Halo Wars

[Silent_Buddha]

Resource Management - The resources you buy stuff with. The more the better usually.

Teching up - Increasing the usefulness of your units. Stronger units = Better. Unless you want to Zerg...then you want to mass units.

Everything relies on resources.

Regards,
SB

 

[rusty]

Hmmm, maybe it's just me, but is there a way to ungarrison your units? Wouldn't be a big deal except that they still count towards your unit cap and I can't figure out how to get them out.

Regards,
SB

you mean if you've set them into cover or a tower etc?

if so, just press A on the cover/object and you'll have an eject option by pushing up on the left stick.

 

[BadTB25]

you mean if you've set them into cover or a tower etc?

if so, just press A on the cover/object and you'll have an eject option by pushing up on the left stick.

I think he meant in the main base(s). I think you just select the base and select unlock or something similar.

NRP, the tutorial does a descent job of getting you started. Also on the loading screen, there are tips scrolling as the game loads.

I haven't played a lot of RTS either and would consider myself a novice, but I had a good time with the demo.

I played Skirmish last night as the UNSC side. Again it was a little on the easy side as I totally overwhelmed the Covenant. In the end, I had 3 bases and a mini-base with a variety of troops, vehicles and flying craft. It was really cool watching them attack the Covenant base.

For some reason the Covenant base reminds me of a Cylon Base Star from Battlestar Gallactica.

 

[Asher]

Word of warning...when you start the game, do not go to the Tutorials section first. The campaign actually starts with the tutorials and you can't skip them.

So I've done the tutorials twice now, and you can't skip the talking or anything.

 

[Gradthrawn]

Word of warning...when you start the game, do not go to the Tutorials section first. The campaign actually starts with the tutorials and you can't skip them.

So I've done the tutorials twice now, and you can't skip the talking or anything.

I did the tutorials first, then went to campaign. When I went to the campaign, it asked me if I wanted to play the tutorials or not. Selecting "no" skipped them. Maybe you fat fingered through that prompt?

 

[Silent_Buddha]

you mean if you've set them into cover or a tower etc?

if so, just press A on the cover/object and you'll have an eject option by pushing up on the left stick.

.../bonk self...

Doh, didn't even see that all those times I clicked on the cover... That's what happens when you play it at 1 am.

Regards,
SB

 

[Asher]

I did the tutorials first, then went to campaign. When I went to the campaign, it asked me if I wanted to play the tutorials or not. Selecting "no" skipped them. Maybe you fat fingered through that prompt?

I'm 99% sure I never got a prompt...

 

[BadTB25]

Campaign is a little too easy anyway. I enjoyed Skirmish a lot more and there isn't any tutorial to get in the way once you've learned how to play it.

Also, you can play as the Covenant (I think). I got to try that tomorrow.

 

[NRP]

I quite enjoyed the demo. Not sure how it stacks up against other RTSs, but it does seem to accessible for newbs. I actually enjoyed watching the cut scenes, which is truly a first for me. I'm sold.

It also makes me want to check out C&C3. Anyone know how that game's mechanics/controls/etc compare?

 

[Silent_Buddha]

Campaign is a little too easy anyway. I enjoyed Skirmish a lot more and there isn't any tutorial to get in the way once you've learned how to play it.

Also, you can play as the Covenant (I think). I got to try that tomorrow.

Considering it's the first 2 missions of the campaign, yeah it's about as easy as the first 2 mission of Starcraft or most any RTS. Hard to judge the game difficulty from just those 2 missions.

I do like the fact that so far it appears that there'll be a cutscene between every mission. I'm a cutscene whore.

And I love the fact that they are pre-rendered cutscenes. In game cutscenes are nice, but not nearly as cool as pre-rendered.

Regards,
SB

 

[BadTB25]

I agree that the cutscenes are really well done. I could watch a movie made up of that type of quality cutscene.

 

[Randell]

I'm 99% sure I never got a prompt...

then you're 1% wrong.

 

[Inquisitive_Idiot]

!!!Warning Spoilers!!!

Earlier in the thread I said that the Halo Wars CG sequences represented what I though was the best interpretation of the Halo-verse yet, and after watching this video my belief has been reaffirmed. I hope whoever is responsible for the next Halo game at Microsoft Game Studios is paying attention, because the scope and scale shown in these sequences dwarfs everything we have seen in the past Halo games. Not only that, the actual design of the Spartans, Elites, Marines, ships, etc is way cooler looking than what we have seen before, in particular the sequence that shows the three Spartans taking on the larger group of Elites. Anyway, I just hope that with the next Halo game the developers can capture some of the scope and sense of epic scale shown here in this trailer.

 

[AlNom]

!!!Warning Spoilers!!!

You know, I wonder why they don't just contract a CG house to make a full length movie... I'd really like to know what the hurdles are *cough*paging Laa-Yosh *cough* for that sort of arrangement though.

 

[BadTB25]

I'm hoping Recon does that, but from some indications on the web it appears that it is a smallish team made up of Halo veterans.

I'm not sure if that is a good or bad thing.

 

[AlNom]

I'm hoping Recon does that, but from some indications on the web it appears that it is a smallish team made up of Halo veterans.

I'm not sure if that is a good or bad thing.

It could go either way. I suppose that the team is small enough that they would outsource the cutscenes, for instance. On the other hand, from the weekly update on their cut-scene pipeline, it seemed like they tried to develop the tools for an efficient, in-engine production. But it would be nice to have the cut-scenes pre-rendered using the engine with higher quality settings to hide load times for their free-roaming city at each beacon you are supposed to come across.

Anyhoo... I loved the direction of the CG scenes. Perhaps they used the same house as the ones that did the Halo 3 superbowl commercial.

 

[NRP]

Anyone have any ideas about how to take out the Scarab in skirmish mode? I hit it with a MAC round, but it still wiped out my entire force.

 

[jb]

You know, I wonder why they don't just contract a CG house to make a full length movie... I'd really like to know what the hurdles are *cough*paging Laa-Yosh *cough* for that sort of arrangement though.

Ahem, it seems like they could whip one out in "no-time" this way.

I like that other fan adoption short movie with the brutes..that was cool too!

 

[BadTB25]

Anyone have any ideas about how to take out the Scarab in skirmish mode? I hit it with a MAC round, but it still wiped out my entire force.

The only way I've seen it destroyed was via the MAC rounds.
Perhaps you haven't upgraded them enough yet.

I haven't ran into a scarab yet in Skirmish palying as the USNC. How did you get to fight one?

The funny thing is that if you haven't read the Halo novels, the MAC rounds would kind of seem out of place for a Halo game. I can't recall it ever being mentioned in the previous games.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

You know, I wonder why they don't just contract a CG house to make a full length movie... I'd really like to know what the hurdles are *cough*paging Laa-Yosh *cough* for that sort of arrangement though.

Sci-Fi movies like this are just made for CG. Power armor and whatnot just can't be done convincingly in live action. Just imagine how much cooler Starship Troopers would have been in CG.

However, I think full CG movies are still quite expensive to make with regards to Live Action aren't they? Especially if you consider how much they have to pay "stars".

Back to the post before yours though...

I think part of the reason the cutscenes in this are so epic is because the game itself is trying to portray the overall war rather than one man's story. So by necessity has to be on an epic scale. I really can't wait to see how this plays out in the game.

I'd expect recon to go back to the more "personal" small scale story. But who knows...

I dunno is it just me or does in game cutscenes no matter how well done scream "small budget".

Regards,
SB