Halo 2 Speedrun champion Cody Miller exclusively interviewed

MIIE: Hi Cody, first off, thanks a bunch for giving us the chance to make an interview. Please tell us about the man behind the legendary 3 hour 28 minutes speed run. Who are you, where do you live and what is your current daily job?

Cody: I'm a 4th year Film Student at the Rochester Institute of Technology in Henrietta, New York. My home however, is in Ann Arbor Michigan. As a Film student, I don't have too much time for a job, but I work on a few films here and there, and get some spare cash from packing parachutes at my local skydiving club.

MIIE: What brought you to the crazy idea to speed run halo 2 under the rules of not dying at all on legendary difficulty? Tell us about the Twin Galaxies Contest and your motivation to take on this extraordinary challenge!

Cody: I learned about the Twin Galaxies Contest from a newspost on halo.bungie.org. Initially, I wasn't even going to try. It seemed impossible, and at the time the bounty was only $150, which I didn't consider worth the effort it would take. A few months later, I learned the bounty had been raised to $250. At this point, I toyed with the idea and thought about how I could go about it. The more I thought about it, the more it seemed like it wouldn't be impossible after all. The money didn't really motivate me, it was more of the challenge.

MIIE: We all now how tough Halo 2 on legendary difficulty can be, but even after having seen your speed run video, it still seems almost impossible to me that you beat the game in 3 hours and 28 minutes! How did you prepare for this challenge? Did you actually undergo a real training process?

Cody:: I went by the assumption that nobody else was going to complete the challenge, and so all I had to do was survive to win, regardless of the time. It might have been a bit presumptuous to assume this, but I figured that the main obstacle would be not dying. As such, I really focused on the safest way through each level first, and thought about speed second. It actually turns out that a lot of the time the safest way is also the fastest. To prepare, I essentially studied all the known tricks and shortcuts for all the levels, and ran through them one by one until I felt I found the safest way through each. Only after I'd mastered each level individually did I try to go through them all at once.

MIIE: Alright, you are true Halo Maniac! But still, I bet you my left nut that you did not manage to get it done on first attempt! Tell me Cody, how many times did you have to restart? What was the toughest situation to master? Which part do you think you could master blindly? During watching your video, I sometimes wondered : “ Was that actually improvised “ ?

Cody: If I had to guess, I'd say that once I'd mastered all the levels, it took around 60 or 70 tries. The hardest part was definitely figuring out how to get past all the jackal snipers. In fact, because there were so many of them that couldn't be skipped on the level Regret, it took me a long time to master. Regret by far caused me the most toruble. Sacred Icon was the easiest for sure. There isn't really a lot that can go wrong on that level. As much as you can plan it out, there is still an aspect of unpredictability. If you wondered if it was improvised, then it probably was!

MIIE: Between all the times that you actually had to start over, was there a moment were you were seriously thinking about showing this contest the finger and just walk away because of great frustration?

Cody: Yes! At one point I died fighting Tartarus! I really was tempted to just give up at that point, since it all came crashing down after such a good run. It really ended up being more of a mental challenge than that of skill or reflexes. I always approached each attempt with a fresh mind. Sometimes I'd wait 2 or 3 days or even a week between attempts, just to make sure my mind wasn't caught up in other things. I took care of all my needs first, and only played when I could absolutely devote a chunk of time to Halo without having to worry about anything. This really helped to alleviate frustration and maintain focus, which is 90% of the challenge.

MIIE: Your exceptional achievement has spread through all the halo communities all over the world! Nevertheless, the top of the whole thing got to be your entry in the Guinness Book of World Records 2007! Tell me, when and in what way did you first hear about this and how did you react in that moment?

Cody: I first heard about it in a forum post on Halo.bungie.org. I really was quite shocked, and had absolutely no idea I was in the book. A while back, Louis Wu has emailed me about this. Twin Galaxies had contacted him and was looking for Halo speedruns to possibly submit to Guiness. He told me he had pointed them to the very run I submitted. That was about 2 months prior, so I had totally forgotten! I never had really considered this a "speedrun" to begin with, more like a survival run that happened to be fast. I'm sure it could be beaten if death wasn't a worry.

