11 replies to this topic

[MasterBuilderFaber]

Greetings so called inheritors of the Mantle. I know I have made some pretty terrible proposals in the past which have ruined the galaxy... AHEM HALO RINGS... But! Today I bring to the attention of all involved with this mod my proposal for a more diverse, unique and satisfying system for research which will grant the usage of more vessels seen in the lore and also a better simulation of the Halo universe. So bear with me, this may confuse some but I am willing to explain or answer anything if required. Stand fast mankind, the reclamation has begun!

 

So the basic idea is that the tech tree for all factions will be split into progressive eras similar to that of games such as Age of Empires. All players will start of at the base era in which they must use the less advanced and older units used by the faction at that time, then they must conduct a certain research that will advance them into the next era unlocking more research. They keep progressing until eventually reaching the last era and then so on.

 

The four eras will be:

Before Human-Covenant War (Pre-2525)

Early Human-Covenant War (Post-2526)

Late Human-Covenant War (Pre-2552)

After Human-Covenant War (Post-2553)

 

It has come to my attention that the mod team has a problem of when they should set the mod, well don't be specific! Be general! People want a flexible mod where they can experience the entirety of the local Halo timeline. The purpose of this is to allow players to experience the lore in its entirety, and to adapt to the changes in era like the factions in the lore itself. As you progress, you will find yourself having to utilise new strategies and adapting to new threats. For example with UNSC Carriers, Pre-2525 you would start off with a strong hulled Athens class, but Post-2526 you may want to utilise the faster Eion class instead. In Pre-2552 you may want to switch that for the more powerful Epoch class, but then Post-2553 you may want to bring out the Forerunner enhanced Poseidon class. It is all about diversity and accuracy, players want to be able to be unique in their play styles, utilise their own strategies on the battlefield.

It has been pointed out that their will be clones as some ships are similar. I can only advise stat changes, for example the Athens is a Heavy Carrier so make it slower, more resilient and give it more strikecraft space. The Eion is a Light Cruiser, so make it faster, lightly armoured, less strikecraft space but higher firepower.

 

Sorry if I have not explained this in the best way, but this is my idea and I believe it can definitely make this mod very interesting, unique, and grant the diverse and yet accurate gameplay players are looking for.

Give feedback, questions, suggestions and I will be happy to listen.

 

Here is a draft of the units available in each era for the UNSC and Covenant:

NOTE: Some units have been added and taken away as future ideas

 

Spoiler

UNSC

Pre-2525

• GA-TL1 Longsword class Interceptor
• Razor class Light Prowler
• Sahara class Heavy Prowler
• Winter class Light Prowler
• Mako class Corvette
• Charon class Light Frigate
• Stalwart class Light Frigate
• Halcyon class Light Cruiser
• Athens class Heavy Carrier
• Phoenix class Assault Ship
• Phoenix class Colonial Vessel
• Geneva class Envoy

Post-2526

• Paris class Heavy Frigate
• Gorgon class Heavy Destroyer
• Eion class Light Carrier
• Marathon class Heavy Cruiser
• Orbital Defence Platform
• Cradle class Repair Ship
• Valiant class Super-Heavy Cruiser
• Hephaestus class ACU
• Anchor class Orbital Station

Pre-2552

• YSS-1000 Sabre
• Thanatos class Destroyer
• Epoch class Heavy Carrier
• Orion class Battlecruiser/ Carrier
• Thermopylae/ Trafalgar class Supercarrier

Post-2553

• F-41 Broadsword XMSF
• Strident class Heavy Frigate
• Poseidon class Light Carrier
• Autumn class Heavy Cruiser
• Infinity class Warship
• Vindication class Light Battleship

 

COVENANT

Pre-2525

• Tarasque class Heavy Fighter
• Gigas class Fighter-Bomber
• DAV/ Missionary class Light Corvette
• CPV class Heavy Destroyer
• CAR class Frigate
• CRS class Light Cruiser
• Adjudicator class Battleship/ Super-Destroyer
• DDS class Carrier
• Pious class Colonial Vessel
• Mercy class Diplomatic Vessel
• Picket class Light Frigate

