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The Art of Halo: Creating A Virtual World
When Halo® hit the shelves with the launch of the Xbox® in 2001, it was an immediate sensation. This action-packed science fiction—military combat game, set on a distant, war-torn, artificial planet, became an instant triumph with gamers–and scored numerous awards for its innovations, irresistibility, and sheer thrills. The Art of Halo is a showcase of its stunning visual style, a fascinating guided tour through the making of the phenomenon–from bright idea to brilliant result–and a testament to the creativity of the artists at Bungie Studios.
• Meet the brains behind Bungie, the birthplace of Halo
• Feast your eyes on a panorama of all-new artwork from its spectacular sequel Halo 2 –one of the most eagerly-awaited games of 2004
• Discover the art of game design from the inside out, in interviews with–and illustrations by–the Halo creative team
• Learn the secrets of designing gear from the artists themselves
• Follow the construction of a crucial sequence from storyboard to completion, along with pages from the actual script
• Thrill to a gallery of glorious Halo artwork, including action figure designs, game packaging, cartoon strips, posters, T-shirts, and more
It’s all here–the story behind the sensation that GamePro declares “above and beyond what console gamers have come to expect”–in one virtuoso volume!
• Meet the brains behind Bungie, the birthplace of Halo
• Feast your eyes on a panorama of all-new artwork from its spectacular sequel Halo 2 –one of the most eagerly-awaited games of 2004
• Discover the art of game design from the inside out, in interviews with–and illustrations by–the Halo creative team
• Learn the secrets of designing gear from the artists themselves
• Follow the construction of a crucial sequence from storyboard to completion, along with pages from the actual script
• Thrill to a gallery of glorious Halo artwork, including action figure designs, game packaging, cartoon strips, posters, T-shirts, and more
It’s all here–the story behind the sensation that GamePro declares “above and beyond what console gamers have come to expect”–in one virtuoso volume!
176 pages, Paperback
First published November 9, 2004
7 people are currently reading
1526 people want to read
About the author
Eric Trautmann
259 books16 followersEric Trautmann is a comic book writer, editor, and graphic designer also know as Eric S. Trautmann.
For several years, Eric was a writer and editor for West End Games' acclaimed Star Wars roleplaying game line. After leaving dice-and-paper gaming behind, Eric then moved into videogames, an early recruit into Microsoft Game Studios' nascent entertainment licensing apparatus.
While at Microsoft, Eric wrote and edited in-game dialogue, story bibles, marketing materials, and original fictional content for the web.
Among the titles that Eric helped develop were the smash-hit HALO: Combat Evolved (including editing chores on the first three HALO novels for Ballantine / Del Rey, as well as writing The Art of HALO, also for Del Rey); Crimson Skies (creating a strongly immersive in-universe website for the pulpy, two-fisted adventure setting; editing weekly serialized online pulp novellas; and editing and contributing to Del Rey's mass-market paperback fiction anthology based on the setting); MechWarrior 4; and Perfect Dark Zero, acting as a story consultant to the property and helping to develop a fiction publishing program in support of the game.
In addition, Eric has consulted on videogame properties for EPIC (drafting a story bible for the Gears of War franchise), story development for Radical Entertainment, and delivering talks on the craft of writing in games to various publishers (notably, Blizzard Entertainment).
After leaving Microsoft, Eric wrote a six-issue miniseries for Perfect Dark (titled Perfect Dark: Janus' Tears), published by Prima Games, as well as editing and lettering an original graphic novel prequel to the hyperviolent videogame Army of Two, titled Army of Two: Dirty Money (written by John Ney Rieber and illustrated by Brandon McKinney).
While developing Perfect Dark Zero's novel program, he edited Perfect Dark: Initial Vector and Perfect Dark: Second Front, scribed by Greg Rucka (and published by TOR). The collaboration proved fruitful, and Eric was later invited to write a fill-in issue of Greg's DC Comics superhero/espionage title, Checkmate (which led to a half-year stint as co-writer on the title, ending his run with issue #25).
Checkmate led to several other DC Comics projects (as both writer or co-writer), including Final Crisis: Resist, JSA Vs. Kobra: Engines of Faith, The Shield, Mighty Crusaders, Adventure Comics and others.
Eric currently writes the continuing adventures of classic sword-and-sorcery heroine, Red Sonja, for Dynamite Entertainment.
