Its hard to believe that its already been 20 years since the release ofHalo 2.
That logo, she says, was inspired by environment artist Paul Russells Forerunner architecture designs.
It started with my illustration of the dual-wielding Chief on the cover of theOfficial Xbox Magazine, she says.
‘Halo 2’ box art, featuring Master ChiefMicrosoft Game Studios
I then created the source art the marketing team at Microsoft built the campaign around including additional magazine covers.
I was kind oftheweapons guy at Bungie, Robert explains.
I was also the most senior artist by a couple of months, at least.
Some of it acted on me unconsciously, he says.
That was disgusting, but didnt look very mobile.
That was the basis for the Flood Infection Form.
And this is why Robert McLees is known amongst theHalocommunity as The Father of the Flood.
Both Robert and Lorraines iconic contributions to theHalouniverse didnt come without a cost.
Halo 2really took a toll on me, Robert says.
And he wasnt alone in that sentiment.
A hellish development
Halo 2was really hard on the team, Lorraine explains.
Bungie, up to then, never had good managers, he says.
They had creatives that wereforcedinto 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.
He designed ammo pickups and crates, health items (Meal, Ready-To-Eat!
), and just about everything needed to flesh out the look and feel of the environments.
The consistent lack of communication between departments meant he was often doing evenmorework than was required of him.
How the fuck does that request make it all the way to me?, he wonders.
There were at least three stages where it shouldve been killed before it got to art.
Robert wasnt the only one pulling double duty.
My title never matched my actual responsibilities, she admits.
We were too busy.
At some point, I stopped caring as long as I got to do the work.
It wasthemake it or break it period for the young Bungie crew.
We helped bring people together.
Thats the power of these games.
Its all more corporate than that.
