Alex Flont
Level Design
Halo: Infinite Spoils
Halo: Combat Evolved-inspired UE5 Blockout
Halo: Infinite Spoils is a level based on the game Halo: Combat Evolved (Halo: CE) and the book Halo: The Cole Protocol. This project started as practice making a level design document (LDD), inspired by Steve Lee's Level Design Jam 5. The prompt was "Create a LDD based on an existing game," which I adapted to, "existing game universe." After creating the LDD, I chose to use it for a blockout exercise using Unreal Engine 5, as an introduction to the engine.
This blockout was published to Itch.io:
Level Design Document
Key Takeaways
This exercise was a fun way to practice UE5 and pay homage to one of my favorite games. Halo: CE showed me that a video game could have an epic story and make you feel a lot of emotions, like the best movies or music.
The series was an obvious choice for an "existing game universe" to base my LDD on. I had a lot of fun turning the pages of my copy of Halo: The Cole Protocol while planning the level beats. However, it would be a good challenge to try other game universes I'm less familiar with or haven't played.
I realize documentation in the form of a LDD isn't always necessary or practical, due to the evolution of a project. Maybe it's more applicable to pitching a level. Nevertheless, I think an outline like this was helpful to understand the context of the blockout.
There are several things I can improve when it comes to blocking, like placing enemy characters as early as possible to get a better feel for the space, or improving lighting quality. I'll be keeping these things in mind on future projects in UE5.