Don't Use Quick Resume With Halo Infinite For Now, Advises 343

its one problom after another with the game enjoying it but did they do any sort of testing?

I'd love to know how well this game held together this time last year...I think we may be giving too much credit to Microsoft for 'listening' to feedback over visuals. I reckon the actual game must have been being held together by string at the time too and it was more a case of the realisation of that...rather than, let's delay a year to adjust the textures and lighting a little.

@themightyant Are you playing on the Series X?

I downloaded the game on my base Xbox One and encountered an audio game-breaking glitch an hour in which prevented me from loading up the campaign. Then I decided to just play the Cloud Gaming version, i.e. the Series X/S version, and it worked flawlessly. No issues at all. Probably should've just done that to begin with.

@themightyant I had an issue downloading it as well. Well, kind of. The page for the game refused to load, so I just went into the Manage game page for the Multiplayer portion that was already there and selected the Campaign. It just added it to the update it was already downloading for Multiplayer and then it just downloaded it all. I'm guessing the servers were still taking a beating, but didn't notice it in actually download speed. This was after Midnight EST too, which was surprising.

Lol at the people complaining at the games 'issues'. I come from the Commodore 64 generation where it was very likely you'd buy a game get it home and it wouldn't load at all, or crash during loading, or during gameplay, after waiting nearly 40 minutes to download. It would be a trip back down to Woolworths in the pissing rain to find another copy or get a refund. This generation has it easy. Enjoy the game, and stop moaning at what you could consider very minor bugs.

I noticed the time it took to reconnect to the servers after using quick resume took longer than quitting and reopening the game anyhow.
Forza Horizon 5 also is sometimes quicker just to restart. With the loading speed of the Series X it's never an issue anyhow.

Don't forget the other issue we Old Timers had, @DonkeyKongBigBoy. The one where you would get stuck in a game and there was absolutely no way of finding out what to do next. No internet, no forums, no Youtube, no help whatsoever! I remember getting stuck in the original Resident Evil when it very first came out. Didn't have a clue what to do next, wasn't very far into the game, and so being unable to progress, that was it, game over...

@themightyant I had the same thing happen with the game page, which is why I did it that way fine. Things like this are one reason why it kind of sucks that basically everything, even basic stuff like managing a game, is all online and loaded off of their servers. It is what it is though I suppose. I half expected some issues given how the game was released. Doesn't make it better. Just made me prepared, even though it was annoying not having the game's page work even though it's plastered all over the UI.

Maybe the jumping through hoops was because a portion of the game was already released? I don't remember many, if any games, that I've played (or in this case will play) that have been this way. Not complaining, just saying.

@DonkeyKongBigBoy C64 games probably had a budget of a tenner to make.

We should expect better.

As it disconnects you from the server, I just quit the app & reloaded anyway, so no big issue. If they could, it might be advisable to patch out the quick resume all together until a remedy has been found. The developers should be focusing on winding down for the Holiday season now though, they need a break!

@themightyant The reliance on patches is both a benefit and a curse. Yes, we eventually now get 'fixed' games...where as a few gens back you get what you're given. But there's definitely less of a incentive to have a 'seal of quality' going forward on release dates. Last gen day 1 patches became the norm...mostly fixing unsubstantial things. This gen I'll be surprised if the majority of physical media represent the final versions of games by the end.
Has you wonder about a streaming future...where most games will probably end up released in 'early access' states to hit those release windows.

Glad they finally acknowledge the issue.

@themightyant although with the 8 bit machines with a bit of luck somebody would create a Poke that could be typed in to fix the bugs!

Shame they couldn't delay it for a year to have it ready for launch 🤔

I've had a couple big frame rate drops whenever things got a little too chaotic but that probably is just my computer more than the game itself. Thankfully it's never been bad enough to hurt the experience. Had a blast with it so far!

Microsoft acquiring that new QA subsidiary looks like it's really starting to pay off.

