Proper critique and feedback From a Designer

Games Halo Infinite
1

Hello 343 Staff and Halo fan,

I am a product designer. I was trained in aesthetics, System Thinking and Design. I want to start of by saying that "Demo showed should not be judge critically on small details as they are very likely subject to change."

I am going to follow this format for the whole post as well as subtopics:
Objective
[ to ]
Subjective

Before we begin this feedback I want to say a few things as they are important in their subtle ways:
“Design is like a fundamental principle. It applies everywhere. Physical and non physical are just manifestations of design. Design is no something Humans made. It is the nature of existence.” -Experience and Design Education

To 343,
I would like to give this feedback after thinking about it last night and this morning. The reveal, personally was underwhelming However I will as a designer be objective in this feedback and keep my personal beliefs and biases away.

The Gameplay as promised takes its inspiration of Halo CE. It is not a direct copy paste which is a good thing. Else its just an reskinned CE.
There is promise in this new game, I feel that the direction is alright considering changing industry. There are few nicks and dinks here and there but that can be worked on.

Given the pandemic, I can understand how that can have impacted the workflow, being a designer myself I can understand this form personal experience of similar circumstances. What we got to see was very unpolished and need a lot of aesthesis refinements.

The themes behind most aesthetics are well in sync with music and visuals. Most is a keyword.

Overall I feel it was a very good attempt given the circumstances. We all should appreciate the effort. There is definitely potential in This game if intent is worded and delivered to the audience properly. This is a very critical position. I am sure you are well aware of it. Please be careful, mindful and sensitive to your audience. This is very likely the last chance to your team from a lot of people.

I wish you all good luck, work hard, make your last shot worth it!

Now here comes the big part. I want to address a big concern a lot of people have. Its the aesthesis. Many people have difficulty putting in words exactly what’s off. I will put it in proper words to the best of my abilities. I hope you all will find words for the weirdness you felt yesterday.

1. Aesthetics (Biggest flaws in the demo)

Plastic looking
Let me start with the feel that people are talking about. What is meant by plastic looking when clearly the elites armor had gloss and shine. [ I personally felt this ]

When people say plastic they are referring to the characteristics of plastics. Monotonous, Blunt, dull, glossy, flat, no detail ( I know I repeated similar words but this is also for fan who are not designers or strong with feelings and words perhaps )

The art direction is good. Halo had this cartoony look. However what you are seeing and thinking looks flat. It is due to lack of texture details. Its not that graphics are completely bad. Just an part of it is wrong

The game we saw yesterday. Its presentation relies of textures which are not detail enough. (Or stream compression made it got lost.) However it does not happen to old games… so… It cant be this reason entirely.

another important point to add to this has to do with materials and textures and how they are handled. I might be wrong here. I am welcome to suggestions and corrections on this. The older games used textures with a lot of detail on them. Now we use materials with properties which add details like plug and play mechanics. The textures are either non existent or have very little detail.
The engine reads these plug and play elements are renders them realtime. That is, blunt flat texture + plug and play to enhance it
This shift of materials over texture is one reason why the aesthesis suddenly looks different. and plastic as they are not handled properly.

Please address the materials if that is the case here. They don’t behave properly. They seem out of place to people because they are so perfect, spotless, perfect. This is not how it is supposed to look. Specially brute weapons. Also what about the hexagon pattern on covenant weapons.

Second part to do with it is lighting. Which I will address below.

Lighting

Lighting plays a very curial role in the entire presentation. It affects how the materials will behave and look. Currently If I am correct there is GI or global illumination. This is not like shining a torch at something where intensity will be high and so will the effects like shine and shadows. It applies like sunlight. Light bounces around and illuminates all side to varying degrees. Even the shadows. This is a complicated area to access for me as I lack the in depth knowledge.
My only feedback here would be to readjust it. I needs to hint of bight sunlight, better shadows.

Shadows

So there is GI by no shadows. That is non sensical. Characters and environment needs shadows and that was clearly lacking in the demo. Not much to add or explain here.
But just don’t underestimate how big of a difference proper shadows can make (Cough Halo 3 did it better)

HUD

Alright time to take you all to my class. During my design training we had a class on familiarity and newness in new products. So in very essence it means that whenever we make something new, it should have resemblance to past, just enough so people can relate and should also have new stuff so it doesn’t look the same are last one.
Also Iconic should be preserved.

