Reach engine being used for other games.

[=sw=warlord]

Since I'm not sure which forum this really belongs in I'll post it here.



we are told by a source close to Microsoft Game Studios, the 343 Industries software house would already preparing Halo 4, the fourth chapter of the Halo series. To ease the wait, which separates the output of the title not expected before the year 2012, it seems that developers are considering the idea of reproducing the first chapters using the graphics engine of the recent Halo: Reach, bequeathed by Bungie team. (http://n4g.com/news/618847/343-industries-prepares-the-halo-series-remastered-in-hd)
I'm not sure about many people here, But I would most certainly buy a combat evolved remake in a heart beat if only to see the maw intro again in the new engine.

[Futzy]

Frankie was talking about the possibility of a remake in some podcast a while back like it was an actual possibility. It was actually one of microsofts suggestions for bungie to do instead of reach.
I'd only get it if it was for pc.

[Hotrod]

I would definitely buy a remake of Halo 1 if it were an ODST-like expansion containing all Halo Reach multiplayer and crap with Halo 1 reamakes for MP maps as well. Though even if it weren't, I would still definitely buy it.

[Limited]

Makes sense, considering Bungies new game is not using the Reach engine.

[Futzy]

Makes sense, considering Bungies new game is not using the Reach engine.
Did they actually say it's not? They've been using blam since halo 1. I've seen all the gui upgrades they've done to guerrilla etc and it looks like its here to stay.
The whole reach is a new engine thing was a misunderstanding in that the way things are rendered had completely changed and they had to make entirely new shaders for everything..

[Limited]

Did they actually say it's not? They've been using blam since halo 1. I've seen all the gui upgrades they've done to guerrilla etc and it looks like its here to stay.
The whole reach is a new engine thing was a misunderstanding in that the way things are rendered had completely changed and they had to make entirely new shaders for everything..
People in the know, know.

"Studio communications manager Brian Jarrad revealed in an interview with Develop magazine that the studio will not be licensing a third-party engine to develop its new game. Instead Bungie will build new tech from the ground up for its next ten-year franchise....."The new engine is actually in development, it's in a stage where technically we're still at the end of a pre-production mode...but now that Reach is done the full weight of our team is rolling into this engine project. Real work is getting underway."

[Kornman00]

Their PR was also saying that Reach was a new engine, built from the ground up. A lot of the ideas and tech developed over the last 10 years (well, in a way, 20 years) was still present in Reach. Their next game will still be powered by Blam. But just like how Halo 3 introduced "giant" objects, it may (actually, let's say will) include many new ideas and building blocks not seen before in previous iterations.

"New tech" != "New engine". A 2011 model of a car may have a new, more aerodynamic frame compared to the 2010 model but it's still the same car. Just with some new tech to keep it "modern". Couple with the fact that they have to now support at least PS3 and PC (possibly even Mac PCs), there's a lot of work to be done and that work would develop the technology by itself nor does the Reach engine offer any kind of support for it outside of the 360 and some Win32.

When it comes to PR statements, they tend to keep things simple. It will still be another iteration of the engines they've been working on over the past two decades.

[=sw=warlord]

Did they actually say it's not? They've been using blam since halo 1. I've seen all the gui upgrades they've done to guerrilla etc and it looks like its here to stay.
The whole reach is a new engine thing was a misunderstanding in that the way things are rendered had completely changed and they had to make entirely new shaders for everything..
The BLAM! system was custom made for Halo and if i remember, one of the agreements to bungie becoming a independent studio was the forfeit all source materials and copyrights to MGS and to hand the rights to publish Bungies [then] next two games.

There is also what Kornman mentioned. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KISS_principle)

[Limited]

Thats a direction quote from Brian Jarrad, saying the new engine.

[=sw=warlord]

Thats a direction quote from Brian Jarrad, saying the new engine.
Marcus Lehto also said reach would use a new engine.
I guess it's possible the MMO rumours could be true which would require a new engine.

[Limited]

Brian has said, the new engine is in development...Marcus said "would"..not "is.

