STACK #132 Oct 2016

FEATURE

GAMES

Forerunner Trilogy with Greg Bear was so big yet so delicate, it meant constant bouncing of ideas. We very rarely say “No,” with the mantra “Yes, but…” being a cliché, but a valuable one. And again, the game dominates these conversations. The game is the client in some ways. How does authorisation for spin-offs/books/TV shows/movies work? Do they all have to adhere to the canon? Can you make small changes, or even change it completely? First we look to the medium. What works for that medium is going to define what makes sense for its story, or rather, what parts of our universe make sense for that kind of storytelling. For some things, like The Fall of Reach , it’s a pretty direct adaptation of the source material with just a few tweaks here and there. But for a live-action TV show, the challenge is going to be focusing on the right areas of the universe that can entice new viewers while satisfying core fans. That’s a tricky balance, especially when the source material is a game with a single protagonist whose face is never seen. We’re excited about the possibilities, but nervous about the challenges that lie ahead. Luckily the expanded canon gives us lots of characters and scenarios to explore in parallel. and as you saw with the first season of Hunt the Truth, you’ll see in the second season how closely and meaningfully it connects to the Halo 5 game story. We think of Halo as a “real” place and our partners and collaborators can too. Is weapon consistency a part of the lore? How do upgrades fit in? Taking a big step back – gameplay is king. This is a game

How is everything recorded? Is there a central archive that lists things

chronologically? Is the data stored separately according to a specific game or character? The Halo Universe Bible, or HUB as we call it, is a digital asset we can share with staff and external partners. It’s indexed, searchable and can be viewed however the user likes. A TV writer looking for dates can search that way, or an artist looking for older versions of a game asset can view by title. It’s very flexible. We also include the ability for users to add requests and notes as they use it, so if something is light on data or simply doesn’t have any fiction yet, the franchise team can quickly address it. What’s the process for introducing new lore? The process can be super organic. We do plan novels and comic books quite rigidly – ‘Escalation’ (the comic series) being such a direct companion piece to Halo 4 and 5 – but we get the best work by letting smart creators explore the universe themselves. It could be something as open ended as saying to Joe Staten, “Hey, we’d love a story that deals with recent Elite events because we want to create a better backdrop for the Arbiter’s faction,” and Joe comes back and suggests a basic idea and then we move to outline. Sometimes a creation is much more tactical and we create the fiction in parallel with its intended purpose. But again, something like the

burning skull while your teammates shoot you with rocket launchers, might not make a compelling or believable narrative. So bluntly, we kind of let it slide. We have built a leitmotif of fiction around our Arena gameplay – that it’s a simulation with tuneable parameters, but we avoid shoving that in people’s faces. Sometimes they just want to have a blast with their buddies and not worry too much about the military industrial complex. When writing lore, is it important to cater for the future at the same time? Or is that built in at a later date? Yes. Future is king. We have to make sure we’re opening up fertile ground to explore in later fiction and creating ingredients that compound our fictional choice and make the world a more believable one. We avoid painting ourselves into corners, but we’re also not afraid to do permanent things. In real

universes, people die, things change, events have impact. And so the same has to be true in our fiction. Things have to matter or people will stop caring.

universe at the end of the day and things that work in a game setting, like running around holding a

• Halo 5: Guardians is out Oct 27

Halo Influenced the Shooter Genre

Shield Regeneration: While its true origins can be found in the '80s, Halo: Combat Evolved did feature the concept of shield regeneration combined with health packs. By Halo

Intuitive controls: We take the twin-stick system used in shooters for granted, but it was Halo: CE that designed the control mechanics so one stick is used for moving and the second stick for aiming.

Graphics: First-person shooter fans were PC- bound before Halo: CE launched with the Xbox. The quality of the graphics was breathtaking – the game established the blueprint for the modern FPS genre on console.

Melee weapon: Before Halo: CE , killing up close and personal had never been so, er, personal. The game also brought the idea of limited weapons to the FPS, driving players to use strategy to decide which two weapons to equip.

Multiplayer: If Halo: CE helped to expand the LAN and the art of dragging your console around your mate’s house in a bag to play, it was Halo 2 that redefined multiplayer, with the help of the burgeoning Xbox LIVE.

2, regenerating health became the standard across most FPS titles.

065