Halo Boss Reveals Reason Behind Infinite's New Slipspace Engine

343 Industries head Bonnie Ross revealed the Slipspace engine was created to fulfill a promise made to the development team before Halo 5.

[lxeasy]

glad to hear it. Also I'm glad they didn't follow the 3 year cycle Halo games normally come out in. And instead they focused on taking their time with this on to make sure they get it right and innovate once again.

[TK-66]

I think MS needs to rethink their approach with their major franchises. From here on I'd rather we only have 1 Halo/Gears mainline game per generation and continue to support them (like they have this gen). It would allow the teams to also work on more projects that are not just limited to Halo or Gears.

[slate91]

This x10000

[Kavorklestein]

Not only that, but the main title would be more focused, fully fleshed out, and we wouldn't have annual or semi-annual releases etc. fragmenting the playerbase in mp lobbies.
I'd rather have continual updates and dlc so to speak for one or maybe two games per generation than have to pay 60 bucks each year or every other year to stay current in my favorite franchises.

[Xb1ps4]

Really???? 1 per generation?! At least 2...

[TK-66]

@xb1ps4

Just do what Halo 3 did and make an expansion like ODST. New SP and multiplayer content like Firefight. We don't need an all new game.

[UnholyLight]

Honestly, I almost think I am crazy to say this yet....Yes I agree with you. I miss those days where Halo 3 for example wasn't brand new but myself and friends would set aside time to play and it felt like it lasted for YEARS until the next big thing...and even then you could still go back and enjoy it. Halo 5 for me was super fun multi, and yes I hop on once in a while, but I find I never really was quite as sucked in as I once was. I'd love for them to get back to that feeling of just like never ending fun and excitement kind of thing. The long development cycle and break to me at least, gives me hope that they can make a massive comeback and gamechanger once again.

[Donnie81]

You know the people at 343 took the job to work on halo and nothing else. Most of 343 is made up of former bungie devs that wanted to continue to work on halo. Now I don’t hate the idea of one really banging main line entry per gen and trying something new within the universe. A halo rpg would be awesome or a horror title based on the grave mind. Don’t forget Halo Reach was a prequel but many people think it’s the best one. An ODST 2 is way past due. But I never see the day where 343 makes anything but halo it’s just not gonna happen.

[TK-66]

"You know the people at 343 took the job to work on halo and nothing else. Most of 343 is made up of former bungie devs that wanted to continue to work on halo."

This is not true. I think people actually did research and found that at most there is a handful of ex-Bungie employees and that laughably there are more ex-343 developers at Bungie than the other way round. Its also literally impossible for 343 to be made up of mostly Bungie devs since 343 is roughly 3 times larger than Bungie was under Microsoft.

"A halo rpg would be awesome or a horror title based on the grave mind."

Ugh no. I've already criticised how people this gen have been begging every single game become an open-world RPG this gen and it needs to stop. Also a Horror based Halo would be a terrible idea because it wouldn't be Halo. You can have a level with some horror elements but the entire game should not be based around it. 343 doesn't even have a reliable track record with the core series yet so how can we trust them with a spin-off in an entirely different genre?

"Don’t forget Halo Reach was a prequel but many people think it’s the best one. An ODST 2 is way past due. But I never see the day where 343 makes anything but halo it’s just not gonna happen."

People can believe what they want and Halo: Reach is a good game but it does not have the legacy that Halo 3 has. Halo 3 set such a high standard and its something that 343 need to aim for. Brilliant SP with co-op, great custom games/maps, Horde mode added with ODST and an incredibly good multiplayer component. Halo: Infinite needs to aim to be just as good as Halo 3.

[Xb1ps4]

I think that should be for sport games but not a shooter.. that’s just crazy, 1 per generation...

[WilliamSheridan]

I agree, or once every 4 years works... Keeps it fresh

[notachance]

"we will never reveal games too early again"

[Spurg]

343i are changing their Halo engines and Bethesda need to follow suit with the next elder Scrolls and especially Starlink. Starlink will fall off my anticipated list if it has the current fallout 76 engine. I can't imagine it looking and feeling fun to play.

[mkis007]

Starfield

[Vegamyster]

I'm pretty sure they already confirmed it's using the same engine as it's previous games but that doesn't mean it won't be retooled/reworked, it's too far down the road to know for sure. That said even if they do use a new engine it doesn't mean it won't have the same problems, the closest game to Bethesda's mainline games for world interactions, NPC tasks & items ect is Kingdom Come Deliverance which uses Cryengine but has a lot of similar bugs/issues.

[slate91]

Didnt realize they had been on the same engine for so long. Cant wait to see what kind of results this brings. Halo 2.0

[Vegamyster]

Most engines are quite old or have roots in old ones, the Dunia engine that Ubisoft uses for Far Cry is based on the original Cryengine but it's been worked over so much i believe they said less than 1% of the original code exists for example.

[rainslacker]

A game engine is kind of a tricky thing to define. There are a few core aspects that make it up. The SDK is the front end which determines the workflow of the engine. This can generally remain in tact through mutliple versions, and usually isn't thrown completely out the window unless it just becomes too bloated or requires too many dependencies that hold it back.

Then you have the graphics pipeline, which is the core aspect of how the work entered will be processed through the system. This usually determines the game loop, and the game engine can easily be modified to adapt if it's flexible. If it's not flexible, then it can cause problems as you have to take extra steps in the build itself.

