Halo 4
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Billy Idol
Legend
Battle Rifle. A weapon many competitive Halo players revere as near holy.
And yea it fires in bursts
One of my favorite FPS weapon across all games I have played
I'm going to jump on the "awesome work to you and your team, Laa-Yosh" train, because that opening cut scene is just incredible. Congratulations on an amazing job.
I also concur with Billy Idol on the quality of the mission design. I'm only 1 level in, but I found myself using more weapons in the first level than I've typically used at any point in prior Halo games.
I think the new aesthetic will take some getting used to, but I love the attention to detail. The big low-gravity fight on top of the ship was also just a great set piece. I appreciate the fact that 343 appears to have been unafraid to make some fairly significant changes to the looks and conventions of how you play the game, but lining up a series of BR headshots on an elite feels just as good as it always has.
I also concur with Billy Idol on the quality of the mission design. I'm only 1 level in, but I found myself using more weapons in the first level than I've typically used at any point in prior Halo games.
I think the new aesthetic will take some getting used to, but I love the attention to detail. The big low-gravity fight on top of the ship was also just a great set piece. I appreciate the fact that 343 appears to have been unafraid to make some fairly significant changes to the looks and conventions of how you play the game, but lining up a series of BR headshots on an elite feels just as good as it always has.
I'm not going to read posts in this thread yet to avoid spoilers and all, but I played about 20 minutes this morning, I'll say this just reiterates the incredible importance of gfx to games. How so? Well, it's Halo, but it looks so damn good, that it's just a lot more compelling. The graphics simply make the game much more compelling to play.
Thank you guys, I'm really happy that you like it! It really was an honor to have the chance to work on this game, knowing that probably a lot of you will get to see it, not to mention all the fans and friends.
Gave me a few sleepless nights actually, when I was worried if we can live up to the title or the stuff 343 is able to produce, so I'm also relieved a bit by the reactions and just wait until you see the ending...
I'm only going to get the game sometime later this week, but at least I managed to unpack my new TV tonight and dusted off the Xbox in preparation...
Gave me a few sleepless nights actually, when I was worried if we can live up to the title or the stuff 343 is able to produce, so I'm also relieved a bit by the reactions
and just wait until you see the ending...I'm only going to get the game sometime later this week, but at least I managed to unpack my new TV tonight and dusted off the Xbox in preparation...
Yeah the Prologue was simply stunning. Absolutely amazing work there.
This game starts out pretty slow, but really seems to hit it's stride about mid way through. And the graphics seem to get better as the game progresses. I wasn't particularly enamoured by the first couple of levels, but it started looking better once I got outside. The terrain in particular looks great imo.
This game starts out pretty slow, but really seems to hit it's stride about mid way through. And the graphics seem to get better as the game progresses. I wasn't particularly enamoured by the first couple of levels, but it started looking better once I got outside. The terrain in particular looks great imo.
Sound is awesome! The graphics are also very good.
I am happy to report 60 minutes in and I am already hitting little "sandbox" areas. e.g. in one area at a Forerunner building there are small squads to the left and right ramps up and at the top an Elite with a sword. I am on Heroic and it took about 5 play throughs to successfully take out all the enemies without dieing. It didn't feel like it was cheating or misdesigned but plain old "hard" in that the enemies work well together. A sniping jackle will be paired with a needler one, a grunt with a plasma pistol will be in a squad, etc so you have to think through your encounter.
Ps- The prologue was great. Visually stunning but, more importantly, it really sets the table for the story and the who "hero" mystique of Master Chief.
I am happy to report 60 minutes in and I am already hitting little "sandbox" areas. e.g. in one area at a Forerunner building there are small squads to the left and right ramps up and at the top an Elite with a sword. I am on Heroic and it took about 5 play throughs to successfully take out all the enemies without dieing. It didn't feel like it was cheating or misdesigned but plain old "hard" in that the enemies work well together. A sniping jackle will be paired with a needler one, a grunt with a plasma pistol will be in a squad, etc so you have to think through your encounter.
Ps- The prologue was great. Visually stunning but, more importantly, it really sets the table for the story and the who "hero" mystique of Master Chief.
dragonelite
Veteran
Finished campaign non stop
I'd rather not get into anything; it's company policy anyway, but I also hold 343 in great respect and wouldn't want to interfere with their communication. I can promise however that if there'll be any behind the scenes articles, I'll post a link to them.
Hmm, one thing I guess I can say though is that Dr. Halsey and the ONI interrogator were performance captured by 343, from Jen Taylor and Bruce Thomas, and some of the ending was done the same way. But then again this is listed in the game's credits AFAIK
Also, our work on Mass Effect 3 was discussed some time ago, by the way, and we used similar methods on Halo 4 for the most part.
http://www.fxguide.com/featured/cinematics-case-study-mass-effect-3/
Hmm, one thing I guess I can say though is that Dr. Halsey and the ONI interrogator were performance captured by 343, from Jen Taylor and Bruce Thomas, and some of the ending was done the same way. But then again this is listed in the game's credits AFAIK
Also, our work on Mass Effect 3 was discussed some time ago, by the way, and we used similar methods on Halo 4 for the most part.
http://www.fxguide.com/featured/cinematics-case-study-mass-effect-3/
The prologue video was absolutely brilliant!
