Digital Foundry: Hands-on with the Halo 5 beta

TheOddOne

Member
You downplaying her role ('group effort) in this thread and calling her the female John Carmack before is... Humorous to me, but that's it. Stop being so goddamn defensive. I actually agree that it is a group effort and never put Yu on a pedestal like other posters *cough* have done before. 343 will pump out a good looking game, but there is still much to improve judging by this build and they did lose an important member of the team which could have helped with those problems. All I was ever saying. But glad to expose your hypocrisy.
This has to be the most insane thing I’ve read all day. For somebody saying that they are being attacked, you seem to be doing all the attacking, and most of it is made up out of thin air to justify it. So, you imply by me saying that it was a “group effort” that I diminish her efforts. Key thing here is: you imply. You made it all up to justify that logic.

If you’ve actually been reading, I’ve never said any of the things you accuse me of, to contrary I’ve said twice that she is very talented programmer and both times you’ve dismissed those posts. You’ve highlighted posts about my respect for her, but somehow made the leap of logic to imply that I’ve somehow now see her as a lesser—which again is something you’ve chocked up in your head. I have never diminished her efforts regardless of what company she works for, but somehow you see it that way. Which is more a problem of yours than mine.

I’ve never seen somebody used such twisted logic to justify this obnoxious trolling.
 

ANDS

Banned
They obviously have a ways to go, but good lord - frame rate aside (which didn't look that bad) - this looks tired. Obviously if you have a winning formula you stick with it; still this looks far too familiar.

That I think she is and still is a talented programmer? What are trying to highlight with those posts? You're fishing here for something that is not there.

Good lord; neither of you is coming off particularly well.
 
They obviously have a ways to go, but good lord - frame rate aside (which didn't look that bad) - this looks tired. Obviously if you have a winning formula you stick with it; still this looks far too familiar.

What kind of competitive multiplayer are you into? I find the gameplay quite refreshing, personally. I admittedly don't play a lot of COD, but Destiny got me back into the fold, while Master Chief collection reminded me how much I loved Halo MP, and miss the game in today's landscape.

Halo 5 feels great to me. It feels modern, it's fast and intense but still retains what was great about the old Halo's. Great back and forth shootouts, it has zoom on everything finally, but hipfire still dominates, and maps have meaningful weapon placement. Overall, the game just feels so refreshingly skill-based and balanced. Instead of one team getting the power weapons and just dominating, holding power weapons gives you an edge, but nothing crazy. The matches I've been in have been neck and neck so often, that it impresses me, and the map flow feels great and intuitive.
 

ANDS

Banned
What kind of competitive multiplayer are you into? I find the gameplay quite refreshing, personally. I admittedly don't play a lot of COD, but Destiny got me back into the fold, while Master Chief collection reminded me how much I loved Halo MP, and miss the game in today's landscape.

Halo 5 feels great to me. It feels modern, it's fast and intense but still retains what was great about the old Halo's. Great back and forth shootouts, it has zoom on everything finally, but hipfire still dominates, and has meaningful weapon placement. Overall, the game just feels so refreshingly skill-based and balanced. Instead of one team getting the power weapons and just dominating, holding power weapons give you an edge, but nothing crazy. The matches I've been in have been neck and neck so often, that it impresses me, and the map flow feels great and intuitive.

I'm not sure what competitive MP entails. If it's the "for prize money" bit, maybe I can see that. On a casual level I'm just struggling to see what there is here to get excited about that we haven't seen in previous Halo efforts.
 

Fatmanp

Member
It would be nice if they could get some AA in there. Too many jaggies. I have only really noticed FPS dips when dropping down lift shafts on Truth/Regret. Some odd drops here and there. The game is not optimized because its a Beta. It will be fixed.
 
I'm not sure what competitive MP entails. If it's the "for prize money" bit, maybe I can see that. On a casual level I'm just struggling to see what there is here to get excited about that we haven't seen in previous Halo efforts.

