THE OFFICIAL HALO FEEDBACK THREAD

Community General Discussion
141

There are not nearly as many issues in Reach as most ppl would have you think.

  1. If you learn anything from this forum, let it be this.
    You cant please everyone. Keep advancing the game. Dont back track just because a few people dont like AA’s or loadouts. Hell, dont backtrack even if EVERYONE hates AA’s or loadouts. Game systems and gameplay are meant to evolve, by the very nature of technology.

That being said, some things could be brought back, if you want to talk about specifics, like specific weapons that were removed, or vehicles. “Backtrack” in the sense of bringing back specific THINGS that gamers love, like the Beam Rifle, or the Battle Rifle, or the Brute Plasma Rifle, or AA Wraiths or maps like Valhalla or Coagulation… I can go on. Specifics that were removed are always fun to bring back.

BUT. Once a technological advancement is made, dont delete it, only make it better. Maybe it means putting the Drop Shield in PVP, rather than Armor Lock and putting Armor Lock in Firefight, rather than the Drop Shield for fairness issues. Maybe it means making loadouts simpler in matchmaking so more people can grasp the concept quickly.

The point is that we gamers, every last one of us, have bias. We want the weapons we love to be more powerful, and the weapons we hate to be nerfed. Any Halo fanatic that denies they are biased to their own gameplay is lying. We can only hope that the people who make the game can determine what is fair and what is balanced.

142

After looking through almost every feedback thread I could find I’ve come up with a very long list of suggestions:

Campaign:
Giant Battles
-Space and Ground
-Similar to Tip of the Spear starting cut scene
Scarab Fights
Play as Covenant! People are tired of the UNSC, there are many threads on Bungie.net about this
A level where you fight a seemingly endless number of Covenant in a Vulture
Have a few levels that you play as an Elite
Takes more than 5 hours
More vehicular combat

Forge:
Make forge on a separate disk, this allows more space for objects and such
Objects to add to the next Forge map
-All items that appear in Highlands
-Civilian Vehicles
-All weapons from other games
-All vehicles from other games
-Ambient life -More real life objects (fences, scenery items, ect.)
-Transport vehicles (Pelican, Phantom, Spirit, transport Hog/Falcon, ect.)
-Cylinder blocks
-Vehicles w/ no limitations as well as w/ them (Grenade Launcher Falcon, Chin guns, ect.)
-Natural scenery (trees, bushes, maybe streams, ect.)
-Plain glass -Water/Lava blocks that would behave the same as the real thing.
-Ladders
-Human turret
-Decals (UNSC and Covie sign, human and alien blood, explosions, bullet holes, and controls)
-Human and Covenant ammo crates
-Water vehicles
-ODST/Covenant Drop Pod, would have pod and pod holder, could press button once in pod
-Crashed Pelicans, Phantoms, Spirits, Longswords, Drop pods, and other vehicles
-Covenant Sniper Tower
-Baseball bat, similar to golf club
-Golf Cart
-Anti-Gravity Zones, work like kill zones
-Corpses
-Music/Noise orbs, similar to FXs
-Sphere and half SphereAdd switches that would work similar to teleporters (Channels, receivers, two way, senders)Switches would open doors, rotate items, begin animations, and extend bridges among other things
Add an undo/redo button
Make custom parts by selecting a group of current parts and saving them
Improve the coordinate system (doesn’t rotate objects randomly, another decimal place)
Different object themes (Human, Covenant, natural, Forerunner, Flood, farm, military, ect.)
Terrain editor, at the least big hills of different terrains and smoother rocks
Only limited by global object limit and budget, not object limit for that type of item
Increase budget or decrease prices
More lights/Anti lights that make things dark
Team exclusive teleporters, kill zones, safe zones, switches, ect.
Adjustable lighting (Make it darker or lighter)Slip zones, makes everything inside them slippery
Fine editing toggle
Gametype exclusion, every gametype except a certain one
Fixed weapons revert to normal when picked up, phased weapons stay phased
Lock ability, makes object immovable, even by editing coordinates
Can change color of whole object; add more colors like Dark and light of every color
Use the textures from Halo: CE for Forerunner theme
Multi select, could move large groups of items all at once
Copy/paste featureObject scaling for certain items
Mirror feature, useful for making symmetrical maps
FXs only affect a certain area, can set to affect the whole map
Customizable callouts/callout zones, for example, the middle of Countdown says “Launch Pad”
Despawn timers
Kinetics, objects could move up and down, left and right, turn, and back and forth
Visual effects (Smoke, fire, ect.)
Make Forge maps smaller than Forge World to cut down on frame rate issues
Blocks and other objects set to Normal act similar to crates
Add weather affects, work similar to FX
Make small mini levels similar to campaign, could be played by 1-4 players
Delete all objects button
Add a laser type weapon to the monitor
Customizable forging models, ex: instead of monitor we could be an engineer
Edit the traits of a vehicles (damage taken, damage resistance, speed, damage dealt, ect.)
Map/Gametype search feature for local files, some people have A LOT of maps/gametypes

