Halo3: The Thread

Since 7007 Days

At least it's actual geometry out there and not a flat blurred image like most games use (including Halo 2 - most notably the first Arbiter Mission where they fly towards the research station and it's just a flat as hell jpeg quality image)

I spy covie and UNSC carriers as well as a flock o' banshee's. Also many a plume of smoke billowing out of New and Old Mombasa. Oya and the Forerunner ship Dreadnaught.

In reply to

Acert93

Since 6985 Days

Posted by JXB

Acert, Id really like to know, wtf are you smoking? everthing looks flat? looks like a xbox game? you must be on that good ish...

I don't smoke. Do you?

And hey, instead of childish ranting, why not direct some time at my specific comments -- like the skin shading/normals on the grunts, the shadowing issues I mention, etc...

It is WAY more constructive to respond to my specific comments -- and prove them wrong if you can show I made a mistake -- then to put words in my mouth and not address anything I said.

In reply to

The fans have spoken. Concerning the graphics of the Halo 3 Beta: "There's so many little effects and things going on that make this game pretty much 2nd only to Gears at the moment."

Phaethon360

Since 6860 Days

Still think their skin looks flat? I see what you're getting at, but I can't think of a 360 game that's used geometry over a detailed, low res texture. Gears of War was full of them. It's just really difficult to hide outside of darkly lit areas.

In reply to

Phaethon, the forum Spectre.

Acert93

Since 6985 Days

Chest and arms, definately. Ditto with the mask and grunt armor. His cranium has some bump mapping though, although the skin shader is still fairly flat in terms of lighting, translucence, reflectivity, etc. And same issues there on the grunt with light side/dark side illumination. The sun is obviously low based on the lighting on the warthog and brute. In such situations the side facing the sun should be fairly illuminated, and the far facing side should be significantly shadowed. See the ground under the hog? Note the bright/shadowed contrast. That same degree of contrast should be seen on every object between front/back side, with a transitionary zone.

What it looks like to me is the ambient lighting is jacked up which can wash out the contrast a lot. The brute has similar issues, the difference being the HDR highlights on his armor, which is fairly reflective, contrasts more to give it some depth.

The little grunt really lacks anything being highlighted (just a little bit) and looks flat.

And I NEVER said all pictures looked bad. I actually posted some with good lighting!

But you are not going to convince me that the new pic with the grunts and plasma grenade doesn't look flat. Taking off the fan goggles (as a lot of people have in the news thread) it obviously sucks in terms of balance. And my point is a technical one. If people like the art, great. But Halo 3 is showing some NICE lighting in some videos and screen shots -- which makes that one look horrible.

And as someone else said, if that shot was released with any other name people would rip it apart. It looks that bad. Horrible even.

In reply to

Chest and arms, definately. Ditto with the mask and grunt armor. His cranium has some bump mapping though, although the skin shader is still fairly flat in terms of lighting, translucence, reflectivity, etc. And same issues there on the grunt with light side/dark side illumination. The sun is obviously low based on the lighting on the warthog and brute. In such situations the side facing the sun should be fairly illuminated, and the far facing side should be significantly shadowed. See the ground under the hog? Note the bright/shadowed contrast. That same degree of contrast should be seen on every object between front/back side, with a transitionary zone.

What it looks like to me is the ambient lighting is jacked up which can wash out the contrast a lot. The brute has similar issues, the difference being the HDR highlights on his armor, which is fairly reflective, contrasts more to give it some depth.

The little grunt really lacks anything being highlighted (just a little bit) and looks flat.

And I NEVER said all pictures looked bad. I actually posted some with good lighting!

But you are not going to convince me that the new pic with the grunts and plasma grenade doesn't look flat. Taking off the fan goggles (as a lot of people have in the news thread) it obviously sucks in terms of balance. And my point is a technical one. If people like the art, great. But Halo 3 is showing some NICE lighting in some videos and screen shots -- which makes that one look horrible.

And as someone else said, if that shot was released with any other name people would rip it apart. It looks that bad. Horrible even.

The fans have spoken. Concerning the graphics of the Halo 3 Beta: "There's so many little effects and things going on that make this game pretty much 2nd only to Gears at the moment."

dcdelgado

Since 6874 Days

One of the best looking Games out there by far IMO!!

In reply to

Mass Effect - Nov 07 - Start the Fight!!!

