Shoulder Mount Theory: LOS Communication From: "Kenneth Patterson" <katfum@home.com> To: <halo@bungie.org> Subject: You guessed it, more Shoulder Mount Theory Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2000 20:36:14 -0400 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Priority: 3 Having recovered somewhat from the preemptory beating for posting yet another message on this subject, here's my own two cents, something of a variation on Dalan's idea: Line-of-sight communications. One of the more annoying points of omnidirectional transmission is that it is prone to two things: listeners, and jamming when said listeners decide they want you to shut up, please. With a line-of-sight array, they must be directly in between you and the other end to detect the transmission, and if they don't know it's there, they have no reason to jam it. The box is clearly oriented in a forward direction, which makes it more likely to be line-of-sight than omni. In terms of gameplay, this would likely mean you could transmit text messages to those within their view, with the possibility of expanding the field of transmission for larger groups. As for other theories, I find flares or rechargers unlikely. First, it's a bad idea to put combustible materials like the fuel for flares right next to your head; you wouldn't believe how many ears I've lost that way. More likely, they're an alternate ammo for the pistol. Second, the shoulder is also a bad place to put a device like a recharger that would be so critical to the functioning of the suit; not only is it highly exposed, it's also incredibly inconvenient to use, since you must be standing at the exactly correct height and position. A far better place for such a thing would be the underside of the forearm, where it's not so exposed, and you can manipulate it more easily without moving your whole torso. Well, that's my 40 lira, at least. Back to the Theories page

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