I feel shield is better positioned in top center rather then CE and 2 Styles. It feels more natural and intuitive. So I agree with the change from Halo 3 onwards.

Weapons and bullets counters. They are not alright. They have disappeared almost entirely moved to bottom right. Its an iconic part of halo HUD aesthetics It has been in all games. Do not mess with it. Its layout which helps strongly in creating resemblance and familiarity [ Imagine a car with no headlights on front but mounted on roof. Sudden shock? that’s what happened with infinite for me ]

Think of it like this. Take bmw kidney grills. They change it all the time, stretch and squeeze horizontally or vertically, chrome, matte, simple straights or angular or sharps or lightly curved. you can go on an on. But remember the gill will never leave its place. (Layout)

Same thing. Don’t mess with the layout. Bring that weapons panel and grenades panel to more familiar places.

Ammo counter is terrible. Showing each butter with iconic to. It is what gave it identity. I feel it should also be retained.

Shield generators. Nope. Just no. Its too much of visual distraction. It needs toning down. cant be this solid.

2

2. Open world and "upgrades"

This is a new direction. I think the new approach syncs with modern games and it will go with new audiences well. Old ones… questionable.
I understand the need to change and evolve with times. Given your market. Americas and western culture is not much strong on holding core and old practices like Eastern cultures. Which is where I come from and hence don’t like the new approach. But if your market is strongly western and you are willing to take loss of conservative people and still make success… Your wish really. I don’t feel very confident if I will by any games anymore. Because this feels like the general direction of the industry.

Oh boy Oh Boy. This is making me very nervous. This can be a tipping point. Halo campaign has had an identity. Its new formula and it can be dangerous if executed badly. Remember the familiarity and newness. The linear flow and open worlds… I don’t know how you are transitioning but it better be good. If its repetitive and grinding with side quests like AC and and skyrim …That’s too far gone. Not good. I personally will be very hesitant to buy the game.

Upgrades. This is new and very RPG type thing. It typically has not belonged this this genre. I am not confident in this. We need more details before people blow it out of proportions. It really depends on what these upgrades and how they affect the game and they way they fit story and narrative of Mjolnir armor.

I personally am not hyped for this. This brings more nervousness to me then hype. I don’t wish to say anything on this yet.

3. Game movements and mechanics

Alright, Sprint, Advance movements and all that stuff. The dividing ground Zero of all.

well this the the way industry is going and 343 is apparently forced to work for pleasing big audience for max profits over retaining core values and principles like many sony games do. If the studio an company wants to take this route. their wish. There is no right or wrong. Only difference is some will part ways of this.

I feel that it can be balanced. Judging from the clips. sprint is slower. just and gimmick with little benefit or could be FOV.
I can not say on behalf of other people. This is studios call.

I stand my ground. I don’t hate it. I don’t love it. If it is minimal. I might consider buying. A lot of other factors will decide:
Microtransactions
Games as a service or product.
final feel of the game
open world implementations.

I personally care more for story which I can see you YouTube. No need to by the game. This will be a waiting and watching game from be until release.

Let me give a example of this. Back in college We had many students who pushed college marks and industry practices. Following the sheep. They lacked the strength to be themselves and be a leader rather then the follower. Only I and my closest friend opposed this trend. We worked based on our principles and values. We made projects which challenged the conventional. It was met with resistance but with love and faith and strong belief in our work we presented it. We nailed all the presentations. Our works were much appreciated for the courage.

[Personal example you can avoid reading if you wish]

" So it was end of year 1. it was the day of jury (equivalent of exams in scholarly education) Everyone was tensed and worried about their ppt and clothes and what they will speak. All were in formal clothes and typically expected decorum. My turn comes and I walk in with a wooden sword, clothed like an Arabic sheik. I walk in with no revision of what I will speak and speak my heart out. what I really felt about my projects. I owned it. Even the people who were like stones to other people were laughing and enjoying my presentation. I nailed it without doing anything the typical industry demands"

Moral of the story?

You be yourself. Establish your own identity. Hold it strong if you want to lead. build your audience around that. If you chase others and trends… I am sorry you will never lead. You will be like everyone else. I am sure members at 343 know this. specially the design team. But Microsoft is pressing them. I feel sad for the studio.

Whenever corporate are involved… they only care what give them moneys as quickly as possible and as much as possible. They kill creativities. Which is why indi and small studios put out great games (ori) They aren’t driven by greed and industry trends.

