Let’s say that you have a secret to keep. It’s a really good secret, and you like the people that you want to tell it to. But you know that if you tell that secret, you’ll end up hurting a lot of people who have placed in you their trust. That’s what managing the Bungie Community can be like. It’s not all twitter updates and forum games. Every day is fraught with temptation.
Fortunately, I get by with a little help from my friends…
Austin Spafford, Engineer
Ben Wommack, Production Engineer
Cameron Pinard, Artist
David Shaw, Senior Producer
Drew Smith, Producer
Cale Haskell, Engineer
Pat Jandro, Senior Cinematic Designer
John Hopson, User Research Lead
Chris Owens, Test Engineer
Rick Lico, Senior Art Lead
James Tsai, Senior Designer
Rachel Swavely, Motion Capture Tech
Adam Brown, Engineer
Let’s open the Sack.
ChorrizoTapatio Does saying “First!” make you better than everyone?
Clearly! Just think about you feel when you see the first person who manages to reply to something on the Internet. Don’t you just well up with admiration? Don’t you imagine them as someone who knows things and is going places?
Try What motivates you to do a good job?
David Shaw, Senior Producer
Smiles and laughs.
Austin Spafford, Engineer
First, I love programming, like, a little too much. Second, it’s awesome being part of a team working on a crazy cool project. You don’t want to let the rest of the team down!
Adam Brown, Engineer
Blind devotion, plus a carefully managed system of awesome job perks.
Cale Haskell, Engineer
Knowing that my work is eagerly awaited by millions of people worldwide is a pretty strong motivator to not muck things up.
Pat Jandro, Senior Cinematic Designer
The chance to do the best version of my job that's ever been done in the history of mankind.
John Hopson, User Research Lead
Working in an industry I’ve always admired and with people that are insanely talented and smart.
Chris Owens, Test Engineer
Seeing the awesome work being done by people around me.
Cameron Pinard, Artist
A sense of ownership, and getting to work on amazing projects. If you’re going to put yourself out there, make sure you go full ass.
Drew Smith, Producer
Knowing any failures during development will be forever immortalized by relentless, clever fans. Just kidding — you guys are astounding, but it’s as simple as having personal standards. If the best is possible, why not make it happen?
Ben Wommack, Production Engineer
I love what I do for a living, but there’s also a ton of stuff I absolutely don’t want to do for a living. You know the guy who runs around at the rodeo to distract the pissed off bull, risking great personal injury or even his life? I couldn’t do that. Fear of becoming a rodeo clown and getting trampled motivates me to try my hardest at making video games.
James Tsai, Senior Designer
CTN 0452 9 Has Bungie ever had a flash mob?
Do launch events for games count? How about Holiday parties? Or the lunch hour? There are times when the lot of us moves as a herd to one destination or another. We drink the rivers dry. Our arrows block out the sun. Or is that just the Seattle sky?
OfTheBloodguard If it came down to it, could you trust your Bungie brethren with your lives?
Of course…
Drew Smith, Producer
I've travelled to the ends of the world with some and even given/received rides to the hospital with others. So, yes!
Pat Jandro, Senior Cinematic Designer
Depends on whether or not the coffee machine was working that day.
James Tsai, Senior Designer
I’d like to think so, but we really won’t know the answer to that question until the Zombie Apocalypse.
Chris Owens, Test Engineer
Yes. All except for John Shaffstall. He’s a pair of aviator sun glasses away from being the Unabomber.
Adam Brown, Engineer
I know DeeJ would take a bullet for me. Wouldn’t you DeeJ?
Ben Wommack, Production Engineer
Editor’s Note: Sure, but only in a game. I don’t respond well to bullets.
T1B3R7uMB0YXVI How do you define "Off Task" at Bungie?
I’m just putting this here to troll Derek Carroll, who seems to find a way to work this image into almost all of the Sacks. Let’s see if he notices…
Kr1egerdude “Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don't.” -Bill Nye
What do you know that makes you unique?
If I told everyone, I won’t be unique anymore!
Cameron Pinard, Artist
I know how
Ninja Gaiden Black ended.
