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Halo 4 - Media blow out

G

gillFTR

Member
DopeyFish said:
Halo 3, ODST and reach were the only September halo games

Halo 1/2 were november
Click to expand...

I never owned an original Xbox, always just played coop with friends. Last 3 for me were September, I think half the hype for me was the fact they were releasing in September. I would always have a great MP/Coop game to start the gaming season.
 
T

TheOddOne

Member
a74d0799801e31be8437ce953b237841b421901c.png


Sparkast #16 “Sandbox” | Direct Link | Also available on Itunes and Zune.

Present during the podcast: Josh Holmes (Creative Director), Frank O’Conner (Franchise Development Director), Chris Blohm (Systems Designer), Chris King (Lead Sandbox Designer) and David Ellis (Spartan Ops Designer).

Armor Abilities:
  • Armor Abilities was brought back because it was an evolution of equipment. The concept works because it’s replenishable equipment and it becomes a part of the combat loop.
  • The new Thruster pack Armor Ability is a bit like evade, however unlike evade it doesn’t shrink your hit-boxes. They tuned in how you use it, you can probably use it once per encounter; you could open with it, get out of jail with it or thrust around after you kill someone.
  • At one time during the production of the game the Thruster pack was a teleporter, it was originally a Promethean ability. They had it working for a while, but it was really overpowered.
  • Before they added the sparks flying off the Thruster pack, the ability felt a bit too powerful because it was difficult to track. You lose some control and movement when using the ability too, but is has some predictable behavior and if you pay attention you know where you will end up when you thrust.
  • In earlier iterations you could shoot while the Thruster pack was being used, but it overpowered.
  • Jetpack has been significantly nerfed in what you can do with it, there is a limit what you can do and control your vertical hover. You can’t hangout in the air anymore, you can trust up but you can’t hold the top nearly as much as you could in Reach.
  • While testing the sandbox and the Jetpack they looked at the energy, the ability to catch yourself and the ability to hover. Because of above factors a lot was nerved.
  • The multiplayer map designers looked at Jetpack while designing the maps.
  • There should never be a dominant Armor Ability, it should be to enhance how different people play. It has to be a part of the sandbox and a tool you use.
  • Hologram has been improved from the version in Reach. It now shows up on the radar as an enemy combatant, your reticule will go red when you look at it. When you shoot it will alpha out, but your reticule will still be red. It’s weakness is that the hologram runs straight.
  • One of the new Armor Abilities is the Regeneration Field. Think of Halo 3 regenerator when thinking about this AA.
  • You can shoot through the Regeneration Field it, it does not deflect projectiles and does not hold people out of it. Anybody inside of it, around 10 feet, will heal. They heal at a reduced rate, but when they are in it the field they automatically heal.
  • The Regeneration Field in Halo 4 is not as effective as the one in Halo 3. That is by design so. You have to charge up the Regeneration Field before you can unleash it.
  • Originally it has a one second delay before players could spawn Regeneration Field, because people were not using it how the designers intended it. The ability was meant to support your teammates, however they found out that players were instantly deploying it in the heat of the combat and could counter a guy and beat him.
  • They slowed the Regeneration Field down, but it felt terrible and nobody ended up using it and could not use it effectively with teammates. The pace of the game was so fast, that people would not wait for you to deploy it. They found a happy medium where you deploy it fast, but you can’t use it in the heat of battle. The deploy time is now half a second.
  • The Auto Sentry originally followed you around. Now it just spawns, stays in place, pivots back and forth and has a 180 degree angle which it will watch. Players use it in many ways, like lure people to it and while camping (i.e. sniping).
  • As soon as the Sentry sees an enemy, everybody will see the sentry on their radar. It is not extremely deadly, it will kill you if you stay put. Sentry’s weakness is the hologram, it will always follow them. You are exposed the moment you unleash it. You can kill them relatively easily, but it is a great companion for dealing the finishing blow.
  • They took out Armor Lock, because they did not like it. Armor Lock changed the pace of the combat for everyone. There was not enough tradeoff with Armor Lock, you must stay stationary but you are invincible, you heal, EMP and you can rotate the camera.
Weapons:
  • The reintroduction of the BR and bringing back DMR was a controversial within the team from the start, because the two weapons share a similar role.
  • It also spawned the discussion on having three to four mid-range weapons. With it came the question if they were drastically changing the sandbox, introducing too much player choice and will people understand that there are multiple weapons that serve the same purpose overlap in functionality.
