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Halo 4 - Media blow out
- Thread starter Hypertrooper
- Start date
It takes me a lot of mental effort to get into Halo (Halo Reach especially). Halo 4 feels like the biggest leap for Halo since the series started.
Phonomezer
Banned
This pic blows my mind, it's what I wanted ME3 to look like. 343i are really delivering.
TUROK
Member
I feel like opening up another can of worms. The sky pillars look like they're part of the 2D skybox, rather than being polygonal elements. Stuff like this in the previous 360 Halos would be actual geometry (e.g. the space elevator in Halo 3: ODST). So yeah, the game looks fantastic, but these improvements aren't free.
Nope nope nope. There is no way 360 can produce that. What kind of soul selling voodoo witchcraft have 343i been working on that can produce those shots from a 360?
So the Flood models are for the Infection style gametype? About damn time they did something other than making the Zombie go Green!
So the Flood models are for the Infection style gametype? About damn time they did something other than making the Zombie go Green!
K
kittens
Unconfirmed Member
Yup.
I see what you're saying, but I don't really see it as a flaw. It looks fantastic, and that's all that matters to me. Plus I think we need to see it in motion to see how well it meshes.
REMEMBER CITADEL
Banned
I think these deserve a new thread because they're simply mind-blowing! Crazy stuff.
Kind of agree with this since they are not really part of the blow out. Also more people would see them
REMEMBER CITADEL
Banned
No shit. Nothing's been free on current gen consoles for years now, it's about optimizing and introducing more and more tricks.
TUROK
Member
It's not a flaw, it's just a trade-off.
show me your skeleton
Member
what a gorgeous game.
K
kittens
Unconfirmed Member
I don't really see 3D models as inherently better, though. The current solution, if it is indeed what you pointed out, seems like a win-win to me. You know what I mean? It doesn't feel like a trade-off, because no quality is sacrificed.
Well it's a matte painting, almost every modern movie has those
Also why waste resources on distant objects which are only for the skyline you can't travel to. And if you can you can alway replace it with a model.Well it's a matte painting, almost every modern movie has those
Valve has this neat technique to render really small models pretty large in the distance, like the citadel in EP2, or the TF2 backdrops. I am saying this without knowing anything about the engine or how much performance this would cost, tough.
TUROK
Member
It may not be a trade-off in your opinion, but in pure technical terms, it is.
Even in artistic terms, it still feels like a trade-off to me. Geometry gives these properties a more physical feel to them.
Take the buildings in New Alexandria, for example. These are elements that are far away enough to be adequately displayed as a bitmap, but the fact that they're all geometry just makes them feel more tangible. The sense of scale doesn't feel like an illusion, even though it still is.
Dictator93
Member
This. The way valve does it is quite interesting.
Also, it could be a new type of impostor or be using impostor tech from reach. Which was great.
TUROK
Member
Impostors are still 3D models, though. Just really low poly and flat shaded ones.
Using real models rather than matte paintings is cool, but unnecessary .
This is particularly true in games with a fixed resolution (like most console games).
You would never be able to tell that the background is "painted" because the resolution just isn't there.
Such backgrounds often end up looking better at a distance.
This is different for pc games like HL2 because you have to assume it will be played at very high resolutions.
I am incredibly pumped for this game.
This is particularly true in games with a fixed resolution (like most console games).
You would never be able to tell that the background is "painted" because the resolution just isn't there.
Such backgrounds often end up looking better at a distance.
This is different for pc games like HL2 because you have to assume it will be played at very high resolutions.
I am incredibly pumped for this game.
TUROK
Member
This isn't even close to being true. Even at 640x480, the distinction between 2D and 3D is readily apparent, especially when you can zoom in to these elements, like in, oh I dunno, the Halo games.
True, but in reality proper modeled backgrounds cannot be high detail for performance reasons. if the floating pillars in the background were rendered in real time, they would not look as good as they do now.
Zooming in will, as you say, break the illusion.
If you have an abundance of power so you can get extreme background details, crysis style, then that is preferable, but you can't.
adamsapple
Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
METAL .. GEAR !
edit : holy shit are those screens legit ? no aliasing and dat IQ.
METAL .. GEAR !
edit : holy shit are those screens legit ? no aliasing and dat IQ.
Nope they're bullshots taken at really high resolutions and downsampled. Just imagine the same thing with more aliasing. It'll still look really nice but not like that.
Barrow Roll
Member
1280x720p with FXAA is what we've been told, so expect that sort of visual fidelity scaled up on a 1080p display. Really interested to see Digital Foundry go to town on this game.
I played the game at PAX and the aliasing is definitely noticeable on more straight edged surfaces like Forerunner architecture, but I don't expect modern PC level IQ on a 7 year old console and the game still looks gorgeous.
I played the game at PAX and the aliasing is definitely noticeable on more straight edged surfaces like Forerunner architecture, but I don't expect modern PC level IQ on a 7 year old console and the game still looks gorgeous.
Yup mea culpa, just after posting my message I looked at the shots again and it's true some of them are probably ingame. Some others are just too perfect to be ingame though, you get this kind of IQ by using huge amounts of MSAA, not FXAA.
Actually they look like the Forerunners from Halo Legends.
This game is basically confirmation that the apparent discrepancy between AAA PS3 game visuals and AAA 360 game visuals to date has apparently been because the 360 devs just weren't trying hard enough. Crazy.
Looks like a 3x3 downsample.
Phonomezer
Banned
There is probably some complacency due to the ease of development, this was fairly evident with the Dreamcast as well. There's also the matter of budgets and a focus on 3rd party multiplat releases, but it just goes to show that with the right talent you can produce some surprising results.
God bless Corrinne Yu.
InvincibleAgent
Member
Those guys look a lot like Forerunners. Where does it say they're Spartans? Forerunners are supposed to be similar to humans but like 12 feet tall right?
They are wearing spartan armor
Not sure about the last two, but if the first one is downasmpled then holy aliasing batman
Damn straight, she deserves a Damehood or something for this.
InvincibleAgent
Member
They're wearing armor alright...
Bungie using geometry on useless shit like that that no one cared about or even noticed is part of the reason why Halo games on 360 have been the butt of jokes for so many years.
Why waste resources on a bragging right no one cares about?
Those pillars look more than fine and do the job. If that's a sacrifice that's required to get Halo 4 looking this amazing, then let it be so.
Congrats 343i. But one question.
Why am I not holding the box in my hands yet?
GarthVaderUK
Banned
They're infected Spartans from the Flood/infection multiplayer mode.
Phonomezer
Banned
New thread for new n- OH.
This a joke about my member status? It still hits me hard, man.
REMEMBER CITADEL
Banned
No, not necessarily, they can also be billboards.