Welcome to Mail Sack 13, published on Friday the 13th.
At Bungie, we feel very fortunate to have the chance to make kick ass games in the company of kick ass developers. On a day that invokes a foreboding sense of dread among camp counselors and the overly superstitious, we take comfort in the fact that our shared culture is peppered with enough instances of the number 7 to ward off any amount of bad omens. As an expression of appreciation for the community that enables us to enjoy so much good fortune, we have assembled a panel to share some thoughts on why they feel lucky.
Here they are, as they throw salt over their shoulder…
Eric Will, Engineer
Tom Gioconda, Engineer
Ben Wommack, Production Engineer
Michael Williams, Senior Engineer
Jon Cable, Senior Engineer
Adrian Perez, Senior Engineer
Nate Hawbaker, Associate Technical Artist
Lars Bakken, Design Lead
Kurt Nellis, Technical Cinematic Lead
Lorraine McLees, Artist
Derek Carroll, Senior Designer
Let’s polish up our horseshoes and open the Sack.
T1B3R7uMB0YXVI Please finish the following sentence:
"When I was little, I wanted to be a..."
…real archaeologist... that is, until I realized that what I liked about the subject matter were the drawings I was creating/compiling for those school reports.
Lorraine McLees
…Aerospace Engineer. Those are the guys that make paper airplanes all the time, right?
Jon Cable
...game designer; thanks to Square and Chrono Trigger for spurring that ambition.
Ben Wommack
…Astronaut! But that changed while visiting a local science museum. The museum had a sleeping bag with a picture of American spacemen in a laser-gun fight with Communist spacemen. My young self decided that astronauting seemed pretty dangerous, and that instead I wanted to be a "button-pushing man," As it turned out, I ended up being a button-pushing man creating games where green spacemen fired lasers at one another, so... mission achieved?
Michael Williams
I wanted to be a bunch of different things, but mostly I wanted to work in SFX on specifically Star Wars and sometimes I wanted to work on video games. I'm pretty sure my 8 year old self would be proud.
Kurt Nellis
…Millionaire/Astronaut. See my recent
Breaking In interview.
Derek Carroll
…Aeronautical engineer, ever since I saw a bit on 3-2-1 Contact about the job. They got to build models of their ideas out of balsa wood and test them in wind tunnels. I couldn't imagine anything better.
Adrian Perez
I had an amazing answer for this, but it didn't start with a consonant.
Nate Hawbaker
yippiyak1 What is Jerome's weakness?
He has a severe dislike for cookies and cupcakes. They throw him into a violent rage.
yippiyak1 If I brought you all freshly made cookies and cupcakes, would you let me in?
See above (not a good idea).
Geegs30 What special skills do you bring to the table?
I am supremely proficient at learning from my mistakes.
Ben Wommack
Depends on the table.
Kurt Nellis
Amongst my special skills are such diverse elements as: coding, surprise, puzzling, designing services for massive scale, and an almost-fanatical devotion to our black banner.
Michael Williams
A worrying lack of impulse control.
Adrian Perez
I'm pretty good at hacky-sack, although it's harder to do that at a table.
Derek Carroll
CODILICIOUS What would one have to do/pay to be invited to Bagel Friday?
According to
Daniel Hanson, whose rise to power is chronicled in the Breaking In interview for this week, you need to survive eleven hours of grueling scrutiny at the hands of Bungie hiring managers. To my knowledge, they don’t accept bribes.
WestCoastRonin If you had to credit one thing that got you a job at Bungie, what would it be?
When I was a sophomore in college, I decided that reverse engineering Slashdot without looking at the source was a good way to learn more about web application development. This turned into an excellent "portfolio" that made my application stand out.
Tom Gioconda
World of Warcraft, seriously. Without WoW I would never have gotten into modding, which really helped expand my resume.
Ben Wommack
When I was hired on as a full-time programmer, I would credit the connect-four clone I wrote for my portfolio. It was a simple game, but I used it to demonstrate code for UI, networking, AI and animation. It is important to stress that none of these things would have been enough on their own.
Michael Williams
When I was in high school I wrote a map editor for Starcraft. Bonus points to anyone who can figure out what it was called.
Jon Cable
Personal projects. Even in their principle they shine in an advantageous light. It is one thing to go into class every day out of a feeling of passive obligation. It is another thing to actively seek out the quest for knowledge, and directly translate it toward a working application in a functioning environment.
Nate Hawbaker
I credit my wife. The interview process at Bungie can be a long and arduous one, but she never let me lose hope or give up. She kept me positive in the face of incredible odds, which was exactly what I needed.
Lars Bakken
I'm guessing it was expertise in my field. I had a pretty good resume by the time I applied (so that got their attention), but that's not nearly enough to get in.
