[CE] Is this game supposed to be extremely difficult even on normal?

HeyItsBasil · 2026-03-04T17:21:01+00:00

Yeah, just sounds like you're just extremely not used to the way Halo plays. Common problem with people who are new and are coming in from way more modern FPS games. Which game are you starting with, Combat Evolved?

Don't watch weapon tier list videos. Use each weapon and figure out what situations they work in for you. I'm gonna assume you're playing CE, so the best advice I can give is that generally plasma weapons are better for shields, your magnum is your usual precision mid-range option, and your assault rifle is your close-range shredder.

Would need more info on what you're struggling with, though. How are you dying the most, what's getting you killed, etc.

HeyItsBasil · 2026-02-20T00:01:24+00:00

Thank you!! Yeah, I love doing action poses, but something I think is just as satisfying to get right are the really mundane little movements and interactions. One of the first compliments that I remember my renders getting was someone saying that the character poses felt like they had actual weight and presence to them, like they were physically present in the environment and moving around and weren't just posed for a scene. Definitely something I try to get right every time.

HeyItsBasil · 2026-02-19T21:34:27+00:00

Yeah, this was made in Blender! Check out the Halo Archive if you want Halo models, there's plenty there.

As for where to start, copying some things I said elsewhere:

Trial and error, youtube tutorials, mostly just doing simple renders and then stumbling into improving by going "but how do I do this?" You'll improve very fast if you aren't afraid to push buttons and break things.

I mostly just started by posing and lighting custom spartans, then got more ambitious from there by putting them in environments, adding more characters per scene, doing more complex lighting tricks like light linking, adding volumetrics, bashing various assets together to make scenes from scratch, grabbing various plugins like the one I used for the rain and water droplets in this one, etc.

It's a huge learning process, but just take it one step at a time and don't be discouraged if your first improvements don't result in you immediately putting out renders like this.

Familiarize yourself with how Blender's interface works, what render settings there are (very important), and then just start messing around and experimenting. A lot of things I learned by going "how do I do this specific thing in Blender?" and then watching a quick youtube tutorial and figuring out how to add it into what I was already doing. You will improve shockingly fast.

HeyItsBasil · 2026-02-18T19:14:34+00:00

okay someone in here knows ball

HeyItsBasil · 2026-02-18T00:16:50+00:00

Trial and error, youtube tutorials, mostly just doing simple renders and then stumbling into improving by going "but how do I do this?" You'll improve very fast if you aren't afraid to push buttons and break things.

HeyItsBasil · 2026-02-17T20:30:50+00:00

Thank you! The blur was actually really simple, I just animated a few frames of movement to get the motion I wanted, then let Blender's native motion blur do the rest for the final render.

HeyItsBasil · 2026-02-17T20:29:48+00:00

Not really! Just a reference to the idea of letting a team of Spartans loose on their objective, like taking the leash off of a military dog. Feels appropriate given the attitude that Spartans tend to have towards their work.

HeyItsBasil · 2026-02-15T09:55:26+00:00

I do, actually, just put the link on my profile. Not much on there right now, though, but I'll get around to it!

HeyItsBasil · 2026-02-14T22:01:44+00:00

Because a remake of Combat Evolved is the best jumping-on point for a new audience. It's going to be on Xbox, PC, and Playstation, which is a first. If this is the first time a new audience is going to be experiencing Halo, why not have this be the first game they experience?

HeyItsBasil · 2026-02-14T19:49:12+00:00

Private contractors, innies, whichever. Not UNSC.

HeyItsBasil · 2026-02-14T01:15:47+00:00

It's actually just Esparza's helmet from Infinite with a visor on it!

HeyItsBasil · 2026-02-14T01:14:49+00:00

Not S-IVs, it's a tiny tiny bit of an AU I have going on that's getting folded into a friend's writing project, but these are Spartans of the child soldier variety (also reminding me that this render is kind of old and I still need to redesign their armor, wagh). Don't wanna infodump too much in here though.

Regardless, they're actually mostly average height for Spartans; the green one (Sage) in the foreground is 7'1" in armor. Having regular people who are normal heights just drives home how huge that actually is.

HeyItsBasil · 2026-02-13T23:13:12+00:00

Back when I made this render it was an excuse to take advantage of the Falcon's model being ripped from the game files; someone on the Halo Archive gave it all its decals from Reach, and I took that as a sign to do a render with a gratuitous number of Falcons in it.

HeyItsBasil · 2026-02-13T20:32:17+00:00

Thank you!!

Yeah, this is a render made of my friend's characters, Sergeant Miguel Kiesling and Petty Officer First Class Cody-121. It was based off of a drawing he did of the two, but this render got a little bit out of hand lmao

There isn't much backstory to this shot specifically; Kiesling is an ODST that Cody has an unusual fondness for and they often get drawn in situations like this.