Bitches!!

Phaethon360

Since 6860 Days

Posted by Acert93

But you are not going to convince me that the new pic with the grunts and plasma grenade doesn't look flat. Taking off the fan goggles (as a lot of people have in the news thread) it obviously sucks in terms of balance. And my point is a technical one. If people like the art, great. But Halo 3 is showing some NICE lighting in some videos and screen shots -- which makes that one look horrible.

And as someone else said, if that shot was released with any other name people would rip it apart. It looks that bad. Horrible even.

I definitely wouldn't be impressed with the game if I hadn't seen the other media. But I have, so I don't feel the need to gripe about bad shots, or harp and go into detail about good looking ones. The game is out in 20 days.

I think the shots are getting fair comparisons. Some people think they look good, some people think they look bad. Same with every other game on the market. Pretty absurd chopping the opinions down to "OMG FANBOY!" or "OMG HALO H8R!"

In reply to

[quote=Acert93]But you are not going to convince me that the new pic with the grunts and plasma grenade doesn't look flat. Taking off the fan goggles (as a lot of people have in the news thread) it obviously sucks in terms of balance. And my point is a technical one. If people like the art, great. But Halo 3 is showing some NICE lighting in some videos and screen shots -- which makes that one look horrible.

And as someone else said, if that shot was released with any other name people would rip it apart. It looks that bad. Horrible even.[/quote]

I definitely wouldn't be impressed with the game if I hadn't seen the other media. But I have, so I don't feel the need to gripe about bad shots, or harp and go into detail about good looking ones. The game is out in 20 days.

I think the shots are getting fair comparisons. Some people think they look good, some people think they look bad. Same with every other game on the market. Pretty absurd chopping the opinions down to "OMG FANBOY!" or "OMG HALO H8R!"

Phaethon, the forum Spectre.

deftangel

Since 6882 Days

What game has been released this generation that doesn't have any bad screenshots related to it?

There's been enough good stuff released that gives a good enough idea of what the game will look like when playing it. Picking over direct feed stills of the game is good only to a certain extent. Certainly viable when having a technical discussion about the games visuals but the vast majority of you will simply play the thing and see a "bad" shot like the above for no longer than 1/30th of a second.

It's very easy to pick out imperfections staring at a single screen for a minute, whilst playing any human is going to notice a hell of a lot less. If you stop Gears and look around you can see the rough edges.

It's fine to discuss the media at hand, it's all we have after all, but there's a lot of people taking a single screen and running a mile with it extrapolating with no consideration to the context in which we're looking at it. Acert's technical discussion is always qualified as such so while everyone has to have their opinion polarised as Phaethon described I have no idea!

In reply to

What game has been released this generation that doesn't have any bad screenshots related to it?

There's been enough good stuff released that gives a good enough idea of what the game will look like when playing it. Picking over direct feed stills of the game is good only to a certain extent. Certainly viable when having a technical discussion about the games visuals but the vast majority of you will simply play the thing and see a "bad" shot like the above for no longer than 1/30th of a second.

It's very easy to pick out imperfections staring at a single screen for a minute, whilst playing any human is going to notice a hell of a lot less. If you stop Gears and look around you can see the rough edges.

It's fine to discuss the media at hand, it's all we have after all, but there's a lot of people taking a single screen and running a mile with it extrapolating with no consideration to the context in which we're looking at it. Acert's technical discussion is always qualified as such so while everyone has to have their opinion polarised as Phaethon described I have no idea!

Acert93

Since 6985 Days

For all those asking me what I am smoking and how wrong I am without actually discussing my points

1. You guys keep talking about all the great media, but we are still waiting for 720p Direct feed. Off screen can obsure quality, especially contrast, in favor of a game and cover up issues. The game looks good (I even said the first picture looked good), but with all the PR out there I like to see stuff myself before I jump on the hype bandwagon. And NO! I don't believe reports. Seeing the professionals call Motorstorm "like the CGI" in quality is just one reason why.

2. As for bad screenshots... You can disagree, but I find it horrible quality control to release *really bad shots* especially of high budget games. There should be someone who knows what is good and bad, watching over the media released. The fact someone thought that shot was good and is worth "showcasing" Halo 3... scares me. This is a problem MS/Sony really need to address.

And, frankly, I get tired of being attacked. You say something good, people get upset. You say something bad, people get upset. Comments asking what I am smoking should be perma ban.

