Prerelease:Halo: Combat Evolved

This page details prerelease information and/or media for Halo: Combat Evolved.

To do: Translate the German GameStar videos. Check out this early build and this concept art and this concept art. check if more clips of this build is anywhere.

Halo: Combat Evolved, previously known as "Blam!" and "Monkey Nuts", had a very long and complicated development process. Starting as an RTS for the Macintosh, ending up as an FPS for Xbox and having some time as a third-person shooter in between, it took four long, hard years for Bungie to finally release what would become one of the best selling titles on the Xbox, and a classic game that started a revolutionary franchise.

Evolution of Halo Part 1

The Evolution of Halo is a video that was shown at the E3 2002 FanFest. It shows footage of the game from its earliest incarnation to the version shown at Macworld 1999 to the build shown at E3 2000. Details regarding the versions of Halo shown at Macworld and beyond are reserved here for its own section below. Meanwhile, this section will document the RTS era of development, as well as any other details not present elsewhere.

• This version of the game bears strong similarities to Myth: The Fallen Lords, one of Bungie's earlier games, which was an RTS.
• A toolbar is present in the top-right corner that would have been used to interact with the world and your units.
• At the top-left of the UI some text appears to read "JONES - TROOPER 092", and later on "LAST MAN ON THE HILL". What these messages mean is unclear. Th UI also sports a minimap in the top-right corner, which would remain for quite a long time after.
• Numerous prototype units and features were shown:
  • The Heavy Trooper: Likely a heavy ground combat unit. Said to have around 100 polygons each.
  • A broken bunker and "Groundblast": The former was a part of the scenery, the latter was probably a selected piece of terrain with blast marks on it.
  • Zedsu: A human tank.
  • Scoutcar: Also referred to as the Hummer, this would eventually evolve into the Warthog.
  • Alien tank: Bearing no resemblance to the Covenant Wraith tank, the bright orange coloration would not be seen in any Covenant vehicles past this.
  • Horseshoe Crab: A tank that has the in-game tag of "Stalker". This would probably have evolved into the Scorpion, while the physical appearance of the Horseshoe may have inspired the Rhino tank in Halo Wars. Halo 2 Legendary Edition contains a developer's commentary that states this would later become a Forerunner Tank, which would then become the Seraph seen in Halo 2 and fought in Halo Reach.
  • Mowitser: Unknown, but could likely be based on the Howitzer, a piece of military artillery.
  • Also seen amongst the above vehicles was an aircraft that bears resemblance to the final game's Longsword starfighter.
• As the scene shifts to another collection of vehicles:
  • Numerous different varieties of untextured tanks, none named.
  • What appears to be a mechanical walker, likely based on concept art of the cut Walker Mech, detailed in the Cut Vehicle section below.
  • An early version of the Ghost that more closely resembles its early concept art.
  • The one textured vehicle, the orange vehicle between the walker and the proto-Ghost, appears to be the Forerunner Tank, also detailed in a later section.
  • A jet fighter is also present, which we will not see later.

After briefly detailing the RTS era, the video then shifts to an early version of the third-person era.

• The UI has changed again. It still features the minimap, though it is now encompassed by the logo from Marathon, a series of games previously developed by Bungie. This would remain for the entirety of the third-person era of Halo, though it would be lost by the time it made the move to first-person.
  • The Marathon logo is split in half: the left hand half is orange and segmented into seven pieces. The right hand half is further split in half; the top quarter is white and the bottom is blue and split into two.
• The environment, along with all of the palm trees, are all unseen in the final release.
• A tank is shown, which could either have become the Scorpion or the cut Stealth Tank.
• An Assault Rifle is seen strapped to the player's back. This feature would later become reality in Halo 3.
• There is a boat present on the water. Watercraft has not appeared in any Halo game thus far.
• Noticeably, there is no Halo in the sky, possibly indicating that the setting of the game was not finalized at this point.
• The next shot however shows a newer build of Halo, including a Halo in the skybox. However, the Halo appears "broken", as stated in the video. The commentators also make the connection of the broken Halo to "a prelude to what happens in the future", referencing the events of Halo 3.
• Three vehicles are present in this shot: A blue Stealth Tank and two Warthogs, one with and one without a turret. They are very much unfinished, though they are starting to resemble their final form.
• We also get to see footage of the player riding a Blind Wolf. The Blind Wolf would later be cut, but is present in the E3 2000 trailer. More details on the Blind Wolf are in the Other Cuts section below.
• Visible in the background is a vehicle that doesn't resemble any vehicle in Halo, but does bear some resemblance to the Elephant from Halo 3, albeit much smaller.
• Next, we get a look at Warthogs and Ghosts that closely resemble those shown at Macworld 1999.
• In the next shot, the player enters an early Forerunner construct. The commentators say that this building uses "Sullivan textures". This likely indicates that someone with the name Sullivan created these early textures.
• As the player walks down the corridor, they switch from their Assault Rifle to the Anti Air Missile Launcher, which would later be cut. Of note is that when the player fires a missile down the corridor, the light it emits shows it travels to the end of the corridor into the black void beyond, before coming to a complete stop as it enters this void.
• It is also stated that Jason Jones, project lead on Halo, did not want Halo to be a first-person game and was insistent that the game be played in a third-person perspective. However, as the game evolved he soon came to the decision that the game would be better played in a first person perspective. This change, however, would not be until after E3 2000 and some time after, as the game was still being marketed as a third-person title until that point.
• The player then heads into an early version of the Control Room, featuring a large, static Halo hologram. At the back of the room is a large mirrored surface which would not be used in the final game.

Macworld 1999

Halo was first shown to the public by the late Steve Jobs at Macworld 1999, with Halo being shown to be running on a Macintosh.