In November 2010, Eric's debut issue of a revitalized Vampirella (also published by Dynamite Entertainment) was released to widespread critical praise and excellent sales (Vampirella #1 was the best selling non-premier publisher title for Diamond Comics Distribution in the month of its release).
In addition to writing comics, Eric is a graphic designer and marketing consultant, through his Fedora Monkey Studio, which offers (among other services) logo and branding design, intellectual property development, and viral marketing (such as the infamous "Montoya Journal" to promote the DC Comics' series The Question: The Five Books of Blood).
Eric splits his time between Raymond, Wa (where he resides) and Lacey, WA (where his wife runs the best comic shop ever).
For several years, Eric was a writer and editor for West End Games' acclaimed Star Wars roleplaying game line. After leaving dice-and-paper gaming behind, Eric then moved into videogames, an early recruit into Microsoft Game Studios' nascent entertainment licensing apparatus.
While at Microsoft, Eric wrote and edited in-game dialogue, story bibles, marketing materials, and original fictional content for the web.
Among the titles that Eric helped develop were the smash-hit HALO: Combat Evolved (including editing chores on the first three HALO novels for Ballantine / Del Rey, as well as writing The Art of HALO, also for Del Rey); Crimson Skies (creating a strongly immersive in-universe website for the pulpy, two-fisted adventure setting; editing weekly serialized online pulp novellas; and editing and contributing to Del Rey's mass-market paperback fiction anthology based on the setting); MechWarrior 4; and Perfect Dark Zero, acting as a story consultant to the property and helping to develop a fiction publishing program in support of the game.
In addition, Eric has consulted on videogame properties for EPIC (drafting a story bible for the Gears of War franchise), story development for Radical Entertainment, and delivering talks on the craft of writing in games to various publishers (notably, Blizzard Entertainment).
After leaving Microsoft, Eric wrote a six-issue miniseries for Perfect Dark (titled Perfect Dark: Janus' Tears), published by Prima Games, as well as editing and lettering an original graphic novel prequel to the hyperviolent videogame Army of Two, titled Army of Two: Dirty Money (written by John Ney Rieber and illustrated by Brandon McKinney).
While developing Perfect Dark Zero's novel program, he edited Perfect Dark: Initial Vector and Perfect Dark: Second Front, scribed by Greg Rucka (and published by TOR). The collaboration proved fruitful, and Eric was later invited to write a fill-in issue of Greg's DC Comics superhero/espionage title, Checkmate (which led to a half-year stint as co-writer on the title, ending his run with issue #25).
Checkmate led to several other DC Comics projects (as both writer or co-writer), including Final Crisis: Resist, JSA Vs. Kobra: Engines of Faith, The Shield, Mighty Crusaders, Adventure Comics and others.
Eric currently writes the continuing adventures of classic sword-and-sorcery heroine, Red Sonja, for Dynamite Entertainment.
In November 2010, Eric's debut issue of a revitalized Vampirella (also published by Dynamite Entertainment) was released to widespread critical praise and excellent sales (Vampirella #1 was the best selling non-premier publisher title for Diamond Comics Distribution in the month of its release).
In addition to writing comics, Eric is a graphic designer and marketing consultant, through his Fedora Monkey Studio, which offers (among other services) logo and branding design, intellectual property development, and viral marketing (such as the infamous "Montoya Journal" to promote the DC Comics' series The Question: The Five Books of Blood).
Eric splits his time between Raymond, Wa (where he resides) and Lacey, WA (where his wife runs the best comic shop ever).
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
November 8, 2007
This book is awesome! It explains everything up to the end of Halo 2, plus gives tons of pictures and descriptions of characters and stuff in the game.
February 4, 2011
Wow the author and bungie put there hearts into this book to reach out to fans:)
March 15, 2014
An inspiring, beautifully illustrated, as well as, informative book on the making of halo that I found to be a joy to read and look at. A must own for concept art lovers and Halo fans alike.
September 9, 2010
Like a Halo Field Guide one word- AMAZING !!!
December 5, 2012
(More pictures at parkablogs.com)
The Art of Halo is an art book that collects the concepts and designs of the immensely popular game.
The main bulk of art are on characters and enemies, followed by the environment. Weapons and vehicles have a smaller portion. There are sketches, painted illustrations as well as a lot of screenshots. The problem with the screenshots is some of them aren't in high resolution, so some pixelation on the images can be seen. Not really a big concern anyway.
