Halo Wars: The Great War

"You know how it started and seen how it finished but you haven't heard the whole story."

- Heading of the back case of The Great War

Halo Wars: The Great War (also dubbed as Halo Wars 2, Halo: The Great War, Halo TGW or just The Great War) will be the second Real-Time Strategy video game and the twelfth instalment in the Halo series, it will developed by 343 Industries and Robot Entertainment with a little bit of help from Vanguard Games and will be published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox One and a year later for PC and Mac. It is the first game since Halo 2 to be on more then one platform and the first since Halo: Combat Evolved in to be on Mac. It's the first RTS game developed by 343 Industries.

Even though it is a RTS game and does have some story connections to Halo Wars and is referred to by some as Halo Wars 2, it is not a sequel to Halo Wars. It follows all the major battles and events of the Human-Covenant War, from the first battle of Harvest to the final battle at The Ark, it's the longest Halo game designed to flesh out the history and timeline of the Halo Universe. The Great War is the name of the ere of the Human-Covenant War.

The Great War was first officially announced at an E3 two years before the game was released - like many Halo games before it. The game doesn't have a set release date yet, though it is assumed that it will be released from late 2018 to early 2020. The game uses an updated and modified version of the Halo engine merged with others to work with the worlds and RTS gametype. The Great War is rated "M" for Mature like most Halo games, though unlike the previous Halo RTS - Halo Wars which was rated "T" for Teen, it'll be 16+ in the UK and M in Australia rather than PG like Halo Wars was in Australia.

Halo Wars: The Great War has many new feature than from its predecessor Halo Wars. What many fans and reviewers didn't like about the original Halo Wars was the fact that the player could play as or see all the vehicles, aircraft, ships, soldier, weapons, factions, characters, etc in the Halo Universe, as well as many other things, in The Great War many of these things are now possible one very notable thing is the new first and third person mode which allows the player to play as a single unit like the other Halo games. The controls are very similar to Halo Wars's, although there are many new features and strategic options, there are many factions in The Great War and unlike Halo Wars each major faction has its own campaign or more. New game mode such as Forge, Theater and Domination will be added to the game. Many other new features are also going to be available. The cinematic aren't CGI like Halo Wars's, there made with the in-game engine or it will be like the motion comics similar to the ones from the terminals from other Halo games, also with a commentary related to the mission or other relevant events before the mission about to be played.

Many downloadable expansion packs will come available with content for every category.

The game is being hyped up to be more than twice as successful as it's predecessor Halo Wars.

Content Summaries and Campaign
Halo Wars: The Great War’s goal is to flesh out the timeline of the Human-Covenant War, specifically all it’s major battle. The game will start off where The Great War started at the Battle of Harvest. It is an RTS game like Halo Wars, so it share many gameplay similarities, players can control armies giving their units orders, collecting resources so they can upgrade and create units, producers and weapons. The game can be played in single and multiplayer modes and also in online gameplay. Many events from previous Halo games and media will appear.

Campaign
The Great War has several campaigns covering all the major battles during the Human-Covenant War, each campaign will be set during a certain part of the war, from the first battle on Harvest to the very end of the war at Installation 00. The Human-Covenant War wasn’t the only war at that time many insurrections still existed and affairs from both wars sometimes collided, so these other wars will also appear in campaigns. A new campaign will be unlocked when two campaigns share a related timeline event. The first campaign is Age of Reclamation, its played with the Covenant faction. There are seven (playable through campaigns) factions (not including natives). The campaigns are divided up into time periods of the war. each faction has its own name for their campaigns, there is 9 (main) larger campaigns in The Great War and 7 shorter:

Tutorial (UNSC and Covenant) Tutorial - Non-Canon (short)

UNSC Campaigns 2525-2531 - The Harvest Campaign (large) 2525-2536 - The Outer Colony Battles (large) 2536-2552 - The Inner Colony Battles (large) 2552 - Halo (large)

Covenant Campaigns 2524-2535 - Age of Reclamation (large) 2536-2550 - Final Purge (large) 2551-2552 - Journeys End (large) - also played with Covenant Loyalists

Insurrection Campaigns 2526-2531 - The Next War (short) 2531-2537 - End of The Insurrection (large) 2545-2552 - Inner Colony Insurrections (short) - played with Colonial Insurgents

Heretic Campaigns 2526-2530 - Dispute of a New Age (short) 2532-2536 - Walk of the Unfaithful (short) 2552 - The Truth (short)

Caretakers Campaigns 2552 - Maintaining Protocol (short)

Flood Campaigns 2552 - Awakening (short) 2552 - Virus (large)

Note! The other factions that don’t have their own campaign may appear in other factions campaign and sometimes even playable in some missions. They are still playable in other game modes.

Controls
The Great War’s controls resemble Halo Wars's, though there’s a few changes and new features, one noticeable feature is the ability to zoom in and out a lot more than from the games predecessor.

RTS Controls (Default)

Triggers and Bumpers

Left Trigger: Zoom in - screen.

Left Bumper: Click and selects all units on screen, double click and all units are selected on the battlefield, hold and select all currently solo units.

Right Trigger: Zoom out - screen.

Right Bumper: Click to warp to random units of the player, hold for Battle Examination.

Thumbsticks

Left Thumbstick: Camera movement, click and hold thumbstick for cameras movement to speed up.

Right Thumbstick: Move rotate screen/map and mini-map, click thumbstick and goes back to default camera view and map positioning.

D-Pad

Left D-Pad: Reinforcements Menu.

Right D-Pad: Leader Command Menu.

Up D-Pad: Combat Support Menu.

Down D-Pad: Building Menu - create producers and structures (or import units from the Unit Production Menu within it).

Standard Buttons

A: Click A for individual units, double click A to select all units of a type, hold A and select a group of near units - a blank circler image will appear around the crosshair and all units within it will be selected.