Multiplayer:
Make Armor Lock deplete your shields after use
Armor Abilities:
-Remote Cam, mini cam that you can fly around with for 20 secs (wouldn’t be able to do anything else)
-Enhanced Sensors, depletes shields and triples radar range
-Reinforcements, allows other players to spawn by you, wether your under attack or not
-Self Destruct, explode and kill everyone around you
-Detpack, place an explosive on the ground that can be detonated at any time
-Mine, place a mine on the ground that will detonate when anyone walks over it
-Engineer, can repair vehicles for up to 10 seconds, can be used while inside the vehicle
-Disguise, changes the color of your armor to the enemy teams
Press the arrows to call out orders heard by those around you, they would include:
-Follow me
-Flank them
-Fall Back
-Hold your position
-Get in (when driving a vehicle only)
-Get out (when driving a vehicle only)
-Hold her steady (when gunner or passenger in a vehicle)
-Let’s go (when gunner or passenger in a vehicle)
Can mark a waypoint that is visible on your team mates HUD for 10 seconds
Bring back bleedthrough
Assists count as ½ of a kill
Improve rank system
Decrease accuracy for Gauss Turret
Toggle between 1st and 3rd person while in vehicles
Show passenger, gunner, and driver health while in vehicle
Increase speed while not sprinting, increase sprint speed very little
Increase jump height
Bring back duel wielding
Allow night vision outside of Campaign, can be toggled on/off in custom gametype settings
Only military ranks (no Inheritor, Eclipse, ect.)
Bring Back SMGs
Bring back Spike and Firebomb grenades
Stay true to the Halo veterans; don’t take the “casual kids” direction, but still have fun features in MM
Take a hard look at Halo: 1 and 2 multiplayer maps, Bungie lost their map making touch after that
Decrease luck factors
Grenades should only be able to kill someone with low shields

143

And the list continues:

Firefight:
Forge Firefight maps
Firefight in space
Firefight vs. Flood, Sentinels, and Rebels
Covenant Firefight, against marines, ODSTs, and occasional Spartans
Firefight Music, would work similar to voices, could turn volume up or down

Custom Games/Gametypes:
Custom Game browser, similar to Halo: CE’s matchmaking on the PC, could either start or join games
Options for Custom Gametypes:
-Shield leech
-Shield decay
-Initial spawn traits
-Starting ammo
-Unlimited grenades
-Specifying Elites only/Spartans only in your gametype
-Kill points in objective games
-Enable/disable fall damage
-Specify amount of tiers in invasion (1-5)
-Separate traits for Spartans and Elites
-More tier types in invasion (Slayer, KOTH, VIP, Escort, etc)
-Health enable/disable (if you can turn shields off surely you can turn health off)
-Sequential hill movement
-Invasion team colors enable/disable (if disabled everyone uses their own colors)
-Enable/disable bleedthrough
-Edit traits for each load-out (damage, speed, ect.)
-Number of lives for each load-out, could be team specific
-Selection limits for load-outs, ex: Only 2 people can have the Sprint loadout at a time
-Custom load-out names
-Spawn in vehicle, could disable getting out
-Spawn with turret, could disable dropping it
VIP (and all its settings from Halo 3)
New Forge Battle Gametype, 1 from each team could be monitor, could set number of moniters
Space Battle gametype
Huge Team Battle gametype, with as many on a team as Xbox will allow, maybe inlcude a few bots
Keep all current gametypes, removing some will just anger the players
Edit the traits of a certain type of vehicle/weapon (ex, rocket launcher does less damage, or more)
Bottomless clip without infinite ammo
The ability to choose between # of zombies/humans and % of zombies/humans
The ability to not spawn in a vehicle in race (race on foot)
Actual gametype maker, see Bungie Podcast 4/19/10

Theater:
Allow whole party to view theater mode together

Armory:
Pick a weapon from the armory for your player to hold outside of games, doesn’t affect game play
Customizable armor for Elites
Bring back the Armor Detail color option
More visor colors/customizable visor color
Brute and ODST Character models

Kinect:
Custom assassinations
Custom victory dances, would initiate when you win a game or hit a certain button

Halo Wars 2:
Add a map editor
Space battles, similar to Star Wars: Empire at War
Instead of bases, start with a command center and a Forklift and build buildings wherever you would like
Sub-menus, ex: Click on Warthog sub menu and it brings up a Rocket, Gauss, and normal Warthogs
New units:
-Falcon, Grenade Launcher, Troop Transport
-Mongoose
-Revenant
-Infantry operated mobile turret, Anti-Infantry, Anti-Vehicle, Anti-Air
-Shadow
-Spectre
-Anti-Air Wraith
-Rhino in multiplayer and skirmish
-Prowler
-Bring back Cougar
-Bring back Gorgon, but make it more Covenant-ish
-Bring back Falcon with new name
New Buildings:
-Sniper Tower
-Supply building, could build supply units that collect supplies and return it to there
More than 2 teams, 1v1v1, 2v2v2, Free for All
Make custom gametypes
Map voting system
Add emblems
Search for/collect supplies options for supply units
Search and destroy/search and evade option for all units

144

> Halo Wars 2:
> Instead of bases, start with a command center and a Forklift and build buildings wherever you would like

I’ll probably have much more to say on the subject of a Halo Wars sequel later, but I’d like to respond to this specifically.

I’m not opposed to free base building for Halo Wars 2, it would probably improve the game and could be used to add variety to the races. But the essential nature of Halo Wars is to focus more on combat stripping away things not related to combat. So I would propose that the UNSC “worker” be the Cyclops, it could pull triple duty as constructor/repairer/fighter.

Forklifts would be a hilarious reference (maybe worthy of a map editor or campaign unit) but really what else would it do? It’s not even all that believable of a constructor.

To expand on this concept; Covenant constructors could be Engineers which would also heal units and possibly buff them with shields. Plus maybe a Brute leader could use Drones instead, which would only repair mechanical things but could fly and fight.

If there’s a Flood race then perhaps a Proto-gravemind could simply spawn buildings in a certain range.

145

> After looking through almost every feedback thread I could find I’ve come up with a very long list of suggestions:

You really want too many things.
Everyone would like all of this, but I’m pretty sure that not even half of your suggestions are possible, or at least possible to make in one game.

