Microsoft Halo Infinite - Information Thread, update (01/15/24): Certain Affinity's battle royale project reportedly cancelled, UE5-based campaign project in development since 2022

[Guest]

The game didn’t impress, which is odd given that Halo is usually among the better looking games in any given Xbox year.

[Keyser_Soze]

13 minutes ago, sblfilms said:

The game didn’t impress, which is odd given that Halo is usually among the better looking games in any given Xbox year.

 

I thought it was impressive how smoothly it ran.

[Guest]

8 minutes ago, Keyser_Soze said:

 

I thought it was impressive how smoothly it ran.

Because it looks like a current gen game  

[Keyser_Soze]

That's not what the final game will look like. People act like the game is in the can ready to send out right now.

[GeneticBlueprint]

I really don't like that grappling hook. I'm glad that it will be a power up or whatever (I think) Nokt pointed out. But I just wish it wasn't there at all.

[crispy4000]

32 minutes ago, Keyser_Soze said:

That's not what the final game will look like. People act like the game is in the can ready to send out right now.

Of course it won't look exactly like now.  But they have a few months during COVID until release, and said it took a "herculean effort" to get this "little corner" pretty enough in time.

 

I don't think we should expect drastic differences by the time it's out.  Subtle changes and polish, yes.

[Guest]

21 minutes ago, Keyser_Soze said:

That's not what the final game will look like. People act like the game is in the can ready to send out right now.

It won’t look substantially different in 4 months.

[Mercury33]

1 hour ago, Keyser_Soze said:

That's not what the final game will look like. People act like the game is in the can ready to send out right now.

😂 it’s not like the game is coming out over a year from now. It’s 4 months away. That’s 99% how the game is gonna look. 

[gamer.tv]

5 hours ago, GeneticBlueprint said:

I really don't like that grappling hook. I'm glad that it will be a power up or whatever (I think) Nokt pointed out. But I just wish it wasn't there at all.

It might just be me but it seemed weirdly slow when it came out 

[Xbob42]

I'm always down for grappling hooks, as I get more and more tired of tried and true basic ass FPS design, but good lord it looked slow and weak. That thing needs to pull you around at Mach 5, especially with it being on a cooldown. And if you use it on an enemy or object, same thing applies. As it stands it kind of seems like it just leaves you wide open while telegraphing your location as you're waiting for it to leisurely get to its destination and back.

[crispy4000]

.... Okay, this is just as much about how astonishingly well Xenoblade X holds up visually.  Wii U voodoo.

[crispy4000]

 

[Duderino]

Think Halo infinite could use some more atmospheric haze/blur as well.  It is quite unnaturally sharp in the distance:



When compared to say:

 

[Keyser_Soze]

32 minutes ago, Duderino said:

Think Halo infinite could use some more atmospheric haze/blur as well.  It is quite unnaturally sharp in the distance:

 

Maybe the finished game will have that!

[Duderino]

9 minutes ago, Keyser_Soze said:

 

Maybe the finished game will have that!

Perhaps.  I'd like to see this and other improvements addressed to get Halo Infinite's visuals at least on par with the best current gen open world offerings.  The ship has probably sailed for Halo being the Series X's definite next gen showcase, but that's ok.  So long as the game is good.

[Spawn_of_Apathy]

16 hours ago, Keyser_Soze said:

That's not what the final game will look like. People act like the game is in the can ready to send out right now.

 

16 hours ago, sblfilms said:

It won’t look substantially different in 4 months.

 

15 hours ago, Mercury33 said:

😂 it’s not like the game is coming out over a year from now. It’s 4 months away. That’s 99% how the game is gonna look. 

I think our best hope is that the “demo” was built a long time ago. And maybe is even another case of something like the Halo 2 E3 demo. Ie a completely separately built “game”. 

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, Spawn_of_Apathy said:

 

 

I think our best hope is that the “demo” was built a long time ago. And maybe is even another case of something like the Halo 2 E3 demo. Ie a completely separately built “game”. 

I think they will eventually make the game look better, but not at launch. This is our new reality!

[Brian]

7 minutes ago, sblfilms said:

I think they will eventually make the game look better, but not at launch. This is our new reality!

That is one way to keep people subscribed.    You got to wait 6 months after launch for a decent looking Xbone game and another 6 months for a Series X version. No wonder MS loves 343. It takes them years after launch to correct their games.

[XxEvil AshxX]

Grain of salt time, but according to this vid, the demo was a four month old build. If true, that means by launch they will have had about 8 months worth of additional dev time.

 

 

[Spork3245]

8 hours ago, Duderino said:

Think Halo infinite could use some more atmospheric haze/blur as well.  It is quite unnaturally sharp in the distance:



When compared to say:

 

The haze/blur is to hide pop-in from a limited draw distance from hardware limitations. You’re likely going to see a lot less of it in new titles, especially because of the SSDs. Halo Infinite’s draw distance seemed... well, “infinite”. It was about the only thing that impressed me in the demo.  

[Nokt]

43 minutes ago, XxEvil AshxX said:

Grain of salt time, but according to this vid, the demo was a four month old build. If true, that means by launch they will have had about 8 months worth of additional dev time.

Considering 343i admitted to polishing the crap out of this little section to get ready to show, I doubt its a 4 month old build. They are some rumors running around that its a build from January, but it just doesn't add up.

[XxEvil AshxX]

Nm.

