I saw this on reddit and wanted to post my thoughts. What would you do if you were given complete control over the halo franchise with Microsoft full support?
I would take at least 5 months to get everyone on the same page.
I would make sure to start cutting some things out, and adding in things that are essential.
Every department at 343 would have these essential bullet points hammered into them for gameplay, visuals, story and music.
Gameplay:
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Fun needs to be on your mind at all times. Ask yourself if what you are doing encourages fun. - Build off of Halo 5, but make it fit into a more realistic physics engine. - Vehicles are king. - The gameplay must be built around the physics engine. Exceptions for this can be made, but nothing that compromises the engine. - Squad based mechanics are an extra feature, but not a main one. - Split Screen support is a priority, as well as system link. There needs to be an abundance of ways people can play. - Online multiplayer does not take precedence over campaign.Visuals:
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Halo’s look does not need to be changed. Embrace the artstyle of the original games. - Work with the story team to make everything fit together. - Gameplay comes before visuals in multiplayer. - Lighting is a priority. - Scale should be used to create wonder.Story:
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Everything in the game revolves around the story as much as fun. - Death has meaning, and we can not reverse it. - Halo 5 will be treated as a misstep. We will build off of Halo 4 extensively, but not exclusively. - No character should be killed unless it serves the story substantially. - More Jar Jar. - No character should take over for the Master Chief in the Reclaimer Saga until the audience is comfortable with them. - The Master Chief is extremely important, but the entire Halo universe is so much bigger than one character. - Do not make a story that other fans think is good. Make a story that is good. - Cutscenes are for character moments above all other reasons(there are expectations). - The characters must grow, and in some cases, must fall. - Characters must exhibit their identifying characteristics(Linda is scary with the sniper, Locke has a dark past, Buck lost his team).Music:
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The music of Halo should be treated with as much importance as the story or gameplay. - Bring on Tom Salta with Kazuma. - Embrace every previous soundtrack, and continue to create new sounds. - New themes and music are needed, but only when there is a very large presence of previous “classic” music. - The works of Davidge, Salta, and Kazuma should be embraced and built on as much as the work of O’Donnell, Rippy, and Salvatori. - Halo Music transcends the game, and every single note should have emotional weight.Every single department would devise some way to talk to other teams, and there would be a shared understanding of what needs to be done.
Once all of these points would be understood by everyone, we would begin work on Halo 6 and all future books, shows, and other media.
I would personally focus at least two games on the John’s story. What about you guys?
TDLR: More Jar Jar.
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Take “stay on top of trends” out of their system. A 343i dev literally gave that as tip at GDC last year. Like wut
Im actualy glad that noone here is in charge of anything at 343,as they would make a perfect Halo game for themselve,but without compromises for other people.
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> Im actualy glad that noone here is in charge of anything at 343,as they would make a perfect Halo game for themselve,but without compromises for other people.
What about my list?
I tried to make points that could be somewhat realistic.
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> > 2535408730995228;6:
> > Im actualy glad that noone here is in charge of anything at 343,as they would make a perfect Halo game for themselve,but without compromises for other people.
>
> What about my list?
>
> I tried to make points that could be somewhat realistic.
It has some good ideas in the technical part like Split-Screen,but things like making Halo5 uncanon and building up on the old musics is something that you want.Halo5 was a misstep and even 343 said it,but neverthless,its canon now matter what.The new music is well,new,but always having the same accords would make it boring over the time,and I think the adding of parts of the classic music in Halo5 was a good way to connect the new with the old.
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> > 2535458356653045;7:
> > > 2535408730995228;6:
> > > Im actualy glad that noone here is in charge of anything at 343,as they would make a perfect Halo game for themselve,but without compromises for other people.
> >
> > What about my list?
> >
> > I tried to make points that could be somewhat realistic.
>
> It has some good ideas in the technical part like Split-Screen,but things like making Halo5 uncanon and building up on the old musics is something that you want.Halo5 was a misstep and even 343 said it,but neverthless,its canon now matter what.The new music is well,new,but always having the same accords would make it boring over the time,and I think the adding of parts of the classic music in Halo5 was a good way to connect the new with the old.
