I have been deliberating over this topic since this morning when I got notice on the new thread. Allow me to broaden the thread topic, as I also want to talk about not only gameplay, but weapons, maps, vehicles and whatever else pops into my ADD head.

First off, I do feel we are long over-due on this topic, as we have been huge Halo supporters (I have my tax refund sent to Bungie every year) for years and it was a helpful bridge to our healthy Brokeback Mountain friendship. Ahem! Jesting aside, onto the show.

I’ll begin with comments on your suggestions for Halo 3. I will agree to the scope refinement on both accounts; the sensativity and the auto-aim. First off, it is a sniper rifle, and any and all head shots should be through skill- not because the software aided you to follow someone’s doomed skull. Secondly, when you are zoomed in, the left trigger should not be connected to a grenade, but rather (just as in PDZero) the power of the zoom, albeit from 2X to 10X. If you need to use a grenade, stop looking through the scope and toss it. I see this as a sensible change that would not be detrimental to the overall gameplay of the Halo series. Leave the battle rifle at 2X with no adjustability. It would be nice if there was a function allowed you to change the sniper scope senastivity. I play at a 5 sensativity right now. I want to move it up to a 7 or 8, but I don’t specifically because of the sniper rifle. If I had a chance to leave my Sniper sensativity at a 2 or 3, and my character movement at a 7, I would do so. It would also give it a more “real” sense, as I have ample experience with scoped rifles and (as some of you know) automatic weapons.

A revamp of the AI on harder levels is a good idea, but I understand how difficult it may be to program for it. Basically you would have to write ~two different programs for your AI to follow on different levels of hardness. I see how it is easier to just make weapons more powerful, but at the same time, extremely frustrating to have a grunt flank you and gun you down in 5-6 shots with a plasma psitol on Legendary. I’ll accept a marginal weapon power increase, but only if the AI is smarter and there are more of them. If they are going to make it harder, then hit me on all levels. As for the troops, meh, lets face it, they are just cannon fodder regardless of skills.

Our LANtacular events are always “spot-on”. But, just as you cited, there are those Beavis’ who trip up the fluidity and then wonder why they haven’t gotten an invite in the last 6 months (sorry if any of you are reading this and just got an epiphany- now you know). As it is, yes, this aspect does need help. It was an improvement from Halo 1 were you couldn’t impromptu change things with “quick option”, but more effort needs to be done here- just give us the full itenerary, we know what to do. The host should have absolute control (though this should not carry on in XBL).

Okay, now onto some of my pining. I would really appreciate at least a 4 play Co-Op version by LAN and by Live. To have three of my cronies with me facing a +100 horde of Flood coming at us would be great. One on the turret, another with the rocket launcher, another with a sword and last one running towards the flood like a crazy (gives a nod to MM) is me over-romanitizing a thus-far, non-existent game. I’ve mentioned before, but I am a social gamer, so it is not often I play a game by myself. However, as I see all of us becoming permanently connected online eventually, this would be one function I would praise since enjoy the comraderie associated with gaming together. As for singleplayer, I hear people stating they want to give commands to AI Marines. Well, that just isn’t Halo to me. If I can give voice commands, then that is a cool feature and I will use it, but giving commands is not a “must have” IMO, nor truely beneficial to the Halo series. Your a Spartan, you do it alone while they soak up bullets.

Continuing with the online wishes, multiplayer is just as important. I really do not need a MP game with 50 players. If lag is non-existent, then sure, but the reality is that 8 on 8 is sometimes, a bit much. I’m glad I have the option, but I think everyone knows that the optimal amount is 8 to 12 people per game. It isn’t a total frag fest, but not dull by any means. But, to fantasize a 50 person battle would be cool every now and then. The maps would obvisouly have to be huge. Kinda like a Relic meets Zanzibar sort of thing (obviously this is not feasible as Zanzi is Earth bound while Relic in on a Halo). But, have them +300 yards apart with either boats or Pelicans to transfer troops. I would really like to shoot down a Pelican with 10 Spartans in it, then hear the announcer state “Totally screwed them over!” for a +10 person kill. Some sort of gunboat would be nice, and I’ll use that as a segue for my next topic.

