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First Halo 4 GI information (Spartan OPs, multi, etc) [Update: Campaign/More Details]

T

TheOddOne

Member
So our resident Halo nut Luis Wu got to play Halo 4 multi at an event and he shared some impressions. I hope he doesn’t mind I did a write-up of his write-up, INCEPTION!

Highlights:
  • He got to play a build that was dated from March 28, Frank (who was also at the party) said it was a pretty polished up version of the version back at the Spring Showcase. (Source)
  • He played the same two maps as at the Spring Showcase, Warhouse and Wraparound (but both have been renamed, but this has not been made public). (Source)
  • The game was setup as a custom game, so this might not really reflect on how it will look in matchmaking. (Source)
  • Load outs have a couple more slots compared to Reach. In Reach you have: primary weapon, secondary weapon, grenade and armor ability ― In Halo 4 you get two more slots, they hold things like increased regen and more ammo. (Source)
  • He stuck with the two first loadouts: first one had Battle Rifle, Plasma Pistol and Plasma Grenade and the second one had DMR, Pistol and Frag Grenade. Both had Promethean Vision (aka Forerunner Vision) as Armor Ability. He did not experiment with other Armor Abilities. (Source 1, Source 2)
  • DMR is really good at range, but much harder to handle in close range. (Source)
  • He really liked the plasma pistol, the feel and sound of it was good. Overcharged shot seem to track at least a little bit. (Source)
  • He got to use Promethean Vision and says it is useful in limited situations. It does let you see through walls, but limited numbers of walls and you can sort of see people near you. (Source)
  • Promethean Vision runs out pretty quickly and it does not help you figure out where somebody is if the geometry is really complicated. This aspect becomes less relevant when people get to know the maps. (Source)
  • Promethean Vision screws up colors, this can be jarring in the middle of battles. (Source)
  • Sprint and Armor Ability are separate buttons, Sprint is also always available. (Source)
  • He did not see any new weapons on the maps he played. (Source)
  • You earn Ordinance drops, Wu could not say how he earned them because he doesn’t know, and UI choices will pop up: three choices mapped to the D-Pad (for example: rockets). (Source)
  • After picking your Ordinance and it will then appear in a default location for a power weapon. Everybody will be notified about the drop, but the person who initiated it knows it a little sooner. (Source)
  • He was shown off a ten minute campaign demo, Frank said it is the opening level in the Forward at Dawn (which was described in the Gameinformer article). The only enemies present during that short demo where grunts and elites.(Source 1, Source 2)
Note: As always be sure to look at the source, might make more sense in the context it was said. Popa Wu is awesome.
 
Z

Zeouterlimits

Member
New screenshots from the demo they gave to certain community members & NFL groupies:

RwKe2.jpg


NCnb5.jpg


iFhvm.jpg


zB72t.jpg


The first shot is confirmed gameplay (by David Ellis).
 
S

Sir Garbageman

Member
TheOddOne said:
So our resident Halo nut Luis Wu got to play Halo 4 multi at an event and he shared some impressions. I hope he doesn’t mind I did a write-up of his write-up, INCEPTION!

Highlights:
[*] You earn Ordinance drops, Wu could not say how he earned them because he doesn’t know, and UI choices will pop up: three choices mapped to the D-Pad (for example: rockets). (Source)
Click to expand...

Ordinance drops = kill streak rewards... :/
 
N

NullPointer

Member
Sir Garbageman said:
Ordinance drops = kill streak rewards... :/
Click to expand...
Drops were on a timer in that match, not earned. Although some unidentified modes will include 'personal ordinance', whatever that means.

Stinkles said:
The mode Claude is refering to actually had ordnance on a timer (like weapon respawns work now) which is absolutely one of the ways it works. Personal ordnance will be on specific playlists and modes. Not a universal feature.
Click to expand...
 
S

Silly.Mikey

Banned
TheOddOne said:
So our resident Halo nut Luis Wu got to play Halo 4 multi at an event and he shared some impressions. I hope he doesn’t mind I did a write-up of his write-up, INCEPTION!

