Holy shit. I was just want to congratulate everyone that worked on Halo 4 for making such a beautiful game. The environments are amazing! I'm looking forward to the art dumps and posts from the artists. I'd love to know what resolution the textures are too, because there is an interesting mip-map level right when you're like 1 foot away from an object. I've noticed it on the landscape pieces where a more obvious (painted) highlight appears when you're up against the mesh.
From what I can tell, they use detail normal mapping, that is a detail texture thats actually a blended tiled normal map at a much smaller scale, so that when you get near objects it fades in and boooom... Here comes the detail. We did it a few years in our engine, and its hard to go back to not using it now because even low res assets look a LOT better for it.
From what I can tell, they use detail normal mapping, that is a detail texture thats actually a blended tiled normal map at a much smaller scale, so that when you get near objects it fades in and boooom... Here comes the detail. We did it a few years in our engine, and its hard to go back to not using it now because even low res assets look a LOT better for it.
Yeah, I've seen that used in a lot of games recently, but this looked different. It bugged me because the diffuse textures look so good, but when you get closer, they get even better(and then the painted highlight appears), so I was just wondering what the sizes were. Like if it was a 1024x1024, but used as a 512x512 until you're up close. It was only with the textures used for the ground/cliffs/rocks/landscape in general.
gods damn this is a pretty game. Pretty early in the campaign still and the visuals, especially when you first arrive on the planet, are just awesome
Gameplay play is instantly familiar which is great. The new music is nice but I'm kinda missing the classic Halo theme.
Played through the first 2 missions or so at work today. Wow, looks really really nice !
Environment work is stunning, especially the terrain work.
The overall tone feels not unlike Halo 1, has that "stranger in a strange land" vibe.
Cant wait to play more. Hat's off to everyone over at 343
RENS?! RENS WHERE ARE YOU, ARE YOU ALIVE?!??!? haahah
so far pretty wowed by the visual flair on show, gorgeous lighting and FXm as well as rock solid composition for almost every angle you look at and vista you are presented. I was never a hardcore halo fanatic but im loving this, the new sounds are also waaaaay more beefy, super cool.
A tip of the hat to anyone that worked on this game. Stunning presentation all around. It feels like I'm playing it on the next xbox, that's how impressive some of these environments/visuals are. I'm in love.
Me & A friend waited from 4pm to 12:01 to get the limited edition and Console bundle. Best game in the series Imo. Combat is faster paced and areas beautiful and that Binary rifle/lightrifle are the damn best. got to level 22 overnight just to get the Lightrifle though I can never get the Binary rifle in a ordinance drop always grenades
Also just found out some designers who worked on Prime 3 put in work on this which is great because I kept getting hit with nostalgia looking at the visual Changes and playing through the beginning mission(s): Both Samus and Chief wake up from a good ol sleep with a new suit design having to fight through a few waves of enemies while slowly being debriefed about a dreadful situation.
It sucks that I cant betray people unless I'm in a vehicle though
It made my eyes tear up multiple times in the beginning, and so again on the last part when the music kicked in. At the end of it all i just couldnt stop it. Overwhelmed with emotion. Thank you guys for delivering.
Played it in two parts, took my time for it to sit down and make sure i could focus on it, made it an epic start and finish of the game.
Visuals are just gorgeous! attention to detail and the mood of it all felt fantastic.
Glad to see some prerendered cutscenes aswell, no lies they got talent, cant wait to see what you will pull off next time.
The game is a perfect reminder of why i love it so much.
The story, the characters, the depth of the universe behind it, great to see it all come forward so much more.
Did i say thanks?
Thank you guys for all the effort that went in and delivering one of the best experiences and art piece yet.
just finished it! Its soooooo good. The pacing is excelent, really good variety. My ONLY (literally only) gripe is the sfx of the warthog. lol
I give this game a 98/100.
I'm going to gush here for a moment as i'm still on the halo 4 high.
That first level was unbelievable!! I really loved the mood and atmosphere of that space! I also REALLY loved how they revamped the art style and made the UNSC art set much more functional. I have to contribute to this franchise 0_o Incredible job 343i. You without question have some of the best talent in the industry and gave this franchise the love it deserves. SO glad it's continuing onward for another trilogy!
