Editing Floodgate

|player=[[John-117]]

|place=[[Voi]], [[East African Protectorate]]

{{Article quote|Stop [[the Flood|the Infestation]]. Find [[Cortana]].}}

Shortly after [[John-117]] disables the [[Covenant]] [[Type-27 Mantis|anti-aircraft battery]] in the previous level,'' [[The Storm]]'', [[UNSC frigate]]s under the command of [[Terrence Hood|Admiral Hood]] attacked the Covenant-controlled [[Anodyne Spirit|Forerunner Dreadnought]]. This attempt failed, as the Dreadnought survived unscathed. The [[Prophet of Truth]] then activated a [[Portal at Voi|Portal]] to the [[Installation 00|Ark]] and his Dreadnought entered the slipspace rift, followed by the rest of the Covenant fleet. Immediately afterward, a [[Indulgence of Conviction|Flood-infested battlecruiser]] emerged from slipspace and crashed into [[Traxus Factory Complex 09]].<ref>''Halo 3'', level ''[[The Storm]]''</ref>

''Fade in outside the city. The Chief and 'Vadam are standing under the remains of the Covenant [[Type-27 Mantis|AA gun]]. The sky is choking with thick smog from [[Indulgence of Conviction|the crashed cruiser]]. Faint screeching and growling noises can be heard in the distance.''

*'''Thel 'Vadam''': "Quickly! Let us find their ship. Make short work of this abomination!"

*'''[[Suicidal Marine|Traumatized Marine]]''': "I...I didn't have a choice...! The [[First Lieutenant|L.T]]...the Sergeant...they were all infected! I could see it crawling...''sliding around beneath their skin!'' ''(sobs)'' A-and then they got up...they s-started to talk! ''Oh, God! Their voices!'' Oh, God! No, ''make them stop!'' I did them a favor...y-yeah that's it; I ''helped'' them! ''(sobs)'' Maybe...maybe I need to help myself... ''(breaks out into sobs)''"

''The Master Chief and Thel 'Vadam enter the lake bed of Voi where the [[Type-47B Scarab|Scarab]] was previously fought and destroyed.''

''The Chief and 'Vadam pause to see three [[Sangheili]]-controlled {{Class|CCS|battlecruiser}}s fly in formation as a {{Class|CAS|assault carrier}} slices overhead from [[slipspace]].''

*'''[[Sangheili Major]]''': "[[High Charity]] has fallen, become a dreaded hive!"

''The group exits the warehouse.  Outside, two Sangheili [[Type-52 Phantom|Phantoms]] arrive and drop off more Sangheili reinforcements to combat the Flood.''

[[File:343 Guilty Spark John 117 Meet-up.jpg|thumb|300px|John-117 accuses 343 Guilty Spark of trying to kill him on Installation 04.]]

''343 Guilty Spark continues trying to project his energy beam into Cortana's storage unit. John again pulls him away, disrupting the beam. He then lets go of Spark and confronts him.''

''The view then cuts to an aerial one above the [[Forerunner]] [[Portal at Voi|Portal]]. Its 'fins' are open and blue energy streams from their tips to the open [[slipspace portal]] drifting ominously above the construct. Fighting on Kenya has ceased and the [[Battle of Kenya]] has ended with the departure of the [[Prophet of Truth]][[Truth's fleet|'s fleet]] through the Portal hours earlier. Four vessels of the Sangheili fleet are gathered above the Portal and 343 Guilty Spark's Phantom arches to the largest of them: the assault carrier ''Shadow of Intent''.''

''Inside the ''Shadow of Intent's'' hangar bay, both the Sangheili and the [[United Nations Space Command|UNSC]] are getting ready for battle. While a pair of Sangheili [[Type-52 Phantom|Phantom]]s drift into the hangar on the far side, two Sangheili [[Type-26 Banshee|Banshee]]s glide past in the opposite direction.  On the ground, two [[M12 Chaingun Warthog|Warthogs]] race to the {{UNSCShip|Forward Unto Dawn}}'s loading bay, drawing near a group of Marines clustered around some UNSC crates. At uneasy rest opposing the Marines are a Sangheili Major sitting on a [[Type-32 Ghost|Ghost]], along with a few [[Special Operations Sangheili]]. The Major's [[Type-50 particle beam rifle|particle beam rifle]] is resting next to the Ghost. Sergeant Johnson, with his arm full of "stolen" [[Type-51 Carbine|Covenant carbines]] brushes past the wordless Sangheili, stopping only to scoop up the Major's rifle. The Sangheili, resentful at this non-permitted collection, rise challengingly around Johnson. Johnson ignores them and continues walking.''

During the [[Development of Halo 3|development]] of ''Halo 3'', Floodgate was originally intended to be a much longer mission, with the section inside the crashed cruiser given considerably more play time. Ultimately, this was deemed too long and badly-paced, and the level was cut-down by around 75%. At the same time, the early layout for the level [[Cortana (level)|Cortana]] was scrapped and that mission increased in scope by around 75% - due to issues with development, the geometry cut from Floodgate was transferred to Cortana.{{Ref/Site|Id=GDC1|URL=https://www.bungie.net/en/aboutus#page=publications&publication=12662|Site=Bungie Publications|Page=Halo 3 Flood Alien Level Autopsy|D=10|M=10|Y=2021}}{{Ref/Site|Id=GDC2|URL=http://halo.bungie.net/images/Inside/publications/presentations/Bungie_EnvDesign_GDC.pptx|Site=Bungie.net|Page=Halo 3 Flood Alien Level Autopsy|Detail=Original presentation download link|D=18|M=1|Y=2021}}{{Ref/Twitter|dmiller360|533780549807398912|Dan Miller|Quote=the level order was the same,just the geometry was different. Originally floodgate consisted  of both floodgate AND Cortana|D=10|M=10|Y=2021}}{{Ref/Twitter|dmiller360|1113434705133625344|Dan Miller|Quote=In floodgate you went into the covenant cruiser at the end, correct? Well that was the Cortana geometry. The Floodgate mission was much, much longer. There was original High Charity geometry made for the Cortana mission that was cut due to lack of time.|D=10|M=10|Y=2021}}{{Ref/Twitter|dmiller360|533780831513624576|Dan Miller|Quote=the old original geometry for cortana was cut- that was high charity geometry.|D=10|M=10|Y=2021}}

File:H3 Floodgate DesignDoc 1.jpg|An early design layout for Floodgate.

File:H3 Floodgate DesignDoc 2.jpg|A later design layout for Floodgate.

*The Suicidal Marine bears a striking resemblance to the [[Paranoid Marine]] in the ''[[Halo: Combat Evolved]]'' level [[343 Guilty Spark (level)|343 Guilty Spark]] that shoots the player, thinking that the Chief may be Flood-controlled. It should be noted that the player comes across both the Paranoid Marine and the Suicidal Marine in the first level where the Flood is fought in their respective games.

*The Marine with the Flamethrower is actually two-dimensional and has no scripted actions other than two shots and its death animation.{{fact}} However, the corpse can be infected, becoming a normal Combat Form with the Flamethrower.