It was definitely a lot of fun to get Pancakes and win fights, but it ended up devaluing the gun skill of the player using it as it was far more consistent to launch a player into a wall than land a precise burst. For example, the Repulsor used to cause quite a bit more damage when a target collided with map geometry like walls and pieces of cover. What we try to focus on is preserving the mechanics that have the most skill depth and provide the most interesting interactions with the rest of the sandbox, which will create the fun “Halo” moments we all love. When it comes to tuning equipment, it can be a difficult and delicate process of maintaining competitive balance without hurting the overall fun of the equipment. The Battle Rifle in competitive play will allow players to hold their own in any situation with skillful shots, but you’ll want to scavenge to get a more situational advantage. After many iterations I think we landed in a balanced spot which allowed for more diversity in weapon selection in competitive play. Thinking back when we were going through the process I can recall when the pendulum might have been swung too far in either direction, we either didn’t want to pick up anything else on the map and just use the Battle Rifle or we wanted to pick everything up on the map and avoid the Battle Rifle. During this process there were times we’d test out three or four designs a day then go back to the drawing board with the weapons designer David Price and determined what worked and what didn’t. When working with the Sandbox design team on the starting weapon for ranked/competitive, one of the goals for the Competitive Insights Team was to lock down and refine our ‘base-line’ and then mold the rest of the sandbox around it so we could work towards that perfect harmony. Greg: The Battle Rifle has such a deep history in Halo and has a been a staple within the competitive scene since Halo 2, it just feels right to have it as the starting weapon with Halo Infinite being a spiritual reboot. The artists and audio experts really could not have written a more accurate love letter to Halo fans with their work on this weapon. Additionally, it is stunning both visually and audibly. As a player, you will feel confident and powerful with it equipped, just as a Spartan should. For us, the BR75 is the definitive version of that iconic weapon. Halo has a rich history with powerful pistols like the Magnum, but it also has as strong a legacy with rifles like the Battle Rifle. For Halo Infinite, we felt it was important for the utility weapon to be in the form of a rifle. If you remember, this is something that was very important to us on Halo 5: Guardians as well, and is why the Magnum played such a key role as the starting utility weapon for that title. First, the importance of nailing the classic need for a starting utility weapon. But from a sandbox perspective, there are two ideologies that matter most to us when crafting our gameplay features. Quinn: For competitive Halo there is a strong handful of tenets that we strive to understand and follow. Any item that can be earned can also be taken away through combat resolution, positioning, and tactical actions. Scavenging gameplay within a map/mode combo pushes teams to contest the acquisition of items within the Sandbox.This meant to bolster tactical decision making. When a mode’s state is progressed then all players should be informed of the change and have a window of opportunity to react to it.
Arena game states are communicated efficiently and urgently.A match with two teams of equal skill should be determined by the teams’ tactical decision making as the mode’s state is continued by player action. Mechanical skill expression will get players far in the Arena ecosystem, but mastery comes from macro gameplay decision making within a map and mode’s framework.Mastery = Mechanical Depth + Tactical Decision Making.Players feel like they can have a high impact on the game individually through their skill expression within the combat sandbox and mode ruleset, but the team with the better coordination, communication, and reactive skills will seize the most victories.The Lone Wolf Survives but the Pack Thrives.