Halo: Reach

[Alucardx23]

Gameinformer
Special Edition Podcast: Halo Reach

http://gameinformer.com/b/podcasts/archive/2010/01/28/special-edition-podcast-halo-reach.aspx

 

[TurnDragoZeroV2G]

Was listening to it earlier. Paused at 23:00. Really boring up to that point, for someone who's stayed up to date on everything Halo and Reach.

 

[(((interference)))]

Bnet has a whole heap of new renders up,
The Elites aren't actually looking too bad

Marines are looking much better:
http://www.bungie.net/images/Games/Reach/images/cutouts/Trooper_left2.jpg

And the Skirmishers are looking slightly better when posed like this:
http://www.bungie.net/images/Games/Reach/images/cutouts/Skirmisher_right2.jpg

 

[czekon]

marines reminds me of g.r.a.w.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

Marines are looking much better:
http://www.bungie.net/images/Games/Reach/images/cutouts/Trooper_left2.jpg

Heh, when I first looked at that Marine I thought there were some odd rendering errors on his arm and legs. Had to look closer to see that it's just SSAO (?) or Self shadowing (?) or a special shader to emulate the previous (?) of the cords in the cloth.

Pretty impressive level of detail.

Regards,
SB

 

[scently]

Heh, when I first looked at that Marine I thought there were some odd rendering errors on his arm and legs. Had to look closer to see that it's just SSAO (?) or Self shadowing (?) or a special shader to emulate the previous (?) of the cords in the cloth.

Pretty impressive level of detail.

Regards,
SB

Yeah, the marines are really impressive.
New bungie update, lots of interesting stuffs:
http://www.bungie.net/News/content.aspx?type=topnews&link=BWU_012910

 

[scently]

Those marines are actually army troopers. The Noble team are in the army branch of the UNSC forces.

 

[Rangers]

The AR in Reach actually has more polygons than an entire Marine character did in Halo 3.

http://www.bungie.net/News/content.aspx?type=topnews&cid=24541

 

[ShadowWolf64]

The weapon sound effects are fantastic..The AR sounds very ferocious along with the other weapons and grenades...

 

[(((interference)))]

Apparently this first person shot was not taken from photo mode in saved films
http://www.bungie.net/images/Games/Reach/images/screenshots/ReachCampaign_m10_firstperson.jpg

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FWIW, that particular screenshot, the first person one with the questionable reticule, was not taken in a saved film. We had other issues with films and screenshots in that timeframe, requiring me to do it the old fashioned way and pause the game on the fly and use our console command.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=19517630&postcount=9486

Also on the Bnet weekly update they mention that "tiled screenshots using screenshot console command have crosshair in the wrong spot" Which explains that bug

What's a tiled screenshot? Is that why the image is 1920x1080 pixels? Can we infer anything from the fact that it is an in-game capture and not a 'bullshot' as previously thought? ie AA levels?

Also in the weekly update they've said all the Human weapons (shotgun and rocket launcher excepted) have been reverted back to hitscan detection. Which is a bit strange seeing as most games go the other way and try to make ballistic simulation more accurate with each installment (like COD and the material penetration system). Do any other notable console shooters use hitscan detection?

 

[Malibu]

Do any other notable console shooters use hitscan detection?

Off the top of my head, Halo 2 and Modern Warfare 1. I know for a fact there is others. And yeah, most shooters these days use projectiles. There's advantages and disadvantages to both, but I've always been partial to hit-scan, particularly online and with rifles, so I'm glad it's returning.

 

[(((interference)))]

Off the top of my head, Halo 2 and Modern Warfare 1. I know for a fact there is others. And yeah, most shooters these days use projectiles. There's advantages and disadvantages to both, but I've always been partial to hit-scan, particularly online and with rifles, so I'm glad it's returning.

MW1 uses hitscan? srsly?

They simulate bullet penetration through different materials but not actual ballistic trajectories?

Are you sure? The sniper level in campaign had a bit at the end which had you compensate for wind, bullet drop (and even the Coriolis effect!) and the game has controls to hold your breath while sniping to reduce sway, so it would be rather silly to go to these lengths to get a semblance of realism and then have hitscan weapons.

 

[Laa-Yosh]

Er, in that certain sniper mission, all the talk about the Coriolis effect and such was bull****. No matter what you did, you could only hit the arm of the dude, either that or nothing. It was a scripted sequence and had even less to do with realism then hitscan weapons.

 

[assen]

MW1 uses hitscan? srsly?

They simulate bullet penetration through different materials but not actual ballistic trajectories?

Bullet penetration through different materials isn't that hard to do; you check collision of the bullet ray, if the material is marked as "penetratable", you trace another ray on the other side, reducing damage for the bullet. It's a design decision, opening new subtleties in level design, not a strife for realism based on a complex simulation for simulation's sake.

 

[aselto]

And Coriolis effect is also extremely easy to simulate - it's a simple vector product.

 

[kots]

All this talk about their new, advanced engine and still not a word about the resolution . Last time their excuse was the HDR method , what 'll be now ? Lots of units on screen , big maps , bouncing sparks maybe ?
Come on Bungie you can do it - 720 and some form of AA please .

 

[Acert93]

All this talk about their new, advanced engine and still not a word about the resolution . Last time their excuse was the HDR method , what 'll be now ? Lots of units on screen , big maps , bouncing sparks maybe ?
Come on Bungie you can do it - 720 and some form of AA please .

You don't think big maps with a lot of AI units on screen impacts graphical performance?

 

[Silent_Buddha]

You don't think big maps with a lot of AI units on screen impacts graphical performance?

Not to mention the 40+ enemies all with a polygon upgrade over Halo 3.

So not only did the number of units go up but polygon density has gone up compounding the resource useage compared to Halo 3.

Then again, it shouldn't come entirely as a surprised as the underpinings of Halo 3 were designed on Xbox and then later modified where time allowed for X360.

Regards,
SB

 

[AlNom]

Also on the Bnet weekly update they mention that "tiled screenshots using screenshot console command have crosshair in the wrong spot" Which explains that bug

What's a tiled screenshot?

They have to necessarily take screenshots in tiles due to the eDRAM when they render to higher resolution framebuffers, in that case, 2560x1440.

Actually, even Doom 3's screenshot command works similarly if you take a screenshot that's higher resolution than your current in-game settings.

Can we infer anything from the fact that it is an in-game capture and not a 'bullshot' as previously thought? ie AA levels?

Nope. They could be running at whatever res they want. See: 720p no AA Halo 3 screens.

 

[COPS N RAPPERS]

bullshots have fastly become the new trend for all games this era. gears 2, R2, alan wake, heavy rain all used and are using them. using bullshots doesn't yet confirm anything, all it proves is it's a good method to use for promoting. it must seem jaggies of any sort is a blight in the advertising industry.