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DF: Halo Infinite Gameplay Reveal Analysis: Are The Graphics Really Flat?
- Thread starter FLX-II
- Start date
Definitely seemed liked more than a lighting problem to me too. I always wonder if I'm crazy when assets dont have the clarity they should and folks never say anything about it.
The other morning, I was looking at two people talking within the shadow of an overhead arch near my work, and I realized they both looked like they were floating. Their shadows were encompassed within the other shadow from some indirect lighting, with no other highlights/shadows visible, and I immediately thought of this topic.
Dictator doin' the work.
Dictator doin' the work.
Is it, though, when what people criticized about his video was not that is was inaccurate, but that it was incomplete, that it didn't properly cover all of the other visual issues the demo displayed?
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There are more screenshots in the blog post.
lighting aside, does anyone else really dislike the design aspect of the pillars surrounding the edges of all the natural formations? i get the feeling they were trying to go for a "manmade" look, but it kind of looks cheap. it reminds me of the forge assets in the MP map editor, i've just never been a fan of it.
Yeah, I get what they are going for, like uniformly mass-produced building structural blocks, but it just looks bad. Needs more macro variation.
I'm not sure where this disconnect is coming from. Alex did not do a general Halo Infinite technical breakdown and then only focus on lighting, he chose lighting specifically because it was one of the most common comments and did a technical analysis on that facet of the game.
It does not matter that other visual issues weren't covered because that was not the objective. Context and relevance are the basic requirements for discussion or debate. That doesn't change because we're on a message board.
The disconnect comes from saying this
when the criticism the video got wasn't from being inaccurate on his assessment of lighting.
I mean, you're right in that if you make a video focused on discussing light, you shouldn't get criticized for not covering something else as long as you make it clear that's your focus and not something else. But you also don't get to do say you're critics were wrong when they objectively where right in pointing out that the issue are much bigger than the lighting.
In response to folks saying the game looks current gen for a variety of reasons he says at the beginning of the video that "it all comes down to lighting for the most part." That reductiveness is probably where the disconnect stems from if you were more bothered by issues not related to lighting at all.
It almost looks like 343 made changes in direct response to your video. Well done.
Ooh, let me go grab my popcorn.
User Banned (5 Days) - Antagonizing other members
They were wrong, Dictators video was focused on why the demo looked flat, this was the biggest criticism over the demo. In no way did he proclaim this to be the only issue but it was the reason why it looked "flat".
Almost all the issues he pointed out are what 343 are working on, along with other things. The point is he was 100% correct in his analysis and he did this with no bias, unlike a certain other games analyst.
I'm pretty sure that's concept art. When I zoom in, it looks like concept artThere are more screenshots in the blog post.
edit: Lol, clearly I'm extremely late
You should have commented on the lack of blood pools. Irresponsible!
I mean, I go into Halo games now expecting not to be a fan of 343i's art direction after 4 and 5, so to be honest, I'm starting to tune stuff like that out.
But yeah, focusing on it, I don't really get it.
uh its not a manmade look
its the foundation / support structure of the halo ring out of place... not man made.
i think they are there to act as natural level boarders. Dont think this will Be an open world, rather a series of open levels
When I say "manmade" I don't necessarily mean "human" made. halo rings are manufactured ring world's. For all intents and purposes, they're man made. Not natural. But either way its more the point it looks terrible.
Spot on analysis again Dictator , I could see these issues from the reveal but you accurately put a name to them and highlighted each one! Glad the issues are being addressed, probably in large part to you and the rest of DF.
Firstly, that picture is concept art and the hex-columns look much better there but I still don't like them aesthetically. In the reveal trailer when the ship first enters the atmosphere I honestly thought the game world was built in Minecraft for a split second whilst exiting the clouds, mainly because of those horrible hex-columns all over the place and the flat looking rocks which were incredibly last-last-gen looking.
Aside from the graphics, the gameplay reveal rubbed me the wrong way, probably because it seemed overly scripted such as the convenient weapon placement and looking in certain directions to see animals and birds to make the world feel more alive but it just stood out as being 'faked' rather than natural and reactive to me.
Looking forward to the re-reveal!
Firstly, that picture is concept art and the hex-columns look much better there but I still don't like them aesthetically. In the reveal trailer when the ship first enters the atmosphere I honestly thought the game world was built in Minecraft for a split second whilst exiting the clouds, mainly because of those horrible hex-columns all over the place and the flat looking rocks which were incredibly last-last-gen looking.
Aside from the graphics, the gameplay reveal rubbed me the wrong way, probably because it seemed overly scripted such as the convenient weapon placement and looking in certain directions to see animals and birds to make the world feel more alive but it just stood out as being 'faked' rather than natural and reactive to me.
Looking forward to the re-reveal!
When I was reading the article last night, the first thing that came to mind was everything you called out lol
Looks like they took your feedback to heart and them specifically calling it out the issues you talked about in the blogpost vs handwaving things away and just saying they "fixed" the lighting speaks volumes to the work you do.
My biggest takeaway was how Craig simply was a product of enemies not having facial animations yet, and (of course) they will be animated in the final product.
This is possibly the best thread revival I have seen ever. Can't wait to see the campaign in motion again next year
So we're going from accusing one analyst as being biased to calling another the same?
