Editing Titan (canceled game)

{{Title|''Titan'' (canceled game)}}
{{Status|RealWorld}}
[[File:MMO Interface Prototype 1.jpg|300px|thumb|Screenshot mock-up, with ''[[Wikipedia:World of Warcraft|World of Warcraft]]'' HUD superimposed.]]
[[File:MMO Interface Prototype 2.jpg|300px|thumb|Another interface prototype.]]
{{Quote|Ensemble has been wanting to make an MMO for a long time. That was in production for a long time. The Halo IP was a great IP to launch an MMO with. Microsoft... hasn't had the best track record with those. <br>And we worked on it for a long time--we had staffed up an almost-40 person team. And then there was some reorganization at Microsoft, and the new bosses thought it wasn't the best idea anymore. It had actually been green-lit, and then it got cancelled after that.|Dave Pottinger{{Ref/Site|Id=shacknews|URL=http://www.shacknews.com/article/55941/age-of-empires-dev-ensemble|Site=Shack News|Page=Age of Empires Dev Ensemble Speaks Out on Studio Closure, Microsoft, and the Cancelled Halo MMO|D=01|M=12|Y=2024}}}}
'''Titan''' was the codename for a canceled ''Halo'' [[Wikipedia:Massively multiplayer online role-playing game|massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG)]] developed by [[Ensemble Studios]] between [[2004 (real world)|2004]] and [[2007 (real world)|2007]].{{Ref/Site|Id=interview1|URL=http://www.incgamers.com/Interviews/264/windstorms-dusty-monk-interview---part-one/2|Site=IncGamers|Page=Windstorm's Dusty Monk Interview - Part One - Page 2|Quote=For two years, before we all moved onto Halo Wars, we were working on an MMO prototype, and it was codenamed Titan.|D=17|M=04|Y=2010}} Following the project's cancellation in 2007, Ensemble Studios focused all of its resources into developing ''[[Halo Wars]]''.

==Overview==
===Development===
''Titan''{{'}}s origins began in [[1998]] following the release of ''[[Wikipedia:Ultima Online|Ultima Online]]''. At this time, designer Ian Fischer began pitching a sci-fi MMO to Ensemble Studios, due to his love for the genre.{{Ref/Site|Id=ensembletour|URL=https://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/132312/ensemble_studios_the_last_tour.php?page=2|Site=GamaSutra|Page=Ensemble Studios: The Last Tour (Page 2)|D=16|M=01|Y=2021}} The game was designed to compete against [[Wikipedia:Blizzard Entertainment|Blizzard Entertainment]]'s [[Wikipedia:World of Warcraft|World of Warcraft]],{{Ref/Reuse|interview1}}{{Ref/Reuse|interview2}} The prototype went through many design iterations, before eventually being married to the ''Halo'' IP and being given the codename ''Orion''.{{Ref/Reuse|ensembletour}} At some point, the project name was changed to ''Titan''.

By [[2004 (real world)|2004]], development on the project had begun fully, with a budget of around $90 million USD.{{Ref/Reuse|interview1}} To support the operations of such a large scale project, a new 60,000 square-foot campus was commissioned for construction.{{Ref/Reuse|ensembletour}}{{Ref/Reuse|interview2}} Around 40 staff in three teams worked on ''Titan'' while other Ensemble staff focused on developing ''Halo Wars'', though one team remained on the project for six months.{{Ref/Reuse|shacknews}}{{Ref/Reuse|oneremains}} According to user "goneisgone", who was responsible for leaking many of the images and details known of ''Titan'', the project never left pre-production and only ever had about eight staff working on it.{{Ref/Site|URL=https://goneisgone.blogspot.com/2008/10/halo-mmo-2.html|Site=goneisgone|Page=Halo MMO (2)|D=01|M=12|Y=2024}}

