Halo 4
- Thread starter Rangers
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Voodoo. Or something significant was dropped from the previous game (Reach) rendering pipeline.
2D fake volumetrics can still work even if the light source is off screen. I think you need a virtual workspace so that you can work with coordinates outside the framebuffer.
Compositing apps like Shake had support for this for more than a decade.
Still concerned about the specular/shader aliasing though.
Agreed, but what could they do at what sacrifices? (Nothing? There is a new AAA game out where one of the PR shots has a truck that looks sub-this gen, it looked horrible and yet the game has cutting edge graphics--the hardware and design choices are pretty ugly ones at this point).
Wondering why parts with Master Chief alone look so damn good. I guess they are in bullshot mode. Seeing as lighting looks great, there is nice DOF and everything gives a vibe its in engine footage for PR purposes but not gameplay. Like this for example...
Good thing is that they are 720p finally.
Good thing is that they are 720p finally.
That DOF might go to in engine cutscenes. Like what was done for Crysis 2.
Halo 3's DOF was pretty nice in cut-scenes too. (Particularly the one where we meet Guilty Spark)
Go easier on trying to make things shiny? Gears 3 managed to look very good in that regard. The rotating view of the new battle rifle is pretty fugly with the specular there. Part of the issue is having the specular cover a bunch of details on the normal map too so the high frequency is pretty awful.
(Particularly the one where we meet Guilty Spark)Go easier on trying to make things shiny? Gears 3 managed to look very good in that regard. The rotating view of the new battle rifle is pretty fugly with the specular there. Part of the issue is having the specular cover a bunch of details on the normal map too so the high frequency is pretty awful.
Yap! That warehouse map has id written all over it. Oh and Yosh, can you explain volumetric part You and Al have been talking about? Is that "doctored" too?:smile:Kenneth Scott's touch is all over the armor and environment design. If anyone is wondering he was the art director at id software on Doom 3 and the first few years of Rage.
I like it
Fake volumetric lighting is kinda easy, you take a matte from the objects that are supposed to cover the light and you place a shape on top of it then you use radial blur with the light source at the center. The problem is if the light source isn't visible by the camera. You can solve it by using a virtual workspace or such for your calculations, but it will create some overhead.
(((interference)))
Veteran
Very impressive, a clear step up from Reach (which itself was a pretty big improvement over 3).
I'm also wondering what kind of sacrifices they'll have to make to have this kind of fidelity - anyone know if they've ditched 4 player split screen support?
I'm also wondering what kind of sacrifices they'll have to make to have this kind of fidelity - anyone know if they've ditched 4 player split screen support?
Prophecy2k
Veteran
I fear they may have had to reduce the sizes of the sandbox play areas in the game to get it looking this good.
That ViDoc footage looks ace. I'm pumped to see this game in action now. I also prefer the colour palette of this game to Reach. I know Reach's was chosen because of the tone of the game's story and narrative, but it reminded me too much of those dreary rainy days in Manchester that would deny me my ability to play outside as a child. Bad memories
I think Master Chief's armour design is growing on me now. I'm keen to see some designs for the enemies (particularly the Elites). I hated the elite designs in Reach, thought they were awful! Hope they go back to Halo1/2 or Wars Elite designs.
I also hope to God that there's no Flood in this game (or other such "propel-themselves-directly-at-you-with-damn-near-impossible-speed-and-explode" enemies). I don't want such lazy enemy design to ruin another great game. (I remember THAT LEVEL of Halo 3 and I shudder with loathful disgust)
That ViDoc footage looks ace. I'm pumped to see this game in action now. I also prefer the colour palette of this game to Reach. I know Reach's was chosen because of the tone of the game's story and narrative, but it reminded me too much of those dreary rainy days in Manchester that would deny me my ability to play outside as a child. Bad memories
I think Master Chief's armour design is growing on me now. I'm keen to see some designs for the enemies (particularly the Elites). I hated the elite designs in Reach, thought they were awful! Hope they go back to Halo1/2 or Wars Elite designs.
I also hope to God that there's no Flood in this game (or other such "propel-themselves-directly-at-you-with-damn-near-impossible-speed-and-explode" enemies). I don't want such lazy enemy design to ruin another great game. (I remember THAT LEVEL of Halo 3 and I shudder with loathful disgust)
I have mixed feelings about the flood. I loved to see when they infected humans and the transformation that occurred in H3, it was just cool. And, well maybe it is really big words saying the nr1 gaming moment, but it is damn close, was their introduction in HaloCE. The scene when they are introduced and they just started rushing at you, I don't think any game since then has left the same impression of surprise and wtf is this nad like thinking am I supposed to shoot these, but they are so many, I can't have that many bullets, ohh, great times.
But I agree, I generally don't like to fight them. I wonder if they keep them around to have all kind of enemies. The smart elite and what I would almost call the "old school", dumb cannon fodder like of enemies. Maybe keep them but make them a bit easier to kill or something...
Reaaally curious to see what Kenneth's take on them would be.
