Halopedia:Bungie Weekly Update 08-15-03

This is the Bungie Weekly Update of August 15, 2003, written by Brian Jarrard.

Bungie Update
A few weeks ago we got an update from Michel Bastien, producer of Halo for PC, on the latest developments and status of the project. Michel has been living almost exclusively in Plano, TX these days (the home of Gearbox Software) as the finishing touches are being made to the game. I tracked down Michel and asked him to give us an update on what's happening out there. Here's what he passed along:

"Wow. I am browsing the old news update on Bungie.net only to realize I haven’t sent any updates on the development of the PC version of Halo for the last 2 months...I suck. Sketch has been trying to get me to write something up for weeks now only to look at e-mails pile up in his inbox with inspiring excuses such as "the next time I am on a plane, I’ll put something together."

But now that I’m getting to it...

We are definitely on the final stretch to deliver the PC version of Halo to you guys. Mehve was pulled in last week to create art for our setup program and it’s very sweet. So the coolness will start as soon as you insert the disc in your computer. Marty was also involved... but that was, how can I say, more "challenging." Indeed, the setup application is somewhat limited in terms of what it can do with sounds and music. Marty, on the other hand, is not limited in terms of what he can do with sounds and music... I’m sure you guys see the challenge right there! In the end, there will be some audio coolness in the setup as well. Not nearly enough to satisfy Marty but enough to complement the beautiful images.

Two or three weekends ago, I stopped by the CPL Summer event with the Gearbox team and a build of the game. That was pretty cool. We cleaned up a meeting room, packed in 10 computers, set up a LAN and invited CPL attendees to blast each other for 3 hours or so. It was good fun to play with some of the very hardcore gamers that attend these kinds of events. For the very last two games, 5 of us from the development team gathered together and took on a fight with a team of 5 gamers that had been theorizing about how to best play Timberland for 30 minutes. Sure, we whooped their asses but believe me, by the time the CPL Winter event comes around, Halo will have been out there for almost 3 months and these guys will get sweet revenge.

Gotta go back to RAID (don’t ask). I’ll close this by saying that we have another cool event coming up this weekend. We will be hosting a couple of international journalists and lucky fans over at Gearbox to check out an updated build of the game. I’ll write about it next week...(Ouch. A promise I might not be able to keep.)

Hang tight – Halo is landing on the PC very soon.

- mbastien "

There you have it, the latest word straight from the front line. Over on this side of the country, parts of the Bungie team are also hard at work supporting the efforts in Texas. We're working with the folks at Sybex to finish up their new strategy guide and I can personally say that it's shaping up very nicely. As you may have heard, they've solicited tips and suggestions from the Halo community and it's really cool to read proven strategies straight from our fans. Mehve also whipped up a cool advertisement that should start making its way into various publications soon. You may also start to notice some in-store posters and displays easing their way into your local game outlets over the next few weeks.

A flood of new testers have joined the ranks lately to assist in fine tuning and perfecting the game while many of us engage in friendly "bug bashes" at least once a day. Even after all of the Halo playing that's taken place within these halls, we still have a blast fragging one another and the new maps are playing great.

You can feel the excitement building - after what must seem like an eternity to some, Halo for the PC is finally about to become a reality.

Tune in next week for another update as I'll try to wrangle more info out of Michel and do a little sleuthing work of my own to bring you the latest developments. In the mean time, keep an eye on the Gearbox site as they are releasing new Halo PC screens every week until the game comes out. Stay tuned!