Bungie's Mailsack: Destiny Q&A - March 15, 2013

[Choot 'em]

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Image and content courtesy of www.Bungie.net.

 

"The Ides of Mail Sack"

 

 

Bungie's Mailsack - March 15, 2013

 

POKEY CLYDE - Can you tell the tale of an adventure you've had while playing Destiny?

 

No.

Lorraine McLees, Senior Graphic Designer

 

I loaded a build, shot a gun, killed a dude. I suck at stories.

John Stvan, Graphic Designer

 

This one time it was like “brrrt”, and then I was like “whoa” and then the guys were all “oh yeah!” I was like “Yeah, take that!” and then I had to get back to work.

Cameron Pinard, Artist

 

I found myself working with three separate groups of people at different times. That was pretty rad.

Jake Lauer, Engineer

 

Gunny 186 - Is the team ready for the massive onslaught of players on Destiny's release day?

 

This isn’t our first rodeo. Bungie is no stranger to anxious mobs of players who rush home after a midnight launch and put our best-laid plans to the test. Since a release date hasn’t even been announced yet, we’ll let our team focus on some less frightening but equally important challenges.

 

ibex1001 - What are some of the more tedious things that the testers have had to do, either for Halo or Destiny?

 

We had to test squad joining and host migration combinations mixed with various types of network disconnects. I don’t want to have to go back into matchmaking or reform my squad because the host rage quit.

Rahsaan Green, Sandbox Test Engineer

 

Halo 2, simulating 14.4 modem bandwidth with massive packet loss, playing 16 player rockets on Midship. The netcode held up remarkably well, considering.

Michael Williams, Senior Engineer

 

I still have nightmares about capturing 500 flags.

John Harris, Tester

 

All I am going to say is, “If They Came To Hear Me Beg.”

Travis Pijut, Test Engineer

 

I had to verify a bug that involved making 65 transitions from one area to another and back. It was… delightful.

Leland Dantzler, Tester

 

This rock has a bad texture, this rock has a bad texture, this rock has a bad texture, oh look a hole in the ground, this rock has a bad texture.

Thomas Wiley, Tester

 

GPK Ethan - What do you guys plan on showing at GDC?

 

The GDC is really more of an industry affair than a marketing venue. If that’s what you’re after, we’ve got some thoughts about what we might share from the proceedings. When last we checked in with Joe and Barry, their presentation was a whopping 157 slides long, and bursting with Bungie secret sauce.

 

Warman422 - On those few moments where you aren't coding/playing Destiny, what do you enjoy doing?

 

Making fun of Urk.

Drew Smith, Producer

 

Creating pixel art and sprites, often for roguelike games, under the pseudonym Oryx.

Christopher Barrett, Art Director

 

Some gaming, lately including Tomb Raider and Starcraft II. Regular Magic: The Gathering over lunch at work is great fun too.

Tom Gioconda, Engineer

 

I like hanging out at home with my wife and kids.

Joe Sifferman, Associate Test Engineer

 

Maintaining tall-ships, playing Magic, creating puzzles, and reading books.

Michael Williams, Senior Engineer

 

I like to make beer and mead then consume the aforementioned product while playing my favorite video games.

Alan Stuart, Senior Engineer

 

Playing the violin and planning my wedding.

Reed Shingledecker, Artist

 

Writing, recording, and then never finishing songs in my home studio.

Jake Lauer, Engineer

 

Golfing, smoking premium cigars, and throwing tomahawks at people in black ops.

David Henry, Senior Audio Designer

 

Playing with my son. He thinks handing me a cup and then taking it back is the coolest thing ever. It never gets old.

Justin Truman, Engineering Lead

 

MastaSin - In Destiny, can we play as the aliens or are we locked to the human race? And if we are, why are we locked to the human race? What's the reason?

 

Not all of the aliens in Destiny are evil, just like not all humans are good. We’ve barely scratched the surface on the character and customization options you’ll have access to in Destiny, but we’re not going to dig in any deeper today.

 

Element ZER0 - How big are "levels" in Destiny compared to the levels from your past Halo games?

 

The scope and scale really don’t tell half the story. At a high level, we now have what we call World teams. As the name implies, they’re less concerned about atomic “levels,” instead focused holistically on each world’s visual themes and the various destinations and activities you’ll find when you set foot in an LZ. It’s a bit more nuanced than that, of course – there are a number of teams that fall outside the umbrella of World teams whose contributions are equally instrumental – but ultimately our grand and overarching goal is to make Destiny feel like a world you visit, not just a disc in your drive.

 

Don Shibz - Which planet do you guys most enjoy adventuring on and why?

 

I personally love the Moon (yes, I realize this is not a planet). There is a spark of childhood wonder looking on the horizon and seeing the Earth in the distance. Just call me Neil Armstrong.

Drew Smith, Producer

 

Whichever is pretty this week.

Lorraine McLees, Senior Graphic Designer

 

Venus. It’s pretty and I like the Combatants you find there.

Joe Sifferman, Associate Test Engineer

 

There’s no place like home – there’s some great stuff set right here on Earth. It’s always neat seeing a modern-ish era presented as archaeological ruins/relics.