  • Josh pushed for player choice, to a degree that people on the team got uncomfortable. By allowing people these different choices you mix things up.
  • BR has some bullet spread to it and recoil, you can control it if you are a good player and the sensitivity is peaked up a little.
  • DMR still has bloom. They wanted to keep the essence of how it was in Reach, but felt there was a better way to tune it that it still had reticule bloom and played into the weapon role as a long range rifle. However is not as punishing as it was in Reach.
  • The rate of fire and aim assist of the DMR has been changed from Reach, you don’t have a full second to shoot. It is lethal from 0.3 seconds between shots.
  • Starting point for balancing was the Reach’s DMR and Halo 3’s BR, but found out that those balances did not work in the context of the Halo 4 multiplayer. They are now drastically different, but keep the essence of what they are.
  • The whole weapon sandbox has been recalibrated to fit Halo 4’s multiplayer.
  • They felt the pacing of the weapons in Reach were too punishing, that is one of the reasons they made the weapons more powerful in Halo 4.
  • The BR started out being four shot weapon, but the weapons started evolving and didn’t make sense in the new Halo 4 sandbox. Those are some of the reasons the weapons got tuned down.
  • You don’t get knocked out of zoom when getting shot, however your aiming redicle gets knocked out of target a little bit. Also depends on what weapon you are using and armor mod.
  • They have introduced a flinch system, now it does not kick you of zoom but will knock your camera around to make it harder to shoot. You’re at a disadvantage when somebody gets the jump on you, but you can correct if the enemy is across the map.
  • The amount of flinch is dependable on the weapon you are using and the incoming fire, i.e. the sniper implementation is very different from BR, DMR and other guns.
  • They went three drastically different directions with the Forerunner weapons, but at the end of the day they found that the ones that are most relatable and people understood as core weapons but sci-fi’d up were the ones that spoke to the team.
  • The first weapon that stuck was the Scattershot (originally called spreadgun) and was the one that kicked off the development of the other Forerunner weapons.
  • The Lightrifle was originally called the Homingrifle. It was like the needler, it would lock on an enemy and shoot at them. It became way to overpowered in multiplayer, it was fun to have in singleplayer but in enemies hands it was also too overpowered.
  • The Binary Rifle is the most powerful sniper rifle in the game, it is a one-hit kill no matter where you shoot the enemy. It has huge trade-off, you can’t shoot from the hip. It almost has shotgun like spread from the hip. You have to use it zoomed and you have to give up situational awareness when using it. It has a magazine size of two, six shots in full.
  • You can hear the Binary Rifle being used near you, you will see a laser effect. Also you will hear when another player is running around with it, because it will “Bark”.
  • The UNSC rifle is going to be little bit easier, more skill and finesse is needed though.
Armor mods:
  • There are two types of armor mods; tactical packages and support packages.
  • Tactical packages effect the primary systems, such as what weapons you spawn with, how many grenades you can carry, picking up grenades, how you sprint etc.
  • Support packages are stuff like how much ammo you have, how the motion tracker works, how well you can you the gun on the warthog.
  • Idea behind is that the player will approach the battle differently with them.
  • Once you leveled up all the way up to level 50 in the ranking system, you re-enlist in the specialization and go through an additional 10 levels of progression then you unlock an specific armor mod.
  • The Gunner mod doesn’t only work with the Warthog turret, also detached turrets.
  • The armor mods will not make you a great player, but will affect how you play the game.
  • The armor mod Shielding will recharge your shield faster. When you usually get shot your shield are set at a certain level, a certain amount of time has to pass to recharge. With the shielding mod it is still the same, so there is no difference between Spartans before their shields recharge. When they do recharge it goes a little faster for somebody who does have this armor mod equipped. Also the mod does nothing for Spartans in battle, you have to be idle to get the fast recharge.
  • Armor mod Nemesis tells you the location of the person that last killed you, it only gives out this information for a short amount of time and goes away.
Vehicles:
  • They have introduced a hybrid Halo 3/Reach vehicle health system.
  • Banshee health has been cranked up, Reach had 380 hit point but Halo 4 has 475. It has been given more weaknesses, like the tricks it could do has been slowed down, it is not easy to evade stuff and the Banshee will show up on maps that have a lot of power weapons.
  • Scorpion driving controls are now a Halo 3/Reach hybrid. It is more akin to Halo 3 though. The speed of it is a bit faster. The main canon has been slowed down.
  • Warthog is more stable then it was in Reach.
  • Lots of hints that the Mantis (Mech) is in multiplayer.
 
