First snippets of news on Halo XB1
First snippets of news on Halo XB1
Nothing much yet but 343i knows the fans are needing some news.
2014 is here and much is afoot in the Halo universe. This past year has been a time of great transition at 343 as we’ve moved our engine and team from Xbox 360 to Xbox One and begun building the next chapter in the Halo saga. We’re proud of what we accomplished with our first release in Halo 4 and now we’re focused on something much more transformative as we make the leap to the next generation of Xbox. We showed a hint of what we have in store at E3 last year and we’re excited to share more in the not-so-distant future. Please be patient – we can’t wait to show you what we have in store.
Beyond the transition of platform and technology, we’ve made some notable additions and changes to our team.
As some of you may know, we added a new Creative Director to our team in 2013. Tim Longo joined us last May, coming to us by way of LucasArts. Tim carries with him almost two decades of game development experience during which he has worked on titles such as Tomb Raider, Star Wars: Republic Commando and most recently the unreleased FPS, Star Wars: First Assault. Finding Tim was the result of a long search on my part. In many ways I felt like I was searching for a unicorn. I needed someone with a mastery of game narrative and storytelling, a deep understanding of game mechanics, experiential design and aesthetic, with the ability to define a compelling creative vision and inspire a large cross-functional team to achieve it. With Tim, I found that person and over the past seven months, we’ve formed a great partnership working together. His keen sense of vision, collaborative spirit and creative generosity have made him a terrific addition to the team.
In hiring Tim, I have moved from my former role of Creative Director to that of Executive Producer, heading up the internal development team. In my new role I am responsible for overall project leadership and business ownership, for setting the high level project vision and goals and leading my team to achieve them. It’s been an interesting shift in focus and I’ve been grateful to have such a stellar team supporting me.
But what about Kiki, our EP from Halo 4? Our intrepid Wolfkiller is right here, developing exciting new stories, experiences and technologies that will transform the way that you experience Halo. She will have more to share at a later date, but I can promise that what she is working on is really cool.
Finally, our beloved Art Director, Kenneth Scott, has made the decision to move to California and bring his family together in one place. As a result of this move he will be stepping down as AD, though he will continue working with us remotely in his new role as Visual Design Consultant.
Obviously this is a big change for our team and we are going to miss having Kenneth here in the building with us. Ken is a founding member of 343 Industries and working with him on Halo 4 was one of the highlights of my career. He was my creative partner and brother-in-arms for many years, and through his vision we managed to establish a bold new look for the Halo universe. He was also instrumental in building the amazing team of artists that we have here at 343 today.
Kenneth leaves some pretty massive shoes to fill on the Art Director front, but we are lucky to have another artistic giant stepping up to take the reins. Nicolas “Sparth” Bouvier is taking over for Kenneth as Art Director. Nicolas has been with the studio since the beginning as our Lead Concept Artist and he has worked closely with Kenneth over the past five years to define the visual language for 343’s Halo. In fact, Ken and Sparth have worked together for over eight years now in the industry and it has been said that the two share the same brain (except Nic is much more French). Nicolas is a master painter and visionary artist with 17 years of industry experience. He is world-renowned for his concept work and is someone whose work I have followed closely long before I came to 343. (I would pay money to live in Sparth’s dreams!)
Kenneth had this to say about his move:
It was hard to make this decision. This team has been my family for half a decade and I love them dearly. Helping build this studio and team is easily the highlight of my career. It's heartbreaking.
BUT!
I'm excited to hand the big pants to one of my dearest friends, Nicolas 'Sparth' Bouvier. Nicolas and I have worked together for the last eight years, and we've shared a brain for most of it. He was one of my first hires to 343, and not seeing him day-to-day will feel as weird as losing a limb. I have the utmost confidence in him and I know the future is sound in his mighty fingers.
AND!
We just can't get enough of each other, so I will continue to support 343 and this universe as a Visual Design Consultant from sunny Santa Monica.
In my underwear. :)
Those Skype meetings will get awkward...
- Kenneth
In closing, I will leave you with this image from Sparth – an early exploration of a new location that features prominently in a little game project we’re tinkering with….
/Josh
Joe Staten now works for MS. Confirmed. What his role is, I have yet to find out. Maybe Halo for TV?
Update: Confirmed not specifically Halo.
Well, we'll see what they're doing for the special sauce. Is it to go back? Go forward? Distill the core gameplay down and build from that? I'm sure we'll see a few screenshots soon enough.
Actually, that is concept art for one of the a small 4v4 map in the new Halo game. With the new, faster Sprint mechanic, apparently we'll need more room.
My Loadout will include the anti-sarcasm gun.
That bridge looking thing kind of looks like a deconstructed Covenant ship. Maybe an R&D department?
One thing that's looking up for Halo 5: they hired Ghostayame.
That's been some scuttlebutt recently. Hell, 343 should be hiring him, for all the free work he did trying to help breathe life into the stillborn fetus of Halo 4.
If putting 343 Industries in your Twitter is confirmation, then it is confirmed.
Here's a Q&A thread about his move: http://teambeyond.net/forum/index.php?/topic/4412-have-a-question-for-gh...
Ghostayame is going to get fired if his personality is anything like his videos. He wants Halo to be a totally stripped down game and not just for one competitive playlist, he wants the whole game to be like 4v4 Halo2 style.
His old attitude will change pretty quick once he is introduced the realities of selling a game to the masses and not just one very tiny (but important) segment of the Halo community.