Drew Smith, Producer
My earwax smells different than anyone else’s. And the right ear is a different fragrance than the left. Dogs and cats always seem to lick at my right ear, but they leave the left one alone.
James Tsai, Senior Designer
I know what it feels like to have your upper jaw cut in half! It’s pretty neat.
Cale Haskell, Engineer
Through trade negotiations, I acquired the ideal method of grilling corn on the cob, which I will share with you (not really).
Ben Wommack, Production Engineer
I have an intimate understanding of the facial features and mannerisms of more people than I’m comfortable to admit.
Pat Jandro, Senior Cinematic Designer
Old telephones used to have a built in magneto that was used to power the other end's bells.
Austin Spafford, Engineer
I know how to gut and replace the head (aka: toilet) in a sail boat. It was a smelly experience that I try not to think about.
Adam Brown, Engineer
Ockeghem Why did no one recognize my costume of gorilla suit + giant yellow foam cowboy hat?
As a wise man once said: “Pics, or it did not happen!”
Did you really honor the Bungie.net Webmaster in costume form for Halloween? If so, you simply must share with us. In fact, that just became the Halloween challenge for next year. We will send an army of jetpacked gorillas into the world, and see if the world notices.
BC1096 What’s your favorite part of History?
I like the H. It’s a strong letter and provides good anchoring by towering over the rest of the word.
Cale Haskell, Engineer
The European Renaissance has some of the best stories.
Ben Wommack, Production Engineer
Yesterday.
Drew Smith, Producer
Recently, I’ve become interested in the modern era, 1700s - mid 1900s. Though, it’s still not as cool as dinosaurs.
Cameron Pinard, Artist
I'm actually quite fascinated with the catastrophes (both natural, and actions of man) throughout humanity's history.
Pat Jandro, Senior Cinematic Designer
The early 17th century, when all the good rapier manuals were written.
John Hopson, User Research Lead
I’m a U.S. Civil War buff in particular, but I’d say that’s more the part of history that’s most interesting to me rather than being my favorite. My favorite part of history would definitely be my birth because, you know, that kind of needed to happen for me to do anything. Not coincidentally, my birth is often listed as many other people’s least favorite part of history.
James Tsai, Senior Designer
Roman Empire.
Rachel Swavely, Motion Capture Tech
Austin Spafford, Engineer
pureXownage Will we here about the new universe before the end of the year?
It’s 2012. Haven’t you heard? If the Mayans are to be believed (and why wouldn’t they?) you won’t make it to the end of the year. Sorry. And we could have had such fun together.
DE4THINC4RN4TE You have to create a brand new word for the English language. It must be ridiculously hilarious. What is it, what does it mean, how is it pronounced?
Flominate (verb) flom-en-ate: The act of belching near someone unintentionally and then refusing to acknowledge it
Drew Smith, Producer
Hurrication (noun) her-uh-kay-shun: A vacation caused by a hurricane knocking power out at work.
Adam Brown, Engineer
mvyorkie009 What is Bungie’s favorite colored monopoly property to buy and why?
We like ‘Community Chest.’ It can’t be bought, and you never know what you’re gonna get.
thenewxegk Will my questions ever get answered again?
Not when they’re this self-referential. Try to ask a question that would make everyone happy.
welder1stdegree Which music group would you most like to see reunited for a one time only performance?
A tough one, but I’d probably have to go with The Beatles.
Cameron Pinard, Artist
Joy Division.
Drew Smith, Producer
The Ramones.
Chris Owens, Test Engineer
Rachel Swavely, Motion Capture Tech
Infinite Outcast I aspire to go into cinematography. Preferably video or film editing. I also aspire to work for Bungie someday. Is there any possible way those two could intersect and coexist? If so, is there anything that anyone at Bungie could suggest to help me achieve my aspirations?
