While this video has the typical YouTube description of “the best halo 3 snipe you will see in your life”, it should be characterized as “an extremely lucky snipe that I didn’t mean to do but don’t tell anybody because I like to act like I am a bad ass at predicting trajectories”. Skip until it is 35 seconds in (there is no need to watch the first part) and then watch a sniper bullet ricochet three times before entering some unsuspecting soul’s skull. Seeing clips like this aggravate me for two reasons, one being these things absolutely never happen to me. If my bullet is going to ricochet numerous times, it is going to hit a teammate or an explosive barrel located within one inch of said teammate. The other reason is that shouldn’t that damn bullet stop bouncing off of everything at some point? What do you think? Do you like the fact that sniper bullets bounce around like an invincible bat out of hell or would you prefer them to stop at some point, preferably before entering your face?
Posted by mendicantbias00 on July 23, 2008 at 3:19 am
Now maybe its just me, but rico-snipes and skill don’t go hand-in-hand. For me its akin to blindly throwing a plasma grenade across the map and actually managing to get someone….in other words “Pure, dumb luck”.
Posted by Aperture S on July 23, 2008 at 3:50 am
A bullet should stop dead 1 sec after it hits a wall
But that is amazing luck, Got to try that tonight.
Posted by Soulofaqua on July 23, 2008 at 4:44 am
MedicantBias though I agree that ricoché bullets are hardly a measurement of skills as of luck, I don’t agree that throwing a plasma grenade across the map is not necessarily pure dumb luck. One could have experimented on lets say Standoff to throw grenades from one base to the other hitting critical areas like a warthog or an often used exit. Especially at the beginning of a match this could be a usefull skill. Though not fully blind as you know in what orbit you should throw it will always be wondering if it hits target as the rocks take away vision.
Posted by -S- on July 23, 2008 at 6:15 am
He totes planned that
Posted by mendicantbias00 on July 23, 2008 at 8:15 am
@ Soulofaqua
True there are people whose skills with the plasma grenade are well honed, I would say that (based on games I have been in) most of them are pure luck. Yes aiming for the right area (or vehicle) is a good way to put things in your favor early on, if you can get your trajectory right. I was leaning more toward the random PG that sticks you whilst coming out of a hallway on the pit or while sneaking around the pelican on val halla. I hate those! =)
Posted by bs angel on July 23, 2008 at 10:11 am
I played a game once against a highly (and apparently deservedly) ranked team on Standoff where the second the game started, a shower of grenades came crashing into the front of our base. It was the most concentrated and accurate team grenade launch I have ever seen. Quite effective too as it wiped out half of our team and our warthog.
So this person’s bullet ricocheted three times. I wonder how many times it can bounce before it stops? …
Posted by Louis Wu on July 23, 2008 at 12:28 pm
I’ve seen plenty of planned ricochet snipes – I think they’re a legitimate strategy, especially on maps like Construct. (I’ll never, ever, EVER be able to pull one off myself – hell, I can hardly hit a STRAIGHT shot most of the time – but that doesn’t mean folks can’t do ‘em for real.)
Triple-bounces, though – against targets you didn’t even know were there? Bah. That’s stupid.
I kinda like that sniper rounds bounce, and I’m not sure how you’d justify stopping them after a single bounce once you allowed them in the first place… but to call this particular shot anything but pure luck is just plain dooky. :)
Posted by bs angel on July 23, 2008 at 12:40 pm
One of the ESPN/MLG compilations (can’t remember which one) featured an amazing planned ricochet snipe shot on The Pit that bounced under the bridge on sword side. It was beyond awesome.
Someone should make a forged map with a really tight, long corridor and then see how many times a single bullet can ricochet. Or if that’s already been done, somebody should point me in that direction because I’m curious how many times it can bounce now. :)
Posted by AdjustantReflex on July 23, 2008 at 12:45 pm
That shot was pure luck. There is no way anyone would’ve been able to actually plan that.
Posted by Don on July 23, 2008 at 1:04 pm
Nobody pointed out that the length of the vid was 1:17…
:D
Posted by Don on July 23, 2008 at 1:08 pm
Also:
If he was so skilled, why didn’t he just shoot straight at the guy?
And on thinking back to my last post, it is entirely possible that he made it 1:17 on purpose :X
Posted by Smurfa on July 23, 2008 at 1:25 pm
Even though it is pure luck it is still amuzing to watch. I think the ricochet is an interesting effect, though the blue guy in the video may disagree, hehe. But sometimes the bullet maybe bounces too much and this maybe is on the border to that.
Posted by XMixMasterX on July 23, 2008 at 1:30 pm
Even when I try to do something on purpose (IE throw a grenade through a crack in the wall) and it works, I tend to still call it luck.
I try to do thing that require luck all the time… luckily they work out sometimes. Luck luck luck.
Posted by Mid7night on July 23, 2008 at 2:07 pm
Yeah, luck, but it’s not the first of it’s kind. Although, it would have been a LOT cooler if the victim wasn’t actually in his field of view. Why bother with a rico-shot when the guy is straight in front of you?!!
Posted by El Capitaine on July 23, 2008 at 2:08 pm
I can go check, actually, at least on Halo 2 Vista.
Since it has a custom map creator (not editor, like Forge. Creator), I made a map thats just a big 25×25x25 ft approx metal box that you spawn inside. So I can check that.
Posted by El Capitaine on July 23, 2008 at 2:16 pm
Well, I just tried it. And I think someone is going to need to find a way to do it in Halo 3, because without the theater, it’s too many to count… just look at the picture:
http://img108.imageshack.us/img108/3729/halo2snipexp8.jpg
Posted by Afrit007 on July 23, 2008 at 2:22 pm
Um, yeah. Bullets don’t do that, even .50 cal rounds.
They deform, tumble and eventually shatter if they hit too many solid objects. One ricochet is all the game physics should allow.
Posted by A(lex) Ha on July 23, 2008 at 2:39 pm
to El Capitaine: I see 7, and still going, based on that incredible Rubber Bullet-using sniper – ?
Reminds me of a few “spaceship” 2D shooters of the past with such ammo. Think they bounced 5 times max. “Hit the dirt!” “hit the ceiling!”
Posted by bs angel on July 23, 2008 at 2:48 pm
So when does it stop ricocheting then? Will it continue endlessly until it hits something specific that makes it register differently? And I agree with the one ricochet thought.
Posted by Perseus 21 on July 23, 2008 at 4:10 pm
We have to decide if we are asking ’should the sniper bullets act as they do’ for (a) gameplay purposes or (b) fitting Halo’s fiction and level of realism.
(a) Answers to this are pretty subjective, and will depend on how much a person likes an element of randomness (dumb luck, whatever you want to call it) in their gaming experience. I have noticed that as I play Halo more, I gravitate towards competitive playlists that remove more of the wacky, random elements from play. However, sometimes things like this can bring back the joy, for example, of seeing an entire team and flag carrier wiped out at the last second by the falling wreckage of an exploded banshee shot by a rocket from across the map. To each his or her own.
(b)This question is more fun for me. When the game engine calculates ricochets, there are two set conditions: a projectile weapon (not plasma, not explosive) and a hard (metal or concrete) surface. The variable factor that gives the final yes/no is the angle at which the bullet impacts a surface. Someone could probably calculate the exact angle using forge and pancam (different for different weapons maybe?) but suffice it to say that this angle is pretty acute. Like Afrit007 pointed out, real bullets deform and tumble unpredictably when they ricochet. However, real bullets also slow down and fall as they fly (giving them curved trajectory) while in the Halo fiction weapons have bullets that can travel in perfectly straight lines for indefinite range without slowing down (armor piercing, fin-stabilized, SABOT anyone?). Basically, if we accept that the bullet can fly through the air as it does, and that it can ricochet even once the way that it does, than we must accept that if there are enough surfaces, lined up to hit at the correct angle, than the bullet will ricochet indefinitely. Could Bungie put a cap on that number for gameplay reasons? Sure, code it for 3 bounces max if they wanted to, but it would go against the logic of their established fiction. Not that they never do that: the sniper rounds also travel through shielded MJOLNIR armor and flesh without a reduction in force or change in direction, but stop dead in sandbags or flimsy metal forge walls. (maybe the UNSC should make armor out of that?) This is certainly designed to make gameplay better at the cost of logical operation.
sorry if a post of this length is inappropriate for replying on here. first post = magnum opus :)
long time reader, first time poster – thanks for being entertaining AND thought provoking bs angel.
Posted by Morpheus on July 23, 2008 at 4:10 pm
I agree with one ricochet, too.