6 hours of killing space dogs with 4 different guns (reskinned several times each) a horribly paced story, and nonexistant characters. It looks and sounds nice though
I just finished this a few hours ago. The best Halo since CE, in my opinion. 343 did a fantastic job capturing that feeling of awe and mystery. Halo:CE was a big reason why I chose a career in game art, and Halo 4, with it's crisp, slick visuals (especially the new forerunner architecture) only reaffirms that decision. After finishing the campaign, I'm actually pumped to go make some art in hopes that I can someday reach that level
Love Love Love the art especially the first mission However i'm finding myself bored with traditional combat shooters. I was only clearing areas to check out the art and areas I knew I just ran through. Pretty sure BLOPS2 will be the same story. Gonna play some MP with friends but I'll be going back to Borderlands 2.
was created by Kolby Jukes. He's a badass protagonist and looks awesome.
Also, CGI for the game was done by contractors; I believe the Spartan Ops stuff is from Axis, the launch trailer was of course Blur, and the Prologue and Epilogue is from us (Digic). Was an exceptional honor to create the beginning and the end of the game!
Halo 4 is great. The visuals are a big step forward from Reach, especially the lighting and terrain. The most fun I've had so far in it is playing CTF on Ragnarok. Flood is also a lot of fun.
Played some system link with friends, dear god guys, thanks so much for this game, its beautiful!!!
The campaign as well, just, we went round so many corners and just screamed like children at how amazing it looked.
It should be really great, to be honest Bungie got a bit carried away in their story telling, hopefully some fresh eyes can help "reboot" the series in this new trilogy.
Really beautiful and inspiring game. I've been checking out alot of the art and designs while playing and analyzing it. That's something I usually don't do that much in other games so to me that's pretty telling of how polished and well designed this thing is.
I applaud your efforts Sir's and Madame's of 343 and tip my hat to you. Good show!
I'm sad to say I wasn't that impressed with the campaign. While I was super happy to get back into Chief's helmet, I felt like it was tainted by current trends in single player games.
Every mission was painfully linear. I sensed early on that 343 was trying to capture what made Halo CE so great. I was hoping for large, open maps to explore, such as "Halo" and "The Silent Cartographer." Instead I got crevices and hallways.
Too much hand-holding and quicktime events. Holding down the throttle for 60 seconds driving a Ghost through a canyon isn't challenging or fun. Just put it in the cutscene. Having me "crawl" using the left stick is not immersive, it's jarring. Again, just put it in the cutscene.
The story. It was all over the place! Maybe I'm just a moron, but I had no idea what was happening. Every time there was a voice-over cutscene explaining what was going on... I was even more confused. I'm going to have to youtube them again just to digest what was said. It was also kinda weird to have a "villain" in a Halo game. I did enjoy the back and forth between Chief and Cortana though. And I appreciate the simplicity of the story. I'm happy to see they didn't just cram a million things into the plot.
I felt like the art was hit or miss. Some things looked awesome: the terrain, the forerunner stuff, the composer research facility level, the Prometheans, the weapons, and most of the characters. However, early on in the game I thought some of the human vehicles and environments looked like butt. The animations were flawless though.
The score was OK. I missed Martin O'Donnell's touch. The final mission was good, but I think the rest was forgettable.
Overall, I was just happy to get back to Master Chief. I hated Reach and ODST simply because he wasn't present. Bringing forth his humanity (or lack their of) was really interesting, and I can't wait to see more. I definitely enjoyed it, I just hope the sequels will find their own voice. Going to try out Spartan Ops now!
I really liked Reach and played through it thoroughly on legendary before I sat down with Halo 4 ( didn't get to play ODST).
First off, the game is gorgeous, the environments, the art direction, the animation, everything looks really really good, it has a slightly more polished sheen to it than Reach had for me, (in some places). Though as Hitmon said, it felt a bit more linear design wise, I also felt like the game was building up to some massive climax that never really arrived.
The interactive cutscenes were a bit jarring as I feel they don't really fit in a Halo game, at times it felt like I was playing sci fi call of duty because of it.