146

> > Halo Wars 2:
> > Instead of bases, start with a command center and a Forklift and build buildings wherever you would like
>
> I’ll probably have much more to say on the subject of a Halo Wars sequel later, but I’d like to respond to this specifically.
>
> I’m not opposed to free base building for Halo Wars 2, it would probably improve the game and could be used to add variety to the races. But the essential nature of Halo Wars is to focus more on combat stripping away things not related to combat. So I would propose that the UNSC “worker” be the Cyclops, it could pull triple duty as constructor/repairer/fighter.
>
> Forklifts would be a hilarious reference (maybe worthy of a map editor or campaign unit) but really what else would it do? It’s not even all that believable of a constructor.
>
> To expand on this concept; Covenant constructors could be Engineers which would also heal units and possibly buff them with shields. Plus maybe a Brute leader could use Drones instead, which would only repair mechanical things but could fly and fight.
>
> If there’s a Flood race then perhaps a Proto-gravemind could simply spawn buildings in a certain range.

A Cyclops would probably work better. Great ideas.

Again, this isn’t what I want. These were compiled from the community. I’m not saying all of this should be in 1 game, but these are just some suggestions to consider.

147

> And the list continues:
>
> Firefight:
> Forge Firefight maps
> Firefight in space
> Firefight vs. Flood, Sentinels, and Rebels
> Covenant Firefight, against marines, ODSTs, and occasional Spartans
> Firefight Music, would work similar to voices, could turn volume up or down
>
> Custom Games/Gametypes:
> Custom Game browser, similar to Halo: CE’s matchmaking on the PC, could either start or join games
> Options for Custom Gametypes:
> -Shield leech
> -Shield decay
> -Initial spawn traits
> -Starting ammo
> -Unlimited grenades
> -Specifying Elites only/Spartans only in your gametype
> -Kill points in objective games
> -Enable/disable fall damage
> -Specify amount of tiers in invasion (1-5)
> -Separate traits for Spartans and Elites
> -More tier types in invasion (Slayer, KOTH, VIP, Escort, etc)
> -Health enable/disable (if you can turn shields off surely you can turn health off)
> -Sequential hill movement
> -Invasion team colors enable/disable (if disabled everyone uses their own colors)
> -Enable/disable bleedthrough
> -Edit traits for each load-out (damage, speed, ect.)
> -Number of lives for each load-out, could be team specific
> -Selection limits for load-outs, ex: Only 2 people can have the Sprint loadout at a time
> -Custom load-out names
> -Spawn in vehicle, could disable getting out
> -Spawn with turret, could disable dropping it
> VIP (and all its settings from Halo 3)
> New Forge Battle Gametype, 1 from each team could be monitor, could set number of moniters
> Space Battle gametype
> Huge Team Battle gametype, with as many on a team as Xbox will allow, maybe inlcude a few bots
> Keep all current gametypes, removing some will just anger the players
> Edit the traits of a certain type of vehicle/weapon (ex, rocket launcher does less damage, or more)
> Bottomless clip without infinite ammo
> The ability to choose between # of zombies/humans and % of zombies/humans
> The ability to not spawn in a vehicle in race (race on foot)
> Actual gametype maker, see Bungie Podcast 4/19/10
>
> Theater:
> Allow whole party to view theater mode together
>
> Armory:
> Pick a weapon from the armory for your player to hold outside of games, doesn’t affect game play
> Customizable armor for Elites
> Bring back the Armor Detail color option
> More visor colors/customizable visor color
> Brute and ODST Character models
>
> Kinect:
> Custom assassinations
> Custom victory dances, would initiate when you win a game or hit a certain button
>
> Halo Wars 2:
> Add a map editor
> Space battles, similar to Star Wars: Empire at War
> Instead of bases, start with a command center and a Forklift and build buildings wherever you would like
> Sub-menus, ex: Click on Warthog sub menu and it brings up a Rocket, Gauss, and normal Warthogs
> New units:
> -Falcon, Grenade Launcher, Troop Transport
> -Mongoose
> -Revenant
> -Infantry operated mobile turret, Anti-Infantry, Anti-Vehicle, Anti-Air
> -Shadow
> -Spectre
> -Anti-Air Wraith
> -Rhino in multiplayer and skirmish
> -Prowler
> -Bring back Cougar
> -Bring back Gorgon, but make it more Covenant-ish
> -Bring back Falcon with new name
> New Buildings:
> -Sniper Tower
> -Supply building, could build supply units that collect supplies and return it to there
> More than 2 teams, 1v1v1, 2v2v2, Free for All
> Make custom gametypes
> Map voting system
> Add emblems
> Search for/collect supplies options for supply units
> Search and destroy/search and evade option for all units

WHAT no flood for custom games !? all of the rest i agree with but no playable flood other then infection and fire fight ?

