The last topic I made was rather Cowish, so I feel obligated to do something for the Lemmings. I doubt the Sheep need my help at this point, seeing as how (at the moment) the world is their oyster.
So, onto the main point: what makes everyone think that Halo 3's graphics are so awful? I don't see their logic. Have they tried looking at what this alpha build actually LOOKS like? I doubt they've given it any scrutiny, or else the truth would be revealed: it's a quantum leap forward from Halo 2. Everything is better, higher-resolution, better-defined, and generally better looking.
As it stands, I find that the alpha is at least average Xbox 360 graphics, and that several other things about the game are supremely impressive: for example, the size of some of the multiplayer maps seems to dwarf even Halo 1's single-player arenas. The lighting and everything is very pretty and well done, if not particularly impressive technically. And have you seen the LoD? It's great! Textures are sharpboth up close and at a distance, and normal mapping, bump mapping, and specular maps seem to continue from a long way away. And I maintain that one of the magic touches will be decorators. You'll see...
I know there will be a lot of people who deny what I see as visible truth, so without further ado I present some screen grabs directly from Gametrailer's HD (not really) video, at 850x480 pixels. I'll try to analyze as I go.
Take a look at the wall and the lighting. That's a nice use of Bloom, and the way the light source shows the normal mapping ALL OVER THE WALLS looks very nice. In addition, the lighting on the two red spartan models is great, and I think I can see some self-shadowing going on there. Finally, the models of the soldiers are significantly more detailed than Halo 2.
Can you beleive the size of that level that they're showing here? It's obviousy making use of that 512 MB of system RAM here. The shield effects look WAY better than Halo 2.
Another good look at the spartan models from mid-range. As you can see, they're actually very detailed. The walls of the cavern look great with normal (or is it parallax in this case) mapping, especially where the light's coming through.
Now this one's a real beauty, tech-wise. I got this right as the camera was clipping through a spartan's torso, and it shows a GREAT close-up of the armor at the highest LOD. Look at the detail of the bump-mapping! Frankly, it's incredible.
These ones show great textures, specular, bump map detail, and lighting across the texture. How can you NOT think this is pretty?
Go ahead, scream "teh jaggies!" Honestly, these textures and stuff look great. It's all stylized, sure, but there's actually very little to bash specifically. In case your jaded perceptions don't see much, let's post a comparison shot from Halo 2 (in-video):
Halo 2! You see now?
Here's some more gigantic enviornments.Bear in mind that most textures are actually placeholder from Halo 2, just at a much better LOD.
Still looking good...
Look at that texture, with its bump map and specular, and tell me it's not gorgeous. Then look at the Spartan and tell me he's not well-done. If you can do that, take off your fnaboy goggles, grow a pair of eyes, and try again.
Same thing with this one. With less texture tiling in some places, this would be a perfect scene.
Take a look at those metal and ice textures... beautiful.
The ground's bump mapping is great, along with a lot of other things in the scene. Finally, Pixel-shaded distortion is old hat, but it looks great here nonetheless.
Finally, I leave you with this. Looks good all around.
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Guys, think about this. If this is the type of stuff Bungie has in thier Alpha build, it's going to look INCREDIBLE in the final product. With the inclusion of even higher-resolution textures, even better lighting, more bump-mapping, greater optimization with the LoD, and lots of decorators, this game will be one beautiful current-generation product.
Bungie is right on track with this one, even if we do make them weep at their desks. Halo 3 will push the series into the next generation; yes, in graphics, but also in the stuff that really matters. And so, I declare my Halo 3 hype to be AAA. May I not be owned.
Good posting, my fellow system warriors!
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