Visuals

• The opening shot shows what appears to be an early version of the control room, complete with a large Halo hologram revolving around 2 holographic planets/moons and a large, circular platform containing 4 control panels. The holograms are very similar to those seen in the final release, though the room is much smaller and darker.
  • This room also houses reflections in the floor, which does not occur in the final release.
• Master Chief looks quite different, sporting an armor style not seen in the final which has more of a balance between grey and green coloring, and is also less bulky than the final armor.
• The aliens shown in the video are likely precursors to the Elites, as they have the same body structure and similar animation. However, their textures are drastically different, appearing more serpentine and wearing much less armor than their final counterparts.
• The Forerunner corridors and structure are textured and modeled differently to those seen in the final release. They also appear much more brown than the final structures' silver/grey.
• The Warthog is in an early state, with low resolution textures; though it more closely resembles the final model. The turret on the back is a chain gun like in the final game, but lacks the protective plates on either side of the barrel. There is no bar of metal that occupants must climb over to enter the vehicle, like in the final. The antenna is also extremely long compared to the final, and the tires are much thinner.
• The flag at the end has a different finial to the final version, sporting a square emblem rather than a golden skull, though it retained the crescent accent. The flag also displays the Bungie logo, which is not possible in the final game.

Gameplay

• There are three players shown in this demo, showing that a 3 player co-op mode was available.
• The Warthog appears to function similar to the final version; however, when it turns sharply it is shown spinning very quickly on two wheels before coming to a controlled stop. Warthogs cannot turn this quickly in the final.
  • The chain gun is also shown retaining its orientation upon the gunner's exit from the vehicle, even after being driven away. In the final game, the turret centres its orientation upon exit, and sways as the driver turns; though always re-centring.
• The demo shows the player taunting enemies by waving at them, and holding them up at gunpoint into surrendering. Neither of these actions are possible in the final release, and are likely just for dramatic effect.
• The Banshee that a player enters is shown to be floating and drops upon entry. In the final game, Banshees are on the ground as players enter them.
• The Fuel Rod Gun in the final game is purple and only wielded by Grunts, whereas this trailer shows early Elites wielding gold Fuel Rod Guns. Interestingly, in Halo 2, Elites gain the opportunity to equip these weapons, which were recoloured to gold.

Misc.

• The room shown at the beginning that the Elites run out of to chase the player houses three Banshees. The aircraft are positioned in such a way to imply that they are parked, though in the final game it would be extremely difficult to position a Banshee in such a way. This implies that Banshees controlled differently at this point, being able to move in tight spaces and even reverse.
  • This is further supported when the Banshee that is used at the end doesn't launch immediately like one would in the final release.
• The Assault Rifle's reload animation shows the clip being inserted into the top of the weapon as opposed to the bottom. This is seen at the beginning before the characters enter the Warthog and is seen a few times in videos from this era of Halo.

Shikai Wang Artwork

Launched at the same Macworld event as the Halo announcement, Bungie's Mac Action Sack included three pieces of Halo concept art by Shikai Wang as an Easter egg.

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BTV

Bungie TV (bTV) was webcast for Macworld Expo in 2000, featuring tours of the Bungie offices, previews of Oni and a few glimpses of Halo. It's mostly stuff we'd have seen at the Macworld demo seen above, but there a few interesting things to point out.

• The player HUD still has the Marathon logo radar in the top corner. The quality is too poor to make out the rest of the HUD, but we get a better look later on.
• The player is shown sitting down at the Warthog's turret, whereas the character would be stood in the final.
• The player is shown firing a weapon from the driver's side of the Warthog; probably the Assault Rifle and its cut grenade launcher attachment.
• The video demonstrates a nearly complete version of the Scorpion tank. This includes extremely similar textures, as well as both its cannon and machine gun. The cannon is shown to have a higher fire rate than in the final release.
• A Banshee is shown in-flight; it would appear that the Banshee's cockpit shell would close down the faster the player goes, and lifts up as the vehicle slows. This would not be the case, as the cockpit would close fully upon entry, and open upon exit.
• The torch on the Assault Rifle appears to be much more powerful in the early version.
• At 0:29 of the second video, what appears to be a bird is shown glitch around and then fly past the Elite, just before it fires its fuel rod cannon. This is the only time it is seen in any footage.
• At 0:39 of the second video, we see our first ever and only look of a Grunt in the third person era of Halo. It does a combat roll, which it cannot do in the final version, and appears very similar to the final release; it also jumps much higher as it runs. This appearance is even more unusual, as we will not see Grunts again until 2000/2001, as Halo starts to take its current form.
• For the first, and last, time we see under water combat, in the form of the player firing the harpoon gun underwater.

Incite Video Special

Incite Gaming was a short-lived gaming magazine whose videos are completely different to the contents of the pages. They managed to achieve interviews with companies to promote games in development, including like Halo, Daikatana, and... er, Heavy Metal Fakk 2. The Halo interview shows us some insights into Halo's early development, and we can gather that these aspects were being worked on, some of which didn't see a spot in the final game:

• The game was being developed to be played in a third-person perspective.
• The Covenant was composed of a "consortium" of different races, which is interesting as up until the shift to first-person, we only get a look at the Elites.
• Halo orbits a gas giant, which would later become Threshold.
  • The hologram also shows the ring world is in between the gas giant and one of its moons, which would later become Basis.
• The game is said to have multiplayer similar to that of Starsiege: Tribes, an FPS that was released for the PC in November 1998. The game featured no single player, instead focusing exclusively on squad-based multiplayer mechanics.
  • It is later stated that Halo would feature a single player experience with a "deep, non-linear storyline", in addition to the multiplayer.
  • Starsiege: Tribes also featured seamless indoor/outdoor transitions, which was a key selling point for Halo.
• The game showcases some of the later unused weapons, detailed below.
• The game is said to support players playing as either humans or aliens in the multiplayer mode. This would not be the case for the final release, but the feature would return in Halo 2.
• The player is shown driving a Warthog, whilst also holding his weapon out of the side of the vehicle, which is later shown to enable the player to fire their Assault Rifle and grenade launcher while driving.

