343 Industries unveiled a brand-new 'armor coating' system coming to Halo Infinite in a Waypoint blog earlier this week, and so far it's drummed up quite a bit of controversy to say the least!
So, what's all the fuss about? Firstly, here's how 343 describes a 'coating' in the game:
“A seven-layer shader that allows us to put any artist-authored color, material, or pattern into seven channels and apply it to in-game items like weapons, armor, and vehicles.”
This new system means that coloration, materials and patterns will now be baked into the coating, taking the place of the primary/secondary armour colour customisation found in prior games.
In response, fans have been taking to social media to express their displeasure, with some asking 343 to reconsider the decision and bring back the primary/secondary colour customisation feature ahead of Halo Infinite's release.
In the blog, 343 pointed out that it was aware some fans might be disappointed by the decision, but explained that moving away from the old colour system would benefit the game moving forward.
"While we understand that many players are fond of the previous color system, we’re very excited about the breadth and scope of armor, weapon, and vehicle customization options that will be available in Halo Infinite because of the coating system."
343 community manager John Junyszek also addressed some MTX concerns on Twitter, confirming that while some customisation items (including coatings) will be offered as microtransactions, there will be "all kinds" that can be earned in-game and as special rewards, and that the new coatings will "allow for better player expression."
"We're not sitting around thinking of ways to take things away from players - no developer is. We're focused on building systems that can allow for better player expression. Yes, that required a tough call in this case, but we are excited by the system's overall potential."
How are you feeling about Halo Infinite's new armor coatings? Let us know down below.
[source halowaypoint.com, via twitter.com]
Comments 29
Literally not worth the time people are wasting complaining on this. I love Halo, so I'll play Halo.
Simple as that.
Sounds miles better than just slapping a colour over the armour and calling it a day, so of course people are throwing their toys out of the pram over it.
Well, most people will get the game on gamepass so stuff like this takes pressure from devs, That is what Aaron said on the RDX podcast.
Why are they complaining if they are not paying 70 dollars? They will get their subs money, because of other third-party games regardless if they fix it or not.
This is why Gamepass is not ideal for the more talented studios. It puts all the studios on the same level. Gamepass for me, is supporting rare and iD at the same time. One is the fps god and the other made sea of thieves.
Buy games individually, so Microsoft knows which studio is worth the spending. I know I am.
@graysoncharles @Bloodborne75
Both.
Stop being conformists. They took something out.
@Revengercm It's a petty grievance, at best. This isnt Gamergate. No matter what there will always be someone finding something to complain about. I just enjoy the game, but you're entitled to your opinion, and that's something nondebtable. Game on, Revengercm
@Revengercm Most people are on their side. Let the developers develop. Not fair to keep complaining on a game that isn't even out yet on a feature most players (at least the ones I personally play with) don't even care about
@XBontendo
Have standards. Games should be better with each new gen. Not just for the graphics.
As a reminder, the game was delayed because of complaints and being made fun of by the ps community. I was one of them, and I am not into Halo. What you see now was going to be out in less than a month.
May I remind you that there was a gaming crash when quality and no competition were not present. Not saying a gaming crash will happen, but every triple A dev should aim for game of the year quality.
It is good for the industry and the consumer. Triple A games take more time and are less of them, in exchange for more quality and more sales per game. I think ps4 games will age way better than previous gen games because of it.
@Bloodborne75 well, there are far more issues than this, so it is an added effect on how people already feel about July showing. They should be bouncing back, not going deeper in negative feedback.
343 : Suggests literally anything
Fans: No
Shaders were bad and a downgrade in Destiny, they are bad and a downgrade in Halo.
@Medic_Alert "Too many gamers think they know better than the devs and if they had their way nothing would ever change."
Yeah, but Devs have also put out games like Halo 4, 5 and Fallout 76, so there may be occasions when the gamers do know better than devs. Titles I saw being a problem even when their devs didn't. And ultimately, it's the gamers that have to enjoy the title.
Not digging it at all...
@Medic_Alert "The idea that you can make a product by committee including the gaming public is just not realistic."
No it's not, but a lot of content nowadays is created by committee. 343i did their own surveys and used them to justify keeping sprint. And God knows how much else is created because of feedback by focus groups. So even if we don't get a say, other none professionals are still having input.
"Bad games will happen as unfortunate as that may be but if you don't go out on a limb and try something new you will never get anything better either."
I mean, I agree, but nothing put in Halo 4 or 5 was new, or an attempt to fix or expand the games. As examples, they removed bloom and dual wielding because there were problems with those, but then added in flinch and did nothing new with weapon selections. It's removing new things that have issues and adding things that have issues. There's no real expansion there. It's just mix and match as desired. A kind of aimless design. There's no real philosophy beyond the experimentation and that is an issue. When you come to expand on a game you really need to come at it from an angle where you are looking at fixing and refining, and not undermining the core experience.
Like the dual wielding issue. It's easy to leave it broken or to main them main weapons again, but I always thought that a sidearm weapon slot would open up lots of possibilities. Something that allows players to pick up DW weapons, and store them on their character. Giving players a third weapon choice, but also a chance to mix and match these dual wield weapons, not just for the next encounter, or at the cost of access to their other main weapons, but as an option to bring out when the time called for it. It still retains the two main weapon slots design of core Halo, but offers an additional layer on top of that.
You can't just haphazardly take from other genres. It needs to fit within the game you are working on.