There’s nothing we would suggest that
this guy hasn’t already suggested. Do you read the
Breaking In interviews? If you want to work for Bungie, you really should. It’s a weekly arm-twisting ritual around these parts. “The Community Forum is a really nice place now,” I tell them. “The Facebook comments aren’t that bad,” I tell them – which can be a total lie, but I digress. Many brave developers have ascended to the blog lectern to tell the story about their rise to power as a Bungie Employee. There is a tale of fear and loathing in the interview loop that appeals to every skillset known to our creative process: mathematicians, artists, coders, riggers, lawyers, painters, cappers, writers, waistoids, motorheads…
Krimm117 What is your favorite moment, mechanic, or feature of any game you've helped create?
Bah! This is like picking your favorite kid. That said, I think I still have a soft spot for the
Halo 3 flag.
Cameron Pinard, Artist
The debug artwork for the
Guild Wars vanquisher-progress buff. For a short time, it was a stick-figure "doom guy" face, complete with paranoid left-right glances and grinning after kills.
Austin Spafford, Engineer
Back in
Halo 3, there was a glorious week and a half where the mongoose had a jump button (RB)—sort of like
Speed Racer but much more believable. I had tons of fun with fellow testers on Sandtrap, just driving the thing around, jumping over obstacles, and smashing into each other. Sadly, it was cut for engineering reasons. I’ve been crushed ever since.
Ben Wommack, Production Engineer
Creating music and voice-over for game jam games I have worked on (so fun).
Drew Smith, Producer
Either the Brute fight scene on the rooftops in
Halo 3: ODST or making people watch themselves meet their end in the closing cinematic of
Reach.
Pat Jandro, Senior Cinematic Designer
I'm quite fond of the gradually improving models of motorcycles in
Trials. It was a really elegant, intuitive solution to how to increase controller sensitivity over the course of the game.
John Hopson, User Research Lead
I worked on a video game inspired version of
The Punisher that came out around the same time as the 2004 movie, but based on a different storyline with different characters. We had a mechanic where players directly controlled some brutal interrogation scenes; my favorite was one was where you held a guy over a woodchipper and forced him into it by “shoving” him with the analog stick. The guy resisted through controller vibrations and on-screen animations until his inevitable, gruesome, bloody death. Eventually we had to scale back the visuals and the graphic nature of a lot of what we originally created to avoid getting an “Adults Only” rating, but the original versions that were in early demos were a hit with press and fans. After reading back this answer, I feel like I need to add a disclaimer that I’m a well-adjusted person that doesn’t kick puppies.
James Tsai, Senior Designer
I’m actually pretty new to the game industry. I only worked on one commercial title before coming to Bungie. But I did make a lot of maps for
Half-Life which still hold a special place in my mind. A map I’m particularly fond of forced the player to crawl through a vent while things were blowing up, and each grate they passed they could look out and see a cataclysmic event killing another scientist. I had a lot of fun finding new and interesting ways to kill those scientists. I’m sure my future therapist will love talking about this.
Adam Brown, Engineer
I was co-combat designer and animation lead for
Condemned 2 at my former employer. One of the enemy AI you encountered in that game was a twisted, 2-headed, self-conflicted, motherly baby-doll who was alive during one of the stranger levels. As a burly, violence-wielding ex-cop, fighting them wasn't very satisfying gameplay so we decided to try and turn them into playable weapons as well as enemy AI. If you kicked the enemy doll, it would stun it, allowing you to pick it up.
Since C2 was all about using anything you find in your environment as a weapon, it was a great opportunity to have this spooky baby doll judge your actions while you wield it as a weapon. The best part was the move-set. We needed melee attacks, of course, which meant swinging the doll violently at other enemies. I animated the doll in the player's hands to look like it was having fun on this ride, like a little girl squealing as daddy swings her around in a grassy field on a summer day.
We also needed a block for incoming attacks, which would anger the doll. If you blocked with the baby, the second head (shoulder head) would turn in an effort to see what was going to hit it. The protective other head, who had control over the arm, would turn the shoulder head back gently, and shame it for being curious. Like I said earlier, she's motherly. If you managed to successfully block an attack with baby, she would be furious, and punch you for being so mean to her. To this day, I don't know of any other game that punishes you in such an entertaining way for being successful with the combat mechanics. Twisted psychological horror games are fun to design!
