Around 2001 or 2002 when I received my original Xbox, Halo was one of the first games I had for my collection. Technically I had Oddword: Munch's Odyssey and the Sega GT/Jet Set Radio Future double disc from SEGA first. It wasn’t until a few months down the line that I purchased Halo: Combat Evolved from my local Blockbuster.

I’m not going to go too much into why Halo changed my view of video games because that is for another time and a longer word count. One thing that blew me away as a 13 year old was not only the graphics, storytelling, and the local multiplayer, but it was every time you looked up while on the surface of the Halo Installation ring.

Skyboxes are an art form to themselves. They were created in the late 90s as game development and technology grew and the demand for immersive games increased. This was mostly thanks to Unreal and Half-Life in the year of our lord, 1998. That year changed EVERYTHING as much as Doom’s launch 5 years prior changed FPS games forever.

Previously, textures were mapped onto the sky in game worlds (think the background to Sonic 2 or even the Doom-skies) and in 1998-ish, full 3D objects were thrown up there to give the player a sense of “space” or volume. You can do a ton with a well designed skybox and that is why I think Halo was one of the first ones, for me, to set the standard.

A skybox can be best desbribed as a cube that surrounds the play area that you’re in. Imagine sitting on the ground and someone comes over and places a giant box over your head and on the interior walls of that box are images that make you feel like you’re outside. You know what? Think of that sphere they put in Las Vegas - there ya go.

I wanted to highlight skyboxes that I particularly like and I’m also embedding a couple of videos to explain the concept better than I can with my casual game designer brain.

All I know is they make my brain hum and I wanted to share that with y’all.

Halo was a watershed moment for me because upon looking up at sky and seeing the rest of the Halo Installation, you felt SMALL. Not only did you feel small, but the skybox showed there was other areas on the ring where it was dark due to its rotation or there was water and whole areas you wouldn’t even get to. I should’ve felt overwhelmed but I became lost in that world and I never forgot that feeling.

Below are also skyboxes of different eras that stand out to me.

There you have it! I hope you walked down skybox lane with me and thought about how small you truly are in the grand scheme of things!

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