Effects

Games Other Halo
1

ITT - We talk about some visual/audio effects we would like to see in Halo 4. A quick disclaimer though, gameplay > graphics. Now personally, I would like to see:

-Dynamic shadows. A lot of games are using them nowadays, and I think it makes them look great. I’d sooner see dynamic shadows over HD textures any day.

-Enhanced water effects. What I mean by this is that in real life, if you ran through a knee-deep puddle of water it would splash and swash around you. What I want to see is a simple effect of water splashing around our legs when walking through water. This shouldn’t be hard, since the same effect happens when we drive through water.

-A minor head bob. Something similar to Skyrim, where it’s only noticeable if you pay attention to it, and when sprinting (IF sprint is in) a smooth sway back and forth. Nothing over the top. And if some people don’t like it, there should be a menu option similar to Crysis 2 that allows you to take off or reduce the head bob.

-Spark effects similar to Halo Anniversary. Dem sparks…

-Motion blur would be a welcome return for me. It’s nothing I’ll sit and fight over, but it was a nice visual effect. Maybe take Reach’s and tone it down a little. It should be a subtle effect.

-Not sure if this would count as a graphical effect, but I’d like to see a 3D radar similar to the “joke” picture showed us before Reach’s launch. Here’s a link. Pay attention to the radar.

-Better sounding footsteps. And if sprint is in, don’t do the panting thing, make footsteps more audible.

-When Spartans speak in campaign (or grunt in muliplayer) there should be a “talking through a speaker/walkie-talkie” effect for their voice. If I’m correct, Spartan’s helmets are soundproof, and they can communicate with their squad over comms, but to speak to people outside they have to mentally activate it in their helmet. This effect should be similar to Mass Effect 2 when Commander Shepard is wearing a helmet. Another subtle, yet noticeable effect. Here’s a video with the effect.

2

Water is something I would really like to see 343 touch up upon. Like you, I’m a big water guy. Just seeing the look of the water and then interacting with it and watching it flow and break apart. Water is pretty tricky as I’ve heard from a lot of developer diaries and what-not. Halo: Reach’s water, while it did look good at some points (the water in Reflection looked great) it felt kind of flat in terms of when you’re interacting with it. Some cool references for 343:

Now the particle effects for me are quite a mix bag. While you like the way CE:A had it spark effects, I for one liked the particle effects that Halo: Reach had. It looked a lot more realistic. Now, I must say that the final game did not have to same effects as it did in the first vidoc we got for Reach. It seems that they kind of toned it down a bit. More references for sparks/particles:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTvYPiEi4eU (Skip to 1:02)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0_jiB2hqeQ (Skip to 3:38. As you can see, the spark effects in the vidoc looked more pronounced than it did in the final game)

Lighting, dynamic shadows, textures, animation… Ah, I look forward to the hard work the engineers, artists, and animators will have put into Halo 4. =D

3

Halo Reach had some amazing water effects. Notice I said some. On firefight there are murky puddles that look photo realistic when the Spartans walked through them (or at least, did in the BETA). I remember just walking back and forth through them, with my guest standing from one side to get a better look. It absolutely blew me away.

I don’t want dynamic shadows. It is just not Halo IMO. Although I would like a better lighting system. Similar to Crysis 2 (I know that was a dynamic lighting system, but perhaps try to replicate that without actually doing it).

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I agree with OP, dynamic shadows are a must in this round.