Situational Awareness

Games Other Halo
1

I, like many of you here, have played Halo since the beginning.
It is a unique game in that it evolves with each iteration.

However, one thing has come to my attention.
One thing that never really changed, never really evolved.

I’m talking about situational awareness, and it is really, really bad.

Now, traditionally, first person shooters have been plagued by this since their inception:

You either have a blind spot, can’t tell where shots are coming from, can’t hear enemies coming, etc. Sometimes all of the above.

These issues have been “bandaid fixed” very barely over the years, in any FPS.
This is why we have motion trackers, directional arrows pointing at incoming fire, etc.

However, this is simply never enough to truly feel the game.

My question to the devs is this:

Do you intend to at least attempt at improving player situational awareness in the game? If so then how?

I, myself have been thinking of a few ways to remedy problems like the blind spot, which is especially detrimental to melee combat in Halo (and creates sometimes frustrating yet funny-to-watch situations).

For instance, the blind spot is caused, I believe, by the player’s camera being placed slightly in front of the character model.

The blind spot could be nearly or entirely eliminated if developers physically placed the player’s camera onto the neck bone of their character (“bone” in animation lingo) or a vertex on the character mesh nearest to it.

Games like Syndicate (modern reboot) have done this already to great effect (even though it lacks competitive multiplayer). It also allows more fluid first person animations.

For good measure, I would also suggest widening the field of view and either removing melee lunge entirely (rather than only when in range of an enemy) or making lunge slightly shorter and forcing it to happen on each melee press, thus making the game more consistent.

Feel free to question or comment on situational awareness.

I would especially like to hear what the developers think of this.

Thanks

2

Most of your suggestions would probably help.
But I don’t need any help with “situational awareness”.
I gotz mah TURDDLE BEECHIZZ!
All the situational awareness I’ll ever need.
:smiley: lol

  • III P u r 3 III -
3

Situational awareness comes from the player, not the mechanics within the game.

Sure you can add stuff in the game to make it a little easier but overall if you have good situational awareness, you can be a very valuable player in Halo without the use of these crutches.

4

> Situational awareness comes from the player, not the mechanics within the game.
>
> Sure you can add stuff in the game to make it a little easier but overall if you have good situational awareness, you can be a very valuable player in Halo without the use of these crutches.

Of course player skill is a factor, but did you ever ask youself why we needed Heads Up Displays and User Interfaces?

It’s because displays conferring information to users are not quite there yet.

We need a vessel that can translate player skill directly into the game, and when you are hindered by an artificial constraint, you can’t give 100%.

It’s really not about crutches. It’s just about improving the experience and ousting glitches or gameplay detriments.

Also, yes Pure, we can all use Turtle Beach headsets, but not everyone has them. It’s important to have an even footing, even in hardware.

5

> Most of your suggestions would probably help.
> But I don’t need any help with “situational awareness”.
> I gotz mah TURDDLE BEECHIZZ!
> All the situational awareness I’ll ever need.
> :smiley: lol
>
> - III P u r 3 III -

Love my TURDDLE BEECHIZ!!!

6

> > Most of your suggestions would probably help.
> > But I don’t need any help with “situational awareness”.
> > I gotz mah TURDDLE BEECHIZZ!
> > All the situational awareness I’ll ever need.
> > :smiley: lol
> >
> > - III P u r 3 III -
>
> Love my TURDDLE BEECHIZ!!!

Yeah, but really, you shouldn’t HAVE to buy them to figure out where peeps are on the map.

7

> For instance, the blind spot is caused, I believe, by the player’s camera being placed slightly in front of the character model.
> The blind spot could be nearly or entirely eliminated if developers physically placed the player’s camera onto the neck bone of their character (“bone” in animation lingo) or a vertex on the character mesh nearest to it.
> Games like Syndicate (modern reboot) have done this already to great effect (even though it lacks competitive multiplayer). It also allows more fluid first person animations.
> For good measure, I would also suggest widening the field of view and either removing melee lunge entirely (rather than only when in range of an enemy) or making lunge slightly shorter and forcing it to happen on each melee press, thus making the game more consistent.
> Feel free to question or comment on situational awareness.
> I would especially like to hear what the developers think of this.
>
> Thanks

While you bring many interesting points, I disagree with most of them.