148

> And the list continues:
>
> Firefight:
> Forge Firefight maps
> Firefight in space
> Firefight vs. Flood, Sentinels, and Rebels
> Covenant Firefight, against marines, ODSTs, and occasional Spartans
> Firefight Music, would work similar to voices, could turn volume up or down
>
> Custom Games/Gametypes:
> Custom Game browser, similar to Halo: CE’s matchmaking on the PC, could either start or join games
> Options for Custom Gametypes:
> -Shield leech
> -Shield decay
> -Initial spawn traits
> -Starting ammo
> -Unlimited grenades
> -Specifying Elites only/Spartans only in your gametype
> -Kill points in objective games
> -Enable/disable fall damage
> -Specify amount of tiers in invasion (1-5)
> -Separate traits for Spartans and Elites
> -More tier types in invasion (Slayer, KOTH, VIP, Escort, etc)
> -Health enable/disable (if you can turn shields off surely you can turn health off)
> -Sequential hill movement
> -Invasion team colors enable/disable (if disabled everyone uses their own colors)
> -Enable/disable bleedthrough
> -Edit traits for each load-out (damage, speed, ect.)
> -Number of lives for each load-out, could be team specific
> -Selection limits for load-outs, ex: Only 2 people can have the Sprint loadout at a time
> -Custom load-out names
> -Spawn in vehicle, could disable getting out
> -Spawn with turret, could disable dropping it
> VIP (and all its settings from Halo 3)
> New Forge Battle Gametype, 1 from each team could be monitor, could set number of moniters
> Space Battle gametype
> Huge Team Battle gametype, with as many on a team as Xbox will allow, maybe inlcude a few bots
> Keep all current gametypes, removing some will just anger the players
> Edit the traits of a certain type of vehicle/weapon (ex, rocket launcher does less damage, or more)
> Bottomless clip without infinite ammo
> The ability to choose between # of zombies/humans and % of zombies/humans
> The ability to not spawn in a vehicle in race (race on foot)
> Actual gametype maker, see Bungie Podcast 4/19/10
>
> Theater:
> Allow whole party to view theater mode together
>
> Armory:
> Pick a weapon from the armory for your player to hold outside of games, doesn’t affect game play
> Customizable armor for Elites
> Bring back the Armor Detail color option
> More visor colors/customizable visor color
> Brute and ODST Character models
>
> Kinect:
> Custom assassinations
> Custom victory dances, would initiate when you win a game or hit a certain button
>
> Halo Wars 2:
> Add a map editor
> Space battles, similar to Star Wars: Empire at War
> Instead of bases, start with a command center and a Forklift and build buildings wherever you would like
> Sub-menus, ex: Click on Warthog sub menu and it brings up a Rocket, Gauss, and normal Warthogs
> New units:
> -Falcon, Grenade Launcher, Troop Transport
> -Mongoose
> -Revenant
> -Infantry operated mobile turret, Anti-Infantry, Anti-Vehicle, Anti-Air
> -Shadow
> -Spectre
> -Anti-Air Wraith
> -Rhino in multiplayer and skirmish
> -Prowler
> -Bring back Cougar
> -Bring back Gorgon, but make it more Covenant-ish
> -Bring back Falcon with new name
> New Buildings:
> -Sniper Tower
> -Supply building, could build supply units that collect supplies and return it to there
> More than 2 teams, 1v1v1, 2v2v2, Free for All
> Make custom gametypes
> Map voting system
> Add emblems
> Search for/collect supplies options for supply units
> Search and destroy/search and evade option for all units

WHAT no flood for custom games !? all of the rest i agree with but no playable flood other then infection and fire fight ?

149

Here is my link: http://halo.xbox.com/forums/games/f/7/p/5797/49517.aspx#49517
Please read.

150

There is a lot of items that many gamers would like to see. I don’t know how well or how efficient you can make any Halo game. But I do have a few wishes for all the realms in the Halo experience (Campaign, Matchmaking, Firefight, Forge, Custom Games and Theatre).

Campaign

  • Underwater/water based combat mission or a forest based battle. Either one will work awesome.

  • Canon Mission ( if its possible and even then, 1 or 2 is fine)

  • Missions that allow Spartans to choose a loadout to begin with. Really let the gamer choose how to start a mission.

  • Skulls AND enemies hunting. Made it fun to traverse maps trying to locate them all since Halo 2…

  • Separate disk if needed, but I’d also like to revisit Halo 2’s “Play as high-up elite” campaign idea. It was fun seeing the covenant perspective, but maybe it could be something new? Maybe a brute chieftain?

That’s all my ideas for campaign.

Matchmaking

  • Armor Abilities are awesome. Keepers. But modify them so that a player isn’t so dependent on them. The Halo Universe has always been a shooter first, AA user second and people are relying on AA’s a lot more the shooting in Reach (from my experience). I’d like to see this changed.

  • Objective’s need more time for larger maps. Small contingents are fine. But the time for Hemorrhage is ridiculously slow. I stopped playing objective because I got tired of only getting two-three spawns or rushing and finding I’m dying because I’m rushing.

  • Power weapons got made real simple for other games. Especially the Gears beta (machine gun, sniper, laser rifle, digger, Power Pistol.) That’s really the only combat effective I’ve seen get used. I think downgrading the power weapons to sole: SL (Spartan Laser), SR (Sniper Rifle), CS (Combat Shotgun), RL (Rocket Launcher) and introduce a new Three headshot/ five body shot pistol with two clips in it would be nice. Halo: CE had it, why not revitalize it as a map weapon? Two per team, etc.

  • Assault Rifles look fancy and we see MC using them in practically everything, but this weapon needs to be modified for matchmaking. Respect for the rifle should include a set ridicule. This was my only issue with it. We see MC running around (in Legends, The Package specifically) not dropping a dime of the ridicule, but rather, shooting enemies in the head with it. Make it respectable in the sense that it has a set ridicule, but only can achieve a fast kill with focus on the head. Body shots should achieve the same kill bullets as Halo: Reach.

  • Vehicular Space battle map. Nuff said…

  • Customize a map SPECIFICALLY for load outs. As in, if you want a sniper, you spawn in with one. There is no sniper on the map, there is no spare ammo. Only basic weapons and two clips (One on spawn, one spare, if you die, weapon disappears) of whatever loadout you choose. Limitation: ONE power weapon as listed above. Snipers aren’t powerful enough to destroy vehicles, SL does, so that banshee better hope no one spawns in with one. Really let the player see if they like the way that goes, if not, then they can choose another map. Rockets get two shots. No more needed if played smart.

That’s all i really got for Matchmaking I’d like to see besides new, BALANCED maps…

Firefight

  • Normal everything. Elites and spartans. Bungie made a no-no (imo) when spartans got an over shield and a camping spot on every map. Impossible to win unless spartan player skill is significantly less and even then, requires proper teamwork which generally was not found by me. I stopped because of this. Give the elites a chance and force the spartans to WORK TOGETHER! lol…

  • Choose class. Play as Brute, Elite, Spartan, or Flood. Yes, allow some maps for Flood, some for Elites/Brutes. Scratch Flood first if its too much.

  • More big maps (two please). I miss maps that force players to think strategically over distance…

  • Make a grunt fuel rod class (suggestion) that’s unlockable. Just like campaign skulls/B.o.b.'s, allow a player to unlock something crazy and fun.

