Halo: The Master Chief Collection

So they're launching each game in the MCC one by one, which is... interesting. And they're going chronologically in terms of story, which means Reach first, then the rest.
 
So they're launching each game in the MCC one by one, which is... interesting. And they're going chronologically in terms of story, which means Reach first, then the rest.

If it means each game is given the time to have a proper release then I'm all for them doing it one by one. Hopefully they keep true to their word on working with the community to add features and improvements through the releases.
 
If it means each game is given the time to have a proper release then I'm all for them doing it one by one. Hopefully they keep true to their word on working with the community to add features and improvements through the releases.

One of the reasons MCC on xbox was such a mess was because they rushed it and outsourced each game to different studios.

Hopefully this plan allows them the time and resources to do it right this time.

It sounds like they know what we want, unlocked frame rate, any resolution, and good keyboard and mouse support.

Please don't fuck it up 343
 
One of the reasons MCC on xbox was such a mess was because they rushed it and outsourced each game to different studios.

Hopefully this plan allows them the time and resources to do it right this time.

It sounds like they know what we want, unlocked frame rate, any resolution, and good keyboard and mouse support.

Please don't fuck it up 343

I don't have a ton of faith in Ruffian, but having them and 343 along with Splash Damage all working on the PC releases will hopefully mean they give us something good.
 
One of the reasons MCC on xbox was such a mess was because they rushed it and outsourced each game to different studios.

Hopefully this plan allows them the time and resources to do it right this time.

It sounds like they know what we want, unlocked frame rate, any resolution, and good keyboard and mouse support.

Please don't fuck it up 343
I know it won't happen but split screen would make this a day 1 for me.
 
I know it won't happen but split screen would make this a day 1 for me.

It would be great to recreate Halo CE LAN days where you had 4 xboxes connected to 480i tvs with 4 players on screen for 320x120 interlaced resolution per person. But now you could have an 8K HDR OLED split into 4 4K screens and be playing at 60 fps instead of 30.
 
It would be great to recreate Halo CE LAN days where you had 4 xboxes connected to 480i tvs with 4 players on screen for 320x120 interlaced resolution per person. But now you could have an 8K HDR OLED split into 4 4K screens and be playing at 60 fps instead of 30.

Split Screen would be amazing, a 4K split screen with 4x 60FPS 1080p screens? HELL YES.
 
It would be great to recreate Halo CE LAN days where you had 4 xboxes connected to 480i tvs with 4 players on screen for 320x120 interlaced resolution per person. But now you could have an 8K HDR OLED split into 4 4K screens and be playing at 60 fps instead of 30.
Pretty sure that they got rid of split screen last time but put it back in. I hope it does have split screen with xbone controller support. Even co-op would be dope
 
I know it won't happen but split screen would make this a day 1 for me.
Split Screen would be amazing, a 4K split screen with 4x 60FPS 1080p screens? HELL YES.
Gears of War 4 on PC had 2P split-screen. Be sad if MCC games didn't have at least that. Don't wanna be hella fail like Halo 5, which lacked even that on XB1. Gears 4 I think also has some form of cross-system multiplayer. Again, would be nifty for MCC.
 
I guess this is why that Halo on PC project was basically shut down by Microsoft?
 
As expected, the game is officially not part of Play Anywhere.

https://kotaku.com/halo-the-master-...m_medium=Socialflow&utm_source=Kotaku_Twitter (Yes,I know its Kotaku its the source I found)

Since MCC released before Play Anywhere was a thing its not surprising that it won't be added to the program.
Disappointing, indeed. The Insider Program is taking suggestions for cross play, at least. Hopefully it won't eventually be dogshit due to the console plebs complaining about our chosen input method. Sign up for it to make your voice heard.

https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/community/halo-insider
 
Even if I have to rebuy it, hopefully we'll see crossplay at some point. I have some good gaming buddies that are console only so it would be nice to play with them while enjoying 144hz and kb/m controls.
 
My Dad loves Halo, even into his mid 60's. I myself have only ever played the first one. I look forward to playing it with him once this comes out. :)
 
As expected, the game is officially not part of Play Anywhere.

https://kotaku.com/halo-the-master-...m_medium=Socialflow&utm_source=Kotaku_Twitter (Yes,I know its Kotaku its the source I found)

Since MCC released before Play Anywhere was a thing its not surprising that it won't be added to the program.