B: Click B cancels, hold B deletes/recycles (click A to confirm deletion click B to cancel).

X: Click X and move/send units, collect resources and attack, double click X and units will sprint to their target, hold X to make units kill their target and after retreat or find cover. If a producer is selected and clicking X places a waypoint for units recently produced.

Y: Click Y for special ability, double click Y for automatic use of special abilities, hold Y to go into first and third person mode.

Center Buttons

View Button: Brings up a library of individual screens which the player can change by using the bumpers: Screen 1 - objectives. Screen 2 enhanced mini-map and ally support. Screen 3 - information on relevant subjects, stats, trading resources and the ability to choosing allegiance. Screen 4 - timelines and skulls.

Menu Button: The in-game pause menu were the player can resume, save, load saved game, change sound and other options and quit the game.

RTS Controls (Variant)

There is variant of the controls where up on the D-Pad and the Left Trigger swop actions and down on the D-Pad and the Right Trigger swop actions.

F&TPS Controls

The controls for first and third person mode are almost identical to Halo 6's except that holding "Y" will take the player back to RTS mode and "up" on the D-Pad will change first to third person views, the mode also includes the new combos that were added to Halo 6 like, click “A” then “B” will to a forward roll like the evade ability from Halo Reach, click and then hold “A” while pushing on a direction on the left thumbstick and whatever direction the thumbstick is being pushed the character will flip in that direction and by clicking “B” the player will continually do various smooth melee strikes.

Cutscenes & Cinematics
Cutscenes in The Great War are not like the ones from the original Halo Wars, instead of using CGI the only cinematics will be made with the in-game engine during missions and at the begging of a mission or campaign a series of images and artwork like some terminals from previous Halo games will be screened and a commentary about the upcoming mission will be present. The only CGI for this game appear in the trailers.

Battle Examination
The new battle examination mode is when the player can watch the battle in different views following random units as they fight and move, its very similar to when a player in earlier Halo games dies in a multiplayer game - the would camera follow random units as they fight while the player waits to re-spawn. It acts a little bit like a cinematic.

Heads-Up Display
The HUD or Camera View is the set of displayed symbols and stats that appear spread out on the screen in gameplay that help guide and keep the player aware of their progress. Its set up is almost identical to the one in Halo Wars:

Crosshair - The crosshair (sometimes referred to as cursor) is a small symbolized object on the screen that's part of the camera moving around when the player moves the camera, it is used for selecting, if the player is targeting something the crosshair symbol will change.

Visual COM - At the top left corner of the screen a circular shaped visual communicator will appear, team members, allies (and enemies) will use this to speak and communicate with the player/other team members regarding the current mission or main story plots of a campaign, the communicator also give new objectives.

Objectives - Shown to the right of the Visual COM, the most important and relevant objectives will be shown, a full list of objectives and other information is available when pressing the View button.

Mini-Map - At the top right corner of the screen the circular mini-map is placed, it shows units and occupied structures that are present on the battlefield, the landscape, shape and size of the battlefield is also shown, there’s also a compass around the mini-map.

Advancement Data - Just to the left of the mini-map, a box is there with the information of the players population (current and maximum), tech level and resources.

Direction Indicator - An arrow may sometimes appear just above the crosshair which will indicate the direction of a current goal or a guide requested to a specific location on the map.



Circle Menu - When the player uses a combat support or selects a building the circle menu will appear in the center of the map, it takes up a decent part of the screen and is used for getting/producing upgrades, units and combat support. The circle menu has eight icons one on the top (Icon 1) and bottom (Icon 5) and three on the right (Icons 2-4) and right (Icons 6-8), for a building/producer the top icon upgrades the structure and the bottom icon will recycle the building - not for the same as its original price but the player will gain some of his/her resources back, the icons on the right (if a unit producer) will be for units and the icons on the left will be for upgrades, other uses of the icons in the circle menu will vary in uses. When the player selects one of the icons on the right or left a box to the right of the right icons or the left of the left ones will appear with information about the thing selected and another spot in the center of the circle menu which shows the cost, required tech level and population it will take of the selected thing. In regarding to unit producers, once one or three of the three units available at a unit producer is fully upgraded, the upgrade icon may go blank but it can also allow the use of a new unit icon, it will cost 1.000 resources to allow the production of the unit and then the unit will go to its standard price, the extra unit will also come fully upgraded.

Forge Menu - Just like the Circle Menu except it appears to the right of the screen and it is in a square/rectangle shape which is used for constructing buildings and in Forge mode it is used for all Forge purposes. The forge menu can have as many icons as it needs for its subject. It works just like the menu for creating forge items in the main Halo games, there is a single line like an icon which the player can scroll down by using the left thumbstick and in Forge the bumpers will change to the items of another factions. The player will be able to flick from each base type; camp, stronghold, fortress. Note! The player can rotate items by holding “A” and moving the right thumbstick.

Unit Selection Icon - If a unit has been selected an icon will be shown at the bottom of the screen. An icon will appear for each unit type selected - regarding selecting groups.

Timer - A little bit under the top of the center of the screen will be a timer if its needed, it will normally count down but can count up.

Further Notes: Other bits of notes and information may also appear on the screen at random times and places. Zooming in and out of the screen has increased a lot since the original Halo Wars. Each faction will have their own unique look for their Heads-Up Display, the biggest changes would be the crosshair symbol and the color of the HUD. If the player selects an enemy unit its name may be different to what the name would be if that enemy selected it - like if the Covenant faction selected one of its own units such as a Kig-Yar Sniper when a UNSC team selects it would come up as a Jackal Sniper.