First of all, could further specify what do you mean by this blind spot?

Widening the FOV would have two unpleasant effects:

  1. It would be harder to maintain the FPS - more optimization would be required. After all, X360 ain’t no youngster.
  2. Things directly in front of you become thinner than things around you with higher FOV. Now this not only makes aiming harder but would require lot’s of tweaks of Aim Assist and Trajectory correction, just as well as the crosshair. Things that are good on PC don’t always have to be good on consoles.

Melee lounge should either ramain as it is, or much, much shorter, only preventing you from not hitting the player. We’ve got sprint, so that kinda helps with assassinations.

As for finding out where is the -Yoink- shooting at you from - use headphones :wink: It will also help you notice that someone is running behind you, you’ll know where are people fighting and much, much more. While I’m using SH PC360 (which I love), I know from experience that even headphones for half that price will do excellent job. SS Siberia are very good gaming headphones (aside from the malfunctions of Version 2). Been using them for almost 6 years. Other headphones from Steel-Series in that price-range are good just as well. Razer also has some good gaming headsets, although mostly a bit overpriced. Turtle-Beach (never tried it) seems to work for a lot of players too and already comes with Xbox 360 solution in case you don’t have an amplifier.

8

> > Situational awareness comes from the player, not the mechanics within the game.
> >
> > Sure you can add stuff in the game to make it a little easier but overall if you have good situational awareness, you can be a very valuable player in Halo without the use of these crutches.
>
> Of course player skill is a factor, but did you ever ask youself why we needed Heads Up Displays and User Interfaces?
>
> It’s because displays conferring information to users are not quite there yet.
>
> We need a vessel that can translate player skill directly into the game, and when you are hindered by an artificial constraint, you can’t give 100%.
>
> It’s really not about crutches. It’s just about improving the experience and ousting glitches or gameplay detriments.
>
> Also, yes Pure, we can all use Turtle Beach headsets, but not everyone has them. It’s important to have an even footing, even in hardware.

I believe that the HUD and the UI in Halo is one of the best implementations that give players the necessary information that I have seen in a video game. Especially in multiplayer. It is very easy to read, simple and is not overly cluttered with information.

With 343i having power weapon spawns appear on your HUD with the indicator including the weapon model, that is a great addition to help the newer players being more aware of what is happening around them.

But a big factor for having the maximum situational awareness is communication. I always communicate with my teammates even if they are randoms and if they don’t have mics plugged in. It just helps to communicate so that players are always aware of whats happening around them when they have no other way of determining it.

9

> > For instance, the blind spot is caused, I believe, by the player’s camera being placed slightly in front of the character model.
> > The blind spot could be nearly or entirely eliminated if developers physically placed the player’s camera onto the neck bone of their character (“bone” in animation lingo) or a vertex on the character mesh nearest to it.
> > Games like Syndicate (modern reboot) have done this already to great effect (even though it lacks competitive multiplayer). It also allows more fluid first person animations.
> > For good measure, I would also suggest widening the field of view and either removing melee lunge entirely (rather than only when in range of an enemy) or making lunge slightly shorter and forcing it to happen on each melee press, thus making the game more consistent.
> > Feel free to question or comment on situational awareness.
> > I would especially like to hear what the developers think of this.
> >
> > Thanks
>
> While you bring many interesting points, I disagree with most of them.
>
> First of all, could further specify what do you mean by this blind spot?
>
> Widening the FOV would have two unpleasant effects:
> 1. It would be harder to maintain the FPS - more optimization would be required. After all, X360 ain’t no youngster.
> 2. Things directly in front of you become thinner than things around you with higher FOV. Now this not only makes aiming harder but would require lot’s of tweaks of Aim Assist and Trajectory correction, just as well as the crosshair. Things that are good on PC don’t always have to be good on consoles.

