0 of 0
About this mod
Campaign Overhaul built on the foundation of replacing Grunts & Jackals with Brutes, which has since evolved into a unique gameplay vision and experience.
- Requirements
- Permissions and credits
- Halo 3 Version -
Warial Journey - Halo 3
- Warial Division -
This mod is part of a series of mods with a certain unified general gameplay vision.
The names of each of these mods refer to the faction you're fighting, called Warial Division.
Gameplay comes first in Warial Division mods, so the faction basically exists to just add some flavor into combat.
These Warials are a bit of an intense subfaction of the Covenant who live and breathe merciless combat.
They're generally vastly more dangerous and aggressive than your average Covenant, which you're gonna feel in gameplay.
Warials don't care about the Covenant's goals, they just have a mutually beneficial relationship with each other.
The Covenant handles politics, economics and so on, and the Warials focus on combat training and weapons technology.
So basically, playing this mod means you enter an alternate universe where the Warial Division was deployed to this Campaign's events.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Name Change -
The mod's name has been changed to better reflect the kind of experience it has developed into.
Fodder be Brute was a name intended for the initial version's idea of being sort of a simple silly Vanilla+ mode.
Warial Storm reflects the FbB v3-alpha vibe of essentially fighting a fearsome Covenant sub-faction, the Warial Division.
The name Warial comes from one of the moons around the Brute homeworld; beyond that their lore is open to interpretation.
Development and overall vision of the mod will remain focused on gameplay over everything else, just as with FbB v3-alpha.
The Warial Division bit mostly adds some extra flavor for those who prefer to be immersed in the experience.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- FbB Description Archive -
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- v3-alpha Description -
v3 is under construction. It's basically gonna be a new mod built from the foundation of FbB (but with a much more
refined gameplay vision) which will take quite a while to develop, so don't expect to see the full version anytime soon.
v3-alpha is available and may get updated every now and then for those who want a work-in-progress preview of what's to come.
- Tayari Plaza on Heroic in FbB v3-alpha (10.10.2021 build) -
- Gameplay Vision -
The details are still forming bit by bit at this point in development, so here's some bullet points:
1. Gameplay is king, meaning that gameplay quality and enjoyment take priority over things like the story and realism in my design decisions.
2. Weapons are more like playstyles and less like resources, so there's a finely tuned amount of ammo/battery for each weapon (usually 20 spare mags).
3. Each weapon must have its own unique gameplay role to justify its existence, while being equal in value compared to other weapons in the sandbox.
4. Through the increase of weapon role variety there's a lot of potential solutions to choose from, making room for tougher and more satisfying encounters.
5. The value of a weapon is determined by how much effort/risk it takes to use versus how effective it is at its intended weapon role.
6. Equalized weapons has also paved the way for most AI having randomized weapons to varying degrees, making this mod a bit of an AI Fiesta.
7. Dynamic unpredictability, player options and replayability in general are maximized while keeping the gameplay feel fair and balanced.
8. The gameplay enjoyment of experienced and advanced players is given the most priority through said maximized replayability.
9. The increase in variation also works as an organic way to up the difficulty, since the player can't account for everything that might happen.
- Difficulties Currently -
Easy: Temporarily a test mode where enemies do near-zero damage. Not recommended for non-testing purposes.
Normal: AI aren't as aggressive as they should be. Not the intended experience, but feel free to have some chill fun.
Heroic: The mod is designed around this difficulty; the most refined experience. Recommended for 1-2 players.
Legendary: Not as refined as Heroic, but works decently for extra co-op challenge. Recommended for 3-4 players.
- Controls Tips -
Some guns in v3 have alt-fire functions (such as the Shotgun having a double-fire similar to Half-Life)
which are triggered with your "Vehicle Function 1" key. I recommend setting that to Right Click.
- Manual Installation -
Place the files into the "\Steam\steamapps\common\Halo The Master Chief Collection\halo3odst\maps" folder.
