Why don't developers make different rules for SP and MP?

[Jacco]

I was just playing through Spartan Ops on Halo 4 and I kept getting my ass completely kicked. Upon wondering why, it occurred to me that it was because I just couldn't kill the aliens quickly enough. The weapons are severely underpowered and don't even get me started on the grenades and the Covenant's uncanny ability to jump out of their range.

I did a Google search to see if others shared my opinion and it seems split. Half the people are like me and hate the weapons and grenades because they are underpowered for single player and half of them love them because it makes multiplayer more balanced and fair.

And Halo isn't the only game where I've seen this happen. It's like they design for multiplayer and then apply those rules to the single player which simply doesn't work. They are two completely different kinds of gaming and should have their own rules, weapon stats, etc.

So can someone tell me why it seems to be impossible for devs to differentiate between the two? Is it a hardware limitation? Laziness?

I mean, I love Halo and it really makes me sad to see the single player campaign suffer so much for sake of the multiplayer. Not that I have a problem with MP, but like I said, it just doesn't translate.

 

[hazabaza1]

Good games do
Actually, fuck that bracket, good games do do that. Like, scaling difficulty depending on the amount of players. That's a thing that should not be ignored.

 

[sneakypenguin]

I always thought halo enemies withered under a hail of bullets from my DMR pretty swiftly, its all about shot placement and rhythm. Only on heroic and legendary do some enemies get bullet spongy if you do body shots. I would say there is different rules in place 3 headshots might kill someone in MP but depending on difficulty it could vary in SP.

SO they do differentiate usually its with the AI, and HP rather than weapon dmg. Higher difficulties will always be a bit out of whack from what a SP is designed for though.

 

[IBlackKiteI]

A lot of the time it's not really all that necessary, and it can be confusing when an item in the campaign mode behaves much different in another.
You don't want a gun to be monstrously powerful in campaign and crappy in the multiplayer, but you do want to try and ensure that each of the games options is equally viable in both modes, so that a large chunk of players won't be playing the game the same way all the time.

I think you may have the example around the wrong way though. In Halo 4 there seem to be more weapon and equipment options that are worthwhile in the campaign, whereas multiplayer basically amounts to, full team + DMRs + Boltshots = win.

 

[ShinyCharizard]

Yep that pissed me off alot in Halo 4. The guns you use are so weak and run out of ammo way too quickly. You pretty much just have to use the crappy suppressor the whole time because it's the most common gun.

 

[9thRequiem]

Transition.
If things are different, you've got a large gap between single and multi-player; anyone familiar with one will have to unlearn the rules of that to then learn the rules of the other, as opposed to being equal adept at both.
Ideally, a developer should have balance between the two - this should depend on enemy health and AI to balance against the fact that in one mode you're against other people. Neither side should suffer for balance in the other; it should be other factors that balance the difference.

 

[Assassin Xaero]

It is easier and cheaper that way. Just like how a lot of difficult settings now days just change how much health you or the enemy has and/or how much bullet damage is done by you or the enemy, instead of actually changing the game up.

 

[Jacco]

I always thought halo enemies withered under a hail of bullets from my DMR pretty swiftly, its all about shot placement and rhythm. Only on heroic and legendary do some enemies get bullet spongy if you do body shots. I would say there is different rules in place 3 headshots might kill someone in MP but depending on difficulty it could vary in SP.

SO they do differentiate usually its with the AI, and HP rather than weapon dmg. Higher difficulties will always be a bit out of whack from what a SP is designed for though.

That's what I mean though. Heroic is the way Halo is "meant" to be played. But because the weapons are designed for MP, especially the grenades, playing on Heroic is nearly impossible. I died probably 15 times on one area because the weapons just don't work. That shouldn't happen. And the DMR does work reasonably well, but the ammo cap (again, which is perfect for MP) completely neuters it. Obviously when there's nothing to shoot with, a gun just becomes a club.

 

[Jacco]

Yep that pissed me off alot in Halo 4. The guns you use are so weak and run out of ammo way too quickly. You pretty much just have to use the crappy suppressor the whole time because it's the most common gun.

Well that and the fact that Forerunner guns are practically useless against the Forerunners themselves.

 

[TheProfessor234]

Funny, a FPS is the last place I would expect things to be universal through single and multi-player. One would think that they would have it strong in single and brought back in multi.

Why would anyone think it strange? Players could just be "stronger," than their NPC counterparts.

 

[Jacco]

Transition.
If things are different, you've got a large gap between single and multi-player; anyone familiar with one will have to unlearn the rules of that to then learn the rules of the other, as opposed to being equal adept at both.

I agree. It should still feel like the same game. I'm just talking about mechanics like larger grenades radius/power, higher ammo caps, more powerful snipers, etc. Ever since Halo 2, the weapons have felt weak in the single player.That was part of what made Halo 1 so fun. The weapons were powerful. The rocket launcher, for instance, was awesome in 1 and in 2 is became like a firework launcher.

Ideally, a developer should have balance between the two - this should depend on enemy health and AI to balance against the fact that in one mode you're against other people. Neither side should suffer for balance in the other; it should be other factors that balance the difference.

I feel like Halo 4 did a reasonable job with AI escalation. It's mostly their health/damage ratio that seems screwed up.