Another example would be Fallout 76, since the game is a topic right now. On the surface turning the Fallout games in to a wasteland survival totally makes sense, until you realise you are ripping out the actual core of the games, which is talking to NPCs, being immersed in a fully realised world, and all the human emotions and conflicts that come about. Or as others put it "took the fallout out of fallout".
@Revengercm Fair enough. I saw the reveal also and was like, "I thought it would have looked better running on the Series X".
I played and finished Halo 5 for the first time this past June and enjoyed the gameplay and graphics (although it seemed like it was only teasing what it could/ should have been) I'm truly hoping for a solid and intense story this time. Gameplay is always a huge plus, yet with today's tech, Halo: Infinite should be in top form in every area....we shall see when it releases
Im fine with it since I always go with green colors like olive or sage I know those colors will be part of the coatings.
A lot of smoke when 99% of the time you're going to be red or blue.
@graysoncharles
No. I am an adult. Why would I be mad about colors? I only played Halo 3 and Reach back in the day. Not an xbox dude but I would like a good halo when I inevitably get an xbox this gen.
And that was not my point. The gameplay went backwards by removing stuff from halo 5 and added a hook that clearly doom and tf2 did it better. I saw the same enemies and vehicles. The animations, world loading and textures were off. Nothing from the dialogue was phenomenal. I honestly think this game was going to be less than an 80, at least with what they showed. Now imagine if the multiplayer has problems. This does not help.
I think games like titanfall 2 and doom set the bar this gen. Hell, even Vanquish, a ps360 game has better gameplay mechanics than this halo. They should be doing something above what was shown this gen.
Look at how in tf2 you used the hook on everything, had wallrunning and was fast pace as hell. Look at how many enemies doom and how each one was unique and how fluid and fast pace the combat is. There is no excuse, especially if you are first party. No wonder why the director left.
Sorry if I am being pessimistic, but I find this conformist behaviour detrimental and I do not want to see this if any of the 23 studios games make average games, which to me are skippable because there are plenty of very high quality games per year.
@Bloodborne75 exactly
Honestly? Huge downgrade. I mean, look at their example screenshot. It looks worse than even the Halo 4 models with the colored undersuits.
This is a prime example of 343, once again, doing something they were literally never asked to do. Same reason they have yet to make a Halo game that sticks despite having been at it for 13 years now.
This was inevitable as soon as they announced the multiplayer was FTP. FTP means more people play but guarantees extremely predatory microtransactions.
I'd imagine the FTP move was forced by Microsoft (campaign in Game Pass, multiplayer racks up lots of money from microtransactions) and that it's all but guaranteed that a Battle Royale announcement will follow.
@Revengercm I have standards, just saying I disagree. I don't care about this feature. The people I play with don't. Just because a vocal minority is upset doesnt mean the developer should listen. Focus on what will make the experience better as a whole, not what will make a few vocal people happy. This is a waste of developers time in my opinion
@XBontendo I agree. Everything else should be improved before some colors.
@XBontendo for a start, I hate that whole "vocal minory" shtick. It's dismissive, assumptive, and side steps any real discussion about the value and purpose of individual game mechanics. This was the exact same argument used time and time again against those pointing out the issues with mechanics placed in Reach, 4 and 5. And those games definitely had game mechanic issues. Issues that affected the games so much that it wasn't just the minority that left those titles.
Secondly, saying devs need to stick to making the experience better, assumes that shaders is better than readily available colour options. What was the issue with readily available colours, and how does the shaders fix that issue, making the game better?
@Richnj I assume vocal minority only because I can confidently say that not a single person in my play group cares about this. Secondly, I am not saying that colour is better tham shaders or the other way around. I'm saying that in my opinion, I don't care. It doesn't add or detract from the game either way. And if it adds nothing, I would rather have the developers focus on literally anything else. If colour options are important to you, okay. But the people that I personally know, not strangers on the internet, do not find this important. We care about the story, multiplayer options, & gameplay.
@XBontendo assuming that because you don't know anyone personally who cared is an anecdotal fallacy. It's like those that claim because they've not known anyone with Covid they don't believe it exists.
And if the new shaders add nothing for the majority, but activately worsen the experience for the minority, then tell me again how these make for a better experience?
I agree there are more important things to worry about, but just on the discussion of what this change brings, I can see several decent arguments for against the change but, at best, dismissive arguments from those for the change.
It's what I was discussing above. How 343i's approach to design and design changes is flawed. It's change for the sake of change. Not because it adds something substantial to the experience.
I don't understand why don't we just have 2 different areas of coating for the armour, weapons vehicle etc instead of just 1?
And if that means changing a 7 layer shader into 2 lots of 3 layers, then surely that's not breaking the resource bank? Obviously I do not know what I'm talking about, when I'm talking about layers or shaders, but there is some logic there!
@Richnj Okay. I'll word it like this then. I don't think colours are important and I would rather they focus on things that improve actual gameplay.
Edit: Please note, if it's important to you, I dig it. They could tell me the only choices are red & blue, I'd still be happy. I don't think about the aesthetics, so to me the argument feels silly is all. Not trying to fight, though I do feel I'm coming across that way. Sorry for seeming gruff
@XBontendo No it's cool. I'm not trying to be confrontational either. And it's not like colours are super important to me, I just come in to forums and threads from a discussional stand point. To talk the pros and cons of game design and business choices.
@Richnj same page, friend
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