This feels like a cheap excuse to me. From a logistic standpoint, the fact that MCC was released before play anywhere is irrelevant. We're talking about a digital license here, it's no different from any other Play Anywhere title. If you have a license on Xbox, you have a license on Windows Store. There's no reason that couldn't translate just because PC is getting individual releases.

This is 100% because Microsoft hopes people will double dip. And they are right, people will.
 
343 did a Reddit AMA earlier. Some notes:

No mention of price or exact release dates yet. They did say that they don't want to give a release estimate yet as they are taking a "when its ready" approach to each release.

Halo: CE is being worked on alongside Reach so I imagine both of those will release fairly close together.

343 said they will support windowed mode along with 21:9, 16:9, 16:10, 3:2, and 4:3 aspect ratios.

They plan to allow each game to have an uncapped frame rate as long as it is possible to do so.

The games will have FOV sliders, but the exact FOV ranges might vary from game to game. It is going to depend on what changing the FOV does to character and gun models.

You will be able to buy the games one at a time or in a complete collection when all the games are out. They will not be doing a "season pass" type of thing and will only be offering the full bundle when all games are released.

There will be some form of anti-cheat for MP.

The games will run on Windows 7!

No mod support at launch, but official support might come down the line. 343 are working with modders to "explore options".

The Steam version requires a Microsoft account, but you will not need Gold.

Progress will carry over between console and PC versions. The exception to this is mid-mission saves.

They are looking into whether or not they will be able to do local/split-screen MP and co-op.

They are looking at adding Halo Custom Edition content down the road.

There are currently no plans to bring Halo 5 to the PC as everything is focused on MCC and Infinite.

There were other questions answered in the AMA, I just grabbed the info that caught my attention the most.

This feels like a cheap excuse to me. From a logistic standpoint, the fact that MCC was released before play anywhere is irrelevant. We're talking about a digital license here, it's no different from any other Play Anywhere title. If you have a license on Xbox, you have a license on Windows Store. There's no reason that couldn't translate just because PC is getting individual releases.

This is 100% because Microsoft hopes people will double dip. And they are right, people will.

When Microsoft started Play Anywhere they made it clear that games that released prior would not be eligible for it. It was only for games released afterwards. MCC will still be on Game Pass for the PC, if you want to use the Windows Store. Besides, MCC is like $20-$30 right now on the XB1. With another $5 for ODST and probably $10-15 for Reach (when its out). On PC, I wouldn't be surprised if buying all 6 games cost in the neighborhood of $60. That said, 343 did say they are looking into some way to "recognize the continued support of our Xbox One players so they are also able to enjoy MCC on PC. " No idea what that means, but hopefully its either a free digital code for the PC or maybe some kind of discount or something along those lines.
 
When Microsoft started Play Anywhere they made it clear that games that released prior would not be eligible for it. It was only for games released afterwards. MCC will still be on Game Pass for the PC, if you want to use the Windows Store. Besides, MCC is like $20-$30 right now on the XB1. With another $5 for ODST and probably $10-15 for Reach (when its out). On PC, I wouldn't be surprised if buying all 6 games cost in the neighborhood of $60. That said, 343 did say they are looking into some way to "recognize the continued support of our Xbox One players so they are also able to enjoy MCC on PC. " No idea what that means, but hopefully its either a free digital code for the PC or maybe some kind of discount or something along those lines.

I'm still calling bullshit on the "MCC was out before Play Anywhere" line. A game where both the Xbox and PC versions released before Play Anywhere was a thing, that is obviously valid. But has there been any other games in which the Xbox version released before Play Anywhere was a thing, but a PC version released after? Nothing comes to mind, which puts MCC In a unique position. As far as I'm concerned the PC version of MCC is releasing post-Play Anywhere and should be included.

