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Tray & Play
Jo Clowes
Project Lead
Halo 2 for Windows Vista
To start this blog off, it’s story time! We’ve got an interesting one, and it also happens to be true. One of our developers – let’s call him “Kevin” – announced the other day that he needed everyone to jump into a multiplayer match to test something. Much to my dismay, I was (again) lacking the most current build, so I was sure I was going to be missing out on the laughing, shouting, and root beer floats galore. In a conventional PC game situation, this would be the truth; I would’ve sulked at my desk for the next few minutes, technologically barred from all the fun while I waited for the entire game to install. However, thanks to the work we’re doing with Halo 2 for Windows Vista, I just had to get a current disc, start it up, and I was in the match before everyone had left the pregame lobby. The impressive new technology that allows this level of get up and go is called Tray and Play, and it’s about to change the way you experience PC games.
Many of us have rituals which we perform after buying a video game. When I buy an Xbox 360 game, it’s all about picking at the plastic wrap feverishly while also avoiding scuff damage to the DVD case (am I the only one who struggles with this?), putting in the disc, finding the “sweet spot” on my couch (it’s basically an indentation that looks like The Invisible Man is sitting on it), and then playing the game to my heart’s content. With a PC game it’s a radically different process: unwrap the game, put in the disc, start clicking ok, figure out where to install it, make sure my DirectX version cuts the mustard, start watching the install progress, flip through the manual a bit, whip up a bologna sandwich, check on progress, start eating bologna sandwich, play the game – you get the picture. With Halo 2 for Windows Vista, you’ll put the disc in, click play, and then you… start playing. Yeah, I couldn’t figure out when to make my bologna sandwich, either.
Anytime a game has radical new technology like this, there are bound to be some questions. Since we don’t play around over here, we went straight to Dave Templin, Program Manager for the Windows Gaming Experience team, for the answers.
What were the main design goals?
(1) Get you into the game as quickly as possible (2 minutes or less)
(2) Install the rest of the game in the background as you play
(3) Minimize the number of dialog boxes you have to click through
Does Tray & Play impact the performance of the game?
Our testing shows that it does not! However, if you're paranoid about this, you can of course choose to fully install the game before playing. There are a few fringe performance cases where the default is dynamically changed to fully install. For example, if DMA is disabled on your DVD drive.
How long does it typically take to get into the game the first time (I have patience issues)?
About two minutes. Less if you have a really powerful machine.
Note: If your machine is slower (or you’re converting Season 1 of Alf to WMV for your Zune, for example), it may take longer.
How do I know if the game is fully installed?
There is an indicator in the main game menu that gives a percent complete status. Once this reaches 100% and disappears, the game is fully installed. That’s, like, the definition of 100 percent.
What if I want to fully install the game before playing, because that’s how my dad taught me?
No problem. You can customize the game installation to fully install the game before playing, or even install it for someone else without playing.
How is Tray & Play different from a regular setup?
Other than not having to wait, in most other ways it is basically like a regular setup.
You can launch it from the Start menu via the Games Explorer.
It installs to Program Files just like a regular setup.
You can uninstall it from the Control Panel just like a regular setup.
Can I specify a different directory to install to?
If that’s your thing.
My hard disk drive is filled to the brim with pictures and videos of my cat. Can I just run the game from DVD, without installing it to the hard drive at all?
No, this is not supported. (Sorry, Mr. Mittens!)
Do I need to keep the DVD in my drive to play?
Once the game is fully installed you no longer need the DVD. This is also thanks to our new product activation technology.
Can I leave it in there anyway?
. . . Ok.
What happens if I quit the game before it is fully installed?
No sweat. Install will resume in the background the next time you start the game.
Note: Administrative privileges are required to start the game until it has been fully installed. Once it has been fully installed, this is not a consideration.
What were some of the key design challenges for building Tray & Play?
Ironically, the biggest challenge did not come from achieving the quick startup experience. Coming from a console port, the existing game architecture lent itself well to this. The primary challenge was dealing with a myriad of problems introduced allowing the game to be in a “partial install state” while using the product: How do we smoothly restart the game if the user quits before fully installed? How do we update the game in a partially installed state? The other challenge was dealing with all of the new functionality in Windows Vista (UAC, Games Explorer, etc.)
