Halo 4

[Nesh]

Some good quality pictures, looking good.

http://minus.com/mpkjxerap/

You know some will hate me for what I am going to say but FINALLY!! A 360 Halo that doesnt look just ok!! This one probably meets the visual standards I expect from a AAA game. Neither Halo3 nor 4 impressed me. I was dissapointed with their visuals

 

[Reiko]

You know some will hate me for what I am going to say but FINALLY!! A 360 Halo that doesnt look just ok!! This one probably meets the visual standards I expect from a AAA game. Neither Halo3 nor 4 impressed me. I was dissapointed with their visuals

Says alot about Bungie's priorities actually

 

[SteelOak]

If this game is going to look better than Halo Reach then I hope it's not going to sacrifice the scale.
Reach is IMO really impressive game so I don't see a point in improving the graphics so much that the gameplay would suffer.

 

[Laa-Yosh]

Well, if the concept art is in any way representative then we can expect some pretty large environments...

Spoiler

Apparently a lot of the game takes place in a Forerunner Shield Planet, where basically the entire planet is covered by a thick metal plating. Basically a Death Star shell around a planet.

So, there's going to be a ceiling several miles above all the large open areas.

 

[SteelOak]

Well, if the concept art is in any way representative then we can expect some pretty large environments...

Spoiler

Apparently a lot of the game takes place in a Forerunner Shield Planet, where basically the entire planet is covered by a thick metal plating. Basically a Death Star shell around a planet.

So, there's going to be a ceiling several miles above all the large open areas.

This concept looks OUTSTANDING :smile:
I'm curious wether 343i is trying to replicate the "wow" moment, when you land on Halo for the first time.

 

[dragonelite]

This concept looks OUTSTANDING :smile:
I'm curious wether 343i is trying to replicate the "wow" moment, when you land on Halo for the first time.

I believe Game Informer said they saw this "Wow" moment in person in their magazine.
Could be they were talking about the concept art.

 

[Laa-Yosh]

They've explicitly stated that they aim to recreate these moments from the first Halo game. The first level wasn't really up to the then current standards, because of the - intentionally - bland design and tight spaces of human military hardware, but once the player got out of that crashed escape pod, everything changed.

I remember Epic state that their goal with the upgraded terrain engine in UE2 was to do it better than Halo The first outdoor level in that game has pretty much became the new standard at that time.

Spoiler

Another thing they'll probably try to recreate is the sudden introduction of a completely new faction, the way Bungie surprised everyone with the Flood. Halo CE managed to keep it a secret right until the game's release; this time 343 is hinting at it but they're careful not to release any info or imagery at all.
Considering the Shield World's role in the game it's a good bet they'll be related to the Forerunners. Shield Worlds were meant to protect against the Halo array's pulse but it was assumed that no forerunners have managed to reach them in time.

This has of course resulted in - as expected - a lot of people are complaining about re-using the Covenant as enemies

 

[SedentaryJourney]

Some good quality pictures, looking good.

http://minus.com/mpkjxerap/

Good? These screens are simply impossible for today's consoles.

 

[Alucardx23]

You know some will hate me for what I am going to say but FINALLY!! A 360 Halo that doesnt look just ok!! This one probably meets the visual standards I expect from a AAA game. Neither Halo3 nor 4 impressed me. I was dissapointed with their visuals

I agree, though I have always respected the Halo series for the big dinamic battlefields that are less and less common nowadays. Let's see how Halo 4 can manage that.

 

[Alucardx23]

Good? These screens are simply impossible for today's consoles.

Agree, the only thing I'm worried about is the framerate, hope it doesn't go as low as Reach.

 

[Nesh]

Says alot about Bungie's priorities actually

I think their priorities went to the mulitplayer

 

[Laa-Yosh]

Apart from the bullshot resolution and AA, there's nothing particularly impossible on those screenshots. ..

 

[Prophecy2k]

Checked out a few more videos, and their real-time face wrinkling tech is pretty cool. That bodes well for the cinematics/cut-scenes in the game.

And found out the the helmet that is in RvB is a Spartan IV helmet for multiplayer arenas. Still hate the design of it, ugh.

And I hope to god they don't have QTE's and UC style of set pieces. I like the Halo style of setpieces where things happen around you but where you generally aren't removed from control of your character. So you're free to look at it or not. Free to move away from it if you want. Cutscenes are where they can take control and force you see critical story progression connection arcs.

Regards,
SB

Halo never really had set pieces to begin with. Certainly not in the traditional sense. However Halo has always had cutscenes. Not sure why anyone would try to pretend otherwise.

Quite frankly I have no problem with UC style set pieces, as long as they're not too long. I also have no problem with cutscenes, and would actually welcome more than usual in Halo4 so long as it would help them actually tell a decent story in the game.