The HUD/Camera View in first and third person mode changes with different units but resembles the one used in Halo 6.￼

First & Third Person Mode
The First or Third Person Mode is available when the Player holds in “Y” during a game, the player will no longer be in the Real-Time Strategy but be playing as a single unit with first person view, the controls for this are almost identical to Halo 6’s except that up on the D-Pad will switch from first to third person mode and third to first person mode and “Y” will take the player back to the RTS mode. When the player is in this mode his/her team will follow their last orders an then act defensive, while the player is in the first or third person mode the current unit being played as strengths go up slightly, specifically its movements and accuracy, if the player is an infantry unit he/she can drive/pilate and sometimes hijack vehicles and other machines. This mode is exclusive to leaders and hero's, though there are some rare occasions of which other unit types can be played and the player could make the modes work for all units in Forge mode. The third and first person mode works for infantry, vehicles, air-craft, water-craft and space-craft, but not for larger units like ships.

Difficulty
The difficulties in The Great War is the same as every other Halo game:

Easy - Gamers new to Real-Time Strategy games.

Normal - Gamers familiar to RTS games, but just want to play a smooth and enjoyable game.

Heroic - For experienced RTS players.

Legendary - Players looking for a challenge.

Mythic - Only for the greatest and stupidly overconfident gamers. (Skull)

Custom Difficulty - This is a skull unlocked after all the other skulls have been collected. The player can change the strengths of their faction, allies or enemies, they also can shorten or make longer timers.

Library
Library is a source of (categorized) information for all the units, factions, characters, planets, species, weapons, etc. every time the player encounters a unit, character, planet, etc for the first time that will be unlocked in the library. Once all the library information is unlocked a skull will also be unlocked. This can also work like the Library from Halo Combat Evolved Anniversary using the Kinect system in gameplay.

Timeline
The Timeline is a collection of events that are slowly unlocked, every time a mission is completed a few new pieces of the timeline (with connections to the mission) will be unlocked. There is a unique timeline for each faction, sometimes they share events. Complete the timeline and a skull is unlocked. The Timeline replaces Black-Boxes from the original Halo Wars.

Galaxy Maps
The galaxy map is a view of the entire galaxy which is divided into sections of systems and territories, the player can select systems by moving the crosshair over them. Note! Some special missions may be based outside the galaxy map, such as places like the Ark.

Territories
A territory expands from a single planet within a system or to many-all systems in the galaxy. When the player selects a system, a colored outline will appear around it. the color of the outline will differ depending on which faction the system belongs to. Also when the player selects a system, a faint colored mist will appear over other systems that are part of the same territory as the selected system. But if two or more factions own a planet in a system its outline will flash between both factions colors.

Systems
Systems are parts of space in the galaxy most with several planets, moons and asteroid fields. If the player wants to conquer a system, he/she will have to claim all planets within the desired system and it will become part of their factions territory. If the player claims a planet or moon, he/she will be able to create trading roots, which will provide extra supplies at the start of a battles played in that system.

Planets
Planets and space sectors are each different types of sectors in a system, where battlefield missions can be played. Each planet will have a number of battlefields and locations, ranging in size and environment. Planets are used to perform land battles and space sectors are to perform space battles. Conquer all major battlefields on a planet or space sector and it will become part of the players territory.

Battlefields
Battlefields are locations on the map that the player will play battles and missions on. They Vary is size, environment and native plants and creatures. There are two types of battlefields; land fields are located on planets and is the standard battle location type, the player can do land and water battles on this type. Space fields are located in outer space outside a planets orbit or in an asteroid field, it is possible to play battles similar to land with this type but only if the player infiltrates an enemy ship or space station.

Development
The development for the game is just beginning, the idea is there but production for the game hasn’t started yet, not even the engine, concept art or an organized teams are even ready or began, though the planning of the game is almost complete. What progress has been made on the game so far is it’s title, most of the gameplay concepts, planning is almost done and that it will be a real-time strategy game with a little bit of action from a first and third person shooter mode, as well as it’s ideas for campaign stories, units and gametypes and that it’s cinematics will be like Halo: Spartan Assault’s and the Terminal’s. The game probably wont start production at least until a year before the release of Halo 6 which will most likely be around 2017-2019, making Halo Wars: The Great War release up to 2018-2020 possibly more.

The idea for the game actually came from one of Halo’s may fans. The fan originally had his first idea’s just from playing Halo Wars when it first came out in 2009 and when he played it he would imagine how could this game be better. A couple of months after that he started imagining what a sequel would be like, over time his ideas kept getting bigger and bigger, every time he would finish planning something another idea for it even better would come along and he would have to re-think it. Eventually he couldn’t keep up with his ideas, so he decided to write them down on his computer. Time went on and there were many different directions to what the game could be and soon after many months he knew his ideas were to vast just for a sequel to Halo Wars, but it had to be a game about the entire Human-Covenant War, where the player could use every vehicle, air-craft, space-craft, ship, weapon, equipment and technology in the Halo universe as well as play as every faction, species, faction and sentient. Three to four years later the fan finally wrote down as much as what was in his head as he could, forcing himself not to think of new things and write down new ideas because new and better ideas come all the time and there are an infinite amount of possibilities and direction the game could go. He decided he would start a Wikia account and upload what he had created to Halo Fanon so others could see what he had made...

Features
A great thing about Halo Wars was the large variety of playable units within the game but what it lacked and what hardcore fans wanted, was the ability to play as all the creatures-ranks, vehicles, air-craft, space ships and factions in the Halo universe, in The Great War the player can do just that.

Factions
Factions are the military organizations and teams playable in The Great War. Unlike Halo Wars all major and minor factions that are seen in the game are playable in the campaigns and multiplayer modes.

