Editing Forerunner City

{{Status|RealWorld}}
{{Level infobox
|prev=[[Alpine (cut Halo 3 level)|Alpine]] {{C|Intended}}
|concurrent= 
|next=[[High Charity (cut Halo 3 level)|High Charity]] {{C|Intended}}
|game=''[[Halo 3]]''
|devname-title=Internal name
|devname=<code>100_forecity</code>
|name=Forerunner City
|image=[[File:TheLostCity.jpg|300px]]<br/>An exterior view of the city's third iteration.{{Ref/Twitter|Id=trace|Dr_Abominable|732118079027613696|Paul Russel|Quote=That's a trace of a screenshot I took of one of the concepts. I think version 3 of a city.|D=30|M=10|Y=2020}} This design was recycled for the [[Cartographer]] in ''[[Halo 3]]'' and a structure in ''[[Origins]]''.
|player=[[John-117]]
|date=
|place=[[Installation 00]]
|objective=
|parscore=
|partime=
|nowalk=yes
}}
{{Quote|All I can say is, imagine a beard trimmer, and each blade of the comb is the size of manhattan, each with tiered 'hoods.|[[Paul Russel]]{{Ref/Twitter|Dr_Abominable|732114909027176450|Paul Russel|Quote=All I can say is, imagine a beard trimmer, and each blade of the comb is the size of manhattan, each with tiered 'hoods.|D=30|M=10|Y=2020}}}}
'''100_forecity''' (or more simply, '''Forerunner City''') was a level that was worked on during the [[Development of Halo 3|development]] of ''[[Halo 3]]'', but was [[Cut Halo 3 levels|ultimately cut from]] the game. The level was to follow on from [[Alpine (cut Halo 3 level)|090_alpine]], and was ultimately combined with 090_alpine in the final release of the game to form the mission [[The Covenant (level)|The Covenant]].{{Ref/Twitter|Id=DanConfirms|dmiller360|1498175220737196032|Dan Miller|Quote=Alpine and Forerunner City become ‘The Covenant’ if I recall correctly.|D=28|M=02|Y=2022}} The level is famous for its distinctive [[Forerunner]] structures, more commonly known by the nickname '''The Lost City''',{{Ref/Reuse|picasa}}{{Ref/Reuse|GoogleRussel}} or more jokingly, '''"Forerunner Condo"''' to Bungie and '''"Cuesta Verde phase 4"''' to [[Vic DeLeon]].{{Ref/Twitter|Id=condo|vicdeleon|1250140058088124416|Vic DeLeon|Quote=We called it Forerunner Condo. I called it Cuesta Verde phase 4. The fiction behind it was a supposed housing complex for Forerunner scientists living on the ring. Maybe for the Librarian's team? I don't really remember.|D=14|M=4|Y=2020}} 

Forerunner City was given some limited development during ''Halo 3''{{'}}s production, with basic mission layouts and 3D models generated, though these were largely scrapped once the level was merged to become The Covenant. Many of its intended plot beats were adapted into the final game mostly-intact (albeit polished). In the final game, the remnants of Forerunner City can be seen in the final encounter on The Covenant - particularly the sections inside the [[Installation 00 Citadel|Citadel]] at the end of the level. Most of the plot information about the level comes from a [[:File:H3 Script FirstDraft.pdf|first-draft script]] uploaded online by campaign design lead Rob Stokes.{{Ref/Site|Id=Stokes|URL=https://rpstokes53.wixsite.com/work-of-rob-stokes/halo-3|Site=Work of Rob Stokes|Page=Halo 3|D=25|M=05|Y=2023}}

==Overview==
Forerunner City received some limited development and 3D prototyping in ''Halo 3''{{'}}s development before being combined with Alpine to form The Covenant. An initial script pass was done by Rob Stokes, with visual look-development done by Paul Russel. During production, Russel's 3D environment grew so large that "''it could be a game in itself''".{{Ref/Site|Id=picasa|URL=https://picasaweb.google.com/114253662089061571624/Halo3TheLostCity#5573889624080394914|Site=Picasaweb.google.com (defunct): Paul Russel > Halo 3: The Lost City|D=11|M=2|Y=2011|ArchiveURL=https://web.archive.org/web/20160413070942/https://picasaweb.google.com/114253662089061571624/Halo3TheLostCity}}{{Ref/Site|Id=GoogleRussel|URL=https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipPaIX7V20Jzg5bfSpzw9l4nZfMZIbp6WAaSwMqD3pVle0JrKHUuRSE4xN9U5QW3rw?key=aDBoUEVYaWg5Y3pvaEhtUzVCRFZWSnA2WGEyalZ3|Site=Google Pictures|Page=Halo 3: The Lost City|D=01|M=06|Y=2023}}  Nonetheless, it was to have been a fully-playable level, with Russel's 3D blockout used as the basis for a level layout plan done by Stokes.

