Longa atualização do desenvolvimento:
https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/news/mcc-development-update-april-2019
HALO PC PILLARS
When building games, there are different frameworks people use to communicate the vision for that game to the team and to our community. One way to communicate the vision is through a series of pillars that clearly articulate priorities of the game along with attributes that support each pillar. When we began planning the PC version of MCC, we set out to define our pillars. The three defining principles we are focusing on are three key pillars; PC Native, Legacy, and Engaging & Evolving.
PC NATIVE PILLAR
Being PC native means that we deliver a best-in-class PC shooter as measured by PC gamers that require the following specifics.
Controls
- Robust action mapping options
- Great mouse/keyboard input across the entire game
- Low input latency by leveraging raw input and latency validation via slow motion cameras
- Support for a broad set of mouse and gameplay options
PC Native UI
- Updated UI controls familiar to PC users
- Robust video and game options that allow users to tailor the experience to their hardware
- Support for FOV sliders (to the extent each game can realistically support)
- Text chat
Runs on a variety of hardware and takes advantage of what is there in both UI and gameplay
- Range of resolution and aspect ratio support for monitors
- 4K+ resolution, native aspect ratio support from 4:3 up to 21:9 Ultrawide
- GSync/FreeSync support
- High refresh rate support
- Mice both high or low DPI
- Multiple styles of Keyboards
- Video cards, both dedicated and integrated
- XInput supported controllers
- Loading optimizations
High quality window handling
- Borderless full screen
- Flexible window resizing
- Gracefully handles keyboard shortcuts such as ALT-TAB/ALT-ENTER, etc.
Using a combination of competitive analysis, internal team playtesting, pro team testing, usability testing, and flighting we are iterating on great controls and building a PC native experience.
Our goal is that we can deliver on the gameplay experience that makes Halo unique while meeting the expectations of modern PC shooter players in terms of usability and game feel. For control and options settings, we are experimenting with a variety of mouse and keyboard values.
We have built a custom settings app while we update the options settings menus in the main UI. Here is a peek at our work-in-progress control settings app:
As we make greater progress on the PC native UI, we will build these settings into the game. Here is a sneak peek at the updated settings menu in the UI (work in progress):
There are 2 additional pillars that are closely related and impact the way we think about being PC native – “Legacy” and “Engaging & Evolving.”
LEGACY PILLAR
Being true to legacy means that we do not change the core gameplay of Halo unless we are fixing bugs or making small, modern quality of life adjustments that can benefit both mouse and keyboard players as well as controller players. One such example is the discussion around how to handle movement and crouch interactions. We have heard feedback from internal playtests that for a modern shooter, there is an expectation of better support when transitioning between standing/moving and crouch. This issue demonstrates the tension between our legacy and PC native pillars and is only one of many issues that is likely to put pillars in conflict with each other. As we discover more and more of these issues, we will make decisions based on a combination of data, community feedback, and prioritized design goals to deliver the best experience across input methods, play styles, and player expectations. Once we begin flighting the game to a larger audience, we will continue listening for thoughts on this issue and see if there are additional reasons to move forward or to discard this idea to see if it fits with our legacy pillar.
We also need to be mindful of the fact that we will have players who prefer a mouse and keyboard for Halo and other players who will prefer controllers. We want both of these player types to be able to play together in the same match and for them to feel as if they are on relatively equal footing. There will naturally be some differences in feel and expectations for different input methods, such as the strength of aim magnetism. Whenever we have tested a Halo PC title with any audience using a mouse and keyboard, the expectation is that aim magnetism is disabled. On controller, the opposite is true, and some degree of aim magnetism is needed for controller players to compete effectively and for Halo to play the way it does on console. We want to minimize differences in gameplay between input methods, which supports our engagement pillar.
ENGAGING & EVOLVING PILLAR
For us, the engaging & evolving pillar encompasses several things, and for the purposes of this blog we are referring to the need to build for growth and ways for people to play together across input methods.
Our engagement pillar also encompasses the beginning of our journey to evolve MCC over time. Because we are updating older games, adding an FOV slider will naturally have some limitations to the range that is possible in the short term. In the longer term, we may be able to include a wider range of values. Some of the other PC native additions such as higher frame rate may take additional time as we learn about the side effects of rolling these features out, and they may need more time to cook in the flighting rings before going out to the full retail audience. Making the UI for MCC more flexible for the variety of monitors and aspect ratios on PC will also take some time, and we will prioritize the areas that impact the core user experience core flows before moving into less frequently visited areas. We will make a better game together, and we hope you will come along with us on this journey and share your experiences and feedback.Our engagement pillar also encompasses our all new progression system. Our goal is to deliver a system that captures the spirit of progression in Halo: Reach but delivers it in a more modern way. Think levelling, seasons, and unlocks. More details will be coming in a future blog. Please look forward to it.
Thanks,
Max