Marcus Lehto Artwork

Marcus Lehto, the art director for Halo, released some concept art and videos from an early build of Halo in mid-2016. The art goes as far back as 1998, if not earlier, while the video shows footage from a third-person-era, though likely late on in this era. This video compiles all of the videos Lehto released, in a gloriously high resolution previously only seen in still images. It clarifies some features that were previously hard to make out due to the low-resolution of other videos, as well as a few previously unknown pieces of cut content:

• Some animations (emotes) that players would have likely been able to use in multiplayer to interact with each other. These include:
  • The player falling to their knees either in pain or to praise.
  • Pointing authoritatively and waving in a summoning motion, both previously seen in the Macworld demo. These probably would have been useful in multiplayer, especially if the squad system was implemented.
  • A handstand. While this would have little tactical use, it probably would have been used in celebration by players.
  • A salute that would have been helpful in interacting with others, such as acknowledging orders in a non-text or voice manner.
  • A wave, used in the Macworld demo as the player taunts the two Elites into chasing him.
  • A gesture that is considered offensive in some countries.
• The Stealth Tank is smaller than the Scorpion that seems to only feature a cannon. Lehto stated that the tank is "low profile with counter vented stabilization". It also appears to move faster, making it a somewhat more valid rapid assault option. It is unknown what other abilities it would have had, or why it was cut.
• A more final-looking Master Chief model. This is the first time we've seen him in the third person environment. He is seen using a variety of weapons, which are documented towards the bottom of this page in the Cut Weapons section.
• A previously unseen Rock Worm. This creature seemed to camouflage as a rock, before rising from the ground, and one of the animations shown seems to indicate it would eat players and enemies if they strayed too close. This was probably cut because it wouldn't have fit in with the final Halo's atmosphere, and would have limited use in the landscape and scenarios of Halo. Judging by the blatantly unfinished animation, this creature probably didn't get any further in development.
• A Super Jump feature. Lehto explains that the player would have to charge the jump before launching the character high up into the air.
• The HUD displays some interesting content that is very clear in these shots. Featured is the Marathon logo; half of which contains a bar that fades from yellow to red, likely a health or shield meter. The other half contains a blue to purple bar and a bar cut into 6 white segments. The segments are likely to be health, the blue/purple bar's purpose is unknown. Inside the Marathon logo appears to be a top-down minimap of the local area, and on the right-hand side of all of this is 5 different colored icons, seemingly representing people. These icons were likely used to keep track of team- or squad-mates' health, as this was the time when Halo had squad-based multiplayer.
• A Sharquoi is seen briefly in some shots; they are detailed in the Other Cuts section below.

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  Some early concepts for members of the Covenant.

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  Some early concepts for members of the Covenant.

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  Concepts for some of Halo's cut fauna.

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  Concepts for some of Halo's cut fauna.

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  Concepts for some of Halo's cut fauna.

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  Art from the conceptualisation of the Halo ring itself, including mathematical calculations about the ring's orbit and rotation.

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  Concept art of the Elites, which would be realised in early builds of Halo, such as that shown at Macworld.

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  A concept for a Forerunner Tank. Lehto stated the idea was to contrast the Covenant and UNSC vehicles.

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  Concept art for the Master Chief, which would be realised in early builds of Halo, such as that shown at Macworld. Note the blade on his back was originally intended to be the retractable sword/machete, that is seen in various images and videos.

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  Early concepts for the Scorpion tank and Pelican dropship.

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  Concept art displaying the cut Walker Mech.

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  Concept art displaying the cut Walker Mech.

E3 2000

Halo had changed significantly by the time it was shown at E3 2000, and was beginning to look more like the final version.

Visuals

• The Elites resemble their final forms almost exactly, with only mild model and texture changes.
• The Master Chief also looks close to his final incarnation, the most notable exception being the antenna attached to his back.
• The Banshees now have closed cockpits, but still have the strange, shiny yellow coloration from the Macworld demo.
• While the Marine and Pelican models are near their final states, their textures were improved for the final release, such as a big improvement to the Pelican interior and the Marine's eyepiece changing from orange to green.
• The Warthog model is closer to that of the final, but the turret it wields is a great difference from any turret seen so far or in the final game. It resembles the GAUSS turret from Halo 2, but as can be seen near the end of the video, it fires RPG rounds. While there is a Rocket Warthog in Halo PC, it looks more like the regular turret of a Warthog than this.
• The weapons all have their differences from the final game. Notably, the Assault Rifles appear to have a wooden grip and shoot at a slower rate; the Sniper Rifle has a different model; the Needlers are especially shiny and glow far more brightly, as well as firing the same green projectiles as the other weapons; the Plasma Rifle and Energy Sword receive only minor changes visually from the final game and the Fuel Rod Cannon is curiously absent, despite being seen at Macworld and in the final game.
• All projectiles and explosion effects were improved for the final release, giving each weapon a unique projectile, as opposed to the same yellow or green shots seen from the human and Covenant weapons respectively; and the Covenant vehicles explode in a blue flame rather than the yellow seen here.

Gameplay

There are a number of situations that could not occur in the final game, or would be done in a different manner if they are used. Bear in mind that this video is a dramatic representation of what is possible in Halo, and the developers may not have intended for all of these actions to be possible during gameplay.

• Marines are shown driving the Warthog, which is not possible in the final game.
• The Elite Major is shown holding a Personal Energy Shield, similar to that of the Jackals from the final release. These do not appear in any Halo game, but are occasionally referenced in Halo fiction.
• The only character shown to have Energy Shielding is the Master Chief as he is shot by the major at the end of the video. The Elites are shown to have no shielding, hence why they were defeated so quickly by the Marines. In the final game, Elites have recharging Energy Shields just like the player.
  • However, it appears that the Wraith may have Energy Shielding as it takes shots from the small arms fire with flecks of what looks like shield energy appearing.
• While never shown moving, it appears that the Spectre, a vehicle that later appeared in Halo 2, was to make an appearance in the first game, showing quite a few changes in its move to the second game. Also of note, is the turret uses the model of what would later become the Covenant Shade, a stationary gun found in the first Halo.
• McLees, after being gunned down by the Elites, primes a grenade in his hands, killing him and the Elites around him, as well as destroying some Covenant vehicles. The grenade's explosion is shown to be much more powerful than the ones in the final game, and it is also impossible to destroy driver-less vehicles in the final game.
  • The Elite Major also fires some final rounds as he succumbs to his wounds. This mechanic of attacking just before death, both via grenades or guns, is impossible in the final game, and is likely just a dramatic device.
• Shown early on are some of the creatures planned to inhabit Halo; the Thorn Beast and the Blind Wolf, the latter of which would have been ride-able. They were meant to represent some of the wildlife present on the ring world to give the lands a more natural and organic feeling. While they were cut from Halo due to problems with their AI, they have since lived on in Halo lore.
• At the end, the Master Chief is shown wielding an Energy Sword, which would not be possible in the first Halo game, but would become so in the second.