Playable Factions
Factions are divided up into two main categories depending on their strength or mass:

Major which are large and powerful factions with plenty of resources and fleets, they have a larger variety of units and battletypes as well. There are five playable major factions in The Great War:

UNSC (United Nations Space Command)

Covenant Empire

Covenant Loyalists

Insurrection

Flood

Minor factions are smaller and will only have a small fleet, a single ship or no ships or fleets at all, they are normally dependent or found in/on one planet or system. There are six playable minor factions in The Great War:

Colonial Militia

Colonial Insurgents (can be an Insurrection sub-faction)

(Covenant) Heretics

Kig-Yar Pirates

Jiralhanae

Forerunner Caretakers

Another third group though they are not a true faction - Ambient will be a non-military group or just animals, normally native to the planet being played on. They are usually a civilian group closely related to a major or minor faction. They are usually only playable in forge mode.

Races
Factions are divided up into different groups of races: Humans are a single species. Aliens can be from a single group of species to many. Ancient are normally robotic, but can be organic. Note! Wildlife are animals native to the planet being played on and usually only playable in forge mode, but they are not a faction.

Fleets
Fleets are assembled armadas of ships that the faction they belong to uses to defend and attack systems and planets. They are extremely important because they contain all military units for battle types. They are main use is used on the Galaxy map where the player organizes his/her fleet/fleets to go to certain areas before the player (or opposing side) goes to start different missions, but they are also used in their own battle type called Fleet Battles. Other information about fleets is that they are lead by navy leaders. each faction has a different number of fleets that vary in size, a fleet may not even be a true fleet it could just be made up of a single ship, different navy leaders have slight variations of their units for their fleet or ship.

Sub-Factions
Sub-Faction are smaller versions of a main faction, though they may dress differently and can act very similar and practically are a minor faction, but they could just be another fleet with more unique variations in units then from the rest of the fleets.

Custom Factions
Custom Factions is where the player can create his/her own faction. Starting with a small army the player over time will gain points which he/she can use to level-up and buy a ship which can eventually lead the player to becoming the master of a massive empire. Custom Factions is not used in any of the campaigns but for multiplayer purposes only, it’s mostly used in the domination gametype. The player can choose which faction he/she uses, it is also possible to merge the units and technology of other factions. The player can organize and edit the units he/she uses placing the unit in specific numbers, giving them certain weapons and choosing their color, but not choosing the units advanced settings like, cost, population and capabilities. Other features the player can give are the ability to change building colors, choose which icons unit and structures are placed and choose their fleets name.

Note! The more units and powerful weapons the player puts in a squad will raise the price and population the unit takes up.

Units
Units are individual infantrymen, vehicles, air-craft, boats (water-craft) and ships, components for the army, navy(s) and air-force necessary to play The Great War. Each unit can be made up of Infantry: One-many sentient creatures. Vehicles: One and rarely Two land or water machines. Air-Craft: A single flying machine. Each unit will have three upgrades, but if the unit is unlocked at tech level 2 the first upgrade comes automatically free and if the unit is unlocked at tech level 3 the first two upgrades comes free as well.

Entities - Species and Intelligence
There is a large variation of species and entities in The Great War, they could be a living creature or a machine, all with their own advantages and disadvantage: depending on what weapons are being fired at them and the environment of the planet their on, a species and even vehicles/machines capabilities could be increased or decreased.

There are 10 species in The Great War:

Dark Kig-Yar

Human

Huragok

Jiralhanae

Kig-Yar

Lekgolo/Mgalekgolo

San’Shyuum

Sandheili

Unggoy

Yanme’e

Four non-living entities also appear:

A.I. (Artificial Intelligence)

Remote-Controlled Machines

Sentinels

Promethean (with Reclaimer expansion pack)

Other creatures like animals of all types will also appear, yet not playable.

Unit Types
There are different types of units for battle types and environments, depending on which one the player is using, there will be different types of units: Land Units based on the land consists of infantry, vehicles, and air-craft. Water Units based on the water consists of water-craft, submarines, ships, and air-craft. Space Units based in space consists of air-craft, star-fighters, and ships. It is also possible to merge battle types, with units (especially infantry and vehicles) from other categories, but they are limited in their abilities. Note! There is a broader range in land units compared to all the other unit types, simply because Land Battles are the main and most common type of battletype. Sometimes infantry may stumble across unoccupied vehicles, they may belong to a faction or may be belonging to some of the natives, either way the infantry unit may be able to pilot them without costing resources or population.

Non-Playable
Non-playable units will normally be non-military but not always: civilians are normally related to a major or minor faction but stay by populated and colonized areas and most won’t be able to fight. Wildlife are various animals native to the planet being played on, they appear in many different environments from land to sea to air. Note! It is possible to play as these units in forge mode.

Unit Selecting & Targeting
All units have a ring around them when the player moves the crosshair over them for 2-3 seconds and sometimes within that ring certain parts of the unit will be highlighted, this is because every single unit is individual even if they are already part of a squad, like if there is a unit which is an infantry unit (with more than one soldier) each highlighted part will represent a single soldier and the same for aircraft and other units, but for some larger single units like tanks, transport ships and other vehicles; specific parts of the vehicle (which can include infantry being transported) will be highlighted instead of separate units (like wheels, wings and cannons) and when the players units attack and damage one of those parts it will be weaker in the categories that part was used in - the player can do this when he/she moves the crosshair over one of these highlighted bits and clicks “X” the players units will attack that specific part of the unit.

Leaders and Hero's
Notes! Leaders and Hero's do not have upgrades except for Spartan-II’s where no matter how many individual spartans there are, they will all share the same upgrade icon. Each faction will have their own name for their leader types and hero's. For space battles hero's will be notable ships (they can not be played as a single unit).

