- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
Interestingly enough, tweaking the multi-player for Halo2 in the final months wouldn't have taken every single engineer they have and would have been a waste of their talents. (Not that I'm saying bug fixing isn't important, just that some people are more specialized) I imagine that many of the engineers started working on the core engine for Halo 3 long before Halo 2 was released. They could, after all, take time away from the new engine and help out with the bug fixing from time to time.
What I think is more the holdup now is artwork and level design. In the 8 bit age they didn't have much in the way of art departments. One guy would usually do all the art. Now we have specialists for texturing and numerous other small things. If anything is going to keep Bungie on track for a next year release (I don't imagine a November release like some people are wishing) it's the focus on creating evocative environments.
I also wouldn't have too much hope of a demo. If you hadn't noticed they still don't have a demo for Halo 1 or 2. Bungie has better things to do then focus on a demo which takes an incredible amount of effort. (Think about it... the announcment trailer took weeks of hard and loving work... imagine a demo!)