How was Tray & Play conceived?
The idea of Tray & Play was conceived from a Windows software program that utilizes this buzzing concept called “ClickOnce”. The developers at TNT then thought it would be a wonderful idea to incorporate this technology into PC games for Windows. The results? Pop in the disk, one click, and play away as the game installs. No more babysitting is required during install with this technology.
We're pleased as punch to be shipping Halo 2 with Tray and Play technology. I guess we've thrown down a gauntlet to you all, though: When are you going to make your sandwiches now? Please, for pete's sake, eat something, but just know you won’t be doing it while waiting for our game to install.
Games for Windows -- LIVE
Playing Halo 2 over Xbox LIVE is a “mildly” popular online activity for console gamers (As I write this, there are over 57 thousand players enjoying Halo 2 online. Note: the game was released for Xbox in November 2004. If you’re a gamer, there is a slight chance you may have tried it, or know someone who occasionally gets on there and raises a ruckus. Bringing this experience to the Windows Vista platform is made possible with the help of our good friends on the Games for Windows – LIVE team. Over the past year, they have been hard at work ensuring the translation to the Windows Vista platform from Xbox results in an experience that is familiar and new all at once. As we near the release of Halo 2 for Windows Vista (May 8, 2007!!!), the first LIVE-enabled game, we thought it would be a good idea to let the LIVE guys lay out the skinny on the expansion of their service to Windows VIsta. We spoke with Drew Johnston, Group Program Manager for the Games for Windows – LIVE team to ask questions that we have heard from many of you out there.
Hired Gun: Some of you may already know that Halo 2 for Windows Vista is the first Games for Windows – LIVE title. Hired Gun & Bungie have worked alongside the LIVE team to develop features that were right for Halo, but also ready for the many PC games that I am sure will start to use the service in the future. We asked Drew what it was like developing the new service…
Opening new doors to online gaming
Drew: There were a lot of challenges in getting to this stage of the project in a short period of time. On one hand there was a proven online gaming service with an existing code base running on a closed platform with a single purpose. For Windows, we had to move to an open platform designed for multiple purposes with a vibrant enthusiast community. Not all of the Xbox code could be ported directly to Windows and major portions had to be re-written to use the existing Windows infrastructure while maintaining the connection to the LIVE servers. This was an interesting challenge given the byte order differences between the two platforms as well as other architectural differences. Because of the open platform nature of Windows, security was, and continues to be, a primary focus and design consideration for bringing LIVE to Windows. This focus on security helped steer many of the design decisions as did the desire to welcome Windows gaming to the LIVE community as quickly as possible.
Two heads are better than one
Drew: It was great having Halo 2 for Windows Vista help focus the design decisions for Games for Windows – LIVE. One of the first design tasks was to replicate the in-game guide in Xbox LIVE. From the Guide, gamers can access and experience the majority of the community features of the LIVE network, including: multiplayer game play, voice communication, messaging (text & voice), friends, presence, family settings, gamer score, achievements and gamer reputation.
 If it ain’t broke…
Hired Gun: We were adamant that all the great things about LIVE came over to the PC. Halo 2 was originally shipped on the Xbox, and all you die-hard Xbox players out there will know that the LIVE service has evolved since Xbox to Xbox 360 to include a guide that manages all of your friends lists etc, features that used to be built into a game’s UI. This gave the Hired Gun team some challenges as we pretty much re-wrote the infrastructure for our LIVE game play to take advantage of the new way the Xbox 360 does things. We asked Drew what was important from the service perspective about LIVE…
Drew: The primary draw for the LIVE service is all the community benefits and the ease of use. Everything just works in LIVE from easily getting matched into a game with your friends or players of similar skill, to voice communications, to maintaining a list of friends that you play with in all your games. Interacting with their gaming friends and comparing gamer scores and earned achievements are something gamers enjoy and seek out. All of this is possible by providing similar functionality found by the in-game Guide on Xbox LIVE.
 The “Wow” factor
Hired Gun: We didn’t believe the PC gamer wants exactly the same things as a console gamer. There are features in our game that have never before been seen on the Xbox, but use the LIVE service in our game. Being able to work with the Games for Windows – LIVE team really helped us in this area, and is why we have Dedicated Servers on LIVE on day 1. We asked Drew how they approached development for the PC…
Drew: We didn’t think just blindly porting the Xbox 360 gaming experience to Windows would do justice to the LIVE service and to Windows gaming. There are some great things about how the Xbox 360 is easy to use that we wanted to bring over. There were some things that Windows gaming also brought to the table: higher resolution high definition gaming, keyboard and mouse control, pervasive internet connectivity, mobility (laptops), and dedicated servers.
Drew: If you are already familiar with LIVE on the Xbox then the Games for Windows – LIVE Guide looks more like Vista and less like the Xbox. It appears from the center of the screen and unfolds like a scroll instead of sliding in from the side like a blade. This was done to work better with the higher screen resolutions found on Windows and to work better in windowed environments. In addition you will see more transparency effects while still retaining all of the same features found on Xbox LIVE. The Guide works equally well with both the keyboard and mouse as it does with the common controller. If you’re one of the many dual gamers who plays on both Xbox and Windows this will all seem pretty natural even though it looks different. This just underlines the fact that this is a single LIVE service spanning two platforms: Windows and Xbox.
 Dedicated to serving your online gaming experience
Drew: It was apparent from the beginning that Windows gamers would demand that LIVE support dedicated servers. Certainly the Hired Gun team did! Xbox LIVE didn’t support the concept of dedicated servers to the extent that Windows gamers expected. This was one of the major challenges for the Games for Windows – LIVE team. We rallied to the cause and the Microsoft Advanced Technology Center (ATC) team in Beijing, China who were already working with our team on the Vista Games Explorer joined with us to deliver a Locator Service as a clearing house for listing dedicated servers for Games for Windows – LIVE games. This is how Halo 2 for Windows Vista provides a games browser that supports both traditional P2P based games as well as dedicated servers. The design of the Locator Service and dedicated servers in Games for Windows – LIVE was strongly influenced by the close design interaction with the Halo 2 for Windows Vista team.
Hired Gun: Hired Gun and Bungie decided pretty early on to break the ability to play cross platform with the Xbox version. Doing so enabled us to make the security and size changes to map files that allowed custom map creation and sharing over the LIVE service. Drew weighs in on why he thinks Halo 2 for Windows Vista is a great LIVE title.
Drew: Halo 2 for Windows Vista is a great game that takes full advantage of Games for Windows – LIVE. Halo 2 for Windows Vista players who aren’t already Xbox LIVE members will immediately join a community of millions of other LIVE gamers and begin sharing gamer scores, Achievements and enjoy the LIVE gaming and entertainment network. Those who are already Xbox LIVE members now no longer have to treat the gaming experiences as a separate universe and can start adding their Halo 2 for Windows Vista Achievements to their LIVE reputation and experience.
If you already play Halo on Xbox LIVE, the basis of the new experience on Windows Vista will no doubt be old hat to you – friends lists and the like. However there are many places where moving the game to Games for Windows – LIVE has really opened the door and allowed us to add new features and functionality not possible on the original Xbox. We have already talked a little about achievements but in the coming weeks look out for details on Dedicated Servers and their playlists, stats exporting, and custom content with the Map Editor.
About Achievements
While dual-wielding across the campaign or inside a multiplayer match on Windows Vista, Halo players will soon earn achievements for the first time in the game’s history. And while there are a lot of exciting new features in “Halo 2” for Windows Vista, the achievements are one of the most compelling, especially for the gamerscore addict in your family.
Designing Achievements for “Halo 2” for Windows Vista
The Xbox version of “Halo 2” obviously predated the era of the Gamerscore, so this represents one of several compelling reasons to give “Halo 2” another spin. For the team, designing fun and significant rewards in a game that is already well-established was a bit challenging. This was accomplished with the help of the talented staff at Bungie Studios and Hired Gun, with a watchful eye on the latest trends in the gaming community. The achievements were designed with some fundamental goals in mind – keep the game fun, encourage beginners to join our “Halo 2” community, and provide a new challenge with a few tough or interesting achievements for our most dedicated fans.
Achievement Development Process
Designing anything for an existing and best-selling game can be arduous and risky, as options are weighed heavily against already-popular and well-trod game aspects. We started by brainstorming every possible achievement that trickled out of our caffeine-addled minds, and then whittled our list to a beefy 40+ achievements. It was a process we performed in lockstep with Bungie Studios and their designers and producers, through the course of many design meetings and reviews. What we ended up with was a set of achievements that beginners and skilled “Halo 2” players alike will immediately tackle with different results, but we were sure to include several that any veteran will only get to after some serious work.
So easy your n00b buddy could unlock it
Remember the first time you applied sticky grenade to Elite ass, and the ensuing cries of doomed anguish? Yeah, that’s a moment to cherish, and it’s not bad being able to point to a specific record of it. Or how about the first time you finally wielded the sword and started dominating for like 10 seconds? We want to encourage our expanded audience of PC players to enjoy these first moments in “Halo 2” for Windows Vista with a few easy achievements in the game. For pro-style Halo enthusiasts, you’ll see the familiar achievement indicator going off like you won a prize or something. Fear not, though: perfection will be a tall order.
For the more committed “Halo 2” warrior, try and imagine what it might mean to become a Violent Cartographer. *Pssst*! It involves maps and bloodletting.
Campaigning with Achievements
“Halo 2” for Windows Vista offers achievements for all aspects of the game. For campaigners, we have an achievement for finishing each playable level of the campaign, at Normal, Heroic, or Legendary, while you are on Games for Windows – LIVE. It’s like the Achievement system was designed for the very purpose of being able to demonstrate to the world your mettle and grit against Bungie’s awesome A.I. on Legendary. Prepare to throw down.
In fact, turning out all the lights on all the levels in Legendary will give you the title of “Legend.” You may have thought, “Killing a Legend in head-to-head LIVE combat is, therefore, an action worthy of an achievement.” We thought so too, so be on the lookout.
It wouldn’t be right if we didn’t create a single-player achievement for insane people. If you think you can complete an entire campaign level without dying, or know somebody with that much moxie and twitch (and a heap of time on their hands), you’ll be testing yourself to gain the Demon achievement. Sounds cool, and it’s oh-so-apropos.
Earning Achievements (Silver & Gold)
It’s an exciting new era for “Halo 2” players, as a new frontier opens on Windows Vista. We are adding a lot to the game to make it a much richer experience, especially if you have a Games for Windows – LIVE service account. Silver accounts on LIVE can earn achievements on the single-player campaign, and play in multiplayer games. Gold accounts on LIVE have the added benefit of being able to earn achievements in both single-player campaign and multiplayer matches.
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Friday, February 23, 2007 |
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Meet the Hired Guns
With Bungie Studios crunching towards the release of Halo 3, it was necessary to look elsewhere for a team who could bring Halo 2 over to the Windows Vista platform. This new team, dubbed “Hired Gun” consists of 10 full time members, who work at MGS headquarters in Redmond. Ironically this is the same room that Bungie once occupied when developing the original Halo 2 game on Xbox. In this entry, we will introduce you to the leads team, but in future entries you will get to meet the rest of the team that make the various parts of the game tick. Before we get to that, let’s talk a little about the project itself.
Details of our game have been public for a while, and many people have asked why Halo 2 is exclusive to Windows Vista. There are two answers to this question: product quality and online experience. Windows Vista has a host of new services for games; the most of obvious of these to the user is Games Explorer. New mechanics under the hood help give us more horsepower on the same hardware; this allowed us to seriously upres the game. Seeing Halo 2 for the first time on a 1900x1200 LCD monitor is like watching your favorite movie on HD-DVD for the first time.
The other reason for waiting for Windows Vista was to be able to use the Games For Windows - Live service. Halo 2 takes advantage of many of the features of Xbox Live; until Windows Vista, there hasn't been an online service on Windows that could do the game justice. Games for Windows - Live has allowed us to bring the original online experience of the Xbox game to the PC, and to tune that experience specifically for the PC market. We have also added new network features like dedicated servers. What is also really exciting is that for the first time in the Halo Universe, you can earn achievements. Now you can prove you Halo skills to all of your friends once and for all. Because of all the changes, the Xbox game and the PC game are now quite different, for this reason there is no cross platform play with this title.
Bringing the Halo 2 product to the PC has other benefits. We have been able to create a set of tools that will allow gamers to create new maps and play on them over the Games for Windows – Live service. Gamers will be able to use the supplied game assets to put together maps, or if they are feeling really creative they can use their favorite art package to build brand new meshes and textures and import them into the game. Once they are done gamers will be able to play their masterpieces over the Games for Windows – Live service.
Then there are the PC specific changes that we have to make, like supporting Keyboard and Mouse input. For these things we have worked hard to make this experience great while still maintaining the original feel of the game as it was on the Xbox. We had a great showing at CES where we got a chance to ask people how they felt about the game and all its changes. The feedback was good, and we took that back up to Redmond where we continue to tune the game during our bug fix period.
So the Hired Gun team is a new team that was formed within Microsoft Game Studios to develop Halo 2 for Windows Vista. The team has worked closely with Bungie on all the creative aspects of development to make sure that the original intent of the game is maintained as it is moved over to Windows Vista.
 -Clockwise from the left: Evan Brandt, Jim Geist, Matt Van Gorder, and Jo Clowes.
Jo Clowes – Project Lead
I have been into games all my life and most of my professional career. I started out programming games on my C64, but when the opportunity presented itself to code on a “real” game, I jumped all over it. Over time I moved up the management ladder and received the required lobotomy that goes with each step. When I applied to work at Microsoft I was offered two jobs, the first was a producer position at Bungie to work on Halo 2 for Xbox, and the second one was developing new technologies and services you see on the Xbox & Xbox 360 today, both of these are close to my heart, and I wanted to try something new so took the platform job. But it wasn’t long before the call of games development got so loud that I made the move back from the platform side and back to MGS. Once installed firmly back in the games business, my first MGS role was as producer on Forza Motorsport for Xbox. I have now given up tuned and tricked cars, for the role of Cortana, trying to direct a team of genetically modified 8ft tall super developers… ok a girl can wish!
Jim Geist – Development Lead
I have been at Microsoft on and off since 1992. After working on systems-level multimedia and DirectX for many years, i finally decided he wanted to work on titles, and have been in MGS ever since. I spent several years working on team sports games (NFL Fever, NHL Rivals) in the XSN studio before joining Hired Gun. I am now the development lead for Halo 2 for Windows Vista. When I’m not spending my time adding new features and destroying bugs, I am usually out on my jet ski, kite tube, or some other dangerous toy.
Matt Van Gorder – Content Lead
I’ve been in the game biz for about seven years and before making game content I worked in television and post-production. During my time as a game artist, I have worn many hats; including technical artist, environment artist, effects artist, and cinematic director. For Halo 2 Vista, I often describe my role as content shepherd and the only guy who wants to turn down the lights in our office.
Evan Brandt – Test Lead
I’ve worked in the game industry since 1993. The first title I worked on was Strike Commander CD. This was Origin Systems first CD-ROM title; a port of the original game. I worked on lots of product at Origin including Ultima 8, Privateer CD, Ultima Online and many Jane’s simulation games. After leaving Origin in 1998, I accepted the test manager position at Digital Anvil. In 2000, DA was acquired by Microsoft and I got my chip installed. In early 2006, the Digital Anvil studio was closed and I took a long, much needed vacation. In August 2006, I started talking to various people here in Redmond about possibly moving up here for a position. After talking with the Hired Gun team, I felt good about joining the group and moving my family from Texas to the Great Northwest. Although, if I had known this winter was going to be the worst winter in 20+ years, I might have asked to hold off until the spring.
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