A: A private beta test of Halo has been going on for some time now. It is unknown whether or not the Mac version will have a similar test, or whether it will be public or private.

A: This is a thorny question. The President of Westlake, Phil Sulak, has been quoted by Macteens as saying that:

While we don't have any plans to release Mac-based tools, the Mac version of Halo should be fully compatible with the Mods released by the PC Halo community.

However, shortly thereafter, Peter Tamte of Destineer Studios / MacSoft, who are publishing Mac Halo, said the following:

A: PC Halo does not have bots in its initial release form, although it is conceivable that a post-release patch could support them. Gearbox has on staff programmers responsible for bot support in several other games. It is not yet known if Westlake Interactive would attempt to port a bot multiplayer patch if Gearbox could produce one.

A: Xbox Halo supported 5.1 surround sound because the Xbox hardware itself supported it. PC Halo supports Creative 5.1 surround. The Macintosh G5 has support for 5.1 surround, and there are external boxes that can provide such support for other Macintoshes. It is not yet known if Mac Halo will support 5.1 surround.

A: Xbox Halo supported a split-screen-only, two-player-only, one-Xbox-only cooperative play mode that, while quite a lot of fun, was a relatively late addition to the game. It was decided during the development of the PC port not to create a splitscreen cooperative mode for PC Halo, as this would not match the expectations of most PC gamers. Gearbox intends to attempt adding a networkable cooperative mode to the game, but not prior to the initial release.

A: Xbox Halo shipped on one DVD. PC Halo, it has been announced, will ship on one CD. It is expected that Mac Halo will ship on one CD as well. It is not known if there will be a simultaneous release or a hybrid CD, as was previously done with Bungie's Myth games.

A: As of September 9, 2003, Mac Halo was listed as Alpha status on Westlake's Project Page. Original plans called for a "near-simultaneous" release.

A: OK, here's the complete genealogy of Halo.

A: Unknown. As of this writing, the "unofficial" release date for PC Halo is September 21, 2003. Mac Halo will be released after that. SketchFactor from Bungie, in the PC Halo Faq, said:

The Mac version is in the capable hands of our friends at MacSoft and Westlake Interactive and is scheduled for a near simultaneous release with the PC version. All of the new features and extras that are being added for the PC will also be available when Halo makes its way to Macs later this year.