  • Possibility I’d like to see, but cannot expect: Include another 2 people. Firefight Invasion. Play on a large map. Multiple Dropships, make it… ehh… I’ll say two-three waves per “times of drop” and the six should be challenged.

  • Space combat for LNOS equivalent. Two sets please.

Forge

  • I’d like to see a separate disk for forgers. Some forgers can SPEECHLESS maps and I think its time for that reward as well as more options, but I got quite a list for these guys so…

  • More real life objects (fences, scenery items, ect.)

  • Transport vehicles (Pelican, Phantom, Spirit, transport Hog/Falcon, ect.)

  • More Turret placements (more capacity for turrets)

  • Decals (Computer monitors, human/ alien remains, bullet hole walls, and various controls for objects)

  • Destroyed vehicles (Pelican from Halo 3, etc.). For large landscapes, make it a graveyard of destroyed vehicles.

  • Undo/Repeat option (quickpad would be a nice option)

  • Stop gametype specification. Supports all gametypes unless specified for only one.

  • Visuals (smoke is really it to me…)

And that’s really all i got for Forgers…

Custom Games

  • Open it up and let us choose anything and everything we want. Classes, weapons… this is all.

Theatre

  • Include a slow playback option for recording purposes. Show the bullets leaving the gun, traveling, going through impossible angle’s, etc…

  • Have more options for layout of play. Starting with a HUD sometimes is annoying because of the lack of a true “Legend” on how to shut stuff on and off, what’s playback, etc…

  • Have a larger comment box…

So those are my suggestions. I can’t really take credit for some of this stuff, pla7yers and friends have made some of these an I merely want to bring them to light so… night ya’ll… it’s 1:17 here…

151

I’m skeptical of even posting this. Regardless, I feel that these ideas NEED to at least be available to the Halo community, even if most will say TLDR (Too long, didn’t read). The following is a semi-detailed list of suggestions of what the next Forge and Forgeworld should contain. Many avid Forgers who spend 90%+ of their Halo time in the current Forge and Forgeworld have debated everything listed here. This list is the best of what we came up with and agree upon so far, and it is still a work-in-progress:

[NOTE: Due to post-size limitations, this will have to take up numerous posts. Sorry for the inconvenience]

NOTE: All these ideas assume that the game comes on two disks. This would allow for exponentially greater space for Campaign and Forge and Multiplayer.

Disk One:
Campaign (Big, and I mean BIG. 18+ hours at least)
campaign Matchmaking
Firefight
Firefight Matchmaking

Disk Two:
Multiplayer
Multiplayer Matchmaking
Forge
Forgeworld (upgraded; see below)

This setup would allow for a much better Forge, Campaign, and Multiplayer system. Also, it would be great if we could play both installed disks from just Disk One (and only Disk One).

The Next Forge should have:

  • Terrain Cubes (That’s 6 sides) (Small, Medium, Large, Extra Large (With different terrain geometry on each side (flat, wavy, hill, indented, etc.) There would be multiple cube textures (Grass, Sand, Mountain, Snow, etc)))

  • Different Forge Object Textures ((Each in its own category) Halo: CE, Halo 2 (ruins), Halo 2 (regular (forerunner)), Halo 3, Human, Covenant)

  • Open-able Doors using channels (alpha, bravo, Charlie, etc (this includes gates, such as on Zanzibar, Containment, Highground)Open-able doors which can either bet set to “normal” (which would make them automatically open for a player and close behind him/her), or set to a specific ‘channel’, like the teleporters (alpha, bravo, charlie, …, x-ray, yankee, zulu, etc.). If the door was set to a channel, you would then place a ‘panel’ and set it to the same channel. During a game, a player would go up to the panel and it would say “Press X to use Panel”. The door would then open.

The beauty of this is that you could place the door at one spot, and the panel wherever you want. Since both are linked through the channel setting, it wouldn’t matter where either was located. Also, by using the channel system, you can have multiple doors open with one switch, or multiple switches open one door.

You could even have a setting for the switch which would allow it to be used to open AND close doors, such as an option like:

SWITCH PROPERTIES: “Open”, “Close”, “Both”

You should be able to set it’s reuse time, or the time between uses:

REACTIVATION TIME: “Instant”, “Never”, “5 seconds”, “10 seconds”, “1 minute”, etc.

Include multiple “door” sizes: “Small” (like a door in any hallway), “Medium” (such as those gates on Zanzibar/Last resort), “Large” (Like those big base gates on Containment), “Extra Large” (Use your imagination).

Also, some sort of correlation between switches and teleporters would be cool, like on Relic: How you had to hit a switch to activate the teleporters.

  • Automatic Doors (Like in campaign; doors that open as you approach and close as you move away.)

  • Different Sky-Box options (Nighttime, Daytime, Sunset, Stormy, etc) This would replace lighting-effects.You could have multiple different Sky-box options:
    Regular
    Morning
    Night
    Evening
    Stormy
    et.
    You would just select one while Forging your map and it would switch to it. The beauty of having the sky-box swap is that it’s just one less thing to constantly bog-down the server during gameplay. The lighting effects used currently are just filters, and can affect gameplay. We should at least have the option to Forge on different Forgeworlds with these different Sky-Boxes before we even start the game:
    Forgeworld
    Forgeworld (Night)
    Forgeworld (Stormy)
    Forgeworld (Sunset)
    etc.

  • Forgeable Water (Using ‘Objective’ area shape (cylinder, box) with water surface at top; anything inside the boundaries but below the surface will be ‘underwater’ (Option to have it ‘flow’ (fast for rapids (and waterfalls (when turned sideways)), slow for creeks and such, and an ‘ocean’ option; one default ‘flow’ direction only)))

  • FIX THE “EDIT COORDINATES” and “ROTATION SNAP”! (Sometimes objects don’t align, especially when flipped upside down. Also, what the heck is up with rotation snap?)

