Halo 4 News

Monday, October 1, 2012

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Halo 4 Weaponry

Here are all three different kinds of Weaponry in Halo 4.

UNSC Weaponry

Non Wub Wub >Here<

Halo Bulletin on UNSC Weaponry >Here<

Covenant Weaponry

Non Wub Wub >Here<

Halo Bulletin on Covenant Weaponry >Here<

Promethean Weaponry

Non Wub Wub >Here<

Halo Bulletin on Promethean Weaponry >Here<

Halo Bulletin Promethean Weapons

The newest Bulletin talks about all the brand new Promethean Weapons. You can read about the Promethean Weapons down below and/or read the full Bulletin on Waypoint. >here<

Halo 4’s Promethean Weapons

1280x720, 1920x1080

Lately we’ve been focusing on the weapons in Halo 4. We’ve covered both the UNSC and Covenant arsenals, and today we are featuring the Forerunner side of things. In total, there are seven Forerunner weapons, including the Pulse Grenade. One of the best components of Halo has always been the combat sandbox, so it was both scary and challenging to create a whole new suite of weapons from scratch that were interesting, unique and balanced with the rest of the offerings.

Before settling on the final list, the team made concepts for approximately two hundred weapons. One of the biggest struggles was figuring out the high level vision and what made these alien weapons different from the Covenant and Brute weapons seen in past games. The vision we had for the Forerunner weapons was that they should feel technologically superior while still maintaining mechanical elements that made them visceral and relatable. We wanted them to evoke a sense of wonder and awe in the hands of players, similar to how you feel when you encounter Forerunner structures in the game. We also wanted them to be adaptive – both to the user and with regard to how they can be used.

The Scattershot was the first Forerunner weapon where everything started to click. Originally codenamed the “Spread Gun”, the Scattershot started off life as a rapid-fire shotgun that fired off a barrage of five projectiles in a symmetrical diamond pattern. The team started experimenting with having the weapon form around the player using it. We tried a couple different things, but ultimately, the concept of having the weapon assemble upon pick-up really resonated with the team. It also helped solve some other design issues we had around the drastically different Forerunner character models and how they would utilize the same guns that the player would eventually be able to use. For example, in the case of the Scattershot, the gun forms slightly differently to accommodate the Knight arms in that it actually attaches to the end of their forearm. We also started experimenting with adding more grounded elements to the weapons so that there was a unique juxtaposition of “super sci-fi futuristic” with components that were relatable to modern day weaponry. In the case of the Scattershot, that included trying out a hinge-action reloading animation and using more traditional individual cartridges that mimic how a traditional shotgun works.

On the gameplay side, we took a high level abstract concept of “adaptive weaponry”, considered how we could apply that to the gameplay itself, and started posing the question, “How can we extend the functionality of a shotgun and give it some added gameplay depth?” This is ultimately what led to the bouncing projectiles. In addition to functioning like a normal shotgun, it also had the expanded capability of allowing players to ricochet shots in tight spaces and use the weapon in a way that is distinct from the UNSC shotgun. You can see this theme infused in some of the other Forerunner weapons as well – the Bolt Shot and LightRifle both have dual firing modes, and the Pulse Grenade can be used tactically in several different ways.

The final component that really helped pull everything together with the Forerunner weapon subset was the work that the Audio and Visual FX teams did. We had a concept of “hard light” tech that powered the Forerunner weapons, but this meant different things to different members of the team. Originally, this concept was meant to be used as a kick-off point for the projectiles themselves but as the FX guys played around with it more, they came up with things like the animating light panels on the sides of guns. The Scattershot was pretty impressive prior to this – it had the bouncing projectiles, the really cool animations on the gun, and the satisfying gameplay, but the light panels really pulled everything together and made it stand out that much more from the other weapons. The other big “a-ha” moment involved the incineration effect that was being developed for the Knights death effect. We started integrating a similar effect into the weapon gameplay to add one final piece of flair, and that is a large part of what makes the Scattershot, Binary Rifle, and Incineration Cannon so satisfying to use.

Take a look at the seven Forerunner weapons in action by watching the following (new and wubby!) video, which features a sample from the 14-track remix album (not the original soundtrack).

If you’d like to hear the Forerunner weapon sound effects in all their otherworldly glory, here is the same video without the music.

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Halo 4 Campaign Footage B-Roll

Courtesy of MixMaker1

New Halo 4 Renders

Here are some new renders from Halo 4 found on Halo Waypoint (link here), and I have got to say some of these look real, they look like they should be played on a next gen console. So shout out to 343 for their awesome work on Halo 4!

Character and Enemy Renders
Click on pictures to enlarge them.