So once again I've waited quite a while to post but as summer kicks into full swing I'll start posting a lot more. Fortunately I've been able to talk to you guys in person but for those of you who have missed some of it I'll update you briefly and then I'll tell you about the future.
Update 1: Reaching for the perfect game
When making a game like Halo balance is everything. With Reach we all enjoyed the new tweaks and changes to create a more competitive game and while some changes were welcome others made the game less fun. Let's all be honest for a moment when we look at grenades. As fun as it was to kill someone with them it was not fun to die suddenly to a grenade that you just couldn't escape. Nor was it fun to be on the receiving end of nade spam. It always seemed to hit you no matter how far you were. If you were in the same room as a grenade you were taking damage regardless. It's things like these that they have already adjusted. I'm going to make a list and update it as I go but hopefully I'll have covered everything. Each of these are confirmed changes that have already gone into Bungie's internal builds. That being said, each change is also subject to change as balance is always in flux.
Base Player Traits
Run Speed - Slightly Increased
Jump Height - Slightly Increased as well...
Elite Shield Regen - Longer timer, Increased from 3 Seconds to 4.
Melee - Slowed down to match exact speed of Halo 3.*(See Below)
Armor Abilities
Armor Lock - Meleeing a locked opponent no longer removes shields, stun still in place.
Invisibility - No longer jams a teammate's radar. This was a bug.
Weapons
Pistol - Firing Rate slightly decreased, .1 seconds.
Assault Rifle - Damage slightly increased
DMR - Clip size increased to 15, means 3 full kills with no misses
Needle Rifle - Clip size increased, 3 full kills with no misses
Sniper Rifle - Auto Aim slight increase, exact words (Sniper is now more idiot proof)
Plasma Launcher - Tracking slightly decreased, Speed slightly decreased, Lock on time slightly increased, Firing time slightly increased
Grenades - Damage slightly decreased, Radius slightly decreased, (couple this with the movement speed and jump changes and they are not nearly as volatile)
Vehicles
Closer to Halo 3's design
No more spontaneous combustion after damage cap reached (aka. GTA car explosions)
Misc
Stockpiles moved on powerhouse for a more fair experience
Flag position moved on sword base one flag to glass room
Flag position in Powerhouse 1 Flag now above cubby between Power House 2 and Pro Pipe 3. Ensures that the flag is easier to get out and defending becomes more exciting allowing play throughout the map.
All game type changes are things that can be altered later...
Forge was finally officially confirmed in exact words. How it works is still unknown...
*I know it's going to be questioned when we get to the actual game so allow me to explain what was wrong with melee and why it will be perceived as faster than Halo 3 despite the fact that it is exactly the same. So first and foremost there was a bug causing melee's to contest despite insanely long gaps between their melee and yours. This would cause people to die far too often despite getting the jump on someone. Part 2 is they decreased the melee speed to be more in line with Halo 3. While the animation displays at 25 frames and it seems that you can melee once again at that time you can press the button to cause an interrupt which would begin your second melee at exactly 30 frames which is the time that it would take exactly in Halo 3. Thus making it seem faster but in actuality you are hitting at the same rate. More on this later I'm sure...
Update 2: E3
With E3 Coming up I'd like to know what games you guys are looking forward to seeing more of most. I've compiled a list of 10 things so if you come up with anything like what I've got please put it down in the comments below. This is a great chance to share what you are looking forward to. If you want a list of games and things that you may see hit up 1up.com, gametrailers, or ign. They all have their own top 10, top 50 and so on.
My top 10: (in no particular order)
1. Diablo 3
2. Halo Reach Campaign
3. Fallout New Vegas
4. Everquest Next,*
5. Call of Duty Black Ops
6. Star Wars Old Republic
7. Project Natal
8. Wii HD?
9. Surprise Announcement from Valve
10. Crysis 2
*Whatever SOE has in mind for the next EQ although likely we'll just see their spy mmo and their free realms styled star wars MMO.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Halo: Reach
ReplyDeleteFallout: New Vegas
SC2
Diablo 3
Project Natal
...and maybe Black Ops, I'm with holding decision until further information is released.
no SC2? that is my number one for now, although I'm sure ill get owned by all my friends, and the campaign is never my favorite
ReplyDeleteDiablo 3
Halo, PC or XBOX?
Star Wars sounds fun
and for the rest I've never really heard much, ill stop by your recommended sites.
I'm looking forward to SCII, I just am not looking forward to seeing any more of it. I think we've seen pretty much all we are going to see of it. Blizzard will definitely show us cataclysm and they will for sure show us SC2's campaign, I'm just hoping that driving sales for those two doesn't make D3 a no show.
ReplyDeleteMy childhood will be reincarnated with D3 so I'm excited. Then there's halo in the fall. As for everything else, I'll just stick with the basics.
ReplyDeleteBtw, jared, please explain the DMR headshot hit-box problem that you mentioned.
So briefly as Nathan has requested I'll explain one more thing that may have been on your mind while playing the beta. Headshots...
ReplyDeleteLots of you might have noted that headshots felt wierd and unpredictable often times accusing the new reticle bloom system. The new bloom was not at fault. In fact it was due to two things.
1. Hit boxes were borked. What I mean is that a few pixels on the bottom of the head hitbox were misaligned causing a chest hit when you should have been hitting chin or neck, a head shot.
2. The new auto aim is rather complex and needed tweaking. The headshot area did not have as much magnetism as it does in H3, H2 or CE. Thus causing headshots to seem harder to get. This was because of target aquisition changes. Before auto aim would grab the closest target. It would try to grab head more because the head hit box was shifted forward. This is not the case in Reach. In order to help you ping a sniper who might be a greater threat than a charging tard with an AR, there is now a suggestive system. This system allows you to pick the sniper over the AR. Initially this messed up the headshot portion making it more difficult because a distinct lack of magnetism. It is now fixed and these two changes will make headshots much more common and natural.