Don't misunderstand, I'm happy to see MCC releasing on PC and Microsoft making good on their promise to give PC more attention, but I feel like they are going a little to far to milk these games. I maintain that from a logistics standpoint, there is no reason a PC license cannot be granted (on Windows Store obviously, I'm not talking about Steam here) if an Xbox license exists on the same account. Trying to make it sound like it can't be done because the game wasn't released on Xbox with Play Anywhere in mind is bullshit. The same is true for them not releasing all of MCC up front, instead opting for individual releases until all the titles are available. There's no reason why they can't let people buy the entire collection up front, other than they know that people will pay more over time to buy the titles individually. Released as a collection, people will expect a $59.99 price tag. Individually, I bet each game releases around $19.99... which means getting the most eager purchasers for $120 by the time all six games release.

It is what it is, but it's disappointing since I already own this on Xbox. I'm sure I'll end up double dipping, but you can be damn sure it will not be until the entire collection is out and even then likely not until it's discounted in a Steam sale.
 
Got some good news to share:

halo-the-master-chief-collection-pc-2019-1164586.jpg


The above image comes courtesy of Splash Damage. Really great to hear that they’re all releasing this year. Depending on when flighting starts I’m going to guess maybe Reach releases around E3 with the rest possibly releasing monthly after that.
 
I'm skeptical about this one by one release, it possibly means you'll spend a ridiculous amount if you want all the games.
 
Got some good news to share:

View attachment 150983

The above image comes courtesy of Splash Damage. Really great to hear that they’re all releasing this year. Depending on when flighting starts I’m going to guess maybe Reach releases around E3 with the rest possibly releasing monthly after that.
They didn't explicitly state that all of the games will be releasing this year. The ones that were confirmed by 343 to be coming out this year were Reach, Combat Evolved, and 2.
I'm skeptical about this one by one release, it possibly means you'll spend a ridiculous amount if you want all the games.
I can't imagine them being more than $15 a piece. ODST by itself is only $5 on Xbox.
 
I wonder how the actual purchasing will work, then... are they really going to be charging piecemeal for each game? If so, will we be paying anything for the base MCC "game" or is each game going to be stand alone?
 
I wonder how the actual purchasing will work, then... are they really going to be charging piecemeal for each game? If so, will we be paying anything for the base MCC "game" or is each game going to be stand alone?
I don't have the link (I think it was in their AMA), but they said that you won't be able to buy them all in one package until they're all individually released. So there will be no kind of "season pass" that allows you to download them as they're released for one price.
 
A couple PC version updates:

1. Insider tests for Reach have been delayed as the team is struggling with a few things. No new timeframe announced.

2. 343 put up a new blog post talking about the PC version, including a brief interview with Splash Damage and then some talk about the "pillars" of the PC release. Some notes below, but I'd encourage people to read the whole blog post as my notes only focus on features not the other things talked about.

*There will be a new series-wide progression system giving players rewards as they do stuff. No specific details yet.
*New UI will work with controller as well as keyboard and mouse
*Splash Damage is working on the ability for players to create custom mouse acceleration curves.
*Fully remappable controls
*Minimal input latency
*Mention of other "advanced input options" but no other specifics given.
*There is some reiteration of stuff mentioned in the AMA including FOV sliders (as long as its possible in the specific game), 4K, above 60hz support, 4K and ultrawide support, and so on.
*In-game text chat
*Gsync and Freesync support is mentioned
*Support for high and low dpi mice and support for multiple keyboard styles
*Dedicated and integrated GPU support (not sure how well these games are going to run on some iGPUs but native support is cool)
*"Loading optimizations"
*Borderless full screen and "flexible window resizing"
*Supporting ALT+Tab and ALT+Enter specifically called out
*Core gameplay of Halo will be untouched outside of bug fixes or small QOL changes for kb/m and controller users (one example given in the blog post)
*KB/M and controller players will be able to play together, they're working on ways to make it fair for both styles and specifically called out aim-assist (or aim magnitism as they call it) being disabled on kb/m while there is "some degree" of it on controller
*Full range of FOV and framerate options may not be in each game at launch but will be rolled out as things are tested both internally and through the Insider program.
*The above is the same with aspet ratios (I imagine this will mostly apply to non-standard aspect ratios like ultrawide or resolutions not already supported by MCC on the XB1 and I wouldn't be surprised if all of the "rolling" features take longer to work out with the older releases compared to the later games in the series)

There is other intesting info contained in the long blog post that I'm not summarizing here. There are a couple images in the blog I want to highlight though:

settingsaps-cf195eb214d344b8a884576f4c591d6a.jpg

Custom settings app they made while they work on the in-game UI. Those are some pretty neat mouse options to play with.

pcsettingsupdated-70b3d14440e6444c83b2cf6feb5518cb.jpg

Work in progress version of the in-game UI.
 
