Halo Concept Art: Halo 4 Environments; part 5 of 5 The UNSC

Well folks, here we are at the last concept art article (for the time being). I’ve saved what I consider to be the best for last, that being the UNSC. Some of these you may have seen before, but I’m betting there are more than a few you haven’t. Read on and enjoy! (As always, click on pics to make bigger)

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The concept above it titled “Pursuit.” It’s obviously a Broadsword, but what is it trying to escape from? Those do not look like Covenant vessels chasing it down. So they have to be Forerunner. Man, I’d have loved to have had a dogfight with Forerunner ships! This art is fantastic. My eye is immediately draw to the Broadsword, which of course is the focal point of the piece. The yellow glow on the ship from the glancing beam is an excellent touch and helps to sell the realism even more.halo_4_-_space_station_by_nicolas_bouvier
Another of Sparth’s amazing concepts. This is the Ivanoff Research station. More specifically the docking port. It’s amazing how much of this ended up in the game. I absolutely love this piece and would love to have it as a print. Man, why 343 hasn’t done this is beyond me. I think there’s a market for prints/posters of this stuff. WE mostly get the finished graphics as posters. Concepts like this are worth it to me. Heck, even MORE worth it, IMO. But then, you all know I love concept art.
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One of Ivanoff’s corridors. Many similar details here exist in the final in-game version. This definitely feels like a space station to me. Alsmot along the lines of the Rebel corvette at the start of the original Star Wars. The orange lights as shape contrasts to the darkness of that portion of the hallway, while the lit portion is even more of a contrast. great design here!halo_4_aerial_ceremony_deck_sketch_1_revision1_jb_sized_by_jonathan_bach
A concept from a scene in the Web mini-series Forward Unto Dawn, here we have the ceremony deck that officially christens the UNSC Infinity into service. Very light and airy. I’m getting “Coruscant” (From Star Wars) vibes here!
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The UNSC Infinity flies above the ceremony of it’s christening. I love how it just DWARFS everything else. Continue to look at this a bit longer. You’ll notice much more detail in the ship than with a quick glance.
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The Infinity launches it’s dropships to Requiem. With dropships the size of the Forward Unto Dawn, you know the Infinity is massive! We didn’t quite see this scene like this in Spartan Ops. Instead we saw many Pelicans and Broadswords depart of Requiem. We did however see these dropships launch from the Infinity in protection of her from the Covenant fleet already positioned at Requiem.
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Might this be the Composer aboard the Infinity? Why yes, yes it is. Recall that during the campaign, Dr. Tilson tells Chief that it took the Infinity months to move this from Halo Installation 03. This one became an instant classic and was used in early marketing.halo_4_concept_art_by_nicolas_bouvier
Okay, I have to admit I LOLed when I first saw this. Why? Well, don’t those three sections with the three circles within look like the Phillips “Norelco” electric razor? Perhaps that too is a nod to Star Wars as The Pahntom Menace used a female razor as the base for the Jedi communicator prop as used by Qui-gon Jin and Obi-Wan Kenobi.
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An unidentified UNSC ship outside of Requiem, while a (likely) Broadsword flies past. While there is no fire in space, I never mind the embellishment by artists to convey thrust in space, using fire.
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One of the rooms in the Forward Unto Dawn. The dark blue/black hues give off an air of cold to the whole piece. That makes sense as she was drifted for 4 years, 7 months, and 10 days. Chief was literally frozen over as well.halo_4_fud_room_by_josh_kao
Another room within the Forward Unto Dawn. Again the same cold foreboding feel to this concept.
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The above two were used for a scene in the Forward Unto Dawn miniseries. This is aboard the UNSC Infinity. Basically the humans, debris and fire was layered over the previous one, while the base layer was recolorized. It’s a great technique to use in Photoshop without having to create a whole new piece of virtually the same thing.
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Once again, Ivanoff station. Love those lights and casting shadows coming off the asteroids.halo_4_infinity_interior_concept_by_nicolas_bouvier
This is another of the classic concept pieces used early on in marketing. This interior bay is quite large. While a bit dark, the treys give off a very industrial feel to the whole piece.
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Originally this concept was to be somewhere within the Infinity. Technically that’s still true. I’ll explain. While we know this became the interior portion of the multiplayer map “Erosion”, we also know that War Games actually take place within the Infinity’s holodeck. So it is true, from a certain point of view. (Heh, lots of Star Wars references in this article.)
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The Didact’s ship Mantle’s Approach coming to collect the Composer from Ivanoff Station. While the station is big, its NOTHING compare to the immensity of the Didact’s ship. heck, even the Infinity is small when compared to the Mantle’s Approach.
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Here we see Chief as he is trying to complete his mission to stop the Didact. Much of this scene is very similar to the in-game version.halo_4_jwl_infinity_randominterior002_by_john_liberto
The above is a random interior shot of the Infinity. Man, why did we NOT see this in the game? Other than Episode 7 chapters 2-5 of Spartan Ops, we never got the chance to explore the Infinity. Yes, there were some cut scenes, but that’s not the same. I would have loved to have had the Infinity as a hub in the game that we could have interacted with. Hopefully the next game can bring something like that with it.halo_4_space_station_monolith_by_nicolas_bouvier
Once again Ivanoff. This design has always seemed a little strange to me.A station built AROUND asteroids? Heh, well, it IS sci-fii after all.halo_4_unsc_command_center_by_albert_ng
A greyscale sketch of the Infinity’s bridge. Even for a sketch, there is a lot of detail.