During the early stages of ''Titan''{{'}}s development, Ensemble took inspiration from ''[[Wikipedia:World of Warcraft|World of Warcraft]]''{{'}}s general structure and gameplay.{{Ref/Site|Id=interview2|URL=http://www.incgamers.com/Interviews/264/windstorms-dusty-monk-interview---part-one/3|Site=IncGamers3|Page=Windstorm's Dusty Monk Interview - Part One - Page 3|Quote=We weren't necessarily making WoW in space, but we were certainly adopting a lot of the things that we saw working in World of Warcraft and then putting it in a sci-fi genre.|D=17|M=04|Y=2010}} During production, the team at Ensemble consistently did evaluations of how successful they expected the game to be; at the time the only noteworthy science fiction MMO on the market was ''[[Wikipedia:EVE Online|Eve Online]]'', which had a very different style to more conventional MMOs. The analysis', conducted in conjunction with Microsoft, used the most critical and negative calculations possible and still estimated that the ''Halo'' MMO would earn just over a billion dollars at minimum - on account of the quality of Ensemble's team and the value of the ''Halo'' intellectual property at the time. Ultimately, the project was estimated to need three and a half years to finish, {{Ref/YouTube|Id=Sandy|wNlNAlfr7Jw|Bored With Nelly|What Happened To Halo MMO Game?|Detail=An interview with Sandy Petersen, who discusses in-depth the ''Halo'' MMO's cancellation|D=1|M=12|Y=2024}}

The project was said to be radically different in the later stages, exploring then-novel concepts and gameplay additions such as "heroic stylized artform" and cover system (later used in ''[[wikipedia:Star Wars: The Old Republic|Star Wars: The Old Republic]]''), and public quests (later used in ''[[wikipedia:Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning|Warhammer: Online]]'').{{Ref/Site|Id=incgamer|URL=http://www.incgamers.com/News/21928/cancelled-halo-mmo-details|Site=IncGamers|Page=Cancelled Halo MMO Details||D=15|M=04|Y=2010}} Instead of mana points as used in ''World of Warcraft'', a character's special ability energy was referred to as psion.{{Ref/Site|Id=psionmana|D=01|M=6|Y=2020|URL=http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=20153|Site=Gamasutra|Page=Exclusive: Ensemble Studios' Canceled Project Was Halo MMO|Quote=The character pane shows a health bar and 'mana' -- or Psion, as is referred to in this title... The upper right icons are for basic character functions.}}

===Cancellation===
''Titan'' was internally cancelled in mid-to-late 2007 with no formal announcement of its development by Microsoft.{{Ref/Site|URL=https://goneisgone.blogspot.com/2008/09/titan-prototype.html|Site=goneisgone|Page=Halo MMO|D=01|M=12|Y=2024}}{{Ref/Site|Id=oneremains|URL=http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=20153|Site=Gamasutra|Page=Exclusive: Ensemble Studios' Canceled Project Was Halo MMO|D=05|M=10|Y=2008}} By this time, the majority of the studio's staff were expecting the MMO to be the company's focus in the future{{Ref/Reuse|ensembletour}} and Ensemble had a server infrastructure for the game, a ''World of Warcraft''-scale gameplay zone and many of the vehicle and gunplay mechanics in a playable state.{{Ref/Twitter|Id=robf1|URL=xemu|1151680760753131520|Rob Fermier|Quote=There was a lot more than just concept art - we had a server infrastructure, a built out WoW-scale zone, lots of vehicle & gunplay mechanics adapted to MMO scale.  Mind you this was all back in 2007 so at the time much of that territory was still unexplored.|D=31|M=10|Y=2020}} Ultimately, the planned new campus was never greenlit for construction and requests to know why ignored, until a source within Microsoft leaked that the company planned to dissolve Ensemble following the release of ''Halo Wars''.

''Titan'' was cancelled due to a shift in leadership within Microsoft, as the company saw the success of the Nintendo Wii and ultimately decided to change their shift into a more casual-friendly direction - with this came the decline of interest in the ''Titan'' project and the $90 million funding. With the cancellation of ''Titan'', the studio's staff and efforts were shifted into the ongoing ''[[Halo Wars]]'' project which released in [[2009]].{{Ref/Reuse|interview1}} Part of this shift in leadership came in 2007, when [[Wikipedia:Don Mattrick|Don Mattrick]] became the head of Microsoft Game Studios. As part of his hiring contract, Mattrick had three years to make the gaming part of Microsoft profitable which, if achieved, would see him given a substantial monetary bonus. As such, despite the potential long-term gains that the ''Halo'' MMO was forecasting, the development time was too long and wouldn't allow Mattrick to keep his bonus. Additionally, Ensemble Studios were a very expensive studio to run and Mattrick had personal investment in keeping around other studios such as [[Wikipedia:Rare (company)|Rare]] due to his personal connections - as such, he kept Ensemble around until ''Halo Wars'' released, then shut down Ensemble Studios to increase the profitability of Microsoft gaming - even at the cost of potential long-term profits. Ultimately, Mattrick never got the bonus due to his less successful endeavours with [[Xbox LIVE]].{{Ref/Reuse|Sandy}}

