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Halo: Reach Beta Thread

M

ManCannon

Member
Zeouterlimits said:
Wonder how the team is split getting E3 stuff ready and finishing Reach.
Click to expand...

One way we're mitigating the issue is by sending some expendable people down there like me...and things are so dire that I'm dragging Urk along as well. However don't expect to see either of us on a big stage or anything.
 
H

Hydranockz

Member
ManCannon said:
One way we're mitigating the issue is by sending some expendable people down there like me...and things are so dire that I'm dragging Urk along as well. However don't expect to see either of us on a big stage or anything.
Click to expand...
Obligatory avatar quote :p
 
E

EazyB

Banned
GhaleonEB said:
This made me think back on the Halo 2 development cycle. As time went on and the details emerged publicly about how brutal and challenging that project was, and how much it changed - and lost - over development, it's nothing short of a miracle it turned out the way it did. Most projects would be a disaster under those circumstances, but you guys pulled it (mostly) from the fire, somehow. Halo 3 really showed what you guys can do with a solid dev plan and longer polish pass, so I can't wait to see what the team learned from that process to incorporate into Reach. I look forward to the fruits of your labors. :D
Click to expand...
Haven't they said time and time again that they didn't want to ever have a repeat of the H2 development cycle? Can't remember what they've said about how Halo 3's turned out but hearing about how much ass is being busted at Bungie right now after planning for as smooth a crunch period as possible gives me nightmares or what it it could've been like leading up to H2's launch.

Wonder if their plan to have a smooth "crunch" period worked out as planned or not.
 
G

GhaleonEB

Member
EazyB said:
Haven't they said time and time again that they didn't want to ever have a repeat of the H2 development cycle? Can't remember what they've said about how Halo 3's turned out but hearing about how much ass is being busted at Bungie right now after planning for as smooth a crunch period as possible gives me nightmares or what it it could've been like leading up to H2's launch.

Wonder if their plan to have a smooth "crunch" period worked out as planned or not.
Click to expand...
I think there's the "normal" crunch schedule and polish pass, and there's what happend with Halo 2, which was 18 months of development hell. ManCannon mentioned 14 hour days squashing bugs, but with Halo 2 people literally lived in the studio for days at a time.

In my world (corporate finance), we have a monthly process called Close, where we close and report out the books for the period. We know in advance that it's a crunch period, because there are hard, miss-this-and-you-die kind of deadlines sprinkled throughout it. It's a planned crunch period, which is just part of the process. And I've had both normal closes where I "only" do 50 hours that week, and a kind of living hell where I've slept in my cube two nights in a row putting in 60+ hours inside of four days. I get the impression that crunch for a project like Reach is intended to be a "normal" Close, with a planned but relatively brief period of crunch, but with Halo 2 they had over a year of hell instead. And through much more rigorous planning, they've avoided that with Halo 3, ODST and Reach.
 
Z

Zeouterlimits

Member
ManCannon said:
One way we're mitigating the issue is by sending some expendable people down there like me...and things are so dire that I'm dragging Urk along as well. However don't expect to see either of us on a big stage or anything.
Click to expand...
Damn.
I was going to joking say Eric would do it with an awesome childlike-innocence grin on his face.
Or Luke with a grimace.

------
Crunching existing here in Financial Services Tech tools too, co-worker was uptil 4am last night trying to get some more fixes in before another build was sent to Q.A.
 
M

ManCannon

Member
Yeah the main difference is that the overall 'crunch' in Reach has been mostly planned for in advance and has been a known quantity. It's an important time and key part of development but it was always built into the schedule in a way that makes sense and doesn't kill the team. The majority of the team knew when they'd be in official crunch and plan their lives around it. Of course many people just continue to put in the 'extra' hours anyways because that's what it takes to do the best possible job.

It's the difference in good crunch - planned and accounted for in the development schedule - and bad crunch - which is reactive and out of necessity. Overall the production on Reach has gone very well compared to past games and is night and day compared to Halo 2 (which was basically 18 months of nonstop crunch, to make up for basically throwing out 18 months of work).

PROCESS has evolved significantly with each Bungie title... heck, we already have a framework and production schedule that charts development in our next Universe across the next DECADE.
 
T

Tashi

343i Lead Esports Producer
Damn, it still hasn't hit that we're gonna get a new Bungie IP. I've only known Bungie for Halo, like a lot of people.
 