I never said make Halo 5 uncanon, just that we would follow Halo 4’s method of storytelling more than 5’s.
I’m not sure what that last part meant, but I think we probably just need some sleep, eh?
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> > 2535408730995228;8:
> > > 2535458356653045;7:
> > > > 2535408730995228;6:
> > > > Im actualy glad that noone here is in charge of anything at 343,as they would make a perfect Halo game for themselve,but without compromises for other people.
> > >
> > > What about my list?
> > >
> > > I tried to make points that could be somewhat realistic.
> >
> > It has some good ideas in the technical part like Split-Screen,but things like making Halo5 uncanon and building up on the old musics is something that you want.Halo5 was a misstep and even 343 said it,but neverthless,its canon now matter what.The new music is well,new,but always having the same accords would make it boring over the time,and I think the adding of parts of the classic music in Halo5 was a good way to connect the new with the old.
>
> I never said make Halo 5 uncanon, just that we would follow Halo 4’s method of storytelling more than 5’s.
>
> I’m not sure what that last part meant, but I think we probably just need some sleep, eh?
Then itsa missunderstanding on my side,I excuse.
The last part meant that the old music can appear in the new,but thr new should build upon the old and I dont need sleep,as I just standed up like a hour ago.
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> Im actualy glad that noone here is in charge of anything at 343,as they would make a perfect Halo game for themselve,but without compromises for other people.
That’s basically what 343 have been doing for half a decade now…
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> > 2535408730995228;6:
> > Im actualy glad that noone here is in charge of anything at 343,as they would make a perfect Halo game for themselve,but without compromises for other people.
>
> That’s basically what 343 have been doing for half a decade now…
Maybe,but 343 atleast said that they made mistakes and tried to fix them and also made compromisses while people from the community still say the same things they said a half decade ago,nothing from compromis or new viepoints just the same 343 bashing as in 2012.
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> > 2533274801176260;11:
> > > 2535408730995228;6:
> > > Im actualy glad that noone here is in charge of anything at 343,as they would make a perfect Halo game for themselve,but without compromises for other people.
> >
> > That’s basically what 343 have been doing for half a decade now…
>
> Maybe,but 343 atleast said that they made mistakes and tried to fix them and also made compromisses while people from the community still say the same things they said a half decade ago,nothing from compromis or new viepoints just the same 343 bashing as in 2012.
Maybe because none of their suggestions have been heeded since 2012 (and even longer, technically).
And what compromises have 343 ever done? The only thing that even remotely comes to mind is bringing equal starts back to multiplayer. Yet they still kept loadouts and ordnance in H5G, but designed an entire gamemode around it (which arguably got more focus than the regular PVP mode). Everything else they doubled down on.
Also, remember: They’re not mistakes, they’re “learning experiences”.
Immediately hand the reins off to [USER DESIGNATE Captain Orsai], [USER DESIGNATE Quirel], [USER DESIGNATE Octavian146], [USER DESIGNATE Drof497], and [USER DESIGNATE Rama] over at Spacebattles.
…But not before hiring on Unikraken and the rest of the Sins of the Prophets dev-team on as graphic designers and such.
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> > 2535408730995228;12:
> > > 2533274801176260;11:
> > > > 2535408730995228;6:
> > > > Im actualy glad that noone here is in charge of anything at 343,as they would make a perfect Halo game for themselve,but without compromises for other people.
> > >
> > > That’s basically what 343 have been doing for half a decade now…
> >
> > Maybe,but 343 atleast said that they made mistakes and tried to fix them and also made compromisses while people from the community still say the same things they said a half decade ago,nothing from compromis or new viepoints just the same 343 bashing as in 2012.
>
> Maybe because none of their suggestions have been heeded since 2012 (and even longer, technically).
>
> And what compromises have 343 ever done? The only thing that even remotely comes to mind is bringing equal starts back to multiplayer. Yet they still kept loadouts and ordnance in H5G, but designed an entire gamemode around it (which arguably got more focus than the regular PVP mode). Everything else they doubled down on.
>
> Also, remember: They’re not mistakes, they’re “learning experiences”.
