Has anybody here ever visited the forums on Halo's official site, Halowaypoint.com? If you have then you know a majority of the discussion on there is about whether or not sprint should be removed from the next installment in the franchise, Halo 5: Guardians. Now many arguments have been made both for and against it, but most of these arguments are based on opinion and preference. I'm sure many people on this site have played at least one of the Bungie Halos (excluding Reach) and 343's Halo 4. Maybe you've even played in the Halo 5 beta at the beginning of January. Can you honestly say that sprint made the experience any better? Can you claim that it belongs in Halo and works without messing up any other systems? After so much subjective argument, I take the matter to all of you. People who can back their claims with factual information and sound reasoning, as you are all members of the game industry yourselves and know how things work. I realize that this kind of topic shouldn't be on this site, but I'm interested in the results it might get. So if you could all humor me that would be great.
To Sprint or Not to Sprint
The discussion can exist here in my opinion if it's generalised, e.g. What are your opinions of sprint mechanics that do and don't work in fps games and which do you as developers prefer?
Personally I prefer sprint mechanics where there is a fixed amount of sprinting that can be done before a rest is needed, and the amount of sprint that can be done can level up over time.
Having never played halo I can't really offer a halo specific opinion sorry...
Edit: generally though changing mechanics of a established series never goes down well with fans. The amount of noise generated is often inversely proportional to the size of the change...
The discussion can exist here in my opinion if it's generalised, e.g. What are your opinions of sprint mechanics that do and don't work in fps games and which do you as developers prefer?
Personally I prefer sprint mechanics where there is a fixed amount of sprinting that can be done before a rest is needed, and the amount of sprint that can be done can level up over time.
Having never played halo I can't really offer a halo specific opinion sorry...
Edit: generally though changing mechanics of a established series never goes down well with fans. The amount of noise generated is often inversely proportional to the size of the change...
There has been quite a lot of noise over sprint as it changed the way the game was played entirely
you are all members of the game industry yourselves and know how things work
Well, if the game industry would know how things work, every game would be a hit, wouldn't it ?
Nevertheless, changing/adding a major feature in a game will scare off some people and attract others, most game designer (teams) will try to optimize the number of satisfied gamers (=future customers).
Therefor I can't really rate the sprinting feature in halo other than to tell you my personal gamer opinion.
But sprinting as game feature, when it is limited, is an interesting and enriching game feature in a FPS in my opinion. I like it a lot, because it adds new decisions and a new risk management, therefor more game depth.
I have played a limited amount of Halo 1 and Halo 3, so I my memory might be a little rusty but here it goes:
Personally, I do think sprinting adds to the experience. As far as whether it messes with other systems or not, I can't say.
I say that it adds to the experience for a few reasons:
1.-When I'm playing an FPS I tend to want to be the 'action hero' (I think a lot of people share this sentiment, which is why I feel that it is a relevant point), but in almost every action movie there is that scene where the hero sprints down a long hallway followed by an explosion or something of that nature. It just feels really cool to be able to sprint around, it makes the player feel like they have more control and more mobility in a chaotic battlefield.
2.-There is a theory about why we play games that states that it is related to a combination of 3 reasons: Competence, Relatedness and Autonomy. While this theory is by no means absolute or necessarily correct, it does offer insight. Halo players probably play mostly for Competence in multi-player, and adding another mechanic that is straightforward but adds a world of depth like sprinting, is really good because it gives Competence-players something else to play with. A whole lot can be done with sprinting (throwing off the enemies timing when they try to lead you with their sniper rifle, allowing you to make new jumps, allowing you to get away from an enemy that just sprinted to you...etc.).
3.- It is a double-edged sword. Imagine someone sprinting at you with a energy-sword, he uses up his sprint before he reaches you. You turn and sprint away and gun him down before his sprint recharges. Now image the same scenario but where had just used your sprint to get to that position. He slices you to bits. This offers a lot of decision-making that must be done on the fly, and players can see the result of those decisions very quickly in the game, which allows them to learn quickly, which is where you find a lot of fun in games. It can be a quickly iterating game loop that can be a toy in and of itself.
I remember Blacklight:Retribution allowed players to enter a mode that allowed them to see every enemy, trap, turret, weapon etc. on the map but it was limited to about 2 seconds and you couldn't shoot while using it. Sounds a bit OP don't you think? But it wasn't. You had to know when it was safe to use it and when it was a good idea to use it. Do you use it to find a target? Do you use it to scout ahead to the next room? It recharged fairly slowly and getting caught by an enemy when you had it up was a death sentence. But it could save you for a well-place landmine or an ambush.
That's my take on it. It's really difficult to speak objectively, but I think if it has worked for several games in the series, now would be a really bad time to go and fix what clearly isn't broken. Changing the formula is fine every once in a while, but not when players aren't asking for it, imo. I think they should look at the Mods for Halo and see if players are modding the mobility in any way, if not, then clearly nobody thinks the mobility is a problem if the people who set out to literally change the game aren't changing that part of the game.
