Why Kill Times Matter

[BigShow36]

As I move on from yet another Halo game that failed to hold my interest, I like to put some of my thoughts in writing.

 

I’d like to address an issue that has, more than anything else, contributed to the degradation of Halo’s competitive viability: Minimum Kill Time vs. Average Kill Time.  These metrics are incredibly revealing, as they provide insight into the speed and skill-depth of shooting. Not only does that impact the individual engagements of players, but also indirectly impacts nearly every other aspect of gameplay.

 

The effectiveness of an individual player is inversely proportional to the kill time, so a longer kill time makes an individual player less effective. A well-balanced, competitive game should reward teamwork but should also reward individual ability as well. Since Halo CE, Halo games have failed to reward individual ability to a proper degree. Through a combination of slow kill times and shallow shooting skill-depth, individual players are rendered largely ineffective regardless of their ability relative to the other players. I will prove why.

 

For this analysis, I’m going to use some rough assumptions to illustrate the point. We’ll compare the Halo 5 magnum to the Halo CE pistol and we’ll use a kill time of 1.2 seconds and 0.6 seconds respectively. The spacing, or delay, between shots will be 0.3 seconds for both weapons.

 

We also need to get an understanding of how fast average people can react and respond to visual or audio inputs. As of this writing, the average reaction time in an online click-test was 271 milliseconds or .271 seconds (http://www.humanbenchmark.com/tests/reactiontime/statistics). Using these averages (and quite frankly, gamers have faster reaction times than the “average”) we can begin to build an objective analysis of the role time-to-kill (TTK) plays in a game.

 

The example I’m going to use is something that happens quite frequently in Halo games; a solo Blue player flanks two Red players. The two Red players are unaware of the Blue player until he shoots and engages them. Once the first shot has been fired by the Blue player, we will assume that both Red players will react either due to being hit or hearing the shot. Additionally, for analysis sake, we will assume that all players shoot at the same time once fully engaged.

 

Therefore, the minimum TTK can be described as:

TTK = (n_s-1)*D

 

Where “n_s” equals the number of shots to kill. We subtract 1 from this to represent that the first shot is the starting point for our measurement of time, as players will not react unless they see the other player or hear/feel the first shot.

 

“D” equals the time differential or delay between shots, which is 0.3 seconds for both weapons in this analysis. What this means is that after the first shot lands, the average player (with a reaction time of .271 seconds) can respond to the threat right before the second shot is fired.

 

Using Halo 5's pistol as an example (5 shot kill, TTK 1.2 seconds) and assuming 100% accuracy, the single Blue Player is 2 shots up on 1 of the 2 Red opponents, who are now both aware of his presence. Assuming perfect aim, the absolute best the Blue Player can do is slay 1 of the opponents at the exact same time he himself dies (it takes the single player 5 “shot windows” to slay the 1 Player, and only 3 “shot windows” for the 2 players to slay a single player, as they fire 2 rounds per shot window).

 

In order for the single player to successfully slay two players, the two players would need to miss 6 shots out of the 11 opportunities between the two of them, and the single player would need to land every single shot. Put another way, in order to be successful the two Red players only need 45% accuracy while the single Blue player needs to have 100% accuracy. Regardless of how clever, strategic, or intelligent the Blue player’s engagement was, those are poor odds and a poor recompense for what should be a rewarding decision. Add in the fact that modern Halo games are incredibly easy to land shots in (the average kill time is very close to the minimum TTK), and the likelihood of a single player winning against two players is negligible to the point that above average teams eliminate it from any strategic decisions.

 

Now compare this to the Halo CE pistol, with a shot spacing of approximately the same amount of time (0.3 seconds). The single Blue player would still be 2 shots up on 1 of the 2 opponents by the time they fire back, but can slay one of the two opponents and still have 1/3 of their health remaining. Additionally, in order for the two Red players to slay the one Blue player, they would need a minimum accuracy of 60% (as opposed to only 45% required in a slower TTK game like Halo 5).

 

Here is an illustration of the above point (the player's health is the % inside the box, the arrows represent shots).

 

 

Altering nothing but the TTK, we have dramatically influenced a critical component of moment-to-moment gameplay. Not only does a longer TTK put a much greater emphasis on team-shot, it also invariably makes team shooting easier; a fatal combination for any game attempting to be skill-based and competitive. A long TTK also increases the likelihood of a single player engaging multiple opponents, as teams have longer to respond to the threat.  As we can see, all else being equal, a team based game with slower kill times is factually less skillful.

