OVERVIEW

This is a demo of my campaign modification for Halo 3 featuring the campaign level The Storm. I made this project to make Halo 3 more fun for how I like to play Halo, adding new tools for the player but also adding new challenges.

GOALS

• A stronger player character with more freedom of movement and more valuable information from your HUD.
• Stronger and more numerous enemies with enhanced AI decision making and more variety in encounters.
• More variety in the weapon and vehicle sandbox, buffing weaker weapons and adding new roles to existing weapons.
  
  

CREDITS

aLTis94’s Bulldog vehicle (Original model and textures were made by Jahrain):   https://www.nexusmods.com/halothemasterchiefcollection/mods/1452 

AStickTree/SirenSorrento for always finding the time to help with my overly specific mod questions, and for many a late night Halo: Infinite Fiesta duo-queue. 

Kataiser, vilearbiter, and w00se for testing my content and providing insightful and valuable feedback.




MAIN CHANGES

PLAYER

The player is slightly faster in all directions, in particular with strafing. The player can now carry up to 3 of each grenade type, to assist in the larger fights and against the more evasive enemies. The player has a double binocular zoom now of 3x and 8x for helping the player to plan during the larger outdoor battles. Additionally, the player has 100 shields and 100 health, significantly higher than base Halo 3 (70 shield and 45 health), to help with the larger and more chaotic fights, new challenging encounters, and modified AI. Your shields begin to regenerate very quickly after 2 seconds of Shield Stun, however, your shields now take 7 seconds to fully regenerate all 100 points of shield. Simply put, your shields are stunned for less than half of the base halo 3 duration, however, they take far longer to fully regenerate due to more maximum shield strength. Health instead is stunned for much longer and health takes longer to fully regenerate than your shields, helping to differentiate them from shields. More on this in the HUD section below. 

HUD

A player health bar has been added, allowing you to track health damage and plan accordingly in a fight. Additionally, co-op players have unique Elite health bars to fit into their slightly different co-op huds (same stats, just visual differences). 

Almost all weapons have smaller reticles across the board, however, they become larger when you are in the passenger seat of a vehicle, most noticeable in the opening sequence of The Storm, showing the player losing accuracy when in the passenger seat of vehicles but being generally more accurate with all weapons on foot.




Allies and Enemies

Elites

One of the biggest changes is added allied Elites but also enemy Elites. Allies and enemies wear different armor permutations and styles to help differentiate them in a fight. Enemy Elites use traditional blue for Minors, maroon/red for Majors, and gold for Zealots, whereas friendly Elites commonly use green and silver/white for their ranks. There are more Elite permutations in the game that may appear as surprises for the player. Elites will dodge, strafe, hijack vehicles, use camouflage, regenerate shields, and so on, making them a new evasive threat for the player to contend with in campaign. However, as it is Halo 3, Brutes will still be running the show, commanding the Elites forward along with Grunts, Jackals, and so on.

Brutes

Brutes have undergone significant changes, with the goal of making them smarter and more durable in some ways, while still leaning into their themes of brutality. Along with many AI changes, a big mechanical change is that Brute Armor will not break when Brutes lose their shields. They will still receive direct damage to their health as they do in base Halo 3, however elements of their armor like their helmets will need to be further damaged to be removed after destroying their shields. Their shields now very slowly regenerate (much slower than Elites), encouraging the player to press the attack once dropping their shields. This means that Brutes stay fairly durable in a fight even after losing their shields, and while they are still vulnerable to headshots, their helmets add an additional layer of damage resistance. Brutes still have less health in their head than the rest of their body even with their helmets, so headshots are still strongly encouraged even with non-headshot weaponry.  

To aid in identifying Brute ranks, they have been given a new color scheme. While not all Brute types will be featured on this level, here are some on The Storm specifically:

Brute Minors, Majors, and Ultras wear Blue, Purple, and Red armor respectively to show their scaling health and intelligence in combat.

Brute Captains, Captain Majors, and Captain Ultras wear Purple, Red, and Gold armor to show their scaling strength, with the higher ranked Captains often using more powerful weapons. 

Brute Chieftains now sport a brighter Red/Maroon design, whereas Brute War Chieftains use a brighter Gold. Brute Bodyguards on the other hand wear a dark Black/Gray armor to help separate them from standard Brute ranks. 

This color scheme is overall similar to vanilla Halo 3 while pulling some elements from other Halo games. Generally, Red, Black, and Gold signify higher ranked Brutes, whereas Blue and Purple signify lower ranked Brutes. Since Brute armor no longer breaks upon losing shields, Brute ranks stay easy to identify even in heated fights.

Grunts, Jackals, and Drones

Grunts and Drones now fire some weapons like the Needler significantly faster to match player usage. Jackals stick together more frequently to form shield walls. While Jackal Minors can still be toppled quickly, Jackal Majors are much tougher to de-shield and use orange shields for identification in a fight. Drones will follow the player a bit further into cover now, away from their firing points, forcing the player to stay mobile vs them. Occasionally, these covenant ranks will use newer or changed weapons like the Brute Plasma Rifle or Spiker. There are additionally numerous small AI tweaks to these enemies to make them a bit more engaging for the player.

