glyphstrip FAQ button
Halo.bungie.org
glyphstrip
Frequently Asked Forum Questions
 Search the HBO News Archives

Any All Exact 
Search the Halo Updates DBs

Halo Halo2 
Search Older Posts on This Forum:
Posts on Current Forum | Archived Posts


WEEKLY BUNGIE UPDATE!!!
Posted By: Frankie <frank@bungie.com>Date: 1/16/04 5:21 p.m.

Weekly Update:

Intro.

We'll get to the update in a second, but I wanted to just tell you what my first week was like before I dunk you into the fiery vortex of the Bungie experience.

So, after my first real week at Bungie I can honestly say that part of my new morning routine is the application of an adult-sized diaper. Let me explain.

Before I started here, Brian Jarrard, our Community Manager and Pete Parsons, our Studio Manager, were rightly insistent on secrecy. Before I was hired, I knew practically nothing about Halo 2. Sure, I knew about the bits you may have read in OXM or EGM magazines, and I had some background on where the development process was at, but I didn't know any secrets.

I guess I was expecting to slowly absorb the development pace, learn a few tidbits here and there and figure out what I could from spying on Bungie monitors when artists and designers weren't looking. It's because I was still thinking like a sneaky, good for nothing games journalist. So imagine my surprise (delight?) when Brian and Pete deliberately tried to blow my mind during my first hour as an employee.

I was taken on a tour of the building, stopping at various stations and departments with the ostensible goal of "just bringing me up to date." Brian looked just a teensy bit amused, but Pete's face was split by a hideous rictus grin, the kind that you might see on a Frat boy holding a cricket bat, or a Manhattan plumber handing you a bill. Either way, I knew something was up.

Plot. In a way, my Halo 2 experience is being ruined. By the time the game ships, I'll know a lot more about the story than I want to. People working on The Sixth Sense or The Lord of the Rings movies must have felt the same way. But it's a fascinating process, seeing how carefully managed, how cleverly written the story is.

Seeing real character development is an eye-opener in an industry where Pac-Man is still the most charismatic leading man. When you're reared on dialog like, "Take the key for coming in" or, "I am the master of unlocking," it's very easy to be skeptical. But Halo 2 is to game scripts what a rocket launcher is to a Faberge Egg collection.

And then there are graphics. I'm not just a graphics whore, I'm a graphics burglar, murderer and molester all rolled into one. I would happily run around in a video game as long as something bright, shiny or vertexy was there to distract me. Ask anyone. During game demos I'll stop earnest developers in their tracks and ask if they wouldn't mind "walking over there so I can see the water." Seriously.

So two minutes in Bungie's art department(s) would turn a Graphics Nun into the skankiest Graphics Whore on the strip. If I'm bludgeoning you with brutal metaphors, tough, I'm simply trying to tell you how it is. I was shocked to see everything was bump-mapped. Sounds dumb given that Bungie promised to bump-map everything, but when you see it – you'll realize immediately why. As the art department is fond of explaining, everything looks the way it does for a reason, and the overriding reason in Halo is to tell a story. Nothing is done for show, or simply because "it's there." Every single applied graphics technique advances Halo's story and its characters.

And the technical side is staggering. Almost every aspect of Halo 2 is new. This is NOT based on the Halo One engine. You will not see a single repeated texture, skeleton, bitmap or particle effect. It's all new. The robust, imaginative design anchors it firmly in the universe you've grown to love of course. Massively improved or not, you'll recognize it instantly as Halo. You could walk up to a textured wall until your helmet was mere inches from the surface and recognize somehow that it's Halo. It's kept its flava.

But there's so much here that's new. It's so much bigger than I'd anticipated. So much more ambitious, that it takes a while to wrap your head around. I think it's going to redefine my expectations for a sequel. I think that after Halo 2, more tracks, more characters, different music – that's simply not going to be enough.

But really, you didn't come here to read about me (even though I'm super-awesome) you came here for the resurrection of the Halo 2 Weekly Update. Here's what's going on:

  • Marty O'Donnell is very excited about how the physics engine is interacting with sound effects. "I just wasn't convinced by it. I'd listen to how little details sounded, like metal rolling on stone, or rocks on sand and I wasn't convinced. But now I think we've got it down. I'm really pleased. Chucky (Gough) and Eamon (McKenzie) are just doing incredible work with the techy physics stuff."

  • Marty also has the dubious distinction of being the current Bungie Halo 2 champeen, thanks in part to a faulty stat measurement. Don't get us wrong, Marty is GOOD at Halo 2 multiplayer, but the fuzzy math they used to compute the winner was faulty. Since he played the most games (when he wasn't composing music) he was busy getting killed a lot more than he was killing back.. In fact, his kill to death ratio was among the worst on staff. Luckily for Marty, I'll be playing next week, so he'll be off the hook (I SUCK at Halo 2 because I don't know the maps).

  • Hamilton Chu cut his hair. And we don't mean a little off the sides, we mean four feet of silky man-hair. Samson had nothing on this guy. Luckily it seems that so far Hamilton's powers are intact. If anything, he's more powerful than before.

  • Brian, Zoe and Claire have been working hard on the new website. Fixing bugs, but mostly trying to fill in missing chunks, and organizing stuff from the present site that needs to make the jump to the new one. And the new one is something else. There are going to be some very cool new features and content, but I wish you could see how cool it looks. I mean, you will soon enough….

  • Lorraine has been super busy. A beautiful poster that I wish you could see*, has been created for product placement. That means that if Freddie Prinze Jr. is in a movie about teenagers or baseball, he might use that poster on his wall. We'd be disturbed but we can't control that stuff. She's also recently approved paint jobs for the new Grunt action figures. More interestingly, Lorraine is making design decisions about the new Halo 2 action figures. Not too much we can say there without revealing plot points, but they're going to be epic.

  • Alta, the Bungie Princess has been coordinating voice talent, as well as organizing the annual Bungie Pentathlon, voting on what games we'll play in an epic contest that happens on the day of our belated holiday party. The contest is split into teams by tenure, and last year, us noobs won. Snacks galore, a cup of beer to be shared, and roast salmon as the entrée. Plus vegetarian stuff. Yumzorz. Alta will be sporting a sleek black cocktail dress by Miguel Palacio, with perfect line and just a hint of salsa flair!

*Or you could just look at my artist's impression of it. I had to give him a lightsaber because guns are hard to draw. Lightsabers are as easy as snakes.

Well that's it for now. More next week. Sorry I wasted so much of your time on preamble, but next week will be straight to the point. And by then, I may be less exciteable.

http://www.bungie.net


Message Index



Replies:

