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Career Day Mail Sack
Posted by DeeJ at 10/19/2012 2:25 PM PDT


For so many members of the Bungie Community, playing games (and loving them) is simply not enough. Their daydreams about games compel them to make games, and we can certainly relate. Just about every person who calls this studio their home away from home was driven to plant roots here by their passions as gamers. When we opened the Mail Sack this week, the questions that tumbled from its depths focused on the mysterious migration from the controller to the workstation.

Bungie Career Day begins now. Let’s open the sack.

antony X1000 Were you part of the community before you started working at Bungie?

Most of you know that I was plucked from the same battlefields that you have played on to lead this march into our next game. I am not alone. Here are only a few of the developers who blazed a trail into the industry before I ever met them…

Back in 1995, “the community” was just alt.games.marathon on USENET. A bunch of current Bungie staffers were once big fans of Marathon and Myth, way back in the day.
Derek Carroll, Senior Designer

Once a gamer, always a gamer. Just one more level…
Forest Soderlind, Technical Artist

Yes. The website and I always were, and always will be.
Chris Owens, Test Engineer

I wasn’t part of the Bungie community, but I was a part of another videogame community online. I ran my own website, too!
David Johnson, Engineer


EpicWaffles What should I start doing to be a Level Designer at Bungie?

Whenever you ask a question about getting a job at Bungie, the answer will invariably be: “Make something!” No matter what sort of job you’re applying for, the people who interview you will want to see that you have done what we need you to do somewhere else, even if it’s in your home office. Level Design is no different. Here’s some advice on how to cut your teeth on your own projects…

The best way to get into making games is to make games. There are plenty of game engines out there that will let you show off your skill.
Derek Carroll, Senior Designer

Pick up any of the free level editing tool kits and start learning. UDK (Unreal), Unity, and Source SDK are great places to start. Start small, learn the basics, and build small levels no bigger than a couple rooms that emulate spaces you have seen before in real life or other games. Study some architecture, learn basic composition, and apply it to the levels you are building.
Evan Nikolich, Designer

Design your own levels and get them noticed in the community. Keep working at it and try different things. Knowledge is power!
Chris Owens, Test Engineer


Kr1egerdude What's the most difficult part of your day?

Waking up before dawn so I can make it to work on time. Don’t get me wrong. It’s totally worth it.
Chris Owens, Test Engineer

Bypassing the morning treats Bungie offers without partaking in them.
David Johnson, Engineer

Meetings right before lunch. Usually they run long and then I have to wait even longer to get lunch.
Mat Noguchi, Programmer

Whenever I have to make significant edits or completely gut a mission or level. It can be tough to go back to existing work and know where to start and editing to make the gameplay experience better.
Evan Nikolich, Designer

Tearing myself away from the screen to try to get home and start cooking dinner at a reasonable hour. It can be really hard to stop coding when you get rolling on something, and it’s even harder to stop playing the most recent build of our game.
Andrew Friedland, Associate Engineer

The hardest part is prioritizing tasks. There’s so much to do, which makes it essential to prioritize properly.
Alan Stuart, Senior Engineer

The commute. Seattle-area drivers are... different.
Mike Forrest, Senior Engineer


QuirkyNate If you were going to rob a bank which employees would you take?

Bungie doesn't recommend bank robbery as a viable career choice. Assuming, however, that we are just playing around here, I volunteer to drive the getaway car.


Jondis Is it better to specialize in one area or to be well rounded? I've heard both.

I prefer to be well-rounded, although I can see the benefits of both. I think it has more to do with your personality. I tend to get bored easily when I focus all my energy into one area. I like to keep learning and expanding my knowledge on as many different skills as possible.
Chris Owens, Test Engineer

For test, both of those are the correct answer. We’re all expected to specialize in our specific area, but we’re also expected to be knowledgeable across the board.
Scott Kankelborg, Special Projects Assassin

Definitely have a specialty, but know how to do everything else at least a little bit so you can communicate better with people who work in different disciplines.
Forest Soderlind, Technical Artist

The best engineers I know have areas where they’re experts, but also a general knowledge of the entire field. Perhaps just as important, they have a keen understanding of what they know and what they don’t.
Joe Venzon, Engineer


Kaneg93 What all should a freshman computer science student do besides obtaining their bachelor's degree that will ensure they have the necessary skills, knowledge, or experience needed to earn an engineering position at Bungie?

