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Cut Halo Online levels

From Halopedia, the Halo wiki

Revision as of 19:26, July 16, 2021 by BaconShelf (talk | contribs)
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.

Due to the cancellation of Halo Online, several multiplayer maps and a single-player training scenario were cut from the game. The map data is largely gathered from the files of the MS30 build of the game, wherein map names and descriptions can be found. Some map files have the prefix s3d_, indicating the map was built for the Saber3D engine employed by Saber Interactive and is thus built wholly new for the game. Other maps returning from prior Halo games do not have this prefix, indicating they were to be 1:1 ports.

This page lists only maps which never made it into a publically-accessible build of Halo Online. For a list of all other Halo Online maps which did make it into the playable builds, see here.

Tutorial

Named s3d_tutorial in game files for the MS30 Halo Online build, this level would have been set on Anvil Station, and serve as an introductory tutorial for new players starting the game. Several pieces of released concept art for the level indicate the level was to involve a shooting range and Covenant automated turrets.

Multiplayer maps

Cold Storage remake

The Swords of Sanghelios have not shared the reasons for their interest in this seemingly abandoned logistics base.

Named chillout, little is known of this map aside from its name and description. The description suggests this map would be a Covenant-themed remake of the maps Chill Out and Cold Storage. Some related text strings indicate this map may have been intended to be called "Abeyance" in the final game.

Drydock

Main article: Drydock
The docking spires on High Charity serviced vessels from a hundred worlds and a dozen species.

Named s3d_dry_dock in the MS30 build, this map's description indicates it would have been set on High Charity. Several pieces of released concept art, shown below, were named "drydock" and may be for this level.

Lockout

The creatures once imprisoned here are content to wait in the void of space for uncountable years.

Named s3d_lockout in the MS30 build, this map was a remake of the Halo 2 map Lockout. Concept art has been released for this map, depicting a possible setting similar to the map Haven on Requiem.

Powerhouse remake

Powerhouse is set in a hydroelectric facility on planet Reach formerly utilized to provide alternative power supply to the rural settlers nearby, but was repurposed to support the military war efforts.

Named s3d_powerhouse in the MS30 build, the map's name and description suggest this would be a remake of the Halo: Reach map Powerhouse.

Sky bridge

Main article: Sky bridge
Seongnam's state-of-the-art clinics and labs contain knowledge worth dying for.

Named s3d_sky_bridgenew in the MS30 build, this map was to be set in Seongnam, Korea.

Waterfall

Main article: Waterfall
The UNSC constructed many secret holdfasts during the final years of the Covenant War.

Named s3d_waterfall in the MS30 build, little is known of this map. Several released pieces of concept art with the name "waterfall" in their filenames have been released and likely correspond to this map, shown below. Some text strings indicate this map may have been intended to have the final name of "Whiteout".

The map has been implemented into the Halo 3 component of Halo: The Master Chief Collection in Season 6: Raven.[1]

Other multiplayer maps

The following maps are referenced in the MS30 text files, though beyond names no information is provided for these maps. As such, they are listed below. They consist of Halo 3 multiplayer maps, and all use the same map filenames as those used in the original Halo 3 game, indicating they were to be ported without any changes.

  • armory (The Halo 3 multiplayer map Rat's Nest)
  • construct (The Halo 3 multiplayer map Construct)
  • descent (The Halo 3 multiplayer map Assembly)
  • docks (The Halo 3 multiplayer map Longshore)
  • fortress (The Halo 3 multiplayer map Citadel)
  • ghosttown (The Halo 3 multiplayer map Ghost Town)
  • isolation (The Halo 3 multiplayer map Isolation)
  • midship (The Halo 3 multiplayer map Heretic)
  • salvation (The Halo 3 multiplayer map Epitaph)
  • sandbox (The Halo 3 multiplayer map Sandbox)
  • sidewinder (The Halo 3 multiplayer map Avalanche)
  • snowbound (The Halo 3 multiplayer map Snowbound)
  • spacecamp (The Halo 3 multiplayer map Orbital)
  • warehouse (The Halo 3 multiplayer map Foundry)

Firefight maps

Some text strings in the files reference the filenames of several Halo 3: ODST and Halo: Reach Firefight maps. It is unknown if they are simply leftover assets in the engine from those games, or whether Firefight was a planned gamemode intended to be included in Halo Online.

Beachhead

The Covenant rarely entrenched themselves on former human worlds.

Named s3d_beachhead, this map was set on a former human colony world, and was presumably a remake of Reach's map of the same name, Beachhead.

Other Firefight maps

These firefight maps are referenced in the text files by name;

Sources

  1. ^ Halo Waypoint, News: Lovely Letters (Retrieved on Feb 12, 2021) [archive]