Kurt Nellis
Ability to listen and understand the visual need of a project and then sketch it out in less than 20 minutes. Near the end of my interview, I volunteered to sketch out what they were talking about to see if I could come up with something they might like in fifteen to twenty minutes. I got hired that very hour.
Lorraine McLees
DE4THINC4RN4TE Why do you want us to ask questions? Is this how you control your army, the seventh column? Get inside our head?
That’s exactly right. The sharing of hopes, dreams, and fears by our esteemed panel of Bungie people is all a smoke screen. From behind that cloak of misdirection, I am studying and cataloguing all of you for future reference. Right now, DE4THINC4RN4TE, I am filing you away under “Dangerously Insightful” and “Can’t Spell Own Name.”
xstar To whomever answers this, what College did you go to and what did you major in?
Virginia Tech, Computer Science.
Tom Gioconda
University of Puget Sound, Computer Science. I would probably major in something else if I could do it all again, at the same school.
Ben Wommack
University of Michigan. Computer Science in the school of engineering.
Jon Cable
I went to Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh and majored in Computer Science.
Adrian Perez
I graduated from the University of Iowa and majored in Communication Studies. At the time, they didn't have a film program by name, but that's what I studied. It was a great school and I got a lot of hands on experience.
Lars Bakken
Rochester Institute of Technology - Film/Video and then Computer Animation.
Kurt Nellis
American Academy of Art in Chicago. Majored in Graphic Design, minored in illustration and computer graphics.
Lorraine McLees
Western Washington University - Bachelor's in Computer Science (we actually have a bunch of Western graduates here at Bungie).
Michael Williams
I can only image the switchboards for the office of admissions at these schools lighting up like a Christmas tree right about now. They should send us a fruit basket.
AmX15 What is the history of the Bungie logo? Who designed it? Can you show us all of the previous versions?
An interesting piece of trivia: Bungie didn’t even have a logo when “Operation: Desert Storm” was shipped to the masses. Instead, our name appeared on the box in the same bold stencil as the title.
That was our logo in 1992. It was a simpler logo for a humbler time.
In 1994, we created a new logo that seemed to suggest the seeds of our plans for world domination. Is that fanciful swoosh a subconscious homage to a giant slingshot? Or just a serendipitous flourish of design? The world may never know.
In 2009, we made drastic changes to the logo, to correct some issues with what design nerds call kerning. You will notice that it is completely unrecognizable to its former self. Everyone is sleeping better at night since the revision.
CTN 0452 9 What do you have in the trunk of your car right now?
First Aid Kit, my CD changer, and an empty spare tire well. Sorry, I would have had a more interesting answer two weeks ago.
Lorraine McLees
A spare change of clothes, California license plates, a tire iron, and room for a few people. Wait, are you law enforcement?
Eric Will
*tries really hard not to make a Mom joke*
*succeeds*
Probably something that smells like a horse (context: My wife and I own a 2 acre horse farm).
Tom Gioconda
Chains, a survival kit, a flashlight, and heaps of dead microscopic ocean life.
Ben Wommack
Bike rack, bike helmet, stunt kite, 2 Seattle Knight's practice swords, Iaido gi, and several blankets. Several of the more interesting elements in that list belong to my spouse.
Michael Williams
A fios router and some tools.
Jon Cable
Full sized spare. Snow chains. Emergency kit.
Adrian Perez
A couple of dog harnesses, some canvas grocery bags, a Bungie fleece, and an old blanket.
Lars Bakken
A bunch of reusable shopping bags that I always forget to bring into the store and a bike rack that gets about as much use as the bags.
Kurt Nellis
A Kodak Carousel 4400 slide projector.
Derek Carroll
Jose291 Show your wallpaper.
You mean the desktop for my computer. Right? Not the floral pattern that makes my kitchen feel cozy? I hate to disappoint you, but even that is classified. When it is not host to Bungie.net or internal communications that I can’t disclose, my desktop is a rotating slideshow of concept art and screen shots from our next game. It gets updated weekly by the team. I have a separate monitor at my desk that I try to leave idle so that I can enjoy the bad ass parade of awesomeness as it scrolls past. You may resent me, but you will come to know the wonders yourself. Someday.
spartain ken 15 What are some things employees do or keep around to increase their luck? (4 leaf clovers, lucky horseshoe's, etc?)
All we need is one Ling Ling.
Lorraine McLees
*tries really hard not to make a Mom joke*
*fails*
Your Mom.
Tom Gioconda
Honestly I can't think of one occasion where a consideration of luck has come up in the studio before. I guess one could say that we don't depend on luck, but welcome it when some bubbles up.
Ben Wommack
I don't know about others, but I carry a laminated 7-leafed clover in my wallet. It was a gift from my brother (and probably constructed out of fewer-leafed clovers). I don't know that it brings me luck, but it does remind me of the people I love, and the reasons I care for them.
