Q: Which game does Halo most represent when it comes to modifications (ease of use, how much they change the game etc.)?

A: Well, since the tag system is similar, Myth II, with some restrictions since we don’t create environments in the editor like we did in Myth II.

So… Halo editing will be tag-based… but not the environments? Something like that. Thanks, Jaime!

“The fun part in terms of the music playback in the game is that it won’t play the same way twice.”

With this, Marty O’Donnell had me hooked. He’s a sucker for a free beer, though, so I eventually got more of the story from him:

So it’s a little something I’ve been working on for years now. Just some simple ways to keep music looping in a non-repetitive way. The start and stop are caused by the player’s actions, and the middle looping areas will play random sections that go together in musically acceptable ways. So each time you hear music play, if you pay close attention, it will be a variation of the last time you heard it. I even did it to all the techno tracks, as repetitive as they are, they aren’t predictable.

He’s been using this technique for a while now – the win screen music and loss screen music in the Myth series were the first experiments with it, and it’s used extensively in Oni.

Almost all of Oni’s in-game music uses this technique, even during the scripted cut-scenes.

I think it’ll been even better in Halo, but it works pretty well in Oni.

Pretty slick – the same old, same old, without being the same old at all! Thanks, Marty.

The next time you see Halo, it’ll be playable.

This immediately led to a rumor that a demo would be released, which Matt quickly shot down… but it wasn’t until today that someone pinned him down as to what he DID mean. According to the questions and answers in this thread, he meant

At the next E3/expo/whatever we will have a playable halo thingo on a stand, with a line so long you will need to bring food and sleeping bags, with a little 10 year old who seemingly wont get off in the next few years playing it.

(The words are Bongo’s, not Matt’s… but the sentiment fits.) Where’s my press pass for Gamestock?

The Xbox is going to be launched simultaneously in the U.S. and Europe.

Smoke or Fire? Red hot flames
How’d it Start? Sony recently pushed back the release date for theEuropean launch of the PS2, to the chagrin of many huffy Brits. People don’t seem to like waiting for their goodies while othercountries fire up the new games. Word began to spread that the Xboxwill be launched on a single day throughout the U.S. and Europe (andperhaps Japan.) The developers we spoke to said thay hadn’t beengive a specific date (only that it will be available before Christmas2001), but they did point out that Microsoft has traditionally launchedtheir products simultaneously worldwide. So this one seems like a solidbet.

Hey good news for all non-US Halo fans. 🙂

3D Environment Artist (Redmond)

Mold majestic mountains, carve cavernous canyons, form fantastic forests… and then coat them in the blood of your enemies! The natural environments you create with the Halo team will serve as the backdrop for sophiticated combat and an epic story, so apply today!

Nice work, if you can get it…

I read over at gamestar.de that Paramount is going to show a trailer for their upcoming Tomb Raider movie. I was quite sure that they weren’t on the list and so I checked back at superbowl.adcritic.com – I was right, they aren’t.

So… if the list at AdCritic isn’t complete, then all hope isn’t lost yet for a Halo ad. No promises… but we’ll know for sure, one way or the other, later today. Thanks, Massa!

…all things change. We all knew it would come to this…

Come to what? Don’t ask us…