Life at Bungie is governed by cycles. Production schedules culminate in milestones that add up to new and more exciting phases of development. On a smaller scale, the cycle of a work week is brought to a triumphant close with the publication of a Mail Sack, just like the one you are about to read right now. Like everything that we produce at Bungie, this article is the result of artists and engineers working together to create something that we hope our community will love.
Check out the development team that made this interactive experience possible.
Brad Fish, Senior Engineer
Nate Hawbaker, Associate Technical Artist
John Hopson, User Research Lead
Luke Ledwich, Test Engineer
Alex Loret de Mola, Engineer
John Shaffstall, Associate Engineer
John Stvan, Graphic Designer
Eric Will, Engineer
Tom Sanocki, Staff Artist
Lorraine McLees, Artist
Joe Venzon, Engineer
Thanks for the hard work this week, everyone. Let’s open the Sack.
CTN 0452 9 Who was the best James Bond?
Your question has resulted in the first ever Mail Sack poll. Having investigated the full company of actors who have committed themselves to being shaken (and not stirred), our panel has favored the Scot (pronounced: “shhhcot”).
| Barry Nelson |
0% |
| Sean Connery |
59% |
| David Niven |
0% |
| George Lazenby |
5% |
| Christopher Cazenove |
0% |
| Roger Moore |
0% |
| Timothy Dalton |
0% |
| Pierce Brosnan |
23% |
| Daniel Craig |
14% |
The next time someone tells you that they like the original James Bond the best, ask them why they like Barry Nelson. Throw that little piece of trivia right in their face. You’ll be looking pretty smart. When they ask you how you grew to be so wise, tell them that you hang out on Bungie.net.
YodasCurd I live 15 minutes away from Bungie Studios in Kirkland. If i were to show up unannounced, what kind of treatment would I receive?
AllusedUp How fast can Jerome run?
Jerome doesn’t need to run. His forbidding glare can freeze anyone in their tracks. Then, he can just saunter right up to them and bounce them from the premises.
kosen13 DeeJ, We have someone else (see above question)
to add to the suspicious characters list.
Good eye, kosen. Thanks for looking out for us. While we have that list handy, let’s put this next guy on there…
LordMonkey Is there a chance that a person with a criminal record could get a job there? Not that I have one.
Suuuuuuure, you don’t. You’re on the list…
HipiO7 What is one good thing and one bad thing that everyone at Bungie has in common?
Good: Community Showers
Bad: Community Showers
John Stvan
Good: Everyone's passionate about what they do and what we make here, which is a wonderful and amazing thing.
Bad: Well, everyone seems to always need to use the bathroom at the same time. Does that count?
Alex Loret de Mola
Good: They're all huge nerds.
Bad: They're all perfectionists. It's good for the final game, but it's occasionally frustrating on smaller issues.
John Hopson
edableshoe Tell Marty I'm still waiting to play trombone for him!
No. I will not say that to Marty.
Kr1egerdude What happens when two employees disagree about a feature in a game? Do they duke it out in a 1 vs. 1 Halo 2 match on Lockout?
Lockout, huh? While I am rarely an audience for these mediations, I get the impression that they are far more violent than a virtual duel in a sentimental arena from Halo 2. If we settled arguments in the game, the Testers would run the whole show. Although, now that I mention it, that would explain the meteoric rise to power of our studio head. I guess you are right. That must be exactly how it happens. Good deduction.
KUZOKU85 What would you suggest to someone who knows they want to be part of the video game industry but is not sure what they want to do?
Once you determine what it is you want to do, start working on side projects if you can't get your foot in the door at a game studio.
Alex Loret de Mola
Start making little games and you'll soon discover which parts you're really interested in.
John Shaffstall
Figure it out and find your passion. Make your own game and discover what part of the process interests you the most. Even a pen-and-paper game will suffice if you have no interest in programming.
Eric Will
Pick up a good book and some of the free tools that are available, and teach yourself to program. If you don't love it, you'll then know you don't want to be an engineer. That might help narrow things down a bit.
Brad Fish
Make your own video games. Some parts of the process will feel less like work than others.
John Hopson
Make a tiny game on your own. When you have to do everything yourself, you'll probably find yourself gravitating toward some parts of the process.
Joe Venzon
Try and be critical of the games you play, a strong opinion about a particular aspect usually indicates passion and interest. I also agree with making a game. Any game works, it was pretty obvious when I did this I was most interested in the programming.
Luke Ledwich
If you haven’t noticed, this engineer-heavy Mail Sack panel is going to ask you if you have made your own games if you ever cross paths with them during a dreaded Bungie interview loop.
OMARRCHR What's the most boring thing to do at Bungie?
This. Kidding! You did leave yourself wide open there, man.
SlashingArbiter How are birthdays celebrated at Bungie?
True story: When someone at Bungie completes another successful revolution around our local celestial body, one of their coworkers says (as loud as they can):
“Hey everybody, it’s __________________’s birthday!”
Then, everyone claps. Then, we get back to work.
SPRTN One One 7 Tell us about your favorite moment working at Bungie.
When Richenburg found out how secure the hanging seats were.
John Stvan
So far, it would have to be when Team Newbie was almost disqualified for memorizing the topic cards for Cranium at the Pentathlon. It resulted in the rules being changed on the fly. I believe Jerry Lawler said it best: "Win if you can, lose if you must, but always cheat." Not that it was cheating - no, no.
Alex Loret de Mola
(2/06/2010, 8:08PM: Bungie engineers are hard at work closing out issues for the Alpha playtest.)
Luke: "Hey Brad, check out bug 22614."
Brad: "Sure thing."
...
Brad: (perplexed) "What the...?"
===== Opened on 02/06/2010 08:08PM =====
ALPHA: Brad needs Klondike Bars, and we have none in the freezer
(shortly thereafter)
===== Resolved as Fixed on 02/06/2010 08:23PM =====
Regular and Heath varieties both in the freezer on the right, 2nd shelf from the bottom. Thanks, QFC!
This bug was reactivated numerous times over the next 4 months before ship.
Brad Fish
Plain Ben How are visual/game art ideas spread in game development? Who gets to decide what stuff looks like, or is it a group decision? Did you all gather round as someone just said 'Right, the Covenant are gonna have this whole purple thang going on'?
The creative and ideation process you are describing relies heavily on Military Grade Bacon.
Gamer Whale If Bungie managed to acquire some Military Grade Bacon, what would you do with it?
Great question. We would give it a job as a
concept artist.
Arcane Phoenix What is your favorite recreational activity inside the building?
I would tell you, but this is a family friendly website.
John Stvan
Magic: The Gathering.
Alex Loret de Mola & John Shaffstall
Joe Venzon & Nate Hawbaker
westpointusma15 Does working on video games "ruin" them for you?
Don't feed the trolls.
John Stvan
Absolutely not. It only increases the appreciation I have for those who make them.
John Shaffstall
Only until you learn to shut off "bug fixing mode". Once you see behind the curtain, it can be cool to see the approaches that other game teams take.
Eric Will
If anything it makes me appreciate them even more, because I now understand how much work goes into them.
Brad Fish
I definitely find myself being more... critical. I admit this does take away from my enjoyment slightly.
"This UI convention makes no sense and offers no practical benefits!"
"Why is their specularity so extreme when it's only showing off the sampling limitations of their normal maps?!"
Nate Hawbaker
Yes, in a way. I can't play games without critiquing them to some degree, and I've always got a giant backlog of games I need to play to keep up with the field. I still enjoy them, but it's definitely different than before I worked in the industry.
John Hopson
In some ways it makes me pickier, but it also makes me more appreciative of the things done well, because I can recognize how hard they are and how much work went into each little feature.
Joe Venzon
I tend to be a little more critical of the games and less forgiving of bugs, but it in no way ruins a good game.
Luke Ledwich
coolmike699 Do you think video games should be considered art?
The essence of
art has been defined as “the use of skill and imagination in the creation of aesthetic objects, environments, or experiences that can be shared with others.” I could apply those same words to a job description on our Careers page. Anyone who says that video games do not deserve to be regarded as art are going out of their way to demonstrate a basic lack of understanding for the medium of interactive entertainment. Either that, or they are just a snob who wishes that berets were still in style.
ibex1001 Have there been times when you have desperately wanted to talk to someone about Bungie's next game but couldn't?
Every day. Art is only complete when it is received, after all. By that account, you complete us.
FalleNxRegret As someone who is about to get a Bachelor of Computer Science degree what kind of personal projects should I look at taking on to gain experience that may someday help me get in the game software development field. What languages, platforms, tools, devices, etc. should I be playing with?
Ever hear of X-ray glasses? We want those. Get on it.
John Stvan
Languages: C, C++, Objective-C, C#, Java, Python and, most importantly, Javascript
Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android
Tools: Visual Studio, Xcode, Eclipse, Vim, Git, StackOverflow.com
Devices: iPhone, iPad, any Android phone, Kindle Fire
Build cool things, then show them to people
John Shaffstall
Pick something small and finish it. Make a simple game from scratch, or take an existing game engine or tool and modify it, or anything in between. It'll get you exposed to some of the problems a game developer encounters. But make sure you see it through the end. Don't take on too much initially. C++ is still the gold standard of the industry, but Java and C# can be useful to know as well. The hardware doesn't matter too much because it's constantly changing. Pick something current.