I also disagree with those saying Halo 3 wasn't a great looking game. Despite the human models and facial textures, as well as poor IQ, Halo3 looked great to me. I think I just really love games with amazing lighting, and I thought Halo 3's lighting was much much superior to Reach's.

If they can nail the story and create a really decent SP experience, that isn't 4 hours long (i'm hoping for at least 8-10), then i might even buy a 360 for this game, as opposed to my usual going round to my bros house to play there.

 

[scently]

The different in lighting between Halo 3 and Halo Reach is one of quality (Halo 3, with it's high quality HDR lighting) vs quantity (Halo Reach, with its LPP deferred rendering/lighting).

 

[Prophecy2k]

But the shadowing seemed better to me in Halo 3. On pretty much everything, particulary the levels and landscapes. In reach everything aside from the characters looked far too flat, with stuff like trees appearing as obvious polygonal jaggy messes. Halo 3 enviroments popped a lot more and seemed like living breathable worlds.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

Quite frankly I have no problem with UC style set pieces, as long as they're not too long. I also have no problem with cutscenes, and would actually welcome more than usual in Halo4 so long as it would help them actually tell a decent story in the game.

There's where I just can't get into it. Different strokes for different folks.

But I like how set pieces are done in the Halo games and in Half-Life. You come across them as they happen but you're never removed from control of your character. You're free to view them or not as you choose.

I can't stand games where you're in the middle of doing something and then BAM, no control or virtually no control while you are forced to view a set piece. That's the worst of both worlds, IMO.

Not only are you removed from all control of your character but unlike a traditional CGI or even pre-rendered custscene, you also have to view in horrible realtime rendered graphics. I have to say I'm also not a huge fan of non-CGI cutscenes. At least if I'm not going to have control over the proceedings, let me enjoy some eye candy that cannot remotely be presented with an in game scene.

Regards,
SB

 

[Prophecy2k]

There's where I just can't get into it. Different strokes for different folks.

But I like how set pieces are done in the Halo games and in Half-Life. You come across them as they happen but you're never removed from control of your character. You're free to view them or not as you choose.

I can't stand games where you're in the middle of doing something and then BAM, no control or virtually no control while you are forced to view a set piece. That's the worst of both worlds, IMO.

Not only are you removed from all control of your character but unlike a traditional CGI or even pre-rendered custscene, you also have to view in horrible realtime rendered graphics. I have to say I'm also not a huge fan of non-CGI cutscenes. At least if I'm not going to have control over the proceedings, let me enjoy some eye candy that cannot remotely be presented with an in game scene.

Regards,
SB

That's quite a fair and reasonoble argument ;-)

I suppose it just comes down to a dev design decision ultimately.

I agree with your stance on set pieces if they are full of action and glorious eye candy. However, I've never really enjoyed HL's implementation of lock you in a room with an NPC while you stand and listen to them blabber away.

If you want me to stand still and listen to a conversatin between my player character and an NPC then do it in a flippin cutscene where BOTH characters actually converse and I can identiy with them BOTH. HL is awful in that regard for me (cannot stand silent protagonist nonesense), as I just felt the whole game like i'm a little miscreant brat being talked down to the whole game. If it's a story based game, let me have a voice, or at least some way of interacting like in Skyrim.

 

[kagemaru]

There's where I just can't get into it. Different strokes for different folks.

But I like how set pieces are done in the Halo games and in Half-Life. You come across them as they happen but you're never removed from control of your character. You're free to view them or not as you choose.

I can't stand games where you're in the middle of doing something and then BAM, no control or virtually no control while you are forced to view a set piece. That's the worst of both worlds, IMO.

Not only are you removed from all control of your character but unlike a traditional CGI or even pre-rendered custscene, you also have to view in horrible realtime rendered graphics. I have to say I'm also not a huge fan of non-CGI cutscenes. At least if I'm not going to have control over the proceedings, let me enjoy some eye candy that cannot remotely be presented with an in game scene.

Regards,
SB

Agreed with everything up until this last part. One of the best aspects of Halo games is that every cut-scene is rendered in-engine. A good looking real time cut-scene is more impressive than a good looking pre-rendered cut-scene IMO. I just hope Halo 4 doesn't move away from real time scenes.

 

[dragonelite]

Agreed with everything up until this last part. One of the best aspects of Halo games is that every cut-scene is rendered in-engine. A good looking real time cut-scene is more impressive than a good looking pre-rendered cut-scene IMO. I just hope Halo 4 doesn't move away from real time scenes.

Quick time events
I rather have a button prompt like they did in Crysis 2 when something happens in a level.

 

[AlNom]

Quick time events

Better with kinect. ಠ_ಠ



ಠ_ಠ