Highlights:
  • He got to play a build that was dated from March 28, Frank (who was also at the party) said it was a pretty polished up version of the version back at the Spring Showcase. (Source)
  • He played the same two maps as at the Spring Showcase, Warhouse and Wraparound (but both have been renamed, but this has not been made public). (Source)
  • The game was setup as a custom game, so this might not really reflect on how it will look in matchmaking. (Source)
  • Load outs have a couple more slots compared to Reach. In Reach you have: primary weapon, secondary weapon, grenade and armor ability ― In Halo 4 you get two more slots, they hold things like increased regen and more ammo. (Source)
  • He stuck with the two first loadouts: first one had Battle Rifle, Plasma Pistol and Plasma Grenade and the second one had DMR, Pistol and Frag Grenade. Both had Promethean Vision (aka Forerunner Vision) as Armor Ability. He did not experiment with other Armor Abilities. (Source 1, Source 2)
  • DMR is really good at range, but much harder to handle in close range. (Source)
  • He really liked the plasma pistol, the feel and sound of it was good. Overcharged shot seem to track at least a little bit. (Source)
  • He got to use Promethean Vision and says it is useful in limited situations. It does let you see through walls, but limited numbers of walls and you can sort of see people near you. (Source)
  • Promethean Vision runs out pretty quickly and it does not help you figure out where somebody is if the geometry is really complicated. This aspect becomes less relevant when people get to know the maps. (Source)
  • Promethean Vision screws up colors, this can be jarring in the middle of battles. (Source)
  • Sprint and Armor Ability are separate buttons, Sprint is also always available. (Source)
  • He did not see any new weapons on the maps he played. (Source)
  • You earn Ordinance drops, Wu could not say how he earned them because he doesn’t know, and UI choices will pop up: three choices mapped to the D-Pad (for example: rockets). (Source)
  • After picking your Ordinance and it will then appear in a default location for a power weapon. Everybody will be notified about the drop, but the person who initiated it knows it a little sooner. (Source)
  • He was shown off a ten minute campaign demo, Frank said it is the opening level in the Forward at Dawn (which was described in the Gameinformer article). The only enemies present during that short demo where grunts and elites.(Source 1, Source 2)
Note: As always be sure to look at the source, might make more sense in the context it was said. Popa Wu is awesome.
Click to expand...

You know, im all for changing it up, but man, that sounds a lot like a copy paste of COD. Is this all confirmed stuff?
 
N

Natiko

Banned
Wow, the new info sounds dreadful. It seems pretty clear that the people at 343 were talking out of their ass when they said they weren't CODing it up. So disappointing.
 
D

Draft

Member
Are Bungie a bunch of coding clowns or what? Because this looks like a million times better than any Halo game they dropped on the 360.
 
L

les papillons sexuels

Banned
Draft said:
Are Bungie a bunch of coding clowns or what? Because this looks like a million times better than any Halo game they dropped on the 360.
Click to expand...

are you kidding me? That's like asking if valve are a bunch of clowns because they still use the source engine.

Not to mention this engine is the same engine that bungie created for reach, it's just been given 3 more years worth of work.
 
W

Wiggum2007

Junior Member
I for one like what I'm hearing. And say what you want about Reach, but I think dropping dual wielding was a great call and am glad they're sticking with that in 4.
 
D

Demoncarnotaur

Member
Zeouterlimits said:
New screenshots from the demo they gave to certain community members & NFL groupies:

RwKe2.jpg


NCnb5.jpg


iFhvm.jpg


zB72t.jpg


The first shot is confirmed gameplay (by David Ellis).
Click to expand...

Yeah, that first shot is amazing. They need to show this game in motion, via trailer, BTS or something else very soon.

They also need to get some good solid info about the MP and its changes, everything we know now is so loose in implication.
 
P

professor_t

Member
The first shot looks good, but off-screen camera shots always look more impressive than direct feed images. I'm tentatively aroused, but I'll save the genuine excitement for the forthcoming video.

Note: forthcoming just means sometime between now and November.
 
T

TheOddOne

Member
Silly.Mikey said:
You know, im all for changing it up, but man, that sounds a lot like a copy paste of COD. Is this all confirmed stuff?
Click to expand...
So far, the only thing I got from Wu's impressions is that Ordinance really are like kill streaks from COD. The rest is pretty fresh and true to Halo.
 
S

specialguy

Banned
Draft said:
Are Bungie a bunch of coding clowns or what? Because this looks like a million times better than any Halo game they dropped on the 360.
Click to expand...

Basically. Although, Reach looked good. Not great but good.

Another factor on this is 343i has 250 employees on H4 though. I got the impression Bungie was a lot smaller than that (maybe like 100?), and I doubt MS could really force them to take on more employees. But now MS can do whatever they want.
 
T

TheOddOne

Member
How 343 Is Reinventing Halo
Microsoft's 343 Industries is taking Halo to the next level, while maintaining that almost undefinable feel of what it's like to be the Master Chief.

"Wake up Chief. I need you." With Cortana's first words you feel like you are back to all of those hours of action-packed storytelling that filled the original Halo trilogy. The banter between Master Chief and Cortana as they seek out those attacking their ship just cements it. And then come the Elites and Grunts: your first firefight as Master Chief in years, and you know you are playing Halo.

