Multiplayer combat gaming is dominated by titles that enfold players in quasi-realistic modern war-zones. The action and the perks and the zombies-on-the-moon modes may be pure fantasy, but the settings are rooted in the real world of multi-terrain combat boots and SA-58 clips.

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The first time you play it, it has to be fair, but also it has to be fair on the hundredth time and the thousandth time.

By contrast, Halo 4 is pure fantasy, a sci-fi dreamscape of weird colors, strange weapons, variable gravity as well as Ghosts, crazed AIs and abandoned deep-space mining vessels. Publisher Microsoft wants its key multi-billion-dollar franchise to sit at the heart of inter-human gaming.

Developer 343 has delivered what is arguably the best Halo ever made, and one key component to this is multiplayer, described by IGN reviewer Ryan McCaffrey as “golden” with “immaculate weapon balancing” and containing “an impressive collection of outstanding battlegrounds.”

343 hired Austin, Texas-based development house Certain Affinity to help out with modes, maps and map-creation tool Forge. Why? The company was founded by Max Hoberman, who spent a decade at Bungie, crafting the Halo series’ multiplayer experience.

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I'm dying to see what crazy things people come up with.

Certain Affinity is also responsible for working on MP sections of recent Call of Duty games and on Left 4 Dead. In short, these guys really get multiplayer, and they have a long and intimate relationship with the Halo universe. 85 team-members spent 18 months working on Halo 4’s multiplayer, in close association with 343.

Hoberman says the starting point for refining and evolving Halo 4’s multiplayer modes has been making it available to as many people as possible.

He explains, “That was 343's approach across the board. How do we make this better by letting more people enjoy it? We started by smoothing off some of the rough edges on areas that could be great, but just weren't quite there for accessibility reasons. That can be really difficult, really challenging, especially when you're trying to develop something that has some inherent depth. How you balance depth and accessibility is always a challenge. But that has absolutely permeated all of our decision-making.”

Certain Affinity worked on some of the War Games modes, many based on old favorites that have now been tweaked. For example, Dominion is a team-based mode in which each side attempts to capture and defend a series of bases which, over time, sprout defensive upgrades, culminating in a ‘last stand’ slaughter of the team that’s failed to secure defensive positions.

Oddball is the classic game mode that wins players points for holding onto a ball, with an added twist of being able to throw the ball. When this one feature was first shown, at PAX, it drew enthusiastic whoops from the crowd.

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When you're designing for multiplayer, you have to be selfless.

Part of the responsibility facing Certain Affinity, and all developers that specialize in multiplayer, is the intense relationship players have with the modes and maps they play. Unlike single-player games, which are experienced once or perhaps a few times, multiplayer games are experienced again and again. They are lived. They are also very public testing grounds for people who take their skills very, very seriously.

Not only, but also, through map-editors like Forge, players understand the fundamentals of multiplayer level design. Ten years ago, players might have enjoyed a multiplayer map, without stopping to think about the subtleties of sight blocks and cover positions. These days, they intuite sloppy design.

Hoberman says, “We’re very aware of the gravity of our responsibility. We're creating this content that people are going to play time and time again, sometimes thousands of times, for one map or one game mode. It feels like a massive responsibility. We mandate internally that we play this stuff over and over. We have to be fans of our own work and we have to put it to the test day in and day out.

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We're creating this content that people are going to play time and time again, sometimes thousands of times.

“We insist that our developers participate in daily playtests. It can be tough. Our artists, for instance, they have a big to-do list, but we make them take an hour out of their day to playtest. We think that's invaluable. Fans are going to pick these things apart. They're passionate about every detail. It's critical that everyone working on these things is also passionate about every detail and understands how these things are going to be experienced by the players.”

He points out that in single-player modes, the story embraces the player as well as the characters in the game, but only the actual player is having a real emotional experience. But in multiplayer, it’s about everyone who is on screen.

“When you're designing campaign levels, you're inherently designing something asymmetrical. You're designing for the player. You don't need to care about how the enemies feel. You don't need to care about how the Covenant feel about their experience. When you're designing multiplayer, you have to care about everybody.

“What you're designing is inherently balanced and symmetric, even if it's physically asymmetric. It has to be balanced. It has to be a fair experience for everyone. The first time you play it, it has to be fair, but also it has to be fair on the hundredth time and the thousandth time. It takes a different mindset to design for multiplayer. I'd say it also takes a different personality sometimes. When you're designing for multiplayer, you have to be selfless. You have to be able to put yourself in someone else's shoes. If you're just concerned about designing a good experience for yourself, then you'll never be a great multiplayer designer.”

One of the massive projects undertaken by Certain Affinity was Forge, which allows players to make their own multiplayer maps. This tool has been around for some years but in Halo 4 has been drastically overhauled.

New features include better looks through dynamic lighting and gorgeous native environments; greater ease-of-use via neat gadgets like item-lock, duping and magnets; and local effects called player-trait zones which give designers all sorts of freedom to play around with their invented worlds.

Hoberman says, “Forge is interesting, any map editor is interesting, because so many people benefit from it whether they actually use it or not. Everyone benefits from the creations that come out of it. The accessibility improvements that we made and some of the feature additions are ultimately just going to mean that new users will find it easier, but because Forge is inherently a pretty sophisticated tool, the creations are going to be that much more inventive and novel.

He adds, “You always do something and you think maybe you’ll see a dozen interesting ways people use it. In reality, over time, you end up seeing hundreds of greats ideas. I'm dying to see what crazy things people come up with.”

Don't forget to make use of IGN's massive Halo 4 wiki.

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