Eric Will
If you're serious about working on console game code, make sure you're sharpening your C++ skills. Beyond that, build a small game on your own! Pick a simple idea that you're interested in, and commit yourself to developing it as far as you can. It doesn't have to be big, fancy, or pretty, but it will stretch you in very beneficial ways.
Brad Fish
C#, WPF/XAML, MVVM conventions, Expression Design/Blend.
*Half of those are technical artist oriented, rather than traditional engineering.
Nate Hawbaker
More important than the language or platform is that you make a bunch of games! It doesn't matter how tiny or silly they are, get a bunch of completed game projects under your belt and you'll learn plenty. Secondarily, learning a language with manual memory management and then also learning a functional language will help make you a better programmer (and able to transition to just about any language/platform pretty quickly).
Joe Venzon
coolmike699 What happens to material that is cut from games? Why don't you do what movie studios do, and include it as a bonus feature of collector’s editions or other special editions of the game?
That’s a great idea.
AI carsaib How do you maintain your personal health during crunch? Is it possible?
I tell myself I'll go running on the weekend.
John Shaffstall
Start taking the stairs everywhere. Avoid the awesome kitchen as much as possible.
Eric Will
I spend 45 minutes walking in the nearby park during lunches. Actually eating during lunch is not super important to me since dinner is catered and usually large enough for 2 meals.
Brad Fish
Never breaking from a five day gym schedule, regardless of professional pressures.
Nate Hawbaker
I try to keep my running schedule up, but I usually fail.
Joe Venzon
Vegemite for the vitamins and Rum for the sanity.
Luke Ledwich
Insane Monx If I asked a question in a previous Mail Sack that didn't get answered, is there a chance of it getting answered in a future one?
It really depends on the question, doesn’t it? If you are asking about our next game, there will come a time to answer all of those questions. Someday. Here is a Mail Sack Pro Tip: If you don’t see your question answered, it is not recommended that you ask it again and again every week, thus growing angrier and angrier with us for ignoring you.
MasterSin What is Bungie willing to do in order to win our love?
We are willing neglect our own families and friends for months at a time, slaving over a cold keyboard to create for you a new universe. We are willing to study you and interact with you so that we may better understand how to blow your mind. We are willing to ban the people who are mean to you and make you cry. We are willing to employ an Assistant to the Community Manager who will cultivate delicious Internet time wasters to delight you while you pass the time on our website, waiting for us to spill our most recent crop of magic beans.
SkilPhil What's the most unusual item you've purchased online?
IGN Insider subscription. It was mostly just for the forum avatar and access to the 'Insider-only' boards like the PCGB. We were an elite clique of tools.
John Shaffstall
Robotic jellyfish from Japan. It swam in a fishbowl on my desk.
Tom Sanocki
2 pounds of silly putty.
John Hopson
Two hands. I was hoping for a matched set, but they were both right hands.
Lorraine McLees
{Image removed by censors}
Awwww....
John Stvan
That’s right, John. So much for your reverence for our family friendly website…
GPK Ethan As a developer, can you still be fans of the game you're creating? By that I mean do you still get giddy playing through the campaign or after learning new things about the game?
This is not an option at Bungie – it’s a requirement. We make games we want to play, after all. It is our passion for playing great games that drives us to create them. The day we stop caring about games, and the experience of the gamer, is the day that we should stop making them. You should see people run into the playtest labs here. I just came from a Bungie Team Meeting, and the entire studio is buzzing with enthusiasm for what was put on display.
DDISAP If you had to watch 1 film, on loop, 24/7 for the rest of your lives - which film would it be?
Terminator 2
Eric Will
A Clockwork Orange, though I may want to avoid it since that scenario would result in me hating it.
Nate Hawbaker
The one playing before my eyes right now. But I heard it loops right about when my neurons stop firing, so as of right now it's been looking kinda neat.
Lorraine McLees
John Stvan
I am allowing John to share this with you as an invitation into my own personal hell. When he wants to drive me closer to my inevitable nervous breakdown, he reminds me that this song exists. For the rest of the day, it is all I can hear.
coolmike699 What do you think of my game collection?
I think you must have been really confused about what the heck was going on when you played Halo 3. To catch you up, in Halo 2, the Master Chief kills a lot of Covenant in a romp that leads from Earth and back again. He also misplaces Cortana along the way.
And, now we know where you sleep. So do all the people who are jealous of the fact that we answered so many of your questions, and none of theirs.
Get some rest. You will need it. Next week represents a whole new cycle, and it will kick off with another chance to ask us a question. Or, perhaps we will reverse the flow of the conversation, and put you – our beloved community – on the hot seat. However the events unfold, we will talk again soon.