Miscellaneous

• The Master Chief's voice is drastically different to that which is heard in the final game. Rather than having the voice of Steve Downes, he instead has a robotic, computerised voice.
• The Elites speak an unknown language that was not used in the final game. Instead, Bungie used voice clips from David Scully's Sgt. Johnson, slowing them down and reversing them to give the Elites their unique, alien voices.
  • Also of note is that this is the first time Elites are shown to speak English; this is not shown in-game until Halo 2, where translation software is put into the player's armor.
• The Forerunner structure, its interior and the holograms inside are similar, but different, to that of the final release.
• The sound effects used throughout the demo were all different to those used in the final game.
• An Elite Minor that is shot down by the Master Chief is shown holding an Energy Sword. The Energy Sword is a weapon that is used exclusively by high ranking Elites in all future instances of the weapon.
• The Elite Major has large, holographic Forerunner glyphs on his back, which are not seen in the final game.
• Aside from the rest of the Halo, there are two planets in the sky; one large and blue, the other small and Earth-like. The large planet could have been an early version of Threshold, the gas giant that Installation 04 orbits, but the smaller one does not appear in the skies of Halo.
• From a narrative standpoint, the exchange between the surviving Marine and Master Chief at the end of the trailer ("You're staying?"/"Yes. My battle has only just begun.") implies that the latter had a different role in the plot. It's worth noting that the trailer focuses on the Marines, with Master Chief presented as an allied NPC.

Evolution of Halo Part 2

This section will go over details shown in the second half of the Evolution of Halo video, including features that were in the builds related to Macworld 1999 and E3 2000 not mentioned above.

Macworld 1999 Build

• While aiming in a vehicle, multiple reticles are displayed to assist aiming in the third-person view.
• The Scorpion tank is present, and judging by the state of its textures and model it is extremely close to its state in the final release.
• The commentators state that multiplayer was functional, but didn't play well, describing it as 'a grenade juggling act', with specific mention to the difficulty of aiming in a third-person perspective.
• The video then goes on to show an assortment of weapons. Each weapon is described below in the Cut Weapons section.
• During this segment, the commentators describe how Halo originally had underwater sections where the player would fight creatures underwater, hence why the Spear Gun exists.
• As the player goes to leave the game, a message box appears asking the player if they would like to 'Retreat from Chucky's love?' It is unknown whether this was an in-house development name for Halo, or if it's just a joke.

E3 2000

• The next segment marks the return of the Marathon logo UI. The minimap is still present, though the logo has changed slightly. The left had half of the logo is now a gradient of blue to green, while the right hand side is a gradient of orange to red.
• It also shows the weapon indicators were positioned in the top left corner at this point. It looks fairly similar to the final, though it would later receive aesthetic changes and various tweaks until the final release, such as a numerical bullet counter being added and the weapon portrait removed.
  • When the player changes weapon in this build, it shows previews of the weapons the player has available to them. This may have just been a debugging feature though, as the player holds two Assault Rifles and players can only hold two weapons in the final game.
  • Also, the Assault Rifle has received its designation of MA5 at this point, as shown by the weapon UI. The other weapons don't have a designation, bar an illegible entry for the early Shotgun.
• The view for the player is now in first-person, showing that this transition happened sometime during builds using the same assets as E3 2000.
• Collision mapping was incomplete at this point, as the player drives straight through a rock. This may be because the E3 demo was never meant to played by the public, negating the requirement to complete all aspects of the map.
• While the player is driving, it was also possible to see the turret user's reticle at this point in development. This feature would not make it to a final release.
• It is revealed in this video that the demo at E3 2000 was all scripted as AI was not implemented at this stage of development.
• It is also revealed at the end of the video that, despite lacking a first-person model of the equipped weapon or any kind of crosshair or reticule, the player was able to shoot in first person mode. This is shown when the player shoots the Major Elite with his equipped Shovel sniper rifle; which would later be cut.
  • The Elite falls with an animation that is not seen in the final release. Also, the lack of flaring justifies the idea that Elites did not have Energy Shielding at this point.

Wazzzup

In what is technically the first Halo Machinima, Bungie uses the Halo engine and models to parody the famous Budwieser 'Wazzzup' advertising campaign. There are a few things of note regarding cut content:

• The Thorn Beasts are present, later to be cut.
• The setting seems to be during evening as the sun is setting, which was not seen in any other footage of this era of Halo, with the exception of the NVIDIA promo detailed below.
• We get a good look at the Marine's armor, and while it is very similar to that seen in the final game, it differs to the final incarnation in a few ways:
  • The fabric seen underneath the armor is a much brighter green than in the final game.
  • The armor on the torso and arms are changed in the final, reducing the amount of protection that the soldier would receive.
  • In small compensation, the final set of armor has more protection on the front of the legs.
  • The eyepiece appears to be clear here, whereas they would all become green in the final release.
• The Assault Rifles seen would later lose their wooden trim.
• An Elite is shown holding a cut weapon, likely either the Gravity Rifle or the cut Covenant sniper rifle.
• The Master Chief appears to be more akin to the final model, as he has lost the antenna on his back.

