343 Industries posted a huge update about Halo Infinite, and one of the most important details is that the game is being pushed back to fall 2021, putting it a full year behind its intended launch window.
343 Industries published this update on its blog where it broke down the arts and graphics update, Spartan customization and its first multiplayer map. Here's what you can look forward to in Halo Infinite.
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Halo Infinite: Art, graphics and customization
The other big news in this blog is that Joseph Staten, who previously worked on Halo CE, Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST and Halo: Reach while a part of Bungie, is now taking the reigns as creative director for Halo Infinite.
In the Art & Graphics section of the blog, there's a Q&A with some of the artists and directors on Halo Infinite. They talk about the feedback the development team received since the Campaign demo, and recognized that the "visuals weren’t at the bar we hold for Halo."
With this feedback, the team is at work, improving "indirect lighting, material response, foliage and tree rendering, clouds, level-of-detail transitions, and character fidelity." And as far as the art style goes, the team is attempting to stray away from Halo 5's art style to something more reminiscent of Halo 1 and Halo 2 in order to make the game look more classic.
On the subject of art, the team also revealed the first look at one of Halo Infinite’s work-in-progress multiplayer maps. It looks like some sort of warehouse or facility, which is in line with some of the maps in other Halo games.
In the Live and Customization section, the Q&A shifts to team members who focus on design and progression. The team discussed the new coating system for the Spartan armor, which is designed to "define color, wear and tear, patterns, and materials on a region-by-region basis on the Spartan or anything in the game be it armor, weapons, vehicles, or even environment elements like fuel barrels."
Just from the images that were showed off already, it looks like 343 Industries are really turning this baby around, and we're really excited to play the game when it arrives sometime in fall 2021.