I don't mind if people disagree. I try to distinguish between art/austhetics and what I am seeing technically.

And for the record, the SP footage Blim has captured looks great. So I don't see why people get so bent out of shape when Bungie releases something that looks bad and people go, "Hey, that is a crappy screenshot". We know the game looks good, that doesn't stop the screenshot from looking bad!

Nor does a bad screenshot make the game look bad.

In reply to

For all those asking me what I am smoking and how wrong I am without actually discussing my points

1. You guys keep talking about all the great media, but we are still waiting for 720p Direct feed. Off screen can obsure quality, especially contrast, in favor of a game and cover up issues. The game looks good (I even said the first picture looked good), but with all the PR out there I like to see stuff myself before I jump on the hype bandwagon. And NO! I don't believe reports. Seeing the professionals call Motorstorm "like the CGI" in quality is just one reason why.

2. As for bad screenshots... You can disagree, but I find it horrible quality control to release *really bad shots* especially of high budget games. There should be someone who knows what is good and bad, watching over the media released. The fact someone thought that shot was good and is worth "showcasing" Halo 3... scares me. This is a problem MS/Sony really need to address.

And, frankly, I get tired of being attacked. You say something good, people get upset. You say something bad, people get upset. Comments asking what I am smoking should be perma ban.

I don't mind if people disagree. I try to distinguish between art/austhetics and what I am seeing technically.

And for the record, the SP footage Blim has captured looks great. So I don't see why people get so bent out of shape when Bungie releases something that looks bad and people go, "Hey, that is a crappy screenshot". We know the game looks good, that doesn't stop the screenshot from looking bad!

Nor does a bad screenshot make the game look bad.

The fans have spoken. Concerning the graphics of the Halo 3 Beta: "There's so many little effects and things going on that make this game pretty much 2nd only to Gears at the moment."

dcdelgado

Since 6874 Days

Sweet new long video showing some multiplayer and forge footage. (video quality is not to good and its off screen)

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/usermovies/1013...

In reply to

Mass Effect - Nov 07 - Start the Fight!!!

Bitches!!

deftangel

Since 6882 Days

Posted by Acert93

And for the record, the SP footage Blim has captured looks great. So I don't see why people get so bent out of shape when Bungie releases something that looks bad and people go, "Hey, that is a crappy screenshot". We know the game looks good, that doesn't stop the screenshot from looking bad!

Nor does a bad screenshot make the game look bad.

Which is exactly what I was alluding to and what people don't get. Context is everything. The shot with the grunt really close up 99% of us will NEVER see in-game whilst playing. It's fine to have a qualified technical discussion about it but there's enough people who run off down the lines of "the graphics are now disappointing" which only causes reactionary retorts from those who disagree, some of whom are unable to disagree objectively

I think you have too many fans and everyone wants to be able to de-construct screen shots like you :P

In reply to

Jin187

Since 6758 Days

Hahaha, FOrge looks like it could be amazingly fun, awesome!

In reply to

dcdelgado

Since 6874 Days

On our last evening at Bungie on a recent trip, we played several matches of a crazy vehicular racing variant on Sandtrap; its creator refined the gametype in-between rounds, from utter chaos into something more manageable but still riotously fun over the course of the evening. It was a great demonstration of coming up with an excellent customization, and could quite easily be placed on Bungie Recommends.

rest:

http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3162470

In reply to

Mass Effect - Nov 07 - Start the Fight!!!

Bitches!!

CARB

Since 6567 Days

Posted by Acert93

Comments asking what I am smoking should be perma ban..

why is that exactly ????
you are not god, you dont own gamersyde, and your opinion is no better than anyone elses.
you dont own an xbox360...and i truly believe you dont care about halo series

there are some true halo fans here that are looking forward to H3 no matter what a screen shot looks like

to gripe over the technical aspects of a screenshot (of a view that wil never be seen during gameplay) is a bit sad acert, we've seen the new footage (even if it is off screen ) and it looks amazing, so why gripe and throw comments around regarding looking like an xbox shot.

some consistancy would be nice from you , pick apart heavenly sword, pick apart killzone and its drab lowrez grey textures

seems to me that if any one dares to pick apart any ps3 game from lair to HS the threads get locked and final comments like ..*now now lets not have non of this i told you so threads * as if its not ok to do so???
yet its a free for all on any 360 game

yes any one shold be able to ask you what you are smoking....the site has rules ie trolling or anything illegal and last time i looked asking you what you smoke isnt any of the above, and shouldnt nor doesnt deserve a perma ban

your a legend in your own head !