All major studios and IP are suffering from this. Unfortunately.

I hope you all make your calls, stick around, leave whatever. But there is no denying. Halo has changed forever. It can be unique and itself anymore. You can leave it if you wish to.

[Personal example ends]

3

So I wanted to add along based on reading on forums and watching how other people felt.

Here is something new I came across.

1. "What if the aesthetics is intentional design choice?"
This makes me question 2 things.

  1. Is there a misunderstanding in the message for bungie aesthetics? I mean when we said we want classic we meant chief’s armor, alien armor, vehicles. All that stuff. Which was obviously changed. Did anyone ever meant you wanted a clean aesthetics? Clean similar to CE? Did anyone say we want flatness? No we asked for old character and vehicle designs and updated graphics. For example. Take original CE weapons and just update the graphics and make small changes here and there. Clean similar to CE. Were were against detailed environments? [Still CE has lot of girt and wear on everything. Infinite had close none and outright no visible detail in certain cases]

If this is a decision. I still can not see a solid reason for flat and smooth aesthetics. I can accept that this is not polished and details will be added later. Like the mangler saw updates in gameplay and trailer.

  1. Even if it a design choice I. How does that justify the clear flatness? Its almost too extreme. Like just look at AR from infinite and AR for any other halo. Even CE. Even that has scratches. Infinites version is outright smooth. Like clay and plastic as people have said.

What did you meant you wanted when you asked for bungie aesthetics. Just models design or environment details or both?

2. The demo showed off was a old build and WIP and does not represent final Build.
To this I just want to ask. Why was it not stated clearly before we started? This is a serious goof up on who so ever was preparing the video. Clearly all this debacle could have been avoided.

3. The demo showed off was a old build and WIP and does not represent final Build.
This explains a lot.

4

Personally I am very excited now for this game. Keeping aside the shortcomings. Looking at it with a open mind. Accepting the change. It does look like a very promising and interesting campaign. Much Excited to see more.

I dont know what black magic it is But the more I look at it… The more I am liking it. I guess nostalgia is kicking in as memories from CE days resurface into my consciousness.

But man! this game I am soo excited. Really well done 343. That art direction is really solid and good. Just need to refine it on girt and details.

5

^This entire thread nails the critique and improvement proposal. take this bump

6

This post really hits the nail. Thank you for sharing your insight, it was great to read.

7

Yup I agree this really nails what a lot of people are thinking, and thank you for mentioning the shield recharge. I’m surprised it hasn’t been mentioned before, but man was that awful.

8

> 2535473640312220;3:
> _2. The demo showed off was a old build and WIP and does not represent final Build._To this I just want to ask. Why was it not stated clearly before we started? This is a serious goof up on who so ever was preparing the video. Clearly all this debacle could have been avoided.
>
> _3. The demo showed off was a old build and WIP and does not represent final Build._This explains a lot.

If this was said or written somewhere before the demo started or if it was clearly seen written down while the demo was shown it would’ve prevented some of the debates going on right now and the current mood would most likely been a not so harsh one.

9

Great job giving feedback OP. Keep going 343i!

10

I really liked your, well, it’s pretty much an essay.
Could you also give your thoughts on the vividness of the environments, or lack thereof?
Moving trees, grass, etc. Big deal or no?

11

You nailed it. Well said.

12

> 2533274839846184;8:
> > 2535473640312220;3:
> > _2. The demo showed off was a old build and WIP and does not represent final Build._To this I just want to ask. Why was it not stated clearly before we started? This is a serious goof up on who so ever was preparing the video. Clearly all this debacle could have been avoided.
> >
> > _3. The demo showed off was a old build and WIP and does not represent final Build._This explains a lot.
>
> If this was said or written somewhere before the demo started or if it was clearly seen written down while the demo was shown it would’ve prevented some of the debates going on right now and the current mood would most likely been a not so harsh one.

Exactly! We have seen so little of this game over the years and we have been made well aware of the time put into this game. We are just a few mere months away from release. Was there no better build avaliable? Even if this was from a few months ago that is honestly troubling. Of course there is polish towards the end of development with every game but even the Halo 5 beta A WHOLE YEAR before release had better graphics and textures with lighting being the only real issue.

I hope to God this game does well. This is the game that makes or breaks getting the Xbox Series X for me.

13

bump

14

> 2533274945422049;5:
> ^This entire thread nails the critique and improvement proposal. take this bump

> 2533274845430275;6:
> This post really hits the nail. Thank you for sharing your insight, it was great to read.

