Complete History of Halo: Combat Evolved (Retrospective)

halo combat Evolved wasn't always going to be a first-person shooter in fact it wasn't even going to be an action game but throwing a warthog Microsoft and Steve Jobs into the mix changed everything my name is same token and today we'll be examining how halo became the game we love and what made it so successful in a retrospective of halo combat Evolved myth was a real-time tactics video game series from Bungie for the PC and Mac with their latest installment being released in 1998 players would select and command units into combat and it played like a real-time strategy game without having to bother with all the resource management Bungie at the time thought what could be more fun than a hundred dudes fighting another hundred dudes in 3d following the completion of myth Sol blighter they were reflecting over the success of the franchise thinking that maybe it would have done better had it been set in a sci-fi universe so they thought why don't we try and one-up all the other sci-fi RTS games out there games like Starcraft and Total Annihilation were highly successful and well received but what they didn't have was a fully three-dimensional map like we see in myth so Bungie saw a gap in the market initially known as monkey nuts bungees new RTS game was using a modified version of their myth engine and featured a fully 3d environment and deformable terrain still looking like Hummers at the time they were trying to figure out the most enjoyable method of controlling their vehicles they could have gone down the roots of clique human point and then click again mechanics of other RTS games but they found it far more fun when they gave players direct control racing across the 3d map and what became known as a warthog was such a great way to play they began thinking that the whole game should be like this the camera just kept getting closer and closer until eventually they were no longer developing an RTS this was a third-person action game a release date was set for the end of the year 2000 for the PC and bungees new game was becoming at this point more recognizable speaking to computer gaming world magazine bungees co-founder Jason Jones brought up a common saying among programmers to never reinvent the wheel but he added that's exactly what Bungie does they liked to start from scratch when quake came out we started seeing where quake clothes Bungie were making something different at this point in development players would have been introduced to a colossal ancient ring world abandoned by its creators crash landing on the ring the Covenant an alien collective would soon appear to scavenge the Rings artifacts eventually full-scale war would erupt between the alien and human invaders from a third-person perspective players would either control one of the future soldiers as they were cold or one of the Covenant in an online multiplayer battle similar to bungees latest franchise destiny players would use an arsenal of unique weapons to fight and roleplay in an open-world vehicle warfare was to play a significant role with helicopters boats and warthogs boasting realistic physics that could compete with all the racing games of the time a behind-closed-doors showing at the 1999 III required journalists to sign an exceptionally strict non-disclosure agreement this created a huge amount of buzz since press were saying the e3 title they liked the most was something from Bungie and something they can't even talk about this along with Bungie successful history of Mac games caught the attention of Steve Jobs who had recently rejoined a failing Apple and was looking for ways to show off the power of the Mac for games tires were different bungees new executive vice president an ex Apple employee got them in a room with Steve Jobs where Jason Jones walked him through their prototype jobs stopped the presentation when he saw some Sun flares they were impressive but he said they could already render that and more at Pixar - which Jones replied yes but can you do it in real time Steve Jobs paused Pixar couldn't rendering Sun flares would take them hours in a rendering farm Bungie could do it tens of times per second on a Mac - this all Steve Jobs replied was you're in with the 1999 Mac world weeks away they still had no title and no soundtrack a branding company they hired suggested naming it covenant but bungees pole Russell thought that was a little bit silly instead he came up with halo many at Bungie initially rejected this thinking it was too on-the-nose plus it sounded a little bit too religious but it's stuck composer Marty O'Donnell had mere days to come up with a score that would play over the Macworld demo footage it had to sound ancient epic and mysterious so he hired some monks and an orchestra and made something incredible something that can be probably hugely attributed to halos initial success following Steve Jobs Macworld demonstration halo exploded before $1 had even been spent on advertising halo was one of the most anticipated games across three different continents never before have the audience sees such seamless transitions from interiors to exterior Zin a game this was a success that the game itself was far from finished and Bungie was starting to run out of money folding at this point would have stolen the prospects of finishing halo a shame for the developers for sure but also a shame for everyone else for never having experienced what kind of game it could have but it just so happens at the same time that Microsoft were developing their first game console Xbox and they needed an amazing line-up of first party games if they wanted any chance of competing with Sony and Nintendo not only did then head of Microsoft Game Studios and freeze love Bungie games but he was looking for a game exactly like Halo to pad to their launch offering Bungie had been talking about selling for years before self-publishing their marathon trilogy they were even in talks with Activision so they jumped when Microsoft made an offer with all the Bungie staff moving to Microsoft's offices now they were no longer developing for personal computers and instead they had to figure out how to adapt their game to work best on the Xbox console suddenly the controller was the main interface rather than keyboard and mouse and around this same time they were still toying with the camera moving it even closer they felt that because the triggers on the controller felt like the triggers of a gun players should maybe feel as though they were actually holding that gun and so in spite of their fatigue from developing the first-person marathon series that he decided to make halo an FPS there was initial skepticism among the team console controllers simply weren't as accurate as keyboard and mouse many noted that even the controls and Goldin are they struggled against its PC counterparts one of the developers most against the controller Jamie Gries immer would become responsible from making sure halo felt good on the controller he created page upon page of script to buffer the thumbstick invit so that rather than going exactly where your thumbs point it moves you where you want to go unlike most console FPS games where they have hard lock all to a that moves the reticle to your target halo uses soft lock auto aim so you still feel a sense of control a two weapon carry limit was imposed as the controller didn't have number keys to switch between an entire arsenal and grenades could be thrown using a single button the programmers were grateful for this move to console as this way they knew that everyone playing the game was going to have the same experience mere months before release halo had its mechanics but still no campaign and no workin multiplayer the character future soldier was finally named as Master Chief and he was given an artificial intelligence called Cortana the level designers raced to finish the campaign optimizing their time by reusing assets multiplayer was inches from the chopping block but luckily they managed to shoehorn in something amazingly fun following an intense crunch time halo combat Evolved was finally released November 15th 2001 and immediately it went viral reception was heavily positive critics were first taken aback by the groundbreaking graphics then they shifted their focus towards the incredible gameplay this was the first time since Goldeneye that a first-person shooter had really worked on console in their effort to differentiate themselves from quake clones now any game competing with Halo were known as halo killers but halo certainly wasn't being killed halo was clearly revolutionary the graphics and sounds were groundbreaking much of the lighting was pre-rendered onto the textures making it appear realistic without wasting any of the Xbox is limited resources real-time lighting effects were used very generously with weaponry and explosions casting realistic light against its surfaces the design language of the factions and architecture is quickly and easily understood you immediately know when