==Art direction, story and setting==
{{Center|To view a full gallery of concept art produced for Titan, see [[Titan (canceled game)/Concept art|here]]}}
{{Quote|That idea of that sort of stylized approach to Halo was something that we were very interested in, in terms of the art. Some of the art that leaked out wasn't art that was actually in the game, so people were a little more torqued than they needed to be.|Dave Pottinger{{Ref/Reuse|shacknews}}}}
''Titan'' was to have been set in the era of the [[Forerunner]]s{{Ref/Twitter|zaphodgjd|1151524900592640003|Graeme Devine|Quote=It’s long canceled along with Ensemble, was set in the age of the Forerunners.|D=31|M=10|Y=2020}}, intending to go back in time within the ''Halo'' universe to tell a "more broad story" similar to that employed by ''The Old Republic'' within the ''Star Wars'' setting.{{Ref/Reuse|interview2}} Although Covenant species such as the [[Sangheili|Elites]], [[Unggoy|Grunts]], [[Kig-Yar|Jackals]] and [[Jiralhanae|Brutes]] were to feature, the game would not feature the Covenant as a faction with things being "more broken up", explained by Dave Pottinger as "The Covenant weren't quite the Covenant yet".{{Ref/Reuse|shacknews}} Despite the Forerunner era setting, the Covenant and UNSC forces featured in the game retain the designs of the modern-era ''Halo'' setting.
<gallery>
File:MMO Covenant Concept.jpg|Concept art for Covenant species.
File:MMO Species Concept.jpg|Concept art for humanity, Covenant and other miscellaneous species.
</gallery>
[[File:MMO Librarian Concept.jpg|thumb|250px|Concept art for the Librarian.]]
During the game's earlier stages of development, Ensemble studios produced concept art to explore the "heroic stylised" artform employed by the game. Much of the artwork developed was done to explore what would and would not work in the final game, with no guarantee any concept design would make it to the final shipped title.{{Ref/Twitter|xemu|1151681062541713410|Rob Fermier|Quote=BTW most of that concept art is exploration of what does, and doesn't work, in the game. It would definitely be a mistake to assume that it'd all end up in a shipping version of the game exactly like that.|D=31|M=10|Y=2020}} In keeping with the outlined Forerunner era-setting, much of the concept art explores designs for Forerunners and their [[Combat skin|armour]] - with one piece of art labelled as <code>The Librarian and Agent Sects</code>, depicting a potential design for the [[Librarian]].{{Ref/Generic|23_The Librarian and Agent Sects(FINAL_COLOR_SMALL).jpg|([[:File:MMO Librarian Concept.jpg|File link]])}} During the time of ''Titan''{{'}}s development, starting near the completion of ''[[Halo 2]]'' and continuing parallel to the development of ''[[Halo 3]]'', the modern ideas about the Forerunners as described in the ''[[The Forerunner Saga]]'' had not been developed yet, and as such Forerunners and humans look almost identical - deriving from the original games intention that the Forerunners and humanity were one and the same. This ''Halo 2''-era art inspiration is also reflected in the designs of [[UNSC Marine Corps|Marines]] and Brutes, both sharing their designs with their ''Halo 2'' incarnations.

Overall, the concept art shown for the game went in a very extreme art direction, though screenshots shared of in-game assets and engine builds show that the art direction was reigned in considerably to be something more recognisable to what ''Halo'' was, with little of the more outlandish concepts such as extremely exaggerated female player models and new alien species known to make it into 3D production. Some concept art depicts the [[Flood]] as an element within the world and infecting characters. 

In keeping with the Forerunner setting, a number of environment concept pieces depict Forerunner cities and architecture. Notably, a number of pieces uploaded by [[:Category:Images by Dylan Cole|Dylan Cole]] depict the cities with a much more conventional realism aesthetic{{Ref/Site|URL=http://www.dylancolestudio.com/sketches/sketches.html|Site=Dylan Cole|Page=Sketches|D=23|M=12|Y=2009}}, though others do depict the cities in the more cartoon-like style adopted in the rest of the game. This city can be seen in released engine builds, along with other environments such as jungles and deserts. These screenshots also depict the game to be set on a [[Halo Array|Halo ring]].