Leaders
Leaders (also known as commanders) are automatically deployed to the battlefield when unlocked, when you unlock a leader type new units and combat support will become available. Usually when the player starts a mission he/she will have one leader to begin with, but at tech level 2 the player gets the opportunity to buy a second leader and at tech level 4 the player gets the opportunity to get the final leader. If the player doesn’t get the leader strait away, he/she can buy them (though they can be free) from the Leader Command Menu which is a place to import all leaders and hero's, the leader command menu can have the three leader types and eleven hero's or less in it, or fourteen hero's or less - icon one will control Circle Page 2. Leaders can hop in any ambient or ally vehicle (land, water, air) when the player presses “Y” once the vehicle is selected. There are three types of leaders in gameplay: Land Commanders are the leaders for armies on the land, as units they normally appear in the form of soldiers or special forces units but can be vehicles and air-craft, they are normally free at the start of a land battle. Space or Water Commanders (also known as captains) are the leaders for ships from space and water battles, as units they normally appear in the form of captains and bridge officers units but can be boats and air-craft, they are only available if the player has a fleet. Specialists bring many advancements to their fleet, as units they normally appear in the form of civilians like scientists, professors, agents or special forces. Note! Water units honestly don’t directly belong to any specific leader, but water’s bonuses are shared by all leaders.

Hero's
Hero's are special leaders that are notable and well known personalities of the games, books and other media, as well as some new characters to the Halo Universe. They can be more powerful than normal leaders and can also have unique animations. Something very cool and unique about leaders is the ability to play as a single unit in first or third person shooter mode, units will be stronger in this mode, its activated when the player hold “Y” - this mode is exclusive to leaders, but the player can alter this to play as other units in forge mode, the controls are very similar to Halo 6’s. Unlike the normal leaders of which the player can only have one of each type, the player can have as many hero's as the mission will allow them too.

Producers and Outposts
Producers and outpost are the creators of units and most unit upgrades making them necessary for playing The Great War. They can be in the form of buildings or are based at a command ship.

Base Categories and Upgrades
Buildings have changed a lot since Halo Wars, they are categorized in four groups: Base Component include all command centers, base expansion, landing pads, walls etc. Unit Producers which create all units and do some upgrades. Advancement Producers upgrade and provide means for advancement and production and Outposts and Turrets which are shield generators, turrets, mines or just outposts. There is also fifth type but it doesn’t count because they are ambient. Land structures are the main force and focus of buildings and structures in The Great War. To upgrade a structure the player will have to select the structure and when the circle menu appears the top icon (icon 1) will have the upgrade. Some producers may have this extra feature “Circle Page One/Two” (mainly used in technology advancement producers) is where Icon 1 creates a second page, the player can switch back to circle page one by pressing icon 1 again. When producing and upgrading units (normally in a unit producer) icon 2 may not be available until tech level 1, icon 3 wont be unlocked until tech level 2 and icon 4 wont be unlocked until tech level 3 or 4. Icon 8 wont be unlocked until tech level 2, icon 7 wont be unlocked until tech level 3 and icon 6 wont be unlocked until tech level 4.

Base Components - Ground
Bases can produce standard and special units as well as a great form of defense and refuge. There are three types of ground bases, depending on the location of the base, tech level and resources the player will be able to make stronger ones: Camps are the smallest type of base, the player should need an acceptably fortifiable area with a clear space, no camp is exactly the same, the player can rearrange the positioning of the camp facilities and components which are; LZ’s, barricades, fences, maned-turrets, tents, marquees, small buildings and a command post. Strongholds are the medium base type, they bring new stronger components, the player will need to find a clear space, like the camps the strongholds are built up of different components but are more fortified and are made up of; LZ’s, barricades, walls, turrets, strong buildings and a command center. Fortress’s are the largest, strongest and most expensive type of base, it can also be an expansion or upgrade of a stronghold, the player will need to find a large clear space, the components are also larger; LZ platforms, turrets, walls, large/long buildings and a command center. There are various types of base components and structures like special unique producers that make very specific units or other things like trenches and land mines.

Base Components - Water
Water-bases don’t appear in different sizes as much as ground bases do, but just in different settings, they produce water-crafts on and under water, there are four types of water bases, depending on the location of the base, tech level and resources the player will be able to make stronger ones: Docks are based by the land and vary in size and shapes (depending on what shape the coast is) and are made up of; LZ’s, docking bays, turrets, strong (dock) buildings and a command center. Rigs are based in the ocean, they vary in size and are made up of; LZ’s, docking bays, garrisons, turrets, strong components and a command center. Undersea Bases are based under the water and look a little bit like strongholds and fortresses (for ground bases) the only units they create are submarines and are made up of; LZ’s, barricades, turrets, strong buildings and a command center. Water-ships are a type of water-base they have to be very big ships (usually capital ships) and need to have; LZ’s, docking bays, turrets and a command center.

Note! Infantry and vehicle can be present on water-bases.

Base Components - Space
Like water-bases space-bases don’t appear in different sizes as much as ground bases do, but just in different settings, they produce space-crafts, they wont produce large ships for they come through hyper-space, there are three types of space bases, depending on the location of the base, tech level and resources the player will be able to make stronger ones: Space Stations vary in size and type, they are very strong and are made up of; LZ’s, docking bays, cannons, turrets, strong components and a command center. Shipyards come in different forms creating different types of ships, they can also merge with space stations and are made up of; docking bays, turrets, strong components and a command post. Space-ships are a type of space-base they have to be the most massive of ships (usually capital ships) and need to have; LZ’s, docking bays, cannons, turrets, strong components and a command center. Note! Infantry and vehicle can be present on space-bases.

