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| Re: My Thoughts on the Halo Series | |
| Posted By: TalkingElmo <spam4david@yahoo.com> | Date: 9/14/06 10:28 p.m. |
In Response To: Re: My Thoughts on the Halo Series (Louis Wu) : I realize you're making a point... but you're exaggerating a LOT. : I guarantee you that the Ogres and TSquared (the Kobes and Shaqs of the Halo
: Bungie.net says I'm a 24 - but in reality, I'm somewhere around a 18, I'd
: And that's the way it should be. : You're suggesting I've got a chance of winning 5 games against them (or
I wasn't suggesting Halo 2 was as flat as my basketball example. It is significantly flatter than Halo 1 with the goal of leveling the playing field somewhat, and my point was that that approach by nature is the wrong one, even if it isn't taken to the extreme of a swimming pool-sized basketball rim. (note: the following isn't meant as a heated argument. I'm just trying to clearly articulate my ideas on how the Halo series can be improved in a place where someone who matters might read it. Intelligent discussion is far more likely to take place here than on b.net. My examples also assume roughly equal skill level among players.) The pro players will still win every time, but they've had to find other ways to set themselves apart besides aim, since the ceiling is so low now. For example, strafing makes very little difference now because of the huge hit boxes, slower movement, and massive auto-aim. So pros now use peek shooting, team shooting, and other such tactics to set themselves apart. The BR requires very little in the way of aim. I got host in a SWAT game the other day and it was almost impossible to miss. Just move the reticle somewhere near their head and you get a free headshot. With the old pistol, you could fire shots over their shoulder and still miss, meaning the person who was dead on would beat someone who wasn't. Higher ceiling. It's more interesting (and fun) when there's more to the fight besides who shoots first (which is basically how H2 is once you reach a certain level of aiming ability). And that's assuming BR/Carbine vs. BR/Carbine. If someone has a BR more than 15 feet away and you spawn away from cover with your Plasma Rifle or SMG, all the skill in the world will make almost no difference in the outcome, so the game devolves into a race for the power weapons and then abusing the fact that they don't respawn until dropped. That brings us to the Rock Paper Scissors design. True Rock Paper Scissors (A automatically beats B in situation X) doesn't work in an FPS. Rock Paper Scissors (RPS) works in the real RPS game because both people have equal access to all 3 elements; On the count of three, you can just as easily do one as the other. In an FPS, the elements are tied to points on the map, so your choices are limited to what is near you (which partly depends on spawns, which are initially random). So instead of a true RPS dynamic, you just end up with lots of situations where one guy wins almost automatically just because of the weapon he's holding (aside from unintended glitches, a BR holder has almost no chance against a sword in close quarters). The problem is exacerbated when everyone constantly respawns with one of the weakest, most limited weapons in the game (all but useless outside of a ~15' radius). The problem is exacerbated even further when the power weapons don't respawn until dropped, giving one team a complete monopoly and turning the game into a campfest (since you don't have to worry about controlling item spawn locations regularly, you can just set up camp in an easily exploitable part of the map, such as the beach on Zanzibar with both snipers). A perfect example of how broken RPS is is the vehicles and rockets in Halo 2. Vehicles are quite difficult to take down unless you have a Rocket, but if you have a rocket, it's an almost automatic kill thanks to the lock on. Just make the reticle turn red, lock on, and fire. But if you don't happen to be holding one of the 1-2 rockets on the map, you have almost no chance against a vehicle if you're on foot. Rock Paper Scissors! Too bad. In contrast, the design philosophy of spawning with an equalizing weapon (not a guaranteed kill but you have a fighting chance in most situations) means you win by outplaying the other guy, which is so much more fun and rewarding than winning mostly because of circumstances. In the vehicle example, if you don't have a rocket, you can skillfully lay a frag grenade in the hog's path to topple it, or you can try to headshot the gunner before he can kill you. If he's a good driver, he may be able to avoid the nade, depending on how well you placed it. It comes down to who outplays whom, instead of, "Well, he had the rocket, not much I could do." Or take close range infantry fighting. If Fred has a plasma rifle and Ned has a shotgun, it comes down to who outplays whom. Can Fred catch Ned from the side to stun him before Ned can hit him with the shotty? Can Ned turn just enough to shotgun Fred before his shields go down? Did Fred start stunning him close enough to finish with the melee before his gun overheats and he's left vulnerable? Excellent fun, great balance, and yet the weapons are unique enough to make it really interesting. The pistol guaranteed that, although you may be at a disadvantage in many situations (i.e. facing a shotgun up close), you more often than not had a decent chance of surviving if you played well. There was some Rock Paper Scissors since certain weapons had an advantage in the right situations, but the outcome was still up in the air depending on who outplayed whom. Very fun and rewarding. My $0.02. | |
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