 

The implications of this cannot be understated. The effectiveness, or lack thereof, of individual players decreases the entire strategic evolution of the game. As the impact of an individual player is lessened, so too are the entire team’s viable options. If an individual player cannot be reasonably effective against more than one player, strategy becomes stagnant and one-dimensional. Feints, flanks, and sneaky routes by individuals become immaterial and are discarded. For the sake of brevity, I won't go into the impact it has on power weapons vs. standard weapons, suffice it to say that it's another significant detriment. 

 

The gameplay devolves into holding power positions and relying on the fact that two players will always beat one. This is not a more strategic game as some people erroneously assume; it’s a more one-dimensional game.

 

I’m often accused of simply wanting “Halo CE 2” and that the pistol is the only thing anyone wants. That’s simply not true. What I and other long-time fans want is the kill-speed balance of Halo CE; fast kill times with slow average kill times. Slower kill times, even with a difficult weapon, will always put the individual at a larger and larger disadvantage. A game must find the proper balance between its design intent and the appropriate kill-speed.

 

Numerical superiority will always provide an advantage, but it should never be an insurmountable advantage. There must be a balance between who-sees-who first and teamshot-only gameplay. The only way to properly strike that balance is by having an average kill time that is significantly longer than the minimum TTK. This requires players, even good ones, to miss shots. There are two ways to accomplish this; designed randomness or a deep skill gap. It should be obvious which one of those two options is preferable, but it’s unfortunate how many developers rely on the former.

 

As always, I welcome feedback, comments, or arguments.

[xSociety]

Great post.

 

Fingers crossed that the CE pistol in the next update (I hope) is projectile and takes skill to use.

[BigShow36]

Great post.

 

Fingers crossed that the CE pistol in the next update (I hope) is projectile and takes skill to use.

 

I think Halo 5 would play significantly better even if the regular pistol was moved to a 4 shot kill and some of the other issues were cleaned up.

[Brad Pitt]

The biggest problem are "abilities". Halo cannot and will not ever work as long as armor abilities/Spartan abilities or any other game breaking movement gimmicks are included. Halo's sales and population will continue to nose dive as long as game breaking gimmicks are involved. Having a shield is the defensive mechanism. Anything added to that breaks the game. The only way Halo will ever regain popularity is if they go back to the original formula. Maps should be properly sized and for traversing the maps, bring back portals, man cannons, lifts, and have a fairly quick base movement.

[BigShow36]

The biggest problem are "abilities". Halo cannot and will not ever work as long as armor abilities/Spartan abilities or any other game breaking movement gimmicks are included. Halo's sales and population will continue to nose dive as long as game breaking gimmicks are involved. Having a shield is the defensive mechanism. Anything added to that breaks the game. The only way Halo will ever regain popularity is if they go back to the original formula. Maps should be properly sized and for traversing the maps, bring back portals, man cannons, lifts, and have a fairly quick base movement.

 

I think a lot of the negative impacts of abilities would be negated with a faster kill time. I'm not just saying that because of the thread, but I don't see the abilities (at least the movement ones) as having as large of an impact as people perceive.

[Teriyaki]

Cool post.  How would you create a significant gap between minimum and average kill time?

[xSociety]

Cool post.  How would you create a significant gap between minimum and average kill time?

Make the guns require more skill. Make the pistol a 4sk and lower the bullet magnetism and you would have a much more skill based gun with better perfect kill times and average kill times.

[BigShow36]

Cool post.  How would you create a significant gap between minimum and average kill time?

 

I think the abilities of most modern console gamers is vastly underestimated and I think the aim assists are way too high on modern shooters. A fast strafe, a weapon that shoots straight and consistent with a faster TTK are the basic requirements. It's okay if players miss shots regularly; it's a necessary component of a deep game. If you get those basics down and make the game feel good, everything else will fall into place.

[Brad Pitt]

I think a lot of the negative impacts of abilities would be negated with a faster kill time. I'm not just saying that because of the thread, but I don't see the abilities (at least the movement ones) as having as large of an impact as people perceive.