Hunters

Hunters are significantly more threatening with a new fuel rod gun that fires up to 5 shots in quick bursts. Hunters also no longer need to be stationary to fire their weapons. They can also berserk from longer distances. The player will need to strafe and use cover carefully against them. 

General Ally and Enemy Changes

All enemies and allies have increased engagement range and more active engagement reposition properties, moving to new locations when under overwhelming firepower, using grenades to move you out of cover, and suppressing at long range as they approach you. 

All enemies and allies are significantly increased in number, and the positions of some key enemies are swapped around. Marines and ODSTs have increased stats and new combat behaviors tuned to fight these stronger enemies. New encounters have been added, some of them very intentional surprises for the player. Keep an eye out for changes to not only enemies but also weapons and other new tools around each area.




Weapons

Many weapons changed with different damage setups, tracers, effects, sounds, etc. Some new weapons have been added. Many UNSC weapons now have varying degrees of recoil. Most Covenant weapons now have longer maximum range. Dual wield damage scale set to 100% for all dual wield weapons, with accuracy adjusted to compensate. Many weapons now start with less total magazines, however, you can hold far more ammo total for some weapons, which places value on weapons that drop frequently during larger fights, along with significantly changed loadouts from many weapon racks in the game. I strongly recommend searching around for new ammo racks and power weapons in each area, as many have been changed. 

UNSC 

Assault Rifle: Now a 36 round magazine that fires 12 rounds a second. Low recoil but higher bloom than some other UNSC weapons. Meant to be used as a workhorse gun against Brutes and Elites at medium range with damage that tapers off at longer ranges due to bloom. Very accurate at midrange with controlled bursts with its new 1.5x scope. Fire sound changed to have similarities to the CE Assault Rifle while also sounding like a newer AR model.

SMG: Extremely fast fire rate at 30 rounds per second. Some of the highest damage in UNSC automatic weapons up close. Very inaccurate at midrange and beyond with high bloom and recoil, meant to be used up close for massive damage, or burst fire at medium range.

SSMG: Suppressed weapon with a 2x zoom scope. Very accurate compared to the SMG and AR, with a fire rate of 15 rounds per second, slightly faster than the AR but significantly slower than the SMG. It has very strong recoil that kicks in once you've fired off a few rounds, encouraging automatic fire up close but controlled bursts at medium range to avoid recoil. Can be used more effectively at very long range than both the SMG and AR, but lacks their damage per second up close.

Magnum: Increased firerate and high damage. More visible projectile for landing shots at medium range. Meant to be used up close as a highly ammo efficient weapon vs Grunts and Jackals with headshots, but can be used against Brutes with its faster fire rate in emergencies.

Battle Rifle: Marginally decreased damage and firerate. Still extremely strong at medium and long range for headshots, but less powerful up close against Brutes and significantly less powerful vs Elites without a secondary weapon to damage their armor or shields. 

Shotgun: Minimum damage and maximum range increased. The Shotgun is now far more effective at medium range. Changed how the game calculates the conical spread of the shot (each pellet counts as its own projectile). Added more visible tracers to each pellet. 

Sniper Rifle: Significantly increased damage. Bullets now push enemies further back on contact. One of the most effective weapons against some of the new enhanced enemies like Jackal Majors and Elites, but of course suffers in large scale fights up-close. 

Rocket Launcher: Explosive radius and effects slightly increased. This weapon no longer deals friendly fire. 

Frag Grenade: Explosive radius and effects slightly increased. 

Covenant

Spiker: Much slower fire rate at 6 rounds per second, but with massive damage increase per spike. The spiker’s base accuracy and magnetism have been improved. Each spike also leaves a new trail of smoke along with enhanced flyby and impact sound effects. Spikes push enemies further, most noticeable with Grunts. The new slow fire rate and accuracy allow the spiker to excel at very consistent damage at medium range with a fairly large magazine compared to other automatic weapons in the mod. 

Plasma Rifle: Plasma projectiles and impact effects have been made significantly larger. Damage increased. The plasma rifle starts out firing slower, but the ending firerate is faster than base Halo 3, giving the player a lot of control and fidelity on firerate. Projectile speed, autoaim, heat generated per round, and magnetism range improved. One of the strongest automatic weapons vs Elite shields and Jackal Majors at medium to long range, but lacks the maximum damage of weapons like the SMG and the Brute Plasma Rifle at close range. 

Brute Plasma Rifle: This weapon now has two firemodes, much like the Plasma Pistol. The regular firemode fires a large burst of red plasma with a very slight gravity drop over time. A single burst can de-shield low ranked Brutes and even “one-shot” weaker enemies so long as the entire burst hits. The burst can be repeated by pulling the trigger quickly, however, it will overheat in 3 repeated bursts without pause. The charged shot fires a flaming projectile that will ignite the first target or surface it touches, much like the firebomb grenades in Halo 3. The fire has slight variance in additional smaller fire particles that spawn around the main fire, increasing its range slightly, however, the fire does less burning damage than base Halo 3. The BPR is more effective than the Plasma Rifle at close range, but harder to use than the Plasma Rifle at mid and long range. This weapon’s changes were almost entirely based on the Ravager from Halo Infinite. 

Plasma Pistol: Magnetism for both single shot and charge shot slightly increased. 

Needler: Maximum firerate slightly increased. 

Carbine: Decreased minimum downtime between shots, increasing the maximum firerate. Decreased accuracy at long range when firing at maximum firerate. Stronger overall firepower than the changed Battle Rifle in this mod, but with less long range accuracy than the Battle Rifle. This weapon now functions somewhat similar to the Commando Rifle from Halo Infinite. 

Brute Carbine: A new powerful anti-infantry and anti-light vehicle weapon, the Brute Carbine fires a trio of projectiles at the same time. Each shot is very similar to the Brute Chopper’s projectiles. The weapon can “one-shot” enemies like Grunts (so long as all 3 projectiles connect) and is very damaging vs high ranked infantry and light vehicles like Ghosts. The slow firerate makes it a challenge to use up close against swarms of enemies, as it is better used as a mid to long range weapon. 

Beam Rifle: Much faster firerate but weaker individual shots. The UNSC Sniper Rifle deals much more damage per shot, but the Beam Rifle is now much better at dealing with multiple weaker enemies at the same time along with better sustained damage over time. This weapon now functions similarly to the Stalker Rifle of Halo Infinite. 

Brute Shot: Maximum range increased. Explosion effect and fly-by are louder and more noticeable. 

Fuel Rod Gun: Final projectile velocity increased significantly. This weapon no longer deals friendly fire. 

Energy Sword: No changes, although the weapon will appear more frequently with the addition of enemy Elites. 

Gravity Hammer: No changes, although the weapon will appear more frequently with the increased number of Brute Chieftains, along with Brute Captain Ultras now rarely using Gravity Hammers. 

Plasma Grenade: No significant changes. 

Spike Grenade: Significant rework to explosion mechanics. Spike grenades now individually fire many spike projectiles with the same new properties as the Spiker’s projectiles. Each fragmentation projectile can ricochet and embed in enemies. Enemies will be more stunned by the fragmentations, most noticeable with Grunts and Jackals. Fragmentation spikes also move significantly faster. With these changes, to maximize damage, this grenade is generally much more effective when stuck on walls or ceilings, and is less effective when stuck into the ground outdoors. Even outdoors though, the weapon has a much larger and wider minimum damage radius than in base Halo 3. 

Firebomb Grenade: Not currently featured on this level (see Brute Plasma Rifle for related changes). 




Equipment

Many equipment changes to help prop up some of the lesser used equipment while weakening others. 

Bubble Shield: Significantly shorter duration at 5 seconds of shield time once deployed. This allows you to use the Bubble Shield to avoid large bursts of damage or reposition without it stalling fights out entirely. 

Deployable Cover: Much stronger shield strength and weakpoint health. Deployable cover will still only cover you from a single angle, but it can often last through entire engagements, whereas the Bubble Shield is now the shorter duration all-direction shield. 

Power Drain: No significant changes, however ODST health is no longer drained by the Power Drain. 

Regenerator: Assists Brutes and Elites with their shields now that both regenerate. 

Flare: No changes yet but there are planned changes after this demo. 

Invincibility: No significant changes, however, more Brutes, especially high ranking Brutes, will be seen using Invincibility. 

Portable Gravity Lift: No changes. 

Auto-Turret: Not featured on this level. 

Cloaking: Not featured on this level. 

Radar Jammer: Not featured on this level. 

Trip Mine: Not featured on this level. 




Vehicles

New vehicle encounters have been added to the mission along with changes to existing vehicles. Featured in this mod is aLTis94’s Bulldog vehicle (Original model and textures were made by Jahrain):  https://www.nexusmods.com/halothemasterchiefcollection/mods/1452. I have edited its handling and weapons to fit into the modded sandbox of Halo 3: Orion. I have also added AI support, expect to see Marines and ODST using this vehicle, along with covenant forces if they capture them. 

Each vehicle segment in the mod has been expanded with new Phantom drops of vehicles, new vehicles emerging from factory doors, and so on. Expect to see a lot of increased allies, allied vehicles, and general player support to assist you in these segments. Vehicle AI has been tuned up, expect to see Banshees strafing the player at longer ranges, Wraiths shelling more, Ghosts going for rams more, and so on. Don’t be afraid to use heavy weapons to try to prevent the covenant from using Phantoms to drop off more vehicles and infantry, or attempt to steal a Banshee yourself, as it may make the larger fights more manageable. 

The Scarab now has a longer firing duration and less downtime between main cannon attacks, making the scarab a bit more of a mobile and constant threat.




Closing

There are lots of smaller additional changes in this mod, honestly too many for me to remember, but the major changes have been listed above. I hope you enjoy the type of Halo 3 I’ve been working on, on and off, for the past few months. 

- Best Sakuya NA