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A flood of anecdotes
Image credit:Bungie / Robert McLees & Penguin Random House / Gustaf Tenggren
Image credit:Bungie / Robert McLees & Penguin Random House / Gustaf Tenggren
Halo and its sequel had a smaller development team than an equivalent blockbuster today might have. This meant some designers would have to do odd jobs outside of their wheelhouse. This is what led Lorraine and Robert McLees, a husband and wife who worked at Bungie during Halo 2’s development, to create various things for the game beyond the requirements of their job description.
Although Robert was a weapons designer, for instance, he was also made responsible for coming up with concept art for the Flood. And he particularly remembers creating the infection form of the creature (the little creepy bug-bois that burst and infect their victims with spores).
The first concept “looked like a cross between a house centipede and a blood sausage,” he told Rolling Stone. “That was disgusting, but didn’t look very mobile.”
Image credit:Bungie / Microsoft
Unhappy with the first pass, the artist discovered the perfect shape for the alien creature in time for another attempt. And it turned out to be an image that had been “skittering around in the shadowy parts of my brain” since childhood.
You can see the exact palm tree he mentions inthis YouTube reading of the book. And sure enough, the tree’s roots do evoke the unmistakable tendril legs of a Flood critter. The trunk also looks a lot like that ugly conical appendage that crowns the alien larva’s head. So I guess we all need to thank children’s illustrator Gustaf Tenggren for inspiring a horrifying monster. Neat.
Image credit:Bungie / Microsoft
The Rolling Stone interview basically confirms a lot of that history.
“Bungie, up to then, never had good managers,” said Robert McLees. “They had creatives that were forced into managerial roles while still remaining in their creative roles — basically working two jobs. This kinda worked when there were 12 of us. It worked less well when there were 30 of us. It collapsed when there were 60 of us.”
“At the time, we really didn’t know what was going to happen,” added Lorraine. “If we were going to make it or not. It was the make-it-or-break-it period for the young Bungie crew. So much burn-out.”
Crunch continues to be a problem for game developers today. The management of the studio working onStar Citizenrecentlyimposed a mandatory seven-day week on its employees, for example.Diablo IVworkers havealso complained about unsustainable work demands.
