Archive:Interview with the Halo Online Team

''This a translated replica from russian to english of the original forum post at forums.goha.ru. All typos and discrepancies are included as originally written.''

Not so long ago, we collected questions from members of the forum to the Halo Online team and are now ready to publish an interview Iskander Habibrahmanov, producer of Halo Online, answered our questions.

Let's start with the most popular question: will there be an opportunity to play for the Elites (Sangheili)?

Yes, such an opportunity will appear in the foreseeable future.

'''Are you planning to add new weapons? If so, what should be expected first?'''

The developers did not plan to introduce weapons that were not in the original series, so if we see something, these will be various modifications of the existing weapons of the Halo universe. Elite weapons are also expected to be added (plasma pistol, covenant carbine and Mowler).

'''On the alpha test, you could only play a male character. Will there be a choice of gender in the future?'''

It will be possible to choose between male and female Spartan already on PTA.

Will the game have DirectX12 support?

Not yet known. If such a need arises in the future, we will definitely do it.

Do you plan to transfer Halo Online to a new engine in the future or substantially modify the current one?

Halo Online has already been developed on the substantially redesigned Halo 3 engine. No further development of the engine is planned. In the future, if we understand that this is necessary, our decision may change.

'''The CBT will start very soon, and the game still does not have a FAQ with answers to most questions from beginners. When to expect it?'''

FAQ is already available in the group (https://vk.com/halo.online?w=page-79914897_50320293 ) and on the Play page ( https://ru.4game.com/halo/play/ ). We are constantly supplementing it so that newcomers can understand what is happening in the project.

Will there be such modes as Firefight, CTF, Race, Oddball, Infection, king of the hill?

CTF (flag capture) can be seen immediately after the CBT. Most of the usual game modes for players are planned by developers - they will appear as the game develops.

'''What about story missions like those in Halo 4? For example: Spartans ops.'''

Currently, we are fully focused on PvP modes and missions. But we are constantly thinking about new options for the development of the game and, perhaps, in the future you can see the developments in the direction of the PvE mechanic.

That is, the addition of PvE missions is still in the plans?

Yes, PvE missions are planned, but it is not yet known exactly when.

'''Will you be hosting events at Halo Online? If so, what will they be?'''

First of all, of course, I want to focus on the e-sports aspects of the game. I think we will hold tournaments, competitions, etc.

Is it planned to add functionality to create our team, with the ability to challenge another team, participate in tournaments, etc.?

Now we are developing our vision of this functionality. Then there will be discussions with the developers, we will listen to their vision, we will analyze the possible options together and then make a joint decision on what, how and when to implement.

Is there a plan to introduce a patch system like in Halo Reach?

At Halo Online it will be a redesigned logo system. It has already been added to the game and in the near future we will work to improve the visual component of this system. Including, there is talk of developing a logo editor.

Will there be support for gamepads?

There is such a possibility. But now it’s not yet possible to say exactly when this can be realized.

'''Will the crosshair assistant be disabled? Indeed, if in console games its presence is justified, then it looks a bit strange on a PC.'''

The first step to turning off was the ability to turn off assistance in aiming locally in the game settings. We want to collect a detailed feedback on what is now, listen to the opinions of the players, and only then make a final decision.

'''Tell us about your matchmaking system. On the basis of what indicators are gaming lobbies formed and how do teams balance?'''

Matchmaking selects players of the same skill level.

And how is this “skill" defined?

A lot of criteria: level, winrate indicators, number of points earned, number of matches played, etc.

'''How do you plan to deal with cheaters? Do you think that Frost is enough, or is an additional protection system planned?'''

Frost should be enough. We can also connect analytics at any time with the help of which dishonest players are determined. In general, most actions are miscalculated on dedicated servers, so a large layer of cheats will not work just physically.

'''During the alpha test, players noticed that on the old cards from Halo 3 the game is going fine, and on the new ones the FPS starts to sag. Do you know about this problem, and is optimization work being carried out in this direction?'''

We know about such a problem and have already passed all the data to the developers. We hope she will be resolved very soon.

'''Many players are concerned about the excessive imbalance of the sniper rifle. Are you planning to change the characteristics of existing weapons for rebalancing?'''

The balance will still change, no doubt. We constantly analyze the balance of the game and make changes. The only way to balance the game is to roll out a lot of changes and look at how they affect those or other indicators. We are doing this together with the developer.

'''Is your job controlled by Microsoft or the 343i? If yes, then how?'''

The main product decisions we make together. MS has extensive experience in game design, and we have in adapting games to the Russian market, working with the audience, creating analytical systems that help you make informed and informed decisions. We constantly share experiences with each other, because this is the only way to make the game good. And do not forget about the players, they play even a greater role in making product decisions than we or MS.

Is the game going to go beyond the CIS, if successful in our region?

Of course, it all depends on the success of the game on the Russian market. We will do our best to help Microsoft and Saber Interactive create a game that Russian gamers will be proud of, because it is they who make a key contribution to its development. We can’t say anything about going beyond the CIS.

Will there be an opportunity for players outside the CIS to play Halo Online, or will the IP block not let them in?

The game was developed exclusively for Russia and the CIS, so there will be an ip block, and you won’t be able to play outside the CIS. If something changes, our community will know about it.