HALOCEA Chief's armor analysis

So, Halo: CE Anniversary is basically a mod. I know, it's running 2 engines at once, but since the new one is using the old one as framework... I like that the update makes the PoA look internally like the Sulaco, those movies having been cited as a major design influence on the folks at Bungie in the first place.

So, they rebuilt John's armor. IT'S THE ONLY CHARACTER MODEL THEY REBUILT. After re-doing all they environments, and updating the weapons a bit... it seems lazy, somehow, to rebuild the ONE CHARACTER MODEL THAT YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO SEE and then just force REACH models onto the old skeleton. And worse, randomly change major parts of the design in ways that are not merely updating (again, when an amateur modeller can do it right in 4 days...) and ADD a GLARING TECHNICAL ERROR.

Anyway, anyone who's been following me for a while should know that I've always preferred the MJOLNIR Mark V from CE over the Mark VI from 2 and 3, and the REACH Mk. V.; The original UNSC Pillar Of Autumn; the Marines' armor from CE, partly because it gave them better coverage. _{less obviously, Halo 2 Cortana...}
Partly, I've never understood the "Muscles as armor" thing; I frequently think of the DOOM Marine (classic, go google some pictures and compare I'll wait.....See it?); the CE armor had more COVERAGE, on all counts, though some of the REACH army/marine armor seems to be trying, since i noticed there are some permutations with large thigh panels and upper arm panels.
And the 'Armor Permutations', while they add a bit of individuality to you, are basically bullshit. Except for the ones that have actual equipment on them, such as most of the Chest ones (the 'Ghillie Scarf one from Jun is Totally pointless), which usually have extra magazines or ammo pouches or grenades on them, and the thigh pouch ones, BECAUSE THESE ARE THINGS THAT SHOULD ALWAYS HAVE BEEN THERE IN SOME CAPACITY; I never understood why Bungie took the Chief's storage capacity away... And it provides an example of where, perhaps, HALO's combat could evolve: instead of just cutting ammo capacity and magazine size in half, require you to have the proper equipment to carry the ammo for the weapons you're in the first place... But that would make it a different kind of shooter... Mainly, all the descriptions behind REACH permutations and the different appearance of the Mk. V (I've read that it was supposed to be an 'outsourced' model -like a Gundam Ground Type/Mass Produced -much better than a GM, still not quite Amuro Rey's MS, and still limited in number due to cost- and now it's apparently been ret-conned to being "a first-run series" of Mk. V) is BS, just to explain their existence and different appearance. Basically, the introduction of SPARTAN IIIs threw some things way out of whack. Or rather, the decision not to equip them as IIIs -with Jorge keeping his MJOLNIR, since he's a II and the Heavy Weapons Guy, and the rest in SPI Armor- and actually introducing new gameplay elements...

I digress, since these are complaints about stuff that I've been holding in for a while, waiting... festering...
Now, I have said that I am a "Polys over Textures" sort of guy. This doesn't mean I oppose NECESSARY textures, or GOOD ones, just the ones that try to fake.. shit. this is hard to describe, and I never seem to see anyone with the same issues I have. I occasionally pop into a forum or something where someone comments on sloppy texture work, but not sloppy DESIGN or CONSTRUCTION work in a game. No one ever seems to notice stretchy armor or clipping issues, but they get VERY riled up over blurry textures. >sigh< And this were we have a lot of games that, model-wise, might as well be PS2 games, were it not for this 'trompe l'oil' bit withb the normal-etc-maps. Listen: a high-detail FLAT texture looks better on a decent model than a MIDDLING level bump/normal/etc. map on a HALFWAY decent model. STOP IT. This is a reason why I'm generally more impressed by certain PS@ games, notably: Tomb Raider Anniversary and Legends. I like dunking Lara in water, and watching her dry. It's subtle, well-done, and that DOESN'T SEEM TO HAPPEN NOWADAYS.
Frankly, I don't quite understand how textures like normal maps and bump maps are supposed to help games (normals were introduced in "DOOM 3" to add non existant detail to relatively low polygon models, and it WORKED -in that generation); I know that when I'm rendering something in Cinema, the more "pretend" things -bump maps, displacement maps, un-collapsed/connected booleans, etc.- there are, the longer it takes to render, sometimes even move the view, or just say "f***-off, I'm not doing this". Granted it's an animation and rendering program not a game engine...

//END OF LINE//


_{Will someone let me know if they see egregious grammatical and spelling errors in any of my work? I've been noticing them crop up more often than usual recently, and not just when I'm tired...}