It's good to see they're taking the mouse input seriously. I like that note about supporting high dpi mice. Hopefully that means you can set the in game sensitivity low enough to use higher DPI.

In the original Halo PC the sensitivity does not go low enough and you have to set your dpi to 400 just so it's playable at the lowest sensitivity option. And there is a weird mouse acceleration tied to the frame rate or something.
 
I wonder how the actual purchasing will work, then... are they really going to be charging piecemeal for each game? If so, will we be paying anything for the base MCC "game" or is each game going to be stand alone?

I don't have the link (I think it was in their AMA), but they said that you won't be able to buy them all in one package until they're all individually released. So there will be no kind of "season pass" that allows you to download them as they're released for one price.

This bothers me, because my guess is we're going to end up paying a LOT more than the MCC on console.
 
...my guess is we're going to end up paying a LOT more than the MCC on console.
Exactly what I am worried about. I've seen it as low as $20 for XB1. I feel like I've seen it at $15 a few times. I have a feeling this PC version is NOT going to be anywhere close to those prices. Also fucking annoying that I have to wait until they are all released to buy the whole package. I don't wanna get the games one at a time.
 
Exactly what I am worried about. I've seen it as low as $20 for XB1. I feel like I've seen it at $15 a few times. I have a feeling this PC version is NOT going to be anywhere close to those prices. Also fucking annoying that I have to wait until they are all released to buy the whole package. I don't wanna get the games one at a time.

With the work they’re putting in it definitely won’t be $20 for the whole package. I’m guessing around $60 when all is said and done. Though by the time they are all out you might be able to get them for cheaper.
 
With the work they’re putting in it definitely won’t be $20 for the whole package. I’m guessing around $60 when all is said and done. Though by the time they are all out you might be able to get them for cheaper.

The cynic in me says $30-40 apiece for each title.
 
The cynic in me says $30-40 apiece for each title.

Probably $100 for all the games in a bundle. At the end of the day they are old games and not exactly state of the art. And I assume Halo 5 isn't part of the bundle.
 
Probably $100 for all the games in a bundle. At the end of the day they are old games and not exactly state of the art. And I assume Halo 5 isn't part of the bundle.

I mean...Squeenix is charging $50 for the FFX/X-2 remaster.

I would love to be proven wrong, but my gut feeling is that we're going to get reamed on these. Especially with the gap between releases, people will forget about the overall cost since they're being drip-fed individually.
 
I mean...Squeenix is charging $50 for the FFX/X-2 remaster.

I would love to be proven wrong, but my gut feeling is that we're going to get reamed on these. Especially with the gap between releases, people will forget about the overall cost since they're being drip-fed individually.

SE has a long history of drastically overpricing their re-releases. Even the mobile releases of old FF games are $20+. At $30-40 I’m not sure very many copies would sell or more people would just wait for a massive discount on the bundle.
 
They made it sound like it would be fairly cheap, but they're console developers and console games are typically a lot more expensive than PC games so I'm guessing around $20 each but wouldn't be surprised if they end up cheaper.

If they do add crossplay I wouldn't expect it until a year later. They'll probably have tons of problems they'll need to fix at launch. I'm really looking forward to this but I'm also extremely pessimistic because their track record is abysmal.
 
There is a lot of work being put into this, not as much as a full new game, but still a lot of work. I'm happy to spend full price for the package of all games if the reviews show it's a genuine effort.
 
I'm going to guess the games will be $20 each as they come out and then the full collection will be available for $60 down the road.

AFAIK these are ports from the Xbox One version with PC optimizations and not remasters so they shouldn't be expensive.
 
I'm going to guess the games will be $20 each as they come out and then the full collection will be available for $60 down the road.

AFAIK these are ports from the Xbox One version with PC optimizations and not remasters so they shouldn't be expensive.

MCC was only $60 on Xbox if I recall, although the PC version has more content overall at launch such as Reach.
 
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