This Needs to Be Fixed Before Infinite

Games Halo Infinite
1

Firstly, consider the following levels:
The Silent Cartographer – Classic
Assault on the Control Room – Classic
The Library – Classic
The Arbiter / The Oracle - Classic
Delta Halo / Regret – Classic
Uprising / The Great Journey – Classic

The Silent Cartographer – Anniversary
Assault on the Control Room – Anniversary
The Library – Anniversary
The Arbiter / The Oracle - Anniversary
Delta Halo / Regret – Anniversary
Uprising / The Great Journey – Anniversary
Requiem
Forerunner
Shutdown
Midnight
Osiris
Reunion

Most people have likely guessed what this is about based on that list: the Forerunner Architecture. Putting aside the floating pieces and circular holopanels from Halos 4 and 5, EVERYTHING LOOKS THE SAME!

Refer to the top section of that list. Play those levels, observe and take in your surroundings; the shapes of the doors, the textures on the walls, the geometry, the repeating motifs and patterns, and importantly, the colours. Take The Silent Cartographer and Uprising for example (the Classic versions obviously). The surfaces are glossy, implying metal, but also rustic and natural looking, implying ancient. There are very particular patterns, objects and symbols placed throughout these rooms. Look at the colours! There’s light grey, dark grey, silver, gold, bronze, tan, with red lights, yellow lights, white lights, blue lights, green lights, etc. … Now switch to the Anniversary versions. -_-

Every Bungie level, despite their repeating motifs, they are very clearly Forerunner yet quite apparently unique from one another. They look different. Every 343i level on the other hand, well, let’s just say they like their overcomplicated, chunky blocks of sci-fi metal covered in the same deep blue lights over and over again. I mean, even the redesign of the Halo ring looks like this.

I’m sick of every 343i designed level looking and feeling exactly the same. It’s a large part of the reason I haven’t replayed Halos 4 and 5 nearly as much as Bungie’s games, and it’s the reason I much prefer to play in Classic mode over Anniversary. Despite the graphics being technologically more advanced, they just look worse. 343i’s Forerunner-based levels get stale very quickly.

So please, 343i industries, please, correct this issue before you complete Halo: Infinite. The new Forerunner architecture design is not good at all. It goes against what was established in the original Halos (CE-Reach☆), and it’s just plain boring. This is coming from someone who enjoys Halo 4 and 5 as a whole, so this isn’t just biased hatred. Please understand that this is a legitimate concern, and addressing it will only improve your game.

Thanks everyone for reading. I’d love to see your comments.

☆ not including Reach’s Anniversary Map Pack

2

> 2535415876049274;1:
> Firstly, consider the following levels:
> The Silent Cartographer – Classic
> Assault on the Control Room – Classic
> The Library – Classic
> The Arbiter / The Oracle - Classic
> Delta Halo / Regret – Classic
> Uprising / The Great Journey – Classic
> The Silent Cartographer – Anniversary
> Assault on the Control Room – Anniversary
> The Library – Anniversary
> The Arbiter / The Oracle - Anniversary
> Delta Halo / Regret – Anniversary
> Uprising / The Great Journey – Anniversary
> Requiem
> Forerunner
> Shutdown
> Midnight
> Osiris
> Reunion
> Most people have likely guessed what this is about based on that list: the Forerunner Architecture. Putting aside the floating pieces and circular holopanels from Halos 4 and 5, EVERYTHING LOOKS THE SAME!
>
> Refer to the top section of that list. Play those levels, observe and take in your surroundings; the shapes of the doors, the textures on the walls, the geometry, the repeating motifs and patterns, and importantly, the colours. Take The Silent Cartographer and Uprising for example (the Classic versions obviously). The surfaces are glossy, implying metal, but also rustic and natural looking, implying ancient. There are very particular patterns, objects and symbols placed throughout these rooms. Look at the colours! There’s light grey, dark grey, silver, gold, bronze, tan, with red lights, yellow lights, white lights, blue lights, green lights, etc. … Now switch to the Anniversary versions. -_-
>
> Every Bungie level, despite their repeating motifs, they are very clearly Forerunner yet quite apparently unique from one another. They look different. Every 343i level on the other hand, well, let’s just say they like their overcomplicated, chunky blocks of sci-fi metal covered in the same deep blue lights over and over again. I mean, even the redesign of the Halo ring looks like this.
>
> I’m sick of every 343i designed level looking and feeling exactly the same. It’s a large part of the reason I haven’t replayed Halos 4 and 5 nearly as much as Bungie’s games, and it’s the reason I much prefer to play in Classic mode over Anniversary. Despite the graphics being technologically more advanced, they just look worse. 343i’s Forerunner-based levels get stale very quickly.
>
> So please, 343i industries, please, correct this issue before you complete Halo: Infinite. The new Forerunner architecture design is not good at all. It goes against what was established in the original Halos (CE-Reach), and it’s just plain boring. This is coming from someone who enjoys Halo 4 and 5 as a whole, so this isn’t just biased hatred. Please understand that this is a legitimate concern, and addressing it will only improve your game.
>
> Thanks everyone for reading. I’d love to see your comments.

