Halo Infinite is out.

[hanselthecaretaker]

At this point, 343i should consider a change in careers or work somewhere else. Microsoft does not even care anymore. I feel bad for all of the Halo fans out there. Like I mentioned before, I was never a big fan of the franchise, but respected the series for what it brought to the table, and its ambition.

It’s kinda tough to respect it even for that, seeing as it also ushered in the era of devs shoehorning MP into everything including even GoW. Even reviews docked seemingly any games’ scores for not having it.

It also pioneered aim assist as a standard for console shooters, and still to this day has nearly cemented the notion that proper aiming mechanics can’t be done for a game pad, which is false.

 

[BrawlMan]

It’s kinda tough to respect it even for that, seeing as it also ushered in the era of devs shoehorning MP into everything including even GoW.

That's not Halo's fault, but a problem with the industry as a whole. It's the system. The whole " These game needs MP/Gore/"be dark & edgy/be more like GTA/Halo/COD etc. in order to be a successful or X killer!" is the same lie they've been pushing for years, and it boils down to these games don't make all the money in the world.

Even reviews docked seemingly any games’ scores for not having it.

That is the fault of game reviewers sucking up to their corporate overlords/ad revenue, having people in the business that should not be there in the first place (many who don't like gaming, or are only there for the shallowest of reasons), and at the time, gaming still being a young medium and reviewing had not been perfected yet. Nor enough different avenues. Though that last one holds no water now, as most reviewers and journalist of any type should know better by now.

It also pioneered aim assist as a standard for console shooters, and still to this day has nearly cemented the notion that proper aiming mechanics can’t be done for a game pad, which is false.

Don't know who was spreading that bullshit, and a first I've ever heard. I am more than aware some people don't like playing shooters on consoles, and they usually tend to be people already on PC to begin with. People seem to forget or ignore, that before Halo, a console FPS's controls differed wildly from game to game and consoles. Those were dark times. You had shooters like Golden Eye and Perfect Dark, but standards change, and their controls did not age well either. Halo did bring proper controls and ease of use to the console market when it came to FPS games. The only problem was those that followed too closely and started doing the two/three weapon limits, but those were far and few in-between at the time. Then again, nearly everyone trying to copy COD and Gears made it worse than almost any Halo clone. Ironic, because even when certain XBOX shooters were taking things from Halo, they still usually offered proper health meters (with some regenerating health depending on the game), armor, and you still had a proper weapon wheel for most games during the 6th generation. Far Cry Instincts being a standout example.

To add, I am not talking about only the MP aspects, but crafting good or great single player campaigns. Before you go on about the Halo clones and stuff, I did not forget. Once again, that is the problem with the industry and playing follow the leader. This has been a thing long before Halo became a mere concept. Besides, the COD and Gears clones were way worse

 

[laggyteabag]

Im not really sure where I stand on this whole UE5 thing.

Switching engines is a massive undertaking. As mentioned earlier, you cant just copy/paste from one engome to another, and have everything play just as it was. If true, this is going to be a massive undertaking, especially if they are bringing in all of the game's modes - and very messy if they aren't.

I would probably say that this would take years to complete.

But, Halo Infinite is in trouble, their current engine sucks, and desperate times call for desperate measures, I guess?

At the end of the day, the biggest factor in believing that this may be true, is that 343 are generally pretty good at squashing rumours. So the fact that this hasn't been squished, leads me to believe that there is some truth to it.

Halo Infinite continues to surprise - just never really in a good way.

 

[BrawlMan]

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[BrawlMan]

Halo Infinite devs share details on Forge beta, ahead of its release tomorrow | VGC

The much anticipated mode will be added as part of the game’s winter update…

www.videogameschronicle.com

 

[laggyteabag]

Halo Infinite devs share details on Forge beta, ahead of its release tomorrow | VGC

The much anticipated mode will be added as part of the game’s winter update…

www.videogameschronicle.com

Finally including Forge is great, but because a Custom Games browser isn't going to be included in the game until Season 3 (which releases in March next year), for most players, it is going to be a negligable addition.

