Cut Halo: Reach ambient life
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
| This page discusses elements of deleted material and cut content. Some information on the page is sourced from game files and may not be verifiable through external sources. Where possible, such information should be clearly-marked and replaced with a proper external source as soon as one is available. |
- "You might be thinking to yourself, “Wait! Ambient life is really important!” but the cold, hard truth of the matter is that adding the correct animations for this little guy might impact other, way more important aspects of the game. It’s gotta go."
- — Eric Osborne discussing the porcupine.[1]
This article is part of a series on
Halo: Reach cut content
- Cut content
- Development
To check out cut content for other Halo games, see here!
During the game's development, Halo: Reach was intended to feature a large variety of ambient life to populate the wilderness of the titular planet. The fauna covered on this page are one of many examples of cut ambient life in Halo games.
Early wildlife revisions[edit]
Early Gúta[edit]
- Main article: Gúta
Concepted by Isaac Hannaford, the Gúta went through several revisions and rounds of development before reaching the form found in the final game. Early ideas showcased the creature as potentially being ridden by Jackals, with later in-game prototyping exploring the ideas of Elites and Grunts riding them.[2] Later ideas suggested the Gútas were to have fur on their backs and arms - something that was conceived and modeled, though ultimately scrapped.[3]
Early code for the creature (named "mule" in-development) suggests they were to have an acid spit attack[4], while another similar prototyped mechanic had the Gúta "vomit hot rocks".[2] Another possibility tested in development was for the Gúta to have shoulder-mounted cannons.[2]
Prior to their downscaled role in the game, the Gúta were intended to be in two other missions alongside Nightfall. Alongside the ability of the Covenant to ride Gutas, some explorations were done for them to be ride-able by the player - and for the player to be able to board the Gúta by climbing up its back and kill it by planting a grenade in its mouth.[2]
Early designs of the gúta.
Early designs of the gúta.
The gúta's near-finalized design.
Concept art featuring two Kig-Yar riding a gúta.
Concept art featuring two Kig-Yar riding a gúta.
A screenshot of the early model, featuring fur.
A screenshot of the early model, featuring fur.
A screenshot of the early model, featuring fur.
A screenshot of the early model, featuring fur.
Hawk[edit]
- Main article: List of animals
The hawk was a bird included in Reach, where it can be found in the sky during the mission Winter Contingency. It was modelled and textured by artist Zeke Garcia.[5][6] This bird is presumably the "eagle" mentioned by Bungie during the developer commentary for Reach; the original intent for the game's Legendary difficulty ending would see the bird fly down and land on Noble Six's helmet, during Halsey's narration.[7] A number of other similar birds can be found in other levels.
The hawk showcased in the early development images below displays some subtle changes from the one featured in the final game, having no legs and a more reddish hue.
The high-poly model for the hawk.
