Halogen-Interview - Englisches Original

HB Hero: Thank you very much for taking the time Dispraiser! First of all our readers would probably like to know to whom we're talking to and what was your role in the halogen-development!

Halogen - Dispraiser: Hi, I'm Dispraiser, the leader of Halogen. Earlier in development, I was also responsible for the majority of our modeling besides infantry (which we have AdamAtomic to thank for) and some buildings that SpyvSpy helped model.

HB Hero: Can you give us a little insight into Halogen? What was this game all about and in which way did you "use" the Halo-universe?

Halogen - Dispraiser: Halogen was a total conversion mod. That means that we took an existing game engine, in this case Command and Conquer Generals: Zero Hour, and removed all of the existing art assets. Users wHB had Zero Hour could download Halogen for free and install it, and it would make the game look and feel as if it were a Halo Real Time Strategy. We were always very careful to respect the work of Bungie, though, and didn't actually use any of their resources. Other mods sometimes "rip" models from Halo, which we consider to be very shameful. However, our work did use plenty of Halo's Intellectual Property, meaning that our models were based on Bungie's designs.

HB Hero: Please tell us something about the games' features! What was the piece of work you are/were most proud about?

Halogen - Dispraiser: In our mod, you could play as either the Covenant or the UNSC and wage war on eachother. The flood were not a playable side, though some of their soldiers were present on the maps and served as an obstacle to player armies. The game also allowed player to play a UNSC or Covenant campaign, though neither of them was finished when we received the cease and desist. I was most proud of the reputation for quality our team established. Though my views are biased, having a part in the production, I think a lot of our fans were very impressed with the quality models and skins we created that exceeded many expectations for a mod and also the technical limitations of Zero Hour. I was very proud of our unique models like the Skyhawk and Firefly that looked as if they belonged in the Halo universe, despite being our own creations.

HB Hero: So it seems as though you are quite into Halo – have you played both games and also read the books?

Halogen - Dispraiser: I have played both games and read all of the books... However, I do have to confess to very, very weak interest in Halo after Halo 2. A lot of the staff didn't like the new direction of Halo 2.

HB Hero: That’s interesting… You mean: More doesn’t always mean “better”?

Halogen - Dispraiser: More is fine, I think. The problem with Halo 2 is that the atmosphere of the first game was completely different from the second. I didn’t think it was grim enough when earth was getting invaded, and that ruined much of the game to me. It felt like Halo 1 was a ninja flying through a hospital zone (to borrow the bungie metaphor) and to make Halo 2 better, it was set ablaze with some questionable additions, like playing as the arbiter….

HB Hero: When did development start and how did the project evolve over the course of it's cycle?

Halogen - Dispraiser: Development started in April of 2003 as a tiny fan project. It started when I wanted to create a few models I had in mind for the Halo universe and add them onto an existing army. It continued to grow as staff members started to show up, and eventually we planned to add in two new armies to accommodate the Covenant and Humans. The project kinda snowballed, and once we became devoted to quality, it became a complete total conversion mod.

HB Hero: What was the regular work that had to be done? Which things were the catchiest?

Halogen - Dispraiser: Well, the process was pretty much concept to model to skin, and from there ingame. For a long time we had a lot of trouble finding skins for our models. I'd certainly suggest that it was the hardest job to fill.

HB Hero: How many people contributed to Halogen, both the "hard-core" and "little-helpers"?

Halogen - Dispraiser: We have had many, many staff members since we first started, but at the time of our closing, we had between 9 and 11 regular contributors. The truest, hardest core staff, SpyvSpy, AdamAtomic, Sc4Freak, Blck and myself did the majority of the work, but certainly there have been many other staff members wHB contributed as much as they could, and little helpers. Our community has always been very helpful, as well as the fellow modders at slipstream productions. Contributers like Swiss Knight, Opals and Mastermind are very, very big assets to Halogen. Without their help, we certainly wouldn't have such a nice environment to work in.

HB Hero: How many hours of work did the most active contributors approximately spend with the project a day?

Halogen - Dispraiser: Highly, highly variable. Some days it would be a few hours, and some not so much. As leader of Halogen, though, I made certain that no one on the team delayed a real life project for work or school for the mod.

HB Hero: I see – so how far from completion was Halogen?

Halogen - Dispraiser: We were in the private beta stage where beta testers under our "Witness Protection Program" were given copies of the mod to work out kinks and suggest ways to balance armies. Release was very close, and I'm sure a lot of fans are angry that we didn't make it.

Eine Horde Brutes


HB Hero: Did you ever fear that there could be problems regarding the rights?

