Video: Why Bungie spent so long fine-tuning Halo's plasma rifle

Courtesy of the GDC Vault is an in-depth lecture from Halo game designer Jaime Griesemer, who discusses the intricacies of tuning the franchise's plasma rifle and its effects on other parts of the game. Here, Griesemer follows up his popular GDC 2010 talk on how changes to the sniper rifle affect Halo 3's multiplayer balance. In this GDC 2011 talk, he looks at Halo's single-player combat and the primary tool for balancing the game's Legendary difficulty level. He also explores how the changes in the plasma rifle impacts AI design, player movement speed and even aspects such as storytelling and networking. Session Name: Design in Detail: Tuning the Muzzle Velocity of the Plasma Rifle Bolt on Legendary Difficulty Across the HALO Franchise Speaker(s): Jaime Griesemer Company Name(s): Bungie Track / Format:Game Design

About the GDC Vault

In addition to this presentation, the GDC Vault offers numerous other free videos, audio recordings, and slides from many of the recent GDC events, and the service offers even more members-only content for GDC Vault subscribers. Those who purchased All Access passes to events like GDC, GDC Europe, and GDC China already have full access to GDC Vault, and interested parties can apply for the individual subscriptions via a GDC Vault inquiry form. Group subscriptions are also available: game-related schools and development studios who sign up for GDC Vault Studio Subscriptions can receive access for their entire office or company. More information on this option is available via an online demonstration, and interested parties can find out more here. In addition, current subscribers with access issues can contact GDC Vault admins. Be sure to keep an eye on GDC Vault for even more new content, as GDC organizers will also archive videos, audio, and slides from other events like GDC China and GDC 2013. To stay abreast of all the latest updates to GDC Vault, be sure to check out the news feed on the official GDC website, or subscribe to updates via Twitter, Facebook, or RSS. Gamasutra and GDC are sibling organizations under parent UBM Tech.