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''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|D=01|M=6|Y=2020|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)}} 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''. | ''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|D=01|M=6|Y=2020|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)}} 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}} 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|D=01|M=6|Y=2020|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|Detail=(Defunct, [http://web.archive.org/web/20100417090008/http://www.incgamers.com/Interviews/264/windstorms-dusty-monk-interview---part-one/3 Archived])|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. | 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}} 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|D=01|M=6|Y=2020|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|Detail=(Defunct, [http://web.archive.org/web/20100417090008/http://www.incgamers.com/Interviews/264/windstorms-dusty-monk-interview---part-one/3 Archived])|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.}} | ||
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|D=01|M=6|Y=2020|URL=http://www.incgamers.com/News/21928/cancelled-halo-mmo-details|Site=IncGamers|Page=Cancelled Halo MMO Details|Detail=(defunct, [http://web.archive.org/web/20100415050548/http://www.incgamers.com/News/21928/cancelled-halo-mmo-details Archived])}} 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.}} | 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|D=01|M=6|Y=2020|URL=http://www.incgamers.com/News/21928/cancelled-halo-mmo-details|Site=IncGamers|Page=Cancelled Halo MMO Details|Detail=(defunct, [http://web.archive.org/web/20100415050548/http://www.incgamers.com/News/21928/cancelled-halo-mmo-details Archived])}} 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=== | ===Cancellation=== | ||
''Titan'' was internally cancelled in mid-to-late 2007 with no formal announcement of its development by Microsoft.{{Ref/Site|Id=oneremains|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}} 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/Site|Id=robf1|D=01|M=6|Y=2020|URL=https://twitter.com/xemu/status/1151680760753131520?s=19|Site=Twitter|Page=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.}} | ''Titan'' was internally cancelled in mid-to-late 2007 with no formal announcement of its development by Microsoft.{{Ref/Site|Id=oneremains|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}} 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/Site|Id=robf1|D=01|M=6|Y=2020|URL=https://twitter.com/xemu/status/1151680760753131520?s=19|Site=Twitter|Page=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.}} | ||
''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 | ''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}} | ||
==Art direction, story and setting== | ==Art direction, story and setting== |