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Halo: The Master Chief Collection

From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games
Revision as of 00:44, 9 March 2020 by Weion (talk | contribs) (→‎Video settings: 120fps section - Improved readability)
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Although this product has been released, it remains under active development - information may change frequently and could be outdated or irrelevant.
Halo: The Master Chief Collection
Halo: The Master Chief Collection cover
Developers
Lead development 343 Industries
Original games (exc. Halo 4) Bungie
Windows Ruffian Games
Windows Splash Damage
Windows Saber Interactive
Publishers
Xbox Game Studios
Engines
Halo Engine
Saber3D Engine
Unreal Engine 4
Release dates
Windows December 3, 2019*[1]
Halo: The Master Chief Collection guide on StrategyWiki
Halo: The Master Chief Collection on MobyGames
Halo: The Master Chief Collection on Wikipedia
Halo
Halo: Combat Evolved 2003
Halo 2 2007
Halo: Spartan (series)
Halo Online 2015*
Halo 5: Forge 2016
Halo Wars (series)
Halo Recruit 2017
Halo: The Master Chief Collection (series)
Halo Infinite 2021

Key points

See the Downloadable content (DLC) and expansions section for the included original and remastered ("Anniversary") Halo titles, and their respective release dates.
Forge and Theater for Halo: Reach will arrive in 2020.[2]

General information

Official website
Official forums
Steam Community Discussions
Halo Insider Program

Availability

Source DRM Notes Keys OS
Microsoft Store
Microsoft Store
Xbox Game Pass for PC
Windows
Steam
Icon overlay.png
Windows
All versions require a Microsoft account for both singleplayer and multiplayer.
The games can be purchased either individually as they are released, or in a discounted bundle containing all six games.

DLC and expansion packs

Name Notes
Halo: Reach Release Date: December 3, 2019
Windows
Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary Release Date: March 3, 2020
Windows
Halo 2: Anniversary Release Date: TBA
Windows
Halo 3 Release Date: TBA
Windows
Halo 3: ODST Release Date: TBA
(Campaign only)
Windows
Halo 4 Release Date: TBA
Windows
All titles in the collection will be released one at a time, in the order listed above, to ensure their quality and allow players in without having to wait for the entire collection to be finished.[3]

Essential improvements

Skip intro videos

Remove the video files[4]
  1. Go to <path-to-game>\MCC\Content\Movies.
  2. Delete or rename FMS_logo_microsoft_7_1_.bk2.

Notes

Players can use the Anti-Cheat Disabled (Mods and Limited Services) option to speed up the launch even further.[5]

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System Location
Microsoft Store %USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\MCC\
Steam %USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\MCC\
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/976730/pfx/[Note 1]
Local settings are shared between the Steam and Microsoft Store versions.[6]

Save game data location

System Location
Microsoft Store %LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\Microsoft.Chelan_8wekyb3d8bbwe\SystemAppData\wgs\
Steam <Steam-folder>\userdata\<user-id>\976730\remote\<user-id>\Saves\
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/976730/pfx/[Note 1]
Saves cannot be transferred between the versions.[7]

Save game cloud syncing

System Native Notes
Steam Cloud
Used to save Mid-Mission Checkpoints in Campaign and Playlists.[8]
Xbox Cloud
Progress will transfer between the Xbox One and PC versions (Mid-Mission Checkpoint progress is not retained as not compatible).[8]

Video settings

In-game general video settings.
In-game general video settings.
In-game general gameplay settings.
In-game general gameplay settings.

Template:Video settings

Graphics quality is limited to presets. Enhanced graphics mode dramatically increases the distance at which models load in and the distance at which lower detailed models are swapped in.
Support for FOV adjustment and variable frame rate may change per title due to limitations.[9][10][11]

Input settings

In-game keyboard and mouse control settings.
In-game keyboard and mouse control settings.
In-game general gamepad settings.
In-game general gamepad settings.

Template:Input settings

Controller remapping

Universal

The Universal Presets apply to all games in the collection.

Halo Reach

Audio settings

In-game general audio settings.
In-game general audio settings.

Template:Audio settings

In-game general accessibility settings.
In-game general accessibility settings.

