotgun. That part I like, though I wish there were some more armour abilities hidden in campaign also (Evade for instance).

On the other hand, while Halo 1 felt BIG in areas, it sometimes felt TOO big. I don’t mind wide open areas IF they use waypoints like in Reach (and Halo 3 IIRC). That way you can still go along the normal route but have plenty to explore also.

632

Dear 343i,

I understand that casual gamers want this and competitive want that. Alot of competitive don’t want the AAs back in any Halo titles, but alot of casuals like the AAs. Let me just say I’m a mix of both. I can get REALLY competitive and kick total butt and thats why I have a K/D ratio of 1.02 in Reach. If you know anything about ratios you’ll know that if your 1.00 or up your golden, 0.80 thru 0.99 your silver, anything less well… at least you have your health.
But the point is that there are huge arguments about what is right and what is wrong for Halo. Because I’m a mix I like to win, tell people off ,and make jokes about peoples moms. But sometimes I like to get away from all that pwn a newb or two, have a hot pocket, t-bag my friend who stuck himself with his own plasma grenade(he’s stupid like that),
and just have plain fun.

What I realized a long time ago is that copetitive players want good ol Halo again(which I would prefer) with no AAs, no bloom, and a better ranking system. Casual players want it different most would like to keep AAs, bloom, and some think the cR system is perfect. Which is perfectly fine, altough I disagree with most with them we all have our opinians and that must be respected.

I want a solution for these arguments. I think because competitive players are a larger part of Halo, MM should have no AAs, or bloom, and a better ranking system. If that is to happen casual gamers will probably want to keep AAs and bloom so keep them in custom games, forge, and firefight as an option along with a custom game browser so they can look for games they want to play, also with no ranking because I dont think casuals will really care if you have it or not, plus less work for you. Also keep the custom game browser open to competitive players too. (I want things fair).

Although, if that still doesn’t work instead make different types of gamemodes. One will be called competitive, another casual, and the last community.

The competitive gamemode would have everything a competitive player wants. No AAs, no bloom, and a good ranking and skill system. Perhaps AAs could come in the form of equipment or equipment be the same as H3s or none at all.

The casual game mode would be just like Halo: Reach because most casuals already love it.

The community gamemode would be everything not included in the other two gamemodes including firefight, actionsack, MLG, etc. Plus I’d like to see a new firefight mode called Floodfight(basically firefight with flood).
Everything except team classic should be included because that would already be covered in the competitive gamemode. They are basically almost the same.

I’d like to see my ideas in the Reach TU, Halo CEA, or better yet Halo 4. 343i if your reading this I really think this can make both parties happy.

P.S.: Most think the old Halo MM is too slow paced, perhaps making Sprint defualt can make the game a bit faster, others think differrent the choice is yours.

I wish 343i the best and that whatever you do with Halo will bring it back to it’s glory days.

633

Please 343 remove AA,put the br and the equipement back. It’ s all
Thanks 343 I’m sure you will do a great job.

634

I’m loving the Halo related advirtisments on the site

635

welll i dont think this will get through but i can try right?
well im here to recommend a few things for halo anniversary

  1. being able to change to soundtrack back and forth from old to new (i like the new soundtrack sort of, but nothing is like the classic OST)oh please by the prophets try and put it in

  2. character models. they all look like they’re from reach. i think it would be epic if you guys made hi def versions of the original models and not use the models from reach (mainly the elites and marines)

  3. a legendary edition (halo ce needs one, well not really but it would be pure awesomeness)

  4. try and make the multiplayer thats on the same disk as campaign more “classic” like having halo 1 armour, having halo 1weaponds and no armour abilities

if you do at least no. 1, anniversary will be complete. if you do all of these then you rock and anniversary will be pure epicness

if you did listen then thanks for listening (i like people that listen to their fans)

halo nerd…out

636

community invasion with community maps in it as a playlist

637

I’m not going to make an hour long arguement. I’m just going to state my opinion and hope to the heavens that you agree.

The flood were the most cunning and interesting of all the Halo enemies. Canonically, they are guaranteed to still exist. I hope they return in Halo 4.

638

Make an Easter egg tribute to Ninja Orca. Or dedicate the Halo 4 to him er something.

639

i dont know where to put this so i will just put it here
IDEA!
Underneath the “Halo News” section of the main page there should be a video section. right now would be a good time to put in the panel vids from SDCC. Later when those videos are somewhat outdated, there could be just Halo or Halo Waypoint related videos put up there. Maybe underneath them could be a link to the article/thread that the video originated from.
Hope this gets considered :smiley:

640

> 343i, you’ve got a long read ahead of you. (PLEASE READ THIS!)

I’m going to start off this monster post by saying that the most important thing you guys can do for Halo 4 is to hype it up. Look at Halo 3, for example. Remember the hype for that game? Burger King had Halo 3 ads in all their windows, and on all their food bags. Discovery Channel played the Halo 3 trailer at least twice per commercial break. There was GameFuel, ads on Doritos bags, and even action figures in Toys R Us. EVERY Halo fan was so excited to walk out the door and see all these reminders that a great game was not far off. All this hype, all these ads, very much helped Halo 3 sell. Look at its numbers on launch day. They are outstanding for an Xbox 360 exclusive.

Now let’s compare those numbers to Reach. Reach wasn’t really hyped up at all, aside from some live-action trailers on TV. Launch day reflected that. Sure it sold, much more than most other games in 2010, but not as much as it could have. See, if it was hyped up, it definitely would have sold more, which would have lead to more players, which would have extended its life even more. As of now, Reach is practically dead. It very rarely breaks 200k players at one time, and this is only 9 months after release. 9 months after Halo 3’s release, the population was still enormous.

> MP Gameplay

So yeah, hype would be nice, but you have to make a game that can live up to the hype. Halo 3 definitely did, but why is it that this game in particular had such a long life span? First of all, let’s look at the core gameplay aspects. Everyone started off equally in every match, and nobody could spawn with anything that someone else didn’t have. The game was all about skill, outsmarting your opponents, and having control. The better players would win 99% of the time, which put an emphasis on trying to become better at the game. Becoming good takes time, which extended the game’s life span by years.

Again, let’s compare H3 to Reach. Reach was much less about skill, whether that was intended or not. The skill gap was closed up so tightly that even the best of players couldn’t defeat the scrubs. This is due to random factors such as Bloom and Armor abilities. These mechanics help the worse players, while putting limits on the best players. Once you knew the controls, you were basically a killing machine, which left little to no room for improvement. Reach could be mastered in months. This is why so many people became so bored with it so quickly, and dropped it. Hence the current population.

Obviously the core gameplay of Halo 3 wasn’t the only reason it lasted so long. There were countless other factors, such as the depth added by Custom Games and Forge. This alone was one of the best things about Halo 3. Another example is the 1-50 ranking system. There was just something so satisfying about ranking up, earning your 50 and bragging rights. Your rank in Halo 3 actually did accurately represent your skill. A legit 50 could wreck any legit 25. It let you know who was at the top of the food chain. This ties in with the desire to become better at the game.

Again, we see Reach. Reach’s ranking system is inaccurate, to say the least. A Brigadier could stomp most Inheritors, and that’s because Reach’s ranking system only shows how long you’ve played the game for, and not how skilled you actually are. Sure, anyone can sit in their basement and barely outplay noobs all day, but that doesn’t take much skill does it? This leaves you with very little reason to rank up, and it is much too easy. Again, this didn’t exactly help lenghten the life span of Reach, and now it’s a dead game. (I shouldn’t say it’s dead, it just doesn’t live up to the potential of Halo population-wise.) I should also mention that it completely ruined Objective gametypes, dulled down FireFight, and destroyed teamwork. Most people on Reach right now only play to get as much cR as they can. You might be asking yourself how it ruined FF, and I’ll get to that in a second.

> Original FF vs Reach FF

Halo 3: ODST was one of the best Halo games IMO, and this is mainly because of FireFight. However, the FF in ODST was nothing like the FF in Reach. Let me explain. First of all, ODST’s FF was all about survival, and seeing how many points you can rack up. There were even achievements that encouraged you to try to survive and get a high score. This added a layer of depth to this game mode. You didn’t want to die, and you could just relax with your friends and defend yourselves against endless waves of covenant. This made for great times and great gameplay experiences.

In Reach however, FF was completely about -Yoink!- for cR. There was no incentive to survive because there was a time limit, and there was no reason to get a load of points because there was nothing you would gain in the end (Achievements). In fact, the introduction of cR turned FF from a defensive game into an offensive game, where you’re actually hunting your enemies. So yeah, I’m sure a lot of Halo players would appreciate it if you guys put the emphasis back on survival and having fun.

> Maps

We all know that every map in Halo Reach, whether it be for MM or FF, appears in the campaign. I can’t tell if this is a result of laziness or a lack of creativity. Reach also had the least number of original maps in any Halo, and most of them consisted of three colors: Dull gray, dull green, and dull blue. The maps in Reach weren’t exactly aesthetically pleasing, especially Forge World, and this made Reach’s MM very boring to play. These three colors are a pain to look at after a while.

In every other Halo game, there was a variety of colors and environments that we were able to play on in MM, and none of the maps were in Campaign, except for ODST’s FF maps. This kept gameplay fresh and entertaining. The maps were pleasing to look at, they never really got old, and only an extremely small minority complained. Not to mention that maps played better in previous titles, and they had better flow.

> TL;DR

I, as well as many other long-time Halo fans, would like a more classic experience with H4. I want the above problems to be addressed to the best of your potential, and I want Halo’s gameplay to return to the Golden Tripod of shooting, moving, and throwing grenades. If a 343 member actually bothered to read this post, I’d like to thank you immensely. As for everyone else, if you agree with me, quote this so that 343 members can see it more easily.

Thanks,
-FM1M