Modular Fortress - Modular Bases of Operations
A Modular Fortress (or to the UNSC; Modular Base of Operations) is a very large base type for ground battles that has other smaller add-ons; turret foundations and building sites to make facilities that produce units, upgrades and advancement materials, making it unnecessary to build other structures around the base. Facilities are:

Infantry Facility

Vehicle Facility

Air-Craft Facility

Resource Facility

Technology Advancement Facility

Upgrades Facility

Shield-Generator - Facility

Base Turret

It is the exact same base used in Halo Wars, yet now has several changes; it now costs a significant amount resources a lot more than from Halo Wars to make, but it also is a lot stronger, also the fortress doesn’t change name when you upgrade it. Notes! The facilities on the Modular Base of Operations look different a little different to the standard facilities, though they do resemble them. They are not available for all fleets and factions. If the players fleet is the Spirit of Fire the modular fortress costs significantly less resources.

Landing Zones
Landing Zones or LZ’s are the stations that transport air-craft use to deliver units and supplies to bases, there are three different types of LZ’s: The first is the smallest and is simply just a clear space about twice the size of the transporter, it is for transporting units. The second can be a variety of platforms and also is around the same size standard LZ, it is for transporting units and resources. The third is a supply pad for resources and is about the same or double the size of the transporter.

Unit Producers
Unit Producers are the creators of units and (main) unit upgrades, they can be made from buildings, water-ships or from a command ship - delivered through transport ships. There are three types of unit producers for each battle type category: Infantry Producers are created by buildings or delivered from space-ships, they are available for land battles. Vehicle Producers are created by buildings or delivered from space-ships, they are available for land battles. Air-Craft Producers are created from air-pads or from space ships, they are available for land, water and space battles. Boat Producers are created from docks, rigs, water-ships or delivered space-ships, they are available for water battles. Underwater Producers are created from rigs, water-ships and space-ships, they are available for water battles. Water-Ships Producers are created from docks, rigs or by large capital space-ships, they are available for water battles. Star-Fighter Producers are created from space stations and shipyards (in or out of orbit) or they can be made by space-ships, they are available for space battles. Space-Ship Producers are created from space stations and shipyards (in or out of orbit) or they can be made by large capital ships, they are available for space battles.

Advancement Producers
Advancement Producers are the providers of resources and technological advancements as well as providing various upgrades for units many other pieces within a faction. There are three types of advancement producers: Resources Producers are the providers of most resources that are needed to offered units, structures, upgrades and combat support, they are delivered to supply pads. Technology Producers are responsible for tech level upgrades, they can act with a number of specific structures or base upgrades. Special Upgrade Producers do unique upgrades for units, structures, combat support and population within a faction, they can be in the form of a building or based at a command ship.

Outposts and Turrets
Outposts and Turrets are stationary structures used for defense or just as simple look outs. Outposts come in many different forms from very small camps to sniper towers. There are also many types of Turrets: Type one & two are small (especially type one) common transportable stationary guns that can be maned by (single) infantry units. Note that it is possible for a unit in the turret to die before the gun is actually destroyed, once a turret is found unmanned other units can claim it. Type three are tall turrets well ranged and usually anti-air. Type Four are large to massive turrets that can take down heavy armored units or spread out units. Turrets can be delivered from command ships and transported or constructed by transport ships. Note! Turrets may be specified by their shape and size not their armenant type.

Miscellaneous Structures
There are many forms of miscellaneous structures and buildings in The Great War, they appear in all environment types, some are claimable and can be a good place for cover and hiding, as well as for acquiring extra resources and technology, though a lot of structures are just part of the scenery, landing zones are a in a way also like this. There are six types of obtainable structures for occupying:

• Standard Cover is a place to garrison units that prevents them from being getting extra damaged, these can be natural or designed for defense.

• Garrisons and Barriers give cover for units on the battlefield, they can be designed for single units or an entire squad, different types of garrisons may work better for different units like towers for sniper units.

• Turrets obtainable stationary guns.

• Generators speed up technology advancement.

• Resource Supplier provides resources.

• Research Facility are located unique area for study and cam bring special upgrades.

Game Concepts
The Great War has many new concepts that change the gameplay and many old concepts will return as well but slightly different from Halo Wars, as well as concepts from other games made to work for a RTS/The Great War.

Unit Strengths - Points and Information
All units have a number of points that all have their own uses.

Armed Personal and Armament
The Armed Personal category will contain: Number of units, ranks and their Main Weapon. And the Armament category will contain: Secondary Weapon a Melee or Handgun. Special Ability a Special Weapon or Equipment. Equipment is Active/Adaptable Camouflage, Jet-Packs and other unique tools. Ally Support; Unit reaction to an ally selected-usually for Transport and Repairing/Healing.

Health
Health is the life source of unit. Each unit will have a number of health and shield points and when a unit is damaged the points will decrease and once all the points run out the unit will be unusable. Health is divided up into two sections: life and shielding; Life & Armor 25-500 points. Healing, 0-5, 10 points Per Second/Minute. Energy Shields 0, 25-500 points. Shield Regeneration 0-5, 10 points Per Second.

Capabilities and Additional Information
Capabilities are the strengths of damage and movement for a unit: Speed, 1-100 points. Movability, 0-10 points. Jump, 0-10 points. Sight, 1-10, Infinite points. Damage, 1-100 points. Range, 0-10 points. Accuracy, 1-10 points. Confidence, 1-10 points. Confidence improves the unit all round but varies in it effectiveness. The additional information is basic and useful information about what the unit can and cant do: Population; 1-100. Tech Level; 0-4. Resources; 0-Infinite. Collect Resources; Yes/No. Swim; Yes/No. Produced; Building, Ship.

Unlockables and Technology Advancement
Unlockables and Technology Advancement are the key of upgrades strengthening a faction.

Technology Levels
Technology Levels or Tech Levels are the stages of advancement for a faction, every tech level unlocked more upgrades will become available. The player can acquire new tech levels by getting a number specific structures or by advancing age.