[=sw=warlord]

Brian has said, the new engine is in development...Marcus said "would"..not "is.

Semantics, go watch the vidoc forward unto the breach vidoc.

[Limited]

It isnt semantics, these are rock solid facts straight from the source. You cant twist direct quotes.

[=sw=warlord]

It isnt semantics, these are rock solid facts straight from the source. You cant twist direct quotes.
My quote wasn't direct.

[Limited]

Your talking about semantics, and your telling me people say stuff, when turns out they didnt? >_>

[=sw=warlord]

Your talking about semantics, and your telling me people say stuff, when turns out they didnt? >_>
I derived what marcus said in a interview about stripping the entire engine and rebuilding it saying it was "effectively" a new engine.

[Limited]

Thats not what you said though is it cobby? If you had said what you just did before, we wouldnt have any confusion. Its a new engine, sheesh. Its an MMO >_>

[Dwood]

Only ever going to buy if it's used for a PC game, and the remake stays true to the story line. I'd rather have a prettied up Halo 1 than a retelling of the halo story with completely new level layouts, allthough I wouldn't mind a reconstruction of library.

[Kornman00]

These are the facts: they're not going to throw out 20 years of iterative development and they're going to keep using their tag system. It may or may not be solely a FPS based engine, but it will still use many of the concrete ideas and mechanisms (engineering wise) they've come up with over the many, many years of game development.

Reach was a contractual obligation. MS has full rights to the Halo property, but not the tech which Bungie has been developing since 2007 (when they became independent). Reach's codebase may belong to MS, but Bungie's ever growing tech does not.

Trying to quote someone who is more PR than an engineer isn't much to base things off of. Halo was based on the ideas and tech that Bungie used in previous games back in the 90s. It was "new" in the sense that it powered many new FPS concepts (Marathon didn't have vehicles IIRC, etc) but a lot of the tech involved was just iterative improvements, nothing literally new. I said it once, and I'll say it again: it's just like "new" car models, this year model may have X feature with Y design but ultimately it's still the same car just made to keep with modern improvements and designs.

Besides, if they said they were going to use the Reach engine the people would automatically jump to saying it's going to be a FPS and assume it will just be another Halo. I'm pretty sure them saying they're using a "new" engine is just PR speak for trying to distance their new IP from their old one as a means to try and start anew/fresh.



Only ever going to buy if it's used for a PC game, and the remake stays true to the story line. I'd rather have a prettied up Halo 1 than a retelling of the halo story with completely new level layouts, allthough I wouldn't mind a reconstruction of library.
I wonder what they're idea of "remake" is: sticking to all the original ideas and gameplay in the campaign (at least) or including all that's been created (ie, DMRs, spartan lasers, etc) post-Halo 1 and trying to make it work.

[Limited]

Well they havent said they arent using a new engine..So I'm going to go with what they have said, yeah its a PR guy who might not know the full ins and out, but Brian is a pretty knowledgeable guy.

I'm intrigued of this remake idea floating around :D

[=sw=warlord]

I'm intrigued of this remake idea floating around :D
I think if there's enough hot air around a remake it might get done, there was so much hot air about a game following the event's on reach and look what happened.

[Dwood]

Too bad they took the books and took a dump on them.

[=sw=warlord]

Too bad they took the books and took a dump on them.

It wasn't all that bad, some parts are skewered but alot seems in place.
If I had to take a guess I would have said that the moment the POA knew of the covenant attack was when the fleet showed up and we don't know how long the operation on the data station lasted.

[DarkHalo003]

I wonder what they're idea of "remake" is: sticking to all the original ideas and gameplay in the campaign (at least) or including all that's been created (ie, DMRs, spartan lasers, etc) post-Halo 1 and trying to make it work.
If they make it so that the remake features all of the Halo 1 Weapons in Reach format, then I will seriously be a happy camper. Nothing more than that. However, if they added SMGs and Dual-Wielding on the other handed...