Localizations

Language UI Audio Sub Notes
English
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
French
German
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Polish
Not available in Reach and Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary.
Portuguese
Voiceovers not available in Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary.
Russian
Not available in Reach and Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary.
Spanish
Voiceovers for Halo 2: Anniversary were never made, and is therefore not included.
Latin American Spanish
Voiceovers not available in Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary.

Network

In-game general network settings.
In-game general network settings.
Online features require a free Microsoft account.
Supports cross-play between Microsoft Store and Steam versions. PC/Xbox cross-play is being looked into but is unlikely to be in place at launch.[11]

Multiplayer types

Type Native Players Notes
Local play
Will be investigated to see if it can be supported post-launch.[11]
LAN play
16 Co-op, Versus
Co-op limited to 4 players (2 players in Halo: CE and Halo 2)[12]
Online play
16 Co-op, Versus
Co-op limited to 4 players (2 players in Halo: CE and Halo 2)

Connection types

Type Native Notes
Matchmaking
Hosted on 343i's Dedicated Servers.
Peer-to-peer
Self-hosted lobbies are Peer-to-Peer.
Dedicated
Matchmaking Online matches are hosted on 343i's Dedicated Servers. No official dedicated server is provided.
Self-hosting
Can host peer-to-peer Custom Game lobbies.
Direct IP

Ports

Protocol Port(s) and/or port range(s)
TCP 4811, 52390-52397, 52401-52425, 52460-52638, 52855, 53070, 53274, 53490, 53719, 53962, 54085-54090, 54175, 54382
UDP 4379, 7551, 61421
This game supports Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) for automatic port configuration.

Issues unresolved

Halo: Reach

Known issues

See this support page for a list of known issues affecting Halo Reach.

Post-processing effects 'disappear' on higher resolutions

Post-processing effects are targeted for the game's original 1152x720 resolution, meaning the larger the resolution, the less pronounced the effects appear.[13]

Sound issues

The overall sound quality seems lower on the Master Chief Collection version of the game compared to the original Xbox 360 release.[14] The issue was caused by changing the sound middleware (to FMOD) during the porting process according to official development updates. According to the developers, a fix is in the works and will be included in a future patch.[2][15] [Note 2]

Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary

Known issues

See this support page for a list of known issues affecting Halo: CEA.

Some effects and graphic elements are missing in the original graphics mode

Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary was based on the 2003 PC version ported by Gearbox Software, which was missing several graphic effects and elements from the original Xbox version, and at this time is still present in the PC remaster. Devs are aware of this and are investigating into restoring it with the help of Original Xbox development kits.[17][18]

Issues fixed

Slow connections to matchmaking games

Disable matchmaking relays in the Network settings at the main menu.[19]

Other information

API

Technical specs Supported Notes
Direct3D 11.1
Shader Model support 5.0
Executable 32-bit 64-bit Notes
Windows

Middleware

Middleware Notes
Physics Havok
Audio FMOD, Miles Sound System, Wwise, iZotope Utilizes multiple audio processing systems across the collection.[20]
Interface Unreal Engine 4, Scaleform The former is used for the Main Menu UI and Customization UX, whereas the latter is used for the in-game UI.[20]
Cutscenes Bink Video
Multiplayer Xbox Live, Steamworks
Anti-cheat Easy Anti-Cheat Players have the option to launch the game without anti-cheat to play with custom modifications. Matchmaking is disabled in this mode.

System requirements

Windows
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) 7
Processor (CPU) AMD Ryzen 7 2700U 2.20 GHz
Intel Core i7 8750H 2.20 GHz
System memory (RAM) 8 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 20 GB
(Windows Store: 24.93 GB) (Steam:23.97GB)
Video card (GPU) Radeon Vega 10 Mobile
Intel UHD Graphics 630
1 GB of VRAM
DirectX 11.1 compatible
Shader model 5.0 support
Support for Windows 8 is still being investigated.[11]
May be differences in System Requirements between the Windows Store and Steam versions of the game.[8]

Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data (use Wine regedit to access Windows registry paths). Games with Steam Cloud support may store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/976730/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (976730) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.
  2. When editing the page, please keep the linked information in mind.[16]

References

  1. Halo Waypoint - Halo: Reach Arrives December 3rd - last accessed on 2019-11-14
  2. 2.0 2.1 Halo Waypoint - MCC Development Update - November 2019 - last accessed on 2019-11-23
    "  Forge and Theater Support:
    • PC Forge and Theater are coming online for Halo: Reach later next year
    Sound Issues:
    • To update Halo: Reach for Xbox One and PC required entirely changing the encoding for the game’s audio which has resulted in it sounding different from the original release. We are aware that areas of the title don’t sound like what you or we ideally want them to. It will take some time to work through solutions to improve the overall experience for audio and that work is already underway. When it is ready, we will flight to test the fixes we can make prior to updating the title. We also plan to go into more detail on our Reach audio journey in a later blog.
     