R

rakka

Member
TheOddOne said:
[*] The rate of fire and aim assist of the DMR has been changed from Reach, you don’t have a full second to shoot. It is lethal from 0.3 seconds between shots.
Click to expand...
So in other words less bloom?

[*] You don’t get knocked out of zoom when getting shot, however your aiming redicle gets knocked out of target a little bit. Also depends on what weapon you are using and armor mod.
Click to expand...
I'm happy with this.
 
R

Red

Member
I wish armor lock had been adjusted or replaced with something that still allowed bumping off stickies and rocket deflection without bringing combat to a standstill. I thought those two abilities were cool, even if Reach implemented them in a less than satisfactory way.
 
D

Demon Ice

Banned
wwm0nkey said:
pistol does too but as someone at HaloGAF put it, pull the trigger once and that is the max bloom on the DMR. So really its not really there lol
Click to expand...

I don't understand the meaning of this. If I'm going for the DMR headshot the bloom will make it so where I have to delay the final shot after busting through the shields, like in Reach, correct?
 
D

Domino Theory

Crystal Dynamics
Demon Ice said:
I don't understand the meaning of this. If I'm going for the DMR headshot the bloom will make it so where I have to delay the final shot after busting through the shields, like in Reach, correct?
Click to expand...

No, if anything, bloom is just a visual indicator for the DMR's capped rate of fire and for the more casual players who associate bloom with the DMR.
 
Muffdraul

Muffdraul

Member
Demoncarnotaur said:
Only two new vehicles; the Mantis (UNSC Mech) and the Mammoth (Large UNSC vehicle, successor to Elephant). Sadly there will be no Promethean vehicles. =/
Click to expand...

Aw, man... Yet another wasted opportunity. 343, please get on the phone with Jason Jones and hash something out for Halo 5. Awesomeness must ensue.
 
A

Apath

Member
Demoncarnotaur said:
Only two new vehicles; the Mantis (UNSC Mech) and the Mammoth (Large UNSC vehicle, successor to Elephant). Sadly there will be no Promethean vehicles. =/
Click to expand...
So in the entire game we have 3 new enemies? Is this confirmed or are they being slightly vague so we can be surprised later on?
 
T

TheOddOne

Member
Kenak said:
So in the entire game we have 3 new enemies? Is this confirmed or are they being slightly vague so we can be surprised later on?
Click to expand...
Technically we saw a new enemy type during Frank's singleplayer demo, the sentry beam that is lock to the wall that shoots a beam.

There was a rumor a while ago about another class of enemies, keep in mind it is a rumor.
While every fan of the series might want to meet the ‘Prometheans’ in Halo 4, a source close to us has revealed a few details of the story which should engulf the grandeur of the Halo universe. We also have information on the new breed of vicious enemies in the game. The following contains spoilers of sorts. Be warned.

The game’s plot will see Dr. Halsey and the Spartan program return in some form. This program is rumored to play a pivotal role in the game’s story. Though we saw a new set of enemies being demoed, there is another set of immensely powerful enemies currently kept under wraps by 343 Industries. These foes are rumored to embody the vicious nature of the Brutes along with the agility of the Sangheili, thereby requiring Master Chief to use every tactic he has learnt so far, to take them out.
Click to expand...
 
TUROK

TUROK

Member
TheOddOne said:
Technically we saw a new enemy type during Frank's singleplayer demo, the sentry beam that is lock to the wall that shoots a beam.

