Tech Shout!

Bungie.net’s content producer, Frank O’ Connor has stated that that Halo fans can look forward to visual improvements to Halo 3 in the final game that will ship in September. He revealed this in a recent interview with Next-Gen.biz.

However he did note that Halo 3 shouldn’t essentially be visually compared to other titles and other development studios, since they claim that their fiercest competitors are themselves. And this statement surely sprouts out after the launch of the Halo 3 multiplayer beta, after which a significant portion of the testers started having second thoughts whether Bungie will be able to bring the series into the next generation, especially when compared to games such as Gears of War.

“We think that the final aesthetic look of our game will be judged at launch in September and in part based on the more intense single player spaces,” O’Connor said. “We’re also focused on maintaining the Halo character and atmosphere in our visual design — we’re competing with ourselves, and not simply trying to match the aesthetic of other games.”

But all the same, O’Connor does not seem to be tensed about the final finished product, since he knows that the multiplayer beta was perfected for performance rather than style and presentation. Furthermore, he claims to have spoken with gamers that have praised the game’s visuals so far, but agrees that yet there is a lot of work still to be done.

“We have a long time to polish and iterate on the largely complete game at this point,” O’Connor maintained. “We’ll be working on some big ticket items as well as making sure that the little details, like decorators and shaders, are all in place. Lighting and atmospherics are going to be big keystones in our look and feel, and those really haven’t been shown except in multiplayer to this point.”

O’Connor acknowledged the development stag behind the title. He stated that Bungie is ready to deliver come September, simply thanks to the merits of the development staff they’ve hired. He believes that it’s through their efforts that Halo 3 can truly be a stellar next-gen title.

“It has been a challenge, hiring lots of people, managing dozens of them, making sure we have the best of the best and that we have space, equipment and resources to build next-gen content,” he finally adds.

“Next-gen requires a lot of content. And a lot more people to build it.”

He further continued that Bungie had put a lot of emphasis on planning. “In the end, that will mean more features, fewer cuts, better polish and a more intensive test cycle. All of those will add up to a better game, and none of them are likely to happen without good planning. Halo 2 taught us a lot of tough lessons, but they were lessons learned.”