It's recommended that you back up the map files which have the same names before replacing them.
Whenever you play modded maps, be sure to launch MCC with anti-cheat disabled.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- v2.0 Description -
Campaign Overhaul mod centered around replacing Grunts & Jackals with Brutes, plus a bunch of improvements to create an
engaging and challenging experience for those who want a bit more ODST immersion and a feeling of fighting a formidable alien faction,
while half the focus is on wacky fun Halo gameplay with the goal of creating an ideal balance between the two.
- Tayari Plaza on Heroic in FbB v2.0 -
- v1.0 Changes -
1. Grunt Minors -> Jump Pack Brute Minors
2. Grunt Majors & Heavies -> Jump Pack Brute Majors
3. Grunt Ultras & Spec Ops -> Jump Pack Brute Ultras
(Kikowani Station doesn't have Jump Pack Brutes, so the Grunts in that level are basic Brute Minors, Majors & Ultras.)
4. Jackals -> Brute Stalkers (yes, even Jackal Snipers)
5. Jump Pack Brutes now throw Plasma Grenades (to keep those grenades in the gameplay sandbox now that Grunts are absent).
6. Brute Stalkers now have a 20% chance to use Flare when entering combat instead of 40%.
7. Automag and Silenced SMG now actually function as silenced guns, so enemies only notice shots from those weapons when they get hit.
- v2.0 Changes -
1. Hunter & Brute melees throw things much further away.
2. All player melees have been nerfed and rebalanced to be more believable.
3. Player cannot assassinate enemies anymore.
4. Flare has a screen-darkening visual effect now to save your eyes.
5. AI fire nearly all weapons from x1.5-x2 further away.
6. Brutes keep their armor on shield break.
7. Brute shields can recharge even after fully depleted.
8. All Brute helmets need to be shot off to get a headshot, just like in Halo 2.
9. There's a new chance spawn Brute Captain rank called Warcaptain, which is basically a Warchieftain with Captain weapons.
10. Plasma Pistol overcharge is now a close-range low-damage explosive projectile with a powerful gravity push.
11. Brute Plasma Rifle is now pretty much the Halo 2 Brute Plasma Rifle (lower damage, faster fire rate).
12. Brute Shot projectiles can fly twice as far before exploding.
13. Spiker now has a unique role as a fast-firing 8-shot burst weapon, which makes it an actually viable weapon choice.
14. Assault Rifle now has much more ammo capacity, 60 round clip, and the Battle Rifle firing sound effect.
15. Automag isn't super useful now so it also got a big ammo capacity increase and a new clip size of 24.
16. Silenced SMG has about double the ammo capacity now.
17. Carbine has been nerfed to consume 2 rounds per shot.
18. Reload now wastes rounds on Automag, Mauler, Assault Rifle, Carbine, SSMG, Sniper Rifle & Spiker.
19. Brute Stalkers don't have the helmet eye beam light anymore as a fix to a bug introduced by the Brute armor changes.
20. VISR Mode colors for all ODST characters are slightly different now, which is based on the mission you're playing on.
21. All waypoints (mission objective, player & AI ODST) have been removed since they're basically HUD clutter once you know the game.
22. Binoculars now have two zoom levels, default (x3) and sniper zoom (x10).
23. Max grenades have been increased to four.
24. Mission starting profiles (the weapons, ammo & grenades you start out with) have been tweaked.
25. Added some unique enemy encounters and fixed a couple that needed tweaking.
26. Hunters have twice the health now.
27. Basic drones are a bit weak for this mod's style so now all drones are Captains & Captain Majors, meaning they all have shields.
28. Board meleeing a Wraith does 40 times less damage per hit, and you do that same damage to yourself on each hit.
29. Grenade drop chances for all grenade types have been (mostly) increased to the same value of 66%.
30. Power meleeing with the Gravity Hammer now does 60 damage to you, so using it is a huge health price to pay, assuming you survive.