Unless you already have friends to play Halo Infinite with (which I dont), you will have to find some other way to organise games with randoms, which is inaccessible for most players.

So ultimately, whilst I have no doubt that Forge is going to produce some amazing things, unless 343 actively start including custom maps or modes in matchmaking, for most players, Halo Infinite is going to remain in a content drought for another few months.

 

[BrawlMan]

Finally including Forge is great, but because a Custom Games browser isn't going to be included in the game until Season 3 (which releases in March next year), for most players, it is going to be a negligable addition.

Unless you already have friends to play Halo Infinite with (which I dont), you will have to find some other way to organise games with randoms, which is inaccessible for most players.

So ultimately, whilst I have no doubt that Forge is going to produce some amazing things, unless 343 actively start including custom maps or modes in matchmaking, for most players, Halo Infinite is going to remain in a content drought for another few months.

It's inevitable that the fans are going to have to go through all the content drought. It's ridiculous!

 

[Bob_McMillan]

Im not really sure where I stand on this whole UE5 thing.

Switching engines is a massive undertaking. As mentioned earlier, you cant just copy/paste from one engome to another, and have everything play just as it was. If true, this is going to be a massive undertaking, especially if they are bringing in all of the game's modes - and very messy if they aren't.

I would probably say that this would take years to complete.

But, Halo Infinite is in trouble, their current engine sucks, and desperate times call for desperate measures, I guess?

At the end of the day, the biggest factor in believing that this may be true, is that 343 are generally pretty good at squashing rumours. So the fact that this hasn't been squished, leads me to believe that there is some truth to it.

Halo Infinite continues to surprise - just never really in a good way.

This is incredibly late the party, but what's wrong with their current engine?

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

Finally including Forge is great, but because a Custom Games browser isn't going to be included in the game until Season 3 (which releases in March next year), for most players, it is going to be a negligable addition.

Unless you already have friends to play Halo Infinite with (which I dont), you will have to find some other way to organise games with randoms, which is inaccessible for most players.

So ultimately, whilst I have no doubt that Forge is going to produce some amazing things, unless 343 actively start including custom maps or modes in matchmaking, for most players, Halo Infinite is going to remain in a content drought for another few months.

Welcome to the world of "release it now; finish it later" game development. The people who really hold the blame are the ones who pay money for unfinished games; if they didn't support this, it'd stop.

 

[BrawlMan]

Welcome to the world of "release it now; finish it later" game development. The people who really hold the blame are the ones who pay money for unfinished games; if they didn't support this, it'd stop.

I know I already posted this in a different thread, but it still bares repeating.

​

 

[laggyteabag]

This is incredibly late the party, but what's wrong with their current engine?

Halo Infinite runs on the Slipspace engine, which 343 built from the ground up, specifically for Halo Infinite.

One of the problems is that 343 (and Microsoft in general) relies quite heavily on the use of contractors, with an 18 month contract. So you have basically got a revolving door of talent, coming into 343 having never worked with the engine before, likely then having to go through some pretty extensive training on how to work on or with the engine, only for them to then leave after 18 months, taking all of that knowledge with them. This likely has led to quite a lot of technical debt, which are issues that arise because of shortcuts taken earlier on during development.

343 themselves have cited engine troubles for issues that presented themselves early after the game's launch, like the inability to have more than a handful of matchmaking playlists, and how difficult it is to create new playlists in general. This is pretty ironic, because one of the reasons why 343 created the Slipspace engine in general, was to make it easier to create and add new content.

Something that has been a pretty significant and consistent thorn in the game's side, is desync in multiplayer games. In some instances, this will present as rubberbanding, but in other more severe cases, it is as if the player becomes completely detached from their in-game body, as they are free to roam around the map (but unable to interact with anything), whilst their in-game body is actually just walking into a wall. 343 have had a few attempts at fixing this, but have so far been unsuccessful.

Performance on PC is also not spectacular. There is one bug that I am aware of, which only seems to appear on Lenovo laptops, where the game just looks very dark. And the UI itself is really slow, sometimes taking a couple of minutes for the menus to fully load.

