Since the conclusion of the original Halo Wars seven years ago, we’ve followed the Master Chief on his numerous adventures, relived the harrowing tale of Noble Team, witnessed the rise of the Prometheans and watched Cortana take on a new mantle. All the while the UNSC Spirit of Fire and her crew remained both literally and figuratively in stasis.
Now, after years of planning, development and community support, we’ll soon rejoin that fabled crew on their next adventure in Halo Wars 2. To learn more about the game’s journey from concept to near-release, we spoke with members of the team at 343 Industries and Creative Assembly about the new villain Atriox, the innovative Blitz game mode and how honest (and critical) feedback has helped keep the team on target.
image: https://news.xbox.com/wp-content/uploads/Halo-Wars-2-Campaign-Fire.jpg
halo-wars-2-campaign-fire
Do it Right
“There were a number of factors involved with the time it took us to get to Halo Wars 2,” explains Dan Ayoub, Studio Head of Strategy Games Development at 343 Industries. “Some of it was a capacity question at 343; we were focusing on building out the studio and wanted to get to it, but only when we had the ability to do it right.”
“Doing it right” was at the core of bringing Halo Wars 2 to life, and part of that was finding a great partner to help with 343’s creative vision. In addition, the Halo community itself was a driving force to remind the team that significant interest remained to see a sequel, helping to move the needle and green light development of the game.
“Ultimately, it’s this fan investment that made the game happen,” explains Ayoub. “With the decision made to move forward, we had to find the right partner. My mind immediately went to Creative Assembly as I’ve been a fan of their work for a long time, and their games are just great.”
Creative Assembly have for years been creating not only some amazing and critically-acclaimed strategy games as part of their Total War series, most-recently Total War: Warhammer, but also injecting new life into the survival horror genre with the well-received Alien: Isolation in 2014.
“When we all sat down together, it was clear very quickly that there was a chemistry between the teams and a shared desire to not only make a great Halo RTS, but to innovate in how we could make RTS more accessible while still having a ‘real’ RTS,” says Ayoub.
343 and Creative Assembly didn’t want to just create another strategy game, but wanted to build one that would capture the excitement, fun, and competitiveness of Halo through the RTS genre. It was agreed that the Halo franchise would help as a jumping on point for a lot of gamers, like those who have loved the adventures of the Master Chief. “What we want them to do is also love RTS,” explains David Nicholson, Executive Producer on Halo Wars 2 for Creative Assembly.
“So, there was a shared passion to say that, okay, we know how to build RTS games and we know what’s at the core of the enjoyment of RTS, and we make RTS games for people who love RTS games,” continues Nicholson. “Let’s take on the challenge together of building RTS games for people who may not know yet they love RTS games.”
One way that 343 and Creative Assembly have tackled that challenge is through the multiplayer modes that will launch with Halo Wars 2, all designed to service not only the hardcore RTS players, but those coming in fresh to the genre.
“And that’s what we’ve tried to do, to deconstruct that in the different modes that we’ve got,” explains Nicholson. “Deathmatch (mode) is the classic traditional RTS player who wants to worry about the economy, worry about the build queue, build a base, go out and venture across the battlefields… all the way through to Blitz, where you don’t have to worry about that (resources) but you’re deploying units and you’re learning about how to counter attack.”
image: https://news.xbox.com/wp-content/uploads/Halo-Wars-2-Blitz-Rollout.jpg
halo-wars-2-blitz-rollout
Crazy Ambition
Now, after years of planning, development and community support, we’ll soon rejoin that fabled crew on their next adventure in Halo Wars 2. To learn more about the game’s journey from concept to near-release, we spoke with members of the team at 343 Industries and Creative Assembly about the new villain Atriox, the innovative Blitz game mode and how honest (and critical) feedback has helped keep the team on target.
image: https://news.xbox.com/wp-content/uploads/Halo-Wars-2-Campaign-Fire.jpg
halo-wars-2-campaign-fire
Do it Right
“There were a number of factors involved with the time it took us to get to Halo Wars 2,” explains Dan Ayoub, Studio Head of Strategy Games Development at 343 Industries. “Some of it was a capacity question at 343; we were focusing on building out the studio and wanted to get to it, but only when we had the ability to do it right.”
“Doing it right” was at the core of bringing Halo Wars 2 to life, and part of that was finding a great partner to help with 343’s creative vision. In addition, the Halo community itself was a driving force to remind the team that significant interest remained to see a sequel, helping to move the needle and green light development of the game.
“Ultimately, it’s this fan investment that made the game happen,” explains Ayoub. “With the decision made to move forward, we had to find the right partner. My mind immediately went to Creative Assembly as I’ve been a fan of their work for a long time, and their games are just great.”
Creative Assembly have for years been creating not only some amazing and critically-acclaimed strategy games as part of their Total War series, most-recently Total War: Warhammer, but also injecting new life into the survival horror genre with the well-received Alien: Isolation in 2014.