But Halo 4 is shaping up to provide not just everything people have loved from the series, but even more than what you've experienced in the past. "It feels like Halo. But there are some subtle changes. We changed the HUD and we also added a sense of immersion--you can hear your breath as it sounds inside the helmet," said Frank O'Connor. O'Connor is the franchise director for Halo and has shepherded the series from original developer Bungie to Microsoft's 343 Industries.

Anyone who has been following the videos 343 has been putting out knows they have redone the series' sound, the music, and the graphics, but what you can't see is that it still plays like a Halo game. Running, jumping, shooting the battle rifle or pistol--it all feels very familiar. "It's definitely at a higher fidelity at this point. Our facial animation and motion capture technology are all going to make it look better."

How much did 343 change below the surface? They started with the Reach engine, but took it further. "Some of the core systems are still recognizable to what Bungie engineered, but every system has either been radically overhauled or completely written from the ground up," said O'Connor. "It has a different look--but it looks like a Halo game. If you were a wine connoisseur you would probably describe it as a completely different varietal."

Of course, that balance between improving the features of the game while still keeping that Halo feel has extended beyond the single-player game. The competitive multiplayer game has new modes; levels have new features; and the Spartan trainee players can create, level up, and purchase new armor and abilities. But the biggest change to online play is the Spartan Ops mode.

With this mode, players will engage in a co-op story with other Spartan trainees, not unlike the co-op of Portal 2. The difference with Halo 4 is that this story is episodic, with new missions being released each week. O'Connor said, "It's about the same amount of story as [a traditional] campaign stretched over weeks."

Besides giving players more bang for their buck, the Spartan Ops mode was created for another practical reason. Despite what a glance at the leaderboards seems to tell you, Halo players really don't play online. "Most people actually play campaign and don't play competitive. It's because the competitive landscape is really intimidating for people. So they prefer to play at their own pace," said O'Connor.

343 is hoping that Spartan Ops will get more gamers connecting online. O'Connor said, "It's competitive; [players are] competing for objectives and scores, but they are also cooperating to get the job done and experience the story."

The Spartan Ops story will stretch out for several weeks, but not months, according to O'Connor. And beyond that? "Season one comes free with the game. If we did another season we would be building that from scratch. Maybe that will be DLC; maybe it goes in the next game. We are still tinkering with that."

Speaking to Frank O'Connor, you get the sense they are still tinkering with other aspects of Halo 4, such as getting the feature set and the engine just right. "The Halo process is layering and layering and testing and layering off and on…it's really close to the ship date that you see what the final product looks like. We've gone pass the 'Can we do it?' to 'Can we do it better,' and that's what anyone working on a sequel should always be thinking."

So are there some surprises to come, like those in Halo Anniversary? "We are not supporting 3D TVs or Kinect for Halo 4," said O'Connor. "3D in Halo Anniversary was a benefit we got from the method we used to switch between classic and modern graphics, and we were able to use that area of the frame buffer to put out two sets of data at the same time."

And maybe O'Connor is right. The game may not need the flashy extras. 343 is already giving Halo 4 the largest levels the series has ever seen, the most feature-intense multiplayer yet, and a new online co-op campaign in Spartan Ops--not to mention richer sound and visuals. "We are still pushing more and more of the graphics. We had one guy at the showcase who thought this was the next-gen preview. I wouldn't go that far, but it does look good. There is still more and more to be squeezed out of the box," said O'Connor.

Because Halo 4 is the start of a new trilogy, why didn't they go next-gen with the game? "There are tens of millions of 360s this time around, and if you wait until the next generation you are going to start with a lower install base," said O'Connor. "Secondly, it's a sequel to a bunch of games that existed on one platform, and you want to take advantage of that momentum and reward the people who have already invested in the ecosystem of that console."
Click to expand...
 
M

monome

Member
Zeouterlimits said:
RwKe2.jpg
Click to expand...

GI thread of unbelievable graphics redeemed.

Franck O'Connor said:
The Spartan Ops story will stretch out for several weeks, but not months, according to O'Connor. And beyond that? "Season one comes free with the game. If we did another season we would be building that from scratch. Maybe that will be DLC; maybe it goes in the next game. We are still tinkering with that."
Click to expand...

MP sounds like a PerksFest, I'd rather pay for more Spartan Ops (although I don't even know what they are ;-), probably firefighty in order not to have to produce too many assets and yet make them more than 15mn long) than MP maps I won't probably enjoy as much as those dedicated to knowing the game inside/out.
 
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