Andrew Weldon, Designer

 

Right now, I’m pretty partial to the red sands of Mars, but my favorite seems to change each time I land on a planet.

Michael Williams, Senior Engineer

 

Venus by far! No wait, Mars!!! Well, actually the Moon is pretty sweet when I think about it. But if I had to choose, I would say good ‘ole Earth!

Reed Shingledecker, Artist

 

yo momy hafu - Is Destiny going to have any kind of community creation tools in it?

 

The entire game will be a community creation tool. As you encounter other brave heroes on your path, you’ll be very aware of the other people playing this game. On some occasions, they may save your life.

 

Mental - What is your favorite new feature in Destiny that you can give us an extremely vague hint at?

 

Crossing paths.

Michael Williams, Senior Engineer

 

Moving.

Andrew Weldon, Designer

 

We just got this sweet new import feature that speeds up workflow.

Cameron Pinard, Artist

 

Particle wrapping.

Reed Shingledecker, Artist

 

slunkling - So, you've given us sparing details about the game so far, understandably. We got guns like the Gravesend MkII and The Fate of All Fools, care to give us another one?

 

For reveal, we showed off and named a good half-dozen guns for our friends in the press corps, including one of Staten’s favorites, Thorn. Here’s what he had to say about it:

 

“The City wants us to recover a piece of Charlemagne, one of the great Warminds of the Golden Age—a vast machine intelligence built by the ancient Powers of Mars. The Cabal do everything they can to try and stop our descent, but we keep pushing, rifles cracking and Traveler energy boiling from our fists until the only thing left standing is us, and the only thing left of the Cabal is the loot they hid in Charlemagne’s vault.

 

Jason finds a new shotgun – perfect for his close-quarters combat style. I find a rare hand cannon that looks like it was carved from the dark heart of one of the Cracked Moons of Saturn. It feels good in my hand, and glows like starlight when I prime its magazine.

 

I am instantly and totally in love.”

 

Barry also showed off Pocket Infinity and Super Good Advice, but those are toys we’ll save for another day.

 

Xenos85 - What class of the announced classes is your favorite?

 

The classiest one.

Cameron Pinard, Artist

 

Warlock, but I am a sucker for magic users.

Drew Smith, Producer

 

My favorite class switches weekly (or daily).

Rahsaan Green, Sandbox Test Engineer

 

Currently dueling between the Hunter and Warlock. The Titan may come crashing in and punch them in the face at any moment.

Andrew Weldon, Designer

 

Hunter. Fell in love the first time I met her. Jaime Jones painted the first hunter permutation as female and in my mind associated with that class more as a result. Combination of speed and strength. I also liked the shorter cape and rather sexier shape.

Lorraine McLees, Senior Graphic Designer

 

Two Words: Titan [Redacted]!

Amos Yuen, Associate Engineer

 

one eight four - What has been your biggest setback so far?

 

Not enough time in the day!

Lorraine McLees, Senior Graphic Designer

 

Whenever we hit a new internal milestone, all our characters get deleted.

Michael Williams, Senior Engineer

 

My first day was the day the studio took the hands-at-sides-wearing-blazers picture. I knew it was going to be a weird time from then on.

Jake Lauer, Engineer

 

Real blocking bug by Timmins in January: 49361 – there is no ice cream in the freezer.

Leland Dantzler, Tester

 

I was backing up looking at some effects that I was working on and fell into the Hellmouth.

Reed Shingledecker, Artist

 

shmuel30 - How does it feel to have been working on Destiny for so long and being finally able to release more information about it to us?

 

I no longer feel like a huge [redacted] making small talk with friends when the subject of how work is going comes up.

Tom Gioconda, Engineer

 

Now the kids can say “Destiny” instead of “the new game mommy’s working on…” I like how they say “Destiny” in hushed tones, though. It’s a relief to be sure.

Lorraine McLees, Senior Graphic Designer

 

Liberating. It’s also fun to read all of the comments and speculation out there.

Joe Sifferman, Associate Test Engineer

 

It’s nice to not have to do the whole “we haven’t announced anything” but now there is the totally new problem of me having no idea what we have and haven’t talked about.

Cameron Pinard, Artist

 

I still plead the fifth on everything.

Rachel Swavely, Technical Artist

 

It’s like playing with the best toy in the world and finally getting to show it to your friends but still not letting them play with it.

John Stvan, Graphic Designer

 

I’ve only been on the project for 5 months, and I was literally bursting at the seams. I can’t imagine what some coworkers who’ve been working on it for years had to endure.

Leland Dantzler, Tester

 

I’ve spent 3 years having to say “the game I’m working on,” and now I can shorten that to three syllables.

Justin Truman, Engineering Lead.

 

Be safe, everyone. Don’t make the same mistake as Caesar. Heed your own warnings. We wouldn’t want you to miss out on the fun we’re planning for you.

 

- Dee J

 

Be on the lookout for the latest Bungie Mailsack as they are

released with more answers to the community's questions.

[Church]

MAN they have some pretty hilarious responses. It's pretty clear that they are putting a ton of effort into it, and I look forward to it quite impatiently!