Developed by Bungie, Halo: Fight Developed is the sport that jumpstarted Xbox’s tenure within the video games business, inextricably linking it to the green-armored Grasp Chief and his struggle towards the Covenant.
Nevertheless, the sport’s growth was removed from easy, full of late-stage adjustments and frantic efforts to satisfy deadlines. A latest interview with Fight Developed‘s unique builders sheds mild on a very dramatic near-miss – the potential removing of the now-iconic Scorpion Tank mission.
Halo: Fight Developed Solely Got here Collectively In Its Remaining Yr
Bungie’s initial vision for Halo: Fight Developed was vastly totally different from the ultimate product. Initially deliberate as a Mac unique, the undertaking solely took form in its remaining yr proper earlier than it launched alongside the Xbox in 2001.
Talking with Edge Magazine, unique Bungie builders, together with co-founder Alex Seropian and Chris Butcher, spoke in regards to the challenges of creating the sport:
We made loads of tough selections to make that [release] occur. We canceled [other] initiatives, we mixed three groups collectively, we compromised on scope, [and] we shipped not less than one stage that we in all probability shouldn’t have.
Eight months earlier than launch, which is when most studios begin sharpening their video games, the core gameplay and options of Halo have been nonetheless being labored on, with even weapons and set items not being totally set in stone. Nevertheless, this era additionally noticed a now-beloved automobile come dangerously near being lower from the ultimate recreation.
Bungie Initially Determined To Scrap The Scorpion Tank
The destiny of the Scorpion Tank, which has turn into synonymous with the Halo expertise, hung within the stability simply 4 weeks earlier than the sport’s launch. Lead programmer Chris Butcher revealed that designer John Howard made the call to cut the automobile as a consequence of its technical shortcomings:
4 weeks earlier than ship, John Howard decides we’re reducing the tank, as a result of it’s not prepared. The designer Paul Bertone was principally like ‘f*ck that, I’m not gonna take heed to you, John – with out the tank, this recreation sucks’.
Believing the tank to be essential to the sport’s total really feel, Bertone defied orders and rallied the artists and animators to maintain the automobile within the recreation, which paid off. The staff devoted themselves to every week and a half of intense work, pulling proverbial all-nighters to salvage the tank.
Their efforts have been profitable, because the tank was not solely built-in, but additionally polished to a playable state. Whereas this occasion of “crunch” raises moral issues, it in the end helped protect a beloved facet of Halo: Fight Developed that may go on to be a defining issue for future video games.
As evident by the story of the Scorpion Tank and the remainder of the interview, the primary Halo‘s growth was fairly turbulent, with builders going through intense strain and having to make difficult decisions, in addition to the occasional last-minute heroics that formed the ultimate product.
Regardless of the challenges, although, Halo: Fight Developed‘s launch marked a turning level for Bungie and the Xbox, immediately making them a family title. Whereas the 2 could also be poles aside at present, there’s no denying the greatness they created all these many years in the past.