I was wondering since halo is an awesome game do you developers and testers have sandbox type maps where you test all of the in game things you’re either going to add or have added before you put them into the maps that are featured in game? Also off topic but I really enjoyed that E3 halo 2 gameplay stream.
<Not from 343i>
Different departments have different sandbox type maps.
The sound people would have their section to test different surfaces and weapons.
Artists probably have a map with textured surfaces to see how they fit in the world and if the graphics ‘fit’ and act as they should (Reflections, refractions, shading, lighting, etc)
AI people most likely have a box where they check how ‘actors’ interact with world elements. Can a marine take cover correctly? Can they find a path and so on…
These would be similar to ‘unit’ tests and would only show if the stuff works. The real test is done in-game to make sure all of the parts work together. (system test).
Skip to 9 minutes in this video to see how some of this was done in GTA 4: Hot Topic: GTA IV
343 did a social stream last month where they showed the original H2 demo on a dev box. It also some maps on it which was used for testing and they contained some weird stuff.