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Re: :-\
Posted By: Jordan117	Date: 6/2/09 9:11 p.m.
In Response To: :-\ (pete_the_duck) : It seemed pretty ridiculous basing all of that dismay on a tiny map graphic : used in a multiplayer map from Halo 2 . Well, not *just* that. If you look closely, you can see that the transit map is consistent with what was seen in the Halo 2 level Metropolis: So, because that map corresponds to the real world, it ties everything seen in the game to a real place. That bridge? It's over Kilindini Harbor. That street you fight the Scarab on? It's called (of all things) Voi Street. The Space Elevator? It sits on what used to be the Municipal Stadium. And so on. I've always liked geography -- as a kid I would pore over my dad's atlas, learning the countries of the world and the plans of major cities -- so naturally I went and learned more about the real city via Google Earth and such after playing the game. It's an interesting place with some unique sites -- the Tusks over Moi Avenue, Fort Jesus, Kibokoni Park, Old Town Makadara -- and I probably know it as well as any city I've been a tourist in. So I was looking forward to Bungie recreating this city with the same skill and imagination that they had rendered Old Mombasa and the small part of New Mombasa we saw in Halo 2. Bungie has retconned their canon a lot in the past -- the number of human colonies, Johnson's flood immunity, the original form of Earth City seen at E3 -- and it's never really bothered me. So I'm not so much disappointed that they've contradicted a bitmap image, but that we won't get to see that vision of a realistic New Mombasa brought to life. I only focus on the map because it's the best representation of what could have been. : But let me ask you.. would you prefer that Bungie hold to that facet of New : Mombasa as set in stone, unalterable cannon and be forced to design the : gameworld of ODST around it, disregarding the freedom in environmental : design that could heavily influence gameplay, artistic elements, and the : flow of the entire experience? But that's the thing, I don't see how they would have been hemmed in that much. The island has so much unexplored territory that there's no reason they couldn't have set the game there. Judging by the map seen in the trailer, the ODST gameworld will consist of a bridge leading into a large urban area, with a fortified ONI facility on the far side and the space tether beyond them all, separated by water. Looking at the old map I see at least three ways you could fit those elements into unseen parts of the map: It doesn't matter if the streets exactly match or stuff like that, just as long as the in-game version of New Mombasa bears some sort of relation to the real city. But the city in ODST doesn't look anything like Mombasa Island, and is essentially a completely invented place, apart from its name. Bungie managed to fit the five Earth levels of Halo 3 into the geography of East Africa without sacrificing fun factor, as seen in this old image: I even remember reading that they used satellite imagery to make the layout accurate, and plotted the sun to set at a realistic pace as the campaign progressed. The fact that the entire ODST game world is defined as the city of New Mombasa, and yet the layout of that game world looks nothing like the city of Mombasa, is disappointing for a company that has always prided itself on self-consistency and rich attention to background details.

Message Index

ODST is bittersweet, for me	Jordan117	6/2/09 5:10 p.m.
Oops.	Jordan117	6/2/09 5:14 p.m.
Re: ODST is bittersweet, for me	The More Deluded	6/2/09 6:51 p.m.
:-\	pete_the_duck	6/2/09 7:51 p.m.
Re: :-\	Stephen L. (SoundEffect)	6/2/09 8:15 p.m.
Re: :-\	Jordan117	6/2/09 9:11 p.m.
Consider this:	InnerRayg	6/2/09 9:19 p.m.
Re: Consider this:	Jordan117	6/2/09 9:26 p.m.
Re: :-\	Stephen L. (SoundEffect)	6/2/09 10:22 p.m.
Re: :-\	Omega	6/2/09 10:37 p.m.
Re: :-\	Stephen L. (SoundEffect)	6/3/09 1:26 p.m.
Re: :-\	bluerunner	6/3/09 1:55 p.m.
Re: :-\	Omega	6/3/09 2:24 p.m.
Re: :-\	vlad3163	6/3/09 4:58 p.m.
Re: :-\	Omega	6/3/09 6:18 p.m.
Re: ODST is bittersweet, for me	MasterNoob	6/2/09 9:32 p.m.
Gameplay issue	FyreWulff	6/2/09 9:46 p.m.
Good Point...Here's another question	InnerRayg	6/2/09 10:55 p.m.
Re: ODST is bittersweet, for me	Warp2	6/3/09 8:50 p.m.
Re: ODST is bittersweet, for me	Psychophan7	6/4/09 3:37 a.m.
Re: ODST is bittersweet, for me	General Vagueness	6/4/09 1:53 p.m.
Re: ODST is bittersweet, for me	Psychophan7	6/4/09 4:32 a.m.