The Making Of Halo Illuminated

Thanks to Gamesradar for their Edge-reprinted feature on the making of Bungie's seminal Xbox FPS, Halo. According to a Bungie producer, the team "...decided they wanted to go back to the roots of a game like Marathon, combining it with some of the things we learnt from Myth." Other topics include the originally impossible tutorial level ("I actually had several play testers decide they wanted to quit playing the game and go home, rather than go through the opening level"), and the relative disappointment of The Library level ("A lot of the little things like that added up to make the Library a lot less than what we wanted it to be.")

Comments

Sellout?

[Quixotic Raindrop]

Someone should do an article on how, when Bungie sold out to M$, Alex and Jason were quoted as saying that M$ wouldn't tell them what games to make, or what platforms to make them for.

So, after two years, Halo is the only thing Bungie made, and it was only available for the XBox. That sure is a big choice in platforms, and demonstrates how Bungie could tell M$ what games they were going to make. Sell Out indeed.

Re:Sellout?

[Mike Mentalist]

Well... how about fans who don't wat to support Microsoft by buying an Xbox?

Then, um, you don't get to play the game. It's that simple, and if you are going to let some sad little principle get in the way of playing a game that you really like then that is your problem.

If you want to play Monkey Ball, you buy a GC. If you want to play GT3, you buy a PS2. If you want to play Halo, you buy an Xbox.


Trust me, the Mac community is not overjoyed by the loss of the company that was once their best game developer.

Oh please. Are we supposed to be sympathetic about this?
The consoles makers get developers and games to be exclusive on their platforms all the time.

Re:Sellout?

[Mike Mentalist]

MS Apologist. Where has Microsoft let you go today?

I am not an 'MS Apologist', I am a realist. This stuff happens all the time.


Fact #1: Bungie started as a Mac-only developer.

Yes, and...? Developers changing platforms is hardly new.


Fact #2: Halo 2 was developed as a multi-platform game (Mac & PC, console ports to follow inevitably).

Who says that the console ports would inevitably follow...?
And again, this is not a new occurence. GTA3 was going to be multiplatform, but ended up being a PS2 exclusive for ages when Sony threw some cash at the developers. Halo is now out for the PC, and there may well be a Mac conversion at some point - so what is your problem?


Fact #3: Bungie founders made public announcements that Microsoft would have little influence over the availability of their titles.

Again, so what? Things change in the world of business, and the console business is BIG.


Fact #4: Halo, Bungie's sole product since the sellout, is now a Microsoft exclusive.

Erm, and since when is something like this a new occurence? Do you actually follow the games industry at all...?


Your comparisons to Super Monkey Ball and Gran Turismo are misleading and irrelevant, since the above sequence of events does not apply to either game series.

That is a totally and utterly irrelevant point. The point is that consoles are sold based on what games are available for them, and exclusive games are as old as the industry itself.


And if you can't see why people have reason to be angered over the Bungie sellout, surely your thinking is tainted by bias (as would mine be, from the opposite - and correct, mind you - standpoint)

Biased?!? How the hell am I biased if I see this 'sell out' as no different to what has been going on for years...?!?


Fact #5: Microsoft is still evil.

Oh please. Name me one multi national company that isn't 'evil'.


Fact #6: I will never purchase a Microsoft product.

Heh, how pathetic. You are like the people who still hold a grudge against Sony for killing the Dreamcast.


Fact #7: I'm not pissed off about Halo, I'm pissed off that more people aren't pissed off about Halo, and that some people don't know why others could possibly be pissed off about Halo.

The only reason anyone would be pissed off about Halo is because they are blinded by their own delusions and ignorance. If you refuse to play Halo because it is an MS product then that is your fault and your fault alone. You cannot pin the blame on MS unless you are a petulant child.

Re:2 YEARS!!!

[bigman2003]

True, it has been a long time. But people still buy it, and people still play it. It's good enough that they are still interested about how it was made. Another interesting thing- Halo sold about 10-20 times the number of most other Xbox games. But when you go into your used game store, it is rare to find used copies of Halo for sale. Is it the best game ever? Who knows...that changes all the time- but it really is a good game.

Seminal? My bass!

[E1v!$]

Halo wasn't original, it was a 'slightly' modified Larry Niven set with a terrible storyline and repetative, boring, levels. If it's seminal because they stole Niven's (admittedly cool) idea, or because they wrote a graphics engine that delivers lower fps at lower effects levels than more modern games on hardware that didn't even exist back then!

If it had come out 3 years ago I would have been impressed with the graphics, but even then... 'eh'.

Half Life was a better game. More variety, better action. I don't think the bots were as good (they seemed indecisive at times), but overall it was a much more enjoyable experience.

Yes, I was dissapointed with Halo. Maybe that's an appropriate name. You get everything at the edge, NOTHING in the core.