NVIDIA GeForce 2 GTX Promo

A promotional trailer for NVIDIA's GeForce 2 GTX graphics card shown at E3 2000. While not particularly notable, there are a few things to point out:

• The Pelican's cockpit is a bright orange color, possibly to reflect the fact that the video is set in the evening. This is not seen again after this trailer.
• The Warthog that appears in the clip is firing a chain gun, similar to that of the Warthog in the final build of the game. The turret is also starting to take shape visually too, as it has an early version of the turret's metal shielding that would become distinctive to the Warthog in later Halo games.
• The Elite's speak an unknown language, that may or may not be related to the language spoken in the Macworld trailer.
• The Spartans are shown to still sport antennas on their back at this point. Additionally, the lighting effects used when one Spartan moves the torch attached to their shotgun are not be present in the final game.
• The most intriguing part of the trailer is right at the end before the Halo logo is shown: we get to see a Grunt for the second time in Halo's development. This is the only time a Grunt is shown in the 3rd person era of Halo, and is shown to have only minor differences from its final incarnation, such as the grey symbol on the Grunt's chest is moved to the opposite side of its armor and other minor texture differences.

Near-Release Differences

Described in this section are the differences noted in footage from less than a year before Halo's release. The game had begun to truly resemble its final form in this time, with graphics, locations, vehicles, weapons and plot points starting to become similar to that of the final game.

Gamestock 2001

Halo was featured at the end of Gamestock 2001. Played live on a prototype Xbox controller (that bears remarkable similarities to a PlayStation controller) by Bungie's cinematic director, Joseph Staten, this is likely to be the first footage of a final looking Halo seen by the public. As such, there are still a few differences from the final release in this version:

• Joseph flies a Banshee around the island containing Halo's map room, the Silent Cartographer. This is not possible in the final game as Banshees are unavailable for this mission.
  • The Banshee also seems to still have the difference in cockpit position; as the aircraft accelerates, the cockpit lid closes, before opening again slightly as it slows. This behaviour is not kept for release.
• The ammo counter in the top right is still in an early state, although close to the final. The font is different and colored orange, as opposed to the final's blue. We also see the introduction of a grenade counter, which has been missing until this point; curiously, the grenade counter is in blue like the final.
• The health and shield bars look near final, with the shield bar only to receive slight size and shape changes until release, whereas the health bar would grow significantly and become blue when the player is at full health.
• The animation for the player turning was improved for release.
• The player character model now looks like its final form. Only minor changes will be made before release.
• While the sound effects are now final, the particle effects still have improvements to be made before launch.
• Seen in this demo and many others, there are a few differences made to the Assault Rifle in this build:
  • The on-weapon display is not yet functional and displays a static texture, and is in a different layout than the final.
  • The rifle has a magazine capacity of 42; this is increased to 60 in the final. (Though, it is curiously dropped to 32 in Halo 3.)
  • While the reload sounds are in place, the speed at which the player reloads is much slower than the final speed.
  • The weapon appears to have an adjustable rate of fire, as it changes throughout the demo.
  • There is an animation associated with the player enabling or disabling the light built into the base of the weapon, which was cut from the game prior to release.
  • Melee speed is much slower in this demo than the final. This may also apply to other weapons.
• Grunts are seen wielding Plasma Rifles, which would not become possible until Halo 2.
• The story and associated encounters are all absent from the demo, which instead shows a separate, demonstrative scenario.
• The Grunts fire off a few rounds as they are stunned, often hitting the ground. In the final game, they only ever shoot when aiming or, occasionally, upon death.
• The Elites have finally gained their Energy Shielding, however they appear to be much weaker than their final counterparts.
• After falling down a deep hole, the player is shown losing all of their health and shields but not dying upon landing, and continue to live as they take shots from the surrounding Covenant forces. This indicates the player is in a debug or 'god' mode for the purpose of the demonstration.
• The player's Energy Shields appear to be recharging at a much slower rate than the final shields.
• When the player activates the Cartographer, it renders a wireframe mesh of an unknown structure, whereas in the final game, it would render a segmented and annotated Halo hologram.

GameStar

GameStar is Germany's largest provider of news, reviews and details about PC gaming. They did a preview of Halo (which is odd considering it had been announced for the Xbox at the time) in 2001, in what seems to be a slightly newer build than that shown at Gamestock.

• The shaders on the player while inside look different to those shown in the final game.
• The shield meter is occasionally green in this demo, and blue in some shots too. The UI is otherwise identical to that shown at Gamestock.
  • Note, this could be indicative of the player being under the effects of an Overshield, boosting the player's shielding capabilities over the maximum amount. This is shown in the final game by a change in the shield meter's color.
• The ammo counter on the Assault Rifle is shown at times displaying two 'X's, despite the top left ammo meter clearly showing the player has ammo in the weapon.
• The Assault Rifle crosshair is different to any other seen throughout Halo's history. It is not seen again.

Pre-Launch Showing

The exact origin of these videos is unclear, though it appears to be a private showing of Halo before its launch. The build shown is relatively close to the version released to the public, with a few differences. The first level shown is of an early version of the level Halo.

• The Assault Rifle now finally holds 60 rounds in its magazine. The on-gun display now reflects this change, though it is still static and not in its final configuration.
• Jen Taylor's lines are re-recorded for the final release.
• The Spirit dropship has its doors open as it flies, while they are closed in the final.
• The UI is now in its final form, including the first appearance of the motion tracker; although, the Spirit dropship has a yellow indicator on the motion tracker, indicating it is an ally ship, as opposed to a red indicator for enemies.
  • This also occurs later, during a firefight between Covenant and UNSC forces and all participants are marked by a yellow indicator.
• Cortana's lines about using the Chief's suit to hack a Covenant network are much earlier in the level than in the final release.
• Part of the level as the player enters a canyon is missing a large amount of foliage and rocks that would serve as an encounter in the final release.
• Sergeant Johnson's part in the first Marine encounter is given to another Marine in this build.
• The Plasma Grenade has a much shorter fuse than the final grenade does.
• The pick up notifications are not capitalised in this build.
• Jackals' shields do not yet disappear upon death.
• The Pistol has a slower draw time, and does not have the zoom of the final Pistol; instead it zooms in the same form as iron sights. This feature would return in Halo 5.