One does not earn any position. They take it, with audacity and tenacity.
Mat Noguchi, Programmer

Write your own game engine. It’s the best experience you can have. There are so many documentation/discussion forums online nowadays that it’s pretty easy to start hacking your own thing.
Alexis Haraux, Engineer

Networking is just as important as knowledge and skills. Knowing who to talk to, when to talk to them, and how to talk to them is imperative to land any position. If no one knows you, they won’t know to ask you to work with them. Get to know the industry face-to-face.
Forest Soderlind, Technical Artist

If it already exists, join the game-making club on campus. If it doesn't, think about starting one. Or, you can try to find people online to work with. I was able to join the Game Creation Society during undergrad. I hear TIGSource is also good for finding like-minded people.
Andrew Friedland, Associate Engineer

All software engineers at Bungie are expected to have a good understanding of data structures and algorithms. Know your Big Oh notation!
Alan Stuart, Senior Engineer

Don’t just stick to classwork. There's no substitute for the experience of working on a real piece of software. One way to do this is to find an open source project that you're interested in and try fixing a bug or two.
Mike Forrest, Senior Engineer

David Hanson, my teacher for Systems Programming, gave weekly programming homework assignments. If your program crashed for any reason, you got a zero for the assignment, no exceptions. After the midterm, if your program crashed or leaked memory, you got a zero. It was the best motivation to write solid, robust code that I ever had.
Tom Sanocki, Staff Artist

We have a good number of programmers that are mathematicians, physicists and engineers; which reflects one of Bungie’s emphases: Math is delicious. A practical (and solid) algorithms base also helps a lot. The rest you can get with hands on experience - and the more you have the better.
Christian Diefenbach, Engineering Lead


HDhacker What do you typically do when you are having a bad day of coding?

Rage eternally at the inequities of reality. I have a lot of bad days.
Mat Noguchi, Programmer

If I get stuck on a problem, I take a break and go running, or if it’s late, I head home.
Joe Venzon, Engineer

Coding in itself is almost never the problem you want to solve, except at school. If you’re having a bad day, just go outside, lie on the grass, and enjoy some sun. If you live in Washington, move to California.
Alexis Haraux, Engineer

I just drink another Monster Import: Dub Edition and make some music in Ableton Live. Usually calms me down.
Forest Soderlind, Technical Artist

I think it’s important to find some sort of inner Zen when you’re having a rough day. When I can, I temporarily switch to a task that’s sure to invigorate me. If I can’t, I ask a coworker to give me a sanity check to make sure I’m on the right foot.
David Johnson, Engineer

When I feel myself starting to stall and get frustrated, I usually get up to go to get a snack. If that doesn't help, I’ll bounce my thoughts off coworkers to see if I’m failing to notice something more elegant, or if I just have a really nasty issue.
Andrew Friedland, Associate Engineer

It is amazing how often a two minute conversation with a colleague reveals the solution. If that doesn’t work, I follow John Cleese’s recommendation. If all else fails, I play a game for a while to relax.
Alan Stuart, Senior Engineer

Stop and take a break. If it's an issue of not being able to focus, switch to a different task for a while. Or caffeine.
Mike Forrest, Senior Engineer

Am I brain dead? Take a day off and go home. Am I still functional? Go play <Insert new Bungie game title here>!
Christian Diefenbach, Engineering Lead


calcarlson Can I or should I pursue a career in Video Games as a 3d sculptor? I use physical media and I'm wondering if that has any place in a video game studio, or if you use solely computer based models?

Yes! Video game models are sculptures in a different medium. Typically, it’s less dangerous and less messy than casting and you go home at the end of the day with clean clothes. A traditional-skilled sculptor can transfer the same concepts digitally. You would just need some basic 3D software training to get up to speed, but the art stuff will already be there.
Forest Soderlind, Technical Artist



That snarling visage was sculpted by hands that belong to our Character Team. In order to see their work from a more literal perspective, the guys that bring to life new creatures in our games took a sojourn to the Seattle Sculpture Atelier. Taking a break from virtual modeling to workshop the physical medium was a valuable exercise. Don’t go jumping to conclusions, now. This was little more than an experiment. If you think you’ll see that beasty critter in our next game, please reign in your conspiracy theories.


Arbiter 739 How did you learn to code?

I figured out how to modify game genie codes for Dragon Warrior 3.
Mat Noguchi, Programmer

I started on a Commodore64 using super simple basic commands. Just pick up a book and try some things out. Keep the scope of your projects small and manageable at first and build from there.
Forest Soderlind, Technical Artist

My mom enrolled me in some computer programming camps offered at universities during the summer. That’s what really sparked my love and passion for it. Once you have the basics, it’s easy to go off and explore.
David Johnson, Engineer

I made the effort to learn to code and it made me a better designer. I learned by taking classes in high school and college, but the most productive learning was done on my own side projects or learning on the job.
Evan Nikolich, Designer

The most important thing is to find some projects that interest you and dive in. I ended up dumping hours and hours into making a terrible JRPG battle engine and was completely hooked after that.
Andrew Friedland, Associate Engineer

In high school I bought a C++ for beginner’s book and went through all the programming examples. Then I bought a more advanced C++ book and did the same. I wrote some programs for some relatives to get some “real world” experience.
Alan Stuart, Senior Engineer

Trial and error mostly. There's no substitute for getting your hands dirty in code.
Mike Forrest, Senior Engineer

I really, really, REALLY wanted to print dots all over the screen, but holding down the period key only gave me 255. It all snowballed from there. (True story!)
Tom Sanocki, Staff Artist

On an Apple IIc computer. Writing code.
Christian Diefenbach, Engineering Lead

Being “forced” into coding for immediate real world needs is what has worked best for me. Back when I started on Halo 3, we had a tool called “Xbox Chief.” I started out by writing automation scripts using the simple language, but eventually needed something more powerful. I learned to convert all of the stuff I was doing into C# and then began playing around. Now I write all of my scripts using C# as well as write programs for various tasks around the studio.
Scott Kankelborg, Special Projects Assassin


LordMonkey What programming language do you find most useful?

