This is something the scale modelers who worked on Star Wars mastered almost half a century ago
At 100 meters away, you see buildings on the hull
At 1 kilometer away, you see entire districts of structures
At 10 kilometers away, those districts become texture
They understood how detail compresses with distance and scale, and how to abstract it properly
Sadly, this art has largely been lost because many modern 3D artists are obsessed with showing detail and geometry at every scale to demonstrate their technical “skill,” without realizing that doing so often makes their work look less believable and, ironically, less professional
I do want to see more of the "light dropship" they had in Early H2.
I've called these two versions the Griffin and the Harpy as part of a lineage that (I think) includes the Reach take on the similar design they had in the concept stages.
New Name, Same Old Mistakes
I'm sure a lot of these decisions were made by a Halo Studios higher up, or even someone above them at Xbox. But, I, much like yourself, am allowed to enjoy a product while still being able to criticize and acknowledge its shortcomings when compared to past iterations.
I excused the $50 price tag at first, but after the recent Q&A, it truly is an insane asking price for what the consumer is fully getting in the end.
ALSO, THE DEFENSE OF "it's a Campaign, why would I need/want Firefight?" IS INSANELY WEAK.
BE SO FUCKIN FR
It's worth remembering that Halo's own engine, the Blam! Engine is named after Blame!, a manga that's all about megastructures. They look so similar to the original Halo's exterior.