What's the ultimate goal of the game?
GD: To keep the universe around until the events of Halo 1 (laughs).
We actually fill in little pieces of the jigsaw puzzle. There's a large story to tell here and we add to that story and fill-in pieces of the jigsaw puzzle that you get to learn about in the Halo games and the books. It's part of that tapestry.
How is the story told in Halo Wars? Is there an overall story arch?
GD: The story's told through pre-rendered cinematics and in-game moments like the one you saw with the Scarab. The story takes place in 2531 and ends in 2531.
We got different planets, so it's safe to say that the environments change quite dramatically as well.
Any cameo appearances from the teenage Master Chief?
GD: No teenage Master Chief, but there are Spartans in the game.
How involved has Bungie been with the RTS project?
GD: Well the assets are all from the ground up for the RTS. We worked closely with them on the story and they give us continuous feedback, but they let Ensemble make an Ensemble game. It's our game.
CR: Yeah, it's been a really cool relationship.
In the multiplayer department, how important is that to the game and how many players are you going for?
CR: We're still nailing a combat number right now, but we're absolutely going to have a robust multiplayer.
GD: There's a lot of expectations from Halo 2 multiplayer and we really want to be a first class citizen there. One of my favorite ways to play a game is co-op mode, so you can play the campaign in co-op online as well. I love playing with someone else against something, so co-op will be a huge part of the online experience.
Has the Halo 3 multiplayer beta tempted you to set up your own beta test as well?
CR: There's nothing that we're talking about right now.
GD: There'll be a demo that ships before the game ships. We're anxious for people to see the controls and learn the controls.
Is there any resource gathering in the game at all?
GD: Oh yeah. We didn't actually look at the resource gathering model today, but we saw the supply depots in the base. We want to make sure that the economy has depth but it's streamlined from what we've seen in other RTS games.
There's still strategy there but we want you looking at the combat, we don't want you managing your base. We want you out managing your combat and that aspect of the game.