When it comes to improving my computer science skills and writing relatively bug-free code, but performance is not a concern, I like using Haskell.
Joe Venzon, Engineer

Python is super useful and versatile. Multi-platform, easy to read, and it’s used everywhere. As an object-oriented language, it’s quite powerful.
Forest Soderlind, Technical Artist

C++, you’d be surprised how useful it is…even if you don’t code.
Chris Owens, Test Engineer

Personally, I think C# is one of the best languages to learn because there’s so much already at your fingertips. It lets you explore and create without having to hunt down or write your own common structures. It’s easily the language of choice I use at home for random projects.
David Johnson, Engineer

COBOL, Basic, Logo, Fortran… so many memories. Fortunately, Bungie focuses mostly on C++ and C#.
Christian Diefenbach, Engineering Lead

C and C++ are supported by most major platforms so learn those first. Next learn C#, Java, and JavaScript. If you know those languages you can get hired just about anywhere and you can quickly learn any other language.
Alan Stuart, Senior Engineer

If I had to pick one it would be C, because you can use it for just about anything. But there are better alternatives depending on what I'm doing. PHP is great for smaller web projects because it's quick and easy and runs on just about anything. And Java and C# are great for more complex systems.
Mike Forrest, Senior Engineer

Certain languages at better at certain things, and you should pick the one that fits best. Don't limit yourself to only one or two. Once you know the basics of how various types of languages work, it usually isn't too hard to pick up a new one if you want/need to.
Andrew Friedland, Associate Engineer


Professor24 I always seem to get stuck on chapter three or four of a book that I'm trying to write, what keeps the writers at Bungie creative?

Accept that the first draft is going to suck and write it as quickly as you can. Don’t judge a single word. Don’t second guess yourself. Don’t correct spelling or grammar. Just get words on the page. Create the ugliest beast you can imagine then chain it to a pipe in the basement and walk away. Don’t even look at it for at least a month. When you are ready, get back in there and make it handsome.
Clay Carmouche, Writer

I think the biggest reason most people get stuck is self-judgment. You have to learn to love your creativity. And if you can’t love it, at least accept it like the problem child it is, and keep trying. It will constantly lead you down dangerous paths and get you in trouble. But if you just take a breath, and love it for trying to be good, love it for aspiring, and accept it as imperfect, like we all are, then you’ll have the patience to wait and try again and see what comes next. Writing is hard. But you have to just keep going, just keep writing, and you will, eventually, fall back in love with your work. And when you don’t feel that creative spark, write anyway. As a great teacher of mine once said, the real secret to writing is three simple words: Ass. In. Chair.
Joshua Rubin, Writer

Consume other acts of creativity. Stare at a painting. Watch an old movie. Read some story that’s not at all related to the premise you’re working on. See how other creative folks handle their business. If that doesn’t inspire you, steal from them, but add enough of your own sauce to make it your own.
Eric Raab, Managing Editor


Full Time Loser Should I give up?

Quitters never win. Now buck up, and walk the walk. You could start by picking a more inspirational username.


Try Would you rather work for money or job satisfaction?

Everyone who weighed in on this conundrum chose satisfaction. Here’s why…

I’m compelled to work every day, doing the things I love to do. Some call it obsession; I call it PassionTM.
Forest Soderlind, Technical Artist

Money is a nice perk, don’t get me wrong, but having worked at a job where I wasn’t at all satisfied, your mediocre job eventually becomes your worst nightmare and starts taking over your at-home life as well.
David Johnson, Engineer

I had opportunities to pursue better paying jobs when I first started working, but I’ve learned that if you don’t like coming to work every day, the higher pay isn’t worth it. However, by all means, get paid what you and your skills are worth! Ideally, you have a satisfying job with a wage you feel you deserve.
Evan Nikolich, Designer

If you paid me a ton of money for something I didn’t enjoy, I would end up taking that anger home and would never be happy. On the flip side I should point out that having an employer that clearly appreciates my contributions adds to the satisfaction of a job I enjoy doing.
Scott Kankelborg, Special Projects Assassin

I have a few friends who have a job they love, but are barely making ends meet. They’re always happy and don't mind the fact that they don't have much money. I have another friend who is making money hand over fist, but hates his job, and I have watched him become depressed and less energetic.
Andrew Friedland, Associate Engineer


Job Satisfaction > Money!
Alan Stuart, Senior Engineer

I’ve done the money thing, and it’s soul draining, although I do miss the huge money-filled vault that I used to dive into.
Chris Owens, Test Engineer

Job satisfaction is great, but I do like being paid in money. You can buy more stuff with it.
Mike Forrest, Senior Engineer


MightyMarcher01 What is your favorite type of chip?

