Halo 3 lacks depth (of field)

By Tom Bramwell Published 12 March, 2007

Bungie prefers clarity.

Bungie's latest Halo 3 update reveals that the developer has been toying with depth-of-field effects, but has ultimately decided not to make a big deal of them for gameplay reasons.

"We do have depth of field in the game, but right now, it's only being used (with any great visibility) in the UI [user interface] and in cinematics - because one of Halo's key functions is the idea of long distance combat," the developer writes.

"If something is out of focus for the game engine, that doesn't mean the player wasn't trying to focus on it."

"Depth of field" is an effect that puts things at a certain distance in sharp focus while others around it blur. It's used quite often in film and photography, and its use has become more prevalent in games as developers enjoy processing headroom. See Wikipedia for a fuller explanation and examples.

"We would never implement something in multiplayer that artificially obscured the player’s ability to decide what he or she was seeing," the team adds this week.

"There are borderline cases though. When you run around in a dark area - the bunker in High Ground for example, and then dash into the sunlight - your 'eyes' will adjust to the glare with a subtle blow out of the sky compared to the rock and dirt directly ahead of you."

Also in this week's update there's news of other graphical improvements, how the game ensures weapon visibility, and yet more immutable excitement about the mute function, which now lets you cut people off in "less than a second".

Sadly though there's no further word on the timing of the Halo 3 multiplayer beta, invites for which have more or less dried up. Expect to hear more on that as we move into spring.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000. Follow him on Twitter.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (24) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Tyronne #1 5 years ago

    What! no AJ76 spud gun deluxe weapon announcement ?

  • TripSkyway #2 5 years ago

    I liked the depth of field when aiming in COD3, but Halo aiming doesn't work the same way, so it seems like a valid choice.
    Edited by TripSkyway at 12/03/07 @ 07:13

  • peterfll #3 5 years ago

    The DOF effects in the Halo 2 cinematics were grating. It simply didn't look natural.

  • mkreku #4 5 years ago

    Halo 3 is like the Paris Hilton of game news reporting.

  • captainrentboy #5 5 years ago

    For fuck sake, it's Halo 3 news.Paaahhhhh.Gaaaaay!
    Yet here I am commenting anyway :)
    I wish they'd hurry up and show us how the graphics engine is coming along, because those videos from Chrimbo (With the H2 textures dotted around, etc)were a lil dodgy, especially for what is going to be one of the most anticipated games of all time.

  • valli #6 5 years ago

    your 'eyes' will adjust to the glare with a subtle blow out of the sky compared to the rock and dirt directly ahead of you."

    Ground breaking news!

  • Wash #7 5 years ago

    COD3 was stupid with this, i'd be walking through long grass trying to get a shot off on a enemy on a ridge in the distance, only for DOF to come into play and make me focus on the top of the grass.

    stupid mechanism poorly implemented.

    The first fifa to appear on the 360 also used this for no good reason.

  • Overlush #8 5 years ago

    Thank god for that. As much as I'm loving GRAW2, the silly heat and distance blur is downright fucking annoying at times!!!

  • SeesThroughAll #9 5 years ago

    Halo 3 is like the Paris Hilton of game news reporting.

    TBH, I find these news a bit more relevant and interesting to potencial players than "Master Chief's boxer colors" people have been fed lately. So, please cut the trolling on this one.

  • reality_cheque #10 5 years ago

    Mmm, Paris Hilton...

  • BadBoyBonner #11 5 years ago

    I think it is a very relevant tool in cinematic presentation - but a dangerous one in-game; more so on consoles with the use of joypad over mouse and the (probably) larger screen where you look around the screen without moving the centre.

    I would only ask that they make the weapons "sit" lower in the screen, and actually point forward as they seem to be angled inwards to show off the models and would end up firing in a criss-cross pattern anything over 3 foot away from intended impact point - when duel-wielding in Halo 2 there must be about 30% of the screen obscured by them.
    Edited by BadBoyBonner at 12/03/07 @ 10:25

  • ArcMonkey #12 5 years ago

    your 'eyes' will adjust to the glare with a subtle blow out of the sky compared to the rock and dirt directly ahead of you.

    Slowly catching up with Source engine then...

  • Matfink #13 5 years ago

    Good - DoF was becoming the new Bloom effect - stupidly over-abused to the detriment of the game.
    Next we need to get rid of the ridiculous 'space warp' effects around explosions ffs...

  • kangarootoo #14 5 years ago

    I think depth of field, nice as it looks, can be a really risky feature in games. I'm not sure the impact is always given enough consideration. A film director decides what object on the screen should be the focus of your attention, that is part of their job. To make assumptions about where a gamer will be looking and adjust focus accordingly is just asking for trouble methinks.

    Edit: For some games, 3rd person platformers for example, it can be used safely. I've played and worked on stuff on that genre that used DoF and it really added atmosphere. I'm surprised to hear of it being used in an FPS like CoD and I'm glad Bungie are avoiding its use in Halo 3.
    Edited by kangarootoo at 12/03/07 @ 11:35

  • floppylobster #15 5 years ago

    Depth of field was the single most annoying thing in Call of Duty 3. It's pretty annoying in films too. Camera lenses just can't pull focus as quickly as the human eye.

  • Raya #16 5 years ago

    Snore - I played the first Halo game - SNORE. I won't be playing Marathon 5.

    I wonder if it would hype as well if it was still called Marathon?

  • UncleLou #17 5 years ago

    Depth of field was the single most annoying thing in Call of Duty 3. It's pretty annoying in films too. Camera lenses just can't pull focus as quickly as the human eye.

    It's annoying in films? Um. It's a technical necessity due to how lenses work, not to mention an artisitic tool.

    I am really not quite sure what you mean, I guess.

  • The-Bodybuilder #18 5 years ago

    >"I would only ask that they make the weapons "sit" lower in the screen, and actually point forward as they seem to be angled inwards to show off the models "

    R U NUTZ?!?!?!?

  • Scythe #19 5 years ago

    *psychic flash*
    If this news were about Killzone2 whats the bet we'de be hearing how this is proof of the limitations of the PS3, proof of the uselessness of blu-ray and proof that the 360 is better/more powerful. but of course this is 360 news so god forbid you put negative spin on any news not PS3 related.

    Remember kids, spin news the way YOU want it to.

  • SeesThroughAll #20 5 years ago

    @Scythe: Don't start it, you little devil.

  • SomaticSense #21 5 years ago

    Thank you EG!! I'd been waiting ages for your next 1,975,382,567th hugely 'important' Halo 3 update.

    Joy.

    Oh, if it wasn't for the constant updates of minor and inconsequental news of Halo 3's development, I'd have committed suicide by now.

  • Les #22 5 years ago

    "Pardon me for trolling but apparently it's news now on EG when something is not going to happen."

    Yeah, like when the PS3 didn't launch globally... ;-P

  • Carrybagma #23 5 years ago

    /bonk

  • floppylobster #24 5 years ago

    "It's annoying in films? Um. It's a technical necessity due to how lenses work, not to mention an artisitic tool. I am really not quite sure what you mean, I guess. "

    What I'm saying is that a focus pull in film is annoying. Which is what 'depth of field' in games entails. In Call of Duty 3 it took the form of many unwanted focus pulls. Forcing you to focus on a blade of grass in front of you while you're trying to shoot the German somewhere in the field on the other side of it.

    In film it might be artistic, but it's mostly used in shitty Thrillers where they're trying desperately to get some tension out of an audience. For example see the triple focus pull in shit film - 'Fled'.