Well, I don’t like the design of the forerunners enemies very much, in despite some vehicles.
And how I hate Warden Eternal. There’s nothing special in his design. And I don’t like very much the stuff of floating pieces of metal.

3

> 2535436090432793;2:
> > 2535415876049274;1:
> >
>
> Well, I don’t like the design of the forerunners enemies very much, in despite some vehicles.
> And how I hate Warden Eternal. There’s nothing special in his design. And I don’t like very much the stuff of floating pieces of metal.

It is significantly different from what Bungie established. I sat down not long ago and doodled my own version of the Prometheans. Admittedly, I didn’t put much effort into them as I was merely procrastinating actual work I was supposed to do, but I was much happier with my versions over 343i’s. I’ll see if I can find them.

And yeah. 343i reeeaaallly have to tone it down with the floaty pieces. Not sure what their obsession is with them. This ain’t no Michael Bay Transformers .

Edit: I’ve uploaded my designs.

  • Watcher - Knight - CrawlerI figure the Knight can still reveal the skull image within that main lense sort of thing in the centre of the face. My inspiration was the original Forerunner design established by Bungie, particularly the Sentinels, as well as the Prefect armour from Halo 4 and 5 (but moreso Bungie’s Sentinels).
4

> 2535415876049274;3:
> > 2535436090432793;2:
> > > 2535415876049274;1:
> > >
> >
> > Well, I don’t like the design of the forerunners enemies very much, in despite some vehicles.
> > And how I hate Warden Eternal. There’s nothing special in his design. And I don’t like very much the stuff of floating pieces of metal.
>
> It is significantly different from what Bungie established. I sat down not long ago and doodled my own version of the Prometheans. Admittedly, I didn’t put much effort into them as I was merely procrastinating actual work I was supposed to do, but I was much happier with my version over 343i’s. I’ll see if I can find them.
>
> And yeah. 343i reeeaaallly have to tone it down with the floaty pieces. Not sure what their obsession is with them. This ain’t no Michael Bay Transformers .
>
> Edit: I’ve uploaded my designs.
> - Watcher - Knight - CrawlerI figure the Knight can still reveal the skull image within that main lense sort of thing in the centre of the face. My inspiration was the original Forerunner design established by Bungie, particularly the Sentinels, as well as the Prefect armour from Halo 4 and 5 (but more so Bungie’s Sentinels).

I like how your designs resemble the classic Sentinels. That’s sord of how they should have looked in the first place.

5

Good points, it’s important to keep things fresh visually too, not just gameplay wise. I also prefer the ancient feel of Bungie’s forerunner style.

6

> 2535415876049274;3:
> > 2535436090432793;2:
> > > 2535415876049274;1:
> > >
> >
> > Well, I don’t like the design of the forerunners enemies very much, in despite some vehicles.
> > And how I hate Warden Eternal. There’s nothing special in his design. And I don’t like very much the stuff of floating pieces of metal.
>
> It is significantly different from what Bungie established. I sat down not long ago and doodled my own version of the Prometheans. Admittedly, I didn’t put much effort into them as I was merely procrastinating actual work I was supposed to do, but I was much happier with my versions over 343i’s. I’ll see if I can find them.
>
> And yeah. 343i reeeaaallly have to tone it down with the floaty pieces. Not sure what their obsession is with them. This ain’t no Michael Bay Transformers .
>
> Edit: I’ve uploaded my designs.
> - Watcher - Knight - CrawlerI figure the Knight can still reveal the skull image within that main lense sort of thing in the centre of the face. My inspiration was the original Forerunner design established by Bungie, particularly the Sentinels, as well as the Prefect armour from Halo 4 and 5 (but moreso Bungie’s Sentinels).

