HaloWaypoint Bulletin

Hmm, not much new released in the bulletin this week.

Some Independence Day talk, then discussion and a video of MLG players playing Halo 4 multi-player at E3.

The meat of the bulletin comes next, regarding Halo 4 Infinity Multiplayer. I’ll post that part here:

Team Slayer has always been the most popular mode in Halo, so when we sat down to build the Halo 4 competitive multiplayer experience, we asked ourselves several questions: How do you improve upon Team Slayer, especially after so many iterations? How do you reward players without upsetting the delicate balance and gameplay loop? How do you make it feel different but comfortable at the same time?

The answer to all of those questions comes in the form of Infinity Slayer.

Infinity Slayer is Halo 4’s all-new Team Slayer experience. It is an additional-but-vital mode, with new weapons, vehicles, loadouts and Armor Abilities. The UNSC Infinity takes a large role in this mode, providing players in the game with weapons and ordnance.

For the first time in Halo, you earn points not only for your team, but also for yourself. It still takes a certain amount of kills to win the game (currently one kill equals ten points, and 60 kills wins the game), but now you have your own personal progression loop on top of that.

Halo 4 also brings new medals and rewards to the experience, rewarding players not only for kills, but also style, assists, team support, and objective gameplay. Some of the things that count as “style” are killing an opponent attempting to hijack or skyjack a vehicle, ending an opponent’s killing spree, and killing an opponent that stole your ordnance.

Halo 4 features the new scoring system in all modes, but it makes its biggest impact in Infinity Slayer as players earn ordnance rewards from the UNSC Infinity.

Infinity Ordnance – During each Infinity Slayer experience, the UNSC Infinity drops ordnance at the start of the match. So, what used to be a shotgun leaning against the wall in previous Halos is now dropped from Infinity. At carefully-tuned intervals, Infinity resupplies the map with power weapons.

The distance at which you can see these weapons is tuned by map. The more lethal weapons (Rocket Launcher, Scattershot, and Sniper Rifle, for instance) are always on your screen. Mid-tier weapons and grenades are not.

After initial ordnance, the Infinity drops semi-randomized weapons within very specialized constraints, set up specifically by playlist and map settings. These drops occur every few minutes. When Infinity is ready to drop a weapon, it looks at all pre-determined, designer-scripted locations, and then selects one.

You will be able to customize Infinity ordnance in Forge.

Personal Ordnance – As you earn medals, you fill up your ordnance meter. When that meter is full, you earn a reward drop for yourself from the Infinity. The reward comes in the form of three randomized power weapons, grenades, or powerups (two of the former, one of the latter). You can then choose which one you want, and the Infinity will drop the ordnance (if you’re inside, it will teleport in). You won’t get the highest tier power weapons (e.g., rockets) in personal ordnance, but everything you do get is powerfully awesome. And awesomely powerful. And everything in between.

We are still fine-tuning the system but in its current iteration, each successive ordnance takes 30% more to get. On average, each player gets 1-2 ordnance per game. Solid playing may net you three; however, I’ve been unable to confirm. For obvious reasons.

Powerups are one of the biggest new impact features, and there will be three powerup selections available in Infinity Slayer. Overshield is making a return along with two new additions: Damage Boost and Speed Boost. Powerups are different colors, both on your screen and your character. Overshield is green, Speed Boost is blue (and leaves trails), and Damage Boost is red.

Powerups have a limited duration but are incredibly fun and combo well with the new weapons and Armor Abilities in Halo 4. For instance, the Energy Sword pairs well with the Overshield. Or, if you have a Magnum, selecting the Speed Boost is beneficial so you can quickly reach a power weapon. There are numerous on-the-fly choices and combinations to discover.

Some additional features of Infinity Slayer are perspective scripting and dynamic music, but you’ll hear more about those things later.

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After this comes word that no updates for Reach this month, followed by some custom challenges and super Jackpots. The Jackpot is in the MLG playlist. Ugh, I never play that playlist. Ah, but it doesn’t matter to me for the credits. I recently went over 37 million credits in Reach. I have no need for more. Jackpot or otherwise.

The last this posted was a cover of a magazine. Here it is:

And that was it. SDCC is upon us, so I’m hoping, dare say expecting to hear much more about Halo 4 then. This time around, I want to know more about Forge. What do you want to hear about Halo 4? Comment below.

-HFFL