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GAS GIANT
The gas mine is one of many suspended in the depths of the Gas Giant
Threshoid, the pianet around which Halo once orbited. However, these
facilities predate Halo by thousands of years. More industrial in nature, they
operated autonomously tor millennia, with only a handful of Sentinels to
maintain them.
But when the Flood was first encountered, the Forerunners retrofitted
some of these gas mines to study the parasite. Dangling from a support
superstructure higher in the atmosphere, the mines could be detached in the
event of an outbreak. The Forerunners captured and stored countless
specimens in their desperate search for any defense against the Flood.
All that they learned was that more extreme measures would be
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HUMAN STRUCTUR6S
► The vast Space
station is one of the
first places you’ll
explore in Halo 2.
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Along with compelling characters and imaginative environments, Halo required a collec¬
tion of interesting and believable weapons—a necessary component to any successful
“first person shooter” (FPS). Since Halo is set in a far-flung future, the design team had to con¬
coct a futuristic arsenal, but still make it recognizable and intuitive to contemporary eyes.
Travis Brady, 3D artist and modeier, explains, “This group is a great source of all kinds of
information. There are guys who know all sorts of obscure details that help us refine our
designs, and send us along new paths we might not have considered."
HUMAN WEAPONS
Robt McLees was intrigued by the task of developing the humans' weaponry for the game.
■Back in the early days of development on Halo," he says, "the game was an RTS (real-time
strategy game). The first version of the assault rifle was built, but it didn’t need to be super-
detailed or anything. When we switched gears and started developing Halo as a first-person
shooter we had a silhouette that we all liked, but it was basically a cardboard box. So I got to
work cramming a bunch of detail into that silhouette. Over time, the assault rifle evolved into
what it is now.
"Back then, I was pretty much the only person familiar with firearms at Bungle, so it was
a constant battle to make the weapons look like they could actually work, as opposed to just
^ Art by Dave Candland.
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McLees says. "And I thought, 'Oh, great. Now everyone's going to think i swiped the design
from Fabrique Nationaie.' it was surreai to see how dose the Halo assauit rifle was to its real-
worid counterpart... and it was aii totaily by accident."
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operated, magazine-fed weapon, issued with a smart-iinked scope. (Even the miiitary jargon
“So I figureil the animation would consist ofthe scope zooming back out, and the Master Chiefadjusting
some knobs anddials on the weapon’s scope. Simple, right?
“Well, I went to talk to him about the scope controls, since, knowing Robt, he’dalready figured out what each and
everyknob anddial on the rifle was supposed to do. He waspuzzled, like 'why doyou want to know?’
“When I told him what I’dbeen planning, he replied, ‘No way. Ifyou adjustyourscope in the held, you’re dead.
Snipers don’tdo that’ Wat’s how detailedhis weapon designs are—notjustaboutguns, butabouthow they work, and
howa sniper would hre them. Amazing."
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ROCKET LAUNCHER
One of the more unusual designs for human weapons is the rocket launcher (“officially" des¬
ignated the M19 SSM, but more commonly referred to as the “Spanker"). Essentially, the
weapon is a double-barreled rocket launcher. When one rocket is fired, the magazine tube
rotates, placing the second round into firing position.
The nickname “Spanker” refers to the writing found on the launcher’s magazine box,
which reads "SPNKr”—a nod to an older Bungle title, Marathon. (The rocket launcher in
Marathon bore the same name.)
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require the shooter to load shotgun shells Into a magazine tube that runs below the barrel. The
M90's magazine tube runs along the top of the gun, above the barrel, To reload the shotgun.
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FUEL ROD GUN
The fuel rod gun (also designed by Robt McLees) Is an energy vireapon that Is used by
Covenant Hunters; the weapon Is integrated directly into Hunter armor (though versions are
mounted on some Covenant vehicles or built as stationary, fixed emplacements).
Veteran Grunts are often equipped with a man-portable version of the fuel rod gun. This
weapon is equipped with a dead man's switch—it overloads and explodes if the operator dies.
Fuel rod guns are also mounted as a secondary blast on Covenant Banshee fliers.
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“When we hit the point where "SHADE" STATIONARY PLASMA TURRET
the game content was
comptete, and the game went Covenant ground forces often employ stationary energy weapon turrets to strengthen defen¬
into beta testing, we came in sive positions.
andyus(played,"ShiKai Wang
recaiis. “iremembercoming in Shades fire a series of rapid-fire plasma “pulses" from the tribar energy emitter, The
readyhappy. Aftermonths of beams flash a brilliant purple-white and inflict tremendous damage.
this incredibiygrueiing
scheduie, it was reatly exciting The gunner sits in the "ball’ section, directly behind the energy emitter. The ball in turn
to see the stuff we’d done on floats on an antigrav cushion iocated in the wide, claw-footed tripod mounting structure.
the screen, working."
The turret rotates a full 360 degrees, and can be employed against aerial and ground
targets.
The Shade turret blurs the lines between architecture, weaponry, and vehicles.
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^ A Covenant Cruiser. Screen shot from HaloZ
o: The Fall of Reach Vehicles play an important role in Halo—and mark a departure from the norm for the
genre of first-person shooter games,
Though several FPS games have included vehicles, they were handled in a fairly rudi¬
mentary way (often running on scripted ‘rails" through a particular level, and offering limited,
or even no, control to the player). Along with Ha/o’s ability to allow the player to seamlessly
make the transition between interior and exterior environments, the inclusion of a wide variety
of vehicles for the player to control was one of the features that made the game stahd out.
To develop the vehicles, the artists began with concept sketches, which were refined and
redrawn several times. 1 was inspired by all sorts of sources,” says art director Marcus Lehto.
"I tend to absorb a lot of what I see, in movies, on TV. When I see something visually interest¬
ing in a film, it’s like 'Wow, if we could do that and translate it into a game..
After the concept sketches were accepted, 3-D artists would begin building models—
along with the texturing, bump mapping, and light mapping.
According to Lehto, "The basis for everything we put in the games is realism. We try and
make things look tangible and real to the player, so that they can latch on to them and believe
in them, and immerse themselves into the game as completely as possible."
A flight of Longsword heavy fighters on patrol. Though they appear only briefly on screen, these vehicles play an important role in Hal&s story;
The Master Chief's escape from Halo depends on Ihe angular spacecraft.
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COVENANT CRUISER
The sheer scale of the Cruiser had to be evident in its swooping curves and sieek lines. Making
it gracefui, bulky and menacing were all design challenges. Like all Covenant hardware, it’s or¬
ganic in the sweep and form of its lines, and the Cruiser borrows heavily from aquatic themes—
part whale, part squid.
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