Michael Williams
Luck is an illusion of pattern-seeking and, as Charles Darwin once said, the indelible stamp of our lowly origin.
Also: Your mom.
Nate Hawbaker
Pat Jandro has been pretty good luck for us so far, so we keep him around.
Kurt Nellis
Song Do you love being stationed in Seattle?
Stationed? You make us sound like the Army.
ARBITOR 5 What myths and legends do you guys believe in?
If they were "myths and legends," I wouldn't believe in them.
Eric Will
Who needs myths and legends of olde when I can just ask the Grizzled Ancients what is was like to develop Halo CE and show the game at conventions? Some amazing stories there – but only if Luke Timmins tells them.
Ben Wommack
I've always enjoyed Arthurian legends, along with Irish and Old-English mythology and fairy tales. I also spent far too much time researching whether it was possible to save General Leo in Final Fantasy.
Michael Williams
Each half in that question is mutually exclusive.
Nate Hawbaker
The Legend of Zelda was pretty sweet.
Derek Carroll
LordAustin16 What is Pulp Fiction even about?
Pulp Fiction is a film about the little differences between America and Europe. At least, that is what the first few minutes were about. I stopped watching because I don’t care about that stuff. How is the rest of the movie? Does it get better?
a rascal cat What is your proudest moment in your time at Bungie?
When we ship a game!
Lorraine McLees
November 15, 2001 - bringing Bungie.net online at the end of a 3 day period where I basically didn't sleep after months of crunching to get it ready.
Tom Gioconda
I will always remember working 23.5 hours straight as a tester helping to shoot the Forge & Saved Films ViDoc for Halo 3.
Ben Wommack
At my first Summer Pentathlon, I got so far ahead in the croquet game, that I was able to double back and strategically damage the players we wanted to come in last to help my team's overall score. Even though the Summer Pentathlon has turned into a less competitive summer picnic, I forever will treasure the gold medal I received.
Michael Williams
Showing my wife the Easter egg I put in the halo 3 loading screen for her - the one that nobody has found yet.
Adrian Perez
I think my proudest moment is when we first demoed Saved Films to the press for Halo 3. No one was expecting it and it was brilliant to see the look on their faces at the possibilities this feature opened up.
Lars Bakken
Getting to meet a ton of fans on the night Halo 3 shipped. It made me feel like the months of overtime and hard work were all worth it because I definitely didn't want them to be disappointed.
Kurt Nellis
ALI217 What is the Bungie office like over the weekend & when everybody takes a break? No sarcasm! Don't say something like "It's how it usually is but without people."
It’s how it usually is, only we unleash a pack of ferocious wolf hounds to stalk through the halls in search of curious interlopers. Every new hire has to submit to Bungie a sweaty handkerchief so that these feral guards can learn our scent.
elmicker This week saw the tragic death of Jack Tramiel, founder of computing and gaming legends Commodore. So, I'll give you a choice of two questions: Can you pin down one particular moment, be it some epiphany or the purchase of a C64/BBC Micro/ZX Spectrum etc., that really marked the start of the path to where you are today?
Some of my favorite gaming memories are from playing C64 games over at friends' houses. The C64 was the first system I owned that had games with level editors, and we spent as much time building tracks in Racing Destruction Set as we did racing them.
Derek Carroll
It was really the Commodore 64 that sparked my interest in video games. Honestly though, it wasn't until I realized that I could tell stories with a film camera in college that I really started down this path. I got involved in CG, and found I could do even more with a camera to tell a story. Eventually, I found my way here. As I said earlier, I think my 8 year old self would be very happy to see where I ended up.
Kurt Nellis
Copying BASIC-language games from the back of a '3-2-1 Contact' magazine into my Commodore 64. Not only did it teach me the basics of programming, but it also taught me how to debug, because occasionally the magazine had a maddening typo.
Eric Will
My parents buying our family's first PC when I was around 7 years old. 20 megabytes of hard drive space! I knew that whatever I did in my career it would involve technology/computing.
Tom Gioconda
VENOM MDK Do you ever pick the last question posted in the mailsack thread because it was the last one regardless of the question?
No. Questions are selected based on their conversational merit, their potential interest to would-be panelists who have deadlines to distract them from participating, and my ability to answer them without getting fired. I will, on occasion, choose which question gets answered last, so that I have a good outro. For instance...
Xd00999 Will the Mail Sacks ever end?
It’s hard to say, but this one has most definitely come to an end. We are looking down the barrel of a weekend, which means it is time to release the hounds. Fear not, mailroom enthusiasts. When the next week is pressing down upon us like a thumb on our foreheads, the Mail Sack will return to give us comfort and companionship. Until then, set your imaginations on the hunt for a really great question.