Project Spark

Project Spark is my first true foray into the world of modding, and something of a passion of mine. For years I've been deeply obsessed and fascinated by the plethora of cut content in the Halo franchise, and that fascination eventually fueled an identical passion for cut content in other franchises I love, such as Mass Effect, Total War, Jak and Daxter, etc. The topic is something of a bittersweet one for me: while they fascinate me, as it offers a gateway into the development cycle of a game and how the devs handled the project, its also sad, but it shows us a slice of "what could have been", and that last part is truly what puts a fire in my heart. For years, I've imagined how such cut content could have fit into the game, and until now, that's all I could do. I'm not a game dev, and I didn't have the balls to even try to learn the tools.

All of that changed when the CE mod tools were announced for MCC. Sure, Custom Edition and its mod tools already existed, but now MCC had them...and as content creators and modders let their dreams run wild, I was inspired. Projects like Halo 2 Uncut and even the ongoing Digsite project showed me that cut content restoration was a real possibility and, if I put my mind to it and really knuckled down and learned the tools, I could make my dream a reality. So I did, and now here we are. I'm proud to announce and release Project Spark and its 1. 0 release today, and offer you a window into the possible future of this mod, because I'm not even close to done. Not by a long shot.

First however, I must state for the record that this mod, while initially operating SOLELY within the confines of cut content restoration to the exclusion of all else, is more of a hybrid. This wasn't intentional, but as a modder, I had too many ideas that came to me that I just HAD to act on. And as I'm sure any modder who has started learning the tools and has begun to realize just how much they can do can sympathize, it's hard to rein in renegade thoughts. It's a rush of exhilaration to see your creative process explode onto the game engine, and it's addicting. Which is why I add this small caviat: this mod isn't entirely cut content restoration. Details will be explored in this detailed rundown of the mod and its contents, but this mod will have three categories of content:

[]Cut content, which is entirely based on restoring content as Bungie originally envisioned;

[]Speculative cut content, which gives me more flexibility to adapt cut content as I see fit or to the extent I can see Bungie intending, including adding content that may or may not have been cut from the game, speculating on certain encounters or events, and so forth. Essentially, I'm winging it;

[*]And, finally, original ideas. Content that is purely my own ideas and concepts injected into the game in an effort to offer fan service or simply because I think it's cool. Whether this be entirely new encounters