Load glitch

The Load Glitch is a Halo 3 glitch that allows players to see unloaded areas of a Campaign level. Generally, the unloaded portion of a map is colored white or off-white. Many such areas can be seen in Theater.

As is the case in many games, an average Campaign level in Halo 3 is simply too large to (conveniently) store in the console's RAM. To make the level playable, Bungie had to split it into sequential portions, with the player traversing each portion one at a time. Each portion is divided by loading points, and as the player passes through a loading point, the previous portion of the level is removed from memory and the next portion is loaded into memory. In most cases, the loaded and unloaded portions "overlap" to avoid the exact phenomenon described in this article. In some games, objects are loaded and unloaded, while in other cases (including Halo 3), everything -- including terrain and scripts -- is loaded and unloaded.

On rare occasions, a player might be able to observe a fault -- a load glitch -- in this system: a spot where an unloaded area (or, rather, the void where the area used/is-about to be) can be seen. Such areas are, during Theater, displayed as a solid color (usually off-white); during actual gameplay, a hall of mirrors effect occurs.

Halo
One of these glitches occurs on Halo, in the building that the player passes through to get to Johnson's Warthog. To see the load glitch, proceed through the building to the Warthog, but before leaving on the Warthog, go back to the door in which you arrived. Occasionally, you will see the door open but you cannot go through it, and its interior shows up as either a hall of mirrors effect or the contents of the other person's screen -- that is, the space beyond the door is an example of a load glitch. At other times when returning to the door, you will find it closed, and other times it will be open. The cause of this trigger is not yet known.

The Storm
Another load glitch can be performed on the level The Storm. In Co-op, during the Scarab Tank battle, have both players get on a Mongoose and drive up to the closed door that they entered the lakebed from. Have the driver back into the closed door with the Mongoose and then get off. Have the passenger exit after the driver gets off, and the game should freeze for a second. When the game unfreezes, the Scarab and rest of the enemies should be gone, and the door you would usually go through after defeating the Scarab will show a load glitch.

Cortana
Another load glitch can be performed on the level Cortana, in Co-op. After saving Cortana, continue the level until reach a point where you must drop through a hole. Have another player wait at the top of the hole, while you go down and walk until there is a short freeze. The door should then show a load glitch.