Bungie Teases a Game That Never Ends

[Tom Goldman]

Bungie Teases a Game That Never Ends

Recent comments made by Bungie hint towards the possible development of a game with a persistent world.

Now that Bungie is finished with Halo [http://www.amazon.com/Halo-Reach-Xbox-360/dp/B002BSA20M] (for now) its next project is known to be multi-platform, set in a new universe, and that's about it. The game could be a multi-million dollar Pong clone for all we know. Though Bungie writer Joe Staten may have been kidding when he teased that it'd be similar to an MMO at the Game Developer's Conference Online this week, but that doesn't mean he wasn't giving a hint towards something the game could feature.

In a panel called "Writing the Whirlwind: 10 Years On the Frontlines of Halo Storytelling and Beyond," Staten said that creating a "universe of stories" is one of the most challenging things a writer can do. While doing this with Halo has brought him "excitement," it has also brought him a good deal of "terror."

But now Staten is working on Bungie's next big tale, and he hopes to make it even better than before. Like Halo, Bungie is focusing on its the game like it'll be the last it ever makes: a game that might even have a persistent world.

After also addressing the failings of Halo's storytelling, and revealing what Bungie learned from them, Staten may have given a slight clue, or a terribly false tease, about where Bungie wants to bring gamers. After saying it was a "shame" that players could only spend "handfuls of hours" in the Halo world, Staten asked: "Wouldn't it be great if we could make a world that was always there for you?"

"Wow," Staten added. "That would be great." According to Gamasutra, this was said with "almost comedic precision to avoid a factual statement." Now, this could quite obviously be wishful thinking on Staten's part, and could mean nothing. We know [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/104108-Bungie-Needs-High-IQ-Help-With-PS3] Bungie is working on a project coming to consoles, and consoles aren't known for persistent worlds or MMOs. Still, Bungie has the strong backing of Activision, and is almost guaranteed to generate, dare I say, billions over the course of its 10 year deal with the publisher. If anyone can bring a successful FPS, or even just an action game with MMO-like qualities to a console, it'd be Bungie.

Source: Gamasutra [http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/30824/GDC_Online_Bungies_Staten_On_Building_Worlds_Not_Words.php]


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[FinalDream]

I hope they have learnt about characterisation.

 

[Madara XIII]

I hope they have learnt about characterisation.

Knowing them, I doubt it. But I got a bit of a chuckle out of this.

"A Game that never ends"

LOL and here I thought they were talking about halo XD

 

[Nouw]

It's a good thing they learn their mistakes but can they improve on it?

 

[Delusibeta]

So, like a strange blend of Team Fortress 2, World of Warcraft and EVE Online?

 

[Iron Lightning]

Well, they would have to get around the fact that all games have a finite amount of content, and thus have to end.

 

[Therumancer]

Hmmm well a "game that never ends" has arguably been done. What it involves is simply a very simple game with randomly generated levels or variables. A lot of very old arcade games had no real storyline or endpoint, they just kept going on forever, until eventually you could break the abillity of the game to handle the ever increasing numbers of your score.

Today if someone was to say make one of those games with modern processing power and techniques, the ever increasing score numbers would no longer matter, and a never ending game could thus be created.

What's more I think various "roguelike" games have demonstrated that such a game does not nessicarly need to be that simple You can create a dungeon crawl enviroment using ASCII which literally goes on forever due to no plot, and randomly generated enemies, if the character does not die, the game can keep developing levels indefinatly.

That said I think pacing is important, and I'm not sure if there will be any appeal to a game without some kind of objectives to be met and an "end" until perhaps we create a true VR enviroment where people can literally live in fantastic place through the technology.

I'll also be honest in saying that I truthfully have little faith in Bungie at the moment. To be Bungie *IS* Halo and Halo is Bungie and I am not a big FPS fan, though I can acknowlege Halo for the blockbuster it is. Anything they have done before Halo is irrelevent to me, because that game is why I know who they are. Right now they are facing the actual test as far as I am concerned in seeing if lightning can strike twice. If they manage to turn out something as good and as enduring as Halo again, even if it's a game I don't care for, that is when I'm going to start having faith in them as a developer. I think today people tend to lionize too many developers after a single major success (major being the key, it doesn't mean no other successes). It's sort of like one hit wonders in the music world, sure they do a lot of stuff that's okay, but it's that one hit that they are known for. You can't call those people superstars, the real stars are the ones that manage to consistantly belt out major success after major success. You can't say compare "Strawberry Alarm Clock" to "Elton John", and right now Bungie is like the former.