They changed the radar,nerfed the AR(luckily only in certain Arena modes),added a hell of fan favourite game modes,even it took to long for some,as mentioned brought back equal starts and a few things more after fan suggestions.Warzone also dont get more attantion then Arena,both get the same amount.
What do a community member say:always the same things and never comes up with the idea that people like the way it is and only cares about it how it would be the best for him.343 cant do this,they need to look at it the way that as much people as possible get satisified,but its not possible that everyone is satisified.
Also learning experiences is a terrible word,thats mostly used by people who dont have the guts to tell someone he had made a mistake.
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> 343 cant do this,they need to look at it the way that as much people as possible get satisified,but its not possible that everyone is satisified.
Except they didn’t, for at least five years by now.
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> Also learning experiences is a terrible word,thats mostly used by people who dont have the guts to tell someone he had made a mistake.
Tell that to 343. I just quoted what they themselves said when asked about all the bugs and missing features in their games… time and time again.
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> > 2535408730995228;15:
> > 343 cant do this,they need to look at it the way that as much people as possible get satisified,but its not possible that everyone is satisified.
>
> Except they didn’t, for at least five years by now.
>
>
>
>
> > 2535408730995228;15:
> > Also learning experiences is a terrible word,thats mostly used by people who dont have the guts to tell someone he had made a mistake.
>
> Tell that to 343. I just quoted what they themselves said when asked about all the bugs and missing features in their games… time and time again.
343 listend to the community several times,but they cant listen to everything and everyone,just think about it,did Bungie ever listend so many times at the community like 343?
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> They changed the radar,nerfed the AR(luckily only in certain Arena modes),added a hell of fan favourite game modes,even it took to long for some,as mentioned brought back equal starts and a few things more after fan suggestions.
They only changed the radar and removed the AR (not nerf it) in one playlist to reflect the pro player settings. Yay, Action Sack which was implemented almost a year after the game came out and has only had one update so far. Then you have temporary playlists that come around every now and then which should really be permanent like Snipers and Triple Team for example. Yes, they do things, but it’s the bare minimum.
> Warzone also dont get more attantion then Arena,both get the same amount.
You’re lying to yourself if you think they get the same amount. One WZ REQ update gets more attention than just about any Arena update and there have been numerous WZ updates. And you know what’s funny? They have forgers make their BTB maps so 343 doesn’t have to. If you really want to have a laugh, look at FFA. I think it’s had one update since the game came out and it’s in desperate need of attention.
> What do a community member say:always the same things and never comes up with the idea that people like the way it is and only cares about it how it would be the best for him.
The people who like something different have already left. Maybe 343 should realize that their current formula isn’t working.
For the OP, I would go back to the CE formula. Look at what made CE great and build off of that.
Do my absolute best to keep Microsoft’s corporate overreach from interfering with the story that 343i wants to tell. As other people mentioned, Halo 5 had a lot of rewrites, especially near the end. Considering the type of promotional material that existed near the beginning I’m willing to bet that “hunt the truth” was closer to what they had in mind as opposed to what we got.
I’m also willing to put money down on Microsoft being responsible for Halo 5’s online only co-op. Back in ye olden days of no used games, always online, kinect mandatory, media box Xbox plans.
The only 2 other things I would do is add a few more boss fights. Not every level, but I think if the story demands a good boss fight we should have one. Like level 1 of halo. I wanted to fight Jul M’dama instead of seeing him die in a cutscene. And having a shootout with Master Chief while platforms are moving and disappearing before a Guardian would have been really epic.
And I would have made Locke a woman, but since we can’t do that anymore (and I do like Locke, so I wouldn’t want to replace him) make a side story game (like ODST or Reach) with a female Spartan.
Oh and I guess while I’m at it, definitely make John a mascot for Xbox. Kind of how Mario is Nintendo’s mascot. Also, I would keep the games serious and about honor and sacrifice, but don’t be afraid to have fun little cross overs with other Xbox titles. Like how Arbiter is in Killer Instinct, or if there was some dlc for ReCore where Joule could dress like a Spartan etc.
Aside from that I think Bonnie Ross is doing a good job of trying to keep true to Halo while reinventing it to last another decade.
Music is a must, its what brings the magic to the entire experience and lets you get lost in the Halo universe