In any case, gameplay is king, and it really is here, other than the Promethean weapons (which were a bit hit and miss for me, same with the enemies) everything felt like Halo. They might have played it a bit too safe in some aspects, but I kind of expected them to.
Overall I'm rather pleased with the campaign, I liked the look into who John is as well as what they did with him and Cortana, you could really tell she was going rampant just through how the dialogue is delivered, great voiceacting.
At the end of it all it felt like the entire game was one big setup for a trilogy, which I guess is the point, it left some things to be desired sure but I can't help but want a sequel, asap.
Also the offline render cutscenes were astonishingly good.
So yeah, it felt a bit different, a bit.. lighter and slightly more polished in some areas than previous Halos, but also a tiny bit lacking in some aspects. I look forward to sinking countless hours into it again though and I can't wait to see what else comes out of 343, making Halo after Bungie is a massive undertaking and I honestly think they couldn't have found a better studio for Halo 4 than 343 (even if they were made for the sole purpose of making Halo content :P)
I absolutely fell in love with the campaign and still am somewhat bitter at it, not gonna lie, i cried lol...anyway if anyone wants to co-op it or play MP or SO just lemme know my gt is: Pray Like Dan
Oh yeah, and mad f*cking props to kolbyjukes that's amazing!
Replies
Me and my fiance are ordering Pizza, stocking up on some woodchuck and playing through the whole thing in co-op!
Still buying.
Yarp. The last xbox game I bought was Gears 3 but I'll certainly be scooping this up.
Here's a look at one of my favorite Halo modes - Swat:
http://www.ign.com/videos/2012/11/04/halo-4-swat-mode-walkthrough-with-343
yuss! Love me some SWAT! Ever since 2!
Btw don't forget to vote, set down halo 4 for a bit please.
Yeah, I've seen that used in a lot of games recently, but this looked different. It bugged me because the diffuse textures look so good, but when you get closer, they get even better(and then the painted highlight appears), so I was just wondering what the sizes were. Like if it was a 1024x1024, but used as a 512x512 until you're up close. It was only with the textures used for the ground/cliffs/rocks/landscape in general.
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1704020&postcount=343
Gameplay play is instantly familiar which is great. The new music is nice but I'm kinda missing the classic Halo theme.
Environment work is stunning, especially the terrain work.
The overall tone feels not unlike Halo 1, has that "stranger in a strange land" vibe.
Cant wait to play more. Hat's off to everyone over at 343
so far pretty wowed by the visual flair on show, gorgeous lighting and FXm as well as rock solid composition for almost every angle you look at and vista you are presented. I was never a hardcore halo fanatic but im loving this, the new sounds are also waaaaay more beefy, super cool.
if so, get the limited halo bundle edition to get the unicorn armor i made
Also just found out some designers who worked on Prime 3 put in work on this which is great because I kept getting hit with nostalgia looking at the visual Changes and playing through the beginning mission(s): Both Samus and Chief wake up from a good ol sleep with a new suit design having to fight through a few waves of enemies while slowly being debriefed about a dreadful situation.
It sucks that I cant betray people unless I'm in a vehicle though
Nope, apparently not, which means I won't be getting the game...then again, never been a big Halo fan:
www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/11/07/shocker-no-plans-for-pc-version-of-halo-4/
It made my eyes tear up multiple times in the beginning, and so again on the last part when the music kicked in. At the end of it all i just couldnt stop it. Overwhelmed with emotion. Thank you guys for delivering.
Played it in two parts, took my time for it to sit down and make sure i could focus on it, made it an epic start and finish of the game.
Visuals are just gorgeous! attention to detail and the mood of it all felt fantastic.
Glad to see some prerendered cutscenes aswell, no lies they got talent, cant wait to see what you will pull off next time.
The game is a perfect reminder of why i love it so much.
The story, the characters, the depth of the universe behind it, great to see it all come forward so much more.
Did i say thanks?
Thank you guys for all the effort that went in and delivering one of the best experiences and art piece yet.
I give this game a 98/100.
I hope sparth posts his concepts soon.
Not sure about the gameplay or story yet, so far it was killing everything that moves and pushing buttons every now and then
Hope thy don't need to much time for Halo 5!!!
