TIL We got "Halo 2" instead of "Gypsum"

http://ca.ign.com/articles/2016/03/21/canceled-bungie-game-gypsum-revealed

Bungie may be best known for sci-fi shooter franchises, but there was a time when its developers worked on a game project deeply rooted in fantasy.

During an interview on IGN Unfiltered airing later this week, former Bungie composer and audio designer Marty O’Donnell revealed a since-cancelled project blending fantasy and mythology into an action game.

Code-named Gypsum, this game was built on the Halo engine and helmed by two men who had previously created a mod called “Chimera” for Bungie’s Myth. It went into development in between Halo and Halo 2, alongside another later-cancelled project called Phoenix. According to O’Donnell, developers working on Phoenix were moved onto Gypsum once development was halted on the former project.

“[Gypsum was] a game, very much mythical fantasy, there was a mythical creature that you played as in third-person – a Minotaur, believe it or not – and you ran around and smashed things with a hammer and magic stuff happened,” he says. “It was...it went very, very far. There was a playable prototype that was a blast. I did music for it, sound effects, everything."

Gypsum was eventually cancelled due to the decision to create a sequel to Halo, Bungie’s 2001 sci-fi shooter that eventually went on to become a massive blockbuster franchise and a major selling point for the original Xbox. With the need to up the ante, developers working on Gypsum were moved onto the Halo 2 production team, and the Minotaur action game was eventually axed.

Whether or not Bungie will ever revisit ideas from Gypsum remains to be seen, but you can learn more about Bungie, Halo, and O’Donnell’s career on this month's episode of IGN Unfiltered, airing later this week. And don't miss our month-long coverage of O'Donnell's new game, Golem.

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Man, I can only imagine what a Bungie game with third person elements, a blend of mythology and sci fi, and throwable hammers would be like.

The world may never know.

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Warcraft was big, but I felt Myth's mechanics and story were much better. Like Marathon, Myth was big on the Mac but the lack of a PC port meant that it was overshadowed by Blizzard's entires.

Unfortunately, Destiny probably has Bungie's dev teams locked down for another six years.

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Like Marathon, Myth was big on the Mac but the lack of a PC port meant that it was overshadowed by Blizzard's entires.

Uh...the PC version shipped the same day as the Mac version. On the same disc even. (Unless you were outside the US, in which case you were at the mercy of whoever the publisher was in your territory.)

But yeah, PC Myth was a thing. Lots of PC Myth players. It was overshadowed by other games because those games had the benefit of giant marketing budgets, while Bungie was still a tiny indie self-publishing their stuff.

– Matt

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But yeah, PC Myth was a thing. Lots of PC Myth players. It was overshadowed by other games because those games had the benefit of giant marketing budgets, while Bungie was still a tiny indie self-publishing their stuff.

– Matt

The only reason I knew Bungie had made Myth was because I read the review in Macaddict.

[image]

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But yeah, PC Myth was a thing. Lots of PC Myth players. It was overshadowed by other games because those games had the benefit of giant marketing budgets, while Bungie was still a tiny indie self-publishing their stuff.

– Matt

The only reason I knew Bungie had made Myth was because I read the review in Macaddict.

At one time I owned every copy of that magazine.

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At one time I owned every copy of that magazine.

Me too, I kept almost every copy of that magazine for years. Then it slowly transitioned into MacLife. It just doesn't have the same sense of fun and irreverence anymore.

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I'm not going to say anything. Just stand here.

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The only reason I knew Bungie had made Myth was because I read the review in Macaddict.

You should have looked at the back cover of the magazine more often.

– Matt

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The only reason I knew Bungie had made Myth was because I read the review in Macaddict.

You should have looked at the back cover of the magazine more often.

– Matt

I think the one with the myth review might have been the first issue I picked up.

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The Myth metaserver was loud. I did not like having it under my desk just because I was the new guy at the time when I inherited it in 2001. That, and Microsoft information security always kept hassling me about it because the network port was under my name and generally not firewalled. I wonder if they knew it wasn't even a Windows box?

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I wonder if they knew it wasn't even a Windows box?

They knew. And they weren't happy.

– Matt

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TIL We got "Halo 2" instead of "Gypsum" (Gaming)

Who knows if they will ever revisit it.

Myth was great, this diabloesqe game could have been too

Myth was great, this diabloesqe game could have been too

Didn't Myth II even come out on Linux?

Myth was great, this diabloesqe game could have been too

Myth was great, this diabloesqe game could have been too

Used to be such a great magazine

I feel like I just need to comment.

lol

Myth was great, this diabloesqe game could have been too

Myth was great, this diabloesqe game could have been too

Myth was great, this diabloesqe game could have been too

Myth was great, this diabloesqe game could have been too

This delights me.