We've barely seen anything of them since they rebooted the art direction for the series. Yeah, I know people hate fighting them, but they did add a certain variety to the mix, even if they are just zombies/bullet sponges. The pure flood strains were pretty interesting to see.
That said, I wouldn't mind if they played a smaller a role (if any) in Halo 4 and saved them for later - if you think the flood morphing animations were cool now, just think about the potential with DX11.
We also don't really know yet just what the replacement enemy troop line-up will be since the Covenant is technically at a cease-fire with humanity. I'm sure we'll fight them again as increased tensions break the peace and the different factions, but it's kind of hard to beat the variety that a multi-racial army, with troops of extremely differing behaviour and roles on the field, provides.
Prophecy2k
Veteran
I dunno Platon. I guess it's interesting how different players respond to differing scenarios in gaming.
The introduction of the flood in HaloCE (and by extension their appearance in every other Halo game since) have been the lowest parts of the entire franchise for me. I get the point about enemy variety, but to me there was simply nothing fun about trying to frantically shoot at a gazillion dumb enemies that just rush at you an explode. I also hated the lambent imp-like locusts and clickers in gears for the same reasons.
I hate the flood in Halo more than any other variation of the "homing missle enemy" design, because in Halo the contrast between fighting the flood and the tactical thought-requiring combat against the other enemies in the game is too stark.
In HaloCE i went through most of the game thoroughly enjoying the gunplay exchanges between myself and seemingly "smart" enemies (a hallmark of the series - ostensibly excepting the Flood). Then I encountered the flood and all my tactics and strategies for battle i'd learned, developed and honed during the course of the game instantly devolved into "twitch-gamer-bunny-hopping-and-firing-as-many-rockets-and-grenades-around-the-room-as-I-can". It was awful and ruined the experience for me. The latter level in Halo 3 where you are simply gang-banged by the flood for what feels like an eternity of a level, is the single worst gaming experience i have ever had the displeasure of taking part in. Since then i lost all confidence in Bungie as a dev, as i simply could not see how anyone could conceivably consider the flood as a fun or enjoyable enemy to fight in a shooter game, regardless of how well they work for the series narrative. It's the worst, laziest enemy design every conceived.
Halo 4 NEEDS to leave out the flood. Even if it means retconning all the expanded universe material to eliminate their presence from the game. No dev should ever feel compelled to degrade the quality of their game, by including another developer's gross mistake, simply of the sake of continuity with the EU narrative and story.
The introduction of the flood in HaloCE (and by extension their appearance in every other Halo game since) have been the lowest parts of the entire franchise for me. I get the point about enemy variety, but to me there was simply nothing fun about trying to frantically shoot at a gazillion dumb enemies that just rush at you an explode. I also hated the lambent imp-like locusts and clickers in gears for the same reasons.
I hate the flood in Halo more than any other variation of the "homing missle enemy" design, because in Halo the contrast between fighting the flood and the tactical thought-requiring combat against the other enemies in the game is too stark.
In HaloCE i went through most of the game thoroughly enjoying the gunplay exchanges between myself and seemingly "smart" enemies (a hallmark of the series - ostensibly excepting the Flood). Then I encountered the flood and all my tactics and strategies for battle i'd learned, developed and honed during the course of the game instantly devolved into "twitch-gamer-bunny-hopping-and-firing-as-many-rockets-and-grenades-around-the-room-as-I-can". It was awful and ruined the experience for me. The latter level in Halo 3 where you are simply gang-banged by the flood for what feels like an eternity of a level, is the single worst gaming experience i have ever had the displeasure of taking part in. Since then i lost all confidence in Bungie as a dev, as i simply could not see how anyone could conceivably consider the flood as a fun or enjoyable enemy to fight in a shooter game, regardless of how well they work for the series narrative. It's the worst, laziest enemy design every conceived.
Halo 4 NEEDS to leave out the flood. Even if it means retconning all the expanded universe material to eliminate their presence from the game. No dev should ever feel compelled to degrade the quality of their game, by including another developer's gross mistake, simply of the sake of continuity with the EU narrative and story.
The thing with the Flood is that it's origins are one of the greatest unexplained parts of the Halo universe. Sure, sometimes the mystery is better than getting disappointing answers, but there is always a balance between the two.
Also, in case someone isn't aware about it, there's been two new books and another to come that are apparently dealing with these aspects of the backstory, namely the Flood and the Forerunners. They're also using Halo 4 concept art as their covers...
Also, in case someone isn't aware about it, there's been two new books and another to come that are apparently dealing with these aspects of the backstory, namely the Flood and the Forerunners. They're also using Halo 4 concept art as their covers...
I've never really minded fighting the flood for the most part. I didn't care for the final forms in Halo 3, especially the forms that would stick to the ceiling in Cortana while I only had a spiker handy >_>
I thought they were fun cannon fodder and a decent change of pace from the more clever covenant. I only wish they had more 3 way battles in the series. That's definitely one area Halo CE did better than any other Halo IMO.
I thought they were fun cannon fodder and a decent change of pace from the more clever covenant. I only wish they had more 3 way battles in the series. That's definitely one area Halo CE did better than any other Halo IMO.