WEEKLY BUNGIE UPDATE!!!Frankie 1/16/04 5:21 p.m.
     :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D *NM*goatrope 1/16/04 5:22 p.m.
           Re: :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D-only 8? nmvshields ash 1/17/04 2:13 a.m.
     Re: WEEKLY BUNGIE UPDATE!!!mortey 1/16/04 5:24 p.m.
     Re: AHHHHH FINALLY *PASSES OUT* *NM*Acheron 1/16/04 5:25 p.m.
     Thank you, Frankie! *NM*SPARTAN-01110101 1/16/04 5:25 p.m.
           Score!!!!Mr. Buffalo Pants 1/16/04 11:38 p.m.
                 Too awesome for words.That's why this is *NM*Hybrid 1/17/04 1:06 a.m.
     clear. *ZAP* We're losing him! *ZAP* BEEEEEEEEEEEP *NM*Littlebigman 1/16/04 5:29 p.m.
     Hugs and kisses for you! :DGeary 1/16/04 5:30 p.m.
           Sweet goodnessScimitarex 1/16/04 5:35 p.m.
           Re: Hugs and kisses for you! :DLightningCount 1/16/04 5:35 p.m.
     Re: Wow.. man, truly great update. :) *NM*Dan Chosich 1/16/04 5:33 p.m.
           Frankie is in da house! WOOT! *NM*SketchFactor 1/16/04 5:37 p.m.
     Yeah!!!!! Thanks Frankie, you the MAN! *NM*gd 1/16/04 5:39 p.m.
     Knowledge.. so much.. so fast. It's glorious! *NM*BOLL 1/16/04 5:39 p.m.
     You've got a way with words, you know that?Louis Wu 1/16/04 5:42 p.m.
           Re: You've got a way with words, you know that?vector40 1/16/04 9:42 p.m.
     w00t!! *NM*The MorningStar 1/16/04 5:42 p.m.
     Re: WEEKLY BUNGIE UPDATE!!!Megalith 1/16/04 5:42 p.m.
           HALO 2 COMIN' LIKE WHAT.Megalith 1/16/04 5:43 p.m.
                 Halo 2 screens? ;)Stefander 1/17/04 12:40 p.m.
     Re: WEEKLY BUNGIE UPDATE!!!Shishka 1/16/04 5:43 p.m.
           Re: WEEKLY BUNGIE UPDATE!!!Cunbelin The Prophetic Madman 1/16/04 5:52 p.m.
           Re: STOP HAVING FUN...Ckrpoint 1/16/04 6:33 p.m.
     Re: WEEKLY BUNGIE UPDATE!!!mikeman445 1/16/04 5:43 p.m.
           Re: WEEKLY BUNGIE UPDATE!!!K-Twizzy 1/16/04 5:46 p.m.
     :) *NM*Razorback 1/16/04 5:45 p.m.
     Re: WEEKLY BUNGIE UPDATE!!!JesusChrist 1/16/04 5:46 p.m.
           Re: WEEKLY BUNGIE UPDATE!!!K-Twizzy 1/16/04 5:53 p.m.
     Wipes tears from eyes, beautifully done.Wado SG 1/16/04 5:47 p.m.
     Re: WEEKLY BUNGIE UPDATE!!!Cunbelin The Prophetic Madman 1/16/04 5:48 p.m.
     Re: WEEKLY BUNGIE UPDATE!!!bentllama 1/16/04 5:58 p.m.
           Re: WEEKLY BUNGIE UPDATE!!!XLNC 1/16/04 8:22 p.m.
     Re: WEEKLY BUNGIE UPDATE!!!Annihilator 1/16/04 6:01 p.m.
           POST OF THE DAY! *NM*Louis Wu 1/16/04 6:10 p.m.
           Re: WEEKLY BUNGIE UPDATE!!!Grey Wolf 1/16/04 6:39 p.m.
           Re: WEEKLY BUNGIE UPDATE!!!Shishka 1/16/04 6:53 p.m.
           Re: WEEKLY BUNGIE UPDATE!!!Gre'Thor117 1/17/04 12:27 a.m.
                 Re: WEEKLY BUNGIE UPDATE!!!Louis Wu 1/17/04 4:55 a.m.
                       Re: WEEKLY BUNGIE UPDATE!!!Ross Mills [subnova] 1/17/04 5:13 a.m.
                       Do you want to scare me, Louis?Gre'Thor117 1/17/04 8:17 p.m.
           Re: WEEKLY BUNGIE UPDATE!!!TripleG 1/19/04 11:57 a.m.
     *YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOIOOOO*********:)))))))))):)_))):):Grey Wolf 1/16/04 6:23 p.m.
     Just frickin awesome.KOPD 1/16/04 6:26 p.m.
     Re: WEEKLY BUNGIE UPDATE!!!Coola 1/16/04 6:27 p.m.
     That was GREAT!!!! Thank you! *NM*ThorsHammer 1/16/04 6:33 p.m.
     Re: WEEKLY BUNGIE UPDATE!!!Syracuse022 1/16/04 6:36 p.m.
     Thanks Frankie!!Mr. Mechanical 1/16/04 6:37 p.m.
     I love you*NM*Devin Olsen 1/16/04 6:40 p.m.
           Re: I love you*NM*Mantis819 1/16/04 6:42 p.m.
                 Re: Yay ^^ignore that post sryMantis819 1/16/04 6:46 p.m.
     :) *NM*op_ivy 1/16/04 6:43 p.m.
     Rockin'. *NM*Brian 1/16/04 6:46 p.m.
     This is a day to be remembered.Skeletor 1/16/04 6:52 p.m.
           Re: This is a day to be remembered.shotgun crazy 1/17/04 10:55 a.m.
     Give this man whatever's behind Door #2Rampant Cowboy 1/16/04 7:00 p.m.
     Re: WEEKLY BUNGIE UPDATE!!!Farsight 1/16/04 7:04 p.m.
     Whoopee!!Vid Boi 1/16/04 7:05 p.m.
           Beware *OT*Cullen 1/16/04 10:26 p.m.
     Awesome.mnemesis 1/16/04 7:06 p.m.
     Re: WEEKLY BUNGIE UPDATE!!!ONI_operative_343 1/16/04 7:15 p.m.
     Thank you sir!Mushroom_samba 1/16/04 7:19 p.m.
     Multiplayer!Garinus 1/16/04 7:24 p.m.
           The holy ones have shown their mercyTCLN-Zenn 1/16/04 10:10 p.m.
     Re: WEEKLY BUNGIE UPDATE!!!Aginor 1/16/04 7:27 p.m.
           Re: WEEKLY BUNGIE UPDATE!!!SketchFactor 1/16/04 7:37 p.m.
                 Re: WEEKLY BUNGIE UPDATE!!!Dahver 1/16/04 7:49 p.m.
                 Re: WEEKLY BUNGIE UPDATE!!!Ross Mills [subnova] 1/16/04 8:00 p.m.
     Sweet!!! :D :D :D!!! *NM*Pico 1/16/04 7:35 p.m.
     And thus the light returns!Shadowrunner 1/16/04 7:37 p.m.
           Re: And thus the light returns!Corwan 1/16/04 7:54 p.m.
     I have a reason to live again...XLNC 1/16/04 8:08 p.m.
     <---------Bows down to Frankie *NM*StarWarsFanMan 1/16/04 8:24 p.m.
     Re: WEEKLY BUNGIE UPDATE!!!dizzy [subnova] 1/16/04 8:38 p.m.
     Re: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!drummand 1/16/04 8:53 p.m.
           GO FRANKIE, ITS YA BIRTHDAY!!!FOrunnER 1/16/04 9:30 p.m.
           Re: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!Slimby 1/16/04 9:40 p.m.
           my bday too! thanks frankie!!! *NM*ONI_operative_343 1/16/04 10:42 p.m.
                 Re: my bday too! thanks frankie!!!Hikaru-119 1/16/04 10:54 p.m.
     Re: WEEKLY BUNGIE UPDATE!!!tarehart 1/16/04 9:40 p.m.
     kickass man...keep it comin *NM* *NM*Spenser 1/16/04 9:42 p.m.
     Re: WEEKLY BUNGIE UPDATE!!!Daddio 1/16/04 9:54 p.m.
     This is nutz kickin' fun! Yee Haw! *NM*7grunts7_hut7 1/16/04 9:55 p.m.
     Re: WEEKLY BUNGIE UPDATE!!! *NM*CARDIAC BOOBOO 1/16/04 9:56 p.m.
     Holy Cwap!Ducain 1/16/04 9:56 p.m.
     I've seen better...KP 1/16/04 10:50 p.m.
     Bought time you showed up! Thanks for update! *NM*Hikaru-119 1/16/04 10:56 p.m.
           Re: Gracias Frankie *NM*White RaBbit 1/16/04 11:22 p.m.
     Re: WEEKLY BUNGIE UPDATE!!!modified 1/17/04 1:40 a.m.
     Re: Never been so happy for so little...CENOBITE 1/17/04 2:19 a.m.
     <3omega 1/17/04 2:34 a.m.
     Re: WEEKLY BUNGIE UPDATE!!!Kyre Srecanee 1/17/04 3:06 a.m.
           I prophesy an MMOFPS..."Ambitious" *NM*Travis009 1/17/04 3:22 a.m.
     Awesome *NM*DeAdLy_cOoKiE 1/17/04 3:24 a.m.
     Re: WEEKLY BUNGIE UPDATE!!!Tom Vague (aka manic) 1/17/04 3:37 a.m.
     To sum up:Schooly D 1/17/04 4:32 a.m.
     There Is Talk Of Halo2 Being Delayed Even Further.}S-e-F{MasterBlaster} 1/17/04 5:15 a.m.
           Re: There Is Talk Of Halo2 Being Delayed Even FurtLouis Wu 1/17/04 5:25 a.m.
     Re: I love that character...BOLL 1/17/04 7:31 a.m.
           Re: I love that character...Miguel Chavez 1/17/04 8:51 a.m.
     Re: ...wow.. *NM*c0ld vengeance 1/17/04 8:33 a.m.
     Hey LouisHikaru-119 1/17/04 9:16 a.m.
           Re: Hey LouisLouis Wu 1/17/04 9:30 a.m.
           Halo2 When????Lysergicide 1/17/04 2:18 p.m.
                 Re: Halo2 When????Louis Wu 1/17/04 2:22 p.m.
                       Forget about release date for ONE DAY, celebrateMax Power (aka- dewbe) 1/17/04 4:25 p.m.
                       Re: Halo2 When????Lysergicide 1/18/04 11:49 a.m.