"Abilities" are too overwhelming, stressful, rage inducing, and make the game random and chaotic. Spartan charge alone is enough to keep me from playing Halo 5 ever again. You could have the perfect weapon balance and they would still absolutely ruin the game for me & many, many others. 

 

I do fully agree with you though that there needs to be a skill gap with shooting. Although many people here hate the H3 BR, I loved it because of it's projectile shooting. Having that kind of depth to an utility weapon makes it more satisfying to use and of course adds a skill gap. I'm using that as an example because I have hardly touched Halo CE.

[Mythik Nick]

Assuming the CE Pistol in H5 ends up functioning exactly like, or very close to, the OG (very, very slim chance of that imo), would there be any real reason for 343 to not make it the starting utility for Arena/HCS and just make sandbox tweaks around that if they wanted the most competitive game possible?

[Cursed Lemon]

Assuming the CE Pistol in H5 ends up functioning exactly like, or very close to, the OG (very, very slim chance of that imo), would there be any real reason for 343 to not make it the starting utility for Arena/HCS and just make sandbox tweaks around that if they wanted the most competitive game possible?

 

Their ego.

[calberto]

Assuming the CE Pistol in H5 ends up functioning exactly like, or very close to, the OG (very, very slim chance of that imo), would there be any real reason for 343 to not make it the starting utility for Arena/HCS and just make sandbox tweaks around that if they wanted the most competitive game possible?

I don't think 343 wants a utility weapon at all..

[Killmachine]

Their ego.

Not ego, just ignorance.

 

Its the same reason people think a longer TTK means you can fight back. They have the right idea but have NOT thought it through

[Cursed Lemon]

Not ego, just ignorance.

 

Its the same reason people think a longer TTK means you can fight back. They have the right idea but have NOT thought it through

 

xcuse me killmushine r u aware that 343 constntly browses TeamBeaned and takez stock of are ideas their listning ok?

[BigShow36]

Assuming the CE Pistol in H5 ends up functioning exactly like, or very close to, the OG (very, very slim chance of that imo), would there be any real reason for 343 to not make it the starting utility for Arena/HCS and just make sandbox tweaks around that if they wanted the most competitive game possible?

As Lemon said, they would essentially need to retool their entire sandbox. It would vastly improve the game, but it wont happen. I think the competitive community should experiment with the settings more and use damage and health modifiers to increase the kill-speed on the pistol without doing the same on the autos. I think secret schnitzel did something like this already, and I'd be curious to see how it plays. You would need to strip out all of the other precision weapons for balance, but it would be interesting to see.

[Teapot]

Great post. I completely agree with all of it..

 

Besides Halo CE, what console shooters had a big gap between minimum time to kill and average time to kill? I wish other games went as in depth as Halo CE fans had, but I think most of my favorite shooters have a healthy relationship between the two.

[Killmachine]

xcuse me killmushine r u aware that 343 constntly browses TeamBeaned and takez stock of are ideas their listning ok?

Y r u so negativ all the tim ur arguments suk unless u r happy sunshin not sour lemon

[BigShow36]

Great post. I completely agree with all of it..

 

Besides Halo CE, what console shooters had a big gap between minimum time to kill and average time to kill? I wish other games went as in depth as Halo CE fans had, but I think most of my favorite shooters have a healthy relationship between the two.

 

None that I can think of (except maybe Nexuiz). Once I stopped playing Halo 2, I basically moved to CoD for a long time. I think the reason for that was I had a fun group to play with but also the fact that I could go huge as an individual. I could tear through a room even if my team was bad. I don't think it was terribly competitive or skillful for a lot of reasons, but just the fact that I could do that kept me playing.

[Duji]

Assuming 100% accuracy, the single Blue Player is 2 shots up on 1 of the 2 Red opponents, who are now both aware of his presence. Assuming perfect aim, the absolute best the Blue Player can do is slay 1 of the opponents at the exact same time he himself dies (it takes the single player 5 “shot windows” to slay the 1 Player, and only 3 “shot windows” for the 2 players to slay a single player, as they fire 2 rounds per shot window).

