Halo Reach X10, Game Development And Masterchief

Graphics — February 14, 2010 at 20:13

I usually don’t write about games, not on Blog Tycoon, but this caught my attention as I’m working on a game myself. It’s not about the action, it’s about the atmosphere, skeleton movement, visual FX and overall impression.

The game is pushing about four million polygons more than Halo 3 overall, we were told, with a completely re-written animation system and A.I. The result, Bungie hopes, will be a much more realistic world to look at and be involved with. From the stills and footage we saw, it’s on track to deliver — the game looks phenomenal. It promises to sound great, too, as every sound effect has been re-recorded.

joystiq.com

Textures and lighting are impressive with separately-modelled bolts sitting proud of the girders they support and general background textures looking much less garish than previous Halo games. The guys talked about how this was to be a darker story, a more human story and that is reflected in the surrounding visuals.

Where the game really impresses, though, is the character and weapon models. They zoomed the camera into an assault rifle (which has been redesigned, along with new weapons added – Needle Rifle, with scope, anyone?). The serial number was clearly visible. It’s hard to describe and they wouldn’t let anyone film or take photographs but the rifle model looked completely real. I know that may sound like hyperbole but I mean every word. It looks real.

thesixthaxis.com

And here are my particles tests on my alpha, not-yet-developed game:

No description, no teaser video yet, but I’m heading in the right direction.

Tags: halo directx, video