H

Hydranockz

Member
Tashi0106 said:
Damn, it still hasn't hit that we're gonna get a new Bungie IP. I've only known Bungie for Halo, like a lot of people.
Click to expand...
Has it been stated that it is brand new?
Or is there a chance they may expand some other universe they have? :p
 
G

GhaleonEB

Member
Dax01 said:
The next decade? Bungie sure is taking their sweet time in taking over the world.
Click to expand...
I'm sure it's part smart planning, and part necessity: you don't negotiate a ten-year publishing deal (especially with a company such as Activation) without demonstrating that you have a ten-year plan to fulfill it. Simply having a solid long-term plan is both good for the studio and integral to working out an extended publishing deal.
Hydranockz said:
Has it been stated that it is brand new?
Click to expand...
Yes, Bungie has specified that it's new.
 
Z

zumphry

Banned
ManCannon said:
PROCESS has evolved significantly with each Bungie title... heck, we already have a framework and production schedule that charts development in our next Universe across the next DECADE.
Click to expand...

:D

I love Halo and all, but I just can't wait to see what the new IP is.

Hydranockz said:
Has it been stated that it is brand new?
Or is there a chance they may expand some other universe they have? :p
Click to expand...

"New IP". Though, I would not be opposed to Marathon: Pfhor (or Myth 3: The Real Edition, or even Oni 2). Though, don't know how you'd go from Infinity back down to Four.
 
T

Tashi

343i Lead Esports Producer
Hydranockz said:
Has it been stated that it is brand new?
Or is there a chance they may expand some other universe they have? :p
Click to expand...

Either way it'd be all new for me. I haven't played anything by Bungie other than Halo.

Also, had a pretty funny moment last night. I was playing Halo with a few guys and didn't have my mic in. Some guy says to another, "did you see they're remaking the Pit for Reach?" I start laughing right away because I know he's talking about the Excavating The Pit article on Bnet. Guy number 2 goes, "What?!? Where'd you hear this" "It's on Bungie.net dude" He then goes on to say how the map is different in Reach now and there are all these new walkways and bridges. Reading comprehension fail! It was pretty funny, I love the spread of misinformation.

But yea, a Pit remake is much needed. :D
 
K

Kapura

Banned
ManCannon said:
Yeah the main difference is that the overall 'crunch' in Reach has been mostly planned for in advance and has been a known quantity. It's an important time and key part of development but it was always built into the schedule in a way that makes sense and doesn't kill the team. The majority of the team knew when they'd be in official crunch and plan their lives around it. Of course many people just continue to put in the 'extra' hours anyways because that's what it takes to do the best possible job.

It's the difference in good crunch - planned and accounted for in the development schedule - and bad crunch - which is reactive and out of necessity. Overall the production on Reach has gone very well compared to past games and is night and day compared to Halo 2 (which was basically 18 months of nonstop crunch, to make up for basically throwing out 18 months of work).

PROCESS has evolved significantly with each Bungie title... heck, we already have a framework and production schedule that charts development in our next Universe across the next DECADE.
Click to expand...
The crunch seems to be different, judging by some of the employees' twitter feeds. It sounds like you've been crunching in rotation; some weeks are crunch some weeks are not.
 
U

urk

butthole fishhooking yes
Zeouterlimits said:
Please Master.
Click to expand...

pull.jpg
 
F

feel

Member
File names of the commendations:

bronze_sniper.jpg

Bronze Sniper

steel_assist.jpg

Steel Assist

silver_technician.jpg

Silver Technician

gold_asssasin.jpg

Gold Assassin

onyx_stars.jpg

Onyx Stars



And they should actually sell physical versions of these medals, I want to touch that laser one
 
Z

Zeouterlimits

Member
Letters said:
And they should actually sell physical versions of these medals, I want to touch that laser one
Click to expand...
Actually, medal pins would be awesome PAX gifts to give out at the stand.
Commendation patches winnable for winning at whatever new version of Firefight they'll have.
*hopeful speculation*
 
T

The Librarian

Banned
The laser medal means the laser is still in. Color me disappointed. The medals look so good, though. Much better than the medals of previous Halo games.
 
O

Oozer3993

Member
Bungie Weekly Update said:
Last week I took the liberty of posting a cryptic Twitpic. Sounds kinda dirty for some reason, but it was really just a shot of the Ivory Tower’s recording light switched up into the on position. Full on red alert status.

Some speculated that we were laying down a new podcast. We weren’t. Some thought maybe Marty was making some of his majestic musical magic happen. Well, he was, but that wasn’t the reason the light went bright.

Nope, we were cranking away on something extra special for you. Something supplementary that you just might stumble across in September. But not now. Oh, no. Not now. Now is much, much too soon.

If you want to get your speculation on, I’ll drop a one word clue out in the mix to help you along. Just one. If you’re into what we were laying down, it’s likely all you’ll need to get your inner Halo nerd all spun up.

Red.
Click to expand...

I'm calling it now: Red vs. Blue will be making another cameo in Reach.

P.S The new medals look incredible.
 
K

Kapura

Banned
Dax01 said:
The laser medal means the laser is still in. Color me disappointed. The medals look so good, though. Much better than the medals of previous Halo games.
Click to expand...
Like they would take out the best skill weapon in the game.
meettheshishka.png
 
B

bobs...onGaf

Member
The sky on Boneyard was just placeholder!??? But.. but it was beutiful!

I love the medals, LOVE. (I must say I loved how the beta ones looked aswell though.)
 
K

kittens

Unconfirmed Member
ManCannon said:
PROCESS has evolved significantly with each Bungie title... heck, we already have a framework and production schedule that charts development in our next Universe across the next DECADE.
Click to expand...
Damn. The wait just got that much harder.
 
P

Popeck

Member
Dax01 said:
The laser medal means the laser is still in. Color me disappointed. The medals look so good, though. Much better than the medals of previous Halo games.
Click to expand...

Yeah, like they're going to take the weapon away after it has already been implemented in the beta.
 
G

GhaleonEB

Member
Just as things started looking damn good for Playtest 5, the realization that plenty of that content was still placeholder (like the skies you saw over Boneyard in the Beta) is only now starting to sink in for me.​
That was placeholder?! The skybox on Boneyard was one of the best I'd ever seen. 0_o
 
Lazslo

Lazslo

Member
Hey Mr. Cannon or Urk, any chance you can give us some tiny details pertaining to Reach's AI and how it's been improved for that little game you have coming out soon. After listening to the Damian Isla podcast and playing H3, I have started to notice awesome AI more then ever before. Furthermore with the addition of equipment in H3 and now enemy AA in Reach- it's going to play such an important part in combat. This might be a big request but it's worth a shot, thanks:D
 
E

EazyB

Banned
ManCannon said:
It's the difference in good crunch - planned and accounted for in the development schedule - and bad crunch - which is reactive and out of necessity. Overall the production on Reach has gone very well compared to past games and is night and day compared to Halo 2 (which was basically 18 months of nonstop crunch, to make up for basically throwing out 18 months of work).
Click to expand...
Good to hear. As a university student we also try to plan out crunch times quarterly. Currently I'm crunching to go gold at the beginning of next month.

ManCannon said:
PROCESS has evolved significantly with each Bungie title... heck, we already have a framework and production schedule that charts development in our next Universe across the next DECADE.
Click to expand...
Step 1) Create universe
Step 2) Create awesome game
Step 3) Port to PS3
Step 4) Port to Wii, DS, iphone, Gamegear
Step 5) Sit out a year while Treyarch works on the next title
Step 6) Repeat
 
T

The Librarian

Banned
Forgot to comment on the fact that stuff like the skybox in Boneyard is just a placeholder. Holy crap! Bungie's freakin' amazing. It's like, "Yeah, this is just something we do in our spare time. No biggie.":lol
 
S

Shake Appeal

Member
This is one of the rare occasions that I am at home and on time for a BWU, but I am too drunk to appreciate it; (

Allllthough:

It means once empty rooms are now filled with vital signs of life – little touches like stoves, plants, and furnishings that help transform what was once just playable space into something much more potent and meaningful and human. It means indigenous life.
Click to expand...

Yes! Small victories for interactive storytelling!
 
C

Captain Blood

Member
EazyB said:
Good to hear. As a university student we also try to plan out crunch times quarterly. Currently I'm crunching to go gold at the beginning of next month.


Step 1) Create universe
Step 2) Create awesome game
Step 3) Port to PS3
Step 4) Port to Wii, DS, iphone, Gamegear
Step 5) Sit out a year while Treyarch works on the next title
Step 6) Repeat
Click to expand...
2m2esm9.jpg


+1 to HOT DAMN at those medals.
 
S

Slightly Live

Dirty tag dodger
  • Boneyard skybox being placeholder is just mental
  • Those re-design medals look fraking sweet and the commendations look hot too
  • Mystery "Red" is mysterious
  • +1 Campaign hype
 
H

Hydranockz

Member
So I finished Ender's Game yesterday. That has my mind in crazy awesome places by seeing all these various connections...

Hype levels are steadily increasing!!!
 
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