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Halo: The Master Chief Collection

From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games
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[1]
Unreal Engine 4
Release dates
Windows December 3, 2019[2]
Reception
OpenCritic 86
IGDB 86
Taxonomy
Monetization One-time game purchase, Subscription gaming service
Microtransactions None
Modes Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing Real-time
Perspectives First-person
Controls Direct control
Genres Action, Shooter
Vehicles Automobile, Flight
Art styles Realistic
Themes Sci-fi, Space
Series Halo
Halo: The Master Chief Collection on IGDB
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

Halo: The Master Chief Collection is a collection of singleplayer and multiplayer FPS games in the Halo series. The collection includes Halo: Reach, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Halo 2: Anniversary, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST, and Halo 4. Only two of the games had previously received PC ports - the original Halo: Combat Evolved released in 2003 and Halo 2 released in 2007.

The games were released individually based on their chronology, starting with Halo: Reach in December 2019 with the rest following throughout the next year and concluding with Halo 4 on November 17, 2020.

Key points

This article acts as an overarching parent page for the individual game articles. See the game-specific section for details pertaining to each release.
Supports cross-saves between Microsoft Store, Console, and Steam versions through Xbox Live.[3]

General information

Official forums
Official support page
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 or in a discounted bundle containing all six games.[4]
The games can be installed independently of each other, including their multiplayer components.

Series


Essential improvements

Skip intro videos

Remove the video files[5]
  1. Go to <path-to-game>\MCC\Content\Movies.
  2. Delete or replace FMS_logo_microsoft_7_1_.bk2 and FMS_logo_343_7_1_.bk2 with empty plaintext or .txt files.

Notes

Players can use the Anti-Cheat Disabled (Mods and Limited Services) option to speed up the launch even further.[6]


Force higher anisotropic filtering

Anisotropic filtering is inconsistent throughout the MCC and is variable per surface, even with the "High" Texture Filtering setting. H2:A seems to use 16x, but the other titles use a maximum of 8x and can go as low as 4x on certain surfaces.[7][8][9]
Force Anisotropic Filtering

For Nvidia users:

  1. Open the Nvidia Control Panel, click the "Manage 3D Settings" tab on the left
  2. Click on "Program Settings" and find Halo: The Master Chief Collection (mcc-win64-shipping.exe) or add it to the list if missing.
  3. Set Anisotropic Filtering to 16x and click Apply on the bottom right.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System Location
Microsoft Store %USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\MCC\
Steam %USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\MCC\Saved\Config\WindowsNoEditor\
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/976730/pfx/[Note 1]
Local settings are shared between the Steam and Microsoft Store versions.[10]

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 manually between the versions.[11]

Save game cloud syncing

System Native Notes
Steam Cloud
Campaign Checkpoints, Playlists[12], Armor and Player ID customization, and some settings.
Xbox Cloud
Progress will transfer between the Xbox One and PC versions (Mid-Mission Checkpoint progress is not retained as not compatible).[12]

Video

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

Graphics feature State WSGF Notes
Widescreen resolution
See the individual pages for details.
Multi-monitor
See the individual pages for details.
Ultra-widescreen
See the individual pages for details.
4K Ultra HD
See the individual pages for details.
Field of view (FOV)
See the individual pages for details.
Windowed
See the individual pages for details.
Borderless fullscreen windowed
See the individual pages for details.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)
See the individual pages for details.
Anti-aliasing (AA)
See the individual pages for details.
High-fidelity upscaling
FSR 1.0
Added in July 2023 update. See the individual pages for details.
Vertical sync (Vsync)
See the individual pages for details.
60 FPS and 120+ FPS
See the individual pages for details.
See High frame rate to unlock the framerate in menus.
High dynamic range display (HDR)
See the engine page to force native HDR output, or the glossary page for other alternatives.
The game engine may allow for manual configuration of the game via its variables. See the Unreal Engine 4 page for more details.
FOV adjustment and variable frame rate support may change per title due to limitations.[13][14]

High frame rate in the main menu

Instructions[15]
  1. In the configuration file(s) location, navigate to Saved\Config\WindowsNoEditor.
  2. Open Engine.ini using a text editor.
  3. At the bottom of the config file, add these lines of text:
    [SystemSettings]
    t.MaxFPS=xxx
    
  4. Replace xxx with the desired framerate cap for the menus, and save the file.
  5. Right click on Engine.ini, go to properties, then set the file as "Read-only". This will prevent the game from overwriting the values.

Disable Motion Blur

Replace "MotionBlur=True" with "MotionBlur=False"[5]
Note that this only disables motion blur in the UE4 interface. Motion blur controls are handled by Saber3D engine config files only available for Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary and limited for Halo 2: Anniversary in %USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\MCC\Config\HaloX\UserConfig.
  1. Go to %USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\MCC\Saved\Config\WindowsNoEditor\GameUserSettings.ini.
  2. Replace all instances of "MotionBlur=True" with "MotionBlur=False".

