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Halo: Master Chief Collection Halo: Master Chief Collection
343 Industries Microsoft Studios Splash Damage
343 Industries Microsoft Studios Splash Damage

Halo: Master Chief Collection

Halo: Master Chief Collection

Halo: Master Chief Collection was originally published and distributed on Xbox One back in 2015. 343 Industries and Splash Damage worked together to bring the title to PC and Windows 10, including Halo Reach and Halo 3: ODST's "Firefight" mode.

After the initial release of the title on Xbox One in 2015, Ruffian Games and Splash Damage were tasked with porting the title to Windows 10 for distribution through Steam and Windows Store. It was a pleasure to work among such a talented team, and to bring such an iconic title to PC (again).

Porting the title to PC also involved translating both gamepad control schemes, and in-game features that were originally only ever considered for Xbox One. This including (among many other features) the ability to have an uncapped framerate, as well as having an input control scheme that felt "native" or "natural" to the PC platform for FPS games.

Team

Find below a picture of some of the team behind the project.

An early photo of the team working on Halo: Master Chief Collection at Splash Damage

An early photo of the team working on Halo: Master Chief Collection at Splash Damage

Another more up-to-date picture of the team.

An up-to-date photo of the team for Halo: Master Chief Collection at Splash Damage

An up-to-date photo of the team for Halo: Master Chief Collection at Splash Damage

Responsibilities

My role on the project was varied, as I often did work that spread across various teams including online services, UI, and tooling.

Online Services

  • Wrote the initial implementation of the online services subsystem used by Unreal Engine 4.
    • Interfaced with existing legacy online services systems developed by United Front Games.
    • Online user state management with legacy implementations.
    • Data marshaling between types consumed by Unreal Engine 4 and original online services systems.
  • Integrated legacy code with Unreal Engine 4 online services functionality.
  • Integrated XSAPI web-based authentication for users on Windows and Xbox Live.
  • Integrated CEF browser UI widget for in-game browser rendering used for authentication flows.
    • Used primarily for web-based authentication through XSAPI.

UI

  • Extended and refactored existing shared UI subsystems in Unreal Engine 4.
  • In-game notifications and prompts.
  • Additional widgets and other UI elements for the frontend and main menu screens (i.e. out of game).

Miscellaneous

  • Minor core-tech related bug fixing tasks. None noteworthy.

Tooling and Automation

  • Developed user-facing applications on Windows for automating build and developer processes, using C# and WPF.
  • Tooling was capable of managing Perforce workspaces, and streamlining various tasks that relied on both legacy tooling (originally developed by United Front Games) and Unreal Engine 4 automation tooling (BuildGraph).
An up-to-date picture of the team from Splash Damage credited working on Halo: Master Chief Collection. An up-to-date picture of the team from Splash Damage credited working on Halo: Master Chief Collection.
Credited as "Luc Shelton" for "Tools Programming" in Halo: The Master Chief Collection for PC as part of the team from Splash Damage. Credited as "Luc Shelton" for "Tools Programming" in Halo: The Master Chief Collection for PC as part of the team from Splash Damage.
Credited as "Luc Shelton" for "Tools Programming" in Halo: The Master Chief Collection for PC as part of the team from Splash Damage. Credited as "Luc Shelton" for "Tools Programming" in Halo: The Master Chief Collection for PC as part of the team from Splash Damage.
A slightly out-of-date photo of the team from Splash Damage responsible for working on Halo: Master Chief Collection. Some people featured in this photo include Tom Gantzer, Mark Tregonning, Luc Shelton (me), David Chang, Pascal Gane and others. A slightly out-of-date photo of the team from Splash Damage responsible for working on Halo: Master Chief Collection. Some people featured in this photo include Tom Gantzer, Mark Tregonning, Luc Shelton (me), David Chang, Pascal Gane and others.
In-game screenshot from Halo 2 Anniversary Campaign. The Master Chief is wielding a turret. In-game screenshot from Halo 2 Anniversary Campaign. The Master Chief is wielding a turret.
In-game screenshot from Halo 3 multiplayer. A picture of the "Blue Team" on Capture The Flag game mode. In-game screenshot from Halo 3 multiplayer. A picture of the "Blue Team" on Capture The Flag game mode.
In-game screenshot from Halo 3 multiplayer, playing on the map "Valhalla". An Elite grunt is firing a rocket detached mounted rocket launcher at a Banshee. In-game screenshot from Halo 3 multiplayer, playing on the map "Valhalla". An Elite grunt is firing a rocket detached mounted rocket launcher at a Banshee.
In-game screenshot from the campaign. A picture of an "orbital drop shock trooper" firing their rifle. In-game screenshot from the campaign. A picture of an "orbital drop shock trooper" firing their rifle.
In-game screenshot from the Halo 3 campaign. In-game screenshot from the Halo 3 campaign.
In-game screenshot from Halo 3: ODST. An "orbital drop shock trooper" is charging up a plasma pistol to fire at an Elite grunt. In-game screenshot from Halo 3: ODST. An "orbital drop shock trooper" is charging up a plasma pistol to fire at an Elite grunt.
In-game screenshot from the multiplayer for Halo 2. A player from the Red Team is about to hijack a Ghost from another player from the Blue Team. In-game screenshot from the multiplayer for Halo 2. A player from the Red Team is about to hijack a Ghost from another player from the Blue Team.
Screenshot of the multiplayer mode for Halo: Combat Evolved. In this picture are 4 players from the Blue Team capturing the Read Team flag. Screenshot of the multiplayer mode for Halo: Combat Evolved. In this picture are 4 players from the Blue Team capturing the Read Team flag.
Xbox Wire
Halo: The Master Chief Collection is Coming to PC, Halo: Reach Being Added to the Collection
Steam - Halo: The Master Chief Collection
The Steam store page for Halo: The Master Chief Collection.
PCGamesN - Halo: MCC tests could be delayed because “PC is considerably more complicated”
More information about Halo: Master Chief Collection for PC release date.
Halo Waypoint: Development Update - April 2019
Development update from Halo Waypoint
PC Gamer - Halo: The Master Chief Collection on PC: everything we know
PC Gamer article on the announcement of Halo: The Master Chief Collection for PC, including release dates and teasers.

Technologies:

WPF XAML Unreal Engine 4 Chromium Embedded Framework Perforce Jenkins .NET Framework Easy Anti-Cheat

Languages:

C++ C#

Platforms:

Steam Microsoft Store Xbox