In reply to

[quote=Acert93]Comments asking what I am smoking should be perma ban..[/quote]

why is that exactly ????
you are not god, you dont own gamersyde, and your opinion is no better than anyone elses.
you dont own an xbox360...and i truly believe you dont care about halo series

there are some true halo fans here that are looking forward to H3 no matter what a screen shot looks like

to gripe over the technical aspects of a screenshot (of a view that wil never be seen during gameplay) is a bit sad acert, we've seen the new footage (even if it is off screen ) and it looks amazing, so why gripe and throw comments around regarding looking like an xbox shot.

some consistancy would be nice from you , pick apart heavenly sword, pick apart killzone and its drab lowrez grey textures

seems to me that if any one dares to pick apart any ps3 game from lair to HS the threads get locked and final comments like ..*now now lets not have non of this i told you so threads * as if its not ok to do so???
yet its a free for all on any 360 game

yes any one shold be able to ask you what you are smoking....the site has rules ie trolling or anything illegal and last time i looked asking you what you smoke isnt any of the above,  and shouldnt nor doesnt deserve a perma ban

your a legend in your own head !

LEBATO

Since 7136 Days

Hmn....I don't know what to think of that post CARB. I do agree that perma banning, or simply banning people for asking someone else what they are smoking is extreme measure, especially knowing those comments are very satirical.

I also do kind of see what you mean when it's time to criticize a PS3 game........to a point. I've harshly criticized MGS, etc etc, and I never get in trouble. More PS3 games' threads being locked? True, but I don't know why.

And lastly, I never like when anyone brings the "true fan" comments. If it helps at all, you may want to read the thread Acert made regarding H3 and Forge.

But whatever......I don't know what to think really.

In reply to

szaromir

Since 6770 Days

some consistancy would be nice from you , pick apart heavenly sword, pick apart killzone and its drab lowrez grey textures

Acert is very nitpicky about games he discusses (but also gives credit where he thinks it's due), and for some reason he doesn't discuss PS3 games that much. Although threatening people with permabans isn't a good way of moderating forums, he certainly isn't a fanboy.

For me Halo 3 visuals are a mixed bag so far. There are many good things about them, but lighting is so completely last gen... That's why I think some screens are flat
http://gamersyde.com/news_4912_en.html
but some are gorgeous.
http://www.1up.com/do/slideshow?pager.offset=0&mt=...
http://www.1up.com/do/slideshow?pager.offset=0&mt=...

I guess I have to experience these battles with more enemies than in entire "Pillar of Autumn" mission.

In reply to

"That just happened 'cause that was awesome" - Randy Pitchford, Gearbox

LEBATO

Since 7136 Days

@szaromir, WHAT!?!?

Lighting is completely last gen? I don't get it, I think that's the best the game has to offer in terms of graphics, lol.

In reply to

szaromir

Since 6770 Days

Posted by LEBATO

@szaromir, WHAT!?!?

Lighting is completely last gen? I don't get it, I think that's the best the game has to offer in terms of graphics, lol.

I meant shadowing to be exact, environmental shadows are prebaked, things (dynamic objects) often do not cast shadows in sunlight or light from flashlight, or cast them even though they are already in these brebaked shadows. That's some last-gen stuff, even some last-gen games had these things done much better (think about Splinter Cell series). Bungie artists make up for it as much as they can, but it's still a downside for me.

In reply to

"That just happened 'cause that was awesome" - Randy Pitchford, Gearbox

dcdelgado

Since 6874 Days

Yep you fuc@ed up with the lighting comment! go watch the gamersyde videos then come back and tell me what you think about the lighting in Halo3?

In reply to

Mass Effect - Nov 07 - Start the Fight!!!

Bitches!!

szaromir

Since 6770 Days

Posted by dcdelgado

Yep you fuc@ed up with the lighting comment! go watch the gamersyde videos then come back and tell me what you think about the lighting in Halo3?

lol, calm down.

In reply to

"That just happened 'cause that was awesome" - Randy Pitchford, Gearbox

dcdelgado

Since 6874 Days

Posted by szaromir

lol, calm down.