I hear some people request the ATV “mongoose” to be added this time. I still have to say, “why?”. The ghost will own you every time. I think some of the Warthog variants would be nice, like the half-track troop transporter. Add a small turret and good armour, I think it would be worthwhile if you could fire your weapon from small ports. A dune buggy would be nice, just a 2 man metal framed, quick vehicle (like the 1 person Ghost) that had a small turret like you find on Foundation. The specture needs some sort of help. Too slow, the turret seems… a little lacking/under-powered, and everyone is exposed to gun fire. It is a deathtrap most of the time. The Scorpion needs a small window for a sniper to headshot the driver, like in Halo 1. As we are all too aware, a tank becomes nearly invincible when the rocket launder is gone. It gets really frustrating when there is no other option save to “hi-jack” the tank, which typically takes more than 10 lives to do so. At least with the sniper rifle you have a little better chance- not much, but something as grenades are ineffective. Also, even though it is not smart, we should be able to ride on the tank like in Halo 1 (it just looks cool, okay?). I am still undecided on the Banshee- should it have the plasma cannon or not? Could be helpful, but it should be a very delayed charge… maybe? Hmm. I think the Wraith is fine at this point.

Weapons: bring back the Halo 1 pistol. I never thought I would say that, but in Halo 2, you get new Mark 6 shields, so the 3 head shot kill ratio should have changed. Besides, it is a healthy alternative to the n00b combo we face today in Halo 2 online. That needs to be fixed, no question about it. Change it back to Halo 1 where you could not put the PP down until it was done shaking, plus, deminish the seeker curve on the charge. The Battle rifle needs to merge with the Halo 1 Assualt rifle. Make it a fully automatic rifle with semi-auto burst when scoped in. Simple enough, and a crowd pleaser. The sword either needs to deplete its energy source like in single player, or remain constant like in multiplayer, not both. Fix the shotgun back to Halo 1 standards; consistent and useful. Also, I would like a bayonet to fix to the end of the new rifle and shotgun. Not a must, but just a neat melee tool instead of whacking people.

Every Halo MP map should be available for Halo 3, regardless of how well they work with the new installments. Also, I would be happy to find rain, snow, wind (which would affect bullet trajectory), and environments such as forests, jungle, and some sort of “ratrace” map too. I would like to fight in alien environs more often besides Mid-ship and Gemini, show me some outside alien foilage (heck, just change Coag to have blue grass and Dr. Suess trees, then turn the bases into adobe huts).

Ah, I had better quit now. Too much posting means people are less likely to read it all. I’ll think on this some more.

Well, now let’s discuss number of players. 8 to 12 is fine for the game as it is, but what it if the game becomes broader in scale, as well? Not just - kill all of the other team, but hold the entire beach, say. You’d need a large amount of people, because the game type was designed for it. It’s a different kind of game - Halo 1/2 multiplayer is essentially squad based. You form small groups and try to take care of each other. Make it bigger, though, as has been succesfully done in other games (BF 1942, BF2, etc.), and you have a different kind of game. Plus, still have the smaller 8-12 person games too. No reason to have both, I say.

If you can pick other races, than why would you ever pick a grunt? Maybe because you keep losing. If you have the skillz, then you’re able to pick more powerful races/classes. Or something. Wow - this weekly update was useless in terms of new info, wasn’t it? Nice to hear there’s new books in the works, though.

Why would Bungie be hiring PC developers? Try this out-there theory:

~PC and Xbox 360 development is quite similar. Both use DirectX, and would use the new XNA libraries for increased compatibility.
~Spending lots of time on rapid text input would be useful for a game featuring lots of it - this is something PC developers don’t have to worry about, as everyone has keyboards all ready. Xbox360 users can plug in USB keyboards, but not everyone has them. Rapid text input would somewhat level the playing field.

Perhaps the next project involves the first full-scale use of XNA - a new Halo game that runs on both PC and Xbox 360. Sure Bungie could be working on new IP (different intellectual property other than the Halo universe), but why would they? Think of the opportunity to release a massively multiplayer (in terms of players, not social interaction = ugh) battle - it’s such a neat idea. Besides, Halo 3 cannot be new graphics only - an Xbox 360 version of Halo 2 with the continuation/ending of the story. It has to have something new - some real reason for upgrading.