you're in a human ship versus a covenant cruiser or if you're inside an ancient forerunner control room each faction has a highly distinctive look which is why despite being 500 years into the future human weaponry still uses bullets and war hogs sound like they run on gasoline each weapon has its iconic shape from the ammunition indicator on the assault rifle to the depleting needles on the top of the needler and then there's the sounds Marty O'Donnell not only produced a timeless soundtrack but his sound effects were instrumental in halos immersion and memorability who can forget the sounds of a charging plasma pistol for the sound of your shield recharging combat Evolved was halo at its most simple the universe had yet to be filled yet unlike marathon there were no terminals to read using a combination of cutscenes and in-game cinematics players are introduced to their environments dynamically characters don't take themselves too seriously which adds to the charm with a relationship between chief and his AI finding out the secrets of the Ring world and why the Covenant were so interested in its powers was fascinating but it was the twist introduction of the flood halfway through that kept the story fresh suddenly they changed the entire perspective the Covenant were once a threat but now they were nothing when compared to the flood at this point the player has introduced to 343 Guilty Spark a relic from the mysterious forerunners who quite matter-of-factly tries to lead the chief to kill all life in the galaxy maybe it's nostalgia talking but there is nothing I would change about halo story but it was halos gameplay that truly stands the test of time weapon balancing did feel a little bit improvised multiple grenades would fail to kill a hunter yet a single shot from a magnum would drop them like a rock players myself included absolutely loved this recharging shields were an ingenious way to instill a unique sense of rhythm that never gets old it beats like a drum where in other games you got progressively more powerful weapons and armor as you move through the levels Halo has no upgrades there was no long-term resource management to consider it's just you what's in your environment and what weapons you choose at the moment this became known as halos 30 second combat loop where each fight lasts about 30 seconds before starting another it's a really fun way to play and it clearly worked when you consider how many other games now utilize this mechanic then there's the two weapon limit half life and do put you in the shoes of a battle-hardened MARY POPPINS with a bottomless bag full of deadly weapons restricted to just two weapons combat in Halo was streamlined and this was important when playing with a controller especially when PC was seen as the only way to truly experience good fps in fact the controller was a massive plus when controlling halos vehicles which were fundamental and selling the sheer scale of the maps at the time however you can have all the brilliant mechanics that you like but without smart artificial intelligence the game just turns into a glorified shooting range with halos large open environments we see the AI flight the player in teams charging them when their shields are down the grunts flee when their elite commander is killed while jackals cower and fear will their shield is down rather than having an empty battlefield following a firefight enemies are cleverly repopulated using drop ships which really lends itself to the thirty second combat Halos level design starts out strong after fighting through the pillar of autumns claustrophobic corridors landing on halo for the first time and exploring its vast landscape was liberating open levels with the perfect fit for halos combat mechanics racing around the island on the silent cartographer is possibly some of the most fun I've ever had in a videogame but once you hit the level the library the repetition sets in I don't mind the claustrophobia since it really adds to the horror of the flood but each floor was confusingly similar to the last this was the gripe of many critics at the time the level designers often having to add arrows to guide the player through a level however I do think this can be forgiven when we consider they only had a few months to put it together in fact they're reuse and alterations of levels to save time were handled relatively well given the circumstances with the pillar of autumn pre-crash and post-crash feeling different enough back then nothing really scratched that gaming edge quite like halos campaign and so what better excuse to play the campaign a couple hundred more times than split-screen co-op yes you had half the screen real estate of your already small CRT and yes when your co-op partner died they'd be screaming for you to find cover so they could respawn but I've created some amazing memories playing with friends on halos co-op even for those who feel the campaign hasn't aged particularly well there's still something really timeless about playing with friends and for those wanting to shoot their friends halos multiplayer is amazing fun despite being released before Xbox Live it had some brilliance varied maps like the unforgettable Blood Gulch with its simple opposing base format appearing again and again in future games because it lacked online multiplayer a single console could only support up to four players and this of course gave each person water of the screen each so well that's good for a free-for-all or a 2v2 I found that many of the maps were really designed to support more players that's where system link came in allowing you to link up to 4 X boxes together through local area network you could either have 4 players each with their own screen or up to 16 players for to an Xbox even without online multiplayer and Halo was a huge success news of Halo coming to the Xbox left many PC gamers out in the dust and so keeping an earlier promise a PC version was developed gearbox software then known for their - span shion's were contracted to develop the port halo PC was eventually released in 2003 almost 2 years after the original Xbox version while it boasted higher resolutions and higher frame rates frame drops were experienced on even high end graphics cards that should really have easily ran the game however it was still that same phenomenal game everyone fell in love with and gearbox did a brilliant job faithfully converting the controls to keyboard and mouse having said that because it was so faithful game is far easier thanks to the mouse's accuracy so if you're playing on PC usually bear to play one difficulty higher than usual unless of course is the library no thanks perhaps most importantly though it had online multiplayer and this reason alone even for non fans made it worth purchasing the game began exclusive weapons were added such as the flamethrower as well as new maps and new game modes helu custom edition was released by gearbox free of charge to anyone with an original key allowing the creation and use of custom content this edition is likely one of the reasons people still play Halo PC to this day with Bungie even going as far as releasing a patch in 2014 that allows it to run on modern hardware without requiring the use of the now-defunct GameSpy servers halo PC was truly in it for the long run now unfortunately the same can't really be said of the Mac version which was released three months after its PC counterpart Steve Jobs was disappointed finding out that Bungie were moving to the Xbox platform to keep the peace Microsoft promised him a Mac port which was delivered exceptionally well while the minimum requirements were met by the base iMac g4 from my own experience it would struggle to reach a comfortable frame rate for any chance of playing at the highest setting you would have needed Apple's pro computer the Power Mac g5 which at the time would have been pretty overkill for most people later Mac models however would run the game incredibly well and when Apple switched their computer architecture over to Intel gearbox even released an update that allowed halo to support these new chipsets this however did cost $5 because it can no longer be purchased and downloaded the base version of halo can no longer be played on an Intel Mac but the original halo is still very much alive not only on the PC but also on the Master Chief collection we have Bungie gearbox and now 343 to thank for this each passing the torch to continue the support for the original Halo so as it turns out if it wasn't for the Warthog being so fun to drive halo maybe wouldn't have been the action franchise we've now grown to love [Music] following an exciting varied development process Bungie produced something amazing something enduring halo has become a part of many lives from split-screen with your friends to dorm room'll and parties this is a game that has been etched into our lives so thank you so much for watching if you enjoyed this video make sure to leave a like and subscribe for more halo content I'll catch you next time [Music]