But if Bungie’s going to have something like that, they might as well put in the Ripper from Unreal Tournament(that gun was AWESOME :) or the Shredder from Turok 2. That would be fun. But not the sniper! Put the Ripper or Shredder in, you know all you’re gonna get is all Ripper gametypes. lol, it was funny in UT though when you’re walking around and out of NOWHERE your head flies off.
Posted by diabeatu on July 23, 2008 at 5:34 pm
the important part is…
The video is 1:17 !
117! zomgwtfbbq? Itz Mastah Cheef
Posted by bs angel on July 23, 2008 at 5:50 pm
LOL, … I say a big no to walking around and my head flying off!
Interesting thoughts Perseus 21 (and any length is fine for comments here). I too much prefer the standard gametypes in matchmaking rather than the ones I classify as “actionsack bullshit”. The random element is not appealing to me. But I suppose requesting realism in a game where you are battling a fictional alien race doesn’t exactly make sense. Plus, things like this make the whole going back and watching in theater more interesting too.
My vote is still for one ricochet though. :)
Posted by Zee-V70 on July 23, 2008 at 6:53 pm
imo, Forge a map where ricocheting is guaranteed–however, make it so that in theory, the bullet would HAVE to continue indefinately. Just a square shape or something, but make your person a Spartan and crouch so that the shot will kill you (so that it’ll hit you in the back of the head, registering as a suicide). When you respawn, see if the round continues to ricochet.
Posted by R2-JL on July 23, 2008 at 7:56 pm
It only counts if you call it!
Posted by Digipatd on July 24, 2008 at 7:05 am
A friend of mine once got a sniper shot to ricochet seven times down the sniper hall on Guardian, and it only stopped when it hit him right in the back, giving me the kill! It was a while ago, but we still have the saved film.
Posted by Fish on July 24, 2008 at 9:51 am
@Afrit007
I would like to direct your attention to this video
Posted by Declan fog (video creator) on July 24, 2008 at 3:18 pm
jon (consanto) jumped around the room for 5 mins when he made the snipe…. 10 mins when we found out it bounced 10 times!! go to youtube.com/declanfogarty for more halo 3 vids. or funnyglitch.webs.com
Posted by lostguru585 on July 24, 2008 at 8:49 pm
-rvb spoilers below-
now that i think about it, RvB Reconstruction Episode 8 involved Church shooting this crazy ricocheting snipe round that got the Meta in the leg.
http://rvb.roosterteeth.com/archive/episode.php?id=294
‘course, it was staged though and the angles were too big, but it was funny nevertheless
Posted by El Capitaine on July 25, 2008 at 11:10 am
By shooting it almost straight, and then turning I could see it zig-zagging across my metal box.
I think it’s 6-8. Completely unrealistic IMO. It’s a pretty entertaining map for 16-player action =D
I uploaded a video of me having fun with my sniper…so I guess enjoy:
Posted by bs angel on July 25, 2008 at 7:51 pm
Great vid! How in the world did you manage to not get hit with one of those bullets?!
I loved the ones that bounced parallel.
Posted by AT-AT on July 26, 2008 at 11:52 am
As far as I can tell (in H3) the sniper will ricochet as many times as it can within its maximum range (angles permitting, of course).
Posted by Azrael on July 26, 2008 at 11:13 pm
If you watch El Capitaine’s video, you see six lines. Each line will then have 2 points of contact. This adds up to 12 ricochets. I’m not sure if this is the limit or not, just putting it out there. Also, though unlikely, Halo 3 may have a different limit.
Posted by Declan fog (video creator) on August 20, 2008 at 1:50 pm
put all your comments on the real version opn youtube please!!!!!
Posted by SpartanT1g3r on October 23, 2008 at 7:16 pm
I recently got a ricochet snipe somewhat like this.
Map: Narrows
Area: Bottom Bridge
Game: Shotty Snipers
There were two of us. We were facing off where on the bottom bridge. He was on his side (gold side) and I was on my side (dark side)
I missed the first three shots, fired my remaining bullet and nailed him in the face. However, it took three bounces before it hit him.
Turns out, I hit the rounded part of the bridge, which knocked the bullet upwards to hit the bottom part of the top bridge. It proceeded to ricochet off of that and hit the energy bridge, where the rockets are now located. Bounced off of that and nailed him in the face :-)
Posted by Deadlock on February 22, 2009 at 2:53 am
Haven’t people already worked out that sniper bullets are made of rubber in halo 3? Jeez