Have you ever experienced a very awkward melee duel with someone where you always walk right past them while trying to make a melee attack and they do the same and for some reason neither of you can see the other despite both of you knowing the other is right there and then one of you finally steps back to either double melee or awkwardly shoot down what’s left of the other’s health?

That’s the blink spot, and it’s awkward as -Yoink-.

Anyway, onto the points:

Simply speaking, I’m talking about a slight adjustment to the FOV.
Reach had received an increase from H3 of about 10-15 degrees without visible loss of framerate or visibility.

I’m not talking about going all 100 degrees Quake pro on this thing, as that would be rediculous.

As for aiming and trajectory, I’m pretty sure every game engine has scaling algorithms already in place to accomodate different displays. Tweaking X or Y sensitivity in relation to the field of view would be cake.

Note also that 343 has a few people from ID software (Ironically, Quake), and those guys generally know their code.

Finally, the closer the field of view is to that of the human eye (in a two-dimensional relation, that is), the more accurately players can transpose themselves in the experience.

10

> Most of your suggestions would probably help.
> But I don’t need any help with “situational awareness”.
> I gotz mah TURDDLE BEECHIZZ!
> All the situational awareness I’ll ever need.
> :smiley: lol
>
> - III P u r 3 III -

Astro’s!!!

Huzzzahhh!!!

11

> > Most of your suggestions would probably help.
> > But I don’t need any help with “situational awareness”.
> > I gotz mah TURDDLE BEECHIZZ!
> > All the situational awareness I’ll ever need.
> > :smiley: lol
> >
> > - III P u r 3 III -
>
> Love my TURDDLE BEECHIZ!!!

Astro A40’s FTW!

I don’t have any original suggestions, but 5.1/7.1 headphones make a huge difference.

12

> > > Situational awareness comes from the player, not the mechanics within the game.
> > >
> > > Sure you can add stuff in the game to make it a little easier but overall if you have good situational awareness, you can be a very valuable player in Halo without the use of these crutches.
> >
> > Of course player skill is a factor, but did you ever ask youself why we needed Heads Up Displays and User Interfaces?
> >
> > It’s because displays conferring information to users are not quite there yet.
> >
> > We need a vessel that can translate player skill directly into the game, and when you are hindered by an artificial constraint, you can’t give 100%.
> >
> > It’s really not about crutches. It’s just about improving the experience and ousting glitches or gameplay detriments.
> >
> > Also, yes Pure, we can all use Turtle Beach headsets, but not everyone has them. It’s important to have an even footing, even in hardware.
>
> I believe that the HUD and the UI in Halo is one of the best implementations that give players the necessary information that I have seen in a video game. Especially in multiplayer. It is very easy to read, simple and is not overly cluttered with information.
>
> With 343i having power weapon spawns appear on your HUD with the indicator including the weapon model, that is a great addition to help the newer players being more aware of what is happening around them.
>
> But a big factor for having the maximum situational awareness is communication. I always communicate with my teammates even if they are randoms and if they don’t have mics plugged in. It just helps to communicate so that players are always aware of whats happening around them when they have no other way of determining it.

I absolutely agree with these points, but that doesn’t change the fact that HUD systems were specifically designed to supplement a player’s situational awareness.

When you move from real life to a game, there are some senses you lose, and as such, you lose part of your situational awareness.

Don’t get me wrong: I love the helmet HUD. I love how it’s also part of the lore.

But there are so many things that can be simplified by conferring information in the environment and removing unnecessary displays.

However I think that changes should simply help the player experience the game with the least restraint possible, within reason.

13

Good situational awareness can only be achieved by the user and not the mechanics. It’s always been that way…

14

> I’m not talking about going all 100 degrees Quake pro on this thing, as that would be rediculous.