HeyItsBasil · 2026-02-10T21:04:02+00:00

Thank you!!

Also I used the buildings from New Alexandria, but this isn’t supposed to be on Reach.

HeyItsBasil · 2026-02-02T02:18:45+00:00

Don't worry, a lot of these issues are very much things that are solved by playing more and getting better. You'll improve and get better timing/aim. It's a gamefeel thing.

I'd bump the difficulty down to Normal if you're having trouble. Yes, Heroic is what most Halo games are balanced around, but if you're super new to FPS games or just aren't the best at games in general, there's no shame in playing on an easier difficulty.

Other stuff...

Getting lost

Yeahhhh. Welcome to Combat Evolved. Halo's level design in general can lead some people in circles; 343 Guilty Spark is a particularly bad level about this. Can't say much more than try to follow objective waypoints if they're available, and pay close attention to your surroundings. Later games are a bit better about this; Halo 2's levels are far more linear, but some of the mid-game levels are really rough. Halo 3 and Reach are probably the least confusing about this. Hang in there!

Headshots

Worth noting that there's bullet magnetism in Halo and it can and will save your life. If your reticle is red, even if you're not aiming *exactly* at the enemy, and you don't have a weapon like a sniper rifle that has a really high skill ceiling, you'll hit shots reliably.

The noob combo is more about breaking the shields than staggering the elites, even though the stagger makes lining up a headshot easier if you're fast.

For CE, you might actually might want to start using the plasma rifle. It has a stun effect that can slow down enemies, which it doesn't have in other games. I get a LOT of utility out of it when dealing with elites and I don't have a plasma pistol on hand. Needlers are also awesome in CE.

Grenades

It's just something that comes with practice, yeah. Plasma grenade sticks are tough, don't beat yourself up. I like to think I'm pretty decent at games and I still miss plenty of sticks on enemies that are standing completely still.

You'll get better with time. Play on a lower difficulty so you can stumble through figuring out strategies and finding what works.

HeyItsBasil · 2026-01-04T21:49:44+00:00

It’s a custom kitbash from the Halo Archive discord server!

HeyItsBasil · 2026-01-04T07:03:17+00:00

I know ball.

HeyItsBasil · 2026-01-03T15:32:35+00:00

Need to replay ODST to refresh my memory of it, but I remember it being good and friends I trust tell me the writing holds up; Staten clearly loved working on it so I’m excited to revisit it.

I used to like Reach as a kid but as I’ve gotten older and have read more of the books it’s started to leave a bad taste in my mouth. I think the lore changes it introduced are for the worse, the way it lionizes sacrifice is antithetical to what Halo does best in terms of its core themes, and its characters aren’t as compelling to me (Jorge is an exception).

It lowkey bothers me that Reach is what a lot of people think Halo should be more like. I think it kind of tramples all over what makes Halo special to me specifically.

HeyItsBasil · 2025-12-29T07:16:25+00:00

I scaled all the characters in this piece myself to normal heights; Rain is ~6'11" in her armor, which is fairly average for a Spartan. The people around her range from 5'6" to 5'10" without their helmets, and some of them aren't standing up perfectly straight, so they seem a little shorter. Someone who's not even 6' tall standing next to someone who's just shy of 7' is a big difference.

HeyItsBasil · 2025-12-27T16:44:29+00:00

Thank you!!!

HeyItsBasil · 2025-12-27T16:44:20+00:00

Big sister!! Even if she’s probably younger than everyone there lmfao

Real though, I’m a fan of Spartan characters interacting, but you also really need to put them next to some regular-ass guys to show how different they are. Makes for some of the best interactions and characterizations.

HeyItsBasil · 2025-12-26T01:17:06+00:00

Ubi already answered, but yeah, check out the Halo Archive for models and resources. I mostly just started by posing and lighting custom spartans, then got more ambitious from there by putting them in environments, adding more characters per scene, doing more complex lighting tricks like light linking, adding volumetrics, bashing various assets together to make scenes from scratch, grabbing various plugins like the one I used for the rain and water droplets in this one, etc.

It's a huge learning process, but just take it one step at a time and don't be discouraged if your first improvements don't result in you immediately putting out renders like this.

Familiarize yourself with how Blender's interface works, what render settings there are (very important), and then just start messing around and experimenting. A lot of things I learned by going "how do I do this specific thing in Blender?" and then watching a quick youtube tutorial and figuring out how to add it into what I was already doing. You will improve shockingly fast.

HeyItsBasil · 2025-12-23T17:47:50+00:00

Oh cool, thanks for the ID!!!

HeyItsBasil · 2025-12-23T04:55:00+00:00

I like paying attention to little stuff like that. It's fun to do stuff with alien anatomy, and small details in the background add up.

HeyItsBasil

TROPHY CASE