The game itself is fine. It's just nitpicking now

Now you tell us! lol

I have to wonder with an extra year how nobody managed to think of the known PLATFORM FEATURE problem with QR not restoring connections. I mean even Ubisoft has figured out how to work it by now...

@themightyant @Bleachedsmiles I wonder if Game Pass will actually have a positive effect on "patch culture" in the long term. Until now, really until FH5 and H:I, launch day basically meant a bunch of hardcore gamer nerd enthusiasts who preorder everything will be forced to beta test until they fix it. The broad market was largely shielded from the problems because they don't early adopt. Now with Game Pass the early adopters means the entire market, all at once. Studios aren't used to backlash of the entire player base getting exposed to all the problems day 1. Ironically I could see it returning us to more polished releases at launch. Not for 343. But for other more clueful studios.

@pip_muzz FH5 used to be obnoxiously slow to load, like FH4, until last week when they finally got rid of making us wait through the Playground & Turn 10 logo screens. An celebrated fix that I've been literally waiting since the launch of FH4 for.

@themightyant ...though technically I imagine the average casual consumer hasn't been able to figure out how to download it yet at all. Having to go into "manage" to download it as DLC, even if you installed "Halo: Infinite (Campaign)" from the Game Pass store which was just a copy of "Halo: Infinite Multiplayer" and didn't do anything different, and definitely didn't include the campaign) is just messy. It's worse than Intergrade upgrade to PS5. At least that spams you with ads inside the game that you need to buy and download the DLC.

@DonkeyKongBigBoy Yeah with the datasette, an half an hour of tapeloading would get you like 100KB ... those were the days...

This really is an advice for every game, isn't it? I lost millions, a house and a couple of cars in Forza Horizon 5 after a quick resume as well...

I too had a ZX Spectrum, @Microbius. The beeps and whistles as a game loaded was strangely intoxicating! I remember playing a game on it that I think was called Valhalla, and got stuck in that one too(!). I resorted to typing swear words into the navigation bar, which resulted in a woman walking on to the screen and scolding the male character that you played. That alone passed a few more hours before having to give up on that game too...

@DonkeyKongBigBoy You mean the problem that collapsed the entire games industry in the US in the 80's to the point no retailer would carry anything video game related because the whole aisle was toxic inventory until Nintendo rode in on their shining steed with a monopoly and a quality guarantee? I'm not sure "at least it's not as bad as it was then!" is a good baseline to start from And after CP2077 last year, I'm not sure the whole industry even qualifies for "at least it's not as bad as it was then!" That was a genuine E.T. moment.

Imagine if Hollywood released films where random scenes still show greenscreens, missing foley for key scenes, and readers are standing in for the actors in places when it goes to box office release weekend and they told everyone "don't worry, we'll do the post editing on that and add the car chase and swap the actor scenes in in by the time it reaches home video, or at least 4 months after that. This stuff takes time, please understand, we're so grateful to all the fans that just spent $13.50 on movie tickets this weekend, and rest assured we appreciate all the support and appreciation of the fans as we continue to make this the best film we can make! We know there's still hard work ahead, but your patience (and money) inspires us!"

Yeah, Halo's state is really pretty good. But there's too many "rush job" launch gaffe's for the biggest publisher's biggest and most well funded studio launching the publisher's biggest game after over a year in delays with missing modes and gaffes supporting basic platform features. The criticism is very earned in 343i's case. I'm not a huge fan of Sony's business model and practices, but I do have to give them credit as a publisher, when they release a game, they release it and it's truly finished, with the exception of cases like the multiplayer GoT Legends mode or pending TloU2 mode where it's a separate mode (or game) added in later with a schedule. They have some patches to fix minor issues here and there, but generally the game is in a well tested and polished state at launch. MS has the resources to do equally well there. Although, this is MS, they don' even do that for their enterprise critical operating systems....