That's assuming that "masses" are even interested in the title any more.
for once i actually agree with Dixon. They made a game for the masses and it died quickly. Not even used for competitive events at all. Obviously that didn't work. Maybe aiming for the competitive crowd is the way to go this time, at least it'll keep the game in the spot light longer... idk
Twitch
Your campaign might move your initial sales. Sci-fi nersds and Halo lore fanboys will buy anything that has Halo attached to it. Make sure there's a co-op component, both split screen and over Live and you're part of the way there. Make some periodic content, I suppose like Spartan Ops, Firefight is fine, and have some vehicle driving courses that are timed and have their own skulls/medals/rankings. Play off Rooster Teeth and have some kind of PIG playlist, where you get to download a half dozen or so obstacle courses, either vehicular or on foot.
For online matchmaking, copy the core of Halo 2/3. Have two choices: "Standard" and "Other". Under "Standard, you have "Ranked" and "Unranked".
Your base game will play pretty much the same way. I'm kind of warming up to some basic button combinations, but I'm torn on exactly what they'd do or how to institute them. Maybe a double shot, a faster beatdown with shorter range or something like that. No Armor Abilities, no Equipment.Go to arena-style maps as the default. Make the ranks visible, have leagues and ladders and prizes.
In your other hopper, titled "Other", you have "Medium", and "Large". "Medium" has Grifball, SWAT, Flood, a 4v4 or 5v5 game where one player is the monitor and spawns in weapons on a timer, and possibly even cover, and whatever cutesy gametype du jour the community has going. In "Large", you have BTB (ranked and unranked, I guess. If you want to put it in "Standard", I won't put up a huge fight) and some kind of Invasion/Halo Battlefield game with massive, sprawling maps and vehicles out the asshole.
You still have your forge options, your robust custom games
There. That way, the core Halo experience is left unsullied, and you can also have your wacky, zany stuff in matchmaking and customs, and everyone can be happy. Everyone wins.
Previous Halo's had enough depth to be easy to learn and difficult to master. That made them appealing to competitive and casual players alike. When you "target casual players", you lose the depth and just end up making the game crappy for all players. At least that's my take on Halo 4.
Targetting competitive players to me means giving the game depth and a skill gap, which would be good for all players. But also streamlining the game (weapons, maps, etc), which might not be for everyone. Mechanics-wise (aiming skill, movement speed, etc) I think it's the way to go though - and I really don't think it'd alienate casual players as much as they might think.
Anyways, I'm keeping my expectations low for H5 and H2 anniversary. Hoping for the best, but really can't see it happen. H4 to me was almost like a FPS developed by people who don't play or get FPS's.
The funny thing is, I'm looking forward to Titanfall a lot, but the one game, if done right that would blow Titanfall out of my hands is a properly-done Halo 5. I don't expect it, I don't look forward to it, hell, I'm not sure if its even possible any more. The base mechanics and properties of Halo appeal most to me, and provide me the incentive/disincentive structure I like most. Well, they did, until Reach.
Spot lighting is good.
Never forget, even with all its warts, Halo 4 was another massive success in sales. It's far more common for me read fanboys drooling for the next Halo everytime a new crumb surfaces than to read how they won't buy it. Halo XB1 will have less initial success because of platform choice but it will pay for itself and sell systems. Just like always.
Yes, H4 was a success in sales. However, I am now leery of the next Halo game seeing what's become of the state of Halo since Reach.
I would venture to say, at least based on comments from friends, that initial excitement for H4 was really high. However, once we played the game, many people lost interest within just a few months and the competitive scene never took hold - despite the efforts of many groups.
Where Halo used to be a "must buy" for me, now it's kind of a "wait and see". Perhaps I will feel differently once we start to get some real info about the next Halo game. Right now though, after the hype of H4 and the quick abandoning of the game by the masses, I don't feel like I can really trust 343 to make the game I want.
This. The majority of people I know (myself included) bought Halo 4 because buying any Halo was automatic. The majority of those people are planning on waiting for some other sucker to buy the new one, test it out, and give us a report. I will NEVER preorder a Halo game again, after Halo 4.
*edited to add: As usual, I also agree with Dixon, although it makes me feel dirty.
I whole heartedly agree I will be waiting to see how Halo 5 looks before purchasing it. Unlike Destiny which I will buy day 1 with no unsure feeling of wether or not I will enjoy it. It's Bungie and in Bungie I trust.
Bungie made Reach, then abandoned us. I'm still butt hurt.
Agreed Bungie Phoned in Reach. I don't blame them for their lack of initiative given how bad they got boned by microsoft over IP rights. but yes it was a Sub par Halo title.
I understand people's trepidation. I have some too but there is no way in hell that I wouldn't get the next big Halo. We all know its Halo's story that sells it. If it didn't include multiplayer it would still sell but to a lesser extent. Fans of the story will always be day one sales.
Multiplayer does carry it for awhile but we'll never see the percentages of the past. Too many other games have or will have the same FPS formulae. With all of it's problems, Halo 4 continues to have a very steady MM population. Surprising to me, it's still riding the Christmas hump. I don't expect that to last much longer.
Looks like a Promethean city to me. Keep in mind the art was created "early" and for a section that was to play as a primary part of the story. They don't say it's still part of the story. Still, any art of Sparth's is nom for my eyes :D
PS: Darth made me lol
halo 2: anniversary rumored for X1 on 11/11/14
http://www.scified.com/site/halo-universe/rumor-halo-2-anniversary-2014-...
They never said Halo 5 in 2014. They said Halo on Xbox One.