The interaction of water and object is simulated using wave particles before the dynamic ripples are combined with the off-line generated ripples for final rendering. The resulting normal and displacement maps are then applied to a water mesh that is tessellated in real time depending on the distance from the eye. The artist can specify direction of flow, speed, shape of wave profile, amplitude, and a variety of other parameters that control the appearance of the water body,” says graphic art lead Hao Chen. “The repeating water ripples are generated off-line using a custom authoring tool. “It makes sense because Brute technology tends to be a hybrid of Covenant technology and gritty mechanical things,” adds McKenzie. Interestingly, the Brute Chopper, the enemy’s transport vehicle, is a hybrid of all the vehicle physics primitives and uses a custom version of the friction-point physics for the front end and antigravity physics for the back. Also, because continuous physics enables stable simulation of fast-moving, small objects, we were able to simulate our weapons as rigid bodies this time, instead of with point physics as we did in Halo 2.”Īll the vehicles fall into one of three physics simulation categories: friction, antigravity, and flying.

“We tried to implement the Mongoose in Halo 2, but it wasn’t possible with Havok 2’s time-step locked physics update. “Because the Mongoose moves so fast relative to its size, it wasn’t possible to simulate before Havok 3 and continuous physics,” says Eamon McKenzie, physics engineer.

Havok’s continuous physics technology allowed Bungie to introduce the Mongoose human transport vehicle for the first time.

Setting the first part of the game in familiar surroundings allows us to pull the rug out from under the player when we put the person on the completely alien, barren wasteland of the Ark.” In addition to the music, the group used various color palettes and types of spaces to evoke entirely different moods during different parts of the game that complemented the narrative. “As we move through the campaign, we slowly open up the world to the player by showing the war-torn planet and what they are fighting for. “We chose to begin the adventure in a dense jungle on Earth to start players out in a familiar, intimate environment so we can both refamiliarize the player with the game and set the stage for the impending siege of Earth,” says environment art lead Christopher Barrett. To this end, the team was faced with the challenge of creating an entirely different visual language from one mission to the next. There are ocean-size waterfalls, a scorched African savannah, barren otherworldly plains of sand and rock, lush jungles intercut with rocky cliffs-all leading to the dark, glowing corridors of alien ships. Halo 3’s epic story unfolds across environments that are larger and more detailed than any of its predecessors.

Halo 3 concept art master chief falling