As part of Russel's development process for the art in the level, he tried to use the city's architecture to showcase values held by [[Forerunner]] society and how they might have lived their daily lives.{{Ref/Twitter|Id=fore1|Dr_Abominable|732109307529986048|Paul Russel|Quote=In terms of creating spaces that had cultural function, tried to imply Forerunner daily life through architecture. What their values were. How function and form worked, probably the most interesting thing I took on, because it wasn't just cool shapes with mysterious purpose. Telling a story|D=16|M=5|Y=2016}} Vic DeLeon also worked on the level, and further elaborated that their goal was to create something more than "just cool shapes with mysterious purpose," creating something that told a story.{{Ref/Reuse|fore1}} Russel stated that in total, there "were probably 10 different versions of the city."{{Ref/Reuse|DeLeonpics}}

Once the architectural blockout was made, it was passed on to Vic Deleon, who populated the area with vegetation, entropy, and lighting.{{Ref/Twitter|Id=DeLeonpics|vicdeleon|1250139051476144128|Vic Deleon|Quote=So here's three shots taken in-game wayyy back in 2005 running a version of the #Halo 2.5-3 engine. The idea was to design an abandoned Forerunner "living space" with courtyard, and fallen into disrepair. @Dr_Abominable made the original structures and I modified, added entropy.|D=14|M=4|Y=2020}} They worked on the project for around three weeks alongside a cut level named "[[Cut Halo 3 levels#Tsavo Township|Tsavo Township]]" before being moved to making multiplayer maps for ''[[Halo 2]]'' DLC.{{Ref/Twitter|Id=tsavo|vicdeleon|732109307529986048|Vic Deleon|Quote=I spent roughly three weeks working on both this and a test for Tsavo Township (which was put on hold) until I was moved over to making multiplayer maps for the Halo2 DLC.|D=14|M=4|Y=2020}} By this time, the fiction surrounding the structure was that it was to be a housing complex for Forerunner scientists living on the ring, possibly the [[Librarian]]'s team.{{Ref/Reuse|condo}} The idea of this iteration was to design the abandoned living space with a courtyard, one that had fallen into disrepair.{{Ref/Reuse|DeLeonpics}} Another developer, [[Dan Miller]], stated that the level was cut as the development team felt it would give too much away about the Forerunners and their mystery.{{Ref/Site|Id=NeoGAFDan1|URL=https://www.neogaf.com/threads/halo-ot14-they-call-it-halo.507989/page-356#post-47803018|Site=NeoGAF|Page=Halo - OT14 - They call it Halo|Quote=Developer Insight #9 Everyone here remembers the concept art for Forerunner City, right? Bungie cut that in part because, when they went through the concept art, they felt like they would have to give away too much about the Forerunners. Dan was originally assigned to this level and Guardian Forest.|Quotee=Dan Miller|D=10|M=10|Y=2021}}

Developers known to have worked on Forerunner City include:
*Rob Stokes (mission design and script)
*[[Dan Miller]] (level designer){{Ref/Reuse|NeoGAFDan1}}{{Ref/Twitter|Id=DanShip|dmiller360|1498411926853865475|Dan Miller|Quote=I’m surprised we shipped those scripts at all. I worked on ForeCity but barely. We cut those early.|D=28|M=02|Y=2022}}
*[[Paul Russel]] (3D environment art){{Ref/Reuse|picasa}}{{Ref/Reuse|GoogleRussel}}
*[[Vic DeLeon]] (3D environment art){{Ref/Reuse|condo}}
*[[Isaac Hannaford]] (concept art paintovers)
*[[Lee Wilson]] ([[Halo 3 storyboards|storyboards]])
<gallery>
File:H3 ForeCity DesignDoc 1.jpg|An early level design document for Forerunner City.
File:H3 ForeCity DesignDoc 2.jpg|An early level design document for Forerunner City.
</gallery>

==Plot==
This section summarizes the plot of the level, based on the first draft of the script submitted by Rob Stokes for further editing later on, and the mission design documentation posted on his website.{{Ref/Reuse|Stokes}}

===Background===
During prior missions, forces from {{UNSCShip|Providence}} (replaced by {{UNSCShip|Forward Unto Dawn}} in final release) observed that the [[Prophet of Truth]] had moved his forces behind a large [[Barrier tower|energy barrier]] preventing UNSC access. In the previous level 090_alpine, [[John-117]] had successfully attacked the barrier towers preventing access before witnessing the arrival of the [[Flood]]-infested [[High Charity]]. The infested station crashed on the Ark and began to spread Flood across the megastructure.

