DESIGNING HALO

In hindsight and with years of advancements in 3D design, we’ve become somewhat jaded to the storytelling of an environment. The environment of Installation 04 looks much like the pine-strewn environment of the Pacific Northwest from where was developed, and perhaps that’s intentional. But it’s still an alien setting, and somehow while playing, it alien too. “Most of that comes from the Halo ring,” says Steve Abeyta, one of the many artists that worked whose work primarily covered animation and environment design. “When you’re outside in the game, wherever you are you can see the ringworld and that adds an alien feel to the game.” The whole purpose was to create something that felt open and exciting, something that the player could feel was just waiting to be explored. That was where the Pacific Northwest influences came from, with Marcus Lehto – the game’s art director – once telling that the intent was to put players “into what is equivalent to a giant national park and allowing the player to free roam and explore this giant natural wonderland that was the terrains of ”.