Silicone.


SpadesJr2 How would one go about getting into the voice acting business?

You’re in for a special treat. I found a voice actor that might know a thing or two about working on games. You may have even sampled some of his work (you better have). The floor is yours, Chief…

When it comes to Voice Acting. The emphasis is on "acting," not "voice." Someone telling you that you have a nice voice is no reason to pursue voice over. Many great voice talents don’t have a rich deep voice. What they have is believability. The idea is to be able to internalize the message and deliver it so the listener "feels" it. If you live near a place that has a reputable acting school, look into what classes they offer. Many will offer voice over classes. Even taking an intro to acting class or an improv class would be helpful. Talk to actors who have taken classes there and get a few good referrals (very important). If you live near a city that has a branch of the actors union (AFTRA-SAG), call them. Often times, they offer free classes on getting into voice over, and can also make recommendations on reputable schools in your area. Whatever you do, DON'T GO TO A BROADCASTING SCHOOL.
Steve Downes, Master Chief


PVSpartanL36 Do you have any wisdom to share with someone who is new to programming and struggling?

Pick a project that you think is really cool (simple game, cellular automaton, physics simulation, website, etc.), and DO IT. Even if you don’t finish it (I’ve never completed any of my personal projects), you’ll learn a lot.
Alexis Haraux, Engineer

Don’t give in to the gremlins! If you’re struggling over some programming concepts, step back and go through some tutorials to help you understand the basics fully before moving on. Try teaching someone else some basic programming concepts. If they get it, move on to the next level. By teaching someone else, you’ll discover the holes in your own knowledge.
Forest Soderlind, Technical Artist

No matter what you pursue, there will be obstacles. Realize it’s a phase in the learning process. Once you get past the obstacle, you’ll have gained new knowledge and expertise, and this will make you a better developer. Good luck, and keep plugging away!
Evan Nikolich, Designer

Even at the professional level, programming is a constant struggle, so learn to enjoy the struggle. The most rewarding projects I’ve worked on were the most difficult. Also, find a mentor who can review your code and give you guidance. Lastly, it takes time and practice to become a proficient programmer so have patience and diligence.
Alan Stuart, Senior Engineer

Try to avoid getting frustrated. Programming is hard enough when you have a clear mind. Do your best to make sure you're not attempting something that's over your head. Stick with simple problems for a while and things will start to click. Just keep practicing. One way to improve is to take some older code that you wrote or an old homework assignment and re-write it to make it cleaner, or better, or faster.
Mike Forrest, Senior Engineer

Keep finding odd and diverse tasks to sharpen your skills. Challenge yourself to do something new. It doesn’t have to be big, but it has to be outside of your comfort zone.
Christian Diefenbach, Engineering Lead

Learn by shooting for targets that directly affect you, and don’t be afraid to ask questions from folks that know what they are doing. In the five years I’ve been at Bungie, I have never had an Engineer refuse to provide me with as much help as I needed to get through something.
Scott Kankelborg, Special Projects Assassin

Create a reasonable goal involving something that interests you, and learn what you need to do in order to accomplish that. Having that goal behind you will almost certainly steer your passion behind the process, which is a big help. Almost every time I started learning a new computer language for fun, I started simple. One of the coolest university projects I had to do was to create a networked, multiplayer game of Battleship complete with win/loss record keeping.
David Johnson, Engineer

Modify completed code, or code samples. It’s a lot easier to see cause and effect when you can change aspects and directly see the effects and connections.
Jennifer Ash, User Researcher

The universe is fundamentally computational; learning its secrets will take time. It took the universe 13.75 Billion years for you to be born. Have patience and keep plugging away.
Mat Noguchi, Programmer


spawn031 My friend in an Xbox Live party chat just told me that you guys can give me blue flames.

Here you go. We consider the matter closed. Please stop writing us letters.



At least about blue flames. We do love your letters, but the ship that carried your blue flames as cargo has sailed, friends.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this look into our world, and the roads that lead here. We’ll let our hair down a little more next week, and get back to the ridiculous sarcasm and nonsense that you should expect during this communications blackout. So many of you just seemed so sincere about your curiosities this week, and we’re just a bunch of suckers for eager young minds that want to make games.
New Beginnings 

Posted by DeeJ at 1/31/2013 11:45 AM PST

Bungie.net has evolved...

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Tags: Community

   

Bungie.net Set to Read-Only Today 

Posted by DeeJ at 1/8/2013 9:07 AM PST

Pardon our dust...

On Tuesday, January 8th, Bungie.net will be set to read-only mode. During this short, preparatory maintenance window, you can browse, but you can’t post. We expect the outage to be brief.

Thank you for your patience. If we don’t make it back, tell your mother we love her. See you on the other side.

Tags: Community

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Happy Holidays. Love, Bungie. 

Posted by DeeJ at 12/21/2012 2:22 PM PST

Peace on Earth?