Notably, a number of concept art pieces released for ''Titan'' have also been released under the ''Halo Wars'' titling, indicating a number of concepts and ideas were shared between games.

==Screenshots==
In 2008, user "goneisgone" uploaded an album of images of the ''Titan'' prototype to a Flickr gallery. These images are archived below, and can also be found [https://www.flickr.com/photos/30784486@N04/sets/72157607452469273/ here].{{Ref/Site|Id=Flickr|URL=https://www.flickr.com/photos/30784486@N04/sets/72157607452469273/Site=Flickr|Site=Flickr|Page=Halo MMO|Quote=Ensemble Games prototype; 2005-2007|D=11|M=02|Y=2009}} Ensemble Studios employee Shannon Dees additionally uploaded several images to her Tumblr blog [https://www.tumblr.com/dashboard/blog/shannondees/161667871931 here]{{Ref/Site|Id=shannon|URL=https://www.tumblr.com/dashboard/blog/shannondees/161667871931|Site=Tumblr|Page=Shannon Dees|Quote=Work I did on the Halo MMO, while working at Ensemble Studios/Microsoft|D=01|M=12|Y=2024}} and her personal portfolio website [https://www.shannondees.art/halo-mmo-gallery here].{{Ref/Site|Id=shannonart|URL=https://www.shannondees.art/halo-mmo-gallery|Site=shannondees.art|Page=Halo MMO|D=18|M=07|Y=2024}}

Other images of the game's characters were uploaded by artist Jason Sallenbach and can be found [https://web.archive.org/web/20090902094036/http://www.horribledeath.com/images/halo/ here].{{Ref/Site|URL=http://www.horribledeath.com/images/halo/|Site=horribledeath.com|Page=Halo|Detail=Jason Sallenbach's portfolio|D=01|M=12|Y=2024}}

===World===
<gallery>
File:MMO_AlienDesert_1.jpg|Alien Desert
File:MMO_AlienDesert_2.jpg|Alien Desert
File:MMO_AlienDesert_3.jpg|Alien Desert - note the presence of the Halo in the sky
File:MMO_AlienJungle_1.jpg|Alien Jungle
File:MMO_AlienJungle_1.jpg|Alien Jungle
File:MMO_AlienJungle_2.jpg|Alien Jungle
File:MMO_AlienJungle_3.jpg|Alien Jungle
File:MMO_AlienJungle_4.jpg|Alien Jungle
File:MMO_AlienJungle_5.jpg|Alien Jungle
File:MMO_Jungle_Overlook_1.jpg|An alien jungle overlooking a Forerunner structure.{{Ref/Reuse|shannon}}{{Ref/Reuse|shannonart}}
File:MMO_Jungle_Overlook_2.png|An alien jungle overlooking a Forerunner structure.{{Ref/Reuse|shannonart}}
File:MMO_Jungle.png|The alien plant in the jungle.{{Ref/Reuse|shannonart}}
File:MMO_BlueBase_1.jpg|Blue Base
File:MMO_BlueBase_2.jpg|Blue Base
File:MMO_BlueBase_3.jpg|Blue Base
File:MMO_BlueBase_4.jpg|Blue Base
File:MMO_Canyon_1.jpg|Canyon
File:MMO_Canyon_2.jpg|Canyon
File:MMO_Canyon_3.jpg|Canyon
File:MMO_SciFiCity_1.jpg|Sci-Fi City
File:MMO_SciFiCity_2.jpg|Sci-Fi City
File:MMO_SciFiCity_3.jpg|Sci-Fi City
File:MMO_Planet.jpg|A planet.{{Ref/Reuse|shannon}}
File:MMO_Starmap_1.png|A holographic star map.{{Ref/Reuse|shannonart}}
File:MMO_Starmap_2.png|A holographic star map.{{Ref/Reuse|shannonart}}
File:MMO_Lightbridge_1.png|A structure resembling a light bridge.{{Ref/Reuse|shannonart}}
File:MMO_Lightbridge_2.png|A structure resembling a light bridge.{{Ref/Reuse|shannonart}}
File:MMO_Lightbridge_3.png|A structure resembling a light bridge.{{Ref/Reuse|shannonart}}
File:MMO_ForerunnerInterior_1.jpg|A Forerunner interior.{{Ref/Reuse|shannon}}{{Ref/Reuse|shannonart}}
File:MMO_ForerunnerInterior_2.jpg|A Forerunner interior.{{Ref/Reuse|shannon}}
</gallery>