[Dwood]

If they make it so that the remake features all of the Halo 1 Weapons in Reach format, then I will seriously be a happy camper. Nothing more than that. However, if they added SMGs and Dual-Wielding on the other handed...

You know they will, right?

[Kornman00]

In Reach format? You just mean in HD format right?

TBQH, I think people are just WAY too nostalgic over Halo 1. Yeah it was fun, but it was an entirely new game which spawned a new era in the overall FPS genre. You're not going to get the same exact senses or feelings that you got back then ever again. Remaking it to the letter, while just giving it a GFX enhancement wouldn't really sell it (even with XBL support), expect to the hard core fans. It would have to compete with existing games (including Reach) and future games which offer more.

The engine has had support for multiple campaigns since Halo 3 (or at least, they've been working on implementing multiple-campaign support). I say just make the remake DLC for Reach (maybe release a couple campaign missions every month or so) or do what they did with ODST.

[Warsaw]

You know they will, right?

No, they probably won't. I'm willing to bet the reason the phased it out for Reach is because it just wasn't a very fun gameplay mechanic at all. ODST having a normal human character just made it easier to transition back to single weapons within the story, since it explained itself. Reach itself is a throwback to Halo 1 with the whole Mk. V armour, single wielding, health bars, health packs, etc.

I wouldn't mind if they totally reconstructed Halo 1 from the ground up as long as 1.) Elites stay alien 2.) Grunts get their English back, and 3.) Flood actually behave like they did in Halo 1, complete with popping sounds for carrier forms and huge swarms that were never present in Halo 2 or 3. Also no Pureforms (they fucking suck and it wouldn't make sense to have them at that point anyways). I'd also appreciate if they didn't overpopulate the game with guns, though that wouldn't be a deal-breaker.

[Pooky]

I'd buy it if they didn't change the gameplay at all (or at least not very much). Despite what you say KM00, Halo 1's gameplay worked then, and it works now. Every successive Halo game has been less fun than the one before it, IMO, I wouldn't mind a true return to form.

[Limited]

I gotta agree with Kornman, the new Goldeneye 007 for the Wii, I have no interest, even if I had a Wii it looks pretty lame, the original game was superb but it will never be matched (in a remake).

[Necr0matic]

I would love this to happen, but I don't want them to do it with the Reach game engine. I would want them to modify the games' current engines.

Redoing it with the Reach engine is going to change the feel of the game a lot. And quite honestly, I don't really like the Reach graphics engine. I hate the motion blur and the film grain. I feel like I just woke up after sleeping with my contacts still in (for those of you without contacts, your vision is really foggy after waking up). The motion blur is poorly done and just causes and unclear picture and the film grain serves no purpose at all. It too just ruins the clarity.

[DarkHalo003]

In Reach format? You just mean in HD format right?

TBQH, I think people are just WAY too nostalgic over Halo 1. Yeah it was fun, but it was an entirely new game which spawned a new era in the overall FPS genre. You're not going to get the same exact senses or feelings that you got back then ever again. Remaking it to the letter, while just giving it a GFX enhancement wouldn't really sell it (even with XBL support), expect to the hard core fans. It would have to compete with existing games (including Reach) and future games which offer more.

The engine has had support for multiple campaigns since Halo 3 (or at least, they've been working on implementing multiple-campaign support). I say just make the remake DLC for Reach (maybe release a couple campaign missions every month or so) or do what they did with ODST.
I agree with this post so much. I thought Halo 1 was fun at first, but it ultimately just got repetitive IMO. The game is fun occasionally now, but most people who talk like it's the best game ever made are just victims of nostalgia (I'm referring to the general public here, not all people who think Halo 1 is great).

@Dwood: In case they actually did make the remake.

[Kornman00]

The motion blur is poorly done and just causes and unclear picture and the film grain serves no purpose at all. It too just ruins the clarity.
That motion blur actually serves a purpose. There was an article about some of the tech behind Reach (was posted on HBO) and one of things they talked about was a trick they used for doing software-based AA (since the way they render doesn't bode with the hardware implementation). Some side effects of this trick required them to use what is basically a motion blur effect.