11 replies to this topic

[Howling_Darkness]

After reading all this information, here and elsewhere about Halo 3, and watching the videos, including any leaks, I have a very big question for Halo 3:

How will the equipment and similar features be manifested in the game's campaign?

As we all know, it is a limited use and availability item, being so rare on a map etc., but how common will these items be in campaign, and will any enemies or allies carry the various items? I would suppose that there would be a relatively important sequence where the player is first introduced to the Bubble Shield for instance, and is therefore able to find one here and there in UNSC supply areas or parts of a level. Same probably goes for the trip mine, and any other UNSC or Covenant deployable equipment.

That brings me to the mysterious "Jump Pad"; are these merely going to be items that will be happened upon, or even more, will the enemies use and deploy equipment as well? When I first saw the deployable equipment, I had a sudden thought of "oh crap...." for I imagined that if you can use all this fun stuff, so can your enemies in campaign.

I just shudder to think what the Flood will do with deployable equipment ((>_<)). This also extends to detachable turrets; if the player can remove light portable and stationary turrets, what types of enemies will be able to do so, aside from the obvious Brutes and Elites. Will the Flood or any as-yet unrevealed large enemy also be able to yank turrets from their bases, and come barreling at you with these things?

Covenant with better AI, weapons, etc. but especially deployable equipment and the ability to remove turrets and whatnot will be awesome, and probably terrifying on Legendary if they can do all of the above. Of course, then there's the Flood....

Can you imagine them not only hurling themselves at you the way they do, but also start carrying around turrets, and using the equipment? A scary thought, eh? :ohmy:

[Drew]

A scary thought indeed. And also something I hadn't thought about before. Technically the AI used equipment in Halo 2, but it was all just scripted stuff. Maybe it'll be context sensitive in Halo 3? Excellent thought, and thanks for bringing it up.

[Syracuse022]

((>_<))

That smiley is most impressive.

?\(?_o)/?

Mine is better.

I'm mostly curious what sort of "tutorial" they'll use to introduce us to the equipment... it's a lot of added complexity for new players. Using trip mines against the Flood = vindication. Sweet sweet vindication for everything that was Halo 2. Flood using bubble shields to get in close enough for their leg hump attack = ?\(?_o)/? DO NOT WANT.

[mattacus]

yours smiley,

?\(?_o)/?

is almost exactly like the botched breast implant smiley:

(?)(o)

[Nightshade]

yours smiley, is almost exactly like the botched breast implant smiley:

You know, they could just be jumping on a trampoline...

And as for the enemies useing turrents and such. I doubt outside of scripted moments it will happen. Have you ever seen weaponless enemies pick up other weapons that were on the ground durring a fight that wasen't scripted? It's very hard to program something that random because weapons your drop/moving enemies drop are to always in a diffrent spot.

Edited by Nightshade, 25 April 2007 - 03:26 PM.

[NJ Shlice]

Good points. How will we fight off of the ship at the beginning of the game, with just a BR? Or will Chief find a pod or some off of it when he gets to Earth, he finds a UNSC camp somewhere and gets a briefing on the new goods. I dunno.

[Drew]

You know, they could just be jumping on a trampoline...

Or playing DoAX2. ;P

[GhaleonEB]

Glad you started this thread. I was talking about this with Voc the other night - it's the biggest question the deployable equipment raises for me. I think they will be very important in the campaign. How the AI will utilize and respond to the presence of the equipment is going to be critical. When I deploy the bubble shield, will the marines know to use it for shelter? Will the Covenant know to try and charge through it? (I assume the Flood won't have issues doing so based on their past behavior.) If I setup the gravity lift to use as a shortcut, or for a strategic move during combat either offensive or defensive, will the marines know to use it as well? The gravity lift is clearly Covenant in design, with the technology and the signature purple color. Will the AI know to use them in strategic ways, or only set locations you can learn and defend from? With the larger scale battles in the game, I'm envisioning a battle like Helms Deep in The Lord of the Rings, but instead of ladders rising en masse, there are gravity lifts tossed down and swarms of enemies trying to overtake your superior position. The mine is clearly human in design - the green color and the pyrotechnic explosion (rather than the white plasma-based one of the Covenant weapons) give this away. Will the AI use it in combat as well? It's harder to pin down who uses the bubble shield. The actual device looked green to me (but then I'm colorblind) rather than the silver or purple the Covenant favor, and did not have the sleek curves that are the hallmark of Covenant weaponry. But the technology is decidedly Covenant in origin, unless we created that off of their tech, similar to the Spartan shield system. So will other friendly AI know to deploy it? What about the Covenant? So many questions raised. Equipment has the possibility to really shake up Campaign.

[vociferous]

Equipment FTW. I'm glad Bungie is introducing a feature that is subtle in terms of how it affects Halo's core gameplay mechanic and not a drastic shift from either of the first games. Boarding and dual-wielding were significant changes and they could be turned on/off. Equipment, on the other hand, is something that can be altered or eliminated, but I think the strategic elements it will provide will only enhance gameplay. I'm definitely on board with this new convention.

[Drew]

@ Ghaleon: I'm 100% positive that the Bubble Shield is human (or Forerunner) in design. If it were Covenant, it would probably have a blue-ish tint to it, rather than the orange/tan/green (can't tell, but it's a muted color) one it does now.

[Va1or]

I'm almost 100% sure that Bungie has gone on record stating that ONI (a human intelligence agency) created the bubble shield.

Edit:

Yep.

http://h3da.ascendan...om/?page_id=280

the Bubble Shield is a top-secret ONI device of human origin [12/05/2006 - HBO]

Edited by Va1or, 26 April 2007 - 05:48 AM.

[Blamo]

I just want to see what the Elites will look like.