Habmell Oubliette
Project Type: Academic
Time: November 2023
Made Using: Halo Infinite Forge
Role: Level Designer
A level created in Halo Infinite to practice and showcase multiplayer level design skills.
Key Lessons Learned:
Furious Iteration - Playtesting and iterations come at a faster pace with multiplayer levels compared to singleplayer levels!
Understand the Game! - “It’s easy to tell what level was made by someone who’s never played Halo before from the weapons used in the level.”
This level was a learning experience for me, but it was a really fun one too.
The project itself was uncharted territory for me because:
I don’t have much experience designing multiplayer levels
I have never played a Halo game up until this point
So I took this assignment up since I felt that it would allow me to plug up some holes in my resume and it sounded fun too.
The first step I took for this project was to, well, play Halo Infinite. I hooked up with our school’s Halo Club and played some online games with them to get a feel for the game. How does combat feel in this game? Which weapons are good? Bad? Overpowered?
From there, I got to work building the layout in-game…
Initial sketch I drew for the level from November 1, 2023
I initially drew the concept sketch with the idea of it being a fast-paced map like those you would find in the Quake games since I’ve played those but not Halo. Something I noticed about the spaces in Quake maps are that they tend to be smaller compared to those in Halo, and this ties into the gameplay too: Quake is all about running around and blasting people in bursts compared to Halo’s more skirmish-based gameplay.
After playing Halo for myself and putting down the layout, I decided to cut down on the scale of the layout. The lake and outdoor area on the right of the Initial Sketch above were cut out as a result of this scale down.
This wouldn’t be the first time this level goes through some layout changes…
Check Out Habmell Oubliette V1!
Humble Beginnings From Someone Who Has Never Played Halo
Topography for the first iteration of the map
This is the area found to the far-left of the map. This area was scrapped for reasons explained below.
The first iteration of the "Square Area". This was the most popular area of the map that playtesters would frequently skirmish in.
Another view of the "Square Area"
The Rocket Launcher section of the "Square Area". Changed for reasons explained below.
What would soon be called "the Mangler area". I meant for this to be a second arena in the same vein as the "Square Area" but, as you can tell by the name, it was really only known for the weapon that spawned there, the Mangler.
The top hallway, which I called the "Close Quarters Hallway". I placed a bunch of props here to force a more-closed space but playtesters disliked this spot because they didn't like jumping over the props.
A central connecting area I made. Nothing crazy going on here.
The bottom hallway that I designed to be more mid-ranged with less props and more open space to encourage shootouts here. Playtesters didn't have much to say about this spot.
With all of the building blocks in place, it was time to playtest! I learned some lessons as quickly as I started playtesting.
Key Takeaways from Playtesting:
Testers felt that they were getting lost too easily
Testers felt that combat was uninteresting in areas outside of the “Square Area”
The Rocket Launcher was too easily accessible and resulted in a “too much reward for little risk” situation due to cover around the area it spawns and its surplus of ammo
I took the critiques and was able to find solutions to them quickly:
I de-cluttered both of the hallways and connected some rooms together to create more flow throughout the map
I moved the Rocket Launcher from a corner to the central area on top of a tall spire that requires effort to reach, in addition to lowering its ammunition
I added entirely new “floors” to the hallways in order to create verticality, resulting in each hallway having a more-unique identity.
I got rid of area on the far-left entirely (Playtesters never fought within it and those who did spawn in it always thought it was a chore to walk out of it)
Although this was a mostly abridged summary of what happened, I took a lot of the critiques I was given and changed the map drastically, but the spirit of the original map was still the same.
Check Out Habmell Oubliette V2!
Now With More Open Space and Verticality
Topography of the final/submitted map. Taller walls and more interconnected space!
A view of the "Square Area", now reduced in size. It has pillars connecting the higher-spaces together and cylinders in the back where the Rocket Launcher used to be to connect it to the reborn "Cylinder Hallway"
The central connecting area, now connected to the "Square Area" too! Now there's the Rocket Launcher with a HUD marker for all players to keep track of!
"The Mangler Area" before it was reworked later on...
The "Close Quarters Hallway" reborn as the "Cylinder Hallway"
The bottom hallway. Now with less cover and more vertical space!
The "Mangler Area", now reborn as what I call "the Castle". I still wanted it to be a second arena like the "Square Area" but playtesters were still attached to the Square Area.
These new changes to the map lead to a smoother flow as players can basically run laps through the level as they search for items and potential victims, taking occasional detours to join in skirmishes or grab new items.
Playtesters said that each area feels easier to recognize so they can tell where they are at a glance, with each of the rooms having their own unique identity to the point that they would have their own nicknames for each of the rooms as shown above.
Overall, I really enjoyed working on this project. Playtesting and listening to the testers playfully banter with each other and then give their critiques to me was some healthy fuel for the flame and it made me appreciate the rapid iterations that happen in multiplayer level design.
Additionally, although I am always trying to put myself in players’ shoes when designing my levels, working on this project really taught me that I had to think more about how players would interact in my level, especially against other players. How would players skirmish in this area? How much would they want to go to this spot when they are confident that they are alone?
Halo Infinite’s Forge mode wasn’t the best editor that I’ve worked with but I was really happy with what I was able to put together here.
Funny story from playtesting: my level singlehandedly convinced one of the playtesters to like the Mangler weapon more. They admitted that before playing my level, they disliked the weapon. Now they really enjoy it.
I guess both of us learned from this project to try new things!