The text provided talks about inspiration, research, characters, sets in the game and things that happen behind the scenes during production. Captions are also provided for most of the art and credits are included. It's interesting to read all about the weapons and learn how they are suppose to work. Right at the back, the crew also talks about cinematics, audio and even animation for the cut scenes.
This book is recommended to video game artists and Halo fans.
May 16, 2017
The Art of Halo covers the development of the first two Halo games from a creative and artistic perspective. It focuses on the characters, environments, weapons, and vehicles as well as the storytelling and cinematics and even the music. It seems pretty comprehensive and offers a good look behind the scenes of the two games.
All of the artwork is of course amazing, from concept sketches to design ideas to early renders and finally to in-game assets. There's so much content crammed in the pages it's almost absurd.
The text compliments the art well and doesn't get in the way. There's lots of commentary from Bungie employees and contract artists that give insight into the work that went into designing the look and feel of the Halo universe. You definitely learn a lot about the games.
Overall, I'd definitely recommend this for fans of the games who appreciate all the assets Bungie was able to fit onto the disc that resulted in some great-looking games.
All of the artwork is of course amazing, from concept sketches to design ideas to early renders and finally to in-game assets. There's so much content crammed in the pages it's almost absurd.
The text compliments the art well and doesn't get in the way. There's lots of commentary from Bungie employees and contract artists that give insight into the work that went into designing the look and feel of the Halo universe. You definitely learn a lot about the games.
Overall, I'd definitely recommend this for fans of the games who appreciate all the assets Bungie was able to fit onto the disc that resulted in some great-looking games.
November 13, 2014
Ohh the epicness of John aka Master Chief....
A fantastic book for all Halo fans. The Art of Halo gives background goodies on the creation of the first two Halo games and its development.
A fantastic book for all Halo fans. The Art of Halo gives background goodies on the creation of the first two Halo games and its development.
Read
June 8, 2012IT WAS ABSOLUTELY EPICNESS PLUS I LIKE FOOD
February 26, 2025
The Art of Halo is a behind-the-scenes look at the artistic development of Halo Combat Evolved, along with sneak peeks at concept art and still images for the upcoming Halo 2 and from its E3 2002 demo. Topics covered are character design, environments, weapons & gear, vehicles and the art of game design.
The Art of Halo was an absolute joy to read from start to finish. It covers all the artistic work done on Halo Combat Evolved and Halo 2, from concept art to the rendering of the 3D models used in the game and level design for multiplayer maps. I thoroughly enjoyed reading every page and seeing how each of the Covenant species changed throughout the development cycle of Halo Combat Evolved and Halo 2. Along with this, the book introduces you to some of those who worked at Bungie at the time and what their inspirations and influences were when they drew and reworked their designs until they were perfect for Halo. You can tell how passionate they are towards their work, and it certainly paid off in the end, as Halo completely revolutionized the gaming scene at the time.
I would be interested in reading a new edition of this book that covers the design work done for every Halo game all the way to Halo: Infinite. Halo truly is one of the most memorable, unique, and iconic video game series ever made. It didn’t take me long to come to a conclusion about The Art of Halo; it’s a must-read for Halo fans. Seriously, the inside look at Halo Combat Evolved and Halo 2 was great. Easy 5/5 stars.
The Art of Halo was an absolute joy to read from start to finish. It covers all the artistic work done on Halo Combat Evolved and Halo 2, from concept art to the rendering of the 3D models used in the game and level design for multiplayer maps. I thoroughly enjoyed reading every page and seeing how each of the Covenant species changed throughout the development cycle of Halo Combat Evolved and Halo 2. Along with this, the book introduces you to some of those who worked at Bungie at the time and what their inspirations and influences were when they drew and reworked their designs until they were perfect for Halo. You can tell how passionate they are towards their work, and it certainly paid off in the end, as Halo completely revolutionized the gaming scene at the time.
I would be interested in reading a new edition of this book that covers the design work done for every Halo game all the way to Halo: Infinite. Halo truly is one of the most memorable, unique, and iconic video game series ever made. It didn’t take me long to come to a conclusion about The Art of Halo; it’s a must-read for Halo fans. Seriously, the inside look at Halo Combat Evolved and Halo 2 was great. Easy 5/5 stars.
July 4, 2022
Art concept book for Halo 1 and 2. Definitely for fans of the games and want insight into art decisions when game was being designed.
Read
January 19, 2012I think that this book felt like playing it on X-box 360
Want to read
June 14, 2016FALSE
Read
April 10, 2012meh
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews