Archive:ArtStation/The Making of Halo Wars

The Making of Halo Wars was a post made to ArtStation by ex-Ensemble Studios artist Don Gagen. The post continued many renders of Halo Wars assets (including some cut content), alongside a lengthy writeup of the game's production. As ArtStation does not permit the use of archival trawlers such as the Wayback Machine, the post has been preserved here for reference.

Don Gagen's original ArtStation post can be found here.

Post text

The following is a verbatim transcription of an official document for archival reasons. As the original content is transcribed word-for-word, any possible discrepancies and/or errors are included.

Halo Wars was one of Ensemble Studios' largest projects, with more than 100 talented people ultimately contributing. I was lead artist for the multiplayer map team, creating models, managing the contributing artists, and translating the needs of designers and producers into artistic direction. Our goal was to make each map visually compelling while supporting its gameplay.

The game's complicated history is drawn from my experience and a short development documentary by Save Data.

After years of creating Age of Empires and Age of Mythology, many Ensemble developers wanted to try something new. The studio considered an action RPG, an MMO, and an attempt to bring real-time strategy to consoles. Most people believed RTS games required a mouse and keyboard, but designer Angelo Laudon believed Ensemble could prove otherwise on the Xbox 360.

A small team began developing a science-fiction RTS called Phoenix. Led by Laudon, producer Chris Rippy, and designer Graeme Devine, the team used frequent playtests to create a control system that felt natural with a controller.

Microsoft liked the prototype but considered its original setting difficult to market. Ensemble was told the project could continue only as a Halo game. The team had already spent about a year creating its own universe, but it agreed to transform Phoenix into Halo Wars.

A small group of Ensemble leaders then traveled to Bungie's offices, but Bungie apparently had little or no warning about the meeting. Chris Rippy recalled that Bungie seemed to have "no idea or any warning that this meeting was going to happen," suggesting a serious communication failure by Microsoft. Bungie had not requested the project and was fiercely protective of Halo, so its reception was understandably cold. Ensemble eased some of the tension by demonstrating Phoenix and proving that a console RTS could work.

Ensemble rebuilt the story around the UNSC ship Spirit of Fire and a conflict set roughly 20 years before the original Halo. Bungie retained approval authority, so new characters, locations, vehicles, and story ideas could take weeks to approve.

The project also exposed divisions within Ensemble. Many employees had just finished Age of Empires III and did not want to make another RTS. While much of the studio pursued other prototypes, the approved Halo Wars team remained relatively small.

Moving from PC to Xbox 360 required Ensemble to build a new engine and recreate systems such as artificial intelligence, unit movement, and pathfinding. The art team also struggled to capture the established Halo aesthetic. Several early Covenant vehicle designs did not fully align with the faction's iconic visual style. Graphics engineer Rich Geldreich responded by covering the studio with hundreds of screenshots from the existing games.

Two examples, the Chimera and Hydra, can be seen in my portfolio. Their initial designs were approved by the project's art director, but both vehicles were later completely redesigned. I created rough in-game versions for testing, although I am not certain whether those early models made it into the game before they were redesigned.

An impressive E3 2007 demonstration helped convince skeptical fans that Halo and real-time strategy could work together. The design continued to evolve. Dave Pottinger reworked the units, economy, and base-building system and added the ability to select the entire army with one button. These changes sacrificed some traditional RTS complexity but made the game more accessible on a console.

In September 2008, we were called into an unscheduled morning meeting with Microsoft leadership and learned that Ensemble would close after Halo Wars was completed. The news devastated the team, but nearly everyone stayed to finish the game.

Released in February 2009, Halo Wars earned positive reviews and demonstrated that an RTS could succeed on a console. It survived an abandoned concept, resistance from Bungie, internal divisions, technical reinvention, major design changes, and Ensemble's closure. It became more than another project: it was the studio's final statement and a fitting conclusion to its history, completed by a team determined to leave behind something worthy of its legacy.

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