    "
  3. Halo Waypoint - MCC PC & Halo: Reach
  4. Verified by User:Aemony on 2019-12-03
  5. Verified by User:Aemony on 2019-12-03
    Verified the presence of the option on both Steam and the Microsoft Store versions of the game.
  6. Verified by User:Aemony on 2019-12-03
    Verified by launching both versions and seeing what settings carried over.
  7. Verified by User:Aemony on 2019-12-03
    The saves of each version uses a separate file structure from the other version.
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 Halo Waypoint - MCC Development Update - October 2019 - last accessed on 2019-10-31
  9. Halo Waypoint - MCC Development Update - April 2019 - last accessed on 2019-12-03
  10. Halo Waypoint - MCC Development Update - November 2019 - last accessed on 2019-11-23
    "We know this is a very important feature for the community, and with some recent refinements, VFR will be included at launch."
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 r/gaming - MCC PC, Halo: Reach, and Halo Insider AMA - last accessed on 2019-03-19
    "  Video Settings:
    • Yes, support for FOV-sliders is the plan. We will adjust what level of FOV is supported on a title by title basis. As an example, if adjusting the FOV causes significant player/weapon model distortion, we may need to put limits in.
    • Uncapped framerate is the plan, but the specific level of support will vary by title.
    Network:
    • re: Crossplay - PC players will be able to play together regardless of which store they choose to purchase from. In terms of Xbox One to PC crossplay, it's not something we're currently committing to at launch but it is top of mind and the team is actively investigating this.
    • re: Dedicated servers for Reach - our goal is to continue using dedicated servers to power the matchmaking experences within MCC. We'll definitely share more details as development progresses.
    • A custom games browser is of course very important to us and something we're looking forward to bringing to MCC on PC and Xbox One.
    • Regarding Splitscreen: This one is tricky and the team is still looking at what can be supported.
    System Requirements:
    • Currently our focus is on Win10 and Win7. Win8 is still being investigated.
     
    "
  12. Halo Waypoint – The Halo Bulletin E3 2014 - last accessed on 2019-03-19
  13. Digital Foundry - Halo: Reach's remaster is OK - but key improvements are required - last accessed on 2019-12-08
    " 
    • Beyond frame-rate, the next big upgrade is resolution. Reach originally operated at a sub-HD 1152x720
    • However, there are some differences that perhaps shouldn't be there - especially in the post-process pipeline. Effects like ambient occlusion, bloom, depth of field, film grain and motion blur seem to adjust based on resolution. So, for example, the depth of field effect meant to blur with a width of, say, 10 pixels at sub-720p now blurs with the same width of 10 pixels at 4K instead, inherently lessening and compromising the intended effect. In short, the higher the resolution of the remaster, the less impactful the post-process effects are - and I really hope that this is addressed.
     
    "
  14. YouTube - Halo MCC - Halo Reach Flight 3 vs 360 Halo Reach - Gun sound comparison - last accessed on 2020-01-05
  15. Halo Waypoint - MCC Development Update - December 2019 - last accessed on 2020-01-05
    "This is a known-issue we had at launch and work on this is in progress. Our goal is to get this out ASAP."
  16. PCGamingWiki - Talk:Halo: The Master Chief Collection - INI tweaks - last accessed on 2020-01-05
  17. YouTube – Differences between Halo PC and Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary (1.1350.0.0) - last accessed on 2019-27-05
  18. Halo Waypoint - MCC Development Update – June 2019 - last accessed on 2020-03-06
    "We’re not targeting it for the launch on PC, but we are continuing to investigate what we can do to bring CE back to parity of the original Xbox version. But, what I can say, is we have dug up some original Xbox devkits that we are looking into utilizing."
  19. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Halo Reach Support December 2019
  20. 20.0 20.1 Halo Waypoint - Halo: The Master Chief Collection Credits - last accessed on 2019-12-09