BACKLASH

There is one feeling that encapsulates the mission '343 Guilty Spark': Danger. With Backlash, I had to ensure players always felt like they were in danger. That they should stay on the move. That they should always watch their back.

How does a designer achieve this in a manner which does not confuse and scare off first time players of the map? How do you maintain a feeling of endangerment without it becoming tiresome?

How would I overcome the pre-existing distaste for 'Backwash'?

These three challenges became the crux of my design process.

I decided that the first and the second problems could be solved through the same means. I made the overall shape of the map familiar to players. As you can see in the overhead drawing below, Backlash has a rather immediate 'infinity' or 'figure eight' design that FPS players will often see in multiplayer maps. This overall shape helps players quickly grasp the large scale pathing of the map. This meant that even with all the intricate connections and sightlines (the small scale pathing) I would later add, there would be a simple base for players to ground themselves with.

To instill the feeling of danger I decided the map had to be totally asymmetrical, but I also wanted Backlash to support symmetrical game modes such as Capture the Flag and Assault as Backwash did. With this new problem looming and the unsolved issue of players even accepting a map inspired by Backwash still in my mind, I again decided on a solution that solved both these issues that also held synergy with the 'infinity' shape. Backlash would become pseudo-symmetrical.

Pseudo-symmetry involves taking a design with symmetrical elements (like the opposing bases and the "figure of 8" and then filling that space with unique geometry, connections and sightlines for each segment. The result is a map that is wholly asymmetrical and fully functional for symmetrical modes.

With all the problems now solved I then built an initial whitebox prototype within a few days. I spent two weeks in testing sessions honing the large scale and small scale pathing options where I received feedback to break up some of the more linear paths. These included the tunnel leading out of bottom middle and the path leading to the top of Red Base. I was able to alleviate these issues by removing sections of the walls between these paths and the middle section of the map.

I took the cylindrical central structure from Backwash and reverse engineered it to function as a dangerous but rapid method with which to cross the map as opposed to the 'impenetrable tower where you camped the whole the match' that the original became. The trapezoid Forerunner corridors act as bases and as a way to justify including gravity lifts that take players to the upper section of their base.

With that Backlash was complete. Later testing with a group of dedicated Halo 2 fans proved remarkably positive as they enjoyed the CTF and Assault matches we played, several commenting on the massive improvement over the original.

Backlash was later appropriated for the "Roaming King" game mode that is currently under testing by the 343 Industries sustain team for matchmaking release. Roaming King is an improved version of the "Warpath" game mode from DOOM 2016 recreated in Halo 5 by Jake Stegmeier (MartianMallCop).

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