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Tags: Community

   

We Wish You a Merry Mail Sack 

Posted by DeeJ at 12/21/2012 2:21 PM PST

Goodwill towards mail...



It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas at Bungie. Our cavernous hideout, usually overrun by artists, coders, and designers, is slowly becoming a place of empty chairs and empty tables. Before our beloved partners in crime could flee the scene in favor of their respective family reunions, we gathered around the very last bundle of community interaction that will be seen this calendar year.

The past twelve months have been home to fascinating developments at Bungie. We are thankful. We’ve marched ever closer toward our fate. There is brilliant light at the end of the tunnel, dear community.

But that is a glorious conversation best saved for another time. For now, let’s look back instead of forward.

Let’s open the Sack.


Frag Ingot What do you consider to be your greatest accomplishment from this year?

I made it through...

Ben Thompson, Engineer

I wrote lots of cool things for Bungie.next. Maybe DeeJ will tell you more about that soon.
Tom Gioconda, Engineer

I started building a spaceship in my garage, entirely out of spare lawnmower parts.
Dave Mongan, Senior Writer

Deadlift: 325lbs., Squat: 225lbs, Machine Squat: 360lbs. Also, wrote/recorded 13 songs and remixed 2 songs.
Forrest Soderlind, Technical Artist

Professionally, I built a new back end system that (if it works correctly) will make the online experience better for a significant portion of our playerbase, without them ever knowing it is there. Personally, I went on some awesome adventures with my wife this year and didn't get us both killed, or too horribly lost.
Michael Williams, Engineer

Marriage!
Robert Kehoe, BVT Tester

Creating the next generation of the internal tools for Bungie.Next. They ain’t pretty, but they get the job done.
Alex Loret de Mola, Engineer

And, the following people on the Bungie Panel for this week counted their great fortune in landing a place on the roster of Team Bungie. This delegation represents only a fraction of the parade of noobs that stormed our front door to help us bring you a new game.
Will Edgette, Engineer
Leland Dantzler, Tester
Doug Juno, Artist
Drew Smith, Producer
David Johnson, Engineer
Mike Shannon, Senior IT Engineer
Chris Owens, Test Engineer
Andy Howell, Matchmaking Test Lead


Hylebos How is the Pentathlon shaping up?

As someone who has been honored with an invitation to serve on the Exalted Winter Pentathlon Committee, I'm one of the few people who can tell you that it’s shaping up quite nicely. Our competitors have been partitioned into four warring schools, with Captains assigned to lead each. Events have been chosen, with lieutenants designated to lead each school’s respective charge, and commissioners in place to enforce the rules of battle. As the games draw near, we'll treat you to the usual front-row seat, though I suspect the game I'm most anxious to play this year will be zealously guarded from your eyes.


Elem3nt 117 What is your New Year's Resolution?

I resolve to be a little bit more open and transparent with you. If that has you excited, please note that my track record for keeping these annual promises is less than impressive. Let’s see if my co-developers are more or less disciplined. What do you have planned for yourselves in 2013, Bungie Panel?

Decimate the competition in the Pentathlon or die trying.
Drew Smith, Producer

Draw more.
Doug Juno, Artist

Finish building that spaceship in my garage! Or, give up the ridiculous idea already and waste my free time more wisely.
Dave Mongan, Senior Writer

To get up earlier!
Andy Howell, Matchmaking Test Lead

Deadlift: 495lbs., Squat: 405lbs, Bench 250lbs.
Forrest Soderlind, Technical Artist

Write a book, plant a tree. I can already imagine blank pages and a bare yard.
Christian Diefenbach, Engineering Lead

Don’t get suckered into anymore of those crazy “End of the world” doomsday prophesies.
Ben Thompson, Engineer

Create more, consume less.
Michael Williams, Engineer

To finally fulfill my resolutions from the last 8 years.
Mike Shannon, Senior IT Engineer

I resolve to be better, stronger, faster.
Chris Owens, Test Engineer

To not make any more New Year’s Resolutions.
Alex Loret de Mola, Engineer

Be less tempted by Bungie’s free snacks. Who am I kidding?
Leland Dantzler, Tester


Ninja Blue Wolf Does Marty do lessons?

You mean music lessons? No. Marty does teach us a lesson from time to time, but they are more in the vein of knowing when to hold ‘em – and when to fold ‘em. If you don’t get the reference, that’s an old song about Poker, written by a gambling purveyor of Fried Chicken.


WestCoastRonin If you could remake any Christmas movie and give it a sci-fi setting, which movie would you choose and what would it be like?

I’m pitching a starside reboot of A Christmas Story. My hero, Ralphie_9.6, is an astroclone incepted on an off-world colony who dreams of owning a Red Ryder x-ray cannon. As part of his coming of age, he learns to face off against the Academy’s most dreaded bully. Comic relief ensues when he tricks his best friend into sticking his tongue to the cooling towers of the main reactor. For the grand finale, a hoard of feral tusk-wolves make off with the sandtrout that was prepared for the solstice feast of the seventh moon.

