Halo Wars Central

Dispraiser, leader of SlipStream productions and the HaloGen project agreed to let us give him and exlusive interview this week. HaloGen was, however, shut down by Microsoft to avoid a conflict with their plans to release Halo Wars. This interview focuses on the shutting down of the HaloGen project and Dispraisers thoughts on Halo Wars. It's pretty lengthy, but very detailed and well worth the read. This is a huge privilege for us, and a great community resource.

For those who don't already know, tell us a little bit about the HaloGen project, it's origins and what it's aim was?

Dispraiser:
Halogen was a total conversion mod for Command and Conquer Generals: Zero Hour. A mod is a project where we would remove all of the models and game art from Generals, then replace them with models of our own. In this case, we chose to create a Halo mod. It originated as a little project to add a few units here and there, and slowly snowballed into a larger project. Our aim was to eventually release the mod for free, and bring Halo back to its RTS origins.

Did Microsoft's Cease and Desist order suprise you and your team? Surely you didn't expect to run into trouble this late on in the mods development?

Dispraiser:
Yes, it did surprise us. The first year or two, we thought it was possible we were still unknown by Bungie. Slowly, we began to pop up on larger and larger news sites, and more frequently we were discussed on Bungie's own forums. Eventually, we thought we were probably known to Bungie, but since we didn't mean them any harm they were leaving us alone. It is definitely angering that they let us know so late on in the project, as we were very close to being finished, but I can certainly understand how the times change.

A month on, how's everyone feeling on your team now? How has this blow from Microsoft affected you as a group?

Dispraiser:
As a group, it didn't really affect us. Since we were ordered to stop work, we've actually gained staff, and no one from the original Halogen team has left. I think about two years ago we hit a critical point where we were more interested in the mod because it was rewarding to work with other people's talents. Our previous motive, that it was a Halo mod, became less and less the core of our team. Therefore, when Microsoft came along and removed it, it didn't really have much of an impact on us, as a team.

In previous interviews you have described the Bungie guys as understanding of what you were trying to do, and that Microsoft gave them the order to shut down the HaloGen project. There's been a lot of confusion within the community about who's to blame which have lead to the creation of sites such as antibungie.net . Would you like to clear this up and explain how you feel about the situation?

Dispraiser:
Well, I think my big thing is that the people we dealt with were very respectful. Bungie's people were really nice to us, all things considering. Bungie is completely owned by Microsoft, as I understand, though. I think hating Bungie for the cease and desist would be shooting the messenger, something that would be harsh, considering the alternative. The alternative, of course, is that we're working along, and rather than receiving a conversational email that explained exactly what the situation was and what Bungie thought of it all, we received a cold, legal document from legal@microsoft.com (guessing, there), and that was it. I think, versus the alternative, Bungie did the best they could. When I got confused about what to think, though, it really helped to take a step back and realize that Bungie didn't do anything wrong.

So.. at x06 we all found out why HaloGen was shut down. Halo Wars, a RTS game based in the Halo universe and jointly developed by Microsoft and Ensemble studios is in development. What was your immediate reaction when you heard this?

Dispraiser:
We received warning in mid August that if we were at all ready to release, we should, because there was rumors circling that Bungie was staged to announce a RTS version of Halo. When we received the cease and desist weeks later, it basically confirmed to us that there was a Halo RTS. When it was announced, I've gotta admit to very mixed reactions. Using a very, very prerendered trailer and a name like Halo Wars really kinda made me wonder what direction the franchise will take. Halo 1 and 2 were well received because they were Bungie's (for lack of a better term) baby, where they had very strong control over how the game was created and the whole gaming experience. That's what seperates people who are game designers for the love of it from the others. I'm not too well informed, but I really hope Bungie keeps control of the project, because I really don't have much faith in Ensemble or Microsoft to make a good game.

How has the subsequent news of Halo Wars changed your opinions and feelings on the whole situation.