Okay, continuing on. Allow me to add in a “revelation” I recently had. I was playing Stars Wars Battle Front II last night over at a friends place (yes, you know him). He had just bought a “diamond” DLP Mitzubishi 54″ HD widescreen TV for ~$2500. So naturally we had to break it in last night, and what better than a video game? Anyway, it had been a while since I had played that sort of set up; where you have 120 reinforcements that come in as people die. It is kinda like a MMOFPS set-up, with huge maps and lots of targets running around. In short, it was fun. So with that, I would like to amend my earlier statements and declare that I would like to see that sort of implemation (which is MMOFPS) as well as the squad based games. Or, in other words, different modes of multiplayer, ranging from small squad based shooters to massive open war-like chaos.

I also thought more on the AI and commands to follow. I think that if the commands cannot be given vocally via a headset, then they shouldn’t be included. Simple commands such as; “Follow me”, “Hold position”, “Fall back”, & “Cover fire” would be nice, but again, not necessarily Halo-ish, in my opinion. But I want to avoid having to use the D-pad to give commands. As a matter-of-fact, I would like the D-pad incorporate some functionality, but not squad commands. Namely, to help with the sensativity issue, I propose that when you press down on the D-pad, MC does a quick turn or 180, which would help conpensate for the slow turn-around time (90% of the time you are dead before you finish your turn). Next, the top button on the D-pad becomes a “sprint” function. As we all may remember, supposedly Halo 2 would have sprinting and leaning, which brings me to the left and right buttons of the D-pad — strafing/leaning. Strafing is basically in Halo, but I’m talking more along the lines of leaning/peering around corners. It may not be used too much, but to have it, especially when weilding the sniper rifle, would be a real boone. If there are better functions for the D-pad, please let me hear of them.

Lastly, my apologies to Stonesand as I failed to address this suggestion in his first post; physics. Okay, this is kinda a tough call, as the physics in Halo do not mimic real world physics very well. The MC does a floating jump. The vehicle destruction is a little over the top at time (seeing a tank fly after a rocket hit?) and at the same time, that rocket can’t destroy any environment settings aside from a few (very few) walls. Just on this level, I expect to be able to destroy whatever I want. I’m the friggin’ Master Cheif, I can flip tanks! Now let me level any building tha stands in my way. If I hi-jack a Scarab, then I should be able to demolish everything I feel is an eye-sore. Body physcis (such as death) should be upgraded. Object physics should upgraded so that everything that could be moved (in real life) can be moved. Obviously there should be some discretion as I do not want areas to be completely blockaded [though this would make an interesting game, making you search out demolition (rocket launcer, grenades) tools to remove it all].

I do agree that Halo 3 cannot be a prettier version of Halo 2. Halo 2 improved upon Halo 1 by adding car-jacking, dual wielding and of course, graphics, among other things. I am still debating on the limited grenade range, though.

Well, that is all for today - for now.

Odd. Well, I guess no one else has played the Halo series and therefore, default to our opinions. Fair enough.

Oh, and I’d like to have the Night Vision brought back. It would be cool to play on Coag at night with a full moon or something using night vision. I’m just getting lazy with my ideas…

Ok, I’ll bite. This is live from the synchrotron in berkeley where my crystals are being irradiated with enough xrays to kill a cow. (maximum size of cow needs to be determined).

I’m not sure I agree that the muuasssivvvly multiplayer halo would actually be something I’m into. I’ve never played xbox live but i have played a mmorpg (guild wars), and my habits reveal that i really don’t feel like playing with people i don’t know. I prefer to play with friends and family. April and I have joined a guild, but our interactivity w/in it has been pratically nil.

That said, i do enjoy defeating people i don’t know Put 16 of us against another unknown team of 16, that would be fun. But really, only if all 16 of us were in the same room. There’s something about sitting on a couch and being able to see what other folks are up to that is really appealing to me, while long distance aint so much. Case i point, April and I play guild wars together with me on my laptop and her on the desktop.

(thinks more about it). Actually, i guess we play with brian in austria via microphone… maybe i just don’t like the idea of paying a subscription for both broadband and xbox live…

Good points - you know, the older I get, the more I see the value in the XBL service. It’s only $4.16 a month - for that price, you get instant matchmaking, lagless play, friends lists, a team dedicated to eliminating all cheaters, and tons more. It’s totally worth it for $4 a month. Wouldn’t you pay $4 a month to remove all of the unwanted aspects of a game, and add so much functionality?

About LAN parties - the older I get, the more I see the value of the Team Chat button. It lets me talk to all my friends - and they to me - without having to move everything around. Getting everybody together is getting increasingly complex - case in point - you’re in Berkeley, Brewha. Sitting down, playing team games where you talk the whole time to each other directly, is nearly as good as a LAN party, except without the “We need more people - we need more network cables - we need more pizza money - we need to be in the same state on the same night at the same time without our families.” So I guess you could say I’ve come to rely on it more and more to see my buddies.

<flame>Night vision? You’ve got to be kidding.</flame> I fault Halo 2 for being too dark - they should have upped the brightness and color of the whole game, I think. Deeper, more vibrant blue and green, I say. If I want night vision, I’ll play GRAW. Still, If they put it in, I’d happily play with it.

LAN parties rock! Seriously, they’re so much fun. But, just as Stonesand noted, they are complicated to coordinate and there is always some sort of problem. We invite 20, we get 10 people who brought with them two newbies for cannon fodder. Its nice to talk to your team in the same room, with the heat rising and the pizza returning via 6 people belching. Something always comes up, though: a key member whom has read our “assualt plans” can’t make it, or the teams have to be revamped to accomodate a defunct team. So this is what I prefer; having a team that I know, and killing people I don’t. Seriously, Halo helped bring us together (true, brewha and I go back to winter of `99, and Stonesand and I at least 2000-ish), but Halo kept those relatioships intact. Otherwise, after we left college, we may run into each other at Costco and do the ol’ “wassup?, we should do something…” bit. Ugg, rhetoric at its best.

Besides, XBL is cheap, and you can get Qwest broadband for $24.99 a month. Broadband will be a *must* soon, and since XBL is only $4.16 a month, I hardly find it painful. Broadband is the death of LAN parties, but XboxLive, we may even get to play hed one of these days (I still owe him a good kick). I hope we have at least one more LAN though. Kinda the last “hurraw” before we all go online.

[anti-flame] Yes night vision![/anti-flame] It isn’t a must, nor do I expect it. Matter-of-factly, I don’t need it. But it would be nice to play on a map at night. Better yet, how about infared vision?

I also want an small, almost non-noticable HUD indicator for Live that lets me know when I have Team Chat on, as I find it imperative to know when I can drop an F-bomb and not alert my team to my folly. *sigh* Plus, I am also unsure when I am actually conveying a message to my team, or whether my screams go unheard.

I thought you were waiting for Oblivion .. but now that it’s released I don’t hear you about it. I would have liked to hear your opinion on it. Did it meet your expectations after all this waiting ?
Drop by my site for some cool mods for it (like Unicorns you can ride, or your own house for free) if you want ..
Elder Scrolls Oblivion Mods

We’ve been too busy playing it, Allan. Seriously, to busy playing. I miss sleeping.

I was just thinking, only for a little bit though, I didn’t want to hurt myself. Realistically, we can’t really expect Halo 3 until fall 2007, barring a movie game tag team Spring 07 which would be nice, though I won’t get my hopes up after waiting 6 months plus after when Halo 2 was “due”. Then I thought, “hey that’s going to be like 2 years after the 360 actually came out”. If that happens, and if the console only has a life span of 5 years, or less if it follows the trend of the most recent generation, and if the space between Halo games remains around the 3 year mark, then it is very possible we could only see 1 entry into the Halo series this generation:o I mean, why would they want to put out another if the next things just around the corner. Then I got sad:( Anyway, somebody please point something out to the contrary so I can stop moping around my apartment.

Oh, there’s one thing that’s pretty nice to add to Halo 3. What if they bots to the multiplayer map? that would spice things up a bit won’t it?

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