Do you remember that backpack 343? I sure do. We never got a straight answer from Bungie why it was ditched in favor of AA Fannypacks. We never got a crooked answer either.
Barring that, I think that dynamically altering your profile based on your AA choice only helps AAs and that it should be brought back at least for H5. One of Halo’s signatures is that weapons of power dynamically alter your profile, even if not in use. Everyone gets that feeling of dread when they see that bulky mass of a Rocket Launcher rounding a corner. Or recognizing the long and thin profile of the Sniper Rifle before the bullet makes a drive by on their brain cells.
So why not give AC a poncho like contraption (That’s a Ghost in the Shell reference if any of you kiddies are old enough to remember that) or Hardlight Shield it’s own forearm generator? Why was, and is, Jetpack the only AA with something that alters the profile?
Because something that bulky effects your hit boxes directly and you would be a larger target. People with armor lock would be “larger” than those with sprint or camo. Besides Its not all about what looks cool or useful in a realistic battle situation, its about balance in the multiplayer.
Well AAs in Halo 4 are severely toned down, or nerfed. Don’t play such a ‘power’ role anymore (that they did in Reach). I don’t think they should have those profiles, because they don’t affect the battle as much as a power weapon.
> Because something that bulky effects your hit boxes directly and you would be a larger target. People with armor lock would be “larger” than those with sprint or camo. Besides Its not all about what looks cool or useful in a realistic battle situation, its about balance in the multiplayer.
I agree, but a subtle change in the appearance of a spartan can be just that - Aesthetic. It doesn’t have to affect the hitbox. Take Reach for example: The male and female spartans differ in body size, yet their hitboxes remain the same. Same goes for the varying armour permutations. Some helmets rise higher than others, giving you more to look at but not more to shoot.
I think they could definitely implement visual indicators without messing with how the game plays.
> Seems more logical to have them the way they are. That pre-beta AL looks like a fugly hunk of junk.
>
> Not to mention last time I checked, in a war, effectiveness of equipment > fashion.
It looks more canon. I’m sure you would need a helluva lot of power to generate an impervious shield, considering you need Fusion cells to generate a shield. I’m sure Armor Lock would’ve looked very similar to that, while the other AA’s are fannypacks as they’re small power modules, and not extra fusion generators.
AAs should be visible from most sides on the player. This is something I preached post-Reach beta.
But since there isn’t anything as ridiculous as Armor Lock, and since everyone can sprint, I don’t think we’ll need to worry about what AA somebody has in the heat of battle. Regen and Auto Sentry don’t work if you’re in a firefight, and Hardlight Shield is easy to counter. The only potentially problematic one is Thruster Pack, but the disorientation of the 3rd person should allow you to get a drop on them while they’re launching.
> AAs should be visible from most sides on the player. This is something I preached post-Reach beta.
>
> But since there isn’t anything as ridiculous as Armor Lock, and since everyone can sprint, I don’t think we’ll need to worry about what AA somebody has in the heat of battle. Regen and Auto Sentry don’t work if you’re in a firefight, and Hardlight Shield is easy to counter. The only potentially problematic one is Thruster Pack, but the disorientation of the 3rd person should allow you to get a drop on them while they’re launching.
>
> I think it’ll be fine given these reasons.
Doesn’t Thruster Pack give you bigger shoulders? So you would be able to notice a player that has it equipped.
> > AAs should be visible from most sides on the player. This is something I preached post-Reach beta.
> >
> > But since there isn’t anything as ridiculous as Armor Lock, and since everyone can sprint, I don’t think we’ll need to worry about what AA somebody has in the heat of battle. Regen and Auto Sentry don’t work if you’re in a firefight, and Hardlight Shield is easy to counter. The only potentially problematic one is Thruster Pack, but the disorientation of the 3rd person should allow you to get a drop on them while they’re launching.
> >
> > I think it’ll be fine given these reasons.
>
> Doesn’t Thruster Pack give you bigger shoulders? So you would be able to notice a player that has it equipped.
Good point. I forgot to mention that both Camo and Promethean Vision have tells on the radar when you are using them.
> Because something that bulky effects your hit boxes directly and you would be a larger target. People with armor lock would be “larger” than those with sprint or camo. Besides Its not all about what looks cool or useful in a realistic battle situation, its about balance in the multiplayer.
This would be for all intents and purposes for balance. The current state of AA’s is a random guestimate of what the hell that person has. Armor Lock was terrible because of this. Halo 4 will be the same random mess that was Reach, just with the wrinkles smoothed out a bit.