Channel: SameToken

Views: 687,476

Rating: 4.952075 out of 5

Keywords: history of Halo, history of bungie, halo development, how was halo made, halo rts, halo third person, origin of halo, halo on pc, halo custom edition, halo combat evolved release, halo, halo combat evolved, halo ce, is halo still good, halo real time strategy game, halo review, halo combat evolved review, halo sametoken, sametoken

Id: M5TW8tMmSMs

Length: 20min 11sec (1211 seconds)

Published: Wed Oct 09 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/c0ldflame23]

I love me some halo content I’ll check it out :)

[u/DXGabriel]

awesome

[u/BRUTFROCK]

great vid. thx for share :) however, i had to pause the vid near the end to make this comment. The Library is my favorite level in the game and it is also one of the ones i can still do on legendary like i could back in my childhood days.... i am filled with great pride knowing that level is still heralded as THE pain in the ass level

[u/fegkay15]

Damn, I actually remember this dude from when he worked with HaloFollower. Recognized his voice immediately. Here are a few videos:

Halo Lore - What Happened to Jun, and Life of Jun

Halo Lore - History of Edward Buck (ODST)

Halo Lore - Before The Forerunners (Precursors)

[u/FlakCannon123]

Awesome video! Nice bit of Halo history

[u/LemonadeChain]

Cool how we wouldn’t have halo as we know it without the warthog