Input

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

Keyboard and mouse State Notes
Remapping
Pause function can not be rebound (by design).
Mouse acceleration
Mouse Smoothing also supported.
Mouse sensitivity
Look, Vehicle, and Zoomed Mouse Sensitivity values.
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Separate values for Look and Flight.
Controller
Controller support
Full controller support
Controller remapping
Limited to presets, see Controller remapping.
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion
Separate values for Look and Flight.
Controller types
XInput-compatible controllers
Xbox button prompts
Impulse Trigger vibration
Steam version does not support Impulse Triggers.[16]
PlayStation controllers
See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Generic/other controllers
Button prompts
Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback
Digital movement supported
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

Controller remapping

The Universal Presets apply to all games in the collection.

Audio

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

Audio feature State Notes
Separate volume controls
Menu Music, Game Music, Effects, and Voice Chat.
Surround sound
7.1[17]
Subtitles
See the individual pages for details.
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
Focus lost by alt-tab can make the game "disappear", for fix see Game disappears when using alt-tab.
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language UI Audio Sub Notes
English
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
French
German
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Polish
Not available in Reach, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Halo 2, Halo 3 and Halo 3: ODST.
Brazilian Portuguese
Voiceovers not available in Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary. Halo 2 was not translated at all.
Russian
Not available in Reach, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Halo 2, Halo 3 and Halo 3: ODST. Fan translations
Spanish
Voiceovers available for all games except for Halo 2: Anniversary.
Latin American Spanish
Voiceovers available for all games except for Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary.

Network

In-game general network settings.
In-game general network settings.
Online features require a free Microsoft account.
Supports crossplay between Microsoft Store and Steam versions. PC/Xbox multiplayer and firefight crossplay as well as input based matchmaking released with Halo 4 launch.[18]
Input based matchmaking only matches you against other players who have it enabled.[19]

Multiplayer types

Type Native Players Notes
Local play
16 Use Nucleus Co-op. Will be investigated to see if it can be supported post-launch.[14]
LAN play
16 Co-op, Versus
See the individual pages for details.
Online play
16 Co-op, Versus
See the individual pages for details.

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.

VR support

3D modes State Notes
vorpX
G3D, Z3D, DirectVR
Officially supported game, see official vorpx game list.

Issues fixed

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 and achievements are disabled in this mode.

System requirements

Windows
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) 7
Processor (CPU) AMD FX-4100 3.6 GHz
Intel Core i7-870 2.93 GHz
System memory (RAM) 8 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 20 GB
(Windows Store: 24.93 GB) (Steam:23.97GB)
Video card (GPU) AMD Radeon Vega 10 Mobile
Intel UHD Graphics 630
1 GB of VRAM
DirectX 11.1 compatible
Shader model 5.0 support
A 64-bit operating system is required.
Support for Windows 8 is still being investigated.[14]
System requirements may differ between the Windows Store and Steam versions of the game.[12]

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.

References

  1. Saber Interactive - Halo: The Master Chief Collection - last accessed on 2020-03-09
  2. Halo Waypoint - Halo: Reach Arrives December 3rd - last accessed on 2019-11-14
  3. Halo Support - Does Halo: The Master Chief Collection save data transfer between PC and console? - last accessed on 2022-04-30
    "Most of your Halo: The Master Chief Collection save data will automatically transfer between Xbox, Windows Store, and Steam versions."
  4. Halo Waypoint - MCC PC & Halo: Reach
  5. 5.0 5.1 Verified by User:Aemony on 2019-12-03
  6. 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.
  7. Anisotropic Filtering Comparison (Halo 3, High Setting vs 16x Driver-level) - last accessed on 2024-01-29
  8. Anisotropic Filtering Comparison (Halo:CEA, High Setting vs 16x Driver-level) - last accessed on 2024-01-30
  9. Anisotropic Filtering Comparison (Halo 4, High Setting vs 16x Driver-level) - last accessed on 2024-01-30
  10. Verified by User:Aemony on 2019-12-03
    Verified by launching both versions and seeing what settings carried over.
  11. Verified by User:Aemony on 2019-12-03
    The saves of each version uses a separate file structure from the other version.
  12. 12.0 12.1 12.2 Halo Waypoint - MCC Development Update - October 2019 - last accessed on 2019-10-31
  13. Halo Waypoint - MCC Development Update - April 2019 - last accessed on 2019-12-03
  14. 14.0 14.1 14.2 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.
     
    "
  15. Verified by User:KingKrouch on 2020-07-28
    Tested by editing Engine.ini config.
  16. Impulse trigger support? - Halo MCC Steam Forums - last accessed on 2023-09-21
  17. Verified by User:Aemony on 2019-12-03
    Determined by using Special K and Razer Surround; basically through the process that is described here.
  18. Halo - MCC Development Update - July 2020 - last accessed on 2020-10-21
    "Features planned for release in 2020:
    • Crossplay
    • Input Based MM"
  19. Halo Waypoint - INPUT BASED MKB IS BROKE - last accessed on 2020-12-23
  20. 20.0 20.1 Halo Waypoint - Halo: The Master Chief Collection Credits - last accessed on 2019-12-09