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Re: Halo Press Shots analysis (LONG)
Posted By: LixtrimDate: 3/23/01 3:08 p.m.

In Response To: Halo Press Shots analysis (LONG) (SimplyDave)

: I've had halo.bungie.org as mu startup page for months now and I only just
: noticed that the Marine's head in the top left corner changes from left to
: right every so often. Chorus of "duh!"s please?

: Firstly, major thanks to Char and the halo.bungie.org team for giving us
: access to the press pics. Massive resolutions, a 17" monitor and a
: photo package made this analysis possible.

: 1. halo_03.01.01_print_1

: The Covenant Elite are an interesting species, although we've seen most of
: these things before I thought I'd try and amalgamate it all; Split hooves
: for feet, two fingers and a thumb for hands, double-knees, flexible necks
: and at this resolution we can see grey skin behind the helmet and
: muzzle-plate around the eyes, reminds me of Gork from Jedi Knight (the
: really big Sith Jedi with the tiny companion?) they come across as a mix
: between bipedal horses and snakes.
: The hologram of the Shaft is *very* informative. Symbols for various things
: were already pointed out, but we can also make out information tags
: pointing to various parts of the structure. Red circular tags for the
: Covies maybe? The single turquoise tab on the left for our Marine? The
: "t"s and inverted "t"s denoting elevator access? Or
: are the "t"s part of the wall behind the hologram?
: One last (recurring) thing, behind the Elite on the right's lower right knee,
: a glowing symbol on the wall. I feel like Deckard going over Leon's photos
: here.

: 2. halo_03.01.01_print_2

: Here we can see that the Covie on the left is making full use of his physical
: advantages, maintaining a low profile without losing mobility while the
: one charging at the Marine is probably barreling quite fast (just think of
: the speeds a horse can get up to with the same leg configuration)
: Love the muzzle-flash, case-less ammo, I think not.
: In the background we see three triangular symbols surrounded by grey
: rectangles, doors to elevators perhaps?
: Other than that, nothing remarkable... cept maybe the Marine's busted knee.

: 3. halo_03.01.01_print_3

: At first I thought there wasn't anything to say about this image, the Marine
: can kneel down, whoop-de-doo. But then it occured to me that the profile
: of his rifle is raised, pointing down the gap in the floor. When has a
: game allowed you to position the weapons you carry? Is this
: player-controlled or simply good screenshot fodder?
: No point enlarging the reflections on the Marine's mask, nothing to see here
: folks.
: The bright circle centre left... activation switch maybe for whatever
: elevator platform raises up to fill that gap in the floor?
: Also, if you raise the brighness and contrast I think the Marathon fans might
: see something on the wall behind the Marine... but nobody here'd be
: interested in that would they?
: Marathon symbols in the architecture? So the Halo is not only connected to
: the Marathon Universe but built by somebody from it, like Durandal maybe?
: The symbol repeats above and bellow the rim of the gap...

: 4. halo_03.01.01_print_4

: Activation pads on the floor for the hologram maybe? But why four? Four
: different destination choices for a teleporter pad? Why is the beam
: active? Is the Marine waiting to smoke someone on their way in? Again the
: reflections in the helmet aren't worth noting.

: 5. halo_03.01.01_print_5

: At last some reflections on the helmet to comment on! But shouldn't the
: muzzle-flash remove all reflections when it's that intense? Nit-picking I
: suppose and not really a noticable fault. The shadow seems very blocky,
: the promise of anti-aliasing never held so much value until now.
: Also, notice how nice and rounded the shell casings are from every angle? You
: have to wonder what the poly count of each one is. If you emptied a
: magazine in record time and looked down would the game slow down as it
: drew and worked out the trajectory of each and every one?

: 6. halo_03.01.01_print_6

: This is simply a gorgeous screenshot, the purple haze at the base of the
: Shaft makes it seem deeper than it probably actually is. Is that an
: elevator platform middle-bottom? In which case the multitude of white
: circles are either light sources or activation switches for the various
: levels of the Shaft. Although, again, playing with brightness and
: contrast, the platform appears to be solid and the circles part of
: pincer-like structures that jut from the wall, perhaps this is what
: generates those pulses Matt said we'd be distracted by in the first
: mission at dusk, in which case, again, what are the pulses' purpose? Not
: as a weapon, as the Covies didn't build this place, and we're still no
: closer to guessing the purpose behind the construction of the Halo...
: intergalactic portal like in the Lost In Space movie? Science project?
: Anyway, great Star Wars tribute here in this pic.

