Beta ZBR
Note: by “Beta” we mean internal Beta; the May 3rd public Beta we refer to internally as the “Delta.”
Another giant pile of bugs fixed, a ton more polish put into 3d, env art, animation, audio and design. Better looking content abounds, but the differences between Alpha and Beta are more than skin deep. Stability and performance have both taken major leaps forward, both critical in preparing to release to a wider audience.
Closing down a milestone as big as the Beta always involves a process of intense negotiation and prioritization called “triage.” Given an infinite amount of time, an infinite amount of issues could get addressed. But deadlines being deadlines, we often have to make hard calls on what we can take immediately and what needs to get postponed. This process can be particularly interesting when you take into account how passionate everyone at Bungie is about quality - and the differences between what engineers, designers and artists think of as “must-fix.” In the end, the game goes through this gauntlet and comes out much stronger overall.
Meanwhile the internal Alpha continues apace. A few thousand folks from all over the world are playing games and generating loads of great bugs and feedback on everything from Assassinations to the Arena. Needless to say, there’s a lot going on at the studio. And that’s just the multiplayer side of the house! There’s a proportionate amount of blood, sweat and tears going into Campaign as we enter the home stretch. More on that next time.
- Joe