Most pro duellers use around 90. Regardless, there’s nothing remotely extreme about a 100 degree FoV. In fact, CE’s splitscreen multiplayer had a horizontal FoV of 110. Obviously, it’s not quite as big as you think it is. As for the other user’s concern about a lower FoV being the result of performance issues, well, I don’t think that’s quite the case. Modern console games all have a widescreen option, and this is just an increased horizontal FoV toggle. Obviously they can do it, to a degree. However, I do think it’s a factor, but they can boost the FoV just a bit more than what they’re shipping with standard settings. What I’d like to see is adjustable FoV options (not just a horizontal FoV switch!) as everyone plays at varying distances to the screen. A 110 FoV would feel unnatural to someone playing from afar but not to someone’s who’s closer–a set universal FoV just doesn’t work, because it causes discomfort to some players. Console games are so far behind when compared to their PC brothers.

With technological advances and developers being able to better optimise their code I’ve noticed something that’s not at all surprising, but something I absolutely hate: a strive for photorealism. You’re right, OP. Video games are not real life, and as such we lose certain senses that we rely on for situational awareness. One of the big ones we lose is the ability to perceive depth, but developers (more correctly, artists) in their excitement seem to ignore that and fill up their game worlds with so much geometry it becomes hard to navigate. Now add in an unnatural amount of motion blur (courtesy of the devs wanting the game to look smooth running at a terribly low frame rate), a small FoV restricting your view of the world, and it’s no surprise some players run into walls and get -Yoinking!- lost! Bungie took it one step further with Reach though, and added film grain too. I just lost the ball man, the game was giving me eye cancer. This is a great article talking about FoV, and why Call of Duty is so popular amongst console gamers (hint: it’s not because it looks pretty).

I know I won’t see this because console devs are so far up in la la land, but it’d be bloody fantastic if Halo 4 ran at 60 FPS, gave players button mapping options, FoV options, visual effects options (film grain, light flares, etc.), and removed excessive motion blur! If it means cutting down on the visuals, do it! Because in the end it doesn’t matter if a wall is a grey texture, or if it’s the most highly decorative piece of artwork imaginable with jaw dropping anti-aliasing and shadows, because it’s still a wall! Actually, the latter might piss players off because their character models get stuck on the wall’s outcroppings and their nades don’t bounce off as intended. Also, don’t go -Yoinking!- blinding people with your ‘amazing’ volumetric lighting, 343 (at first glance did you notice the red on the far right?). I’m on a bit of a rant…

A players only tools for situational awareness in a video game are sight and sound, and I hate when they get bombarded with useless crap like lens flares, motion blur, film grain, overly ornate geometry, text flying in your face every time you get a kill ("+ 1000000000000000000 XP!", “AWESOME NEW WEAPON UNLOCKED!” “RANK UP!”), low frame rates and low fields of view! That’s talking just about sight though, 343 plans to bombard our eardrums with in-helmet-breathing and whatever else they have cooked up. Pretty graphics and amazing audio are nice, but they’re just gimmicks and once novelty wears off they don’t matter. If they’re too prevalent they’ll impact the gameplay in a negative fashion. KillZone 3 is beautiful to look at and listen to, but it’s a pain in the -Yoink- to wade through all the visual and auditory noise to actually play. That’s why it’s dead. You need to balance this -Yoink-, because when it goes too far to the right it’s a game killer and your product won’t last past the hype, and if it’s too far to the left you won’t generate major interest, but it’ll last for a mother -Yoinking!- long time (assuming you’ve got the gameplay pat).

15

> > I’m not talking about going all 100 degrees Quake pro on this thing, as that would be rediculous.
>
> Most pro duellers use around 90. Regardless, there’s nothing remotely extreme about a 100 degree FoV. In fact, CE’s splitscreen multiplayer had a horizontal FoV of 110.
> snip

Sorry about the late reply, I got caught up in stuff.

Anyway, thank you for your post. You actually get where I’m going at and I’m hoping 343 pick up on this stuff.

I have hope for the game, but got kinda of a heartbreak seeing some footage (dont discuss leaks derp).

All I want is a game that works (with the bare minimum) and that fits the lore.

No -Yoink- assassination animations that take forever and just “look cool”, no multiplayer pause button (armor lock), no killstreak -Yoink-, an even playing field and none of that “HEY YOU GOT A HEADSHOT HAVE A COOKIE” garbage.