 

[Geoffrey42]

Way back in the day, pre-Xbox but post-RTS, (disclaimer: this is all based off of my memory from reading an article in a magazine previewing what the studio was up to) Halo was going to be a persistent world, with terrain deformation from weapons, and full warfare (ground and air vehicles, soldiers and varying weaponry) that supported the idea that people would play the game to be nothing other than pilots, or tank crews, or SpecOps, or etc. Individuals would be encouraged to specialize in a particular skillset (somewhat like hardcore Battlefield/ArmA helicopter pilots with joysticks), and become known for being a quality pilot, so that when you needed to fulfill the objective of infiltrating a place and taking over a base, you'd find a skilled dropship pilot to take your squad in.

I found the whole idea deeply fascinating, and would be really entertained if they've decided to go back to that money-pit of an idea.

EDITED: stupid people interrupting me mid-revision, and me forgetting that I was mid-revision before hitting post...

 

[felixader]

Way back in the day, pre-Xbox but post-RTS, (disclaimer: this is all based off of my memory from reading an article in a magazine previewing what the studio was up to) Halo was going to be a persistent world, with terrain deformation from weapons, and full warfare (ground and air vehicles, soldiers and varying weaponry) that supported the idea that people would play the game to be nothing other than pilots, or tank crews, or SpecOps, or etc. Individuals would be encouraged to specialize in a particular skillset (somewhat like hardcore Battlefield/ArmA helicopter pilots with joysticks), and become known for being a quality pilot, so that when you needed to fulfill the objective of infiltrating a place and taking over a base, you'd find a skilled dropship pilot to take your squad in.

I found the whole idea deeply fascinating, and would be really entertained if they've decided to go back to that money-pit of an idea.

EDITED: stupid people interrupting me mid-revision, and me forgetting that I was mid-revision before hitting post...

Better fitting would be to mention Planetside.

 

[Kuchinawa212]

Halo MMORPG
umm I'd say I'm in if that wasn't basicly Halo Reach MP. I mean, you level up, earn new stuff. Quests are the missions you play. And it'll never end =D

 

[TheStickman]

Am I the only one who thought of a NeverEnding Story game when I saw the title?

 

[FungiGamer]

A game that never ends.... a game that's always there for you when you go to it....

OH MY GOD BUNGIE IS MAKING A NEW ANIMAL CROSSING GAME

 

[Balmong7]

Please be that little plunger dude, Please be that little plunger dude, Please be that little plunger dude,

http://loadingreadyrun.com/videos/view/341/The-Superintendents-Sorrow

 

[Lillowh]

Please be planetside-esqe....Please be planetside-esqe....Please be planetside-esqe....Please be planetside-esqe....Please be planetside-esqe....PLEAAAAAAAAAASE! I long for a modern day planetside and it would be quite awesome on consoles especially if it is cross-system where PC,360,and Maybe even PS3 owners would all be playing in the same universe fighting ongoing battles of epic proportions! If they bring the world a game that does that, i can't think of any better world there could be(you know other than no war or hunger, that comes first. But this is definitely second on my list!)

 

[Kimarous]

It is the game that never ends... it just goes on and on, my friend. Some people starting playing it, not knowing what it was, and they'll continue playing it forever just because-

 

[Lullabye]

It is the game that never ends... it just goes on and on, my friend. Some people starting playing it, not knowing what it was, and they'll continue playing it forever just because-

It is the game that never ends! It just goes on and on my friends! Some people, started playing it, not knowing what it was, and they'll continue playing it forever ever just because-

[sub]like Oblivion without the main quest?[/sub]

 

[Lullabye]

{ignore, double post}

 

[Nephilium]

It is the game that never ends... it just goes on and on, my friend. Some people starting playing it, not knowing what it was, and they'll continue playing it forever just because-

It is the game that never ends! It just goes on and on my friends! Some people, started playing it, not knowing what it was, and they'll continue playing it forever ever just because-

It is the game that never ends! It just goes on and on my friends! Some people, started playing it, not knowing what it was, and they'll continue playing it forever ever just because-

[sub]More like World of Warcraft until someone nukes Blizzards server farm[/sub]

 

[Danpascooch]

Well, they would have to get around the fact that all games have a finite amount of content, and thus have to end.

There are games with persistent worlds, very few though.

For example, Minecraft generates the world as you explore it, the hard programmed limit is equivalent to 8 times the surface area of the REAL Earth, so for all intents and purposes, it's limitless.

 

[Amnestic]

If Bungie end up making a Planetside-style FPS game, I wonder how much competition it'll get with CCP's Dust 514?

I would love to see a new Planetside though and Bungie has shown that they, like it or not, know how to make a popular FPS title. Do want.