“When we all sat down together, it was clear very quickly that there was a chemistry between the teams and a shared desire to not only make a great Halo RTS, but to innovate in how we could make RTS more accessible while still having a ‘real’ RTS,” says Ayoub.
343 and Creative Assembly didn’t want to just create another strategy game, but wanted to build one that would capture the excitement, fun, and competitiveness of Halo through the RTS genre. It was agreed that the Halo franchise would help as a jumping on point for a lot of gamers, like those who have loved the adventures of the Master Chief. “What we want them to do is also love RTS,” explains David Nicholson, Executive Producer on Halo Wars 2 for Creative Assembly.
“So, there was a shared passion to say that, okay, we know how to build RTS games and we know what’s at the core of the enjoyment of RTS, and we make RTS games for people who love RTS games,” continues Nicholson. “Let’s take on the challenge together of building RTS games for people who may not know yet they love RTS games.”
One way that 343 and Creative Assembly have tackled that challenge is through the multiplayer modes that will launch with Halo Wars 2, all designed to service not only the hardcore RTS players, but those coming in fresh to the genre.
“And that’s what we’ve tried to do, to deconstruct that in the different modes that we’ve got,” explains Nicholson. “Deathmatch (mode) is the classic traditional RTS player who wants to worry about the economy, worry about the build queue, build a base, go out and venture across the battlefields… all the way through to Blitz, where you don’t have to worry about that (resources) but you’re deploying units and you’re learning about how to counter attack.”
image: https://news.xbox.com/wp-content/uploads/Halo-Wars-2-Blitz-Rollout.jpg
halo-wars-2-blitz-rollout
Crazy Ambition
The creation of Blitz, a hybrid card-collecting game mixed with RTS play, is one of the most-original ideas to appear in the RTS space in years. The mode itself has the potential to introduce a new element of competitive multiplayer for not only Halo Wars 2, but other strategy games as well.
“We had this crazy ambition that the teams believed passionately in,” says Ayoub. “Get people who might be intimidated by RTS to play, while making the mode challenging enough that core RTS players would embrace it as well. That’s a hard thing to do, and it was by no means a straight line for us.”
Throughout the refining process for Blitz, the team remained committed to scoping out how Blitz could work for all types of gamers, and remained self-critical of their work to ensure it was always coming back to answering three key questions.
“We had a number of failures and false starts before we settled on how it is today,” continues Ayoub. “In every iteration we all sat down and asked ourselves, ‘Is this accomplishing the goal?’ ‘Is it fun enough?’ ‘Can we do better?’ When we got to what we have today, we all just looked at each other and knew this was it.”
Read more at http://news.xbox.com/2016/11/21/concept-release-journey-halo-wars-2/#FLJvKBL3YcWrGRdz.99
“We had this crazy ambition that the teams believed passionately in,” says Ayoub. “Get people who might be intimidated by RTS to play, while making the mode challenging enough that core RTS players would embrace it as well. That’s a hard thing to do, and it was by no means a straight line for us.”
Throughout the refining process for Blitz, the team remained committed to scoping out how Blitz could work for all types of gamers, and remained self-critical of their work to ensure it was always coming back to answering three key questions.
“We had a number of failures and false starts before we settled on how it is today,” continues Ayoub. “In every iteration we all sat down and asked ourselves, ‘Is this accomplishing the goal?’ ‘Is it fun enough?’ ‘Can we do better?’ When we got to what we have today, we all just looked at each other and knew this was it.”
Read more at http://news.xbox.com/2016/11/21/concept-release-journey-halo-wars-2/#FLJvKBL3YcWrGRdz.99
Xbox Wire
From Concept to Release, the Journey of Halo Wars 2
Since the conclusion of the original Halo Wars seven years ago, we’ve followed the Master Chief on his numerous adventures, relived the harrowing tale of Noble Team, witnessed the rise of the Prometheans and watched Cortana take on a new mantle. All the while…
n May 2015 Nintendo announced it is partnering with Universal Parks & Resorts to bring "expansive, highly themed environments" to its parks in Osaka, Orlando, and Hollywood. Now, further details have been revealed.
"Imagine the fun of stepping into a larger-than-life Nintendo adventure," reads a press release. "Gigantic Piranha Plants spring to life. Question blocks, power-ups and more surround you. And Mario and all his friends are there to pull you into a brand-new world."http://www.gamespot.com/articles/nintendo-and-universals-theme-park-attractions-wil/1100-6445804/
"Imagine the fun of stepping into a larger-than-life Nintendo adventure," reads a press release. "Gigantic Piranha Plants spring to life. Question blocks, power-ups and more surround you. And Mario and all his friends are there to pull you into a brand-new world."http://www.gamespot.com/articles/nintendo-and-universals-theme-park-attractions-wil/1100-6445804/
GameSpot
Nintendo and Universal's Theme Park Attractions Will Let Visitors Play "Inside Their Favorite Games"
"Imagine the fun of stepping into a larger-than-life Nintendo adventure. Gigantic Piranha Plants spring to life."