Ext User(A Man, Just Like Other Men)
10-09-2005, 12:56 AM
"Joe Humble" <joehumble@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:vbb2i11afurbdr3v0lrt98dn6n4615tncv@4ax.com...
> On Tue, 16 Aug 2005 05:06:48 GMT, "A Man, Just Like Other Men"
> <Nada2Spam@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>>Time for bed, and time for "Halo RTS". Thank you for your time.
>>
>
> Interesting ideas and I've had some similar. I think that what bungee
> was shooting for was really the most simple setup they could have.
> You're all soldiers and you all have the same perspective.
>
> What you're talking about is taking things to the next level to make
> it all feel like a more realistic battlefield; complete with command
> and control and more fine-tuned roles. However, my impression is that
> the bulk of Halo 2 online action comes in the form of slayer because
> that is what people like to play most. I'm not sure the effort of
> creating a realistic battlefield would draw enough players willing to
> put in the time.
But that's the beauty of the system I tried to describe as Halo RTS. If you
want to keep doing the playlist thing, that's all you have to do. It's just
that the outcome of your battle may or may not affect someone else's
"campaign". Plus, slayer works great -- well, team slayer, at least. In
fact, most battles on a battlefield probably look more like team slayer then
CTF.
Basically what I propose is that the RTS portion be a wrapper program, say a
$20 add-on. The target would be strategy gamers. They get to do their
campaigns but with the very unique quality being that real people fight the
individual battles. The wrapper program can stand alone easily enough, but
since the infrastructure is already in place for today's Halo2 online
playlists, Halo RTS just has to tie into these servers -- basically send
battle requests So let's say my campaign has 3 battles going on this turn.
One may be a hostage rescue from an enemy command center so Halo RTS
requests a CTF on Coagulation. Another of my battles may be a team slayer
with my scorpion unit engaging a unit of ghost-supported infantry. Here
Halo RTS requests a battle from a playlist that would match this scenario
(maybe one of the team slayer psuedo-random game types now includes
vehicles). The third battle has one of my infantry units trying to demolish
an enemy fuel depot, so the request goes out for an Assault game on
Zanzibar.
Today's Halo2 servers get these requests from Halo RTS and picks some of its
games THAT ARE GOING TO BE PLAYED ANYWAY in say the next 3 minutes. When
those matches are over Halo2 reports the results to Halo RTS, which in turn
incorporates the outcome of those battles into my campaign. Maybe the CTF
game ended in a 1-1 tie, so Halo RTS says it was unsuccessful (in other
words my 'unit' would have to win in the Halo2 playlist game in order for my
campaign to have a victory). However, my assault game from Halo2 came out
2-1 in my favor. Bye-bye enemy fuel depot, which makes it more difficult
for my enemy in my campaign to resupply. And in the team slayer match my
team won 50-45 which means the enemy unit is either eliminated from my
campaign map or severely weakened, and my unit moves on.
I was sharing these thoughts with a friend and came up with another angle.
As a "general" running a campaign, my goal is to out-flank, out-match, and
out-gun my enemy. If I am successful I will be bringing say three units to
bear against one enemy unit, and some of my units may even be artillery.
These scenarios could be an opportunity to expand today's Halo2 playlists.
Have a playlist titled something that gets across the idea that you are
going in outmanned and outgunned. This playlist would draw all the
tough-guys who think they rule everyone -- it would test them beyond their
normal skillz. Plus, even if Halo2 picks a game that ends up having lots of
quitters, the worst case scenario is that Halo RTS determines the outcome of
my battle randomly, just like all strategy games to today.
news:vbb2i11afurbdr3v0lrt98dn6n4615tncv@4ax.com...
> On Tue, 16 Aug 2005 05:06:48 GMT, "A Man, Just Like Other Men"
> <Nada2Spam@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>>Time for bed, and time for "Halo RTS". Thank you for your time.
>>
>
> Interesting ideas and I've had some similar. I think that what bungee
> was shooting for was really the most simple setup they could have.
> You're all soldiers and you all have the same perspective.
>
> What you're talking about is taking things to the next level to make
> it all feel like a more realistic battlefield; complete with command
> and control and more fine-tuned roles. However, my impression is that
> the bulk of Halo 2 online action comes in the form of slayer because
> that is what people like to play most. I'm not sure the effort of
> creating a realistic battlefield would draw enough players willing to
> put in the time.
But that's the beauty of the system I tried to describe as Halo RTS. If you
want to keep doing the playlist thing, that's all you have to do. It's just
that the outcome of your battle may or may not affect someone else's
"campaign". Plus, slayer works great -- well, team slayer, at least. In
fact, most battles on a battlefield probably look more like team slayer then
CTF.
Basically what I propose is that the RTS portion be a wrapper program, say a
$20 add-on. The target would be strategy gamers. They get to do their
campaigns but with the very unique quality being that real people fight the
individual battles. The wrapper program can stand alone easily enough, but
since the infrastructure is already in place for today's Halo2 online
playlists, Halo RTS just has to tie into these servers -- basically send
battle requests So let's say my campaign has 3 battles going on this turn.
One may be a hostage rescue from an enemy command center so Halo RTS
requests a CTF on Coagulation. Another of my battles may be a team slayer
with my scorpion unit engaging a unit of ghost-supported infantry. Here
Halo RTS requests a battle from a playlist that would match this scenario
(maybe one of the team slayer psuedo-random game types now includes
vehicles). The third battle has one of my infantry units trying to demolish
an enemy fuel depot, so the request goes out for an Assault game on
Zanzibar.
Today's Halo2 servers get these requests from Halo RTS and picks some of its
games THAT ARE GOING TO BE PLAYED ANYWAY in say the next 3 minutes. When
those matches are over Halo2 reports the results to Halo RTS, which in turn
incorporates the outcome of those battles into my campaign. Maybe the CTF
game ended in a 1-1 tie, so Halo RTS says it was unsuccessful (in other
words my 'unit' would have to win in the Halo2 playlist game in order for my
campaign to have a victory). However, my assault game from Halo2 came out
2-1 in my favor. Bye-bye enemy fuel depot, which makes it more difficult
for my enemy in my campaign to resupply. And in the team slayer match my
team won 50-45 which means the enemy unit is either eliminated from my
campaign map or severely weakened, and my unit moves on.
I was sharing these thoughts with a friend and came up with another angle.
As a "general" running a campaign, my goal is to out-flank, out-match, and
out-gun my enemy. If I am successful I will be bringing say three units to
bear against one enemy unit, and some of my units may even be artillery.
These scenarios could be an opportunity to expand today's Halo2 playlists.
Have a playlist titled something that gets across the idea that you are
going in outmanned and outgunned. This playlist would draw all the
tough-guys who think they rule everyone -- it would test them beyond their
normal skillz. Plus, even if Halo2 picks a game that ends up having lots of
quitters, the worst case scenario is that Halo RTS determines the outcome of
my battle randomly, just like all strategy games to today.