Editing High Charity (cut Halo 3 level)

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[[File:H3 HighCharity Skybox.jpg|250px|thumb|An early roughed-in skybox of High Charity, completed by [[:Category:Images by Mike Porter|Mike Porter]] before he left Bungie. The Mausoleum of the Arbiter and the overlook above it can be seen here.{{Ref/Site|URL=https://www.artstation.com/artwork/Lenm1A|Site=ArtStation|Page=Halo 3 Skyboxes and Props|D=27|M=02|Y=2022|Quote=Roughed in skybox for High Charity level, before I left.}}]]

When originally conceptualised, the level that would become Cortana in the final game was simply meant to be a level set inside High Charity, fighting against the Flood.{{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}} In this build, the High Charity level was to consist of two large found segments connected by the [[Hanging Gardens]].{{Ref/Twitter|cgbarrett|1145920642358714368|Christopher Barrett|Quote=I found this while digging through some old concepts. I don’t think it’s even been published? A schematic concept of High Charity from Halo 3 #Halo3|D=10|M=10|Y=2021}} An early mission layout showcases the mission as progressing with the player eventually progressing into and through the [[Mausoleum of the Arbiter]] - with a planned reveal of an army of Flood-infected Arbiters which the player would have to battle. Later on, the level was intended to feature a sequence in which the player would find a [[Deutoros-pattern Scarab|Scarab]] with damaged legs, which Cortana would take control of and use to battle the Gravemind while the player held off invading Flood forms and shot off the Gravemind's tendrils that attempted to latch onto the Scarab.{{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 #17 Cortana and a Scarab. The level in which you rescued Cortana was going to be a "High Charity" level, not "Cortana" we ended up with. Here&#8217;s what was originally planned. You were supposed to, or rather the idea was that you were going to, fight the Gravemind, but not in a way you might think. You were going to retrieve Cortana, and a little after that you two were going to come across an abandoned Scarab with its hind legs ripped off. Seeing no other options, you were going to board the Scarab and insert Cortana so she could pilot it. After that, the Gravemind was going to appear, and Cortana was going to duke it out with him in the damaged Scarab while you were on board. You were going to help out by killing any Flood forms that made their way onto the Scarab, and shoot off any of Gravemind's tentacles that tried to latch on.|Quotee=Dan Miller|D=10|M=10|Y=2021}} The planned [[Cut Halo 3 enemies#Flood Arbiter|Flood-infected Arbiter]] enemies were prototypes in some form, with surviving [[tag]]s recovered by [[343 Industries]] named <code>flarbiter</code>. When creating the [[Floodfight]] updates for ''[[Halo 3: ODST]]'',  343 looked at resurrecting the flarbiter enemies for use in the gamemode but ultimately determined the tags to have been cut from the game too early on in the process to be useable.{{Ref/Twitter|The_Psycho_Duck|1710525787693355251|Dana Jerpak|Quote=The tags for the cut Flood Arbiter are called the "flarbiter". 😁 We looked into resurrecting the flarbiter (pun intended) for Flood Firefight, but it was cut early enough that there was nothing usable.|D=29|M=03|Y=2024}}

[[File:H3 HighCharity Schematic Concept.jpg|thumb|250px|An early schematic layout for the level.]]

The reuse of the Floodgate geometry originally developed for the [[Indulgence of Conviction|crashed cruiser]] meant that the interior structure of High Charity contains some illogical design choices, such as the [[bridge]] of a {{Pattern|Kerel|assault carrier}}. The level posed numerous technical challenges for the developers, with the level's size requiring it be split into eight BSPs. Having to allow the geometry to have AI walk on it - even upside down or on walls - was also challenging, and collisions had to be faked for much of the level geometry. To help produce the feel of the city having been wrecked and crashed, the engineering team wrote a script that tilted the level geometry by fifteen degrees on export. Nonetheless, the AI pathfinding continued to be an issue, alongside questions of how to balance art vs. design needs for the level.{{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://www.bungie.net//images/Inside/publications/presentations/!Halo3_Flood_Alien_Level_Autopsy.zip|Site=Bungie.net|Page=Halo 3 Flood Alien Level Autopsy|Detail=Original presentation download link|D=03|M=5|Y=2012}}

[[File:H3 Alpha CampaignLevels.jpg|250px|thumb|The level select screen for the ''[[Halo 3 Alpha]]'']]

[[File:H3 Xbox360 HighCharity Prototype 5.jpg|thumb|250px|A test environment in the early Xbox 360 era; the corridors here bear considerably more consistency with the corridors of High Charity seen in ''Halo 2''.]]

===Design documents===

File:H3 Cortana DesignDoc 1.jpg|Digital design document.

File:H3_HighCharityDesignDoc.jpeg|Another version with a slightly reduced layout.