> 2726956381514567;9:
> Great job giving feedback OP. Keep going 343i!

> 2533274839846184;8:
> > 2535473640312220;3:
> > _2. The demo showed off was a old build and WIP and does not represent final Build._To this I just want to ask. Why was it not stated clearly before we started? This is a serious goof up on who so ever was preparing the video. Clearly all this debacle could have been avoided.
> >
> > _3. The demo showed off was a old build and WIP and does not represent final Build._This explains a lot.
>
> If this was said or written somewhere before the demo started or if it was clearly seen written down while the demo was shown it would’ve prevented some of the debates going on right now and the current mood would most likely been a not so harsh one.

> 2533274807484193;7:
> Yup I agree this really nails what a lot of people are thinking, and thank you for mentioning the shield recharge. I’m surprised it hasn’t been mentioned before, but man was that awful.

Thank you for finding this valuable and giving the much needed bumps. I was surprised I got no attention for more then 12 hours.

But I am happy it nailed much of it.

I actually am unfortunate that reveal happened 9:30pm for me. So i was disappointed + late night… didnt feel like writing. I had not expected it will get blown out like this.

So I wrote early morning but it got lost in hail of posts which came the following night.

> 2533274801176260;10:
> I really liked your, well, it’s pretty much an essay.
> Could you also give your thoughts on the vividness of the environments, or lack thereof?
> Moving trees, grass, etc. Big deal or no?

Lesson learned. I Reply at night. One guy asked a question. I will reply at night. Bumps it into active time without senseless messages. (Against rules)

15

> 2535473640312220;3:
> _1. “What if the aesthetics is intentional design choice?”_This makes me question 2 things.
>
> 1. Is there a misunderstanding in the message for bungie aesthetics? I mean when we said we want classic we meant chief’s armor, alien armor, vehicles. All that stuff. Which was obviously changed. Did anyone ever meant you wanted a clean aesthetics? Clean similar to CE? Did anyone say we want flatness? No we asked for old character and vehicle designs and updated graphics. For example. Take original CE weapons and just update the graphics and make small changes here and there. Clean similar to CE. Were were against detailed environments? [Still CE has lot of girt and wear on everything. Infinite had close none and outright no visible detail in certain cases]

So I have to say that I really liked this post and though that it was very well thought out and written. I personally really like all the talk in the first post as someone who is majoring in Digital Media & Design/Game Design. I don’t entirely agree with some of the thoughts about game-play and adding the upgrades, but that is just my opinion.

My main issue is with this assessment of the aesthetics. While I agree with keeping a sense of familiarity and also don’t like the weapon designs shown in the demo, I feel like this mindset constricts what can be tried when evolving a design. This kinda feels like the blanket statement of “its not Halo”. With this mindset, I feel like we wouldn’t have gotten designs like the Reach AR, Halo 4 BR or heck… The Banished. Designs that still hold the same feel, yet entirely new and different looks. The same could be said for how armor has changed between games. Ignoring 4 and 5, Reach armor bears only a passing resemblance to that of CE or 3, yet it’s seen by many as the best.

I understand the broader message of keeping things familiar, yet feel that approach can only hurt future design choices and evolution.

16

> 2535429756019039;15:
> > 2535473640312220;3:
> > _1. “What if the aesthetics is intentional design choice?”_This makes me question 2 things.
> >
> > 1. Is there a misunderstanding in the message for bungie aesthetics? I mean when we said we want classic we meant chief’s armor, alien armor, vehicles. All that stuff. Which was obviously changed. Did anyone ever meant you wanted a clean aesthetics? Clean similar to CE? Did anyone say we want flatness? No we asked for old character and vehicle designs and updated graphics. For example. Take original CE weapons and just update the graphics and make small changes here and there. Clean similar to CE. Were were against detailed environments? [Still CE has lot of girt and wear on everything. Infinite had close none and outright no visible detail in certain cases]
>
> So I have to say that I really liked this post and though that it was very well thought out and written. I personally really like all the talk in the first post as someone who is majoring in Digital Media & Design/Game Design. I don’t entirely agree with some of the thoughts about game-play and adding the upgrades, but that is just my opinion.
>
> My main issue is with this assessment of the aesthetics. While I agree with keeping a sense of familiarity and also don’t like the weapon designs shown in the demo, I feel like this mindset constricts what can be tried when evolving a design. This kinda feels like the blanket statement of “its not Halo”. With this mindset, I feel like we wouldn’t have gotten designs like the Reach AR, Halo 4 BR or heck… The Banished. Designs that still hold the same feel, yet entirely new and different looks. The same could be said for how armor has changed between games. Ignoring 4 and 5, Reach armor bears only a passing resemblance to that of CE or 3, yet it’s seen by many as the best.
>
> I understand the broader message of keeping things familiar, yet feel that approach can only hurt future design choices and evolution.