  • Mirrored Objects (This is A MUST! Either an option to mirror a selected object, or pre-mirrored objects)

  • More Window-like Objects that are more versatile. (Perhaps just window pane objects with no frame (small, medium, large))

  • At least 26 Different Teleporter Pairs, one pair for each channel (That’s 52 total teleporter placements. A little extreme, but it is definitely needed. Also, this could possibly have a correlation between this and the open-able doors system (Key a switch to activate a teleporter).)

152

[continued]

  • Bigger Forge World with different biomes (desert, Artic, mountain, Cave, etc.)They should take the existing Forgeworld and expand upon it. All those areas we can’t currently get to should be altered so as to offer better playability (Flattening land and such). This would include the large out of bounds area above the Canyon and the Area with that large Forerunner Tower-Structure-Thing.

Then, they should at least quadruple the size of Forgeworld, spanning it out in multiple directions. You should be able to fly to those distant shores you see in the distance and forge there (as viewed from the shores of the canyon, and island). Even further away should be a DESERT AREA. If you go to the CANYON’s shore and look out in the distance to the right, you’ll see what appears to be a desert. You should be able to fly over to it and forge there.

From the ISLAND, you can look out across a big sea and see a distant shore that looks snowy. That should be a SNOW AREA. On the far side of the Snow area should be an Ice-Shelf Cliff that drops into another ocean-like area, only arctic themed (with ice floating in it, etc).

There should also be a very, VERY LARGE CAVE (Bigger than Waterworks) inside a mountain which is accessible via a hole in the ceiling (like in Waterworks) and by a hole in one of the walls that is very easily concealed with a Forgeable rock. Likewise, the hole in the ceiling is concealable.

From the PILLAR you can see a valley between that ‘Skull Mountain’ and the main area of Forgeworld. You should be able to fly through that valley and emerge into an area suited for Forging URBAN ENVIRONMENTS. Perhaps this would be an exposed part of the Halo superstructure (like an uncovered part, as seen in Halo 3), or something like a collection of Forerunner structures in an urban setup. This area should also contain an entrance to an even larger “inside” area (such as the COLISEUM).

Each one of these ‘biomes’ should be at least the size of the current Forgeworld (hopefully bigger) and offer as much if not more terrain diversity suited for each area individually. Also, the areas in-between each biome should be populated by diverse and suitable terrain that illustrates the changing climate and ecosystem with transitional textures (i.e. the closer you get to the desert, the more dry the land becomes, the less green the grass is, more sandy patches appear, etc… As you approach the SNOW area, snowy patches in the grass should become more and more common, etc.)

I realize that this seems like a lot to fit on one disk that also has Campaign, Multiplayer, firefight, etc. This is why I’ve been pushing for a Two Disk game:

  • Weather Control (Possibly in conjunction with Sky-Box; rain, snow, etc.)

  • Light Bridges (like in Halo: CE (Not crucial, but very, very useful) Small (Like the ones on the flood level), and Large (Like the vehicle one on the Halo level). Length adjustment. The large one should have those moving beams underneath it. The Light bridges would be under the same area as open-able doors and use the same ‘channel’ system).

  • Animated Objects (Such as the big Fan on Zanzibar, The spinning array on Ascension, or the pile-driver thingy on Waterworks. They are decorative pieces).

  • Civilian Vehicles? (Maybe? Doesn’t really matter, but it would be nice)

  • Mega-Structures (BIG, detailed objects such as large Forerunner Structures or human Buildings. These would be very, very large (such as the Spire, or that Forerunner structure on Forgeworld, or those weather-control things on Tempest))

  • More Rocks, bigger rocks (HUGE, to be used to wall-off areas; possible texture Cubes option) There should be a rock dedicated to walling-off areas, such as the CAVE Biome mentioned above.

  • Forgeable Trees? (Maybe? Not as big a deal, but still extremely useful and very wanted by the community.)

  • Forgeable Invisible Walls (With adjustable dimensions (This is needed. Kill-Boundaries aren’t good. Especially Soft Kill-Boundaries; Regular ‘death barrier’ Kill-Boundaries are still needed).)

  • A ‘Despawn Time’ option (The opposite of ‘Spawn Time’. Similar to the ‘Invasion Gate’ option currently available while forging Invasion Maps in Halo Reach)

  • More accurate time settings for ‘Spawn Time’, ‘Despawn Time’, ‘Respawn Time’. (Just add a ‘minutes’ option AND a ‘seconds’ option.)

  • CRUCIAL: An Extreme Increase to ‘Budget’ and the number of objects able to be placed at one time. An EXTREME INCREASE. MUCH, MUCH MORE (like, over 10x as much).

153

[continued]

There have been several questions and responses and I have done my best to address them:

> Posted by: bloodpixel
> I would like individual weapon editing.
> I.e. damage, fire rate etc.
> I would also like drop pods cause those would be hilarious.

We tried to steer away from “gimmicky” ideas such as those and focus more on what could actually be done and achieved by 343 if they worked towards this as their final goal from day-one of production.

> Posted by: II R3D II
> I think alot of work/expansion needs to be done in regards to forgeworld. However i do’t think having one huge forgeworld is a good idea.
>
> This is because of
> a. the map performance would be seriously questionable.
>
> b. the amount of time which it would take to taverse this incredibly large area of space would take forever. (monitor’s speed already feels incredibly slow)
>
> c. The background areas in the distance would most likely seem out of place. e.g. a snowy/ice area with a desert in the distance? or jungle? doesnt quite make sense.
>
> Also another thing i would like, this may be inluded in the “cavey” idea but lava/or a volcano or a large scale jungle map/area I believe would be quite interesting and offer a completely new spectrum of forging options whilst remaining fresh based on the fact it hasn’t been seen/done before.
>
> Otherwise I find the OP to be a good idea on how forgeworld or forging in general could be expanded. Although I still think that the level of detail expressed within this post is only scraping the top of the iceberg, although how much is feasible is another issue entirely…

AS far as Map performance:
That could be solved by loading each area as you approach it, similarly to the way Bethesda loads chunks of terrain in Oblivion, Fallout 3, and New Vegas. This would pseudo-deload previous areas, leaving them distant-looking, the same way the distant shores look in the current Forgeworld.