@NEStalgia I'm having fun playing Halo infinite. I think the gripes are pretty much unjustified. The game runs extremely well and has great graphics (Xbox series s) I haven't had an issues so far. Happy gaming

I’ve just come back on the Xbox after been away for a few hours, I used quick resume but a message popped up saying no license found, I had to either buy the game or check that my Game Pass subscription was up to date. I quit the game then went straight back on and that sorted it.

@NEStalgia Youd think early adopters would be a thing of the past with gamepass or a streaming future...be we've already seen day1 on gamepass doesn't mean day 1 if you're prepared to preorder (fh5). I can see ms adopting that more...I just hope they don't end up releasing another tier where you're guaranteed access to games day1.

Streaming future is going to have some positives though - it will eliminate the need to install/uninstall games. I reckon it will be norm games hitting 200+GB when they start focusing on this gen...we'll soon come to see how small these ssds are...and feel the expensive of upgrading them. Not having to worry about space should also offer us better looking games. But games that aren't broken on release? I'm pretty convinced games will get less quality control before release once streamings the norm...unless the amount of choice means publishers can't afford a 'release now fix later' approach because they know how important the first week of capturing a fickle audience is... Could go either way. I reckon we'll probably end up with shorted/chapter based games though for story driven stuff.

@Bleachedsmiles Fair point with the whole "early access" thing. Though I don't think that necessarily affects the "patch culture" effect. "Patch culture" works when the early adopters buy the game in October, November, and the mass market opens it Dec 25th giving months of patches to try. Early access gives a few days at most. They can patch teething issues in that time, but they can't plan on patching any big problems. Even this quick resume bug in Halo they're using the word "eventually"....

I don't think they can start hitting 200GB games this gen because of the SSDs, really. At least first party. Sony's playing with, what, 680GB usable at best? Currently Sony's been prioritizing smaller file sizes vs MS and a lot of their games are coming in in the 40-60GB range. I can see them pushing 100GB, but with MS and games like Forza already that size, I'm assuming they're not really using their compression tools well yet.

Activision, though I can see it. And one thing to keep in mind is publishers may actually work to make games more bloated for manipulative reasons. The more games they can prevent you from installing on your console next to theirs, the more you'll play theirs. I could see Activision for example inflating CoD by 100+ GB just to take more space, just to limit the games users install, just to force them to spend more time in CoD. It's the same reason why old PC game boxes used to be huge. If the big games take up enough physical shelf space, it reduces the number of other games that can be on the shelf, keeping theirs prominent and obligatory. They kept making the boxes bigger just to consume more shelf space to force other games out of the store or into low or spine-facing racks so you don't see them. The small SSDs can easily be used like the old shelves by unscrupulous publishers.

I worry about the business trends you mentioned though. I do think streaming can't afford to be broken, so it should help. If the next game is a click away with no real cost barrier, no company can afford a bad first impression, it has to be massively addictive from the start, and a broken game won't do that. For now they have your money, so they don't care after that. If player engagement numbers matter for their money, they can't afford to scare people away or become a meme. Herd mentality is too strong for that to work. BUT the episodic/chapter model thing, I could see happening more. Heck even Halo Infinite is more or less that from what we know.

I don't even understand the whole "seasons" thing in modern television. Last time I looked a "season" meant 22 episodes spanning from October to May Sweeps. Now I see "seasons" meaning like 4-6 weeks and 3 episodes. I call that a miniseries. Media is weird these days.

@DonkeyKongBigBoy
As a sinclair spectrum owner, I share your painful memories.

@DonkeyKongBigBoy

Don’t give me that man, I’ve been gaming since the SNES which, while not quite as long as you, is long enough to remember the days when glitchy/buggy games couldn’t be patched after release. The thing is, Halo is Microsoft’s Mario but the state of Infinite at launch compared to let’s say Odyssey is night and day. I love Halo, grew up on it, one of my favorite gaming franchises but I’m not going to sweep this game’s problems under the rug. It’s simply rushed.