                 Re: Halo2 When????HaVoC_MaN 1/22/04 12:34 p.m.
     Teh uber-ness! *NM*Jamirus99 1/17/04 9:41 a.m.
     Thanks!Red Loser 1/17/04 1:10 p.m.
     :D WOW *NM*Sarah 1/17/04 1:55 p.m.
     Re: WEEKLY BUNGIE UPDATE!!!dan 1/17/04 2:02 p.m.
     THANK YOU SOOO MUCHmike appell 1/17/04 5:27 p.m.
           Where's the pics or video clips?!Machine 1/18/04 1:42 a.m.
     Re: WEEKLY BUNGIE UPDATE!!!Tackzx 1/17/04 6:45 p.m.
     i can see that picture in a 117 guest strip soon *NM*KORHAL 1/17/04 7:09 p.m.
     Re: WEEKLY BUNGIE UPDATE!!!biondi625 1/17/04 8:21 p.m.
     Re: WEEKLY BUNGIE UPDATE!!!Helio 1/17/04 9:16 p.m.
     Re: WEEKLY BUNGIE UPDATE!!!Fere 1/18/04 8:31 p.m.
     Re: WEEKLY BUNGIE UPDATE!!!SniperMan27 1/18/04 9:25 p.m.
           Re: WEEKLY BUNGIE UPDATE!!!Shishka 1/18/04 10:13 p.m.
                 Re: WEEKLY BUNGIE UPDATE!!!Nagamar 1/18/04 10:20 p.m.
     Re: WEEKLY BUNGIE UPDATE!!!Jonathan Spenecr 1/19/04 12:29 p.m.
           Piece of helpful infoHikaru-119 1/19/04 12:38 p.m.
     Re: I spent 30 min trying to think that picdonttalk 1/19/04 2:19 p.m.
     Re: WEEKLY BUNGIE UPDATE!!!Loose Change 1/19/04 2:45 p.m.
           Re: WEEKLY BUNGIE UPDATE!!!Hikaru-119 1/19/04 5:56 p.m.
     Re: WEEKLY BUNGIE UPDATE!!!Clayton 1/19/04 5:45 p.m.
           Re: WEEKLY BUNGIE UPDATE!!!KOPD 1/19/04 5:48 p.m.
     Re: WEEKLY BUNGIE UPDATE!!!Dylan 1/19/04 5:59 p.m.
     Re: WEEKLY BUNGIE UPDATE!!!team soldier 1/20/04 7:53 p.m.
           Re: WEEKLY BUNGIE UPDATE!!!The Guardians 1/20/04 8:00 p.m.
                 Re: WEEKLY BUNGIE UPDATE!!!KOPD 1/20/04 8:15 p.m.
                       Re: WEEKLY BUNGIE UPDATE!!!Druff 1/20/04 8:46 p.m.
     yay! updates galore!!Reginald Atkins 1/21/04 10:12 a.m.
           when?hahaha 1/21/04 11:04 a.m.
                 Re: when?Sep7imus [subnova] 1/21/04 11:51 a.m.
     Too LongSpree 1/22/04 1:12 p.m.
           Re: Too LongVid Boi 1/22/04 1:15 p.m.
                 Re: Too LongSpree 1/22/04 1:18 p.m.
                       Re: Too LongVid Boi 1/22/04 1:23 p.m.
                             Re: Too LongSpree 1/22/04 1:25 p.m.
                                   Re: Too LongVid Boi 1/22/04 1:55 p.m.
                             Re: Too LongAwacar 1/23/04 10:58 a.m.
                       Re: Too LongShishka @ School 1/22/04 1:42 p.m.
                             Re: Too LongSpree 1/23/04 11:24 a.m.
                       Re: Too LongCleddwr 1/22/04 6:01 p.m.
           Re: Too Longrandompro42 1/22/04 1:28 p.m.
                 Re: Too LongSpree 1/22/04 1:33 p.m.
                       Re: Too Longrandompro42 1/22/04 1:41 p.m.
           Re: Too LongDylan 1/22/04 10:04 p.m.
                 Re: Too LongSpree 1/23/04 11:20 a.m.
                       Re: Too Longrandompro42 1/24/04 2:35 a.m.
     Please balance the mapsSpree 1/23/04 11:31 a.m.
           Re: Please balance the mapsThe Guardians 1/23/04 11:34 a.m.
                 Re: Please balance the mapsSpree 1/23/04 11:46 a.m.
                       Re: Please balance the mapsCount Zero 1/23/04 11:49 a.m.
                             Re: Please balance the mapsSpree 1/23/04 11:53 a.m.
                                   Let's pay a little visit to dictionary.com...ViolentlyHappy 1/23/04 2:52 p.m.
                                         Re: Let's pay a little visit to dictionary.com...Hawk7886 1/24/04 2:50 a.m.
                                   Re: Please balance the mapsDylan 1/24/04 2:16 p.m.
                                         Re: Please balance the mapsSpree 1/25/04 9:30 a.m.



contact us

The HBO Forum Archive is maintained with WebBBS 4.33.