I think they tried to associate forerunners with some too futuristc design, and it feels so unecessary for an already thematic Sci-fi Halo Style. That’s why look more at confusing aestethic transformers design.
I would prefer more like inspired ancient-technology design with this kind of armor.

Maybe they should put some blue fluorescent line to fit well.
And your designs are good too. But i think we should put more sharped claws on the crawler to be more realistc fast and crawling in different scenarios, like earth grounds, rocks and metal. And they should put permanent mark pass of walking.

7

> 2535436090432793;6:
> > 2535415876049274;3:
> > > 2535436090432793;2:
> > > > 2535415876049274;1:
> > > >
> > >
> > > Well, I don’t like the design of the forerunners enemies very much, in despite some vehicles.
> > > And how I hate Warden Eternal. There’s nothing special in his design. And I don’t like very much the stuff of floating pieces of metal.
> >
> > It is significantly different from what Bungie established. I sat down not long ago and doodled my own version of the Prometheans. Admittedly, I didn’t put much effort into them as I was merely procrastinating actual work I was supposed to do, but I was much happier with my versions over 343i’s. I’ll see if I can find them.
> >
> > And yeah. 343i reeeaaallly have to tone it down with the floaty pieces. Not sure what their obsession is with them. This ain’t no Michael Bay Transformers .
> >
> > Edit: I’ve uploaded my designs.
> > - Watcher - Knight - CrawlerI figure the Knight can still reveal the skull image within that main lense sort of thing in the centre of the face. My inspiration was the original Forerunner design established by Bungie, particularly the Sentinels, as well as the Prefect armour from Halo 4 and 5 (but moreso Bungie’s Sentinels).
>
> I think they tried to associate forerunners with some too futuristc design, and it feels so unecessary for an already thematic Sci-fi Halo Style. That’s why look more at confusing aestethic transformers design.
> I would prefer more like inspired ancient-technology design with this kind of armor.
> Combat skin | Halo Alpha | Fandom
> Maybe they should put some blue fluorescent line to fit well.
> And your designs are good too. But i think we should put more sharped claws on the crawler to be more realistc fast and crawling in different scenarios, like earth grounds, rocks and metal. And they should put permanent mark pass of walking.

I always liked that Combat Skin design. It is a shame 343i didn’t go with that for the Prometheans. It looks a million times more Forerunner. I imagine them moving around in a very different way as well if they looked like that.
My drawings are more intended to be a redesign of the current Prometheans for future appearances, so they had to be somewhat similar to their current appearance. I do wish I had drawn the Hardlight Sword more narrow and saber-like though. Regarding the Crawler, I dunno. I’m not sure I like the primitive, animalistic ones. It’s a cool design, but it doesn’t feel Forerunner. That said, my two Crawler drawings aren’t really how I’d like them either. They were very rough.

8

> 2535415876049274;1:
> Most people have likely guessed what this is about based on that list: the Forerunner Architecture. Putting aside the floating pieces and circular holopanels from Halos 4 and 5, EVERYTHING LOOKS THE SAME!

In a nutshell, when 343i took over they thought the artstyle didn’t matter. They didn’t think we would notice or care. It does appear that they are trying to make all Forerunner structures identical, probably because it makes things easier. It perhaps never occured to them that Forerunner had been building things for thousands of years yet somehow never attempted any creativity or diversity in their art, and they all seemed to like gray.

The Halo rings were all made at nearly the same time for the same purpose, so it’s plausible that they would all look a lot alike. Requiem (Halo 4) was the exact opposite of a Halo ring and it had an entirely different purpose, and I believe it was much older but I’m not real sure about that and I don’t want to stop writing to check. Given what it was designed to do, I find it difficult to believe the Builders would have had the architechture so similar to the rings, although the irony may not have been lost on the Didact.