I maintain that they're existence isn't bad but they are used too prevalently. Right now they overpower the "natural" beauty found on Halo rings they just need to be used more sparingly and replaced with rock formations, foliage, etc.
Man that is some serious necro bump swag.
Pretty much every game i can think of has done this for the first gameplay reveal, gameplay reveals are always heavily scripted to show of the game.
Pretty much every game i can think of has done this for the first gameplay reveal, gameplay reveals are always heavily scripted to show of the game.
Agreed, that is what a "vertical slice" generally is. However, most gameplay reveals seem more cohesive and whilst there may be some downgrades by the time the game is released (e.g. Watch_Dogs, lol) the gameplay should look believable and the fakery / scripting should never stand out, in H:I there are points where the scripting looked too obvious to me. I got the same feeling from the Anthem reveal with similiar points in that reveal just coming off as being overly scripted and way too good to be true (which it turns out it was).
Yeah, I agree. Like when you played halo 1 and you're outside there were large structures embedded in the otherwise natural landscapes. But It was more natural formation than something that was "built". I've just never liked it much. It feels like a limited visual styling and at distance just looks grey and simple. The forge editor suffered similar issues too. It was way too limited of a visual appearance imo. The end of halo 3 in the warthog should have been a point of excitement but the entire environment looked about as basic as it could get....I think it just needs more visual interest more than removing it entirely. Just to stop it all looking so flat.
We are discussing Dictators Halo Infinite gameplay analysis and that's all.
Good to hear that the areas Dictator covered are being addressed. At the least, visually, the game should espouse the awe many felt during the earlier trailers.
That said, while it makes sound business atm, involving Xbox one OG/S/X as part of next gen Halo platform i.e. a vessel via which to deliver future content for who knows how long and that which very likely will outlive the transition period of "cross-gen" titles has me uneasy.
Guess time will tell how this unfolds.
Dragging, presumably, Jason Schreier through mud to make some sort of point I see. No idea what, given your passive aggressive post is bereft of substance to back it up.
That said, while it makes sound business atm, involving Xbox one OG/S/X as part of next gen Halo platform i.e. a vessel via which to deliver future content for who knows how long and that which very likely will outlive the transition period of "cross-gen" titles has me uneasy.
Guess time will tell how this unfolds.
Dragging, presumably, Jason Schreier through mud to make some sort of point I see. No idea what, given your passive aggressive post is bereft of substance to back it up.
Haha, this is great! 😂
But there's no way they'll respond...
They do address the hex columns in the post, too. And I don't think they will be all over the final game either. Remember, we're near the edge of where the Halo ring fractured. That's why those columns are there. It's the ring trying to rebuild itself.
I do agree though that, in their current state, they are a bit much.
To be fair, this isn't actually a manmade thing. Basalt columns are an actual geological phenomenon:
Columnar jointing - Wikipedia
Giant's Causeway - Wikipedia
To be fair, this isn't actually a manmade thing. Basalt columns are an actual geological phenomenon:
Columnar jointing - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
Giant's Causeway - Wikipedia
That isn't what they are in halo though are they? They look like they just surround raised land formations in a very artificial way. If they organically transitioned like basalt columns it would already look a hell of a lot better than what it looks like now.
Love the work you guys do. My gripe with the Halo Infinite demo is that the quality of the Pelican cutscenes between Master Chief and the pilot were night and day better then the gameplay segment. Higher quality everything from lighting to shadows to texture detail on the walls, materials, character models, etc. Almost as if it was a different game altogether. You see character models like the Brutes including Chieftain and they looked very outdated compared to the Master Chief and Pilot. That Pelican sequence from 2019 looked next gen to me but the gameplay looked a lot closer to Halo 5's engine with a better art style.
It felt like they polished the hell out of the Pelican interior and main characters but most of the rest of the game was way cut down in every possible aspects. Wasn't even physics in the environment. Demo really let me down a lot. Watched the high quality gameplay demo video on a calibrated LG C9 several times.
It will be interesting to see how this game ends up in the end. Halo 4 and 5 were really mediocre from a story standpoint aside from some scenes between Master Chief and Cortana that I liked. Huge fan of the original games and want to see Halo taken to the next level in terms of storytelling. I want something that feels big in scope and emotionally charged. Halo 5 felt like a generic plot from a generic Hollywood action film. With games like The Last of Us really pushing the boundaries of storytelling in videogames, it would be nice to see this applied to a 10-year Halo open world game.
As far as graphics goes, I hope the end product is much better then what was shown. Something that looks closer to the quality of the original trailers. We all just want a Halo game that we will actually remember for year to come.
It's based on those, but it isn't those. It's Forerunner metal.
I'm alright with it personally. I wouldn't doubt they tried to go for a more visually dense design for the pillar stuff, but it probably proved to be too visually noisy. As it is now there's a good contrast between the clean pillar stuff and nature that I think works really well.
I do actually think there might be too much of that going on in the footage we've seen though. Or maybe too much of a clean edge instead of some of the nature covering/ growing over it.
Organic stuff is still organic, but the Hex walls are straight up just Forerunner metal that is normally covered.
Technically, yes. But it's not like a rock or cliff face is metal...god... can you Imagine if they went that far with it 😂