: 7. halo_03.01.01_print_7

: I love this image, I used it as wallpaper as soon as I saw it and everyone
: wanted to know what game it was from. The omni-present Warthog (don't know
: about you guys but I'd rather see how fast the tank moves and what kind of
: firepower the massive quad-tracked artillery piece has) seems to have had
: a turn for the worse, worse still for the Grunts that're going to get
: crushed by it.
: Things worth noting that might seem obvious; The stars are visible in the
: sky, lovely. The blend between the horizon and the Ring isn't as great as
: it has been in past images but like I could do better? Somebody mentionned
: petrified trees, now *that's* attention to detail people. Fragments of
: rock and a cloud of dust, screenshot flavoring or in-game effects? Also,
: lens-flare coming from the underside of the Warthog... uh, right.
: AI-wise, is the Grunt on the right smart enough to realise that to avoid
: being crushed he's best getting as close to the petrified tree as he can
: or was he already running towards the sound of the Warthog's engine when
: it flipped over the tree?
: Two last things, the streched shadow of the Hog on the grass (bottom-right
: corner) shows time of day but why no shadows under the tree? And the
: Marine's head and the front wheels show that this was probably an
: intentional "accident", that he drove deliberately parallel to
: the tree and then swerved into it to cause the roll.

: 8. halo_03.01.01_print_8

: Anyone notice how flat the horizon is here? Depending on just how far away
: the edge of the Halo is, shouldn't it be inclined upwards. Anyway, respect
: on those waves, they're just a perfect detailed touch.
: Other nice touches, seperately modelled undercarriage and suspension for the
: Hog, ammo belt for the mini-gun, tusks at the front (for goreing rammed
: victims maybe? How delightfully morbid) and a winch. Anyone else want a
: working winch? Pipe-dream.
: Finally, does the Marine actually have something in his hands? Steering
: column, wheel, anything? I think I see a wheel, but the resolution isn't
: *that* good. We can't have everything I know, but with all the demand for
: fpp and tpp while on the ground, what about those of us who like fpp in
: our driving games?

: 9. halo_03.01.01_print_9

: Our best look at the Grunts. What are you all on about? They have guns,
: they're going to be cannon-fodder. Save the bitching until you've mown
: down half a dozen of them with the Hog's mini-gun and enjoy it rather than
: bemoaning the fact you won't always be up against hard-ass Covie Elites.
: Physically they seem like easy targets (easy enough), stumpy legs, flat-based
: feet (see the one on the left), three "toes", long arms, does
: anyone else count six fingers and a thumb? Maybe just the texture makes it
: look that way. Purple skin, dorsal fin and rebreather aparatus. They'd
: probably make very good heavy-weapon support crews. Steady on their feet,
: big carry capacity, and able to work underwater (I'd assume if they're
: using rebreathing aparatus anyway) however, their armor plating leaves a
: bit to be desired... mainly a gut shot. Any thoughts on the symbol on the
: chest plate? Their species identifier? Rank? Recharge socket?
: One final detail... the planet above the base. It seems distorted, which
: would lead me to preclude a sky-map stuck on a half sphere overhead. I'm
: sure once you're inside the game you won't notice though. We'll all be too
: busy making those Grunt's dance!

: I must say in parting that those trees in one of the latest two screenshots
: do look like some of the best trees I've ever seen in a video-game. Now
: show us the best tank ever seen in a video game, and then show us the best
: artwork for a PC game packaging ever seen in a store, and then show us the
: greatest installation screen ever seen on a home PC, and finally let us
: play the greatest game ever devised (and it was devised originally) for a
: PC.

: SimplyDave

I enjoyed reading this more than the screens them selfs ;p


Message Index




Replies:

Halo Press Shots analysis (LONG)SimplyDave 3/23/01 7:21 a.m.
     Re: Halo Press Shots analysis (LONG)Lixtrim 3/23/01 3:08 p.m.
     Re: Halo Press Shots analysis (LONG)NevinNiven 3/23/01 5:21 p.m.
           Re: Halo Press Shots analysis (LONG)SimplyDave 3/26/01 2:49 a.m.
     Re: Reflectionmnemesis 3/23/01 8:42 p.m.
     More analysis (not quite as long)Morgan 3/24/01 10:06 a.m.
     More analysis (not quite as long)Morgan 3/24/01 10:09 a.m.



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