343 Industries Working with Modders to Restore Cut Content from Halo Combat Evolved
343 Industries is collaborating with a group of passionate modders to bring back content that was originally cut from the release of Halo Combat Evolved.
As discovered by PCGamesN, the mod team known as Digsite has been working closely with 343 over the past year. The team expressed their particular interest in design/production documents, Bungie feedback notes, tags, compiled maps, and source data for previously unseen multiplayer maps.
One of the exciting highlights of this restored content includes multiplayer maps that were originally developed for the PC port of Halo Combat Evolved. Gearbox Software, which worked on the port and released it in 2003, had created several brand-new textures that were never utilized. Digsite team member, Ludus, decided to remix the Indoor map using these textures to create a new map that could fully leverage these newfound bitmaps.
In a significant move, the long-lost Macworld demo from 1999 is also being added to Halo: The Master Chief Collection. This demo reveals that at one point, Halo was intended to be an exclusive third-person game for Mac before becoming a flagship title for Microsoft’s first Xbox.
“It took some effort to get the Macworld demo running in MCC. We have set it up as a sandbox for players to freely explore, play around, and even create their own mods,” said Digsite.
Additionally, content from the earliest conception of Halo, when it was planned as an RTS (Real-Time Strategy) game, is also being restored. This includes vehicles and enemy types that were never fully implemented in a working version of the game.
Although some of these assets are simple and never made it into the final game, this restoration effort marks a significant milestone in preserving one of the most iconic franchises in modern gaming.
343 Industries has confirmed that there is more content to be revealed, and the Digsite team will continue to delve into the franchise’s archives.