The joy of editing this feature is the chance to hoard the best and most obvious answer for one’s self. However, in the event that Hollywood rejects my screenplay, here are some alternatives from the Bungie Panel…

If you ask me, Rocky 4 is begging for a sci-fi remake. It’s got it all: Good versus evil; hi-tech versus old-school; national pride versus personal determination. Everything is on the line, and it all comes to a head on Christmas Day. Simply set it in an interstellar society, with humans versus aliens and… Ba-da-bing ba-da-boom! Instant, updated holiday classic.
Dave Mongan, Senior Writer

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a cyborg sent back through time to Santa’s workshop (circa 1995) to protect Santa Claus. Sam the Snowborg is on a mission to kill him and alter the future so that Snowborgs rule over all mankind – and Christmas is permanently destroyed. To save the day, Santa and Rudolph must go to the Isle of Misfit Toys Asylum to rescue Mrs. Claus, who was arrested after encountering Rudolph in the prequel.
David Johnson, Engineer

It’s a Wonderful Star Trek Life. I know they kind of already did it in TNG. I guess I just want Star Trek for Christmas.
Andy Howell, Matchmaking Test Lead

As Life Day approaches on Tatooine, Emmet Otter and his Ma decide to compete in the Cantina's talent contest. Watch as they face corrupt Hutt judges, and challenge the Empire's most deadly musicians, "The Boba Fett Sarlacc Band". In the end they will learn the true meaning of Life Day, and the true power of the Force.
Michael Williams, Engineer

Mine is more based on a TV show than a movie. Theorizing that one could time travel within his own lifetime, Doctor Sam Beckett stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator - and vanished. He awoke to find himself trapped in the past, facing mirror images that looked a lot like Santa, and driven by an unknown force to change Christmas for the better. His only guide on this journey is ELF, an observer from his own time, who appears in the form of a hologram that only Sam can see and hear. And so, Doctor Beckett finds himself leaping from life to life, striving to replace bad presents with amazing presents and hoping each time that his next leap… will be the leap home.
Chris Owens, Test Engineer

I have a visual of people opening their Christmas presents to find face hugger aliens inside.
Robert Kehoe, BVT Tester

The first two Die Hard movies could be convincingly set on an inter-planetary colony and a spaceport, respectively. The plot of the second movie even becomes more much plausible in a spaceport.
Tom Gioconda, Engineer

White Christmas. It’s the year 2196, and Lt. Commander Wallace is performing a holiday space symphony for our troops fighting against the mysterious arachnid alien species that has invaded our solar system. He finds himself caught in a web, and about to be eaten by said aliens, before Ensign Davis runs over in the nick of time and saves his life. Their friendship comes to a head years later when their old Fleet Admiral is discovered running a failed tourist vessel orbiting Jupiter. They decide to bring their interstellar cast and crew to revive his chances of success. The plot really doesn’t have to change much at all! I suppose one of their love interests could get vaporized by a stray phaser blast as they defend the tourist ship from space raiders.
Alex Loret de Mola, Engineer

Yeah, Alex. Because nothing gets people in the Christmas spirit faster than vaporizing love interests.


irishfreak Why won't you return my calls?

Mostly because, for the first time in the years (and years) since I left college and joined The Work Force, I don’t have a phone on my desk. That took some getting used to. I remember asking about this on my first day at Bungie. Urk answered my question with a question of his own. “Who would you call?” That stopped me in my tracks. Hello, Internet? It’s me, DeeJ.


EZcompany2ndsqd If Santa came down your chimney and you were awake what would you do?

I’d handcuff him to the gas starter, light a candle, and have a long chat about all those years I got ugly sweaters instead of the video games that had been released that season. Perhaps the Bungie Panel will be more forgiving than I…

See if he wanted to play some Farcry 3 coop.
Drew Smith, Producer

I would thank him for giving me a brand new fireplace.
David Johnson, Engineer

Offer him a drink.
Doug Juno, Artist

Release the Krampus!
Forrest Soderlind, Technical Artist

Demand gifts as payment for intrusion.
Leland Dantzler, Tester

We would then engage in mortal combat - Bungie wood n00b sword vs. Santa Sack. Spoiler: Christmas would lose.
Andy Howell, Matchmaking Test Lead

Borrow his ride!
Christian Diefenbach, Engineering Lead

Ask if he had a couple hours to babysit.
Ben Thompson, Engineer

Wager my soul against a golden fiddle in a Settler's of Catan match. Santa does that right?
Michael Williams, Engineer

Scream like a little girl and run around in circles until the bad man left. Sadly, that’s how I deal with most situations.
Chris Owens, Test Engineer

Offer the man some milk and cookies for installing a chimney in my apartment.
Will Edgette, Engineer

Probably offer him a beer. Cookies and milk probably get old.
Tom Gioconda, Engineer


DarthCarrick If you could give the Community a present, what would it be?

An exciting new place to call home. Since such things cannot be wrapped, that gift will have to serve another occasion.