By competitive multiplayer, I just mean any player vs player multiplayer. It's certainly Halo, it's not a multiplayer revolution by any means. It's just a really well designed, slick, fun competitive game that rewards your playing experience with victory and unlockable armor, and takes the classic Halo formula into the modern gaming age while simultaneously retaining and bringing back the elements that made it so great to begin with.

It really just depends on what you are looking for in a multiplayer game though. If you are looking for flashy new features, I'm sure 343 will incorporate some great new things, but they seem to be more focused on making great core gameplay systems then just adding fluff. It's probably more of a 'try it and see it if stokes your fire' type of deal. Did you like the older Halo games?
 
:eek:

OflEwzF.jpg

I thought Michael Bolton was so cool back then.
 

vesvci

Banned
Well, if CoD:AW can do it (for the most part, besides the resolution), I don't see why Halo 5 wouldn't be able to do it before actual release.
 
Honestly couldn't go back to 30FPS, after playing hours of the beta. Im hoping they can squeeze out 900p, with a near solid 60FPS come launch..
 

BigTnaples

Todd Howard's Secret GAF Account
I'm certain FPS will be optimized for a solid 60 at launch.

I just want the game to hit 1080p for 1. And 2, the actual graphical fidelity to be up there with the big boys. Which right now, it is not, even close. Very underwhelming graphically this far.


Hoping we will see a realtime Singleplayer trailer soon that changes that outlook.


Also, it is a whole year away. They could completly redo the graphics in that time of need be, so I am holding out hope that they will make it a visually competitive game at launch.
 

Leb

Member
I'm certain FPS will be optimized for a solid 60 at launch.

I just want the game to hit 1080p for 1. And 2, the actual graphical fidelity to be up there with the big boys. Which right now, it is not, even close. Very underwhelming graphically this far.

Err, isn't that totally unrealistic? I mean, outside of like, Forza 5, are there any 1080/60 AAA next-gen only games available on either platform?
 

Deviousx

Member
I'm certain FPS will be optimized for a solid 60 at launch.

I just want the game to hit 1080p for 1. And 2, the actual graphical fidelity to be up there with the big boys. Which right now, it is not, even close. Very underwhelming graphically this far.


Hoping we will see a realtime Singleplayer trailer soon that changes that outlook.


Also, it is a whole year away. They could completly redo the graphics in that time of need be, so I am holding out hope that they will make it a visually competitive game at launch.

By "big boys" do you mean games like The Order 1886, Ryse, InFamous Second Son, etc? Because with 1080p @ 60FPS, that's kind of a long shot.

As of right now, the IQ is rough. But being a beta it's quite understandable. If 343 can get this to 1360 or 1440x1080 + SMAA in the final build the IQ should be quite clean me thinks.
 

Madness

Member
I expect it'll either be 900/60fps, or that dynamic 1080p where it's something like 1390x1080p etc.

Even then, it's still a year from launch. I don't care about the numbers as much as I do the visual clarity. The game is too hazy, too much weird glare, reflections, with washed out colors. I miss the clean sight lines, crispness and color of the past games. Everything just looks tinted, with weird lighting to me.
 

Hoje0308

Banned
Err, isn't that totally unrealistic? I mean, outside of like, Forza 5, are there any 1080/60 AAA next-gen only games available on either platform?

Don't think so. Uncharted 4 is aiming for that and there are probably more coming, but I can't think of anything playable that reaches those metrics at high fidelity on console. Personally, if 343 has to rid themselves of some of the pretties to give us 1080/60, then I'm all for it. But, if they can't reach 1080, then 900P or 1080 coupled with a less than 1920 horizontal resolution would be fine.
 
This far out from release, im not worried at all. It's way too early and there's so much time left to get thr game up to 1080p or that other 1080 resolution where they upscale the horizontal res.
 

emrober5

Member
Those people have realistic expectations and care about frame rate (60 FPS).

How did you feel about Halo 3 (THE xbox franchise) not being 720p during its time?

In 2007? I probably thought it was fine.

That's not acceptable now though, and neither is 900p from a flagship xbox title.
 

Bgamer90

Banned
In 2007? I probably thought it was fine.

That's not acceptable now though, and neither is 900p from a flagship xbox title.

But it was the Xbox 360's first Halo title... the first Halo title on the system MS pushed for "HD gaming".

900p is fine if that's what they need to do to get 60 FPS; I would take it over 1080p/30 FPS for this type of game.
 
In 2007? I probably thought it was fine.

That's not acceptable now though, and neither is 900p from a flagship xbox title.

I'd rather they made a good game, that ran well on the hardware rather than basing their game around hitting a resolution.

As long as it looks good/nice I think very few people will refuse to buy it because its not 1080p.

Also, I suspect after CODAW/FC4/H2A Microsoft will have their first party titles go for a 13?? x 1080 if they can't hit native 1080p.
 
Give me 900p locked 60, and call it a day. No need to push for something that the xbone can't handle and no need to take significant loss on the games aesthetics to get that res up.

Killer Instinct looks fucking amazing as it is so I definitely wouldn't mind if 343 gets it to that level and keeps it there. Most of the Wii U games have been upscaled and they look positively brilliant, just do what needs to be done to maintain that 60fps and gorgeous visuals.
 

Solidsoul

Banned
Game looks and plays amazing right now. It will be even better come launch. The "343 didn't do enough to change the game" is absolutley asinine.

After the whole debacle about Shadow of Mordor looking "terrible" on Xbox One I'm done reading into these kinds of articles. Nothing wrong with those who do, but it's usually unneeded stress.
 

Head.spawn

Junior Member
I'll be happy if they reach 900p'60fps and a solid framerate at that. At this current point, the game feels pretty damn great considering it's about a year away from release.
 

RBK

Banned
I'm honestly content with how the game looks and plays right now. Maybe I have low standards, but if I'm not experiencing any performance issues on my end, don't care too much for this stuff.

Any improvement is will be taken on release date though.
 
Err, isn't that totally unrealistic? I mean, outside of like, Forza 5, are there any 1080/60 AAA next-gen only games available on either platform?

I dont know about "next gen only" games, but there have been quite a few so far that have hit that Magic 1080p 60fps target. You can pick the ones that fit "next gen only" but there are quite a few. I am not trying to create a list war, just answering your question. I got these from the IGN Resolution and Framerate site. So sorry, they dont include Nintendo but Nintendo has some too.



Of games released, you have:


Diablo 3 (both Platforms)
COD Ghosts (PS4)
COD Advanced Warfare (PS4)
Blacklight Retribution (PS4)
FIFA 14 & 15 (Both Platforms)
Forza 5 (XBO)
Halo Spartan Assault (XBO)
Flower (PS4)
HALO MCC Outside of Halo 2 (XBO)
MGS Ground Zeros (PS4)
Minecraft (Both Platforms)
Murdered Soul Suspect (PS4)
NBA 2k14 & 2k15 (Both Platforms)
Outlast (Both Platforms)
PvZ Garden Warfare (PS4)
Resogun (PS4)
Shadow Warrior (PS4)
Skylanders (Both Platforms)
Sniper Elite 3 (Both Platforms)
The Last of Us Remastered (PS4)
Tomb Raider Definitive Edition (PS4)
Trials Fusion (PS4)
Trine 2 (PS4)
Warframe (PS4)
Wolfenstein (Variable Framerate Both Platforms)
WWE 2k14 (Both Platforms)
 

Hydrargyrus

Member
Halo only 720p a year prior to release.
Uncharted only 30FPS a year prior to release.

I hope and I'm pretty sure that both will hit their 1080p 60FPS target come launch.

I don't think these super early tech preview have much substance, unfinished code is unfinished.


Yeah, but I don't think is the same case.
H5 is beta code by this time (early, but beta) and if it will be like the previous Halos, will be released in september, so they only have 9 months instead 12 right now.
U4 code is alpha and, if I'm not wrong, wasn't even playable for the visitors, besides probably they will have 2 months more of development.

