Very Informative Halo 4 Q&A wiith 343i

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#1 Sun, 06/10/2012 - 15:18
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Very Informative Halo 4 Q&A wiith 343i

Louis Wu of HBO presented 343i with some questions and the answers were very informative.

Totally random questions asked and answered at E3 2012

On the final day of E3, Kevin Franklin (Lead Multiplayer Designer) and David Ellis (Multiplayer Designer) tag-teamed on a set of random questions that rose out of the E3 reveals. There is no order here - just read through and see what you can learn! Questions are in white, answers in blue.


How many total button layouts are there?

There are 7 total layouts. This number might not be finalized.


Will we be able to see our secondary weapon?

Yes, the build at E3 did not show anything but the primary, but this is not final.


Does Spartan Ops difficulty scale with the number of players (as Halo Reach Campaign/Firefight difficulty did), or is it fixed (as was the case in Halo 3)?

Difficulty scales with the number of Co-op players, as was true in Reach - but Halo 4 has more fine-grained control over this than Reach did. More details will be forthcoming.


Is the HUD layout near final, and will it be customizable by the user (i.e., giving the player the ability to turn features on or off)?

The HUD is still being modified. There is no word about whether users will be allowed to customize their view, but the modular way the HUD has been built might make this possible, if 343 decides to go this route.


Will Grunts (and other Covenant races) speak English (or other human languages), or will they speak their native tongues?

For the most part, Covenant characters will not speak English. However, Grunts are, as they have always been, curious, and will learn the human equivalents for important words. (In other words, when you HEAR English coming from a Grunt, pay attention.)


Can you explain a bit about Ordnance Drops?

Ordnance Drops are available in multiple varieties. Most games will have an initial drop - this is tailored to the map/gametype, and will (for the most part) be consistent from game to game (assuming type and map stay the same).

Global Ordnance Drops are random in location (there are a set of locations on any given map, but the choice of location for a particular drop is random), random in assets (the choice of weapons dropped on a particular map and gametype are planned, but the one that comes at any given drop is random), and random in time (there is no fixed timer for drops). Dropped items are waypointed for all players, until they are picked up.

Personal Ordnance Drops are gametype-specific (only certain gametypes will have them). Specific items are random, though CLASSES are not - and the pool from which items are chosen are tailored to map/gametype. (You will not see a Sniper Rifle drop on a small, enclosed map.)

Personal drops are earned by reaching a score threshold - total kills without dying, total points without dying - but are progressively more difficult to earn (that is, the threshold for the second drop is higher than the first, and the third is higher than the second).

Personal drops will appear in front of the dropping player (far enough in front that they can be easily picked up at a full run), and a mechanism will be in place in the final build that will keep that drop exclusive to the player who earned it for some period. Personal drops are marked with a waypoint for the dropping player only - and the waypoints are persistent, to a degree: if you drop the weapon when you die, but nobody picks it up, it will still have a waypoint on it to lead you back when you respawn. Other players in the game (friend or foe) can see the drop if they're looking at it - but will get no waypoint at any time.


How will Exterminations work in gametypes with instant respawn?

The medal will still exist - it's still possible to kill all players in such a way that none respawn before the last one dies - but it is much harder to earn in its default state. For this reason, it will be much more valuable.

There is another variant that will credit you with killing all members of the opposing team in a fixed time period - regardless of whether they respawn themselves quickly or not.

And to counteract the feeling that a medal is less important because there might be a game mode which makes it much easier to earn certain types (think multikill medals in Grifball, for example), there will be many more gametype-specific medals. For example, here are the medals you can earn in Regicide games:
  • King Spree: King kills 5 players in a row without dying
  • Kingtacular: King kills 10 players in a row without dying
  • Reign of Terror: King kills 15 players in a row without dying
  • Kingslayer: Kill the King 3 times in a row
  • King Assist: Earn an assist when a King is killed
  • Execution: Assassinate the King
  • Regicide: Kill the King
This sort of variety will be available for most gametypes.

Why does Halo 4 use the Reach Banshee design, rather than the (later in universe time) Halo 3 model, or even a brand-new model?

The reason is simple: the person who developed this model for Reach is now working at 343. Sometimes practicality wins.


How many helmets will be available in Halo 4?

The final number has not been decided, but there will be more than Reach had. There are no helmet attachments - just skins. (Skin colors can be modified - so if you saw some of the pre-order skins, and liked the design, but hated the color scheme, you will be able to change the colors to match your desires.)

Sun, 06/10/2012 - 19:30
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thanks!

Tue, 06/12/2012 - 12:09
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I am pleased!
Tue, 06/12/2012 - 14:08
Matt Likes Beer's picture
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Reign of Terror sounds like a pretty sweet medal.

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