New Footage Of Original Halo RTS Emerges
The Halo Master Chief Collection developers, 343 Industries, and a group of modders have teamed up to show footage from the original version of Halo that was a real time strategy game.
At this point, everyone knows that Halo: Combat Evolved changed the industry when it came to first-person shooters on console, but what many don't know is that it was originally envisioned as an RTS for the Mac before Microsoft came along. Now all these years later, 343 Industries and some determined modders are collaborating to restore this original version so that it can be used with the editing kit for Halo MCC.
New Footage Of Original Halo RTS Emerges
Click to enlargeBack in July, a post on Halo Waypoint announced a team up of 343 members and Halo modders to create team Digsite, a group focused on restoring cut content from the original versions of Halo to make them available in the Halo MCC editing kit. Their goals aren't exclusive to the original Halo, as one of their biggest missions was to recreate Earth City from the original E3 demo showcase for Halo 2. However, earlier versions of the original Halo were so drastically different, that making some of the cut content available acts as a window into the franchise's storied past.
Their labour is now starting to bear fruit as a brand-new Halo modding community showcase, which debuted on YouTube on September 4, features lots of cut content from the original Halo RTS and more. There's too much to run through in just this article, but the showcase gives us a look at a unique tank called the Forerunner Tank, several different versions of the Spartan armour, a Spartan minigun, different versions of various weapons, and much more.
While some of this content is available for the modding community, team Digsite are still yet to finish their massive project, and there is currently no announcement on when all the cut content will be released for the Halo MCC editing kit.
What Else Did We See In The Halo Modding Community Showcase?
The showcase ran for just under one hour and 30 minutes, meaning there were a lot of different mods, such as custom missions, campaigns, new music, multiplayer maps, and much more.
One of the most interesting showings was a conversion mod called Halo DOOM Evolved, which brings the weapons and UI of Halo: Combat Evolved into the classic levels of the original DOOM. The mod author also went through the trouble of converting all of the weapons into 2D sprites, so they fit the look of DOOM more.
Halo Reborn was another mod that had a promising showing. It's a custom campaign that follows the story of the original Halo trilogy, but recreates it with brand-new environments, encounters, weapons, gameplay mechanics, while also introducing cut content made possible by team Digsite.
The entire showcase is linked above, so feel free to check it out if you are interested in the vibrant Halo modding scene.