===100LA_CITY_GATES===
;100LA01 EXT. ALPINE
The first section of the mission, titled "City Gates" in the script, sees Master Chief enter the eponymous Forerunner City to find the control citadel for the entire [[Installation 00|Ark]] (referred to in the script as Waypoint). In this opening section, the player leads an attack force through the city's ruins toward the Citadel, facing off against [[Jiralhanae|Brute]] forces loyal to the Prophet of Truth. During the level, the Chief would receive a transmission from [[Miranda Keyes]] with a mission briefing, though it would be cut short abruptly due to Miranda and her people coming under attack - leading to Miranda's capture later in the level.

During this section, level design documentation notes that as the player fights on, [[Flood spore]]s and tendrils would be visible beginning to creep up the structure and infect it. During the vehicular combat of the mission, the player would drive a [[M808C Scorpion|Scorpion]] tank alongside allied UNSC and [[Sangheili|Elite]] troops, facing off against Brutes in the streets. The combat would feature massive three- and four-way battles between the player, [[Covenant]], Flood, and [[Sentinel]] forces. Halfway through the mission, the tank convoy would be stopped by a barrier and forced into an engagement on foot, seemingly inside the vegetative and overgrown spaces shown off by Vic DeLeon (point C on the design document).

These near-final iterations of the level were done by Vic DeLeon in 2005, running in the "Halo 2.5-3" engine.{{Ref/Reuse|DeLeonpics}} They seemingly depict the location at point C.
<gallery>
File:H3 TheLostCity Courtyard 1.jpg
File:H3 TheLostCity Courtyard 2.jpg
File:H3 TheLostCity Courtyard 3.jpg
</gallery>

Moving back outside of the overgrown structure, the player would be faced with a Flood-infected [[Deutoros-pattern Scarab|Scarab]] walker. Luckily, a number of [[Guardian Sentinel]]s would show up and help to destroy it, presenting the player with an opportunity to drive the Scarab and use its [[Focus cannon|main gun]] on the gates leading outside of the courtyard. This would lead to a section labelled on the design layout as the "''Most massive Scarab battle of all time!''", with the player fighting two Scarabs in their own Scarab. The Scarab fight is located just outside of the Citadel, as in the final game, leading Master Chief and the Arbiter to then enter the Citadel.

The script picks up again inside the structure, the two would be greeted with billowing Forerunner tapestries and the mad ramblings of the Prophet of Truth:
{{Quote|The demon has failed. The traitor has failed. Yet I have succeeded.<br><br>It is close now! The faithful can feel it! and the faithless are too late to stop me!}}
The player would then reach a [[gravity lift]] and press X on the controller to activate a cutscene.

===100LB_MIRANDA===
The cutscene inside the Citadel would play out much akin to the final game's, albeit with less refined dialogue. The Arbiter and Chief enter the foyer and are subjected to see a live feed of Truth activating the [[Halo Array]]. He calls on his Brute bodyguards to bring Miranda - now captured - from the shadows with the intent of activating the rings. However, she struggles against her captor and is able to grab the Brute's pistol - holding it in the air and turning around. As the Brutes close in around her, Truth hides behind them. Miranda realizes that they need her to activate the rings and starts to bring the gun to her own head, only to be stopped by Truth. Truth grabs her by the throat and then brings her over to the activation console - using her to activate the rings in much the same way as he uses [[Avery Johnson|Johnson]] in the final game. Finally, he then snaps Miranda's neck, killing her.
<gallery>
File:H3 TheCovenant Storyboard 13.jpg|A [[Halo 3 storyboards|storyboard]] of Truth and Miranda.
File:H3_TheCovenant_Storyboard_15.jpg|A storyboard of Truth, having killed Miranda.
File:H3 Crow'sNest Storyboard 7.jpg
</gallery>

The activation pulse of the rings begins in the foyer, where the Arbiter and Master Chief are, with Master Chief staring at the image of her dead body before the return to gameplay. The player progresses through the Citadel facing down Truth's honour guard, with the Flood additionally pouring in and attacking. Curiously, the Flood do not attack the player and instead let them pass - with the [[Gravemind]] heard talking through them that they will allow them to pass - in recognition that a human's hand is required to deactivate the Halos. The player ascends the tower, and finally presses X to open the doors into the central chamber and play a new cutscene.