When you select “Forgeworld” from the map list in the lobby, you’d be able to choose which biome to start in:

Forgeworld Location:
Desert
Snow Area
Temperate Area
Cave
etc.

As far as Monitor speed goes, perhaps by holding down both triggers, you go even faster than just holding down left trigger.

> Posted by: tsassi2
> I read that all and I must to say only suggestion I didn’t like was that super huge Forge World idea. I would much more like different Forge Worlds with different enviroments: Snow, desert, like the current Forge World, urban.
>
> The reasons I would like this are simple.
>
> 1. It looks pretty stupid and boring when you’re in the middle of a desert but can see non-desert terrain just few kilometers from your position.
>
> 2. Having a bigger map lowers it’s performance. I would much more like a map with detailed textures than a map where some textures just a little bit outside of boundaries are very low resolution.
>
> 3. Smaller map means better performance. Better performance means more objects.

The different biomes would be separated by the seas and just as far away as they seem from the current Forgeworld. But Your argument of separate Forgeworlds is almmost as popular with the group that I Forge with for the very reasons you list. However, keep in mind that I do not discuss the whole “Networking” and “Loading” issues in this post. If you would like to hear a few of the possible solutions to these problems that the group came up with, PM me and I’ll send the details your way.

However, the Bigger Forgeworld Idea was definitely the most popular.

> Posted by: BronzeOregon
> All of these are also possible, just put an in-game editor into the second disk, and encourage modding, because changing the damage, RoF, and projectiles is modding, beautiful, beautiful modding.

While I do agree that modding has a place in all video games, these ideas focus more on giving players and Forgers capabilities, tools and abilities that enable us to truly craft “good” maps that don’t have to sacrifice aesthetics for gameplay and performance or vice-versa.

Remember:
At it’s heart, the FORGE is still just an object editor. It’s not a true “Map Maker”. These tools will give players the ability to rival most map makers, though, while still staying true to the nature of the Forge.

154

[More questions and answers already addressed]

> Posted by: NekoNoodle
> -I would add the Elephant from Halo 3’s Sandtrap.
>
> -Switches that activate other things. (Spawns items, despawns items, etc.)
>
> -Undo button.
>
> -Destructible objects.
>
> -The ability to use Night Vision.
>
> -All items from Foundry. (Halo 3)
>
> -Adding the Pelican.
>
> -Dead bodies. This would be a scenery object. (Covenate, Civilians, Spartans, UNSC, ODST etc.) (Great for Infection.)
>
> -More scenery objects.

The Elephant was a vehicle which had a lot of potential, but was underutilized and seemed out-of-place in the role Bungie had it serving in Sandtrap. We would like to see it return as a forgeable vehicle, but not without an overhaul.

Hitting a button to spawn an object feels a little ‘gimmicky’. However, a great workaround would be to hit a switch that activated a teleporter that led to a room with said item.

The “undo” feature and the “redo” are hotly debated topics for us. On the one hand, YES PLEASE!!! On the other, logic. The variable nature of the Forge would make this a very, very hard feature to code and implement. What we came up with was a compromise: A feature that would “bring back” the last object you just deleted. It would come back in the exact coordinates that it was in before it’s removal. However, this would only be available for the last object you deleted. Any more would be too stressful on the system.

Destructible objects are another debated topic. They would make for very compelling games and maps, but is the trade-off worth it? They stress the system, cause lag, and rely heavily on the “object respawn” system. We’re still talking about this one.

Nightvision is a subject dealing with the entire next Halo Game, not the next Forgeworld. If 343 puts it in, then great. If not, it doesn’t really affect Forgeworld.

There would be an entire section devoted to UNSC, Covenant, Halo: CE, Halo 2 (ruins/regular), and Halo 3 (The Ark) themed structures and objects, which could be mixed and matched in the same map.

We’re still debating the Pelican and Phantom and Spirit, but as of now it seems the majority are in favor of a Falcon-type vehicle that can hold passenger as well as gunners.

We’ve decided that “body objects” would not be a good addition because they stress the system and would look out-of-place without the ability to paint blood on objects and textures (And before you ask, the blood-painting is a no-no).

> Posted by: BronzeOregon
> But in an even farther reaching idea, AI allys and enemys. Put them on a team, restrict them in certain gametypes to only kill not capture in CTF, or so many other things you could do with AI in Halo. Halo:Reach : $60 X-port:$25 Launching marines?: Priceless.

Forging AI would not be applicable with the system we have suggested. Our suggested system utilizes a Campaign Disk and separate Multiplayer Disk. The campaign disk (disk 1) would contain all the code and elements for AI, and would be able to expand greatly upon that due to the freed-up space of having Forgeworld and Multiplayer on Disk 2. This system allows for each disk to specialize in its respective field, and allows for much greater content.

All AI data would be on disk 1. Disk 2 is what contains Forgeworld. However, you touched on another iffy subject for us:

Forging Firefight. … and that’s all I’m saying about it here.

> Posted by: Chromification
> No - I would need to change disks constantly.
>
> All on one disk or no thanks.

Do you spend most of your time in Matchmaking, or Campaign?

The Majority of players usually commit to one or the other for extended periods of time before swapping back to the other.

The 2-Disk system actually encourages players to spend more dedicated time in different aspects of the game. Plus, with all the space freed up on each disk by splitting Campaign and Firefight from Multiplayer and Forgeworld, we’d be ensured a much longer, better campaign in which to devote more of our time.