That first level was unbelievable!! I really loved the mood and atmosphere of that space! I also REALLY loved how they revamped the art style and made the UNSC art set much more functional. I have to contribute to this franchise 0_o Incredible job 343i. You without question have some of the best talent in the industry and gave this franchise the love it deserves. SO glad it's continuing onward for another trilogy!
Also, CGI for the game was done by contractors; I believe the Spartan Ops stuff is from Axis, the launch trailer was of course Blur, and the Prologue and Epilogue is from us (Digic). Was an exceptional honor to create the beginning and the end of the game!
Hope they got some more nice spartan ops cinematics!
The campaign as well, just, we went round so many corners and just screamed like children at how amazing it looked.
hate you 343 whyyyyyyyyy wwhyyyyyy lol
343 guys and girls did them selves proud!!
[ame="
Really beautiful and inspiring game. I've been checking out alot of the art and designs while playing and analyzing it. That's something I usually don't do that much in other games so to me that's pretty telling of how polished and well designed this thing is.
I applaud your efforts Sir's and Madame's of 343 and tip my hat to you. Good show!
You would be correct sir. Glad to hear you liked him Tamas
You guys did an awesome job on the cinematic btw.
Every mission was painfully linear. I sensed early on that 343 was trying to capture what made Halo CE so great. I was hoping for large, open maps to explore, such as "Halo" and "The Silent Cartographer." Instead I got crevices and hallways.
Too much hand-holding and quicktime events. Holding down the throttle for 60 seconds driving a Ghost through a canyon isn't challenging or fun. Just put it in the cutscene. Having me "crawl" using the left stick is not immersive, it's jarring. Again, just put it in the cutscene.
The story. It was all over the place! Maybe I'm just a moron, but I had no idea what was happening. Every time there was a voice-over cutscene explaining what was going on... I was even more confused. I'm going to have to youtube them again just to digest what was said. It was also kinda weird to have a "villain" in a Halo game. I did enjoy the back and forth between Chief and Cortana though. And I appreciate the simplicity of the story. I'm happy to see they didn't just cram a million things into the plot.
I felt like the art was hit or miss. Some things looked awesome: the terrain, the forerunner stuff, the composer research facility level, the Prometheans, the weapons, and most of the characters. However, early on in the game I thought some of the human vehicles and environments looked like butt. The animations were flawless though.
The score was OK. I missed Martin O'Donnell's touch. The final mission was good, but I think the rest was forgettable.
Overall, I was just happy to get back to Master Chief. I hated Reach and ODST simply because he wasn't present. Bringing forth his humanity (or lack their of) was really interesting, and I can't wait to see more. I definitely enjoyed it, I just hope the sequels will find their own voice. Going to try out Spartan Ops now!
Jval3D
First off, the game is gorgeous, the environments, the art direction, the animation, everything looks really really good, it has a slightly more polished sheen to it than Reach had for me, (in some places). Though as Hitmon said, it felt a bit more linear design wise, I also felt like the game was building up to some massive climax that never really arrived.
The interactive cutscenes were a bit jarring as I feel they don't really fit in a Halo game, at times it felt like I was playing sci fi call of duty because of it.
In any case, gameplay is king, and it really is here, other than the Promethean weapons (which were a bit hit and miss for me, same with the enemies) everything felt like Halo. They might have played it a bit too safe in some aspects, but I kind of expected them to.
Overall I'm rather pleased with the campaign, I liked the look into who John is as well as what they did with him and Cortana, you could really tell she was going rampant just through how the dialogue is delivered, great voiceacting.
At the end of it all it felt like the entire game was one big setup for a trilogy, which I guess is the point, it left some things to be desired sure but I can't help but want a sequel, asap.
Also the offline render cutscenes were astonishingly good.
So yeah, it felt a bit different, a bit.. lighter and slightly more polished in some areas than previous Halos, but also a tiny bit lacking in some aspects. I look forward to sinking countless hours into it again though and I can't wait to see what else comes out of 343, making Halo after Bungie is a massive undertaking and I honestly think they couldn't have found a better studio for Halo 4 than 343 (even if they were made for the sole purpose of making Halo content :P)
9/10 will play again.
Oh yeah, and mad f*cking props to kolbyjukes that's amazing!