Simple ways to advance the UNSC to fit lore while still keeping the human feel.
Armor and weapons.
For armor.
Exoskeletons should be a common thing in the UNSC. A cheap way to enhance your troops when in CQC again the much physically superior Covenant species. As well as increase combat effectiveness by reducing the carrier weight, increase artificial strength, allow for more armor and agility as well as speed.
With the exoskeleton being a cheap alternative to improving the common soldier with out the expansive half ton multiple million credit armor that requires extensive augmentations. Considering that by this point in time exoskeletons should be so common and cheap to produce that it would be as the US equipping their soldiers with standard issue Kevlar vest.
The UNSC BDUs are already good, well ODST armor ontop of an exoskeleton would be awesome.
Pressurized suit that allows the soldier to go into a vacuum environment with out hindering mobility as much. Protects against radiation, chemical and biological hazards as well as protect against extreme temperatures. Can regulate temperature to keep the soldier inside comfortable and mask its own thermal temperature. Helmet displays a HUD with tactical information as well being able to switch between thermal, inferred and night vision. Armor consist of ceramic titanium plates and other.
Demonstration of how effective titanium armor is. UNSC titanium should be stronger.
So If the UNSC starts equipping their soldiers with advanced combat BDUs and an exoskeleton it should bridge the gap between MJOLNIR super soldier and the physically superior Covenant forces to the much weaker human and still keep that human feel to it.
Well if the soldiers BDUs looked and feel human, similar to the halo reach BDUs, but with an exoskeleton.
For weapons thats a bit difficult, considering that it will not only go into the halo universe but in game as well.
When we think 22, 23, 24 century and up, we don’t see guys using weapons that fire cold war era ammunition. But for a game thats supposed to make you feel human and not aline, DEW and other forms of advanced weapons should be kept on the side lines. But weapons that fire cold war era ammunition also takes away that feel of being in the future. Why not have both advance weapons that fire projectiles and that required magazines to load.
Railguns are an option or both chemically propelled ammunition and railgun in one, similar to the chemrail in Elsylum. Advanced ammunition, hypersonic ammunition, weapons that are practical for combat in either close, mid or long range.
I would add that I don’t like the halo AR. Its big, ammo counter is way to big when its already display in your hud. All it does is obscured your line of sight as well as the flashlight that just makes the gun feel even bigger. I can only imagine how much of a pain an MA5 would be in tight areas. That’s just my 2 cents on it. I personally hope that they (343i) go back to the halo reach model or something similar and add to it from their. Railings, iron sights, Optics for personal who dont have a helmet with a HUD or don’t have a retina display. Ammo counter isn’t huge, flashlight is small and attached to the side of the weapon stuff like that.
For ammunition, for starters not 7.62mm ammunition.
Air burst ammunition similar to the AKM in Elsylum.
http://www.imfdb.org/images/thumb/8/88/Elysium2013akmammo.jpg/600px-Elysium2013akmammo.jpg
But I don’t want to copy everything from Elysium, but they do have some neat hardware.
Hypersonic, Depleted Uranium Armor Piercing Fin Stabilized Discarding Sabot – Tracer, down size to be fired from small arm weapons.
High explosive AP rounds with a kill radius of 5 meters on unarmor targets. (Possible power weapon/AR, map pick up).
But this small what should be available to the UNSC overall. Should be left to the EU to elaborate on human weapons and advancements. I would rather take what they are described to do then what is shown in game where it will be filter down to work with the game engine and scenes that would probably be kept at a no gore allowed.
How will do they work in game, just like any weapons on the past sand box have worked. ARs are still crap at long and somewhat ok in mid but destroy in close range, same damage and kill time as past ARs. Weapons that have explosive rounds will be less effective on shielded targets and more effective on unshielded targets, will have splash damage but it will be weak and will take a considerable amount of splash damage hits to kill someone thats unshielded.
Pretty much same stuff with a makeover and with canon info that would equals to cold war/20 century > UNSC fire arms.
I would add vehicles, but thats should be its own thread considering how much their is and how badly the UNSC is in the vehicle department as well as the covenant.
So what what are you guys take on this matter? should 343i make humanity more advanced then what Bungie pictured them as or should it stay as it is? And you guys are free to add to the pile of what can be added to make humanity feel futuristic as well keeping that human feel to it.