===World objects===
<gallery>
File:MMO_Jungle_Plant.jpg|A plant for the jungle environment.{{Ref/Reuse|shannon}}{{Ref/Reuse|shannonart}}
File:MMO_ThornyPalm.jpg|A "thorny palm" plant
File:MMO_Base_1.jpg|An unknown, possibly human base structure.{{Ref/Reuse|shannon}}{{Ref/Reuse|shannonart}}
File:MMO_Base_3.jpg|An unknown, possibly human base structure.{{Ref/Reuse|shannon}}{{Ref/Reuse|shannonart}}
File:MMO_Base_4.jpg|An unknown, possibly human base structure.{{Ref/Reuse|shannon}}{{Ref/Reuse|shannonart}}
File:MMO_Base_2.jpg|An unknown, possibly human base structure.{{Ref/Reuse|shannon}}{{Ref/Reuse|shannonart}}
File:MMO_Pod.png|An asset resembling a cryo pod.{{Ref/Reuse|shannonart}}
File:MMO_Machine.png|Unknown machinery.{{Ref/Reuse|shannonart}}
</gallery>

===Weapons===
<gallery>
File:MMO_BruteShots.jpg|Brute Shots
File:MMO_Carbines.jpg|Carbines
File:MMO_PlasmaRifles_1.jpg|Plasma Rifles
File:MMO_PlasmaRifles_2.jpg|Plasma Rifles
File:MMO_HardlightStaffs.jpg|Hardlight Staffs
File:MMO_GravityHammer.jpg|Gravity Hammer
</gallery>

===Vehicles===
<gallery>
File:MMO_Aardvark_1.jpg|Aardvark
File:MMO_Aardvark_2.jpg|Aardvark
File:MMO_Aardvark_3.jpg|Aardvark
File:MMO_Aardvark_4.jpg|Aardvark
File:MMO_Aardvark_5.jpg|Aardvark
</gallery>

===Armor===
<gallery>
File:MMO_MarineArmorTest_1.jpg|Marine Armor Test
File:MMO_MarineArmorTest_2.jpg|Marine Armor Test
File:MMO_MarineArmorTest_3.jpg|Marine Armor Test
File:MMO_MarineArmorTest_4.jpg|Marine Armor Test
File:MMO_PowerArmor_1.jpg|Power Armor
File:MMO_PowerArmor_2.jpg|Power Armor
File:MMO_GreenSciFiArmor_1.jpg|Green Sci Fi Armor
File:MMO_GreenSciFiArmor_2.jpg|Green Sci Fi Armor
</gallery>

===Characters===
<gallery>
File:MMO_PsionFemale_1.jpg|Psion Female
File:MMO_PsionFemale_2.jpg|Psion Female
File:MMO_Rogue_1.jpg|Rogue
File:MMO_Rogue_2.jpg|Rogue
File:MMO_Rogue_3.jpg|Rogue
File:MMO_Brutes.jpg|Brutes
File:MMO_Brute_Sculpt.jpg|Brute sculpt
File:MMO_Brute_Armour_Sculpt.jpg|Brute high-poly sculpt
File:MMO_Elite_Sculpt.jpg|Elite high-poly sculpt
File:MMO_Serina.jpg|An AI, nicknamed in the original image upload as <code>early_serina.jpg</code>
File:MMO_Jackals.jpg|Jackal screenshot
File:MMO_Snipe.jpg|An animal known as a "snipe"
</gallery>

===Visual effects===
<gallery>
File:MMO_PrototypeEffects_1.jpg|Prototype effects
File:MMO_PrototypeEffects_2.jpg|Prototype effects
File:MMO_PrototypeEffects_3.jpg|Prototype effects
File:MMO_PrototypeEffects_4.jpg|Prototype effects
File:MMO_PrototypeEffects_5.jpg|Prototype effects
File:MMO_PrototypeEffects_6.jpg|Prototype effects
File:MMO_PrototypeEffects_7.jpg|Prototype effects
</gallery>

==Sources==
{{Ref/Sources}}

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