Halo Top-Down - Unity
Proof of Concept | Linear
Experience:
My 'Game Design 1' final was a Halo project from scratch. I wanted to reproduce the feeling of discovering Halo for the first time. The ancient and mysterious world, but with a top-down take.
My goal was to create the Halo world with Halo CE assets, but in the Diablo isometric look. Halo has massive vistas that I thought would translate well into the top-down view.
Project Breakdown
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3 Months (roughly 20 hours a week)
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Developed as Game Design 1 Project
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Created using Unity
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Learned how to port assets from Blender, and other games
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Focus on capturing the feeling of discovery
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Current state - Proof of Concept
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Credit to Microsoft, Bungie, and 343 Industries
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Assets taken from Halo: Combat Evolved
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Overview
Reflection
The two biggest elements that I gathered from creating this map was workflow and environmental story-telling.
My primary focus was creating a proof of concept; "what does a Halo Top-Down game look like?" My idea was to mix the iconic environments of Halo with the massive vistas of Diablo to create a hybrid of the two. This project had me posing set pieces tailored for the fixed camera's perspective, such as the vast landscapes & views in the background. This was a linear experience, therefore it's easier to naturally navigate the player towards points of focus by framing points of interest within the player's sight through use of the environment.
What I also learn was workflow. I stumbled at first on this project with keeping my work cluttered and unorganized, but by the end I had a solid system to keeping everything in order. In the future, this would immensely help me if I hypothetically needed to pass this project between team members.
The beginning of this project was also sporadic as I went back and forth testing textures, models, and level designing. This later became a valuable lesson in priorities of creating a game. For instance, the game would have been created smoother with a complete block out first before laying out textures.