But I don't think we will see locked 60fps in any case. But I will be ok if Uncharted 4 has the same framerate than TLoUR
 
I dont know about "next gen only" games, but there have been quite a few so far that have hit that Magic 1080p 60fps target. You can pick the ones that fit "next gen only" but there are quite a few. I am not trying to create a list war, just answering your question. I got these from the IGN Resolution and Framerate site. So sorry, they dont include Nintendo but Nintendo has some too.



Of games released, you have:


Diablo 3 (both Platforms)
COD Ghosts (PS4)
COD Advanced Warfare (PS4)
Blacklight Retribution (PS4)
FIFA 14 & 15 (Both Platforms)
Forza 5 (XBO)
Halo Spartan Assault (XBO)
Flower (PS4)
HALO MCC Outside of Halo 2 (XBO)
MGS Ground Zeros (PS4)
Minecraft (Both Platforms)
Murdered Soul Suspect (PS4)
NBA 2k14 & 2k15 (Both Platforms)
Outlast (Both Platforms)
PvZ Garden Warfare (PS4)
Resogun (PS4)
Shadow Warrior (PS4)
Skylanders (Both Platforms)
Sniper Elite 3 (Both Platforms)
The Last of Us Remastered (PS4)
Tomb Raider Definitive Edition (PS4)
Trials Fusion (PS4)
Trine 2 (PS4)
Warframe (PS4)
Wolfenstein (Variable Framerate Both Platforms)
WWE 2k14 (Both Platforms)

I'm sure 343 could get the game to 1080p 60fps if that is their main priority. I just don't see that necessarily being the smartest priority if they intend to keep the same scale of battles and comparative overall visual quality as 343 demonstrated with Halo 4 on X360.

Like, Halo 4 on X1 already looks awesome at 1080p 60fps. If they strove for that, I'm sure the game would still look great, but I want to see them knock it out of the park with this. 1080p is only one aspect of visual quality, I can't see them not making use of substantially higher texture detail, geometric detail, more advanced shaders and lighting. Also, I'd like to really see them push the scale of battles in the campaign.

343 is an impressively talented and stacked studio, I wouldn't count them out on the tech front in any way, but X1 isn't necessarily a beast of a machine. We'll see what happens.
 

Javin98

Banned
No offence to 343, but it could be hard to hit 1080/60. I believe they can achieve that but a lot of graphical features like SSR and POM may not be implemented in the final game. Personally, I have never played a single Halo game but I hope 343 will try their best to hit a stable frame rate at 1080p. Also, it's funny how in the Uncharted 4 thread people were like "there was a massive downgrade and it runs at 30FPS! ND has failed us!" but here it's the opposite. Both games are almost a full year from release and are still in early stages so no one should be worried as of now
 

iMax

Member
I dont know about "next gen only" games, but there have been quite a few so far that have hit that Magic 1080p 60fps target. You can pick the ones that fit "next gen only" but there are quite a few. I am not trying to create a list war, just answering your question. I got these from the IGN Resolution and Framerate site. So sorry, they dont include Nintendo but Nintendo has some too.



Of games released, you have:


Diablo 3 (both Platforms)
COD Ghosts (PS4)
COD Advanced Warfare (PS4)
Blacklight Retribution (PS4)
FIFA 14 & 15 (Both Platforms)
Forza 5 (XBO)
Halo Spartan Assault (XBO)
Flower (PS4)
HALO MCC Outside of Halo 2 (XBO)
MGS Ground Zeros (PS4)
Minecraft (Both Platforms)
Murdered Soul Suspect (PS4)
NBA 2k14 & 2k15 (Both Platforms)
Outlast (Both Platforms)
PvZ Garden Warfare (PS4)
Resogun (PS4)
Shadow Warrior (PS4)
Skylanders (Both Platforms)
Sniper Elite 3 (Both Platforms)
The Last of Us Remastered (PS4)
Tomb Raider Definitive Edition (PS4)
Trials Fusion (PS4)
Trine 2 (PS4)
Warframe (PS4)
Wolfenstein (Variable Framerate Both Platforms)
WWE 2k14 (Both Platforms)

Actually Wolfenstein operates on a variable resolution, not variable framerate.
 
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