Delayed until 2021...
https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2020/08/11/xbox-series-x-launching-with-thousands-of-games/
Tommy McClain
https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2020/08/11/xbox-series-x-launching-with-thousands-of-games/
Tommy McClain
Probably the right move.
I think I agree about delaying the game. Great call, but I'm not so sure about abandoning the Xbox One platform. They would get absolutely destroyed in their no gamer left behind idealogy. I would be one of those.
Tommy McClain
I'm not sure if that would even do much to improve things as sad as that sounds. Building 3 houses vs 1 house is sure to be more work.
But if you've got the right tools you can build 3 houses quickly. If you've only got a hammer and a handsaw, it could take you forever to build 1 house.
343i, their problem sounds like the latter, as we learned from Bungie, the BLAM engine is just brutal to use and scale out
I think a good part of that really depends...
- When in 2021 is the release
- Pricing of Series X
- Pricing of Lockhart
- Scalability in the engine and gameplay for One, One S, One X
- Limitations in the engine or gameplay because of One, One S, One X.
- Where do the issues lie?
From what I heard the game is almost done. I'd wager this delay is almost fully about graphics at this point. So I am sure it be a waste to can the other version.
They could use this time to fix their production pipeline etc because a game like this after launch will demand even more work to continually build more content. They need to fix the structure before they launch otherwise they will be in perma hell in perpetuity.
Official statement from 343.
https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/news/halo-infinite-development-update
Tommy McClain
https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/news/halo-infinite-development-update
Tommy McClain
Do we have any reason to believe that this is even an issue?
Not saying it isn't, but what we know for sure is that the graphics need a good once, twice, trice touch up.
Things like the RT patch etc will launch with it I suspect to make xsx/s look half decent.
The only reason they delayed it was due to what they was seeing with reception regardless of how the views and likes got broken down in here. It really did get a bad reception for what it is.
I would say still a brave decision, but the right one in my view.
Some earlier posts here are testimonials from 343i employees.
Sometime in 2017 they did reference that 2015 Halo killed their employees and that people would start leaving if they didn't fix their tools. So the slipspace engine was supposed to be the rebuilding of the tools and workflows to get to a place where content creators etc everyone wasn't tripping over the other.
The employee testimonials on this thread indicate that there are efforts that improved some things, the progress wasn't far enough and they have a great deal of many issues.
https://www.usgamer.net/articles/34...on-crunch-halo-infinite-career-microsoft-xbox
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So one of the big topics in the industry this year has been crunch and unhealthy work conditions across studios. What has 343 done to combat crunch and bad work practices?
Yeah, with Halo 4, just given the nature of being a brand new team that had not worked on the Halo engine before, we did put the team through a really bad crunch. Obviously we had a ton of feedback that that was not a great thing. And one of the reasons is that the Halo engine is a very technical engine, which means it's a lot harder for artists and designers to get content into the game. So we promised the team that for Halo 5, we would do the work. And we did a ton of work to improve the engine along the way, but we promised them that we would do the work to really create tools and pipeline that was easy to work in so that we could help prevent crunch.
And we didn't do that for Halo 5. It ended up being a bigger game than we thought it was and we didn't have time. When we shipped Halo 5, it definitely was a point of, I think, crisis with the team. Crisis might be not the right word, but it was a point where the team was like, 'You promised us and we're not doing crunch again.' And they were right.
That's why we've taken a bit more time—usually it's three years between every Halo—to really do the investment in the engine and the tools and pipeline, and we're still working on it. But we showed it at E3 last year, and it is basically trying to create an environment that we can build the game better, faster, and ideally, you know, prevent crunch. I think there will always be with any game, I think there will be times where we need to work longer hours. But I think that we need to be really deliberate with that because it's not fair to the team, and the team doesn't want to do it. And so we're trying to work out how do we create the best environment to hopefully mitigate that.
https://kotaku.com/the-messy-true-story-behind-the-making-of-destiny-1737556731
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It’s not uncommon for a game’s scope to reduce during development, but Bungie had a unique problem. People who worked on this project say that one of Bungie’s fundamental issues over the past few years has been the game’s engine, which the studio built from scratch alongside Destiny. Four sources pointed to Destiny’s technology—the tools they use to design levels, render graphics, and create content—as an inhibiting factor in the game’s development.
“Let’s say a designer wants to go in and move a resource node two inches,” said one person familiar with the engine. “They go into the editor. First they have to load their map overnight. It takes eight hours to input their map overnight. They get [into the office] in the morning. If their importer didn’t fail, they open the map. It takes about 20 minutes to open. They go in and they move that node two feet. And then they’d do a 15-20 minute compile. Just to do a half-second change.”
People who have worked with Destiny’s tech say the company is capable of powering incredible things behind the scenes, like player matchmaking. It’s also clear that Destiny is one of the best-looking video games ever made. But as a tool-set for designers, sources say, Destiny’s engine is subpar, and creating new maps and missions at Bungie can be grueling for developers.
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Wow they actually delayed it...
Personally I am really glad they are delaying the game. The gameplay they showed left a bad taste in my mind with how it looked compared with the 2018 "Game Engine", and the "Discover Hope" trailers.
This is Xbox's premiere IP that hasn't had a knockout release since Reach, or you could argue Halo 3. So it needs to be really good. XSX/XSS will launch well come the end of the year. BC/BC Enhancements, XSX Optimised titles from previous first-party titles; Gears 5, Gears Tactics, FH4, SoT, etc, and third party titles will carry the consoles fine. I don't think they will have any issues selling any console they produce going into 2021.
It begs the question though, are they delaying it to the end of the year 2021 to launch at the same time as other mainline Halo titles or will Infinite be the first mainline Halo title to launch in spring? Summer?
Interesting times ahead.
Personally I am really glad they are delaying the game. The gameplay they showed left a bad taste in my mind with how it looked compared with the 2018 "Game Engine", and the "Discover Hope" trailers.
This is Xbox's premiere IP that hasn't had a knockout release since Reach, or you could argue Halo 3. So it needs to be really good. XSX/XSS will launch well come the end of the year. BC/BC Enhancements, XSX Optimised titles from previous first-party titles; Gears 5, Gears Tactics, FH4, SoT, etc, and third party titles will carry the consoles fine. I don't think they will have any issues selling any console they produce going into 2021.
It begs the question though, are they delaying it to the end of the year 2021 to launch at the same time as other mainline Halo titles or will Infinite be the first mainline Halo title to launch in spring? Summer?
Interesting times ahead.
Official statement from 343.
https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/news/halo-infinite-development-update
Tommy McClain
Glad to hear. No need to rush something that was obviously underwhelming in certain areas (e.g., lighting, LOD streaming, etc.).
I'm not saying there isn't crunch.
Just saying I've not seen any indication that there's issues with work flow or pipelines.
If the content wasn't there I'd be surprised that they would wait a couple of months before going gold to know they couldn't make it in time.
Graphics quality is a known issue though.
Basically I'm more inclined to believe their going to work on the engine etc
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