It depends, what is sprint for? It seems like it could be a nice way to balance not having to have the standard movement speed be ridiculously high, while still allowing a quick pace for evasion when needed. Lots of other games have it, and don't seem to have any big complaints*, so I wonder how much of the Halo 'controversy' is just die-hard fans opposing change. Though I didn't play any Halo 4 multiplayer, so maybe they just need to balance the sprint a bit more, maybe add a larger delay to shield recharge after sprinting, or even have shields drain while sprinting, etc. I liked it fine for the singleplayer though.
*For example: Destiny, which is basically Halo with sprint and ADS minus all the alien weapons.
It depends, what is sprint for? It seems like it could be a nice way to balance not having to have the standard movement speed be ridiculously high, while still allowing a quick pace for evasion when needed. Lots of other games have it, and don't seem to have any big complaints*, so I wonder how much of the Halo 'controversy' is just die-hard fans opposing change. Though I didn't play any Halo 4 multiplayer, so maybe they just need to balance the sprint a bit more, maybe add a larger delay to shield recharge after sprinting, or even have shields drain while sprinting, etc. I liked it fine for the singleplayer though.
*For example: Destiny, which is basically Halo with sprint and ADS minus all the alien weapons.
Yes for single player it is pretty great, however what most players are worried about is its implementation into multiplayer and how it changes the core of the experience. The thing is with Halo's slow kill times, being able to just sprint around a corner and regenerate shields before a player can finish you is pretty game breaking. This is one of the main arguments for anti-sprint forum goers. The other main argument, and probably the more important one, is how it affects map design. 343i made maps much larger than the usual Halo maps just to accommodate for sprint. This resulted in lots of empty space on maps, map control being much harder if not impossible, and a noticeable lack of intentional design. Maps felt like they were put together by children with legos. Yes they were pretty, but there wasn't much method to 343i's madness if you know what I mean. While these were giant problems in Halo 4, I don't feel nearly as concerned for Halo 5. I played the beta and it was actually pretty great. The faster kill times made it much more difficult to just run away as players had a better chance at survival by staying and fighting. Base speed was increased and sprint speed was decreased resulting in a smaller delta between walking and running. Also the maps felt smaller (they may not have actually been a great deal smaller, but the gameplay made it feel that way which is how it should be), map control was as important as ever, and everything on the map felt like it had purpose. They really stepped up their game for H5: Guardians and it is noticeable. Although I am okay with the current changes, many others aren't and it's understandable. Both anti-sprinters and pro-sprinters have valid arguments and the game in its current state feels like the best compromise 343i can make. However I still posted this here to see what you all thought about it because I wanted to see if anyone had an point nobody has presented yet. I'm a little disappointed, but what do you expect? It's a forum of ravenous Halo fanatics vs a game development site of people who apparently haven't experienced all too much of the game (which is weird to me, but if you guys haven't given it a try then be sure to sometime soon).
Personally, when I hear people say things like "you can just sprint around a corner" what I really hear is "Wah! Halo's not Call of Duty!" To be honest, I'm not a fan at all of CoD's multiplayer mechanics and level design. I think it places too much emphasis on ambush tactics, because he who gets off the first shot almost always wins, in my experience. While that may be more "realistic", I simply don't think the ambush tactics and room-to-room breach-and-clear style of play of some maps is any fun.
Now, I say that as a Halo fan, just to get my biases out there, and one who actually really likes the Swat gametype where head-shots are instant kills, and body shots take 4 or so shots for a kill. But I also play a fair amount of big-team-battle. I prefer Swat because I like the skill aspect of having to make accurate twitch shots, being a stationary target for too long makes you an easy target so ambush tactics are mostly discouraged. Sprint doesn't adversely affect this, IMO, because I've already failed if I've not taken them out with the first shot or two, and for myself its essential to the mobility required for a good strategy, and it can't really be used as a cheap dodge. In BTB, where you have shields, it does sometimes allow for people to retreat, recharge, and regroup, but that's fine -- its just a different style of play and tactics involved.
I like sprint, it would strike me as odd that a super-soldier who can flip a 40-ton tank can't manage more than a brisk power-walk -- even going back to halo 3 where sprint was a power-up like invisibility, rather than inate, its what I always chose. Certainly the Power-Lock ability was far, far more broken than sprint. But I prefer it being inate, as in Halo 4, and only being able to sprint for shortish bursts (I think that's necessary to keep it from becoming a cheap dodge). A possible compromise worthy of exploring might be that one couldn't initiate a sprint immediately after taking fire, or perhaps taking a sprinting player out of sprint when they're hit by fire.
In the end, I don't think that Sprinting or not is essential to what Halo is or isn't, though. Halo's multiplayer experience is much more about distinct level design, floaty-jumps, power-ups, shield-recharge, and relatively long kill times. Halo really extends from the console FPS bloodline that started with Golden-Eye, ran through Perfect Dark, and has Duke Nuken as an early, distant relation. It doesn't extend from the bloodline of PC FPS twitch-n-gibs like Quake or Unreal, or from the bloodline of PC FPS sims that stems from CounterStrike and Rainbow6, as COD mostly does. These are all distinct sub-genres of FPS.
However I still posted this here to see what you all thought about it because I wanted to see if anyone had an point nobody has presented yet. I'm a little disappointed, but what do you expect? It's a forum of ravenous Halo fanatics vs a game development site of people who apparently haven't experienced all too much of the game (which is weird to me, but if you guys haven't given it a try then be sure to sometime soon).
