In Response To: Frankie/343i, direct question... (GrimBrother One)
: If I may...
: From the 2.15.12 Bulletin: "Typically, from Halo to Halo, the Master
: Chief’s armor has changed and adapted, and there have been fictional
: reasons why. With Halo 4, we’re taking a different approach and focusing
: on the storytelling aspects of art from the design standpoint. We don’t do
: that everywhere in the game, but we wanted to take this opportunity to
: really focus on him as a human being...
: ...When we first looked at the Chief’s armor, we studied what was done in
: Reach. We knew he needed to be understood as a nimble yet heavy superhero,
: and contrast that with Reach armor design that was more on the bulky side.
: Our goal is to hit that sweet spot where we represent what is fictionally
: true about the Chief while making sure you feel like you’re a
: super-powerful human being when you're playing him."
: (emphasis mine)
: While I certainly understand the idea behind the general idea of what is
: being said, I feel like there is a pretty precarious balance here. Halo is
: a Universe that for many of us, has its story told through its visual
: details. We hang onto things like the technical look of Chief's armor,
: the the visual details of a ship like the 'Dawn.
: If you told me the MC we've seen so far was Mk VII for example, problem
: SOLVED. But saying that it's the same armor but with much more vastly
: differences than what we saw say from H2-H3... That kinda sucks. I know it
: seems silly... but we LOVE those details. I don't look at an F-16 and an
: F-22 and say "That's a fighter jet... and that's also a fighter
: jet." I say "That one's an F-16 and has these attributes, and
: this one is an F-22 and has these..." The details matter.
: Now, I am for one am still holding as much judgement as possible until we see
: the "true" product (game). But at the same time, I would love to
: know just one thing, straight up, without any pre-launch artistic vision
: metaphors...
: Will there be a fictionally-viable reason for the change in Chief's armor?
: Not an artistic one. Not a narrative-feeling-experience one. A Halo
: story-bible sanctioned Loftonian-worthy technical reason.
: I thought that I had heard a few months back that there WAS going to be one,
: and I was comfortable with that. But recently it feels like there are
: mixed signals. I would just like to know. Even if you can't answer like
: this, here, in a forum... perhaps it can be made known when you next
: decide to reveal further details on the game?
: Apologies if my asking seems out of place. I do only because the details of
: this intangible universe are quite tangible to me.
: Much love,
: Grim
There is in fact, a fictionally viable reason the Chief's art looks different, but as the piece infers, and as history dictates, art and technology have and will continue to push the Chief's design more than fiction as far as his appearance goes.
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