Dispraiser:
It's very hard to separate what I think of the situation from a modding standpoint, and from my reactions to the trailer. To me, a cease and desist is a cease and desist. Didn't like it then, don't like it now. I am glad that they didn't axe our mod for no reason at all, but I find a lot about Halo Wars to be unsettling. I really don't like that someone other than Bungie is making it and honestly, I don't like the name... But, it will succeed or fail of its own merit, just the way it should be.

Imagine HaloGen was never shut down and was still in development due to be released some time next year. Do you think this would affect Halo Wars' sales to any significant degree and why?

Dispraiser:
Well, I'm no marketing expert, but a PC download for a 4 year old game with a relatively inferior graphics engine (the oldest SAGE engine) would probably have very little impact on the sales of an Xbox 360 game developed by professionals. Call me humble, but I really don't think our mod would have any significant impact at all.

Slipstream productions is about much more than just HaloGen, any hints as to what your next big project will be?

Dispraiser:
Well, it'd take the mystery out of it if I just said what our next project is, but a lot of our fans have found the secret message (rather crudely hidden) on our old homepage. I think if I just said what we were up to it'd take a lot of the fun out of making everybody find that message... But lemme just say, if you liked Halogen for more than just the Halo name, and you saw the work we put into our creations, and our faith to our motto (Semper Qualitas), then let me say that you won't be dissapointed.

Will you be buying Halo Wars. Whatever your choice, why?

Dispraiser:
I don't know. Right now, I'm really thinking probably not. I have yet to see a console RTS worth buying. Then again, I have no evidence at all to base my decision on. So far, all we have seen is a prerendered trailer, and that's no indication of gameplay. If later trailers show a good game that's worth buying, I'll be there. If later trailers do not, it won't be joining my Xbox collection - just like any other game. However, if a game without the Halo name attached came along and released only a prerendered video, I doubt I would think about it again until a trailer with an actual reflection of gameplay was released (a la Killzone 2...). Then again, I have bought 100% of Halo games so far, so I guess the numbers are on their side!

Do you expect it to be a similar experience to that which you guys had created with the HaloGen project?

Dispraiser:
Probably not. I'd be very surprised if they took it in the same direction we did, just because it's very tough to run an RTS exactly the same on a console as it is on a computer. I wouldn't expect to see the same "build bases, build infantry, attack" model in Halo Wars as I would in a regular Command and Conquer game. Then again, the trailer didn't really say anything about the gameplay, so I'm not sure what to expect. I think the most interesting part will be to see how they incorporate the things that we could never get to fit. The Generals engine never allowed us to add some units and make them effective, like the Drones. I wonder just how they'll make that one work...

Do you and your team hope to get some recognition in the Halo Wars game for everything you were doing for the Halo community with HaloGen?

Dispraiser:
It'd be great if we got our names in the special thanks... Heh, that was honestly one staffer's reaction, when we got the cease and desist order. He asked if I could see if Bungie would give us any swag, or if we could get in on the beta of Halo Wars or something. I would've asked too, but it seemed like it'd be wierd to ask... But hey, if Bungie's reading this and has any cool stuff they wanna give us... Dispraiser@gmail.com - Situation sucks, yeah, but Bungie didn't do anything wrong, and they're stilll pretty much the best damned reason to get anything Xbox.

That just about wraps it up. We're great supporters of the HaloGen project here and we feel it's real shame that the Cease and Desist order went through. Is there anything you'd like to say to the HaloWarsCentral community?

Dispraiser:
Well, I'd just like to say thanks to all the fans that've supported us, and be sure not to forget Slipstream Productions. I'd also just love to encourage people to find that secret message on Slipstream Productions. Anyone who was a fan of Halogen will certainly be interested in our next project, which will be developed by the same ole team and will just have to be fun without Halo's Intellectual Property.

Thanks very much for this interview Dispraiser, it means a lot to us. We're fully behind you in what you were trying to do and we wish you the best of luck with your future projects.

Interview added on 10/07/06