Rick Lico, Senior Art Lead
CoRaMo I challenge you to a duel... to the death! What weapons will we be using?
I accept your challenge! And, thank you for letting me (and not Rick Lico) choose the weapons. That was most sporting of you. Let’s see, now…
You’ll be using this.
I’ll be using this.
Good luck to you!
Disclaimer: Bungie would never actually shoot any of the gamers in their community. There are a few that we might like to silence with duct tape for an hour or two, but an assault with heavy weaponry is just not our style – at least not in real life. If you’re taking anything in this Mail Sack seriously, the joke is completely on you, Internet.
the real Janaka What series are you guys into right now, and why?
Link to the Past, because I received a Zelda shirt for my birthday.
Austin Spafford, Engineer
The League,
Parks and Recreation, and
Sons of Anarchy. I’m also really stoked for new
Sherlock and
Doctor Who.
Cameron Pinard, Artist
30 Rock, because I finished Walking Dead Season 2 on Netflix.
David Shaw, Senior Producer
Top Gear. Why was I not watching this years ago?
Drew Smith, Producer
I am making my way through
Twin Peaks once again.
Pat Jandro, Senior Cinematic Designer
The Flashman series by George McDonald Fraiser. He's like an evil Forrest Gump.
John Hopson, User Research Lead
The Inbetweeners,
Key and Peel, and
Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia, because they make me laugh like a 50’s comic book villain.
Chris Owens, Test Engineer
Breaking Bad. Be nice to your chemistry teacher!
James Tsai, Senior Designer
I know I’m late to the party, but I just started watching
The Big Bang Theory. Reminds me of some of my friends. Not the genius part, just the insufferable nerd arguments.
Adam Brown, Engineer
Rachel Swavely, Motion Capture Tech
crawlingshadow9 I've seen Bungie Employees on the Forums with custom titles, like "Sent West" and "still hates toast.” I've also seen some without that, just "Bungie Employee." Why is that?
Uhhhhhhhhhh… In searching my imagination high and low for a sarcastic answer to this question, I have come up dry. It’s a first. Instead, I’m gonna go for broke and be honest, and see if my response clears the censors. Here goes: We ran out of room in the database for custom titles. It’s a problem that will be fixed by Bungie.next.
Mythical Wolf Recommend a game to me.
I love horror games, so I’m gonna have to go with
Penumbra: Overture. It’s one of the best indie games I’ve played.
Adam Brown, Engineer
Austin Spafford, Engineer
Picross 3D on the Nintendo DS, if you like puzzles, numbers, and three-dimensional perspective.
Ben Wommack, Production Engineer
Checkers. As for the digital variety, when I get time, I’ve been enjoying Mark of the Ninja.
Cameron Pinard, Artist
Amnesia the Dark Descent. Get adult diapers.
Drew Smith, Producer
Settlers of Catan. The board game version.
Pat Jandro, Senior Cinematic Designer
Kingdom Rush.
John Hopson, User Research Lead
FTL. You’re welcome.
Chris Owens, Test Engineer
Rachel Swavely, Motion Capture Tech
Phoenix2640 What is Bungie doing on Halloween?
YodasCurd Show us your Halloween costumes. We all know you wore one.
mark117 mia2553 Who had the scariest costume in Bungie Studios this Halloween?
One at a time. Please! All of your questions can be answered
here. You can even select the winner of the Community Edition of our Costume Contest. We chose our own champion for All Saint’s Day - and we’ll never tell.
GrandmasterNinja I always wondered...what if we ALL decided to NOT ask a question?
If that were to happen, I would just assume that no one was visiting the website anymore and start deleting accounts – starting with the oldest. It sure would be nice to clean house of all this dead Mythic weight.
But that isn’t going to happen. Is it? Because you will ALL be back here on Monday to taunt us with another volley of questions. Failure to do so would be foolish, Bungie Community. Your virtual existence on website depends on it. You thought this Q/A session was just fun and games. Didn’t you? It started out that way, but it’s mutated into something more dangerous now.
Have a nice weekend.