The Overworld Map for Infinite should have taken notes from Super Mario World’s overworld. Which seems like a weird thing to say, but here is why.
Super Mario World had many “Islands” ( more like small continents ) that each had their Own interesting “thematic elements” that set them apart. They were unique and memorable and each had a THEME that set them apart and made each region feel Exciting, new, mysterious, encouraged going off the main path to reach things like “Star World”, using the Haunted Houses to reach other sections and more. It had Variety and each level, island and the main sections felt Memorable. It wasn’t just the same “Biome” of levels based on the first Island or first levels, the Levels had a sense of progression and they mixed it up with Cave levels, Underwater sections, Castles, secret Areas Haunted houses. They kept it fresh and the player interested.
We had the starting Island with the big Mountain Spire, we had the next region with a Lake, the Big Cave with Fortresses Inside, the Bridges that connected to the Next Mountain/Mesa and Each level had something distinct.
Halo needs each of those Islands to feel DISTINCT in some way to give them “Identity” and set them apart so that players have visual Cues such as “Oh this starting region has a Huge River, a UNSC base on a Mountaintop, a Big Waterfall flowing from the Mountain” and oh “This Next Island Section is Underneath and slightly beneath the first Island and has a continuation of the River with a Waterfall going from Island to Island as a “Transition” but this time the Waterfall is off the natural edge of a Forerunner structure and has Cliffside sections, bays doors, Pathing and other stuff to reach the lower Island, which is more of an Open Valley with a Big River and a big Fortress in the Distance and waving tall grass in Hills that becomes the player accross the landscape”
The Actual Islands in the Game didn’t feel Particularly “Distinct” because they mostly all had similar elements of A. Grass/Rocks/Pine/Trees B. FOB’s C. Banished Bases, and Each Island didn’t have key feature that Felt Memorable and Distinct enough to set them apart and make Each Island Feel Unique and a progression from one Distinct region to another.
Some Examples of “Distinct” Landscape features to set apart each Island/or Major section would stuff like:
— A Massive Waterfall like Victoria Falls at the top of a Mesa flowing into a River that leads to a huge lake
— A Snow covered Mountain peak with a UNSC starport that was captured by the Banished and turned into a Banished Drydock and Starport for their Frigates
— A Massive Banished Garrison that houses Their Scarab Walkers and has a Floating ship overheas that players have to Board and destroy
— The Debris from the Crashed Brute ship “Grbrakon” that players destroy in the first Mission could have been in the Landscape and players could have missions to Hunt the surviving troops that are using it as a makeshift base etc
— A Massive underground fortress where the Sentinels are produced and repair that the player has to assault to gain tech that can be used to Augment their gear at a UNSC science facility
— The Lake has a set of Forerunner Structures that Compliment each other and are interconnected bases by a tunnel system that players can use to traverse between the Lake Base complex
— A Large Forerunner Structure like “The Library” from Halo 2 which is Massive against the Horizon, has a unique Color Scheme and looks mysterious and massive against the Skybox and has a “Metroid Prime” like map for exploring various maze like Rooms, chambers, sub-facilities etc etc
— A crashed UNSC vessel similar to the Pillar of Autumn that is EXPLORABLE
— A distinct section of the map where the player has a “Warthog” Run in the main Story that can be revisited later
— Massive network of Forerunner Tunnels like those in Halo’s second level that serve as “caves” and subterranean levels that are all interconnected, have NODES, which are points where players exit the tunnel systems to the surface at various points going through fortress-like facilities and elevators and bridges ( Like the Inner part of Silent Cartographer ) that serve as “Gates” to other sections that players access Via a “Keycards” type mechanic ( could be a Forerunner data disc, a Cartographer, or Icon like the Index ) instead of the annoying “Power seeds” mechanic they used
— A crashed Guardian ( Which they DID HAVE, except it wasn’t even accessible ) The one thing that REALLY felt distinct about the landscape was the Crashed Guardian yet we didn’t even have it as part of the playable map.
EACH of those elements feel “DISTINCT” and would help create “Identity” to various regions in addition to other landscape elements like different foliage or a large Swamp or a coastal region to set those areas apart in the players mind as being unique, interesting and having purpose to the players mission and sense of exploration