The next seven concepts are all differing viewpoints of the Infinity’s engine room.halo4_infinity_engine_01_by_goran_bukvic_additions_01halo4_infinity_engine_02_by_goran_bukvic_additions_01halo4_infinity_engine_03_by_goran_bukvic_additions_01halo4_infinity_engine_04_by_goran_bukvic_additions_01halo4_infinity_engine_05_by_goran_bukvic_additions_01halo4_infinity_engine_06_by_goran_bukvic_additions_01halo4_infinity_engine_07_by_goran_bukvic_additions_01It’s clear that in the concepts Forerunner tech was much more prevalent. In Spartan Ops, during the missions, we never really get a sense of that. We do just a little in the cutscenes, but it is very little.

Well folks, that wraps up the concept articles at present. As I find more, I’ll post future articles. I can’t wait to see what Halo 5 Guardians concept art looks like!

I hope you’ve enjoyed the past couple of week’s worth of articles on Halo concept art from Reach and Halo 4. Now, just because these articles are (temporarily) ending, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t come back to HFFL.

There’s going to be LOTS of Halo news in the coming weeks. E3, RTX, San Diego Comicon, PAX Prime and MORE are on the horizon!

If you’ve enjoy this or any of the other concept art articles, please let me know. I’d like to read your thoughts on these. Hopefully they were entertaining and maybe even a little informative.

-Sal

The Halo Bulletin for 5-29-14

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The weeks that lead up to E3 always sneak up on you. Just a few weeks ago, the team was looking at the calendar and thinking “Wow! We’ve still got over a month until E3!” and now, as we band together to put the finishing touches on our E3 presence (as well as book last minute flights, hotels, and hot-air-balloon packages), we realize that in just under nine days, we’ll be on our way to Los Angeles to prep for the Xbox Press Conference and the frenzy that will follow. We’re excited about our plans at the show, our plans for those of you watching from home, and we can’t wait until the show begins. For this week’s update, we discuss Halo: Escalation, the new Minecraft Mash-Up pack, and more. Let’s get into it!

HFFL: I for one can’t wait for E3. For one, I hope the rumors are either dispelled or confirmed about Halo 2: Anniversary. Hopefully a Halo 5 Guardians trailer as well as something from one or both of the video productions. E3 promises to chock full of games for the XBOX One and Halo factors into that!

Halo Escalation #6

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The sixth issue of Halo: Escalation released today! The ongoing series, published by Dark Horse Comics, spins directly out of the events of Halo 4. To check out the first six pages of Halo: Escalation #6, head here and read below for a preview of what’s to come.

The saga of Halo Wars enters the modern age as Infinity struggles to liberate the long-lost Spirit of Fire from the deadly Vata ’Gajat. Meanwhile, Petra’s search for the identity of Infinity’s spy could result in her death. The Halo universe is on the brink of a new galactic war!