On game visuals, Reach was much better overall to my eyes. This one doesn't stand up to scrutiny as well. I like to look around in Halo games but the vehicles, skyboxes, textures, environment details are all better viewed from a greater distance here.
Playing it after Reach reminds me of playing Halo 2 after CE. Lots of added tech, but a less consistent, more angular, noisier look that didn't age as well.
On game visuals, Reach was much better overall to my eyes. This one doesn't stand up to scrutiny as well. I like to look around in Halo games but the vehicles, skyboxes, textures, environment details are all better viewed from a greater distance here.
Playing it after Reach reminds me of playing Halo 2 after CE. Lots of added tech, but a less consistent, more angular, noisier look that didn't age as well.
I thought Reach was impressive technically but very lifeless. The environments in Halo 4 seem more visually richer and prettier even if they're not as detailed.
Thanks, don't want to know secrets infos, and the ONI probably listen your talk so…
Maybe one day your company could give a talk on the Art direction. It's always interested to listen the feeling artists would like to give in their works, more than to know secrets.
The epilogue is really interested…
Maybe one day your company could give a talk on the Art direction. It's always interested to listen the feeling artists would like to give in their works, more than to know secrets.
The epilogue is really interested…
The ending CG is spectacular too and, depending how serious you are as a Halo fan, extremely controversial.
I for one welcomed it, along with the changes made regarding interaction and dialogue between characters. I'm far more emotionally attached this time around then before.
Let me just say that I'm one of those weird few (apparently? According to studies or something?) that loves CGI in his games. I don't find it 'jarring' to go from CGI to In-game. To me, it's beautiful and enthralling. A reward for getting to a certain point in a game (such as Diablo, Starcraft, etc). I appreciate the effort Laa-Yosh and the wizards at his company did on this title. I can only hope going forward they continue to supply the Halo titles with their talent.
Because Halo with CGI is a magical thing indeed.
Also, is the second install disc.. Did it install alot of the cut scenes or loading stuff onto the HDD? Because I noticed that unlike many other games with cut scenes or even CG (on consoles anyway) these are remarkably crisp and not fuzzy and full of artifacts.
I wish I knew where and how to get into the CG biz, because to me this is the most compelling expression of art out there. So if anybody can point me in the right direction (I'm a web guy right now) I'd appreciate it.
I for one welcomed it, along with the changes made regarding interaction and dialogue between characters. I'm far more emotionally attached this time around then before.
Let me just say that I'm one of those weird few (apparently? According to studies or something?) that loves CGI in his games. I don't find it 'jarring' to go from CGI to In-game. To me, it's beautiful and enthralling. A reward for getting to a certain point in a game (such as Diablo, Starcraft, etc). I appreciate the effort Laa-Yosh and the wizards at his company did on this title. I can only hope going forward they continue to supply the Halo titles with their talent.
Because Halo with CGI is a magical thing indeed.
Also, is the second install disc.. Did it install alot of the cut scenes or loading stuff onto the HDD? Because I noticed that unlike many other games with cut scenes or even CG (on consoles anyway) these are remarkably crisp and not fuzzy and full of artifacts.
I wish I knew where and how to get into the CG biz, because to me this is the most compelling expression of art out there. So if anybody can point me in the right direction (I'm a web guy right now) I'd appreciate it.
Billy Idol
Legend
I freaking love the song in the start menu!
I can only quote some random comment I read: 343 is going ballsy with it
It's very fitting IMHO, and from what reactions I've seen they managed to hit their thematic and emotional goals.
I think there is a great potential for Halo to move from space opera to traditional sci-fi with the upcoming games. It'll be interesting to see how far they're willing to go down these roads and how much they can make it work within the FPS genre. I mean, even in the prologue they're setting up themes like transhuman evolution and its moral implications, that's not something you see in the mainstream shooters.
And I really, really liked the part in the epilogue
where the Didact talks about humanity being the greatest threat, accompanied by shots of the armory bay on the Infinity - a ship that can swat Covenant capital ships like flies - with hundreds of Spartan supersoldiers... Makes you question the Chief's sacrifices to save them.
Well, there's a lot of online training material available, for example Gnomon or Eat3D.
Most apps have demo versions or learning versions available and there are a couple that are completely free like Blender.
The other thing is that it's better to focus on a single aspect of the CG process, of which there are quite a few - modeling, rigging, effects, animation, compositing/lighting and so on. But I guess one has to get to know these various stages first, before choosing which one to get into...
Also, in my opinion there's a nice distinction between the technical (rigging, effects) and artistic (sculpting/textures/lighting and comp) sides, although there are people with a foot on both sides, like me. The artistic approach needs a good, trained eye that takes years, perhaps even a decade of practice, and the tech side needs an in-depth knowledge of how things are done... so it's definitely not a quick process, there is a learning curve on both sides.
Yeah, they really dialed down the scale and upped the LOD bias in this. Makes it look less visually consistent than Reach.
http://images.eurogamer.net/2012/articles//a/1/5/2/5/8/6/3/Halo_024.bmp.jpg
http://images.eurogamer.net/2012/articles//a/1/5/2/5/8/6/3/Halo_003.bmp.jpg
ShadowWolf64
Regular
Battle Rifle. A weapon many competitive Halo players revere as near holy.
And yea it fires in bursts
In mp, I use the Firepower perk that lets you add a primary weapon as your secondary and mine is the BR.MP is alot of fun but more importantly, map design is head and shoulders above Reach.
