Well, I was posting this in the "Halo 4 - General Discussion" forum when I noticed how incredibly 'off-topic' it was. So I decided to post it here. This idea I have is influenced by Halo Wars, and wouldn't be your typical Halo game...but perhaps it could be an incredibly outlandish [but fun] gametype in the regular Halo games, or it could be an entirely new game. This idea is completely my own idea and entirely subjected to whatever opinions people may have and will definitely have a targeted audience which will not appeal to 'all' Halo fans. The gametype would consist of two teams of six Naval Officer each that are positioned on the bridge of two separated cruisers...Now, what if you [as a Naval Officer] had to direct a squad of ODST's through special communication consoles on the bridge. Your Naval Officer will have to communicate with ODST's who drop on the planet below your cruiser as you initially make communication with them and will have to direct them through objectives with the rest of your other fellow Naval Officer's squads of ODST's. Objectives could vary from destroy the other teams squad of ODST's, to capture the flag, to detonating a bomb in the other team's base which disables the weaponry of the other cruiser for your team's cruiser to destroy it. The way this would work is that when you initially spawn (Naval Officers cannot die unless their carrier is destroyed through the other team's victory from one of the objective examples above), you would spawn as a Naval Officer -1st person- and take control of a 'communication console' which then links to to direct a squad consisting of 6 ODST's. Once you take access a console, it transitions you from the 1st person mode of the Naval Officer to the squad leader of 'your' squad of ODST's -3rd person mode. Depending on which console you took up will decide where your ODST's drop, and you can switch consoles after your ODST's die, or perhaps through special evac zones in order to do so. For those of you who have kept with me this far, thank you, but I'm not done. Now the mechanics of playing as the squad leader of a team of ODST's -3rd person mode will could go as something as this: -You are in absolute control of the squad leader -Gameplay as a squad leader would remain much the same as playing a regular Halo game, except third person, and with five other supporting ODST's. -The rest of the ODST squad consists of AI ODST's effectively following your movement +e.g. if you crouch, the rest of your team crouches; if you sprint your team sprints. +e.g. your squad (while squad leader) will give you enough space in case of coming across fire) but won't wander off, and AI's will be only able to move over obstacles as effectively as you will. Think of Halo Wars and how the squads moved together, except improved. -If your die as a squad leader, you transition to playing as the 'next-in-line' of your squad. -Maps should be large enough to include vehicles and two conflicting teams consisting of six squads of six ODST's -If you throw a grenade, your team throws a grenade (or there could be a button to disable that). -If you shoot at a target, your team will shoot at the specified location unless multiple targets are present. -Customization of the weaponry is unanimous among all squad members, but squad leaders will be able to customize their weapons of choice. -No armor abilities except for sprint -Vehicles could perhaps be sent to the battlefield through Pelicans to certain squads who have earned it, and enough vehicles would be provided for your entire squad. + e.g. There could perhaps be random locations throughout the map your squad would have to defend for a certain time in order receive Pelican-'vehicle' drops. Depending on how hard the location is to defend, rewards you with larger or smaller vehicles. + e.g. If Mongooses (assuming you have six members), you will receive three Mongooses. Warthogs - two. Scorpions - one. And for odd numbers, it will adjust accordingly to your situation (perhaps a Warthog and one Mongoose). Air vehicles can be included + i.e. these locations where your squad can earn vehicles isn't required, but can merely turn the tide of battle Thoughts? In my head it sounded cool lol, so I'm just curious how everyone else would respond to this. I also know this is confusing (and I probably have a few grammatical errors in need of fixing), so if you have any questions feel free to ask!
It sounds interesting. I have a few suggestions: -The whole 'Naval Officer' part seems pretty superfluous. The way I understand it, all you do as the Naval Officer is approach the console. -The mimicking nature of squad members seems like they server as a simple extension of your own health bar and weapons capability. I would recommend a slightly more independent AI that obey commands on the D-Pad but otherwise tags along and uses their weapons at their discretion unless otherwise directed. Actually, it's sounding like you want something somewhat similar to Battlefront, with Halo characters and ordinance. Obviously, there are separations but I see nothing wrong with something like that. I would love a Halo Battlefront-type game. Though let me say I wasn't a fan of Halo Wars. It could have been far better IMO. Turned out to be more rock-paper-scissors for my liking.
Yeah, although depending on which console you choose specifies where your ODST squad will drop pod. I was thinking with coordination from the rest of your team (as Naval Officers) you could pull off some true strategy by transitioning from one console to another to try out various tactics. And yes lol, it is also inspired by Battlefront. The Halo Universe is certainly getting more diverse, and I believe it would sell really good. As for squad tactics, it could function somewhat the same way as Star Wars: Republic Commando, but modified depending on how relative the controls will be to your average Halo game.