Here's how Halo Infinite is changing in response to player feedback
The old radar is coming back
In a lengthy blog post, Halo Infinite's developers have summarised and responded to the feedback gathered during last month's multiplayer technical preview. There are a lot of changes incoming in time for the next test, including a return to the old style of radar.
Halo Infinite's multiplayer radar only showed players when they were sprinting or shooting. This made it similar to the "threat tracker" in Halo 5, but different from the radar in older Halo games which would show all movement except from crouch-walking. The change was one of the most contentious in Halo Infinite's test.
"While some appreciated the new approach, we found that most players missed the old properties in these social matches," write 343 Industries in the massive blog post. "We've updated the Combat Sensor to feel more like the "Motion Tracker" of old, which shows all movement besides crouch-walking, and should have that ready for folks to test in the next flight."
The post really is vast, breaking the game down into different areas - multiplayer, audio, UI, etc. - and offering the gathered pros and cons for each. Players apparently want the Needler's audio to sound more "crystalized", for example, and 343 say there'll be an "in-progress version" of a new sound in the next public test.
Other common points of feedback were the difficulty of telling whether players had Overshield, full shields, weakened shields or broken shields. The next public test will have "significant FX changes" to make that info clear, while maintaining the accessibility changes that make Halo Infinite's player outlines better for colourblind players.
Weapon drills are also going to be expanded. These are practice arenas where players can learn weapons and compete for scores, and future iterations will have better teaching of alt-fire modes and post-release updates will bring untimed weapon drills.
The full post is worth a read, or at least a skim, even if you didn't take part in the technical test. It's a good example of a developer communicating their thought process to players.
As announced during Gamescom, Halo Infinite is due for release on December 8th.