Then you have the general compiler process which is the most important to get right. If you can't modify the other two parts to compile in an efficient manner in the most direct way without having to use a lot of extra functions to get the same result, then you have a buggy slow engine....like you see with Bethesda, who never had the best graphics pipeline to begin with. I hear the workflow of their engine is OK though, if not a bit antiquated, and too reliant on 3rd party coding outside the engine....which isn't atypical of big games anyways.

Generally the more modular a game engine is, the more adaptable it is. Unreal is a good example, and they aren't afraid to throw out things for new versions if they just don't work in the new.

Anyhow, it's not like Bethesda is still using the same exact engine they have for a couple decades now, just that they haven't adapted it well enough, and still rely on poor rendering pipelines, despite much better ones being available within the general SDK's out there from the console makers, NVidia, or AMD. My guess the reason they do this is because they write games to be as open platform as possible, so use a higher level code and don't spend as much time on the actual optimization part. For systems that use that core high level code, namely DX, they will require less work on Bethesda's part.

[DaDrunkenJester]

Basically... previous engine was too old and complicated to keep moving forward with in the next gen. They wanted something easier and prettier for where they want to take the future of Halo... makes sense and I support this longer dev time for it.

This is something all devs need to do at some point, and more specifically Bethesda.

[rainslacker]

Not sure if the original Saber Engine is still supported. Halo has used a couple different engines through the years, and not sure which one's used what, but some of them used more than one engine in a single game.

[Bane35]

Hopefully 343 will make this upcoming halo game a great game

[Sciurus_vulgaris]

I wonder if the Slipspace Engine will be used non-Halo titles ?

[porkChop]

I think that depends on the versatility and capabilities of the engine. If it's purpose-built just for Halo, then maybe not. It would be smart to build this engine so that all first party teams could use it.

Unlike EA who took an engine built solely for Battlefield and shoehorned it into all their games, causing many issues during development. I think MS/343 will be smarter than that though.

[Sciurus_vulgaris]

I don't think the current issues associated with the Frostbite Engine are due to it being solely built for Battlefield. I think the Frostbite Engine has underlying issues that are worsened when it is used for non-battlefield games. Frostbite games seem to have long load times, animation issues, and general bugginess. Also, Battlefield 1 and Battlefront 2 (2017) have some of the worst AI I have ever this gen. Also EA appears to have rushed out some Frostbite games without giving studios time to adjust to the engine.

[Kaze24]

It should be able to, unless it's used for another game other than a shooter.

[Sciurus_vulgaris]

Gaming engines can work across multiple genres.

[DrumBeat]

That's the perfect name for an engine powering a Halo game.

[Kaze24]

SsssssliiiiiiiiiipSssssssspace !! xD

[AK91]

Because it's no longer a linear FPS but now a Destiny clone.

[Parasyte]

Glad you can see into the future. Tell us, how successful is the game?

[King_Noctis]

And you know this how?

[Kaze24]

Well bungie did create the first Halo, years before destiny, so that makes Destiny the Halo clone.

[timotim]

Great interview. Saw the whole thing. She was very stern in not giving away any info...but I loved seeing her passion for the franchise. She cares for Halo, that's for certain.

[Donnie81]

My favorite thing she said was they wanna do more with a Halo. How in the world isn’t there an Rpg set in the halo universe yet. You got such a rich universe created not only by game devs but some great authors that is just primed for that sort of experience. That being said the engine looks to be very capable so they just need to give it to obsidian and set them loose. I really love Halo!!!!!!

[SLiSH83]

Make a great base game, and just keep supporting it.
If the game is fun, players will stick around if the devs do their part and add worthwhile content to keep them ingaged

[81BX]

Can't stand McCaffrey's face. He looks like someone who almost starved to death, but some how lived.

[HighPlayer28]

Great to hear they are taking the time to create a better engine. The Halo slipspace looks amazing can not wait for this game.

[Sirk7x]

I'm really excited for this. 343 are very capable devs. There were huge flaws with Halo 5's story, but the game still felt GREAT to play, and their production values and art direction are through the roof. I think MS knows that the next Halo game needs to be truly special to keep its place as a gaming legend. I just hope that they streamline the story a bit. They've kinda put themselves in a corner by having to rely so much on expanded lore. Great for the lore enthusiast, but that can make it a mess for anyone else. Case in point: KH3.

[Einhander1971]

Would be nice to see Halo look completely different never particularly liked the graphical style. When I played Halo on the original Xbox I assumed the next gen would look so much better. Unfortunately that's the style the Halo universe has.

[Kaze24]

If you don't like the art style, why even play it, there's plenty of other shooters out there, they're not gonna change it just cause of few, I like it even tho my fav color isn't green.

[franwex]

Umm.. errr...huh...mmm...sigh...

I cringed the whole time. For some reason people not being able to formulate words in an interview irritates me.

Anyway, hopefully they also improve the campaign and bring back splitcreen. I know they said they will implement it going forward, so I hope they stay true to that.

[Kaze24]

I like where the next Halo is going, would be nice to have some rpg elements in the pve part and go back to being a sandbox game like how Halo 1 was, having big open maps with plenty of covenants to kill, wasn't a fan when they changed it and made smaller maps in Halo 2.

[GameStallion]

I can’t get excited for this until I know there will be no GAAS or microtransactions.