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Halo splitscreen co-op RIP 2001-2015
- Thread starter Wasp
- Start date
Yeah. Reducing the player count from 4 player splitscreen down to 2 player (both local and online mp) is totally getting the best parts of halo..
Zeouterlimits
Member
I'm at a stage in my life where this is less of a problem for me personally, but all the way up to, but not including 4 I would have played local coop in at some point.
I have some friends, big Halo players who almost never played through the campaigns by themselves, largely given their situation.
It is a real loss and I think hyperbole on both side doesn't help.
You can't fairly tell a person how much they should or should not care about something. You can listen to them, and then explain why you feel differently but still acknowledge and respect how they feel.
Personally I am okay with this decision - but largely only because I don't get to play local coop any more.
Edit: 60 FPS (locked?) is a big gain for the Campaign too. It must have been a difficult choice to make.
I have some friends, big Halo players who almost never played through the campaigns by themselves, largely given their situation.
It is a real loss and I think hyperbole on both side doesn't help.
You can't fairly tell a person how much they should or should not care about something. You can listen to them, and then explain why you feel differently but still acknowledge and respect how they feel.
Personally I am okay with this decision - but largely only because I don't get to play local coop any more.
Edit: 60 FPS (locked?) is a big gain for the Campaign too. It must have been a difficult choice to make.
I'm sure that's true.
Mr Reasonable
Completely Unreasonable
I get your point but you appear to have missed mine. In the second paragraph I said that people DO talk about the online multiplayer, that's constant with Halo. Everyone has stories about Halo2/3/Reach/4/firefight online and they get talked about all the time.
Versus the number of mentions that split screen co op gets? Not so many there. Except in this thread, on NeoGaf where some people are trying to claim split screen co op is the biggest feature of the game and that without it, the game is worthless.
That is what I'm talking about.
This strikes a very, very similar chord with me. All this genuinely makes me feel rather glum : (
howdyjacker
Member
Every halo me and one of my sons or both of my sons would run thru sp campaign.
Every one but this one lol.
Every one but this one lol.
BuggeryBugz
Member
It's obviously a case of damned if they do, damned if they don't, because had they included it with half he frame rate, less effects etc, then there will be another thread on how incompetent 343i are because of it.
Auto-Reply
Member
I have no problem believing that only a small minority is actually playing local co-op these days, to me that isn't justification to drop it though.
On the other side, imagining myself as a project leader, considering resources/time and costs of a game. I may have cancelled it too.
It is understandable to not put money and effort into something only a very small minority will actually use.
But also at the same time, this is kinda what is wrong with the modern video game industry to me. Nobody puts in the effort and goes the extra mile, maybe because they feel they just can't do it anymore (except Nintendo it seems and they don't get rewarded with sales) diversity is fading away, everything becomes interchangeable and nothing unique is left, only checkboxes to tick on a generic form/sheet.
Yeah we will survive it, It's just sad.
On the other side, imagining myself as a project leader, considering resources/time and costs of a game. I may have cancelled it too.
It is understandable to not put money and effort into something only a very small minority will actually use.
But also at the same time, this is kinda what is wrong with the modern video game industry to me. Nobody puts in the effort and goes the extra mile, maybe because they feel they just can't do it anymore (except Nintendo it seems and they don't get rewarded with sales) diversity is fading away, everything becomes interchangeable and nothing unique is left, only checkboxes to tick on a generic form/sheet.
Yeah we will survive it, It's just sad.
Rephin
Member
I'm in the camp that doesn't feel a great loss over this design choice. One of the draws of the original Halo for me was playing split-screen co-op with a friend, which was something that was different and interesting at the time. It was fantastic. However, by the time Halo 3 happened, we were all just playing from our homes over Xbox Live and still having a blast chatting over mics (and still killing each other "on accident"). It's still Halo, and it's still gonna be fun, just not as couch-friendly as it used to be.
Holy crap - 343 you're done that's pathetic.
Every Halo game I've played the co-op first with my brother, 1,2,3 and 4.
I'll be skipping 5 if this is true. Half the fun is mucking around in co-op!
How they managed split screen co-op on the OG Xbox yet find it impossible to do on the Xbox One is astonishing! Poach some Bungie employees if you lack the technical skill to pull it off.