MIIE: Let’s face the facts: The majority of community members won’t ever get an entry in the GBoWR. So tell us, is there a whole lot of paper work that comes along with such an achievement ?

Cody: Twin Galaxies actually handled everything. In fact, if you want to submit a video game related record, you would do it through Twin Galaxies, not Guiness.

MIIE: Till now, I haven’t spotted your entry on the official GBoWR site so far. What’s the status? Could you describe the procedure of how the authorities were proving that your speed run is actually real? Did anyone else see your video besides the guys over at HBO?

Cody: I have no idea about the website, but my record is listed on the Twin Galaxies website, and in the actual book of world records. The authentication involved me sending a VHS tape to Twin Galaxies to be verified by their experts. They have all sorts of fancy stuff they run it through, so they know if you cheat.

MIIE: You are going to be the first virtual speed runner in the history of the GBoWR! How do you actually deal with this much fame? Did you actually notice an increase of popularity in real life? Finally, who does it feel like after almost one month?

Cody: It was pretty funny really. I had old friends from high school call and congratulate me, other students asking me about it, and tons of email. For some reason my mother was particularly thrilled. All in all, it was really just a burst or fame, and now things are more or less back to normal.

MIIE: Have there been any specials or posts about you besides the ones at HBO and Bungie.net? Did you receive and congratulations from the guys at Bungie? Did Franky O’Conner pay you a visit *laughing* ?

Cody: KP sent me a congratulations. Sadly, I have received no such word from Frankie :-( I've had a few offers for podcast interviews and such, but I haven't gotten around to doing any of those just yet.

MIIE: So wait a second. Isn’t it actually the case, that if someone breaks a record that is already in the GBoWR, the new record has to be included in one of the next issues? So that basically means that you are the pioneer that made it possible for gamers all over the world to actually enter the GBoWR with halo? Ever thought about that?

Cody: Never thought about it that way. This of course assumes that someone can actually beat my record! ;-) MIIE: Be honest Cody, if someone beats your record … Would you compete again?

Cody: Honestly, I may or I may not. It really depends. I used to defend a lot of my speedrun records pretty adamantly, however it got to the point where a lot of really good speedrunners put out really good runs that were really hard to beat. Beating them would take a lot of time and effort, and I find now my time and effort can be put to better use elsewhere. I'd also rather be breaking new records than defending old ones.

MIIE: Besides doing the video, you also did a long ass walkthrough on HBO. Was that your first contribution to the community? Were there any earlier projects from you? Have you planed anything at the moment that you want to give as a peek on?

Cody: I'm pretty sure if you check WAY back in the archives of halo.bungie.org before halo was actually released, you can find a few theories and speculations with my name attached to them. Most of what I contribute are speedruns or gameplay videos, but I've recorded a few easter eggs such as the Haiku and Sarge's letter dialogue (Click) I also put together the Going Nowhere Fast highlight reel (Click), which featured all the contestants in the contest, not just the winners. I, along with NOKYARD and Goatrope run highspeedhalo.net, where we host and showcase speedruns from both Halo games, on any difficulty level. As for future contributions? Expect a real life version of the Warthog Jump in a few years.

MIIE: Have speed runs in other games ever been a matter for you? Did you try anything similar with Halo 1?

Cody: Halo 1 would certainly be easier to do without dying, but I've never tried it. I did one for another Bungie game, Marathon Infinity, and am currently working on a run for the original Marathon. I really enjoy watching speedruns of old Nintendo games, such as Mario and Megaman. I also love the Half Life and Half life 2 speedruns, but am in no position to beat either.

MIIE: While we’re at it, what do you think about Halo 1 and the changes applied in Halo 2? What do you think about the implantation of the Arbiter as a playable character?