I also mentioned that it would be awesome if we could install both disks and play both from Disk 1 only (The campaign disk). We know that this system would still be open to abuse, but it would allow for a better overall experience.

We’ve also tossed around the idea of “Hot Swapping” disks. This entails selecting an option from the game’s main menu to swap disks. The Disk Tray would open and you could then swap disks without ever leaving the Game Menu (You wouldn’t be forced to go back to the 360 Dashboard).

> Posted by: Apocalypse265
> Another good idea would be to have the ability to select something that you have built (Lets say I make a stair way for example)and then duplicate it in its entirety or move the entire thing as if it were one object. Sort of like a copy/delete/paste kinda thing.

That kinda falls under the subject of “Object Grouping”. This is A MUST. The ability to select multiple objects at once and move/delete them as one. The “Clone Object(s)” tool could be useful, but we all decided that if it was a toss-up between that and a “Mirror Object(s)”, we’d rather have the option to mirror the object(s) in order to create better bases and structures.

155

I’ve been thinking for a while about the future of Halo, and I guess bringing back Master Chief would bring a smile back to all Halo fans. watching John kick some -Yoink- one more time and all; Halo 4 would tatally be a comercial success, but think about this:

Halo, the Halo franshise, the Halo universe, its story, its characters. The reason we love Halo’s campaign. I believe it’s the most epic storyline any videogame has gotten so far. The flood, the covenant, year 2552, everything is so… perfect.

I have played every Halo (except Halo Wars), and I find it rather unique to have a linear plot everyone can understand and enjoy, a fresh idea back in 2001 that culminates in 2007 with the release of Halo 3. Halo 3: ODST surely enhanced the story even more, but I always felt there was some sort of completion amongst the Halo CE/2/3 triangle.

Watching Master Chief come out of his pod in Halo CE and watching him entering it again in Halo 3 makes a perfect circle for me. A sense of realisation, of fulfill.

I would totally love to continue the Master Chief story, but thinking it twice, I think it’s just perfect as it is right now. Halo 3’s ending was Epic, more Epic than any other ending I have ever seen, and this is the reason I think that, while it would be nice to continue, I would prefer to keep it that way; perfect.

If you guys are ever going to make a Halo 4, and start it off with the Forward Unto Dawn landing in that mysterious planet, I think you will be sort of breaking the feeling of success and completion previous Halos gave us.

For me, Master Chief is good as it is. In an unknown location, that brings an unknown ending every player can fill with their own ideas. There’s no flood now, since John erradicated it completely, and I think bringing him to fight them one more time in Halo 4, just to finish them off again in the ending of Halo 4, seem a little weak to me.

It would feel like a “meh” storyline. Why do you put the flood again just to finish them again?

If you guys already have the storyline, I sadly hope there’s no Master Chief in it. There’s a whole Halo universe out there. Hundreads of stories not told yet. 500 years of plot you guys can fill. A covenant campaign? A marine campaign? Gray Team campaign? Another Spartan ll campaign? I don’t know! But please, 343, don’t touch the Master Chief story linbe. He ended in an Epic way. Don’t take that Epicness away from him.

And finally, if you are making new characters, new spartans or whatever, I personally recomend you not to kill them 5 missions from where you introduced them. A Halo Reach mistake lots of players complain about. There was no connection between the player and the characters. There was no regret after watching them die, since we didn’t relly feel like caring about them.

I recomend you that, if you make Halo 4 with a different plot that follows a different character than Master Chief, make it so it continues on Halo 5 or Halo 6 or whatever. Keep the protagonist alive for other 3 games. Rebuild the Halo franchise from scratch, but keep the Halo feeling to it.

This wall of text is, of course, my sole and lonely opinion. Keep up the good work guys.

156

I agree with this. I think new DLC, and armor would be a very good idea. Mabye bring back some of the armor from halo 3 such as the Haybusa. And for this site I have some ideas, try make it more friendly for all halo players by letting them see there stats, ranking, fileshare, etc… for Halo 3, ODST and also Reach. And mabye make something for the clans out there so they can use this for there new internet clan base. But I love halo and I think that is great you guys are taking over, we are all counting on you guys to continue the halo franchise and keep it going. Great job and Good Luck for the future 343

157

for halo 4 can we get a new vehicle walker like thing ? and for custom games add the option for drop ships to drop off weapons like in halo 2 and halo 3 ? and also maybe for vehicles too like covenant for elites human for spartans and mini flood guys to help the flood players or new flood weapons if they have any ? but plaese add bots for custom games and MM.

158

@angello

The Flood aren’t dead,because of the following reasons:

1)There are still flood forms inside many other Forerunner research facilities

2)Considering that the Flood are extragalactic,it’s safe to say there are still of them lurking outside

3)Gravemind can’t be killed.Assuming the Precursor and Gravemind are the same,then the mind could survive a Halo ring wave as the Precursor was able to.You can destroy a the minds body,but you can’t destroy his consiousness.

And…i really want to see the Chief again.The story isn’t finished for him.The Forerunners have something in store for the the Humans and especially the Chief.We don’t know what yet,but hints were gives to us from the terminals to Cryptum .I guess that Halo 4 will be about finishing the flood once and for all(i dunno how) ,Humanitys place in the galaxy and some Forerunner-Precursor old plans.

However that’s your opinion and i respect that.

As for me ,i hope we see a Halo 4 teaser at E3 2011.I can’t wait to see the continuation of the Trilogy story ,i missed that in the latest 3 Halo games.And i really really hope Arbiter Thel Vadam will make an appearance in Halo 4.

159

I want more maps in the next DLC. I would love to have at least 5 maps. I would pay a bit more. I just want more than 3 next time. Thanks.

160

In grifball there needs to be something done about the dead cancelling. Example: When a person hammers an opponent, legit kill, but the hammer burst is absorbed by a dead corpse under the player’s feet.