Bungie producer Allen Murray won’t say a word about how the studio’s new project is going — but he will tell you how they’re getting it done.
Murray first joined the team at the tail end of Halo 2‘s development. He described it as a “big disaster.” Everyone who’s ever worked in production knows that when morale is through the floor and the ship date’s been pushed into the next year, it’s usually [[link]] the producer’s fault.
“But,” says Murray. “If you have a good crunch, everybody did it. It’s a team effort.”
This philosophy Bungie has adopted toward production post-Halo has seven main principles:
Ensure Bungie remains creative — Having a little discipline shouldn’t ruin the fun-loving atmosphere of the place.
Put quality and people first — Make sure the game you’re making doesn’t suck and make sure the people working on it don’t start to suck.
Know that the producer is flexible and adaptable — Shit happens, people get sick, dates get moved around; Bungie can deal.
Take pride in applying a methodology to production — Schedules and accountability are not totalitarian tools of the Devil.
Know that the schedule is a means to an end, [[link]] not the end itself — Knowing when and where your milestones is coming up is half the battle; finishing the game is the other half.
Empower and enable the team to take ownership of their schedule — If the art guy says it takes seven days, he should get seven days, not five.
Set dates and ship on time — Amen.
Murray wrapped up his talk by encouraging everyone to apply to work [[link]] at Bungie, presumably on their hush-hush new project that isn’t Halo 4.
https://kotaku.com/bungie-coy-over-next-publishing-deal-5065755