Fahzgoolin
Banned
I don't wanna post to feed this thread, however I'm genuinely curious why they couldn't reduce the resolution to 720p for splitscreen at least. My wife and I have played every Halo together and it was a massive bummer to her when I relayed the fact we can't play this one. She hates MP, so splitscreen MP is a no go.
Poor comparison, for a couple reasons.
First, Halo actually did make a special kind of splash with console online multiplayer back in 2004; it was a big deal because it drove the rise of a new market in the video game industry.
Second, you're talking about different sorts of things. Whether or not something can be networked online and whether or not something can be done split-screen are different sorts of issues. Not sure about today, but during Reach's main run I remember seeing tons of guest accounts in MM, yet the fact that competitive split-screen was available wasn't a major topic of discussion even though tons of people were doing it (except for the discussions about playlist split-screen availability, since people on both sides had some manner of active inconvenience or another).
They'd have to do 30fps, and people would complain about it I guess.
If they avoided 720p and did 960 x 540 each split instead they might be able to get it to work but I'm guessing they don't have the skill to pull it off at a stable 60fps; remember the console is bottlenecking them as well. So they took the easiest route they could. And there would be less load in MP than in the Campaign hence why they kept it in for MP.
If there was a PC version this wouldn't be a problem, but then who plays local co-op for PC bar a few people who'd be willing to go the extra mile and get the controllers setup and stuff? Modders would handle it in that case.
shotgunbob04
Member
Absolutely the biggest reason I've had so much respect for Halo games in the past. Playing Halo 3 multiplayer with three other friends together in the same room was the only reason we played it for years. Split-screen co-op is also a classic Halo feature now gone forever (assuming the game sells like I believe it will). It was the in-person real social interaction that made these games amazing.
But this isn't surprising. Halo 4 and this game aren't true Halo titles. To me, Halo died when Bungie said they were finished. The same way the original Infinity Ward said they were done making CoD games after Activision forced them to make MW2.
Unfortunately most people (and apparently many GAF members) and thus of course Microsoft are unwilling to let this franchise die an honorable death. With the removal of these iconic features, it will become easier for people to see classic Halo isand has beendead for almost a decade.
But this isn't surprising. Halo 4 and this game aren't true Halo titles. To me, Halo died when Bungie said they were finished. The same way the original Infinity Ward said they were done making CoD games after Activision forced them to make MW2.
Unfortunately most people (and apparently many GAF members) and thus of course Microsoft are unwilling to let this franchise die an honorable death. With the removal of these iconic features, it will become easier for people to see classic Halo isand has beendead for almost a decade.
Fahzgoolin
Banned
I would be amazed if dropping it down to 720p would actually reduce the framerate to 30fps.
Well, for starters, we don't even know if 720p would be a reduction, considering that's what the game was running at last time we saw it.
But resolution isn't the big issue with split-screen. The problem is that you have to do twice as many main geometry passes, and in a modern game with texture streaming and such, you might even have extra "caching" overhead and the like. Also, pixel shading is itself more expensive per-pixel for triangles that take up fewer pixels (GPUs handle edges in an inefficient way), and triangles definitely take up fewer pixels when you drop the res, reducing the gains.
960x540 for each of two cameras is more pixels than a split 720p.
BuggeryBugz
Member
A bit of a contradiction?
I think it would be fair to assume that the console isn't powerful enough for split screen co op at 60fps at whatever resolution they are aiming for. Obviously they want a 60fps standard across all modes of the game, hence why they left it out.
Green Yoshi
Member
I'm glad that Halo MCC killed my interest for Halo 5. Splitscreen was a nice feature, but System Link was the better alternative for offline coop.
Breakfast at Noon
Member
No splitscreen for single player is a no buy, i was going to buy a x1 for this now I'm definitely on the fence.
me and my lad play these together and get fucked if I'm buying 2 machines, already owned a x1 and sold it as it was a utter waste of money.
me and my lad play these together and get fucked if I'm buying 2 machines, already owned a x1 and sold it as it was a utter waste of money.
Trickster
Member
Not really a comparably point at all. And I think you know that.
MAtgS
Member
Clearly I don't. Explain how.