The fact that the Forerunner had reached a point where they could build whatever they wanted, any way they wanted, makes it hard to believe all the results would be the same

9

> 2533274798957786;8:
> > 2535415876049274;1:
> > Most people have likely guessed what this is about based on that list: the Forerunner Architecture. Putting aside the floating pieces and circular holopanels from Halos 4 and 5, EVERYTHING LOOKS THE SAME!
>
> In a nutshell, when 343i took over they thought the artstyle didn’t matter. They didn’t think we would notice or care. It does appear that they are trying to make all Forerunner structures identical, probably because it makes things easier. It perhaps never occured to them that Forerunner had been building things for thousands of years yet somehow never attempted any creativity or diversity in their art, and they all seemed to like gray.
>
> The Halo rings were all made at nearly the same time for the same purpose, so it’s plausible that they would all look a lot alike. Requiem (Halo 4) was the exact opposite of a Halo ring and it had an entirely different purpose, and I believe it was much older but I’m not real sure about that and I don’t want to stop writing to check. Given what it was designed to do, I find it difficult to believe the Builders would have had the architechture so similar to the rings, although the irony may not have been lost on the Didact.
>
> The fact that the Forerunner had reached a point where they could build whatever they wanted, any way they wanted, makes it hard to believe all the results would be the same

I am sure they 343i we would notice, but they certainly didn’t seem to foresee the negative fan response to the changes.
Excellent point on the “Forerunner had been building things for thousands of years yet somehow never attempted any creativity or diversity in their art, and they all seemed to like gray”. That’s what this thread is about.

It seems to me that since 343i took over, the Forerunners lost their identity. 343i keep drawing inspiration from things that exist outside of Halo which ends up making it feel fundamentally un-Halo. Halo isn’t Tron. It’s not Marvel. It’s not Crackdown, Dead Space, Metroid, Black Ops or any other sci-fi shooter. 343i need to focus in on what Bungie created for the Forerunner architecture and see that it doesn’t all look the bloody same. As I mentioned in the original post, there are recurring motifs, but there’s also plenty of variety. It’s advanced yet ancient. 343i haven’t got any of that right, and it needs to be corrected now! Otherwise we’ll get another bland, forgettable, and completely un-replayable campaign experience like Halo 5.

10

i dont see a fix but more of change of perspective, i think 343i needs to assemble a team or maybe they already did to focus on the art, the details and the litte things that doesnt change the gameplay but changes the expierence for the gamer. They can take the example of Zelda botw, the details for the fans were incredible.

11

Halo 2 anniversary and halo 3 have my favorite Forerunner designs hands down. Those are the ones I want to see continued.

12

> 2533274847563380;11:
> Halo 2 anniversary and halo 3 have my favorite Forerunner designs hands down. Those are the ones I want to see continued.

As mentioned in the original post, apart from the floaty bits and circular consoles, the Halo 2 Anniversary Forerunner design is almost identical to the Halo 4 design. It couldn’t be further from Halo 3 or the original Halo CE and Halo 2 designs. I talk about it more in the original post, but I highly recommend playing Uprising for the most blatant example. Keep switching between Classic and Anniversary modes.

13

ill throw in all the H5 MP maps that look the same. That needs to go & never return.

14

Would be cool if Promethean Knights looked more like medieval Knights without the mushroomback. Just melee beasts with maybe some range attack. A two handed blade or sword and shield. Hunter-esque. To explain this via Canon, perhaps one can say that the Forerunners studied human history and figured a Knight design was a noble part of humanity now poetically used for “the right purpose” under Didact control. Prometheans are basically past humans or other species, so now the Forerunners forced “humans” into a seemingly noble position once again, one beneath and serving Forerunner, like when Knights served a Lord.

15

> 2533274826044245;13:
> ill throw in all the H5 MP maps that look the same. That needs to go & never return.

Ah. The Halo 5 arena maps…
They’re an interesting topic. The majority of them are very fun to play on, and yet, they’re somehow utterly forgettable at the same time. That’s an odd mix. I have addressed how I think this could be fixed on other threads, so I won’t go into it now, but yes, it is related to the point of this thread.
In terms of the Warzone maps, well, their problem is a little more blatant. Two words: Copy and Paste.

16

> 2533274826044245;13:
> ill throw in all the H5 MP maps that look the same. That needs to go & never return.

I dunno. I think The Rig looks different than Coliseum looks different from Plaza looks different from Truth, etc.

I just don’t think many of the maps have any really cool and iconic characteristics like a lot of Bungie’s maps did.
<p></p>

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> 2614366390849210;16:
> > 2533274826044245;13:
> > ill throw in all the H5 MP maps that look the same. That needs to go & never return.
>
> I dunno. I think The Rig looks different than Coliseum looks different from Plaza looks different from Truth, etc.
>
> I just don’t think many of the maps have any really cool and iconic characteristics like a lot of Bungie’s maps did.
> <p></p>

They are all easily forgettable. In another thread someone posted all the maps that are essentially the same. Doesn’t matter much now, just a bone of contention I had & really was a turn off for this game.