The second level shown is an early version of The Silent Cartographer. All the details related to the differences of the first half of the showing apply here also.

• The title screen is not yet in a final form, showing the Halo logo over a small render of the ring world, with the only options beneath it being New Campaign and Settings.
  • At this point, the 'Combat Evolved' subtitle was not yet implemented.
• The New Campaign option brings the player to a level selection screen, while in the final the game starts at the first level.
  • This screen also shows the level selection screen was going to be more akin to the final's profile select screen, as opposed to the list seen in the final game.
  • The levels also use unused renders and names, which are hard to read due to the low quality of the video, though they appear to read 'Manufacturing Facility' and '(unknown) Quarantine'. The player selects the second option, which takes them to the level now known as The Silent Cartographer, and the first's render, as well as the footage from the video in the above section, imply the other level is the final's second mission; Halo.
  • The locked level icon appears to have been changed prior to release too.
• The Marine opposite the player is simply sat in his seat, whereas in the final he is leaning out, looking at the sea below.
• Cortana's lines are different than the final game, once again. This time, her lines imply that the player was originally meant to destroy a Covenant up-link station to prevent further Covenant forces from attacking them in this level.
• Foehammer's voice actress is different to what is heard of the final game. The voice is not that of Dr. Tawnya Pettiford-Wates, as it more closely resembles Lorraine McLees, one of the artists for Halo who also voiced the Pelican pilot heard in the Private Jenkins cutscene in the level 343 Guilty Spark.
• There is a noticeable gap in between the Pelican landing and the Marines piling out of the aircraft. The accompanying line from Foehammer is also changed in later builds.
  • The player is not pushed out of the Pelican as much in this build, resulting in the player needing to manually walk out of the Pelican's bay door. This also leads the game to present the 'press (x) to enter the passenger left front seat of pelican' (sic), although this is easier to see after the player dies and has to restart the level. The ability to re-enter the Pelican was partially removed from the final game; the player is pushed out much further to prevent them from being able to re-enter, and the Pelican changes after the player has left to prevent re-entry altogether. Note, it is still possible to remain in Pelicans in the final game, for example, rather infamously, at the start of the level 343 Guilty Spark.
• Grunt voices are not yet final.
• The UI elements for health and ammo capacity both flash red to indicate low health and ammo respectivly. However, the grenade counter does not yet flash red to show if they are low.
• There is a static Wraith present in this demo, while no Wraiths are present in the final level.
• The Warthog does not appear to yet have any engine noises.
• The Plasma Pistol is a rapid fire weapon in this build, holding the same characteristics as the final's Plasma Rifle; except, the pistol takes longer to overheat and longer to cool down too.
  • The Plasma Pistol's holographic display is slightly different from the final weapon's; it has a circle that is missing its top portion, just like the final, but it is thinner and there is an extra ring of light around it.
  • It also shoots blue projectiles and overheats with a blue mist in this build, as opposed to green.
• The Needler does not yet have its own cocking sound effect, instead borrowing the Assault Rifle's, and lacks a reload sound. It also uses a different firing sound effect to the final version.
  • The Needler also works very differently here, and was probably changed for the better: it fires its entire round in less than a second, and the needles explode moments after contact, making it more akin to a Covenant shotgun with exploding rounds.
  • Also, the Needler's needle capacity is shown on the top of the weapon like in the final; however, it is shown that this is not a dynamic count as when the player reloads just one needle into it, it is shown as having the full amount of needles, which is made even more odd when he fires the needle to leave a technically empty Needler with needles still visible on the model. This is likely a bug that was fixed.
• The Plasma Rifle is shown having the overcharge ability that was later given to the Plasma Pistol.
  • It is also shown having much stronger reflections in this build.
  • The Plasma Rifle and Grenades seem to have green effects in this build, which would be changed to blue later.
• The mission does not yet involve visiting the security substation to unlock the doors barring the player's entry into the Silent Cartographer's chamber.
• From what the player is saying, we learn that the motion tracker uses different colors in this build: green signifies allies, whilst yellow indicates enemies. This was probably changed to yellow and red respectively to make the difference more noticeable.
• The Hunter's finally make their first appearance, and their fuel rod guns seem to have a much larger damage radius.
• The pause menu is shown at the end, which hints towards a cut feature: listed is the option to open a User Guide in-game at any time. This feature would not return in the final release.

GameStar

To do: Translate from German; there may be something there.

GameStar got another pre-release look at Halo, this time very close to the pre-launch party version so the differences in that version also apply here.

• For the majority of the video, the player appears to have no health in their health bar; this may be for demonstrative purposes so as to not ruin the flow of the demo, or the health meter might have functioned differently at this time, as the player does not receive any hits as their health would have hit zero, indicating that the player may just be on extremely low health.
• The voice-over seems to say the word 'Unggoy'; the Sangheili (Elite) word for the Grunts. This is the first recorded use of the Sangheili naming system, which would become used frequently in Halo fiction and in some of the instruction manuals for later Halo titles.

E3 2001

Another trailer from 2001, supposedly from the E3 conference of that year. Many differences here are also mentioned above, but there are a few unique points to note.

• The skybox for the level 'Halo' is noticeably cloudier, appearing like a storm, with a much more varied colour palette consisting of greys, blues, purples and oranges.
  • 'Halo' also has many more trees than would appear in the final game, giving the appearance of a dense forest as opposed to open fields.
  • There is also a noticeable layer of thick fog throughout the level that does not appear in the final version of the level.
• The Warthog is shown accelerating and turning at a much quicker rate than is possible in the final build.
• The Plasma Grenade is shown to have a much shorter fuse, a bounce similar to that of the Frag Grenade and a green explosion graphic; all of which would be changed.
• In the scene featuring Hunters, the player is shown flung through the air by an unknown force. This could be a remnant of the 'Super-Jump' ability, or an indication of the Hunters having a much more powerful blast.
• The same scene also shows a Plasma Rifle wielded by the player. While now firing blue projectiles, the rifle is not shown to have blue lighting, instead showing orange lighting on the top portion of the weapon.
• The static Covenant energy shields have a different appearance, containing vertical lines as opposed to a solid shape.
• The Elite's energy shields also have a noticeably different appearance.