Mocca-Bear
Neo Member
That's a bummer, spent amazing amounts of hours plowing through the various campaigns in local multiplayer. You will be missed splitscreen.
Blackthorn
"hello?" "this is vagina"
I don't usually play Halo campaigns splitscreen (I do in multiplayer, is that still in?) but they better not pull shit in the next Gears.
Maybe its not as insignificant as some people like to believe.
The number of people who play the Campaign is greater than the number of people who play Campaign + splitscreen.
And that's just the quantitative reason. Halo is still a story orientated game.
LastChance2Frag
Neo Member
Where is the source of the no split screen statement as IGN points to the GI website but I can't find it in that reveal yesterday.
Is it in the Magazine? would be nice to get some confirmation from 343.
edit:Just seen stinkles post.... rubbish
Is it in the Magazine? would be nice to get some confirmation from 343.
edit:Just seen stinkles post.... rubbish
Trickster
Member
Not including a niche feature is not equivelant to not including the effing story campaign.
I'd think this would be pretty damn obvious to anyone really
I understand frustration over this, but if anyone who you want to play with cares about Halo, they're already going to own an X1, and they don't even need gold to play co-op online. In 2015, I'd rather keep my screen space and play online, but I understand the joy of couch gaming with friends while they're round.
I feel like people are just jumping onto a hate bandwagon, this thread is on the first page and the other got buried. They're offering all maps free, teasing a BF style mode with a awesome sounding campaign, yet all people can obsess over is one feature (albeit, a feature which was renowned to the franchise) being removed.
I feel like people are just jumping onto a hate bandwagon, this thread is on the first page and the other got buried. They're offering all maps free, teasing a BF style mode with a awesome sounding campaign, yet all people can obsess over is one feature (albeit, a feature which was renowned to the franchise) being removed.
There's a difference in degree. Single-screen campaign is something lots of players do frequently, and the campaign is a major draw for initial sale.
Dat more-than-two-player glitch.
MAtgS
Member
The number of people who play competitive multiplayer is greater than the number of people who play campaign.
hooijdonk17
Member
Fuck Off 343i.
Fuck Off and Die, along with the travesty you've turned Halo into.
Fuck Off and Die, along with the travesty you've turned Halo into.
To what degree?
(And are you sure that's true? I'd expect that MP gets more total hours, but it seems like nearly everyone at least dabbles in campaign, whereas a fair number of people are just plain not MP users.)
Trickster
Member
You have to be trolling
Let's pretend we know the numbers.
75% play multiplayer
50% play campaign
5% play split screen
Can you still not nuderstand why cutting split screen is not the same as cutting campaign? Like, fucking really?
AcePartyN7
Member
I am almost sure they removed it because of the framerate, I have really doubt that the framerate would have been stable at 60 fps in split screen sadly. So here what we got to ask only games at 60fps and 1080p... the split screen in MCC is around 30fps in CEA as example :/ same for Halo 2 Anniversary MP specially in big maps, Halo 4 was not good as well in forge maps and Reach in campaign got also issues of framerate in some missions.
After of course they can optimise and reduce resolution, details, framerate even etc. but it take time to optimise and the experience is clearly downgraded.
STILL I am not agree with this decision Halo split screen campaign is a fundamental of Halo, I spent easily more than 500 hours in split screen since 2001 only in Halo. On the other side, personally I do not use it that much since Halo 4 and the campaign will not be limited technically by this fact anymore.
It's hard to believe that this feature was removed. I really advice 343i to think again about this feature because many still use split screen in campaign maybe not multiplayer but campaign for sure… maybe via update later in the worst case?
After of course they can optimise and reduce resolution, details, framerate even etc. but it take time to optimise and the experience is clearly downgraded.
STILL I am not agree with this decision Halo split screen campaign is a fundamental of Halo, I spent easily more than 500 hours in split screen since 2001 only in Halo. On the other side, personally I do not use it that much since Halo 4 and the campaign will not be limited technically by this fact anymore.
It's hard to believe that this feature was removed. I really advice 343i to think again about this feature because many still use split screen in campaign maybe not multiplayer but campaign for sure… maybe via update later in the worst case?
FFA on Valhalla, yo.
BuggeryBugz
Member
A bit much, don't you think?
Please tell me this is a joke post, nobody can be this fucking stupid