(Kikowani Station has a bunch of missing assets, so don't be surprised to hear the normal Assault Rifle firing sound there for example.)
- v2.0.1 Changes -
1. Removed the visual low ammo HUD warning from Reload Waste guns, since it's good to think twice before reloading them.
2. Removed the "divider" line next to the ammo number from Reload Waste guns, as an in-game reminder of which guns have that feature.
3. Small fix to the last encounter in Coastal Highway.
- Manual Installation -
Place the files into the "\Steam\steamapps\common\Halo The Master Chief Collection\halo3odst\maps" folder.
It's recommended that you back up the map files which have the same names before replacing them.
Whenever you play modded maps, be sure to launch MCC with anti-cheat disabled.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- v1.0 Description -
- Tayari Plaza on Heroic in FbB v1.0 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mainly inspired by the original Halo 3: Recon/ODST name drop trailer, the main purpose of this mod is to make the game feel a bit more like that with the city being full of Brute search parties. Jump Pack Brutes would be ideal for quickly traversing the city, while Stalkers would be good for searching every nook and cranny for any survivors, so those are the ones I decided to replace the Grunts and Jackals with.
The Fodder Brutes still keep their original Grunt and Jackal weapons, meaning that there's a bunch of Brutes with Plasma Pistols and Needlers now. This lets them keep the role of "moving EMP gun rack" that Grunts and Jackals normally have, so killing them is often very rewarding since Plasma Pistol overcharge is even more useful in this mod compared to vanilla.
And yes, this means that instead of the "glowing helmet one-shot kill" Jackal Snipers, we have shielded invisible Brute Snipers now. That's obviously not gonna be to everyone's liking, but in my experience they're a surprisingly fun and unique puzzle-like addition to the enemy sandbox; one that also helps in getting into the feel of the Covenant being a formidable enemy faction which makes smart ground combat decisions.
With the Stalker's increased numbers I also noticed that they threw Flares a bit too often, so the chance for them to do so is now cut in half.
An unintended side-effect I noticed is that Firebomb Grenades are now several times more common than in the vanilla game. This one to me is a positive change though since Firebomb Grenades were always underutilized in Halo 3 and ODST, and being against armies of Brutes all the time makes you appreciate having it as more of a common part of your arsenal.
Another thing to mention is that these added Brute Stalkers are not invisible when they're unalert,
making it a very beneficial tactic to stealthily scout out areas in Mombasa Streets for example so you can spot the snipers before they go invisible.
One more subtle change I threw in to further enhance stealth is the addition of silenced weapon functionality to the Automag and the Silenced SMG.
It always felt off to me that the stealth-themed signature ODST weapons weren't actually stealthy at all in gameplay, so that has now been rectified.
Now while using these weapons, enemies won't notice your shots unless you actually hit them. Not a huge difference in practice but this just feels better.
Besides the removal of Grunts and Jackals plus these other small changes, I wanted to keep things pretty close to vanilla.
So instead of a full-on gameplay sandbox overhaul, this mod functions more as a rather simple alternate version of the vanilla game.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- List of Changes Made -
1. Grunt Minors -> Jump Pack Brute Minors
2. Grunt Majors & Heavies -> Jump Pack Brute Majors
3. Grunt Ultras & Spec Ops -> Jump Pack Brute Ultras
(Kikowani Station doesn't have Jump Pack Brutes, so the Grunts in that level are basic Brute Minors, Majors & Ultras.)
4. Jackals -> Brute Stalkers (yes, even Jackal Snipers)
5. Jump Pack Brutes now throw Plasma Grenades (to keep those grenades in the gameplay sandbox now that Grunts are absent).
6. Brute Stalkers now have a 20% chance to use Flare when entering combat instead of 40%.
7. Automag and Silenced SMG now actually function as silenced guns, so enemies only notice shots from those weapons when they get hit.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Manual Installation -
Place the files into the "\Steam\steamapps\common\Halo The Master Chief Collection\halo3odst\maps" folder.