i think the commando rifle could look like it belongs in halo when given a different texture. something more industrial and raw, like it is a weapon from the insurrectionist, or darker with small led’s on the ironsights and mag, like something an ONI operator would use.

> 2535473640312220;14:
> > 2533274945422049;5:
> > ^This entire thread nails the critique and improvement proposal. take this bump
>
>
>
> > 2533274845430275;6:
> > This post really hits the nail. Thank you for sharing your insight, it was great to read.
>
>
>
> > 2726956381514567;9:
> > Great job giving feedback OP. Keep going 343i!
>
>
>
> > 2533274839846184;8:
> > > 2535473640312220;3:
> > > _2. The demo showed off was a old build and WIP and does not represent final Build._To this I just want to ask. Why was it not stated clearly before we started? This is a serious goof up on who so ever was preparing the video. Clearly all this debacle could have been avoided.
> > >
> > > _3. The demo showed off was a old build and WIP and does not represent final Build._This explains a lot.
> >
> > If this was said or written somewhere before the demo started or if it was clearly seen written down while the demo was shown it would’ve prevented some of the debates going on right now and the current mood would most likely been a not so harsh one.
>
>
>
> > 2533274807484193;7:
> > Yup I agree this really nails what a lot of people are thinking, and thank you for mentioning the shield recharge. I’m surprised it hasn’t been mentioned before, but man was that awful.
>
> Thank you for finding this valuable and giving the much needed bumps. I was surprised I got no attention for more then 12 hours.
>
> But I am happy it nailed much of it.
>
> I actually am unfortunate that reveal happened 9:30pm for me. So i was disappointed + late night… didnt feel like writing. I had not expected it will get blown out like this.
>
> So I wrote early morning but it got lost in hail of posts which came the following night.
>
>
> > 2533274801176260;10:
> > I really liked your, well, it’s pretty much an essay.
> > Could you also give your thoughts on the vividness of the environments, or lack thereof?
> > Moving trees, grass, etc. Big deal or no?
>
> Lesson learned. I Reply at night. One guy asked a question. I will reply at night. Bumps it into active time without senseless messages. (Against rules)

moving foliage would indeed be good. it should not be to hard to animate some swaying and program a grass moving when wakking through it.
the materials are applied poorly now. halo 3, 4 and reach did a better job of utlizing the usable pixels and hardware.

17

Response wasn’t good. Pandemic can’t be an excuse since everyone is going through this but graphics don’t look as bad as infinite did.

Beta could get cancelled.

Not a great response to graphic. I’m worried on what final product will look now.

18

No offense, but what do you mean by I’m a designer? That could mean you design the latest version of Ikea furniture? Just saying that doesn’t add extra credibility to your post. You do offer some constructive criticism though.

19

> 2535461330364523;18:
> No offense, but what do you mean by I’m a designer? That could mean you design the latest version of Ikea furniture? Just saying that doesn’t add extra credibility to your post. You do offer some constructive criticism though.

Hey. Design isnt a thing humans made. Its the fundamental nature of existance. We only leanr to understand it. Once you figure that out. You can use it to create anything. Yes anything. Though depends on how deep you can think. There are always branches and brances to explore and touch upon.

Ikea furniture… yes I can. My specialisation was product deisgn. That includes all manufacturing related things man has ever made.

That does add credibility. As a designer. Your way of looking at work suddenly changes. Then there is no right wrong. No good bad. Everything is fluidic. As designers you can see things many people just are not aware of.

More questions? Spendid! I would be happy to assist. DM me

20

> 2533274879721941;17:
> Response wasn’t good. Pandemic can’t be an excuse since everyone is going through this but graphics don’t look as bad as infinite did.
>
> Beta could get cancelled.
>
> Not a great response to graphic. I’m worried on what final product will look now.

Yes I agree with you. There is alot of uncertainty in a part of the community.