Trailers

These trailers would have been shown on television prior to the release of Halo, in order to build up hype and interest in the game. As the flagship title for the Xbox's launch, it seems to have done quite well for itself.

• A white Elite is seen ever so briefly running towards the camera. In later games, these would become Elite Ultras, high ranking Elites with strong shields, high health and powerful weapons. However, no live Elite Ultras are seen in Halo; there are a few dead ones seen in a few levels such as Truth and Reconciliation.

To do: Is there any data regarding Elite Ultras in the final game, such as stats stronger than the rest of the Elites that go unused?

• Banshees are shown in the level 'The Silent Cartographer', but you can't access this vehicle in this level in the final release.
• The scene with two pelicans flying under/over a bridge in 'Assault on the Control Room' never happens, along with the fire and explosion effects that also don't occur.
  • The sound effects accompanying the explosions interestingly use the sound effect for a Sniper Rifle firing. It is possible that the Master Chief fired these shots in sync with them, though this is unlikely. Speaking of the Chief, the animation he uses goes unused after this.
• In the scene where the player blows up a Shade turret, their shields are shown to be depleted, but neither flash red to indicate this or recharge, which they have plenty of time to do. This may have been a bug or a feature for the purposes of demonstration.
  • In a later shot, the player takes a lot of blows despite having no shields and minimal health, but does not die, supporting the idea that the player purposefully cannot die in this build.
• When driving a Warthog, the reticle associated with the Scorpion tank appears. This is likely an error.
  • Also, the UI elements representing the passenger's and gunner's health are misaligned, causing the outline and title to appear too low on the screen; another error.
• The Scorpion's reload indicator is different in this build; in the final, 4 dots appear representing the time until the reload is complete, then allowing the player to fire once all four dots have disappeared. In this build, the word 'Ready' appears beneath the Scorpion's reticle, possibly eliminating the need for the dots or used to accompany them.
• At the end of the trailer, it was revealed that Halo had, at one point, a 'T for Teen' rating as opposed to an 'M for Mature' rating.

Weapons

Cut Weapons

Over its 4 year development cycle, there were many concepts and ideas for weapons that ultimately wouldn't be seen in the final game. These sections will detail these weapons with as much detail as possible.

Covenant Sniper Rifle

Seen in the Evolutions of Halo video, the commentators call it the 'alien sniper rifle'. It likely went on to become the Covenant Beam Rifle in Halo 2. The red bar on the right-hand side is shown to charge, extending towards the barrel, though its uses are unknown. The rifle is shown being shot very briefly in the video, emitting a tiny, faint blue bean of light. This weapon was cut before E3 2000.

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Particle Beam (E3 2000)

This rifle is seen in only a few screenshots, and it is unknown how it is fired. The rifle also changes color, going from gold to purple over time. It is seen in builds made just before E3 2000, though it is not seen in the video demo.

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Covenant Shotgun

What seems to be an early version of the Mauler from Halo 3 is seen in the Evolution of Halo. Like its successor, it fires like a Covenant shotgun, though it would become silver/grey in Halo 3.

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Gravity Wrench

Seen in Evolution of Halo is the Gravity Wrench, though this is likely a joke/prototype name. It is shown requiring a roughly 4 second charge before firing. When it fires, the projectile is shot with extreme power, and with the help of gravity it explodes dramatically on impact. It was cut before E3 2000.

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The Shovel

The Shovel was a bolt action sniper rifle that had a wooden build, similar to bolt action rifles of the 20th century. It was cut before E3 2000.

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Machete

As well as the Covenant Energy Sword, the player would have been able to equip a machete/sword. This was cut prior to E3 2000.

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SMG

The SMG was cut before E3 2000, and featured a fast rate of fire and an over the top muzzle flare. It would be remade for Halo 2.

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Spear Gun

Halo was originally going to have underwater sections, featuring underwater combat. This is why the Spear Gun was created, and was ultimately cut alongside all of the other underwater features before E3 2000.

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Anti-Air Missile Launcher

Alongside the SPNKr rocket launcher, there was also going to be an Anti-Air missile launcher. It only fired one missile before requiring reloading. It is unknown if the launcher had any tracking abilities, like the SPNKr in Halo 2, 3 and Reach which have the ability to lock-onto aircraft. It was cut before E3 2000.

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Chain Gun

Often seen in early promotion material was the Chain/Gatling Gun. It was cut before E3 2000, but would return in Halo 3 in a new form.

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Drum Key

Jokingly referred to as the Drum Key, nothing more is known about this odd weapon. It was cut before E3 2000.

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Flak Cannon

The Flak Cannon bears a striking resemblance to the Fuel Rod Gun. In the first picture below, the Elite on the left wields the Fuel Rod Gun, with the one on the right holding the Flak Cannon; notice the different locations of the glowing green ammo holders. The Flak Cannon fired large explosive rounds, almost like a grenade launcher. The top of the weapon also lifted as it fired, possibly for cooling purposes. It was cut before E3 2000.

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  Partly unused, the Fuel Rod Gun is only wielded by Grunts in the final game, and they explode upon their deaths to prevent the player from equipping them. They are, however, equippable in Halo PC, just not the Xbox version.

Altered Weapons

As with any game, changes can be made to any aspect of the game. Halo had a lot of these changes, so here's a few differences that can be spotted in pre-release material for Halo.

