Halo 4: Longbow Concepts

Decided to add a few concept images I did for the Halo 4 map called  "LongBow." It's been far too long since I updated this blog!

The centerpiece - a mass driver control station. Since reading about it as a kid in Popular Science magazines, I had always been fascinated by the concept of shooting cargo into space using magnetic railguns.. Very little energy use and low waste, compared to the expensive and complicated chemical rockets we still use. I figured that 500 years into the future it would be a regular feature of the Halo universe. Why don't we get Elon Musk interested in building something like this? 

The initial ideas were a lot more cannon-like, with a straight line accelerator firing over the map.

This is a later concept, where we unified the center structure to make it a larger landmark for orientation of the players.

Initially, we played with some more GoldenGate Bridge-like designs for the mass driver arms.

The trees were designed to look alien, but still have a familiarity to pine forest and snowy climate trees. They also had to function as something that could block your sight, but not your bullets.

Some of the early concepts for the mass driver tower were located on the ocean side of the map, with a more refinery-like feel.

Sometimes, we build it 5 or 6 times before we get the right answer for the map and the space.

When we were working from the initial block out, it was called "Gore Valley"

An early top-down map proposal, with the mass driver on the ocean side.

Ideas for the cargo launch pods that would be sent through the mass driver arms.