It's recommended that you back up the map files which have the same names before replacing them.
Whenever you play modded maps, be sure to launch MCC with anti-cheat disabled.
Warial Journey - Halo 3
- Warial Division -
This mod is part of a series of mods with a certain unified general gameplay vision.
The names of each of these mods refer to the faction you're fighting, called Warial Division.
Gameplay comes first in Warial Division mods, so the faction basically exists to just add some flavor into combat.
These Warials are a bit of an intense subfaction of the Covenant who live and breathe merciless combat.
They're generally vastly more dangerous and aggressive than your average Covenant, which you're gonna feel in gameplay.
Warials don't care about the Covenant's goals, they just have a mutually beneficial relationship with each other.
The Covenant handles politics, economics and so on, and the Warials focus on combat training and weapons technology.
So basically, playing this mod means you enter an alternate universe where the Warial Division was deployed to this Campaign's events.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Name Change -
The mod's name has been changed to better reflect the kind of experience it has developed into.
Fodder be Brute was a name intended for the initial version's idea of being sort of a simple silly Vanilla+ mode.
Warial Storm reflects the FbB v3-alpha vibe of essentially fighting a fearsome Covenant sub-faction, the Warial Division.
The name Warial comes from one of the moons around the Brute homeworld; beyond that their lore is open to interpretation.
Development and overall vision of the mod will remain focused on gameplay over everything else, just as with FbB v3-alpha.
The Warial Division bit mostly adds some extra flavor for those who prefer to be immersed in the experience.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- FbB Description Archive -
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- v3-alpha Description -
v3 is under construction. It's basically gonna be a new mod built from the foundation of FbB (but with a much more
refined gameplay vision) which will take quite a while to develop, so don't expect to see the full version anytime soon.
v3-alpha is available and may get updated every now and then for those who want a work-in-progress preview of what's to come.
- Tayari Plaza on Heroic in FbB v3-alpha (10.10.2021 build) -
- Gameplay Vision -
The details are still forming bit by bit at this point in development, so here's some bullet points:
1. Gameplay is king, meaning that gameplay quality and enjoyment take priority over things like the story and realism in my design decisions.
2. Weapons are more like playstyles and less like resources, so there's a finely tuned amount of ammo/battery for each weapon (usually 20 spare mags).
3. Each weapon must have its own unique gameplay role to justify its existence, while being equal in value compared to other weapons in the sandbox.
4. Through the increase of weapon role variety there's a lot of potential solutions to choose from, making room for tougher and more satisfying encounters.
5. The value of a weapon is determined by how much effort/risk it takes to use versus how effective it is at its intended weapon role.
6. Equalized weapons has also paved the way for most AI having randomized weapons to varying degrees, making this mod a bit of an AI Fiesta.
7. Dynamic unpredictability, player options and replayability in general are maximized while keeping the gameplay feel fair and balanced.
8. The gameplay enjoyment of experienced and advanced players is given the most priority through said maximized replayability.
9. The increase in variation also works as an organic way to up the difficulty, since the player can't account for everything that might happen.
- Difficulties Currently -
Easy: Temporarily a test mode where enemies do near-zero damage. Not recommended for non-testing purposes.
Normal: AI aren't as aggressive as they should be. Not the intended experience, but feel free to have some chill fun.
Heroic: The mod is designed around this difficulty; the most refined experience. Recommended for 1-2 players.
Legendary: Not as refined as Heroic, but works decently for extra co-op challenge. Recommended for 3-4 players.
- Controls Tips -
Some guns in v3 have alt-fire functions (such as the Shotgun having a double-fire similar to Half-Life)
which are triggered with your "Vehicle Function 1" key. I recommend setting that to Right Click.
- Manual Installation -
Place the files into the "\Steam\steamapps\common\Halo The Master Chief Collection\halo3odst\maps" folder.
It's recommended that you back up the map files which have the same names before replacing them.