[5timechamp]

I would take those graphics as is if everything else was being optimized ..enemy Ai, frame rate, amount of AI friendly and enemies on the screen... keep that graphic level but deliver on the large scale wars that the series always says are happening in the background.

ambient lighting would really spruce up the graphics too

[Duderino]

1 hour ago, Spork3245 said:

The haze/blur is to hide pop-in from a limited draw distance from hardware limitations. You’re likely going to see a lot less of it in new titles, especially because of the SSDs. Halo Infinite’s draw distance seemed... well, “infinite”. It was about the only thing that impressed me in the demo.  

Can't say I agree there.  Days Gone is not hiding behind a layer of haze/blur; it is relying on it to enhance the photorealism.  The game's draw distance is not lacking in comparison, especially when you factor in how much further shadows are drawn:




I stand by what I said, Halo Infinite could use a little more haze to break up the "computer graphics" look that it is currently evoking by having this much of the picture in focus.  Native 4k highlights the need for more blur/grain in the distance to counter balance the sharp details.  Some very subtle DOF could go a long way.

[Xbob42]

I'll take infinite clarity any day. FUCK THE BLUR.

[Keyser_Soze]

18 minutes ago, Xbob42 said:

I'll take infinite clarity any day. FUCK THE BLUR.

 

Atmospheric fog and depth of field stuff also take a hit on the frame rate

[Brick]

To be fair about that bored looking brute, as funny as it is, that's a split second of action in the game. You're not going to notice that while playing. A ton of games have "bored looking" enemies if you freeze frame in the middle of action. 

[Duderino]

1 hour ago, Xbob42 said:

I'll take infinite clarity any day. FUCK THE BLUR.

Higher uniform image sharpness does not necessarily equate to more clarity.  In many cases the opposite is true:



Depth cues (like a subtle amount of blur) help our brains interpret how far in the distance objects are relative to others. 

The Halo Infinite key art is actually pretty "flat" as well, but it is infinitely  more clear.

[crispy4000]

7 hours ago, Duderino said:

Can't say I agree there.  Days Gone is not hiding behind a layer of haze/blur; it is relying on it to enhance the photorealism.  The game's draw distance is not lacking in comparison, especially when you factor in how much further shadows are drawn:

I stand by what I said, Halo Infinite could use a little more haze to break up the "computer graphics" look that it is currently evoking by having this much of the picture in focus.  Native 4k highlights the need for more blur/grain in the distance to counter balance the sharp details.  Some very subtle DOF could go a long way.

 

It could potentially reduce shimmering and aliasing issues too.  That could be a problem with those octagonal pillars at lower resolutions.

 

5 hours ago, Keyser_Soze said:

 

Atmospheric fog and depth of field stuff also take a hit on the frame rate

 

Not if it allows for a reduction of LOD quality and/or hides what otherwise needs to be drawn.  Both are standard tricks for that.  Even BoTW relies on it, and looks much better for it.

 

Halo Infinite has a small bit of it too, from what I'm seeing.  It just might be too far back for its own good.  If it's just a thing they're doing to try to show off Native 4k on Series X, I'd be curious how the X1X version compares aesthetically.

[Spork3245]

8 hours ago, Duderino said:

Can't say I agree there.  Days Gone is not hiding behind a layer of haze/blur; it is relying on it to enhance the photorealism.  The game's draw distance is not lacking in comparison, especially when you factor in how much further shadows are drawn:




I stand by what I said, Halo Infinite could use a little more haze to break up the "computer graphics" look that it is currently evoking by having this much of the picture in focus.  Native 4k highlights the need for more blur/grain in the distance to counter balance the sharp details.  Some very subtle DOF could go a long way.

No, in Days Gone that’s literally being used to hide the change in LOD and mask the lower details and blurred textures. Go outside on a clear day, look into the distance, does fog magically appear after a certain point (when you’re not in mountain ranges ridiculously above sea level)?  
I’m not stating that fog shouldn’t be used to set atmosphere, but in 100% clear weather, when it’s only in the distance, that’s a graphical trick to hide draw distance changes. It’s the same that was used in Turok on N64, just further away.

[Keyser_Soze]

11 minutes ago, Spork3245 said:

No, in Days Gone that’s literally being used to hide the change in LOD and mask the lower details and blurred textures.

 

No. It's for atmosphere and the 30 fps is for filmic effect. Don't you know anything!

[DarkStar189]

15 hours ago, sblfilms said:

I think they will eventually make the game look better, but not at launch. This is our new reality!

With the amount of updates and fixes 343 had to put out for the Halo Collection, they definitely aren't strangers to releasing an unfinished game. 

[Spork3245]

1 minute ago, Keyser_Soze said:

 

No. It's for atmosphere and the 30 fps is for filmic effect. Don't you know anything!

“games just look better at 30fps!”

[Keyser_Soze]

6 minutes ago, Spork3245 said:

“games just look better at 30fps!”

 

[crispy4000]

1 hour ago, Spork3245 said:

No, in Days Gone that’s literally being used to hide the change in LOD and mask the lower details and blurred textures. Go outside on a clear day, look into the distance, does fog magically appear after a certain point (when you’re not in mountain ranges ridiculously above sea level)?  
I’m not stating that fog shouldn’t be used to set atmosphere, but in 100% clear weather, when it’s only in the distance, that’s a graphical trick to hide draw distance changes. It’s the same that was used in Turok on N64, just further away.

No doubt there's some LOD swapping going on.  All games do that, including what we've seen of Halo Infinite.  But why would it be used to hide texture detail from that distance?  That screenshot already made his point - from the visible detail, it looks less like they're trying to hide things away from view, more like it's there to intentionally tint/blur the background.

 

Distance haze is a thing IRL.  If you've ever driven around in Arizona on a clear day, looked at a distant island from a coastline, etc, you'd see it.  That’s at its most obvious.