===100LC_CONFRONT_TRUTH===
As the player enters the control room, they're greeted by a very different site to what they saw on the screens. The Brute bodyguards are already dead, and are already displaying signs of Flood infection. The Chief and Arbiter move through the carnage, with Chief stopping by Miranda's body to kneel and close her eyes. The two then spot Truth huddled on the ground near the control console. The Arbiter surges forward, unable to contain his rage, but is stopped by the Master Chief due to something being not right. Truth begins to speak and requests the Master Chief's help to fire the rings and commence the Great Journey, but midway through his speech he is interrupted by the Gravemind. Flood tentacles can then be seen bursting from his chest and infecting him. Truth and the Gravemind briefly battle to speak, with Truth pleading the Chief to be allowed to ascend, while the Gravemind finally takes full control of his body and orders the Chief to stop the firing.
<gallery>
File:H3 TheCovenant Storyboard 16.jpg|A storyboard depicting Chief and Arbiter arriving at the control podium.
File:H3 TheCovenant Storyboard 17.jpg|A storyboard depicting Chief and Arbiter arriving at the control podium.
File:H3 TheCovenant Storyboard 18.jpg|A storyboard depicting Chief and Arbiter arriving at the control podium.
File:H3 TheCovenant Storyboard 19.jpg|Truth turns to face the duo.
File:H3 TheCovenant Storyboard 20.jpg|Flood biomass erupts from Truth's chest.
</gallery>

The Arbiter asks if firing the rings was the task [[Cortana]] referred to in her transmission back on [[Earth]], to which the Chief disagrees and then halts the firing sequence. The Citadel falls silent save for Truth's sobbing, which quickly turns to the Gravemind's laughter as tentacles begin to emerge and start destroying the machinery of the control room - ensuring the rings cannot be fired again. He taunts Master Chief, that there is now no mechanism in the galaxy that can stop the Flood - something reinforced by [[343 Guilty Spark]]'s panic moments later. Master Chief and Arbiter are backed against a wall as the Brute corpses begin to reanimate as [[Flood attacker form|attackers]], and the now-infected Truth rises as the player returns to gameplay. 
<gallery>
File:H3 TheCovenant Storyboard 21.jpg|A storyboard depicting Chief and Arbiter facing off against the Flood.
File:H3 TheCovenant Storyboard 22.jpg|A storyboard depicting Chief and Arbiter facing off against the Flood.
File:H3 TheCovenant Storyboard 23.jpg|A storyboard depicting Chief and Arbiter facing off against the Flood.
File:H3 TheCovenant Storyboard 24.jpg|A storyboard depicting Chief and Arbiter facing off against the Flood.
</gallery>

Unlike the final game in which the Arbiter is the one to silence Truth, the player starts gameplay again with their reticule pointed at the Flood-infected Truth. They dispatch Truth, and are beset upon by Flood forms from the shadows. As the Flood advance, the player is pushed into the dark bowels of the Citadel - where they notice blue shimmers in the air. Eventually, they become trapped in a dark room facing off against waves of Flood, with the final cutscene of the level starting once the final wave is defeated.

===100LD_FLOOD_REVEAL===
With a brief respite in the fighting, Chief, Arbiter, and Spark ponder that the Flood is now truly unstoppable - they are on the Ark and the Halos cannot be fired anymore. However, Chief begins to see flashes of Cortana around him, and finds himself at a dark corridor. He heads down the corridor and finds himself at a console with a brief apparition of Cortana standing next to it. A single button can be pressed, which sees the walls of the chamber begin to unfold and reveal the Ark's core around them. A [[Installation 08|new Halo ring]] then arises from the [[Foundry (location)|foundry]] as in the final game. The dialogue plays out mostly the same, with Chief and Arbiter agreeing to light the ring, Spark flying off into the distance, and Chief making the decision to retrieve Cortana from the remains of High Charity.