Plasma Rifle

The Plasma Rifle has had very little change since it was first seen at Macworld 1999. The early versions don't feature the temperature gauge on the left hand side of the weapon, and have additional green lights under where the gauge would be. The Plasma Pistol and Plasma Rifle had their abilities switched between the mid-2001 pre-launch party and launch. In the older version, the Rifle had the ability to overcharge a shot and the Pistol had increased firepower and cooldown. This was switched for launch. The Pistol also gained a green glow, as opposed to a matching blue, for launch.

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At another GDC talk, Jamie Griesemer revealed some more altered concepts for the Covenant Plasma Rifle. Info starts at 8:47 in the video.

• The weapon was said to 'misfire in the rain', implying that weather was going to be a much more prominent factor in the game. Light rain is featured in one level, 343 Guilty Spark, but does not affect weapon effectiveness.
• It was also supposed to do Area of Effect damage underwater, however no weapon has any alterations when fired underwater in the final game. This, along with the cut harpoon weapon, are further evidence towards Halo originally having more features for fighting underwater.
• The primary firing trigger was going to trigger an 'instantaneous visible beam which fades quickly, quite unlike the plasma bolts fired in the final game.
• The secondary trigger was going to 'charge a larger, slow moving projectile with area of effect damage'. This effect would appear on the Plasma Rifle during development, but would later be moved to the Plasma Pistol as a charged bolt on the primary trigger.
• The final point says the rifle 'Disables mirror fields faster than any other weapon except the Disruptor'. Whilst Jamie did not go into detail about these concepts, saying he has no idea what they are, this indicates two previously unseen features which we do not know the function or appearance of.

Assault Rifle

The Assault Rifle has also been present since Macworld 1999, though it has gone through many changes. For example, the final version doesn't have wooden grips, and it also had a grenade launcher attached to the underside, which was later replaced with a flashlight. The Assault rifle also had toggle-able rate of fire and an animation for turning on/off its flashlight.

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Pistol

The Pistol only had minor changes done, such as remodeling and damage changes implemented just before launch. Shown here, however, is the only sighting of a Silenced Pistol in Halo. These would not return until Halo 3 ODST.

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Sniper Rifle

The Sniper Rifle looked different in its first appearance at E3 2000. It is much more modern looking than the Shovel, which may have been a basis for this weapon. The second image, however, shows a different scope and less of a connection between the rifle and the butt, making a gap visible at some angles.

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A 2011 GDC talk by Halo's Gameplay Design Lead, Jamie Griesemer, revealed some altered concepts about Halo's Sniper Rifle. Info starts at 13:53 in the video.

• The sniper originally had 5 rounds per clip. This was reduced to 4.
• The contrail was said to be small, however this was changed to match the full length of the shot.
• The second trigger on the controller was going to adjust zoom level. This was changed to clicking the right stick.
• Headshots killed anything man-sized, except Flood, possibly indicating that the Flood combat forms' weak spots may not have existed.

Shotgun

The Shotgun went through a number of changes to its model. In the first image, the early model looks like the shotgun seen in Halo 4 and 5, whilst in the second, it more closely resembles the final model, though the barrel would be extended in the final version.

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Rocket Launcher

The SPNKr Rocket Launcher went through only minimal changes, such as losing its red trim and losing the rotation of the barrels after shots are fired; though, this feature would return in later Halo titles.

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Other Cuts

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  The Halo in the skybox was at one point meant to be broken. This feature would spiritually return in Halo 3.

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  The Drinol (or Sharquoi) was an enemy that was cut. The Halo 2 Legendary Edition's Developer commentary revealed it would have been caged up by the Covenant and let out in a rage to wreak havoc to the area. It was also mentioned to be a 'vehicle smasher'. The Sharquoi lives on in Halo lore, however.

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  Revealed by Marcus Lehto in 2016, not much is known about the Rock Worm, as it is never seen doing anything but appearing as a rock before jumping up at nearby entities.

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  The Thorn Beasts appeared briefly in the E3 2000 trailer and occasionally in other media after that. It still appears in the Halo lore, however, and nearly appeared in Halo Wars before being cut again.

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  The Blind Wolf was meant to be natural fauna in Halo that the player could ride. According to the Halo 2 Legendary Edition bonus material, Bungie struggled to get the Wolves' AI to 'flock' properly. Again, the Blind Wolf lives on in Halo lore.

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  This tank, previously seen in Lehto's concept art, made an appearance in Halo's RTS era. The Halo 2 Developer Commentary reveals it was called the Horseshoe Crab tank, and would later be incarnated as the Covenant Seraph.

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  This Covenant vehicle bears an uncanny resemblance to Halo 2's Spectre. It was only seen at E3 2000.

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  The stealth tank was a vehicle that only existed in pre-E3 2000 builds of Halo. It appeared to drive faster than a Scorpion, but lacks a machine gun. Other details are unknown.

Other Changes

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  The Banshee originally had a green/yellow effect on the canopy, which would latter become purple like the rest of the ship.

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  The Warthog had a few differences, such as having shields added on the sides of the turret, the removal of the driver's ability to shoot and the reduction in size of the antenna.

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  The final Warthog only features the chain gun in the final game, as opposed to sometimes having a rocket launcher turret; though the latter would later appear, albeit with a different model, in Halo PC.

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  The picture above is the only image of Hunters before the game resembled its 2001 form. The Hunters have a rusty-looking shield in this picture and, strangely, no arm cannons.

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  Forerunner architecture and technology had a complete face-lift for the final release.

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  This picture shows the Pelican was meant to have a chin-mounted gun. Though this never occurs in Halo, it does in later Halo games.

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  Elites have been around since Macworld 1999, though they looked drastically different: They lack proper armor, their faces and skin are greatly different and their earliest incarnation, shown above, does not feature split mandibles.

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  This scan shows that, as late as E3 2000, Halo was going to feature online multiplayer. This feature was dropped when Bungie learned Xbox Live would not be ready in time for release.

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  This scan shows that the player would originally have a first-person perspective when in any seat in a vehicle, bar the driver. This would later be true for passengers in Halo, though turret users (and all participants in games starting with Halo 2) would have a third person perspective.