Blame Canada no more…Halo 3 Multiplayer Rocked by who else?  A Canadian!

Hey U.S. fanboys, listen up!  You know the Halo 3 Multiplayer will rock, and you can thank Canada!  That’s right – a boy from Revelstoke, British Columbia is the reason you are about to lose all contact with family and friends this September for, oh say, the rest of 2007.  Tyson Green started out with a passion for Myth and a drive to be involved in the games industry at any cost.  It’s this passion you can thank for the sleepless nights with the Halo 2 downloadable map pack, and soon with Halo 3.  I sat down with Tyson to find out more about probably the most anticipated game of our time, and his role creating our favourite feature – the ability to mercilessly frag our friends. 

Jade: Your title is Multiplayer Design Lead – tell us a bit about your role creating one of the best online gaming experiences of all time with Halo 2 and now Halo 3.

Tyson Green: Though I did work on Halo 2’s downloadable maps, my full time involvement with Halo multiplayer really started with Halo 3. As the Multiplayer Design Lead, I am ultimately responsible for almost everything that impacts the multiplayer experience. That ranges from planning out parts of the multiplayer game, like game rules or respawning systems, to working with our art teams to create the maps and other in game content. In general, designers set the direction for the game, and are responsible for bringing together engineering, art, and test teams to create it.

Jade: As a boy from Revelstoke BC, how did you make your way to Bungie into such an influential role? 

Tyson: Well, I started off early, ten or eleven years ago. I got involved in the online communities that surrounded some of Bungie’s early games, through work on websites and helping to moderate their online bungie.net service. When a position opened to work on Myth II, I took a bit of a leap of faith and applied for it. They knew me from my community work and accepted, and I spent a few memorable (and very busy) months in Chicago before returning home and eventually heading to school for an education.

I stayed in touch, though, and in 2001 a designer position opened up on Halo and I applied again, and got it. From then until Halo 2’s launch in 2004, I did single player design for Halo 1 and 2, and over time I became I seasoned member of our design team. Through discussions with Max Hoberman, the MP Lead on Halo 2, I came to work on multiplayer full time for Halo 3. When he later moved on to found his own studio in Austin, I stepped up to the lead role and have been tending it since.

Jade: I know our community is dying to know the answer to this question. What new multiplayer features are you most excited about in Halo 3?

Tyson: I’m excited about the improved balance and richer variety of game options, but if I had to pick one new thing, it would be our saved films. Halo multiplayer is full of so many funny, unexpected, and memorable events, and being able to save and share films of them is really exciting. Even during our Beta test, we saw a lot of great films, and a lot of excitement about the feature, and that was with a very limited version of our Theater playback mode.

Jade: Any big revelations so far from the success of the Halo 3 beta – what are your initial thoughts now that it has wrapped?

Tyson: Despite all the warnings, we still underestimated the enthusiasm of our players. On the first night, we logged a peak of just over one hundred thousand simultaneous users, and our servers were not quite prepared for the load.

In general, the Beta was warmly received. Even with the rough edges, a lot of people had a good time, and that was a tremendous relief to us. What really surprised us was the quality of the feedback from the community (our players are really very perceptive at times), and the volume of information we were able to gather that has helped us hone the game in preparation for the September launch. It was a very valuable process for us, and we’re really quite grateful to the thousands of players who helped out.

Jade: Everyone has one – but as a Halo multiplayer expert, what is your all-time favourite, ultimate multiplayer game set up in Halo 2 – including map, gametype, number of players etc.? 

Tyson: With a big group, I always had a good time with 8-12 player games of Team Slayer on Coagulation, one of our larger vehicle maps. Every game had a lot of fun clashes, especially the rush right at the start of a round. Lowball on Turf was also a favorite when there were fewer people around, because it’s very focused and team oriented, but can produce some truly epic brawls.

In Halo 3, I still really love the vehicle clashes. I think 10 player games of Team Slayer or the new version of Territories on Valhalla or Sandtrap (formerly known as “Shrine”) will be my new favorite when September rolls around.

Jade: Now a question I’m dying to know the answer to…what is the origin of your nickname Ferrex?

Tyson: I wish I could, but I’ve used it for so long that I can’t really remember what made me think of it. It’s just an alias that has stuck, and now that I know people who call me by it in person, it’s just second nature.

Jade: I feel unfulfilled – it’s like Sopranos finale night all over again.  Okay, who is your most memorable opponent on Xbox Live?

Tyson: There have been a great many of them, but my most memorable ones would be the friends who I hook up with and eventually end up in Custom Games with. It’s a little unfair to include them, since I’ve played so many more games with them over the last three or four years.

Jade: What do you miss most living in Canada – what should we send you in a Canuck Care Package?

Snow! It rarely snows here in Seattle, and when it does, it’s never more than a few inches. But it is fun to watch Seattle drivers panic and abandon their SUVs on flat roads.

Besides that, BC isn’t too far away, so I get to visit home often. I stay in touch reading Canadian websites, and even down here you can catch the playoffs on TV. When I go home, though, I always sneak back some mint Aero bars, Coffee Crisps, and Hawkins Cheezies. Can’t get those down here.

Jade: Inquiring minds what to know.  How are you planning to celebrate Canada Day?

It’s on Sunday this year, but I think I’ll probably still be at work. Still, I’ll be wearing red, and I and the other Canadians in attendance that day will be harassing our American colleagues about taking the Fourth of July off. It’s sort of the tradition here.

Thanks Tyson, now get back to finishing up Halo 3!  September can’t come soon enough, it’s going to be a long summer *sigh*.