Xd00999 You can now un-cancel one television show. What do you choose?

When I do make it to my television, I’m more than likely using it to battle the Internet though the construct of my favorite game. Thus, I am transferring my vote to the Bungie Panel. Have at it, people. What do you wish was still on the idiot box?

I used to work in TV, so that’s like asking me to resurrect only one of my deceased friends. Too cruel. Instead, I’ll bring to life a baby that was never born: a pilot I wrote called “The War.” Imagine the grittiness of “The Wire,” set on the coke-frenzied Sunset Strip of the 1980s. It was an intense roller-coaster ride of sex & drugs & rock-n-roll… or at least it would have been, had it ever seen the light of day. Oh well…
Dave Mongan, Senior Writer

I’d pick one of the following:

Ben Thompson, Engineer

Bring back Firefly!
David Johnson, Engineer

Firefly, Duh. (Says the Star Trek fan… I know.. I know..)
Andy Howell, Matchmaking Test Lead

Firefly.
Will Edgette, Engineer

Can I choose two? 1) Firefly 2) Farscape.
Christian Diefenbach, Engineering Lead

Firefly.
Michael Williams, Engineer

I’m sure this is the first time someone mentioned this show, but Firefly.
Chris Owens, Test Engineer

Answers other than Firefly are wrong.
Tom Gioconda, Engineer

Wonderfalls!
Alex Loret de Mola, Engineer

Better Off Ted.
Leland Dantzler, Tester

Carnivale on HBO.
Doug Juno, Artist

Arrested Development.
Drew Smith, Producer

Deadwood, so I can open a can of peaches.
Forrest Soderlind, Technical Artist


A Pimpin Lady Why will you not answer my question? I want to know where Bungie hires their non-gaming personnel. Last time I asked this question, you sent me to the job listings page on B.Net. In all my years here, I have never seen non-gaming related listings. I know you guys have to have accountants, HR, health educators, etc. Will you please tell me where the job listings for these people are found?

“Ma’am! I answered your question! I answered the darn... I’m cooperating here!” -Jerry Lundegaard, Executive Sales Manager, Gustafson Motors

It’s almost as if our whole team is devoted to the singular cause of making a game. We do have a few people at Bungie who mind the shop while we make the toys. In all your years here, none of them have quit. They really like their jobs. We see to that, personally. If we end up needing more of them, the curious onlookers who pay attention to our Careers page will be the first to know.


Marcellos007 What was the funniest present you´ve got for Christmas?

My father and my sister succumbed to the allure of a home shopping offering on television. One toll-free conversation later, our entire family received the gift of decorative swords. Mine was so decorative, the blade folded under the weight of its own haft when I sank it into the soil of the back yard in a dramatic reenactment of the ending to my favorite Scottish revolution film. Care to recall your own comedic lumps of coal, Bungie Panel?

My dad used to rewrap the board game Balderdash every year and give it to a random member of the family. That was always funny. Plus, it’s a good game.
Drew Smith, Producer

Many years ago, a boss of mine gave me the menu for an adult-entertainment venue called The Chicken Ranch. I never visited the establishment, but I got a lot of laughs out of reading the names of their various “Dishes.”
Dave Mongan, Senior Writer

One year, my friends thought it would be a good idea to all get me Hello Kitty themed gifts, including bubble bath that came packaged with warnings about urinary tract infections. Also included was a lantern that had a warning to “not look directly at.” So, all of the Hello Kitty gifts where deadly in one way or another. But really, isn’t anything to do with Hello Kitty?
Andy Howell, Matchmaking Test Lead

Our family has had a habit of wrapping gifts in bizarre ways. I've seen bizarre polyhedral shapes, boxes nested in boxes, and gifts wrapped in twine that has been spliced so there was no end to untie.
Michael Williams, Engineer

A 20 pound wheel of cheese (I used to be a much larger man who loved his cheese).
Chris Owens, Test Engineer

A Rubik’s Cube shaped like Homer Simpson.
Alex Loret de Mola, Engineer

My dad gave me Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders. I was 8 and my mom was furious. Dad and I played the heck out of it, though.
Leland Dantzler, Tester


Halo biggest fan For all the artists at Bungie: Do any of you frequently go to figure drawing sessions to stay sharp on your traditional drawing skills?

Is this really a question about art? Or, is it more a question about naked people in our studio?


CoRaMo Where is the strangest place you have ever played a video game?

Like so many of you, I was waiting anxiously on the sidelines while Halo: ODST was preparing to drop. Through some magic wielded by the Hand of Urk, I vaulted to the front of a very long line and was the first kid in my zip code to play Firefight in the belly of a military transport vehicle. Moral to the story: Always be nice to your Community Manager. Beat that, Bungie Panel!

