http://www.next-gen.biz/features/halo-reach-%E2%80%93-being-definitive?page=0%2C0
How have you approached designing missions for Reach?
Niles Sankey One of our big pushes has been to introduce players not only to relate to their fellow Spartans but to the planet Reach itself, before we tear it apart. We're putting bigger emphasis on this notion of epic wide-open landscapes that Halo is traditionally remembered for. We're going for that more so than in the last couple of games, and really allow the player, at least early on, to explore this world and understand it so there's some attachment to it for when it's pulled apart.
In addition to these large environments, we made a push into making the battles bigger than you've ever seen in Halo before. We're thinking that with new technology we're able to get twice as many actors on screen than in the other games. In other games you'll see these great battle cutscenes which you can't interact with. Here, we're really trying to stay true to Halo to have these epic battlescapes that the player does affect. On top of that we're also trying to give each mission a specific flavour and purpose, with something memorable for each one.
How much did you look to previous Halo games?
Chris Opdahl We definitely early on looked at the top poles. Halo: Combat Evolved was about mystery and exploration - sure there was the amazing sandbox and vehicles that's the hallmark, but it's slower. And there's Halo 3, which is very much a high action movie - you get into combat through the entire game. I think both are amazing experiences, but we wanted to make a game that leveraged both, more about exploration and tension, finding out about the individuals, the planet, the Spartans - and then you have the missions that are just combat orgy, from beginning to end.
How did you aim to achieve a game that feels more like Combat Evolved?
CO One of the other things we talked about early was adding more tension and drama, and that was to do with the shield mechanic. In Halo: CE, the time between the shield being down and recharging was 14 seconds - seven stunned, and seven to recharge. That time slowly reduced through Halo 2 and 3. I believe it was just under seven seconds in Halo 3. We noticed that the longer it took, the more drama, the more tension you'd create. The player would lose their shields, run for cover, be in that moment of 'Oh shit oh shit' - possibly an enemy runs around the corner and kills you.
As Halo 3 went on it became much faster, the high action - I run out, kill some guys, run back, recharge and then return. As we explored that we thought we probably didn't want to go as far as Halo: CE, but certainly increasing the time has paid off in spades of creating drama and allowing the AI to do the interesting things while the player is in cover, spreading out, of chasing, of hiding so you have to track them down. It also feeds back into the idea of exploration and the mystery of Reach.
Were you influenced by the vulnerability of the ODST?
CO Currently the numbers are all the same as Halo 3, as far as health and so on goes. Expect the same vitality as to number of shots to death.
NS We're still working with those numbers, but you are a Spartan-III - they're not quite the Master Chief. We wanted to create more suspense, especially in situation of one versus just a few enemies. We wanted to make that a challenge to a certain extent to ratchet up the tension. Right now it's feeling pretty good.
How has giving players choice over which way they take in levels changed the process of designing them?
CO We call them wide pipe missions, which is when you're going from one end to another but they're wide enough to have routes within them. We've broadened out the way we deal with encounters, so instead of having four enemies occupy a very specific space, they now occupy a much bigger one, so they're freer to act and react to the player. We put more time into encounters to satisfy players taking different routes.
NS We're intentionally bringing the game back to Halo: CE's degree of choice over the direction you can take. In co-op, players can split up and do different things, or they can team up to join forces. There will be some specific mission points in which player will be able to diverge and take on objectives separately.
To what extent are you trying to make the definitive Halo?
CO Absolutely. It's the definitive. Neither of us worked on Combat Evolved or or Halo 2. We both played all of them a lot, and we came here thinking about the most important parts of those games, wondering why we remember particular moments from Combat Evolved and Halo 2, and then 3. How we can grab all of that to make the definitive Halo game - absolutely.
Which encounters did you reference most? Silent Cartographer?
NS It depends on what we were looking for - Cartographer is a great example of solid level design that is in many ways non-linear but still has a focused objective. We talk about that and Flawless Cowboy. We talked about how to bring back some of that magic that was in Halo: CE. I'd say there's a lot of good high action examples from all three games.
CO Certainly, The Covenant from Halo 3 - that's a good example of on-foot, vehicle, on-foot. That was a long mission but it never felt long because you were constantly changing what you were doing. That's absolutely one of the missions I look at.
NS Certainly the missions that offer choice and replayability and allow you to attack in multiple ways, whether through a vehicle or different weapons. It's very important we retain that while the rest of the industry goes in the direction of very exacting, linear, almost movie-like levels that play the same way every time. We definitely are conscious that the strengths of Halo lie heavily in the ability to immerse players in this organic sandbox, and depending on how the player players it changes. Memorable, personal and specific things is what I love Halo for. That's what we want to drive the missions in Reach.
Sounds like the SP is going to be vastly improved in Reach. The SP of Halo games have gone down steadily since H1. MP on the other hand, has steadily improved. If they can improve the MP over H3 as they will SP, this game will be beastly. The game will be beastly no matter what, but it will be even more beastlier :)
