343 Industries is working with a group of modders to restore content cut from the original release of Halo Combat evolved.
As spotted by PCGamesN, the mod team Digsite has been working with 343 over the past year. “Of particular interest to us were design/production docs, Bungie feedback notes, tags, compiled maps, and source data for previously unseen multiplayer maps,” said the team.
Some of the highlights of the restored content include multiplayer maps originally developed for the PC port of Halo Combat Evolved, which was worked on by Gearbox Sofware and released in 2003.
“Gearbox had made a bunch of brand-new textures that were not being used whatsoever,” says Digsite team member Ludus. “I felt it would be a shame if these textures never got used, so I decided to remix Indoor into a brand-new map that could better utilize these newfound bitmaps.”
Perhaps most significantly, the long-lost Macworld demo from 1999 is being added to Halo: The Master Chief collection. Prior to landing on Microsoft‘s first Xbox, Halo was at one point planned to be a third-person exclusive for Mac.
“it took some work to get running in MCC. We’ve set it up as a sandbox to play in, explore, and repurpose for your own mods,” said Digsite.
Not only this but content from the earliest conception of Halo as an RTS is also being restored, including vehicles and enemy types.
While a lot of these assets are simple, and never got to the point of being implemented in a working version of the game, it’s still a significant moment in the preservation of one of modern gaming’s cornerstone franchises.
343 says there is more content to be shown off, and that the Digsite team will continue to work through the archives of the franchise.