The Experience Music Project in Seattle during the Halo 2 launch party. The science fiction museum had only recently gone into the building, and the whole experience was pretty surreal and awesome.
Michael Williams, Engineer

At the Podiatrist, while I was having an ingrown toenail removed. I needed a distraction.
Andy Howell, Matchmaking Test Lead

You mean like the backseat of a Volkswagen?
Mike Shannon, Senior IT Engineer

Backseat of a Volkswagen.
Robert Kehoe, BVT Tester

I played Inception – The App while I was in Erfoud, Morocco just to unlock the Africa chapter. My wife rolled her eyes, but the camels didn’t seem to mind.
Forrest Soderlind, Technical Artist

On the set of a movie.
Chris Owens, Test Engineer

In a van heading across the country to get to PAX – part of a caravan called the Cross Country Super Trip. We wired it up to a TV that was fixed into the ceiling, and played it on our two day long trek.
Alex Loret de Mola, Engineer

I played Pokemon Silver in an unmarked van, in Ireland, stuck at a sheep crossing while thousands of fluffy things crossed the road for more than 15 minutes (true story).
Leland Dantzler, Tester

Do iPhone games on the porcelain throne count?
Dave Mongan, Senior Writer

To most of you, playing in an arcade is probably pretty strange. More people play video games on the toilet via their phones than play in arcades now.
Tom Gioconda, Engineer

With gaming on cell phones, it doesn’t get much more strange than gaming in a public restroom. I’m... not the only one that does that, right?
David Johnson, Engineer

Some of you are sick. Suddenly, that line that forms outside the Bungie men’s room is much less a mystery. Pull your pants up and get back to work. You can launch birds out of slingshots on your own time.


coolmike699 Does Bungie do a secret Santa? Has anyone gotten anything really weird?

Our Secret Santas give presents to the people who need them the most. This year, our tree was decorated with dreams passed along to us from our friends at the Make-A-Wish Foundation. We love making dreams come true at Bungie – the weirder the better.




Duardo What was the best gift ever given to you?

I have everything I want in life: a gaming console, a patient wife who lets me spend a lot of time with it, and a clan of willing killers to carry me to victory. Bungie Panel, can you do a better job of celebrating the spirit of giving?

Not to get all sappy, but a couple years back, my wife gave me a pretty non-traditional Christmas present: a pregnancy test that read positive. Now, a few years earlier I would’ve freaked out; but timing is everything, and instead I was super excited to know we were expecting a little gamer of our own.
Dave Mongan, Senior Writer

The generosity of my friends. I can be demanding and a bit eccentric/neurotic, but they are all super accommodating.
Drew Smith, Producer

My life, by my mom and dad. (I know, suck up...)
Andy Howell, Matchmaking Test Lead

My first thought was to say “my daughters.” Then, I realized they’re more like Trojans taking over my world: making me work harder to get them the best life I can, eating away at my idle time with child’s play and E rated games, pushing me to better myself and… Yeah, my daughters.
Christian Diefenbach, Engineering Lead

My family once commissioned a custom art piece from one of my favorite artists based on a fictional character of mine. The effort and subtlety needed to gather the information for the commission was as precious as the artwork itself.
Michael Williams, Engineer


Mike Shannon, Senior IT Engineer

The gift of laughter! Yeah, right! That’d be my original 8-bit NES with the Gold Zelda Cart.
Chris Owens, Test Engineer

My wife built me a cabinet with a mini-fridge, snack drawer, and movie theater style popcorn popper for my home theater room was pretty damned impressive last year.
Tom Gioconda, Engineer

The gift of life! Hahaha, no. In all seriousness, the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was the beginning of what got me here today.
Robert Kehoe, BVT Tester

Being able to work at Bungie.
Alex Loret de Mola, Engineer

Dethklok: Dethalbum II on vinyl.
Forrest Soderlind: Technical Artist


Will Edgette, Engineer

Hope.
Leland Dantzler, Tester


spartain ken 15 Do you guys ever think you would sell some Bungie-themed Christmas cards?

If you refresh the front page of our website, you can have one for free. There ain’t any cash in it, but it’s still a sincere expression of our love and devotion. Of all the gifts that we’re to receive in the coming days, very few will make us as happy as your unshakable friendship.

And, thus, the Sack is empty. With its closure, we bring to an end another year of community love. This next year promises to be a more exciting one. Between now and then, do take care of yourselves. May your travels by safe, and your holiday loot plentiful.

To all a good night.

Tags: Community

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Friendship of Mythic Proportions 

Posted by DeeJ at 12/20/2012 4:21 PM PST

Lean on me...

The Bungie Community is constantly astounding us with their creativity, and their solidarity. Recently, some ancients (who were playing Bungie games before some of their contemporaries were born) banded together to produce a piece of art that would steady a friend in need as he took steps toward a new challenge. Behold the intersection between passion for games and compassion for one's fellow gamer.

Miguel writes: Folks, here's a link to the whole Soulblighter Sword Cane saga, how it came to be, why we did it, etc. It all started back at the tail end of August (right before PAX Prime!) and is finally done now. The man has his uber-cane! Thanks of course to all of you for creating a wonderful environment for us to form such lasting friendships. Man, are we getting old.



 Cheers to the big hearts at Bungie.org.  

Tags: Community

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