Whenever you play modded maps, be sure to launch MCC with anti-cheat disabled.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- v2.0 Description -
Campaign Overhaul mod centered around replacing Grunts & Jackals with Brutes, plus a bunch of improvements to create an
engaging and challenging experience for those who want a bit more ODST immersion and a feeling of fighting a formidable alien faction,
while half the focus is on wacky fun Halo gameplay with the goal of creating an ideal balance between the two.
- Tayari Plaza on Heroic in FbB v2.0 -
- v1.0 Changes -
1. Grunt Minors -> Jump Pack Brute Minors
2. Grunt Majors & Heavies -> Jump Pack Brute Majors
3. Grunt Ultras & Spec Ops -> Jump Pack Brute Ultras
(Kikowani Station doesn't have Jump Pack Brutes, so the Grunts in that level are basic Brute Minors, Majors & Ultras.)
4. Jackals -> Brute Stalkers (yes, even Jackal Snipers)
5. Jump Pack Brutes now throw Plasma Grenades (to keep those grenades in the gameplay sandbox now that Grunts are absent).
6. Brute Stalkers now have a 20% chance to use Flare when entering combat instead of 40%.
7. Automag and Silenced SMG now actually function as silenced guns, so enemies only notice shots from those weapons when they get hit.
- v2.0 Changes -
1. Hunter & Brute melees throw things much further away.
2. All player melees have been nerfed and rebalanced to be more believable.
3. Player cannot assassinate enemies anymore.
4. Flare has a screen-darkening visual effect now to save your eyes.
5. AI fire nearly all weapons from x1.5-x2 further away.
6. Brutes keep their armor on shield break.
7. Brute shields can recharge even after fully depleted.
8. All Brute helmets need to be shot off to get a headshot, just like in Halo 2.
9. There's a new chance spawn Brute Captain rank called Warcaptain, which is basically a Warchieftain with Captain weapons.
10. Plasma Pistol overcharge is now a close-range low-damage explosive projectile with a powerful gravity push.
11. Brute Plasma Rifle is now pretty much the Halo 2 Brute Plasma Rifle (lower damage, faster fire rate).
12. Brute Shot projectiles can fly twice as far before exploding.
13. Spiker now has a unique role as a fast-firing 8-shot burst weapon, which makes it an actually viable weapon choice.
14. Assault Rifle now has much more ammo capacity, 60 round clip, and the Battle Rifle firing sound effect.
15. Automag isn't super useful now so it also got a big ammo capacity increase and a new clip size of 24.
16. Silenced SMG has about double the ammo capacity now.
17. Carbine has been nerfed to consume 2 rounds per shot.
18. Reload now wastes rounds on Automag, Mauler, Assault Rifle, Carbine, SSMG, Sniper Rifle & Spiker.
19. Brute Stalkers don't have the helmet eye beam light anymore as a fix to a bug introduced by the Brute armor changes.
20. VISR Mode colors for all ODST characters are slightly different now, which is based on the mission you're playing on.
21. All waypoints (mission objective, player & AI ODST) have been removed since they're basically HUD clutter once you know the game.
22. Binoculars now have two zoom levels, default (x3) and sniper zoom (x10).
23. Max grenades have been increased to four.
24. Mission starting profiles (the weapons, ammo & grenades you start out with) have been tweaked.
25. Added some unique enemy encounters and fixed a couple that needed tweaking.
26. Hunters have twice the health now.
27. Basic drones are a bit weak for this mod's style so now all drones are Captains & Captain Majors, meaning they all have shields.
28. Board meleeing a Wraith does 40 times less damage per hit, and you do that same damage to yourself on each hit.
29. Grenade drop chances for all grenade types have been (mostly) increased to the same value of 66%.
30. Power meleeing with the Gravity Hammer now does 60 damage to you, so using it is a huge health price to pay, assuming you survive.
(Kikowani Station has a bunch of missing assets, so don't be surprised to hear the normal Assault Rifle firing sound there for example.)
- v2.0.1 Changes -
1. Removed the visual low ammo HUD warning from Reload Waste guns, since it's good to think twice before reloading them.
2. Removed the "divider" line next to the ammo number from Reload Waste guns, as an in-game reminder of which guns have that feature.
3. Small fix to the last encounter in Coastal Highway.
- Manual Installation -
Place the files into the "\Steam\steamapps\common\Halo The Master Chief Collection\halo3odst\maps" folder.
It's recommended that you back up the map files which have the same names before replacing them.
Whenever you play modded maps, be sure to launch MCC with anti-cheat disabled.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- v1.0 Description -
- Tayari Plaza on Heroic in FbB v1.0 -
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mainly inspired by the original Halo 3: Recon/ODST name drop trailer, the main purpose of this mod is to make the game feel a bit more like that with the city being full of Brute search parties. Jump Pack Brutes would be ideal for quickly traversing the city, while Stalkers would be good for searching every nook and cranny for any survivors, so those are the ones I decided to replace the Grunts and Jackals with.
The Fodder Brutes still keep their original Grunt and Jackal weapons, meaning that there's a bunch of Brutes with Plasma Pistols and Needlers now. This lets them keep the role of "moving EMP gun rack" that Grunts and Jackals normally have, so killing them is often very rewarding since Plasma Pistol overcharge is even more useful in this mod compared to vanilla.
And yes, this means that instead of the "glowing helmet one-shot kill" Jackal Snipers, we have shielded invisible Brute Snipers now. That's obviously not gonna be to everyone's liking, but in my experience they're a surprisingly fun and unique puzzle-like addition to the enemy sandbox; one that also helps in getting into the feel of the Covenant being a formidable enemy faction which makes smart ground combat decisions.
With the Stalker's increased numbers I also noticed that they threw Flares a bit too often, so the chance for them to do so is now cut in half.
An unintended side-effect I noticed is that Firebomb Grenades are now several times more common than in the vanilla game. This one to me is a positive change though since Firebomb Grenades were always underutilized in Halo 3 and ODST, and being against armies of Brutes all the time makes you appreciate having it as more of a common part of your arsenal.
Another thing to mention is that these added Brute Stalkers are not invisible when they're unalert,
making it a very beneficial tactic to stealthily scout out areas in Mombasa Streets for example so you can spot the snipers before they go invisible.
One more subtle change I threw in to further enhance stealth is the addition of silenced weapon functionality to the Automag and the Silenced SMG.
It always felt off to me that the stealth-themed signature ODST weapons weren't actually stealthy at all in gameplay, so that has now been rectified.
Now while using these weapons, enemies won't notice your shots unless you actually hit them. Not a huge difference in practice but this just feels better.
Besides the removal of Grunts and Jackals plus these other small changes, I wanted to keep things pretty close to vanilla.
So instead of a full-on gameplay sandbox overhaul, this mod functions more as a rather simple alternate version of the vanilla game.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- List of Changes Made -
1. Grunt Minors -> Jump Pack Brute Minors
2. Grunt Majors & Heavies -> Jump Pack Brute Majors
3. Grunt Ultras & Spec Ops -> Jump Pack Brute Ultras
(Kikowani Station doesn't have Jump Pack Brutes, so the Grunts in that level are basic Brute Minors, Majors & Ultras.)
4. Jackals -> Brute Stalkers (yes, even Jackal Snipers)
5. Jump Pack Brutes now throw Plasma Grenades (to keep those grenades in the gameplay sandbox now that Grunts are absent).
6. Brute Stalkers now have a 20% chance to use Flare when entering combat instead of 40%.
7. Automag and Silenced SMG now actually function as silenced guns, so enemies only notice shots from those weapons when they get hit.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Manual Installation -
Place the files into the "\Steam\steamapps\common\Halo The Master Chief Collection\halo3odst\maps" folder.
It's recommended that you back up the map files which have the same names before replacing them.
Whenever you play modded maps, be sure to launch MCC with anti-cheat disabled.