There was a rumor a while ago about another class of enemies, keep in mind it is a rumor.
Click to expand...
Fingers crossed that this is true, because 3 Promethean variants with different classes is a far cry from the "new, primary faction" talk from a while back.
 
D

DopeyFish

Not bitter, just unsweetened
War sphinx vs mantis vs drinol

You know you want it

Maybe that's how didact becomes an enemy.... Master chief annihilates his war sphinxes and enrages him. Humanity at risk and its all master chiefs fault
 
C

CaptNfantasy

Banned
Even me, a total Nintendo-only gamer who despises any game that has a gun in it other than Goldeneye64 or RE4, must admit they did a good job on this game (as far as how it looks and its art style).

I am very glad for those of you who own 360s and are Halo fans. I hope the gameplay etc exceeds your expectations.
 
K

~Kinggi~

Banned
Not sure where to post this, but K-Mart has Halo Anniversary for 14.99, and you can price match at Best Buy etc (you need the AD though). I got the game for 5.29 with reward zone certificates. Lol money well spent, glad i waited. Should hype me for Halo 4. Hope they remaster Halo 2 as well.
 
Z

zlatko

Banned
~Kinggi~ said:
Not sure where to post this, but K-Mart has Halo Anniversary for 14.99, and you can price match at Best Buy etc (you need the AD though). I got the game for 5.29 with reward zone certificates. Lol money well spent, glad i waited. Should hype me for Halo 4. Hope they remaster Halo 2 as well.
Click to expand...

If I wasn't broke as a joke I'd totally hit this up!
 
D

Deadly Monk

Banned
I don't know how obvious this is yet but
the Blue Prometheans are fighting the Covies while the Orange Proths have teamed up (or are using) with them.

I know nothing about the lore of the Forerunners but could there be two different sides?
 
N

NH Apache

Banned
Deadly Monk said:
I don't know how obvious this is yet but
the Blue Prometheans are fighting the Covies while the Orange Proths have teamed up (or are using) with them.

I know nothing about the lore of the Forerunners but could there be two different sides?
Click to expand...

Dammit man, put that in the spoilers thread please.
 
Z

Zeal

Banned
Guys, is it just me or is it really hard to find a place to still preorder the LE copy of the game? I've always got the LE release of every Halo, but every Gamestop told me they quit taking preorders for it two weeks ago. Also no longer on Amazon. Either MS didn't make that many, or demand is actually that high and I've waited too long.

Epic depression mode engaged.
 
B

Bsigg12

Member
Zeal said:
Guys, is it just me or is it really hard to find a place to still preorder the LE copy of the game? I've always got the LE release of every Halo, but every Gamestop told me they quit taking preorders for it two weeks ago. Also no longer on Amazon. Either MS didn't make that many, or demand is actually that high and I've waited too long.

Epic depression mode engaged.
Click to expand...

Most places, if not all, are out of LE preorders at this point. Your best bet is to try stores on launch day because they may have some for shelf display and first come first serve stuff.
 
Surface of Me

Surface of Me

I'm not an NPC. And neither are we.
Zeal said:
Guys, is it just me or is it really hard to find a place to still preorder the LE copy of the game? I've always got the LE release of every Halo, but every Gamestop told me they quit taking preorders for it two weeks ago. Also no longer on Amazon. Either MS didn't make that many, or demand is actually that high and I've waited too long.

Epic depression mode engaged.
Click to expand...

Glad I pre-ordered it a while ago, and that new campaign footage is sublime.
 
D

Demoncarnotaur

Member
Zeal said:
Guys, is it just me or is it really hard to find a place to still preorder the LE copy of the game? I've always got the LE release of every Halo, but every Gamestop told me they quit taking preorders for it two weeks ago. Also no longer on Amazon. Either MS didn't make that many, or demand is actually that high and I've waited too long.

Epic depression mode engaged.
Click to expand...

Talk to your local GS manager, see if they can get any extra in. Its possible, but they have to send an email out and then some. Also, they may just be able to tell you if they get extra, etc.
 
N

NameGenerated

Who paid you to grab Dr. Pavel?
I went to pre-order today and asked if the guy could email for another LE. He said no and they are all filled up to how much GS is getting nation-wide. Sadface for me as well.
 
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