Visit the official Dark Horse website to grab Halo: Escalation #6.

HFFL: Heh, I’ve already covered this pretty extensively with the preview and a spoiler discussion post. Go back a few posts on the blog and you’ll find the spoiler article. (That’s if you want to know what happens in the story of that issue.

Minecraft Halo Mash-up Pack

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Last week, we shared a sneak peek at what’s coming to Minecraft: Xbox 360 edition, and today, we announced that the Halo Mash-up Pack is now available!

The Mash-up pack, expertly crafted by 4J Studios, includes a Halo-themed texture set, themed menus and user interface, craftable items and 31 music tracks across the Halo franchise. Also available are 40 pixel-perfect character skins depicting beloved Halo characters, and incredible recreations of legendary Halo spaces such as Blood Gulch, The Silent Cartographer, and more. Check out the above links for more details, and check out the below video for an awesome look into what all of this means.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHxOZk7otaM

HFFL: I didn’t post this earlier in the week. I’m not much for Minecraft. It feels like a huge step backwards, like when I was 10 years old. (That was a LONG time ago…) However, this pack has me at least considering it. This with Marvel…hmmm. We’ll see. Do any of you play Minecraft? If so, why do you like it? This is a question I’d really like to get some response for as your comments may affect my decision to get the game or not.

Forge Idol

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The team over at Beyond Entertainment have put together a brand new Forge contest. Six 2v2 maps have been nominated, but only one Forger will be named the Forge Idol! To cast your vote on your favorite map of the bunch, head over to their official voting thread. Round one of voting will be open until May 30, and the final two contenders will face off in one final vote that will end on June 2. Once a winner is selected, we’re excited to confirm that we’ll be bringing the map into the Team Doubles playlist in our next Matchmaking Update!

In addition to the above, the Forge Idol will also have their map featured in Beyond Entertainment’s Forge Idol 2v2 tournament powered by Astro Gaming. The tournament will take place on June 28, and matches will consist of 2v2 Team Slayer on Haven, Skyline, and the winning map from the Forge Idol competition. If you’re interested in competing, grab a partner and sign up at the link above.

HFFL: I was just reading about this yesterday. While the prizes aren’t huge, they’re still pretty nice for a FREE tournament. I’d enter, but I know I’d just get trounced… I’m an above average Halo gamer, certainly not Pro status worthy. (And I’m okay with that.) If any of you decide to enter this contest, let me know and I’ll feature your team here on the blog!

Mammoth Proportions

Late last week, we noticed our friend and famous Forger petetheduck took a stab creating the Halo 4 Mammoth in Forge. Typically known for creating incredible custom game types and maps as well as Rube Goldberg machines, petetheduck describes himself as “definitely not an aesthetic Forger,” but after seeing his Mammoth, we’re pretty sure he’s lying. In his blog, he tells us that he created the below beauty in a single Forge session over the course of about 12 hours, and also gives some insight into how he constructed the transport headquarters. Lastly, if you’d like to run around inside, you can download the map variant here.

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petetheduck’s Halo 4 Forge Mammoth

HFFL: I downloaded this map several days ago. It’s SWEET! Pete is, IMO, the best forger out there. He certainly is for mini-games. And this Mammoth shows he IS an aesthetic forger as well. I highly suggest downloading it. It’s fun to roam around in and on top of. Now if only 343 would take a hint and give us a map with a Mammoth on it. (Even if it’s stationary.)

Screenshot Spotlight: King of the Hill

Last week, we turned the spotlight on the Shotgun. Take a gander at the following King of the Hill screenshots, and maybe even find inspiration to make your own.

Screenshot Spotlight 5-29-14

HFFL: I’m partial to the “Clang of the Hill” and “Crack!!!” screenshots here. Are there any here that YOU like? Let  me know by replying below.

For your chance at being in the next spotlight, take a screenshot that is mostly black and white and then tag it with “blackwhite” and “Halo Waypoint,” and maybe, just maybe, yours will be featured in the next Halo Bulletin!

HFFL: Dangit… I ALWAYS forget about this. I really need to get on the ball and take some screenshots for these.

And with that, this week’s Bulletin comes to a close.
Until next week,
Bravo

-Sal