Population
Population is a necessary feature that controls the amount of units the player and enemy teams can have, it is there because the factions cant always spare that many units and so the game runs better without to many AI. In The Great War the population limit has raised greatly since Halo Wars. Every time the player acquires new units the amount of population room lowers. The player can raise the population limit by getting an upgrade from an advancement producer.

Upgrades
Upgrades are the source of advancements for units, structures, combat support and everything, they are used for pretty much anything useable in The Great War, upgrading a unit or structure could upgrade its offensive or defensive strengths as well as unique non-violent actions. There are two different types of upgrades for a unit or structure: The standard place for the first upgrade type is the same place where the player would acquire the unit being upgraded, the unit will be on the right of the cycle menu and the upgrade will be on the left of that. The second upgrade will be at the place where the player acquirers special upgrades, there will be many various upgrades there for multiple unit and structure types.

Ordnance Points
Originally known as veterancy points in Halo Wars, now could ordnance points, they are similar to ordnance points in recent Halo games, yet they have changed a lot. They give extra advantages to the player and unit, a unit can get ordnance points by defeating enemies or by age of deployment, stronger enemies will give a unit more points and once the unit gets a certain amount of ordnance points, the unit will get a free upgrade or extra damage, health, speed or better weapons. the player will know if the unit has a ordnance upgrade by stars that appear on the unit when the player selects it, each unit has a max 5 stars. If the unit survives the game it will appear in the next with its upgrades.

Combat Support & Leader Bonuses
Combat Support is the new version of Halo Wars’s Spirit of Fire and Leaders Abilities. All combat support is provided by the players capital ship, though sometime it can come from other sources. Each category of support comes up with its own circle menu with room for 6-8 different support actions. Many different types of support come in gameplay, those types are attacks to the enemy from ships and aircraft, transport and healing for the players and his/her allies and special forces reinforcements. Note! combat support will cost resources.

Combat Support
Combat Support can be an offensive form of support that provides special attacks from ships and aircraft, shooting missiles, special bombs or blasts of energy. Other forms of support that available like transport and healing for the players and his/her allies. They are available in the Combat Support Menu.

Missile Barrages are sent in by aircraft or ships shooting a spread out and mass barrage attack.

Energy and Missile Strikes are single yet massive strikes or blasts that hit targets with high damage.

Special Attacks send unique types of bombs and strikes like cryo and EMP bombs.

Transport sends units to different locations on or out of the battlefield. depending on how many units are being transported more resources will be required and bigger or more transport ships will be required, but be aware the player may have a limited amount of transport ships available and if they get destroyed all air transport will be unavailable.

Healing heals and repairs health of units - select a area and a medical team or mechanics will be sent to heal/repair the units, after the work is done the workers leave.

Drop-Pods are a way of deploying infantry units to the battlefield without having to wait for production time, but be careful because using drop-pods is dangerous because they may get destroy entering the atmosphere of a planet. Note! only units from the Reinforcement / Special Force Menu and Leader Command Menu can use drop-pods.

Reinforcements
Reinforcements are a form of combat support that provides special forces and other unique units to the battlefield, imported through transport ships or with drop-pods. Mainly the units from Reinforcements are special forces, prototypes or other unique units which come in the form of infantry, vehicles, air-craft, water-craft and space-craft. Note! The Reinforcements Menu is also known as the Special Forces Menu.

Building and Construction
Even though the player can acquire most features from producers from its capital ship or main base (which would be very distant) which will take a lot longer for things to be produced than constructing something on the ground, creating something on the ground will also make progress go faster and it will even cost less when producing units, but buildings can also be destroyed by enemies and sometimes by natural causes. Not all buildings are producers, shield generators, reactors, supply pads, auto-turrets and stationary guns they can also be ambient or have other unique purposes.

There are two types of buildings:

Producers

Infantry Producers produce and do [main] upgrades for infantry.

Vehicle Producers produce and do [main] upgrades for vehicles.

Air-Craft Producers produce and do [main] upgrades for air-craft.

Non-Land Producers

Water-Craft Producers produce and do [main] upgrades for water-craft.

Space-Craft Producers produce and do [main] upgrades for space-craft.

Ship Producers produce and do [main] upgrades for ships.

Facilities

Resource's Facilities supply resources.

Technology Advancement Facilities give the player better technology and allow better upgrades.

Upgrade Facilities allow extra upgrades for units and structures. Outposts

Manned-Turrets can be placed anywhere but will need to be manned and can be used by the enemy.

Auto-Turrets shoot enemies on sight, they can be placed anywhere but are expensive.

Shield Generator can shield a base or just an area of land, depending on how strong the shield is it can expand over a great distance.

Mines explode when an enemy walks over them, they can be placed anywhere but are expensive.

Note! There will also be ambient structures.

Unit Production Menu
Similar to Reinforcements the Unit Production Menu is a place to acquire and bring new units to the battlefield if there are no unit producers available on the map, all units from it are provided from the fleet or other place of command (far distant off the map), the units from the fleet do cost more and take longer to produce, but are good if the player cant build producers on the ground. It is accessed within the Building Menu, the player has to select a unit producer and then click “X” (instead of “A” which would create the producer not the unit) the menu for the selected producer will appear and then the player can produce the units.

Ally Support
This type of combat support isn’t provided by the players capital ship, but is used when the player needs extra forces when attacking an enemy to defeat them, the player can ask for the assistance of an ally, also unlike other combat support it is not activated by clicking the D-Pad but on one of the screens when clicking the View Button. If the play doesn’t have any allies and if he/she has more than one enemy and if one of those enemies is also an enemy with that faction the player can become allies with them to defeat the common enemy, but be aware the new ally may take advantage of the player by attacking them after the battle or if they deny becoming allies with the player they may attack the players base while their attacking their other enemy.

Notes! sometimes allies my demand resources for help.

