Daily Archives: 05/07/2014

The Halo Bulletin 5-8-14

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Years ago, I remember sitting in the comfort of my East Coast home, with a not-so-comfortable N64 controller in hand, repeatedly playing GoldenEye 007’s third mission, Runway. It was the shortest mission in the game, and while I would sometimes roam around in the tank waiting for wave after wave (Firefight, anyone?) of fly-swatting guards to slowly kneel down and take aim, other times I’d look to beat the level as quickly as I possibly could. I’d cut every corner, grab the ignition key from the front of the table, and make a beeline run to the single-engine propeller plane at the end of the asphalt. My (not-so-well-executed) pursuit of the 0:22 world record for the mission was one of my first attempts at speed running, and I loved the intricacies and particulars of how players shaved off a second here and there. Reading tips, tricks, and top times from the world’s quickest runners (and then trying to get those times myself) gave me a real respect for the art that is speed running.

Just this past week, we watched Andrew “goatrope” Halabourda take some time off of his Halo: Combat Evolved Legendary world record speedrun, and set a new 1:38:57 world record. We’d like to congratulate Andrew on his new time, and also thank him for sharing the stream with the world. goatrope’s commentary is insightful, brilliant, and funny, and the gameplay is full of countless tricks, triple grenade jumps, backpack reloads, and much, much more. To see the latest Halo speedrun world record, check out the video below – you won’t be disappointed.

Matchmaking Playlist Update

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This Monday, we’ve got a brand new Matchmaking update coming to Halo 4. The first of these is the Dominion playlist, which is making a lean and mean return to Halo 4 Matchmaking as Dominion Light, which features 4 vs. 4 gameplay. The updated game type will feature a faster pace, modified scoring, smaller resupply drops balanced for smaller teams, and a new custom map list. Here are the maps that will be included in the playlist:

  • The Ark
  • Black Site
  • Graphite
  • Hekau
  • Honeycomb
  • Inheritor
  • Onyx
  • Serenity
  • Shutout
  • Station 9
  • Plaza
  • Procedure

We’re excited about this new twist on Dominion, and hope you are too. We’ll see you in the playlist!

HFFL: Man, I’m SO happy Dominion is back, if even for just two weeks. I LOVED this game type. I hope it plays as well at 4v4 that it did as 6v6.

Community Choice

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Last week, we asked which Action Sack game type you’d like to see added to the playlist, and we weren’t too surprised to see Team Ninja Assassins take the win. This means it’ll be available in Matchmaking in just a few short days – hop into the playlist to sharpen your sniping, sword-ing, and Thrust – er…Thruster Pack skills. Thanks for voting in last week’s poll, and be on the lookout for a new poll next week!

HFFL: Ugh…well, I know I’ll be by-passing that one. I really wasn’t a fan of Ninja-Assassins, other than having BLACK armor!

Halo 4 Playlist Flags

We’re always looking to optimize your online experiences within Halo 4, and starting Monday, Halo 4’s playlist selection screen will have a bit more color. Moving forward, any time a playlist is updated, it will be indicated by a corner flag over the playlist’s image. Whether a playlist is featured, new, or has new maps or game types, we’ll be letting you know by marking the playlist accordingly. Take a look at some examples below!

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This new information will allow us to quickly communicate which playlists are updated, when they’re updated, and also what’s included. If you want to know if any of your favorite playlists have been updated recently, just simply scroll over to the playlist and see what’s new – we’ll display these flags for four weeks after each Matchmaking update. We hope this new information helps you discover and get into Halo 4’s new playlists, maps, and game types quicker than ever before.

HFFL: Okay, this is a nice idea. 

Element 117, My Dear Spartan

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A long-standing experiment dedicated to the synthesis of a new chemical element at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) in Dubna, Russia was recently successfully completed. For no reason other than our own love of all things science and the advancement of knowledge all of us at 343 Industries were thrilled to hear about this most auspiciously numbered of elements: Element 117 aka John “Ununseptium.”

According to JINR, “The decay properties of the isotopes of element 117 and its daughter products- the isotopes of elements 115, 113, 111, 109, 107, and 105 together with the formerly synthesized … isotopes of elements 112-116 and 118, are a direct experimental evidence of the existence of the ‘islands of stability’ of super heavy nuclei. The discovery of the superheavy elements considerably expands the limits of the Table of elements; the enhancement of nuclear stability makes it possible for the first time to explore their unusual physical and chemical properties.”

In other words, we’re officially mere centuries away from faster than light travel and MJOLNIR armor.

HFFL: Were it so easy… (I love using that quote whenever I can!)

Screenshot Spotlight: Multi-team

Last week, we turned the spotlight on the Wraith. Take a gander at the following Multi-Team screenshots, and maybe even find inspiration to make your own.

Screenshot Spotlight 5-18-14

HFFL: The only one I like of this bunch is “Rainbow” by Z6NITRO. For one simple reason…It shows all four team colors that multi-team has.

For your chance at being in the next spotlight, take a screenshot featuring the Sticky Detonator and then tag it with “StickyDet” and “Halo Waypoint,” and maybe, just maybe, yours will be featured in the next Halo Bulletin!
And with that, this week’s Bulletin comes to a close.

Until next week,
Bravo
p.s. If you’re on Twitter, you may want to enter into this week’s #FreeStuffFriday. Stay tuned to our official account on Friday morning for details on how to enter!

HFFL: Dang-it! I keep forgetting to submit an entry for the screenshot spotlight. One of these weeks I’m going to submit something. I just hope it gets picked.

Will the next Halo game have new armor for Master Chief?

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This was a topic of conversation I got involved with. Will there be new armor or the same Halo 4 armor for Chief in the next (chronologic) Halo game?