Cody: I think Halo and Halo 2 are both great games. As far as the single player goes, both games are fun, but just different. I think where it really differs is in the multiplayer. My friends and I had no problem playing games of capture the flag in Halo 1 that lasted upwards of an hour. We could spend hours on blood gulch or sidewinder, and in fact at LAN parties we sometimes played Halo 1 nearly all day. I don't think Halo 2 works as well in a LAN setting for some reason. A game of capture the flag simply cannot hold our interest for that long. I think it has a lot to do with destructible vehicles. In Halo 1, you always had a vehicle, and if you didn't, you could get one by killing whoever was in it. In halo 2, there are long down periods where all the vehicles are destroyed, but have not yet respawned. Also, the tracking feature on the rocket launcher really discourages the use of the warthog.

This makes play on larger maps somewhat less fun. The multiplayer in Halo 2 in general is just faster paced, and it's easier to get burned out. I went to one of Louis Wu's LAN parties, and it was the first one since Halo 2 came out. Naturally, we played it first. A lot of us did get burned out from it, and went on to play Halo 1 instead. I really don't know exactly why, but it happened. I definitely do not like the changes to the shotgun. That weapon was pretty well balanced and suited its purpose in Halo 1. It also looked amazing. I don't like the fact it was weakened, and it now lacks that 'wow' quality. I'm really not sure what to make of the Arbiter. It's fun to play as him, and to see the story from that perspective, but when I was first playing the game, instead of enjoying the Arbiter's story, I kept thinking "When am I going to get back to the Master Chief?" The Master Chief was the character I really cared about, and it took awhile to build sympathy for the Arbiter. In fact, the first few arbiter levels are working in direct opposition to the goals of the Master Chief. This makes it somewhat difficult to connect on an emotional level. Now that they're fighting for the same thing, I look forward to Halo 3.

MIIE: Halo 2 definitely redefined online multiplayer. With your mad skills, are you an active online player? How active are you and do speed run skills actually improve online gameplay?

Cody: Surprisingly, I don't think a lot of the skills from the campaign actually carry over to multiplayer. I think Overswarm said it best when he noted that it's not the guys with the best reflexes and aim that are winning online, it's the guys who play the strategy. Multiplayer strategy is a lot different than that of single player. I'd consider myself an above average player, but I am beaten quite easily by someone who really knows the multiplyer maps in and out, and has good team communication. I used to play online often, but lately I have not had the time to do so as much as I'd like to stay current.

MIIE: What are your thoughts on Halo 2 Vista and the upcoming Halo 3? Do you have any great ideas that you would like to see included if someone asked you?

Cody: I don't play games on my computers, and own Macs, so I'm not concerned with Halo 2 Vista. For Halo 3, I'd like to see a timeattack mode or xbox live achievements for speed, support for saved films, such as in Marathon, and a legendary only ending, like in Halo 1. I'd also like to start a multiplayer game, and be able to change ALL the options from within the pre-game lobby, not just some of the options like the current "quick options" allows. It's frustrating to have to exit to the main menu and modify the custom game to change certain options. I don't see any reason why I shouldn't be able to do it right away.

MIIE: Cody, here is your chance to tell the world what’s on your mind. Tell us, what you always wanted to say!

Cody: I'm very lucky to have been involved with such a great community devoted to such a great game company. For all the flaws that Bungie's games have, the simple fact is that every one of them has managed to be great fun. I don't think any other game developer can boast that. I'm continually impressed at the insight and observations that members of the community make with regards to the story, their ability to exploit glitches and explore the game beyond what was intended, and the many creative Halo works that they produce. I'm amazed at the devotion guys like Louis Wu and Ducain have in running halo.bungie.org and highimpacthalo.org respectively. Without such a great community, I really doubt I would have enjoyed Halo as much as I have, and I certainly would not be a world record holder.

MIIE: Thanks a lot for this awesome interview and good luck in the future.

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