Generally, the engine is cited as the #1 reason for why Halo Infinite's development has been so slow. As of today, Halo Infinite's multiplayer has been out for a year, and very little on consequence has been added or fixed.

Its a pretty sorry state, especially for what is supposed to be Microsoft's flagship franchise.

 

[BrawlMan]

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[BrawlMan]

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[laggyteabag]

If anyone still plays Halo Infinite, I have a code for the Halo x Oreos skin that im giving away



Dm me if you want it

 

[BrawlMan]

China's NetEase buys gaming studio involved in major titles including Halo Infinite and Minecraft

NetEase has ramped up its international expansion efforts in gaming over the last two years as China's domestic market has slowed amid tougher regulation.

www.cnbc.com

 

[laggyteabag]

Xbox & Bethesda Hit Big Layoffs, Joseph Staten Shifts Out of 343

Microsoft will cut 10,000 jobs across the organization, including layoffs at Xbox and Bethesda, and Joseph Staten will exit 343 Industries.

www.escapistmagazine.com

Here we go again!

So basically Microsoft has just laid off 10,000 staff across its entire business, including its gaming division. 343 Industries was included in this wave of layoffs, with the singleplayer team reportedly taking most of the hit.

Joe Staten, Head of Creative at 343, and Bungie veteran has also reportedly left the studio.

So, with Halo Infinite supposedly being the only Halo game for the next 10 years, there were hopes that we would be seeing some kind of singleplayer DLC. But with the campaign team being hit with layoffs, maybe those hopes are dashed, or at least reduced in scale.

At the end of the day though, in terms of singleplayer content, 343 really need to get a move on. Steve Downes (the voice of the Master Chief) is 72 years old, and he sadly isn't going to be with us forever. If 343 hopes on maybe bringing the Master Chief's story to a close, they are going to really need to get something together sooner rather than later, and this puts a massive spanner in the works.

As for Joe Staten, a lot of people really saw him as this saviour, riding in at the last moment to hopefully steer Halo Infinite and 343 to a brighter future. If he had left independently of this news, I might of seen this as a sign of him having completed his purpose. But this coming alongside news of massive layoffs at the studio, makes me think that Microsoft is just rescuing him from the wreckage of the sinking ship that is 343 industries.

As for the remaining staff at the studio, it must be a massive nightmare working at 343 these days. Basically every notable senior member of staff has left within the past year or so. That level of leadership change must be a fucking nightmare to work through. But hopefully this new leadership team pulls Halo, kicking and screaming, back into relevancy.

Or it will just continue to drift into obscurity.

Who can really say, at this point?

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

but with Halo Infinite supposedly being the only Halo game for the next 10 years

Every "ten-year plan" we've seen announced in the gaming industry has either spectacularly collapsed (Anthem) or become a mockery of itself (Destiny).

I feel bad for Halo fans, but this really looks like Microsoft is just stacking the chairs and closing the curtains.

 

[FakeSympathy]

I think MS, especially Xbox department, is following the footsteps of Valve.

Just like them, MS started great with exclusives and iconic games. But now with game pass bring such a success (at least according to them), they don’t feel the need to develop another game.

I mean why make another Halo game when Infinite is much easier to manage and generating revenue?

 

[BrawlMan]

@Old_Hunter_77 gets the credit. He found the link first. Thanks dude.

Ex-Halo developers slam ‘incompetent leadership’ after layoffs

Developer 343 Industries looks on shaky ground as Halo veteran Joseph Staten is said to depart

www.polygon.com

A quick ramble. I knew people in middle school and high school, that wanted at Halo to die, because they either dislike the franchise or felt it was too popular. Well I was never the biggest fan of the franchise, I always respected it, and I didn't hate enough to want to see it obliterated or its fans. I'm going to ask if I ever see them again, is "Are you happy or do you even remember your hatred?". Because I know I'm not happy about the way this franchise has turned out.

 

[BrawlMan]

343 Industries Will No Longer Make Halo Games, But Will Oversee Outside Development - Report

It's claimed that 343 Industries will be taking a backseat to the development of future Halo games.

www.gamespot.com