By not showing Chief in his full armor and only the helmet, his hand and a little forearm in the trailer for Halo XBOX One, it allows 343 to go in either direction. Either keep the armor from Halo 4 or all new armor sans helmet. As for the helmet being damaged, that could be from much later in the game (if anything from the trailer will actually be in the next game).

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I’m hoping for some new armor, though I’ve grown a little attached to the armor he has in Halo 4.

Master Chief AR down

The fact that his armor is taken off at the end of Halo 4’s campaign also allows 343 to go either way. Give him back his armor or update him with new. I’d think that the Infinity would have new armor for Chief.

It’s certainly fun to speculate on.

So do you folks want to see new armor or are you fine if 343 sticks with the armor from Halo 4?

-Sal

Halo 4 DLC free (without achievements)?

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So I was perusing Halo Waypoint’s forum and came upon a thread asking for the DLC in Halo 4 to be free. If you all didn’t know, Microsoft has a policy against giving DLC away free that is attached to achievements. However, the forum poster below came up with a pretty nifty idea. My thoughts after his response.
MZealous;2899401 wrote:

At this point I couldn’t care less about the fact I payed money and others didn’t. Just remove the ability to gain achievements through the DLC (until purchased) and release the DLC to all making it a requirement for necessary playlists. I’m even starting to dislike Haven now I’ve played it so much. I’ve probably played more games on Haven than I have played game in total on Reach…We may even see a population spike.
Now THAT’s a novel idea. It might actually work. Essentially, everyone can play. For those that really want to go for the achievements, they pay a modest “fee” to unlock the opportunity to get them. As for what that fee is, since the DLC has been out over a year now, make it $1-2. Then make all the DLC mandatory (free), with achievements accessible for that fee.
I’ve paid for all of them. I really wouldn’t mind if they were made free. At this point, it can’t hurt anything and as said, might actually give a bump up in population.
What do you folks think? Want to see free DLC, if the achievements weren’t attached? Would you then pay that modest fee to unlock the ability to get them?
Hit that reply button and let me hear from you!
-Sal

Halo Concept Art: Reach Civilian vehicles/ships; Covenant ships

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In the second of this series of concept art, I take a look at a few civilian vehicles and ships as well as a few Covenant concepts. As always, click on pics to make them bigger.

Let’s start with the Spade. The Spade is a mix between a dune buggy and pickup truck. It’s a utility vehicle for various tasks on Reach. In fact it can even be seen in Halo 4, via the multiplayer map “Landfall” in the garage area.

haloreach_vehicles_civilian_civilian_truck_concepts_by_isaac_hannafordIn the above pic we see multiple early concepts for the Spade. I gotta say, those are pretty darn cool. The designs (other than top right) look like they have great suspension and could handle a varied array of terrain. Perhaps though, they looked a little to futuristic or advanced beyond the previous games which take place LATER than Reach. Still, I’d love to see some of these designs make it into a future Halo game. The one at top right would make for an excellent civilian car.

haloreach_vehicles_civilian_civilian_truck_02_by_isaac_hannafordThis pic shows the Spade in a much more advanced stage of concept closer to the in-game version. The biggest difference being the absence of the engine area in the front of the vehicle. Note though that the color scheme is on par with the final version.

haloreach_vehicles_civilian_civilian_truck_01_by_isaac_hannafordAnd here we have a concept that was perhaps the latest concept before the final design. It’s VERY much like the Spade seen in the game. It’s missing the front wheel guards shown in the previous pic.

We were fortunate to also have variants of the below industrial cart. These can be seen in the campaign at Sword base. Did you know these are drivable? They can’t do much, but it’s kind of fun to tool around in them (for a few seconds).haloreach_vehicles_civilian_pioneer_cart_by_isaac_hannaford

Next up we come to the civilian transport. This craft was seen during the campaign as you come around an area being attacked by wraiths and banshees. Several on seen on the landing platform while one tries to get away, only to be hit and take a nose-dive into the water below.haloreach_vehicles_civilian_civilian_transport_by_isaac_hannaford
These look a lot like our modern large airplanes. Though these are capable of VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) and space flight. When you play that campaign level, make note of the different color schemes on the same ships on the landing pad.

haloreach_vehicles_civilian_starship_by_isaac_hannafordNow here we have a concept that looks like nothing seen in the game. Perhaps this was the early design for what would become the airplane design. The top design is somewhat reminiscent of a Pelican. The bottom design is quite a departure from any other human craft seen in Halo game. The top one looks more practical, while the bottom one is definitely more futuristic. Either would have been neat to see in the game.

Now we move on to the Covenant ships.

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This was posted as a concept, though I have a feeling it was the final. This Covenant Corvette looks exactly like the one in the game. Regardless, the design is very alien. You can view this in the campaign as well as on the multiplayer map “Corvette.”

haloreach_vehicles_covenant_covenant_vehicle_by_isaac_hannafordWhile this wasn’t given a name, it seems to be a concept for the Revenant. It’s thin profile and overall shape make this ship seem like it could out race any UNSC ground vehicle. Unfortunately it wasn’t included.

haloreach_vehicles_covenant_seraph_by_isaac_hannafordFinally, we have why would seem to be a near-final design for the in-game version of the Seraph. This is much more “flying-saucer” like than any other ship seen in Halo. I thought these were kind of clunky looking. Indeed, in the game, they do not seem to be built for speed, but rather power. I find them easy to take down, even though they have shields.

See any concepts that you like? Are there any you would have liked to see in the game, or preferred over what made it into the game? Let me know. Reply below!

Tomorrow we’ll take a look a Halo 4’s ships and vehicles. I think I’m going to stick to that format. Show a subject topic from Reach, then it’s counterpart in Halo 4. This will let you see the progression from Bungie’s last Halo game (that chronologically happens first), to 343’s first Halo game.

-Sal