Graphics - Online

[Tim]

Okay, keep in mind that I am an accountant and not a computer programer.

I have been reading about Sega GT online giving up some graphics so that more cars can race online at once.

How, you ask, does this relate to Halo 2? I keep reading about 32 players online at once. Does this mean we will have to give up some graphics?? I just don't understand. Is there a simple explanation??

Thanks.

[Ethereal S. D.]

Just so you know, Framerate is dependant on the system more than you think. Your video card depends on how fast or eficient your system is. Say if hou had a 32 player game running. What peice of your system do you want running the most efficient? The networking card. Am I right? Well, the thing is, everything on the system is controlled by the CPU (central processing unit) and it has to decide what happens, manages interrupts according to priority, and so on. You would probably burn out the CPU if you're trying to make it do two strenuous things at once. A good example is on Halo when you are doing 2P coop. There are certain things like grass sprites, dynamic reflections, bump mapping that would slow down the system if they were displayed while it had to manage more than one player (physics, AI calculations, sound processing, etc...) imagine 32...

[No Fear 23]

i dont think halo 2 will have 32 players, more like 24 players. im not sure how this all works but Ethereal S. D. seem to have a good point on this.

[Darkshooter]

yeah 24 would b good. Like usually ur stuck with 3on3 cause of lag and stuff. But if they made it like 24 man, that would b awsome, the games could b like 6on6 as average hehe

[J4320]

Most likely 24. Even though 32 players sounds AWESOME!

[themoosearmy]

Unless the levels are large, and there is a team-based new gametype that supports that magnitude of players, I'm content with 16, sometimes that seems like a lot.

[MikeMan91389]

having the option of 32 would b cool, just cuz u dont HAVe to do it... i dunno if id play it tho :) 24 is cool though

[ghost 009]

Originally posted by themoosearmy
Unless the levels are large, and there is a team-based new gametype that supports that magnitude of players, I'm content with 16, sometimes that seems like a lot.

Ya just the way I like it levels large and lots of people. If there were 32 people on a large war torn level I think I would piss my pants. Now that would be awesome if we really did have wars (not clans, armies:D :D ) But for smaller levels I think that I would limit it to 10. But I wonder if I could host that much on a dedicated server. Man I cannot wait for fall. ******. Man if your really excited about halo 2 you cant even describe it in large print, you will have to describe it in small print.

[J4320]

Originally posted by Butterz
Man if your really excited about halo 2 you cant even describe it in large print, you will have to describe it in small print. LOL!:D

[StudioAlex]

Originally posted by Tim
Okay, keep in mind that I am an accountant and not a computer programer.

I have been reading about Sega GT online giving up some graphics so that more cars can race online at once.

How, you ask, does this relate to Halo 2? I keep reading about 32 players online at once. Does this mean we will have to give up some graphics?? I just don't understand. Is there a simple explanation??

Thanks.

Well, remember that the average poly count on the models is actually lower in Halo 2 than in Halo 1, so that should free up some power. But even so, I don't think anyone will complain. The story will have gorgeous graphics, so you can get your fill there. People will be too busy killing other people to seriously notice if the graphics are somewhat diminished in big mulitplayer battles.

I weary of this 32 number. Seems like too many people for my taste. Too hard to keep track of what is going on, from the player's perspective, know what I mean. I think 16 is a pretty perfect number, but if Bungie wants to give people the option of playing with more, then more power to them.

[l Maximus l]

As is, I think 16 players is almost too much even for the larger maps on the first Halo. It's too chaotic, IMO.

I prefer a good 3 v 3 match or a 4 v 4 match, personally.

I do the 16 man games every other weekend...so, I'm no n00b in seeing what a 16 man game is all about. But, 32? That's just plain ridiculous...the maps would have to be atleast 2 - 3 times as big as Blood Gulch or Sidewinder.

[MikeMan91389]

Originally posted by Maximus SYN
As is, I think 16 players is almost too much even for the larger maps on the first Halo. It's too chaotic, IMO.

I prefer a good 3 v 3 match or a 4 v 4 match, personally.

I do the 16 man games every other weekend...so, I'm no n00b in seeing what a 16 man game is all about. But, 32? That's just plain ridiculous...the maps would have to be atleast 2 - 3 times as big as Blood Gulch or Sidewinder.

Yeah, in 8v8, the best player doesnt always win, but in 2v2- 4v4 the best player mostly wins.... I always sux in 8v8, well im ok, but i always get 1st or 2nd in smaller games, but the 32 option would be cool just cuz if u ever did want to , u could, ya no?

[l Maximus l]

The cool thing is that in the first Halo, none of the graphics are dumbed down when playing in split screen. You can't say that with other games, though... I doubt there will be any dumbing down of graphics in Halo 2 as well.

Regardless of how many dudes Halo 2 will allow, Bungie is going to make sure that it plays as perfect as possible. I'm not too worried about anything...even slow down.