 

In order for the single player to successfully slay two players, the two players would need to miss 6 shots out of the 11 opportunities between the two of them, and the single player would need to land every single shot. Put another way, in order to be successful the two Red players only need 45% accuracy while the single Blue player needs to have 100% accuracy. Regardless of how clever, strategic, or intelligent the Blue player’s engagement was, those are poor odds and a poor recompense for what should be a rewarding decision. Add in the fact that modern Halo games are incredibly easy to land shots in (the average kill time is very close to the minimum TTK), and the likelihood of a single player winning against two players is negligible to the point that above average teams eliminate it from any strategic decisions.

 

throw a nade ez double kill you scrub

[BigShow36]

throw a nade ez double kill you scrub

 

Skill gap doubled. Problem solved.

[Duji]

To anyone who wants to see an example of fast kill times working (aside from CE), here's another game that has a ~0.5 second minimum kill time (incidentally a 3 head shot kill) where the game revolves around one utility weapon - a very low spread automatic with 30 bullets in the clip.

Each *dink* hitsound you hear signifies a headshot -- three required to kill a full health opponent. The game runs on the Quake engine and has fast movement and instant strafe / crouch which mitigates the who-sees-who-first factor.

 

Skim through to watch how a single skilled player can rack up on multikills with his utility weapon alone. (action starts at 1m20s)

[Vivi]

Didn't Chaostheory do a very similar write-up regarding kill times a few years back?

[TTUVAPOR]

@@BigShow36 amazing analysis. i find it ironic that you did this for free, and not sure how many manhours it took you but damn, 343 should hire you simply thinking outside the box.

 

 

edit, Shadowrun had fast kill times in my opinion.

[Qbit]

Great post.

 

Fingers crossed that the CE pistol in the next update (I hope) is projectile and takes skill to use.

Projectile weapons are kinda meh in practice in online play. There's nothing unskillful about hitscan weapons. If a hitscan weapon for example had 0 aim assist, 0 magnetism, 0 spread and the hitboxes were decent, it's a perfectly legitimate weapon that would entirely revolve around player skill.

[Teapot]

None that I can think of (except maybe Nexuiz). Once I stopped playing Halo 2, I basically moved to CoD for a long time. I think the reason for that was I had a fun group to play with but also the fact that I could go huge as an individual. I could tear through a room even if my team was bad. I don't think it was terribly competitive or skillful for a lot of reasons, but just the fact that I could do that kept me playing.

 

R.I.P Nexuiz. I know how you feel though. It's for sure a reason why I didn't like a lot of the later Halo series. When Reach had dropped, I switched to a really weird game called Monday Night Combat. Theres a "medal" you can earn called "All Time Great" which is 6 multi-kills or wiping out the entire team. The fact that a single player is capable of this is such a huge deal to me.

 

Tons of developer issues aside, they made a sequel called Super Monday Night Combat. The kill times went from being skillfully quick, to paaaaaaaaainfully slow. It required chain like grapples and the entire team to concentrate fire to take a player down in roughly the same time as the original.

 

Halo CE, MNC, Murder Miners, Shadowrun, Quake, Nexuiz and a few other arena shooters fit the mold here.

 

@@BigShow36 amazing analysis. i find it ironic that you did this for free, and not sure how many manhours it took you but damn, 343 should hire you simply thinking outside the box.

 

 

edit, Shadowrun had fast kill times in my opinion.

 

Do you have any info on weapon times? 

 

I've been looking for information about this. I couldn't find it in any guides, but I don't have the prima guide as well. I know about damages but I'm not really able to tell what the time to kill is. Hell, I can't even find any decent clips of a player 2 shotting an elf or 3 shotting a human. The rifle feels similar to H1 pistol in terms of fire rate. We're dealing with milliseconds here so it's hard tell.

 

Whether it's slightly faster or slightly longer, the perfect kill time for an elf has to be incredibly close to Halo CE's .6 seconds. I've thought it was even faster at .4 seconds with nothing to base my claims on.

 

@@BigShow36 - I'm not sure if you've ever really seen the game or understand it a whole bunch cause it is incredibly deep and theres a lot to know. 2 shotting an elf gives a very similar feeling to out-shooting an OS player perfectly. Completely different situations, but the head hit boxes are so small in this game, and every bullet has headshot damage multiplier as well as limb shots that deal less damage than standard body shots.

 

I'd say it's got the biggest perfect kill time to average kill time difference on the rifles/pistols. SMGs/Shotty doesn't matter, although it is possible to one-shot an elf wth a shotty headshot.