Post-2526

• Type-31 Seraph XMF
• Type-27 Banshee Interceptor XMF
• SDV class Heavy Corvette
• RPV class Light Destroyer
• CAS class Assault Carrier
• CCS class Battlecruiser
• Haven class Starbase

Pre-2552

• ORS/ Reverence class Heavy Cruiser
• RCS class Armoured Cruiser
• Inquisitor class Supercruiser
• "Voldemort" class Supercarrier (IT IS JUST THERE FOR REFERENCE)

Post-2553

• Type-56 Lich GS/UHDP
• Three unidentified Covenant Warships seen in Halo 5

 

Signed, Faber,

The Master Builder

[Crisiss]

Someone can probably come and correct me on this but I believe an era system was already suggested and shot down. Wasn't feasible, too many hardcoding barriers, or something of the sort.

[베이클라이트]

Isnt it alreay like in? I mean you have to research older ships first before beeing able to research the fancy shit.

[SternuS]

Isnt it alreay like in? I mean you have to research older ships first before beeing able to research the fancy shit.

It depends on what you consider being "old".

 

The CRS is an old design, but is seeing major utilize in the Post-Human-Covenant War Era. The Halcyon isn't much newer than the Marathon, and yet we can research the Marathon first.

 

My concern with this solution would only be the roster of ships available. If you want to leave all of them available, it's going to be a serious mess, for ships will be just clones of other ships, but slightly better. We troubled a lot with just the Eion and the Athens, I can't imagine with all of those ships.

 

Anyway, an Era system wouldn't be bad, just to see the technology evolving throughout the game. Maybe different type of Eras per faction? The UNSC would have "Pre-" and "Post-", the Covenant would have "Age of Reclamation", "Age of..."

[Insert IGN]

Looks interesting, however my concern would be balance. Especially pre-2525. 

[Sev]

I haven't many 'this unit replaces that' system used in any SoaSE mods (the only one I've seen do something like this is the Warlord titans in Star Wars: Interregnum, and that was done via abilities), so I've always assumed that this was something that the engine couldn't support without a long workaround.

[Riftis]

Although you could ad-hoc it with careful placement of techs in the tech tree (and there is unfortunately a relatively small amount available to play with, max of 32 per tree due to hard coding and that would be pretty crammed), the Sins engine wouldn't support an era system without some serious work arounds.

 

As a few of the mod staff have said concerning other issues, if base Sins doesn't do it, it's probably not possible due to hard coding. An era system is an interesting idea but it would be a lot of work to implement.

[MasterBuilderFaber]

Nevertheless, perhaps they could make a copy of the current build and try and construct this system on there as an experiment before adding it to the actual build. Well my proposition was not replace ships but add ships, the previous ships from earlier eras would still be available as some players may favour older models. For example, in lore terms, the Halcyons were going to be scrapped by the late Human-Covenant War, but due to dire circumstances were called back to service. Some players may find themselves being outmatched by another faction and so require cheaper yet older units in order to keep a defence and a standing economy.

[Crisiss]

I don't think it would work very well. The Paris is already the run of the mill spam ship. There's literally no reason to implement this other than cutting down on the research meta and as some sort of novelty.

Gets a no from me, whatever that is worth.

[MasterBuilderFaber]

[Site will not let me quote for some reason]

 

@Crisiss

Some people like certain mechanics, some people don't. It is evident you have made your choice of interest clear. Thank you for your feedback anyhow.

[HarkenScythe]

There is a very simple answer:

No for 2 reasons.

It would require a lot of overhauls if it were implementable

And hardcoding.jpeg

[Lavo]

The thought of having units that are replaced by newer units is an abhorrent one that does not work well in Sins. Further, the AI would never understand this sort of system; it would always have a mix of old and new units, putting it further at a disadvantage versus human players.

 

Theoretically, an era-based system could work if one went with generic units that upgrade to newer units, example 1, "UNSC Frigate" would start off as a Paris in era 1, and change into a Thanatos/Halberd via a "UNSC Frigate Upgrade" tech in era 3, and example 2, "UNSC Carrier" starts as an Athens in era 1 and upgrades to an Eion in era 2. However this system has the pitfall of said units remaining at the same build cost, build time, and supply cost.

 

This would also require the entire ship balance to be redone yet again, and as such it is not feasible and will not be done. However, an era inspiration could be very useful in making flavor text for research.