<gallery>
File:H3 TheCovenant Storyboard 25.jpg|A storyboard depicting the aftermath of Chief and Arbiter facing off against the Flood.
</gallery>
What would have followed next would be the level [[High Charity (cut Halo 3 level)|High Charity]], though in the final game this level was cut and replaced by the level [[Cortana]].

==Legacy==
The final iteration's exterior appears to have influenced the design of the final game's [[Cartographer]]: the forward half of the city, especially its spire, is virtually identical to the map room's exterior structure. A building identical to the third iteration was also featured in the ''[[Halo Legends]]'' episode ''[[Origins]]''.{{Ref/Reuse|trace}}

== Gallery ==
===The Lost City===
The first images ever revealed of Forerunner City were originally uploaded in a (now-defunct) Picasa web gallery titled ''Halo 3: The Lost City'', by [[Paul Russel]].{{Ref/Reuse|picasa}} While the original gallery has since been transferred to [https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipPaIX7V20Jzg5bfSpzw9l4nZfMZIbp6WAaSwMqD3pVle0JrKHUuRSE4xN9U5QW3rw?key=aDBoUEVYaWg5Y3pvaEhtUzVCRFZWSnA2WGEyalZ3 Google Pictures],{{Ref/Reuse|GoogleRussel}} a direct archive of the gallery's contents and the images' original captions can be found below.
<gallery>
File:LostCity skyscrapers.jpg|{{Quote|How to build a forerunner city. Start with crazy skyscrapers.}}
File:LostCity DetailedAreas.jpg|{{Quote|Focus on a couple of detailed areas on a building.}}
File:LostCity Details.jpg|{{Quote|Check that building out, making sure you have the detail where you want it.}}
File:LostCity StartAgain.jpg|{{Quote|Then throw it away and start again with a more solid shape. Abandoning the idea that the forerunners would build a human like city.}}
File:LostCity Arcology.jpg|{{Quote|Stack those few shapes together into one massive building.}}
File:LostCity flipped.jpg|{{Quote|Then flip it on top of itself.}}
File:LostCity cantilever.jpg|{{Quote|Chuck the previous idea and go for a cantilevered and very ornate pattern of a single building.}}
File:LostCity Detail.jpg|{{Quote|Take a gander to see if you're going to kill the engine with too much detail.}}
File:TheLostCity.jpg|{{Quote|Shorten it and check it out as a whole.}}
File:LostCity final interior 1.jpg|{{Quote|Throw all that work away and merge the repetitive with the skyscraper arcology.}}
File:LostCity Interior.jpg|{{Quote|Check out the handiwork, begin work with design.}}
File:LostCity final interior 2.jpg|{{Quote|Toss the whole level because it could be a game in itself.}}
File:HaloLatticework.jpg|{{Quote|How to build a halo. Weave it on a loom.}}
File:H3 Ark Dynamic Concept.jpg|{{Quote|Early concept of the ark as a dynamic element in the sky.}}
File:H3 Ark Dynamic Night Concept.jpg|{{Quote|The same view at night as the arm you occupy spins into darkness. However the ark's many spinning elements are aligned differently.}}
File:H3 Ark Concept 2.jpg|{{Quote|View from space. Note the ring is a halo under construction. In this concept I didn't want to have anything too much bigger than the halo itself.}}
</gallery>

===Other images===
<gallery>
File:H3 TheLostCity LateStage.jpg|A later stage of the Lost City showcased by Paul Russel on Twitter.
File:H3_TheLostCity_Side.jpg|A side view of this later stage.
File:H3 Concept LostCityPaintover.jpg|Concept paintover of the previous screenshot by Isaac Hannaford.
File:H3 Concept LostCity.jpg|Concept art of the Lost City's exterior, bearing extreme resemblance to the final game's Cartographer.
File:H3 TheArk MatteSkybox.png|The matte skybox texture for [[The Ark (level)|The Ark]] level in the final game. The distant boundaries of the installation's [[refugia]] appear to sport a host of Forerunner towers bearing heavy resemblance to the models produced and scrapped for this level.
File:H3 TheArk ForerunnerCity Screenshot.jpg|An extreme closeup on the structures in the skybox.
File:LostCity_Origins.png|The city, as seen in ''Origins''.
</gallery>

== Sources ==
{{Ref/Sources}}

{{Levels|H3}}
{{Deleted Material}}
[[Category:Halo 3 deleted material]]