Come on now that was a very calm statment :), but sometimes certain comments people make just have to be pulled up.

In reply to

Mass Effect - Nov 07 - Start the Fight!!!

Bitches!!

szaromir

Since 6770 Days

Posted by dcdelgado

Come on now that was a very calm statment :), but sometimes certain comments people make just have to be pulled up.

You've got to have thicker skin for discussions on message boards, as they can get pretty intense (Acert and Carb, too). Anyway, you should already know that I'm one of the biggest Halo fans out there, so I'm not trolling whatsoever.

In reply to

"That just happened 'cause that was awesome" - Randy Pitchford, Gearbox

Eddy186

Since 6960 Days

Most games dont even use dynamic, soft shadowing even if they do it is only to a certain extent.

There needs to be a game that uses HDR, dynamic shadowing, soft shadowing, self shadowing, and bloom. Now that sir would be one crazy game.

Posted by szaromir

I meant shadowing to be exact, environmental shadows are prebaked, things (dynamic objects) often do not cast shadows in sunlight or light from flashlight, or cast them even though they are already in these brebaked shadows. That's some last-gen stuff, even some last-gen games had these things done much better (think about Splinter Cell series). Bungie artists make up for it as much as they can, but it's still a downside for me.

In reply to

deftangel

Since 6882 Days

Acert posted a technical critique of the Halo 3 screen shot which was clearly qualified as such. I don't see anybody here with anything like the same level of knowledge in that area. If you don't enjoy or understand that particular discussion, don't read the post!

The problem is, despite it only being a post discussing the technical aspects of the shot/media some of you take it as "OMG he criticized Halo 3, I must defend it!"

Then a whole other bunch of you pile in with comments like "Yeah, you see! Graphics under-whelmaton" and everything just goes rapidly downhill.

Asking what someone is smoking not only has got nothing to do with what we're talking about, it's also pretty rude and you're piling into the guy as he dared to make a critical comment of a piece of Halo 3 media like that's not allowed or something. If someone goes to the trouble of posting a detailed opinion, comments like "What are you smoking, you need glasses etc" just aren't on and aren't the sort of discussion we want to encourage on this forum. If that's your bag there's plenty of others places for it. Keep doing it and you won't be having a choice in the matter.

If that's a problem for anyone please feel free to PM me or if you want a big discussion on it start a thread in the relevant forum but for now it'd be nice if we can keep this thread to talking about the game, in this case, Halo 3 rather than having a pop at other users. That is after all why we're all here

In reply to

Acert posted a technical critique of the Halo 3 screen shot which was clearly qualified as such. I don't see anybody here with anything like the same level of knowledge in that area. If you don't enjoy or understand that particular discussion, don't read the post!

The problem is, despite it only being a post discussing the technical aspects of the shot/media some of you take it as "OMG he criticized Halo 3, I must defend it!"

Then a whole other bunch of you pile in with comments like "Yeah, you see! Graphics under-whelmaton" and everything just goes rapidly downhill.

Asking what someone is smoking not only has got nothing to do with what we're talking about, it's also pretty rude and you're piling into the guy as he dared to make a critical comment of a piece of Halo 3 media like that's not allowed or something. If someone goes to the trouble of posting a detailed opinion, comments like "What are you smoking, you need glasses etc" just aren't on and aren't the sort of discussion we want to encourage on this forum. If that's your bag there's plenty of others places for it. Keep doing it and you won't be having a choice in the matter.

If that's a problem for anyone please feel free to PM me or if you want a big discussion on it start a thread in the relevant forum but for now it'd be nice if we can keep this thread to talking about [i]the game[/i], in this case, Halo 3 rather than having a pop at other users. That is after all why we're all here :-)

GriftGFX

Since 7014 Days

Wow. I knew there was a reason we recruited you deft. A+

Now lets all discuss Halo in a civil manner.

In reply to

dcdelgado

Since 6874 Days

WTF!!

Looks like Halo 3's Master Chief is getting the red carpet treatment as he reaches celebrity status... in wax form. Godfree of Gamertag Radio received an email from someone who visited Madame Tussauds in London with a picture of what appears to be Master Chief moulded in wax.

http://xbox360.qj.net/Master-Chief-to-join-Madame-...

In reply to

Mass Effect - Nov 07 - Start the Fight!!!

Bitches!!

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