elnino334 on 31 March 2008
http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9778&Itemid=59
By Kris Graft
Speaking in an interview published Monday, Cowan admitted that disorganization reigned during certain parts of Halo 2's development, as Bungie tried to create a blockbuster game while simultaneously coping with exploding studio growth.“On Halo 2 we had no idea what our schedule was like or if we were on schedule or how far behind schedule we were," he said. "...Up until Halo 3’s pre-production we were still in the mindset of guys in a basement trying to make games even though we’d ballooned to like 60 or 70 dudes. We still had that idea that ‘hey we can make this work,' but it just wasn’t realistic anymore."
Today, Bungie lays claim to around 115 employees, including 14 full-time producers, compared to the single dedicated producer during Halo 2's development.
Once Halo 3 development began to wrap up, Bungie seemed to have everything sorted out.
“Halo 3 had a really defined pre-production stage, so the whole team had a confident, shared vision of what the game was going to be before the real work even started. It sounds like common sense but Bungie didn’t used to work that way. We used to be ‘seat of your pants just make it happen.'
“Halo 3 was a much easier game to make in terms of the stress level and crunch. The team still worked their asses off but it wasn’t that 18 months of dread and ‘Oh my god, are we ever going to get this game done?' I just don’t think we ever hit that stage.”
For more from Cowan about development of the Halo franchise, read the Next-Gen interview, What Bungie Did Next.
