{"id":23393,"date":"2015-10-03T01:55:32","date_gmt":"2015-10-03T06:55:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/halofanforlife.com\/?p=23393"},"modified":"2015-10-03T02:47:09","modified_gmt":"2015-10-03T07:47:09","slug":"halo-community-update-off-to-a-running-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/halofanforlife.com\/?p=23393","title":{"rendered":"Halo Community Update: Off to a Running Start"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is a reblog from Halo Waypoint:\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

BY\u00a0B IS FOR BRAVO\u00a0–\u00a0

\n

Welcome to October 2015, Halo fans.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve entered a historic month. In just 25 days, the next Halo title will release, and years from now, similar to past game launches, you may remember the lead up to the game\u2019s launch, the midnight release, and the days and weeks that follow. We\u2019ve been providing you with consistent drops of Halo 5: Guardians details, and we hope you\u2019ve enjoyed what you\u2019ve seen thus far. Earlier this week, you saw more Warzone gameplay as well as REQ info. You\u2019ve seen another\u00a0sneak peek at new REQ Cards<\/a>, and maybe you\u2019re even caught up with all of the intense action of Season 2 of\u00a0Hunt the Truth<\/a>. A quick glance at the massive, jam-packed whiteboard next to my desk tells me that there\u2019s a lot more on the way between now and the end of the month, and I\u2019m excited for each and every screenshot, tidbit, and gameplay clip that is on the way.<\/p>\n

Over the past few weeks, we\u2019ve learned a great deal about the development of Campaign missions as well as Warzone and Arena. This week, we\u2019ll take a deeper look at something we haven\u2019t talked much about in the weekly update: the fast-paced Arena mode Breakout.<\/p>\n

BREAKOUT BREAKDOWN<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

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I recall first seeing design specs when I first joined the studio nearly three years ago, but few know that the first development and design of the mode actually began around 2010. This week, we\u2019ll hear from Multiplayer Design Director Kevin Franklin and Multiplayer Designer Quinn DelHoyo on how Breakout came to be, how it changed over the course of development, and where it is now.<\/p>\n

KEVIN FRANKLIN, MP DESIGN DIRECTOR<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a huge fan of the intense moments offered by an elimination mode and it\u2019s always been something I\u2019ve wanted to build in Halo. The original pitch for Breakout was heavily inspired by my experiences playing Speedball [competitive paintball with inflatable bunkers], and a lot of LAN party gaming with friends.<\/p>\n

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An early work-in-progress look at Crossfire, circa 2013<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cElimination\u201d refers to the no-respawn setting in Breakout. There\u2019s an incredible feeling that comes over you when you\u2019re the last player standing on a team. I love playing as and watching the last player standing, especially in close situations – the pressure\u2019s on, you\u2019ve got your whole team watching you and cheering you on. It\u2019s an adrenaline rush for sure.<\/p>\n

Breakout is a round-based game mode, where the first team to win five rounds secures the victory. Your team wins a round by eliminating the other team, or by pushing the flag to the other team\u2019s base. One of the awesome things about a round-based mode is that it\u2019s not over until it\u2019s over. Some of the most exciting games of Breakout we\u2019ve seen feature truly epic comebacks, and you can never write off a team until the game is complete.<\/p>\n

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An early design doc reveals the \u201cpush-combat\u201d of Breakout contrasted with the circular, cycling combat of Halo 3\u2019s Guardian.<\/em><\/p>\n

One of the first things we prototyped early in Halo 5 development was the running start in Breakout. The running start propels you through the air and into the court. The running start is really big on setting the stage for the match, and it\u2019s not just for show – the way players \u201cBreak Out\u201d into the court is what helps each game play much differently.<\/p>\n

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We also want players to strategize about their openings and use the weapons around the map to define their team\u2019s strategy each round. This is something we tried to visualize early in some of the original design documents for Breakout. These are over five years old, and Breakout has come a long way since these, but I thought they would be cool to show how we have progressed.<\/p>\n

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My biggest hope for the Breakout is that it\u2019s a mode that will evolve with Halo, and incorporate great ideas from the community. Pro Team has done a great job of building several of the launch maps for Breakout, and we\u2019re really excited to see what the community can come up with as well.<\/p>\n

QUINN DELHOYO, MP DESIGNER<\/p>\n

Whenever you set out to create a new experience, there\u2019s always lots of experimentation.\u00a0Breakout was no different.\u00a0Everything from the game rules, starting weapons, objects on map, etc\u00a0were all heavily experimented with.\u00a0Besides the addition of the flag objective, the most notable change from the early days until now is the level design of the Breakout maps or courts.\u00a0One of our early prototype spaces was a map called Speedball, named after the paintball variant Kevin described.\u00a0It was a very simple map that we used extensively throughout the first year of Breakout\u2019s development cycle.\u00a0Some of Speedball\u2019s features established the guidelines we used in creating future Breakout maps.\u00a0These features include:<\/p>\n