Yeah most these maps are forgettable & they need to go back to how H3 maps were. I could name you every single map & where everything is. H5 maps I probably could name a few if that. A lot has to do with gameplay mechanics tho, that to me dictates how maps can be designed.

18

> 2533274826044245;17:
> > 2614366390849210;16:
> > > 2533274826044245;13:
> > > ill throw in all the H5 MP maps that look the same. That needs to go & never return.
> >
> > I dunno. I think The Rig looks different than Coliseum looks different from Plaza looks different from Truth, etc.
> >
> > I just don’t think many of the maps have any really cool and iconic characteristics like a lot of Bungie’s maps did.
> > <p></p>
>
> They are all easily forgettable. In another thread someone posted all the maps that are essentially the same. Doesn’t matter much now, just a bone of contention I had & really was a turn off for this game.
>
> Yeah most these maps are forgettable & they need to go back to how H3 maps were. I could name you every single map & where everything is. H5 maps I probably could name a few if that. A lot has to do with gameplay mechanics tho, that to me dictates how maps can be designed.

The Halo 5 maps have two elements that make them forgettable. The first is the visuals. That’s obvious. There are plenty of ways they can improve that, which is again, very related to the problem 343i introduced with the Forerunner architecture. They’ve done the same thing for the UNSC and Covenant. There’s just no variety. However, if you look at Halo CE’s multiplayer, the visuals were often repeated there as well, and yet the maps were more memorable. The difference is that every map in Halo CE has a unique layout. Even the Halo 4 maps were unique from each other (up until the first map pack). Halo 5 maps are fun, but they don’t draw people in the same way. Hopefully, 343i work out how to make fun and memorable maps in time for Infinite.

At the end of the day 343i need to remember that people are used to variety. In real life everything doesn’t just look the same because we’re all human, so shouldn’t there be even more variation in space, between planets, between ships, super structures, fortress worlds, ancient, modern, etc. etc.?

Once again, I have to point towards the likes of the Anniversary levels. Halo 2 Anniversary Forerunner interiors all looks the same as the Halo 4 Forerunner levels, which in turn, makes them all look and feel the same from each other. Fortunately Halo 2 at least has a little more lighting differences, but that’s nothing compared to the variation between levels in Classic mode. We shouldn’t settle for this. There’s a reason the original Halo trilogy was played over and over again, and the Anniversary games have not been replayed anywhere near as much.

Deviating from the Forerunner geometry and textures a little, consider the Covenant. Consider Bungie’s High Charity. Refer to the Sanctum of the Hierarchs, High Council Chamber, Scarab Factory and everything in between. Bungie used multiple shades of purple; some reddish, some bluey, some darker, some lighter, some more saturated, some a little desaturated. They also used indigos, greys, silvers and whites, etc. Switch over the Anniversary mode and everything is the same dull, greyish navy blue colour. Why? What’s the aim here? Apart from the doors (which still have the same sound as the Halo CE and Halo 2 Classic Covenant doors) and a minuscule tone change aesthetically, Bungie’s High Charity in Halo 3 (outside of the Flood biomass) remained largely unchanged from Halo 2 Classic’s. The colours and patters were almost identical. The textures were almost exactly the same except improved. If you don’t believe me, play High Charity Classic and observe your surroundings then jump straight to Cortana in Halo 3. … Refer to Midship, Heretic and Truth. Why turn all those different colour tones Bungie had designed into the same bland dark blue colour? (And as a side note: Damn. We’re going to go blind if 343i keep turning up their lense-flare like that.) Refer to the inside of Bungie’s Covenant Scarabs and then look at the inside of the Halo 4 Harvester, Lich or Halo 5 Kracken. What’s with this beetle insect design bleeding into everything? Why make it all look the same? Why make it all so much less exciting? What is this obsession 343i have with taking everything Bungie created visually and turning it into a duller, bland, repetitive version of what is once was?

We can’t settle for this. It effects the replayability, the longevity, and overall experience (Campaign in particular) of new games in this series we love so much. People need to speak up now while 343i are making Infinite. This is the time we can make the most difference for the future of Halo. It’s now or never.