From a story standpoint - the layout of the Library level is very realistic. The architecture of all of those sprawling temples and corridors was created and designed by an ancient and incredibly advanced race of beings. Everything is large, functional, and bare. The sentient race that created it had no reason to make things dynamic and varied. In other words, they were not catering to the ideals of a bunch of humans that might find it a millenia later.

Pay attention more to the story and you will understand things like this. Yes, the level design is repetitive. Yes, it was not as enjoyable as the other levels, because, yeah, I am human and like variation. But there was a point behind it all.

Salsa, bear in mind that the game was designed by humans, and if your writing confines you to an unfeasible or inconvenient game design, then the error is yours. The ForeRunners (or whatever) don''t write memos to Bungie saying "Hey! Stop fancying up our library! Everything there is there for a purpose, and if we didn''t put it there, then by golly we didn''t want it there! And we like grey, damnit!"

Backstory, intriguing as it may be, should never fetter good game design. If a crappy level is the only thing that makes your idea work, it''s still a crappy level.

Moreover, cutting out 50% of the level would have meant a much more reasonable level of ceaseless assault. And if they jammed most of the Flood into a smaller space, the ramping-up could have been handled much better, and prepared you the pacing of later levels.

As an aside, I''m also starting to think that game levels should be written first level and last, then work towards the centre. At least then there is time to create satisfying experiences at the endcaps. Or maybe first, last, middle, with two or four teams working in parallel to fill the gaps. I swear, every time I invest time in a game the ending is like a kick in the nuts.

ld

I personaly found most halo levels repetive in fact you basically go back and do almost every level twice. I think that was one of my bigest pet peeves about the game, in that there was so little in the way of varried landscapes and locations.
Also I would have like more intertesting level events like the final stretch of the game, I very much enjoyed that part and thought of it as a worth while reward for playing the game even if the ending it self was rather lack luster.
I even went to trouble of beating the game on legendary because I heard there was a bonus scene at the end not sure if thats true or not there was one amusing scene that I didn''t recall seeing the first time through but I might have been mistaken.

But despite that I think Halo was a very good FPS, a very well done and polished game.

as far as the inspiration for the flood I think there inspired as much by half-life as half-life was inspired by alien.


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Writer, Programer, Cook, I''m a Jack of all Trades
Current Design project
Chaos Factor Design Document

Halo owes an enormous amount of its content to Aliens. Heck, Sarge is pretty much transplanted from the movie, including some of the quotes. But I''ll be the last to fault Bungie for that. Aliens was an incredibly bitchin'' movie, and the attitude and personality of the Colonial Marine Corps was exactly was was appropriate for Halo. I think Halo was a better vicarious experience of Aliens than any of the bona fide Aliens games. Good work, Bungie.

I agree about games having crappy endings lately. Seriously, I can''t remember the last time a game had a really satisfactory ending. The Final Fantasy games have NEVER had a good ending, except maybe FF2 (FF4). Zelda games... nope. I guess tournament fighters do okay with that sort of thing, but "story" is only marginally present. Nah, games have crappy endings. C''est la vie.

While the flood was certainly a change of pace (in tactics as well as visuals), I think it was very welcome. While it is the most repetitive, it is the most frantically enteraining level during our 14-hour 3 player hotseat battles (when i first got the game... we played until the xbox started crashing from heat). I don''t absolutely love playing it alone, but it has far more multiplay value than many of the other levels..

of course, that''s just my preference..

I stopped playing Halo after I got through that damn level. I play FPS games for one of two things: interesting environments or interesting battles. That level is neither of those. Halfway through the game you lose the interesting environments. Actually, you lose any change in environments. You play through the SAME EXACT LEVELS ALL OVER AGAIN. And those levels consist of the same room and the same hallways over and over and over and over. Arg, I''m all riled up now after thinking about that freaking game again. I''m so glad I don''t own an XBox.

quote: Original post by Naaga
I stopped playing Halo after I got through that damn level. I play FPS games for one of two things: interesting environments or interesting battles. That level is neither of those. Halfway through the game you lose the interesting environments. Actually, you lose any change in environments. You play through the SAME EXACT LEVELS ALL OVER AGAIN. And those levels consist of the same room and the same hallways over and over and over and over. Arg, I'm all riled up now after thinking about that freaking game again. I'm so glad I don't own an XBox.

Finally, some people who don't pray to their Halo disc every night. That game is still 50 bucks; for what reason I don't know because that game was way over hyped and completely sucks the big one.

If it weren't for the LAN capability you would find it in the bargain bin.


[edited by - DIRECTXMEN on December 8, 2003 11:27:54 PM]

quote: Original post by DIRECTXMEN
Finally, some people who don''t pray to their Halo disc every night. That game is still 50 bucks; for what reason I don''t know because that game was way over hyped and completely sucks the big one.

If it weren''t for the LAN capability you would find it in the bargain bin

I wouldn''t take that game if you paid me to.

quote: Original post by Naaga

quote: Original post by DIRECTXMEN
Finally, some people who don''t pray to their Halo disc every night. That game is still 50 bucks; for what reason I don''t know because that game was way over hyped and completely sucks the big one.

If it weren''t for the LAN capability you would find it in the bargain bin

I wouldn''t take that game if you paid me to.

Darn, I was looking to sell my copy.