Design pattern

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A design pattern is a set of instructions which details how to create a particular piece of machinery or equipment. Before its dissolution, the Covenant used design patterns as templates from which to create starships, vehicles and weapons, by feeding the instructions into the nanomachines that typically construct their equipment. Equipment produced with a particular design pattern is often referred to by that pattern, as if it were a designation. For example, the Truth and Reconciliation is known as a Ket-pattern battlecruiser.

Many design patterns were developed using analysis of Forerunner devices. However, modification of such patterns was heavily restricted and scrutinised by San'Shyuum bureaucrats, as any design pattern based off of Forerunner technology was considered to be the work of the Covenant's gods. As a result, following the downfall of the Covenant, the sudden lack of such strict oversight allowed for many advancements to be made in weapon and vehicle design.

Occasionally, design patterns are known to "mutate", which causes them to produce a different product than what was intended. Almost without exception, mutations of design patterns are simply deleted, and the product is recycled. Nevertheless, in some extremely rare cases, so-called "stable mutations" can occur, where the mutated product is still useful and so the design pattern is put into more common usage. The Zanar-pattern light cruiser is one such example; its design pattern was originally a stable mutation of the Elefen and Ket design patterns.

Known design patterns

Weaponry Vehicle-mounted weaponry Murien-pattern heavy plasma cannon Novox-pattern fuel rod cannon Tevaas Mu-pattern plasma cannon Ship-mounted weaponry Beam lasers Pok-pattern beam laser Excavation beams Infernus-pattern superheavy excavation beam Pherex-pattern excavation beam Phar-pattern excavation beam Profero-pattern excavation beam Plasma beam emitters Aljordan-pattern plasma beam emitter Corven-pattern plasma beam emitter Enteros-pattern plasma beam emitter Erex-pattern plasma beam emitter Felo-pattern plasma beam emitter Luxor-pattern heavy plasma beam emitter Plasma bombardment mortar Carnax Et-pattern plasma bombardment mortar Carnax Nu-pattern plasma bombardment mortar Fet-pattern plasma bombardment mortar Plasma cannons Gaff Naran-pattern plasma cannon Melusean-pattern heavy plasma cannon Sono-pattern plasma cannon Plasma lances Emri Ka-pattern light plasma lance Ignis-pattern plasma lance Urpeon-pattern superheavy plasma lance Ventrax-pattern heavy plasma lance Plasma torpedo silos Serpens-pattern plasma torpedo silo Sintra-pattern plasma torpedo silo Jaet-pattern plasma torpedo silo Litrex-pattern plasma torpedo silo Mictix-pattern heavy plasma torpedo silo Qur-pattern plasma torpedo silo Pulse lasers Eriu-pattern pulse laser Ferriel-pattern pulse laser Gon-pattern pulse laser Pallio-pattern pulse laser Phot-pattern pulse laser Phot Et-pattern pulse laser

Vehicles Aircraft Dextro Xur-pattern troop carrier Hesduros-pattern Banshee Spacecraft Morsam-pattern strikecraft Kai-pattern strikecraft Drop pods Suspa Al-pattern insertion pod Ships Blockade runners Hekar Taa-pattern fast interdictor Carriers Kerel-pattern assault carrier Syfon-pattern assault carrier Cruisers Elefen-pattern battlecruiser Ket-pattern battlecruiser Zanar-pattern light cruiser (Stable mutation) Destroyers Sinaris-pattern heavy destroyer Support ships Mjern-pattern agricultural support ship Miscellaneous Mutan Et-pattern storm cutter Components Ship components Energy shield generators Corvex-pattern dispersal field generator Morelia-pattern dispersal field generator Tantalus-pattern dispersal field generator Engines Callipoas-pattern repulsor engine Gablien-pattern repulsor engine Raphyus-pattern repulsor engine Slipspace drives Ophon-pattern borer Primus-pattern borer Tyros-pattern borer Miscellaneous Ushab-pattern stealth generator Equipment Field equipment Plasma batteries Vantus-pattern eolipile Supply cases Almar-pattern repository

Trivia

• It is possible that the notion of a design pattern is derived from the Forerunner design seed technology which served a similar purpose: encoding instructions for the mass replication of machinery.

Appearances

• Halo: Warfleet (First appearance)