Leader Bonuses and Leader Command Menu
Leader Bonuses aren’t a type of Combat Support but are a means of acquiring more ones. In Halo Wars skirmish mode there were three leaders for each faction for the player to choose from, each leader would have unique units and leader/Spirit of Fire abilities, but the player could never have more than one leader and its specialties at the same time in a game, but now called Combat Support in The Great War the player can unlock new leaders in a game at once. (Normally) when the player starts a mission he/she will have one leader to begin with, but at tech level 2 the player gets the opportunity to buy a second leader and at tech level 4 the player gets the opportunity to get the final leader. If the player doesn’t get the leader strait away, he/she can buy them (though they could be free) from the Leader Command Menu which is a place to import all leaders and heros. The leader command menu can have the three leader types and eleven heros or less in it, or fourteen heros or less - icon one will control Circle Page 2. When the player acquirers a new leader in a land battle, it will come with new units and upgrades normally relating to the leader. The player can acquire leaders and their upgrades at a command post or at the special upgrades menu. There are three leader type categories, each bring one or two extra units or combat support to the battlefield: Land Commander provide new land or water units also allowing more extra units then any other, as well as some free upgrades. Space or Water Commanders (also known as Captains) provide new air units and allow a higher population limit, all fleet commanders also come with drop-pods, not to mention the other unique combat support they come with. Specialists provide new units in several categories, all things cost less resources and things are produced faster. Note! The title of the leader types may not sound too accurate but the sub-titles do.

Note! that some combat support is always available and the player doesn’t even need a leader to use them.

Planets and Environments
There is a broad range of environments in The Great War, familiar and common ones to new and unique to the Halo universe environments. Each planet has its own unique environments, natural and some unnatural, depending on what type of environment there is, different types of units will react differently to them, through increased or decreased strength and abilities.

Landscape
Many types of landscapes are available that change the terrain of planets and battlefields: Fields (Flat surfaces), Hills, Mountains, Valleys, Cliffs, Other flat surfaces, etc.

Land Environments
The different types of grounds that appear on land:

Grounds: Natural
Dirts (browns, red, etc), Mud, Grasses (green, red, etc), Dry Grasses, Leaves, Salt, Sands, Snow, Ice, Stones, Rocky (Pebbles, Small Rocks, etc), Lava (Hard), Other surfaces, etc.

Grounds: Unnatural
Glassland, Glassland (Recent/Burning), Hard Light, Flood Growths (surface), Covenant Metals, Forerunner Metals, Other Metals and Artificial Surfaces, etc.

Natural & Unnatural Objects
Objects: Natural & Unnatural Trees, Bushes and Ferns, Mosses, Crystals, Rocks, Buildings and Structures, etc.

Water & Liquid Environments
The different types of conditions that appear on water:

Water Types (which will include the underwater environment variant)
Oceans, Rivers, Lakes, Dams.

Liquids: Natural
Fresh Water, Salt Water, Polluted Water, Oils, Lava, etc.

Air Types
The different types of conditions in Air: Fresh, Polluted, Toxic, Methane, Gases, etc.

Weather
The weather in The Great War plays a big part in how units look and act in different environments. The weather can even change the environment, like if the player is on a dirt map and starts to rain the dirt could become mud:

Temperature: Heat/Chill, etc.

Units Level Light: Light Fog, Light Rain, Wind, etc.

Units Level Heavy: Heavy Fog, Heavy Rain, Heavy Wind, etc.

Above: Clouds, Storms, Lightning, etc.

Environments Effect on Units
Depending on what sort of ground there is, certain units will react differently, depending on how thick/deep or thin/shallow the ground is. The section "Low" is for when units sink slightly in the ground, but will normally do the same effect and the section "Short". The section "Even" is when the ground doesn't interfere with the units movement. The section "Short" is when the ground interferes slightly with the walk of the unit walking/driving past. The section "Long" is when the ground (or what's on it) is long enough to cover a significant part of the unit moving through it:

• Low: Mud, Sand, Snow, Leaves, Stream Water.

• Even: Dirt, Thin Grass, Thin Leaves, Salt, Ice, Glassland, Hard Light, Metals, Artificial Surface.

• Short: Short Grass, Rocky, Lava (hard), Flood Growths.

• Long: Long Grass, Canes, Thick Snow, Shallow Water.

Some grounds will have more effects and can even be deadly to units:

• Dangerous: Tornados, Quick Sand, Thin Ice, Cold Water, Hot Water, Fire, Lava, Acid, Mines, Other Explosives, etc.

• Vision: Fog, Rain, Dust Storms, Smoke.

Space Environments and Conditions
The environment in space are very different, there is no gravity, weather, land water and the conditions are extremely few, making less to explain. There a few types of space objects, etc.

Skulls
Skull give unique features to certain subjects, specifically in gameplay. There are twenty skulls in the standard edition of the game in four types of skulls: Formidable Skulls: Make the gameplay more challenging, disabling the players abilities or strengthening the enemy. Beneficial Skulls: Make the gameplay easier by providing more resources for the player and giving them extra strength, as well as weakening the enemy. Grunt Skulls: Don't make the game harder or easier they just change the looks of things by making them more fun by giving new animations and colors. Gold Skulls: Unique and very different to the other skulls, they don't effect gameplay but unlock new features for the menu and other subjects. Skulls don't have to be collected in The Great War, there are five that don't need to be unlocked which the player can use at any time, but all other skulls must be unlocked. A skull is unlocked after every campaign completed and three are unlocked for completing domination for the first time, another is unlocked for playing online for the first time etc, Skulls don't just make the gameplay different they also unlock new features like custom difficulties.

Note! The main skulls come with the standard edition of the game, all skulls that come with expansion packs don't count into unlocking extra features.

Editing Notes
More coming very soon, as well as some major edits.