Halogen - Dispraiser: Initially, yes. It quickly became certain as we gained publicity that Bungie probably knew of us. There was massive discussions on their forums, as well as our appearances in print media and major online news sites that were certainly noticed. We hoped that they knew about us and were going to pay no attention, because we were a fan project and we thought Bungie cared about their community...

HB Hero: So when did the "shocking" events occur (Microsoft stopping development)? How did you hear about it? (telephone call, a writing,…?)

Halogen - Dispraiser: The Bungie community manager (and I do have to give him credit for handling this well) sent me an email, asking to talk over the phone if possible. Unfortunately, I'm never in the house at any godly hour, so we continued via email. He told me that Microsoft had us in their sights, and we could either shut down peacefully or face an army of lawyers. This was all September 6-8th.

HB Hero: Were you already prepared (where there any signs in the run-up?) or did it hit you all of a sudden?

Halogen - Dispraiser: We were warned by important community members to finish quickly, in the beginning of August. They said that Bungie may plan to announce a Halo RTS at x06, a game convention in the end of September. Of course that meant that they would shut us down because we would be a competing game, significantly more free than a published game. My first reaction was to take the email to the forums (the first email appeared innocent enough, and just asked for a phone conversation). We poured over the email analyzing every word in it, trying to figure out what was going to happen next. Our staff consensus after the first email was maybe that they were warning us to finish soon. When we got the actual order to shut down, it wasn’t something we didn’t see coming. I won’t say my personal, preferred response because it’d be pretty disrespectful to Bungie and Microsoft…

HB Hero: How did your team-mates react? How was the predominant feeling: anger, desperation or just pure sadness?

Halogen - Dispraiser: There was a mix of reactions. Trust me when I say we kept very, very reserved in public and in our replies to Bungie. Especially with Microsoft, our team feels that we may have been taken advantage of, and the reactions showed that. There were many different emotions, but ultimately we knew what Bungie was doing was perfectly legal, and though we didn't like it, it was their right, and if we didn't want to risk them shutting us down, we shouldn't have created a fan project based on their work.

HB Hero: I understand – I wonder which response did you get from the fan-side? Was there a difference between the fans reaction and public reaction?

Halogen - Dispraiser: Our fans are great, mostly. I was surprised at how much support and new coverage our shutdown received, and how many emails and instant messages I received. We were featured on many major news sites, and even got our own comic strips within days. I was also shocked to see people attack the mod saying with their 20/20 hindsight that we should have asked first or never partook in the modding process. My leadership was also criticised for giving up without a fight. Apparently, there are hordes of people wHB would fight Microsoft in a legal uphill battle facing possible jail time and millions of dollars of fines... I've got my limits.

HB Hero: *Laughing* This argument definitely has a certain kind of logic! Dispraiser, the main interest of the Halo-community is probably the way in which you were told to stop the development! Please give us full details what Microsoft's and Bungie's role was and which responses you received from whom!

Halogen - Dispraiser: Again, Bungie was very good in the process. Bungie gave me a nice letter rather than a cease and desist, and was really great. Of course, they had terrible news to deliver, but it sounded like their hands were tied and they asked to give us a personal message, rather than legal threats. That was a lot easier to deal with, I think, and certainly a lot more respectful. I never corresponded with Microsoft, and to that effect, I'm going to say "thank god."

HB Hero: I see - so a more important question should be: Are there any plans to reawaken the project in a different shape?

Halogen - Dispraiser: There may be secret message lurking around Slipstream Productions... Search around and I'm sure you can find them.

HB Hero: We definitely will! Just make sure giving us first-hand information when “Malo” kicks off! ;)
Finally some non-Halogen-related questions:
What do you think about Halo 2 Vista?

Halogen - Dispraiser: I've already played Halo 2, and I'm not so sure people truly need Vista to play a 2 year old game, but I am excited to see Halo 2 with some new maps. I don't think I'll be playing it, though, because Halo 2's atmosphere was very disappointing.

HB Hero: Do you guys eagerly await Halo 3? What should Bungie do to raise the bar once again?

Halogen - Dispraiser: Well, we hope Bungie makes a game sans Arbiter, but sadly I don't see that happening. Halo 1 really did raise the bar for a FPS, and Halo 2 was the best online FPS experience I've ever had (well, actually, Battlefield 2 was pretty awesome too...), and I certainly hope that Halo 3 can really push the limits of the Xbox 360 and make a great game.

HB Hero: Is there anything you want to tell the world? If so - it's your chance now!

Halogen - Dispraiser: I'd love to tell people not to leave slipstream productions or forget about our mod. If you do, you'll certainly miss out on the shape of things to come.

HB Hero: Thank you very much! It was a pleasure talking to you Dispraiser – in the name of the whole Halo-Orbit crew I wish you success with your further projects!

Forenticker

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